Draft:Suphannabhumi

Suphannabhumi (สุพรรณภูมิ) or Xiān/Siam (暹; สยาม) was a Siamese city-state confederation that existed in the western lower Chao Phraya River basin to upper Malay Peninsula in the present-day Thailand, formed around the beginning of the Proto-Dvaravati period in the 3rd century. In addition to the Lavo Kingdom, Xian was also considered the principality of the Dvaravati until was incorporated into the Tai's Sukhothai Kingdom and Siamese's Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 13th and 15th centuries respectively.

Before the Sukhothai period, the region was called by the Chinese Xiān guó (暹國), while the term Suphannabhumi was first mentioned in the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription which describes the area under the control of Sukhothai Kingdom in the west Chao Phraya River basin.

As Xiān or Shyam/Siam
Siam may come from the name of Lord Krishna or Sampuka, which the Khmers used to refer to the ancient city of Nakhon Pathom as in the Wat Sri Chum Inscription, dated 13th century CE, mentions Phra Maha Thera Sri Sattha came to restore Phra Pathommachedi at the city of Lord Krishna (shyam).

Siam has been referred to in the Khmer language since ancient Khmer stone inscriptions. As the earliest evidence of this word appears in the Angkor Borei stone inscriptions (K. 557 and 600), dated 661 CE, the slave's name is mentioned as "Ku Sayam" meaning "Sayam female slaves" (Ku is a prefix used to refer to female slaves in the pre-Angkorian era).

Early sattlements

 * Bronze working began in northern Vietnam, northeastern Thailand, and central Thailand as early as the second millennium

Suvarnabhumi and Dvaravati period: 1st century BCE–10th century CE
The area was originally settled by the ascendent of the Mon of Shyam since the prehistoric era, Tai people later moved from the upper North Chao Phraya river basin to the area around 50 BCE. Together they form the legendary mandala state of Suvarnabhumi, which was later expected to be sacked by Funan around the early first century, and most of its population was forcibly moved to Funan resulting in it being almost left abandoned. In 550, the region was under the influence of a new emerging Monic mandala of Dvaravati, after Funan lost to the son of Dvaravati king, Bhavavarman I, who was also the first king of Chenla.

After the decline of Dvaravati in the late 1st millennium, the Chao Phraya river basin was split into two main mandalas–the eastern part was Lavo that strongly shared royal lineage relations with the Chenla which continued through the Ankorian period and the western cities loosely formed Suphannabhumi which were spared from Ankor influence, while the upper north was taken over by another Mon state, Haripuñjaya. Its former center, Nakhon Pathom, together with the nearest settlement, Ratchaburi (previously called Pong Tuek [พงตึก]), was deserted due to the invasion of Chenla around the 8th–9th centuries. Some sources state that after the fall of Dvaravati, the old town Nakhon Pathom became the first center of power of Suphannabhumi until it was attacked by either Lavo or Ankor, which caused the seat was moved further westward to U Thong and Suphanburi.

Early rulers and the Mon of Shyam: 9th –11th centuries
According to the Yonok Chronicle (พงศาวดารโยนก), the city of Suphannabhumi was founded in 807 by Kong (พระยากง) in the area of the present-day Lad Ya sub-district, Kanchanaburi (Kanchanaburi old city), followed by U Thong the few following years. After the center of the mandala was moved to Suphanburi, the city of Suphannabhumi was then renamed Kanchanaburi. In contrast, several historians suggest that the old town Nakhon Pathom probably might be the first center of Suphannabhumi. In the contemporary legend of Phraya Kong and Phraya Phan mentions that Nakhon Pathom existed before the reign of Kong and was ruled by his father Sikarat (สิการาช), but it was later abandoned after the end of Phan (พระยาพาน) era due to a lack of a successor, and Suphanburi, which was established by a king of Sukhothai, became a new seat.

However, the Yonok Chronicle claims that Suphanburi was founded by Phan (พระยาพาน) around 877-892 CE, and he then appointed his son, Phanwasa (พระพันวษา), as a ruler. During the reign of Phan, the Suphannabhumi territory was expanded northward and eventually annexed Haripuñjaya. Damrong Rajanubhab, a Thai historian, suggested that Suphanburi was founded around the 12th century after the city of U Thong lost its prosperity due to some plague as well as the dried-up and shallow Nam Chorakhe Suphan River, which was consequently not navigable. U Thong was then abandoned around the 11th century.

After Phan died in 916, Phanwasa set Suphanburi as a new king's city instead of taking over the throne in the city of Suphannabhumi. Phanwasa later moved the seat to U Thong and renamed it Sri Ayutthaya (ศรีอยุธยา) and also established a royal intermarriage by marrying to Waen Fa (แว่นฟ้า), princess of Lan Na, and Soi Thong (สร้อยทอง), princess of Lan Xang.

Around the early 11th century CE, Rampong Bandhit (รามพงศ์บัณฑิตย์), whose lineage relationship is unclear with the former rulers, expanded the area to the east and occupied Lavo, which had been under Ankor hegemony since 1002. After the end of his reign, Suphannabhumi fell under the power struggles between the royal lineages, and Chueng Ong In (จึงองค์อินทร์), who is of Kalapak's (พระยากาฬปักษ์) lineage from Tanintharyi, was enthroned as a new king in 1046. An usurper occurred again after Chueng Ong In died in 1081, and the seat was transferred to Katae (กาแต), another royal lineage that is of Burma and Lavo descent. During the reign of Katae, the seat was moved back to Suphanburi and U Thong was no longer called Sri Ayutthaya. Meanwhile, the mandated territory of Lavo was ruled by Chadachota (จันทรโชติ, r. 1052-1069).

Arriving of the Tais: 12th century
According to the Du royaume de Siam written by Simon de la Loubère, after the capital of Singhanavati, Singhanavatinagorn, was submerged in Chiang Saen Lake because of an earthquake in 1107. The survivors went east to inhabit Wieng–Prueksha, which later was the beginning of the Lan Na Kingdom and continued through the founding of Chiang Mai City at the end of the 13th century, while another group moved southward to settle in Chaliang (เชลียง) near the present-day Si Satchanalai. After Katae of Suphannabhumi died with no heir apparent in 1121, two brothers of the Vieng Chainarai dynasty of the collapsed Singhanavati, Soi La (สร้อยหล้า) and Phanom Thalesri (พนมทะเลศรี), moved south to possess the throne. Soi La was crowned U Thong I (พระยาอู่ทองที่ 1), and he then subsequently appointed his brother, who was considered the first king of the Chiang Rai dynasty in the royal annals of Ayutthaya, as the ruler of the mandatory city of Phetburi.

During this period, the King of Vieng Phang Kham (เวียงพางคำ, in the present-day Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai) also went south to the bank of the Ping River and founded the city of Tritrueng; however, his name is still unclarified. Princess in the King of Vieng Phang Kham named Sadieng Thong (สะเดียงทอง) was later married to Phanomwang (พนมวัง), the first prince in Phetburi's king, Phanom Thalesri. Phanomwang and the queen were later sent south to rule Nakhon Si Thammarat, and their son, Sri Maharacha (ศรีมหาราชา/พญาศรีธรรมโศกราช), was married to Son Sai (สนไส้/จันทรเทวีศรีรัตนฉายา), the princess of the following Tritrueng's king. Due to such royal intermarriage, Phanom Thalesri's lineage became more influential in the mandala than his brother's family, Soi La (U Thong I), whose descendants are rarely mentioned in the historical records. On the contrary, Phanom Thalesri's great-grandson, Uthong or Ramathibodi I, later became the first king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. However, some historical records indicates that King Ramathibodi I was the son of Lavo's princess, Sunantha Devi (สุนันทาเทวี), who married to the prince of Si Satchanalai, Boromaraja (พระบรมราชา). Theories regards Uthong's origin is still currently disputed.

Southward expansion: 9th-14th centuries CE
After the decline of the neighboring Tambralinga, Suphannabhumi, which became a tributary state of the Sukhothai Kingdom in the 13th century, began to extend its influence southward to the peninsular region. In the early stage, Tambralinga's former city of Sanfoshih (Chaiya), had become a part of Suphannabhumi, followed by Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1365, as recognized by Majapahit in the Old Javanese Desawarnana. However, it seems that Siamese people migrated to this region earlier around the 40s BCE, and intermarrige with other ethnicities such as Urak Lawoi, Maniq, Hindus, and Cham. Siamese also became the rulers of Ligor of Tambralinga after gaining independence from Srivijaya who has been lost power over the Malay peninsula since 897.

Siamese of Tambralinga also control the city of Pasi (ปาซี; present-day Banda Aceh) in the early 10th century. Majapahit attempted to take over the Pasi in 1295 but failed. Siamese lost Pasi around the 1400s after the southern Tambralinga centered Melaka converted to Islam and declared independence as Malacca Sultanate.

The greater mandalas of Siam – Lavo
Siamese Suphannabhumi strongly shared cultural and political perspectives with the Lavo Kingdom in the east Chao Phraya basin; sometimes they became rivals. According to the Northern Thai Chronicle, Lavo was attacked by Rampong Bandhit (r.1006–1046) of Mueang Uthong and became the Siamese's tributary state. This corresponded with Ellen London, who cited that Lavo began to resist the Angkorian control around the 11th–12th centuries.

Foundation of Ayutthaya
Suphannabhumi was reduced in importance and was completely incorporated into the Ayutthaya Kingdom at least during the reign of Borommarachathirat II around the mid-15th century.

Warfare

 * 1th-15th centuries: Attacked Malayu and Singapore

Royal intermarriage with other Monic states
After the old city of Suphannabhumi in the present-day Kanchanaburi province was seized by the king of Tambralinga, Jivaka or Suchitra (พระเจ้าชีวก/พระเจ้าสุชิตราช) who previously occupied the Lavo Kingdom following the 925–927 Wars of the Three Kings, two Suphannabhumi princes fled north; the older later became the king of Haripuñjaya and was titled Adityadhamikarat (อาทิตยธรรมิกราช; r. 1042–1048), while the younger prince, Chandrakumar (จันทรกุมาร), settled in Lampang. The Yonok Chronicle also mentions the intermarriage of two Suphannabhumi princesses, Kalaya Devi (กัลยาเทวี) and Sunanda Devi (สุนันทาเทวี) to the princes of Si Satchanalai, Thammaracha and Boromracha, who later became the rulers of the Lavo's Ayodhya during 1301-1310 and 1310-1344, respectively.