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The Lavo Kingdom () 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 Lopburi 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, , 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 Mun River–Chi River mandalas allied with Angkor in the Tonlé Sap basin.
Evidence from stone inscriptions found in ancient Mon script in Northern and Central Thailand confirms that the main population of Lavo and Haripuñjaya mandalas is likely to be the same ethnic group, the "Mon people," or any ethnic group that uses the Austroasiatic languages. Due to the royal blood relations, these two states maintained a good relationship for the first 300 years.
The only native language found during early Lavo times is the Mon language. However, there is debate whether Mon was the sole ethnicity of Lavo. Some historians point out that Lavo was composed of mixed Mon and Lawa people (a Palaungic-speaking people), with the Mons forming the ruling class. It is also hypothesized that the migration of Tai peoples into Chao Phraya valley occurred during the time of the Lavo kingdom.
Theravada Buddhism remained a major belief in Lavo although Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism from the Khmer Empire wielded considerable influence.[1] Around the late 7th century, Lavo expanded to the north. In the Northern Thai Chronicles, including the Cāmadevivaṃsa, Camadevi, the first ruler of the Mon kingdom of Hariphunchai, was said to be a daughter of a Lavo king.
Few records are found concerning the nature of the Lavo kingdom. Most of what we know about Lavo is from archaeological evidence. Tang dynasty chronicles records that the Lavo kingdom sent tributes to Tang as Tou-ho-lo (堕和罗国). In his diary, the monk Xuanzang referred to Dvaravati-Lavo as Tou-lo-po-ti, which seems to echo the name Dvaravati, as a state between Chenla and the Pagan Kingdom. By the Song dynasty, Lavo was known as Luówō (羅渦).
During the reign of Bhavavarman II (r. 639–657), after Zhenla annexed Funan in 627, two sister kingdoms in the Menam Vallay, Zhū Jiāng, which has been identified as Dvaravati, and Cān Bàn made royal intermarriages with Zhenla. They then fought several wars against Tou Yuan to the northwest, and successfully established it as the vassal of Dvaravati in 647. Lavapura of Lavo was then established the following year. In the same period, Zhenla also waged wars against Línyì to the northeast. Through royal connections, Cān Bàn thereafter became a complete vassal of Zhenla.
Some scholar suggests that the son of Si Thep king named Bhavavarman mentioned in the Ban Wang Pai Inscription (K. 978) founded in the Phetchabun province of Thailand was probably Bhavavarman II instead of Bhavavarman I (r.580–598) due to the inscription styles that potentially inscribed after 627.
The influence probably ended when Chenla faced the power struggle which led to the division of the kingdom in the late 7th century during the reign of Jayadevi.[2]
Ayodhyapura potentially began to decline in the mid-10th century as the Khmer inscription dating to 946 mentioned the Angkorian king Rajendravarman II won over Rāmaññadesa (country of the Mon people) and Champa. Hall, Kenneth R. “Khmer Commercial Development and Foreign Contacts under Sūryavarman I.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 18, no. 3, 1975, pp. 318–336. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3632140. Accessed 3 June 2020. He later assigned his lineage, Vap Upendra, as the governor of Rāmaññadesa in 949. Moreover, the mentions a battle between Ayodhyapura led by Adītaraj and Yaśodharapura over the Emerald Buddha in the late 9th or early 10th centuries. But the conflict between these two polities may exist long before, as Woodward stated Jayavarman II, who established Khmer Empire and relocated the capital northward to Yaśodharapura in the mid 9th century, formed an ally with the city-states in the Mun River-Chi River river basin, including Wen Dan, to counter Ayodhyapura's strength in the Pa Sak River basin to the west.
Ayodhyapura was left abandoned around the 13th century. Many Thai scholars believe that climatic change and epidemics contributed to Ayodhyapura's downfall. The inhabitants subsequently sought refuge in Lopburi and Ayodhya (Xiān), both of which later merged into the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 14th century.
In the early 10th century, several battles between two sister mandalas—Lavo and Haripuñjaya—from 925 to 927 were recorded. According to the O Smach Inscription, after two years of the enthronement, King Rathasatkara or Trapaka () of Haripuñjaya moved south, aiming to seize Lavo. The Lavo king, Uchitthaka Chakkawat or Ucchitta Emperor (อุฉิฎฐกะจักรวรรดิ/อุจฉิตตจักรพรรดิ), moved northward to defend. However, the war between these two sister states spread to the southern kingdom of Tambralinga, King Jivaka or Suchitra (พระเจ้าชีวก/พระเจ้าสุชิตราช), took this advantage to occupy Lavo. After losing Lavo, both Mon's kings rallied up north to hold Haripuñjaya city, but King Rathasatkara defeated and lost the hometown to Lavo's king. After failing to retake Haripuñjaya, King Rathasatkara moved south to settle in Phraek Si Racha (present-day Sankhaburi district). The battle is mentioned in several chronicles such as the Jinakalamali and Cāmadevivaṃsa.
After Jivaka took Lavo's capital, Lavapura (ลวปุระ), he appointed his son, Kampoch (กัมโพช), as a new ruler and enthroned the ex-Lavo queen as his consort.
Following the conquering of Lavo, Javaka also seized Suphannabhum in the next few years. Princes of Suphannabhum—Thamikaraj and Chadachota—fled to Haripuñjaya. Tambralinga's prince King Kampoch, unsuccessfully annexed Haripuñjaya the following year. He attempted to seize another northern city, Nakaburi (นาคบุรี), but also failed. Several battles between Haripuñjaya and Lavo happened since then.
Following Angkorian 9-year civil wars, Tambralinga lost Lavo to Angkor's Suryavarman I, who marched the troops to destroy several polities in upper Mun River and Lavo, where his predecessor Jayavarman V fled. It is expected that following the capture of Lavapura, the populace was subjected to exorbitant taxes, perhaps prompting their exodus from the city and Lavapura was then left abandoned. It was retrieved by Sri Lakshmi Pativarman, who was appointed by Suryavarman I as Lavo governor in 1006. This marked Lavo officially merging with the Angkor. Lavo at that time was governed by a Cambodian prince, as a part of Angkor's vassal state. Angkor attempted to exercise political power over Dvaravati's Lavo since the reign of Rajendravarman II, who once won the battle against Rāmaññadesa in 946, as mentioned in the K.872 Prasat Boeng Vien Inscription.
To the north, Suphannabhum prince Thamikaraj enthroned the King of Haripuñjaya. He, with the assistance of Suphannabhum, marched to the south and successfully took over Lavo in 1052; his younger brother Chadachota was appointed Lavo king.
Only six years after Chadachota acceded to the throne, Lavo faced another challenge in 1058 when Pagan led by Anawrahta invaded the Menam Valley and aimed to annex Lavo,[3] to avoid the second devastation Chadachota instead established royal relations with Pagan by having his queen consort's older sister married to the king of Pagan. Two polities then became allies. Chadachota's son, Narai, became his successor who then moved Lavo capital to Ayodhya in the 1080s. During Narai's reign, Lavo experienced another invasion by Pagan in 1087 but the conflict ended with the negotiation. Narai died with no heir in 1087. This caused a 2-year Ayodhya civil war among the nobles, in which Phra Chao Luang won.
In 861, Tai Yuan from the north, which later evolved into Lan Na, began to settle in the lower Menam Valley, increased in influence in Lavo, and began to resist the control in the mid-11th century. Lavo was said to be seized by Thai people from the western Menam Valley in the early 11th century and by Tai people's king Phrom of Singhanavati in 1106, according to the local chronicles. Sending tribute to China in 1115 during the reign of Sri Thammasokkarat signified that Lavo was an independent polity at that time.
After the Angkor lost Lavo to Suphannabhum princes in 1052, the younger prince Chadachota claimed the throne. His son, Narai, moved Lavo's seat to Ayodhya in the 1080s. This resulted in the throne of Lavo's Lavaburi being vacant from 1087 to 1106 (or ruled by unknown kings), Mueang Chaliang king, Kraisornrat (ไกรศรราช) who is of Mon people's Mueang Chaliang and Tai people's Chiang Saen lineages, took over the seat. An attempt to re-expand influence to Lavo by the Angkor occurred in 1181 when Jayavarman VII appointed his lineage Narupatidnavarman to govern Lavapura. Due to this political pressure, a Tai ruler Sri Thammasokkarat
(ศรีธรรมโศกราช), who was also from Si Satchanalai, fled to Nakhon Si Thammarat. Sri Thammasokkarat married to princess of Dhanyapura (Dong Mae Nang Mueang in the present-day Nakhon Sawan province), and their descendants ruled Tambralinga until the late 13th century. The The Customs of Cambodia of Zhou Daguan, as an official delegation sent by the Yuan Dynasty to Angkor from 1296–1297, says the Siamese people exerted significant influence over Lavo's Lopburi and appeared in huge numbers in the Angkorian capital of Yasodharapura.
Prang Sam Yot was built during this period. However, Lavapura was probably taken back by a Tai people royal from Phraek Si Racha (แพรกศรีราชา; present-day Sankhaburi) in the 13th century. During this era, Angkor's power waned due to the weak rule and feuding began in the Angkor.Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd.,
All of the turmoil, as mentioned earlier, also led to the independence declaration of the Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238.
After 2 centuries of being devastated, the region entered the conflict-free era in the 12th century, artifacts and ruins dating back to the 12th–13th centuries found in the area indicate that there was a migration of people from surrounding regions, such as the Khmer people from the east, the Mon people from the west, and the Tai people-Mon people from the north. Several modern mandalas then emerged, such as Suphannabhum, Phip Phli, Sukhothai, and Ayutthaya.
In the 12th century, wars between Haripuñjaya and Lavo's Lopburi, which was ruled by a Mon people–Tai people clan from Mueang Chaliang, still existed as Lavo marched north to attack Haripuñjaya several times but failed. At the end of this century, Lavo's Lopburi was again fell under the Angkorian.
The Kingdom of Lavo, Lo-hu, joined Ny Wang in sending embassy to China in 1289 then only from Lavo in 1299. In 1349 Xiān people become united with the people of Lo-hu, the new kingdom named Xiānluó (暹羅) by the Chinese. However, Xiān might refer to the Suphannaphum Kingdom of Suphanburi Province.
There are many theories about Uthong's origin. According to HRH Prince Chula Chakrabongse, he was thought to have been a descendant of Mangrai. Van Vliet's chronicles, a seventeenth-century work, stated that King Uthong was a Chinese merchant who established himself at Phetchaburi before moving to Ayutthaya. Tamnan Mulla Satsana, a sixteenth-century Lanna kingdom literature, stated that King Uthong was from the Lavo Kingdom.
After the foundation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 14th century, Lavo was incorporated into a major stronghold of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Following the merging, according to the Instructions Given to the Siamese Envoys Sent to Portugal composed in 1684, Lavapuri or Lopburi was abandoned around the 15th century. It was retrieved and became the kingdom's capital during the reign of King Narai in the mid-17th century, and the king resided there for about eight months a year.
History
Early Dvaravati period: 7th–9th centuries
The area of Dvaravati (what is now Thailand) was first inhabited by Mon people who had arrived and appeared centuries earlier. The foundations of Buddhism in central Southeast Asia were laid between the 6th and 9th centuries when a Theravada Buddhist culture linked to the Mon people developed in central and northeastern Thailand. The Mon Buddhist kingdoms that rose in what are now parts of Laos and Central Plain of Thailand were collectively called Dvaravati.Ellen London, 2008, Thailand Condensed 2000 years of history and culture, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions,
The Mon people of Lavo
According to the Northern Thai Chronicles, Lavo was founded by Phraya Kalavarnadishraj, who came from Takkasila in 648 CE,Adhir Chakravarti, "International Trade and Towns of Ancient Siam", Our Heritage: Bulletin of the Department of Post-graduate Training and Research, Sanskrit College, Calcutta, vol.XXIX, part I, January–June 1981, pp. 1-23, nb p. 15; also in The South East Asian Review (Gaya, India), vol. 20, nos.1 & 2, 1995. a year after Dvaravati made Tou Yuan its vassal. Kalavarnadishraj was a son of Phraya Kakabatr, king of Takkasila (it is assumed that the city was Nakhon Chai Si of Kamalanka) who set the new era, Chula Sakarat in 638 CE. The era was used by the Siamese and the Burmese until the 19th century. His son, Phraya Kalavarnadishraj founded the city a decade later.
Chenla influence
Via royal relations, Isanavarman I (r. 616–637) of the Chenla Kingdom expanded Khmer influence to the Menam valley during the Mon dominance through his campaigns around the 7th century, but did not exercise political control over the region.
Late Dvaravati period: 10th–11th centuries
Fall of Ayodhyapura
In the early Dvaravati period, the western Chao Phraya Valley was probably centered in Ayodhyapura (Si Thep) as mentioned in the Pali chronicles, and Jinakalamali. Lavo at that time was speculated to be the southern fortress of Ayodhyapura. After Ayodhyapura declined in the mid 10th century, the city-states in central Thailand then merged into two mandalas – Lavo (modern Lopburi) to the east and Suphannabhum (modern Suphan Buri) to the west.
Lower Chao Phraya Valley's political turmoil
During the 10th–11th centuries, Lavo was overrun by neighbors from all directions; several battles with the northern neighbor Haripuñjaya happened in the early 900s, which caused the kingdom to be annexed by Tambralinga from the south in 928. Then, it was devastated by the Angkor from the east in 946 and 1001, raided by the Chola in 1030, and later invaded by Pagan from the west in 1058 and 1087, as detailed below.
Arrival of the Tai peoples
Modern Thai historians think the Tai peoples originated in northern Vietnam and Guangxi province in China. The origin of the Tai peoples were living in northern Southeast Asia by the 8th century. Five linguistic groups emerged: the northern Tai in China (ancestors of Zhuang people); the upland Tai people in northern Vietnam (ancestors of the Black, White and Red Tai); the Tais in northeastern Laos and bordering Vietnam (ancestors of the Tai of Siang Khwang and the Thai people in Ayutthaya); the Tai in northern Laos; and the Tai west of Luang Prabang, northern Thailand and in the adjoining parts of Laos, Yunnan and Burma.
Ayodhya era: 1100s–1350s
Foundation of Ayodhya
Ayodhya, previously known as Mueang Wat Derm or Mueang Nong Son, was found in 934 by a monk from Mueang Bang Than (บางทาน) in present-day Kamphaeng Phet. The majority of Ayodhya's inhabitants are supposed to have migrated from Ayodhyapura following its fall in 946 as well as residents from Lopburi who fled after the city was destroyed by Angkor in 1001. This large population, coupled with its location that controlled the trade routes of the Chao Phraya River basin, led to the city's rapid growth and was later designated as the new capital of Lavo in the 1080s. The term Xiān (暹; or Siam) mentioned in several Chinese and Đại Việt texts from 1149 until the official establishment of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351 was potentially Ayodhya instead of Sukhothai Kingdom, Suphannabhum, and other initial Siamese polities. There are many records of Xiān invasion of Champa, Dān mǎ xī (單馬錫, identified as far as Tumasik, or Singapore), Xī lǐ (昔里), Ma-li-yü-êrh (Melayu), and Samudera Pasai Sultanate on Sumatra before the formation of Ayutthaya Kingdom. From about the same period there is also a well-known bas relief panel of Angkor Wat showing mercenaries of the Khmer army, who are identified as syam-kuk, perhaps "of the land of Siam." One cannot be certain what ethnolinguistic group these mercenaries belonged to, but many scholars have thought them to be Thai people.
Siamese Lavo
After Phra Chao Luang (พระเจ้าหลวง) won the 1087–1088 Ayodhya civil war, he was enthroned as the king. However, since he had no male heir, he had his only daughter marry Sai Nam Peung (สายน้ำผึ้ง), son of Kraisornrat (ไกรศรราช) who was of Mon people's Mueang Chaliang and Tai people's Chiang Saen lineages and served as the Lopburi king at that time. Their descendants, later known as the Uthong (Lavo) dynasty, continued to rule Ayodhya until the Ayutthaya Kingdom formation in 1351. According to The Customs of Cambodia written by Zhou Daguan as an official delegation sent by the Yuan Dynasty to Angkor from 1296–1297, the Siamese people exerted significant influence over Lavo's Lopburi and appeared in huge numbers in the Angkorian city of Yasodharapura.
Formation of Ayutthaya Kingdom
In 1350, Uthong and Borommarachathirat I of Suphannaphum (modern Suphan Buri) co-founded Ayutthaya Kingdom on an island located on the intersection of three rivers; Chao Phraya River, Lopburi River and Pa Sak River, and Uthong became the king of the city. But Borommarachathirat I took Ayutthaya from Uthong's son Ramesuan in 1370, and then Ramesuan retreated to Lavo. In 1388, Ramesuan took revenge by taking Ayutthaya back from Borommarachathirat I's son, Thong Lan. Borommarachathirat I's nephew Intharachathirat took Ayutthaya back for the Suphannaphum dynasty in 1408. The Uthong dynasty was then purged and became a mere noble family of Ayutthaya until the 16th century.
List of rulers
Before 11th century: Lavapura as seat
colspan=6 Founder. Son of Kamalanka's king, Kakapat. Later became King of Haripuñjaya colspan=4 Also King of Tambralinga. As a tributary state of Tambralinga. Son of the previous. As a tributary state of Tambralinga. colspan=4 As the governor of Rāmaññadesa, appointed by Rajendravarman II. As the governor. colspan=8 colspan=8 As the governor, appointed by Suryavarman I Period of constant wars against Haripuñjaya. Son of the previous. colspan=8 Prince of Suphannabhum who fled to Haripuñjaya after Suphannabhum was seized by Tambralinga in the 920s. 1069–1082 colspan=4
After 11th century: Ayodhya as seat
1082–1087 1087–1106? King Phrom of Singhanavati seized Lopburi in 1106 and appointed his son from Si Satchanalai, Kraisornrat, as a new ruler 1111–1165 1106–? Early 12th century colspan=3 rowspan=2 colspan=3 1253–1289 colspan=3 1150s–1180s 1180s?–1218 1218–? 1283–1319 colspan=3 colspan=3 1319?–1351 1351?–1388 colspan=10
Notes
See also
Categories: Former Countries In Thai History, Mon History, Former Countries In Southeast Asia, Former Monarchies Of Asia, Lopburi Province, Indianized Kingdoms, 450 Establishments, States And Territories Disestablished In 1388, 1380s Disestablishments In Asia, 5th-century Establishments In Thailand, 14th-century Disestablishments In Thailand, 1st Millennium In Thailand, 2nd Millennium In Thailand, Ancient Thailand, History Of Lopburi, History Of Central Region, Former Monarchies Of Southeast Asia, Tributaries Of Imperial China
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