Khorat

Khorat's early modern city was established on a new site during the reign of King Narai of Ayutthaya,1656–1688. Older centres at Khorakapura and Sema lay farther west beside the Lam Takhong. Their names were combined in the formal designation Nakhon Ratchasima, while Khorat remained the common name. The new centre therefore carried earlier place identities into a changed urban location.

Under Rama I, the city was raised to first-class status and its governor held the rank of Chao Phraya. These arrangements made the plateau centre part of the kingdom's hierarchy of provincial authority. During Rama III's reign, Anuwong of Vientiane attacked Khorat and took inhabitants away as captives. The town's history thus involved both royal organisation and armed competition over people and territory, connecting a local urban centre with the political world beyond the plateau.