The first monarch of the currently ruling Chakri dynasty in the kingdom of Thailand. He was of noble birth and rose to prominence as a brilliant military commander for the previous king Taksin; when Taksin became unstable and was killed, Chao Phraya Chakri, as he was then known, was invited to take the throne. He reigned from 1782 until 1809 and established the capital in its current location, Bangkok. Rama I started construction on the Grand Palace, though he is said to have first built Wat Phra Kaew to house the Emerald Buddha. He was a Theravada Buddhist who worked to restore the religion to canonical precedent, and was a lover and promoter of literature as well.