Uparaja is a nobility reserved for the viceroy in India and the Buddhist dynasties in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, as well as some of their minor tributary kingdoms. It is ultimately from Sanskrit उपराज upa-raja, equivalent to and respectively in Latin.
India
The viceroy in the Indian Magadha Empire was titled Uparaja (lit. vice king).
Burma
The Great Deputy King, in full
Maha Uparaja Anaukrapa Ainshe Min, incorrectly interpreted as Crown Prince by Europeans, and addressed as His Royal Highness, was the single highest rank among the
Min-nyi Min-tha, i.e. princes of the royal blood. It is shortened to
Ainshe Min (အိမ်ရှေ့မင်း, ).
However, the position was not reserved for the highest birth rank (if there is one, Shwe Kodaw-gyi Awratha, i.e. eldest son of the sovereign, by his chief Queen), nor did it carry a plausible promise of succession, which was usually only settled in an ultimate power struggle.
Cambodia
The word
Ouparach () is derived from both
Sanskrit and
Pali languages, literally means
Vice King, who obtains the position following the crowned king. The full term of Ouparach in order to provide the proper honor is
Samdach Preah Ouparach () or
Samdach Preah Moha Ouparach (). According to tradition of Kingdom of
Cambodia, Samdach Preah Moha Ouparach positions as the supreme official controlling other high and low officials.
[Khmer dictionary, adapted from Samdach Chuon Nat Khmer dictionary, page 1643, published in 2007.]
Siam (Thailand)
Uparat (; ), in full
Phra Maha Upparat (พระมหาอุปราช), as pronounced in historical
Siam, translates to
viceroy.
[Thai อุปราช] Front Palace (; ), however, was the more usual designation, often referred to in English as
Second King or
Vice King.
The office was discontinued in 1876 by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), following the Front Palace Crisis of 1874, in favour of the office of Crown Prince of Siam (; ). Note that those serving a king constitute a different office, that of regent or regency council.
See also
Note
