Si Thep Historical Park in the context of "Ayutthaya Historical Park"

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👉 Si Thep Historical Park in the context of Ayutthaya Historical Park

Ayutthaya Historical Park (Thai: อุทยานประวัติศาสตร์พระนครศรีอยุธยา (Pronunciation)) covers the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province, Thailand. The city of Ayutthaya was founded by King Ramathibodi I in 1351, though it is likely to be significantly older, based on evidence showing that the area was already populated during the Mon Dvaravati period. Sources further mention that around 850 AD, the Khmers occupied the area and established a stronghold there, naming it Ayodhya, after one of the holiest Hindu cities in India of the same name. The early history of Ayutthaya is connected to this Khmer settlement. Additionally, Prince Damrong has also attested to the existence of a city named Ayodhya, founded by the Khmers ruling from Lopburi at the point where the three rivers meet. An excavation map shows traces of an ancient baray (water reservoir) close to the southwestern tip of Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, which could have been built on a former important Khmer temple complex.

The principal basis for the aforementioned claims is the Śri Canāśa Inscription K.949 inscription, which is dated to the reign of Bhagadatta, a ruler of Qiān Zhī Fú who presided over Si Thep in the 850s. This inscription has frequently been cited as evidence for Ayutthaya's early existence. It has been argued, however, that the inscription may have been relocated to Ayutthaya at a considerably later time than that indicated by its original dating, a view supported by the absence of archaeological materials in Ayutthaya that can be securely attributed to the period in question. The earliest extant reference to Ayutthaya is found in the Royal Northern Chronicle [th], which attributes the foundation of the city to a nobleman from the northern region in the year 944.

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Si Thep Historical Park in the context of Lavo Kingdom

The Lavo Kingdom (Thai: อาณาจักรละโว้) was a political entity (mandala) on the left bank of the Chao Phraya River in the Upper Chao Phraya valley from the end of Dvaravati civilization, in the 7th century, until 1388. The original center of Lavo was Lavapura and was shifted to Ayodhya (Xiān) in the 1080s. However, since both Ayodhya or Xiān and Lavo separately sent embassies to the Chinese court in the late 1200s, these two polities were potentially individual states.

Before the 9th century, Lavo, together with other supra-regional settlements, such as Si Thep, Sema (th), Phimai, Nakhon Pathom, and others were the centers of the mandala-style polities of Dvaravati. Due to several circumstances, including climate changes and the invasions of the surrounding polities, several Dvaravati centers lost their prosperity, and the mandalas in the Menam Valley was then split into three groups: Lavo (modern Lopburi) to the east, which was more often in touch with the Angkorean and pre-Angkorean worlds, Suphannaphum (modern Suphanburi) to the west, which had more contact with the Mon and Malay worlds and the northern polities, which had more complexity in culture, ethnic, and linguistic than the aforementioned two polities. Meanwhile, the MunChi mandalas allied with Kambudesha in the Tonlé Sap basin.

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Si Thep Historical Park in the context of Suphannabhum

Suphannabhum or Suvarnabhumi; later known as Suphan Buri (Thai: สุพรรณภูมิ or สุพรรณบุรี) was a Siamese city-state, that emerged in the early "Siam proper" which stretched from present-day west central Thailand to the north of the Kra Isthmus, with key historical sites at Uthong, Nakhon Pathom, Suphan Buri, and Ban Don Ta Phet (th). The kingdom is referred to as Xiān in the Chinese records since 1349, but according to the archaeological evidence in Suphan Buri, it was speculated to have emerged around the mid-12th century. However, a calculation made by Borihan Thepthani based on the information provided in the Northern Chronicle (th) says that the city of Suphan Buri was founded in 877 and became a free city-state after its suzerain, Nakhon Pathom of Kamalanka, fell to Phetchaburi in 913. Japanese scholar Tatsuo Hoshino has proposed that Suphannabhum was identified in Chinese sources as Shě Bá Ruò (舍跋若), which he further interprets as the western terminus of a trans-Mekong trade confederation in the 9th century. According to this hypothesis, the confederation comprised five polities: Pó Àn (婆岸), identified with Mueang Phon; Zhān Bó, associated with Champasri; Qiān Zhī Fú, identified with Si Thep; Mó Là (摩臘), located in the coastal region of Champa; and Shě Bá Ruò, corresponding to Suphanburi.

Suphannabhum became the center of Xiān, succeeding Phip Phli, no later than 1349, when Xiān was defeated by Luó hú (Lavo) and the tribute sent to China under the name of Xiānluó hú (Siam-Lavo or Ayutthaya Kingdom) was led by Xiān's King of Su-men-bang, in which Su-men-bang has been identified with Suphanburi. Since then, it was one of the states under the mandala confederation of Ayutthaya Kingdom and was completely merged to the Ayutthaya in 1438. However, modern scholars suggest Xiān mentioned in the Chinese and Đại Việt sources since the 11th century potentially was Ayodhya, a polity that later known as the Ayutthaya Kingdom (Xiānluó hú or Xiānluó) in the mid-14th century.

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