Far East Kingdoms

Tambralinga (Malays)
c.AD 100s - c.1279
Incorporating Ji-lan-dan, Pan-pan, & Ri-luo-ting

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Modern Thailand occupies much of the Indochinese peninsula in South-East Asia. It is bordered by Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Burma. From the twelfth century onwards Thais expanded outwards, predominantly southwards into the Malay-Thai peninsula. State-building swiftly followed in Early Thailand to create a patchwork of kingdoms and minor principalities.

Tambralinga, a name which can also be referenced as Tambaliṇgu or Tambaraṭṭha, was an early, small Thai state which occupied the central part of the isthmus of Kra in what is now southern Thailand, to the north of Langasaka. To the east lay the South China Sea. Rivers and walking trails through the western mountains connected this state to the Bay of Bengal. It was Hindu state but, when succeeded by Nakhon Si Thammarat, it became a Theravāda Buddhist area.

The state's full extent in its earliest stages is not known, but its heartland lay along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, from Phlai Dam mountain and the modern Sichon district in the north to the River Sao Thong in what is now Pak Phanang district in the south. To the west was the Nakhon mountain range.

The name Tambralinga can be translated as 'land of copper', or 'the red earth kingdom', or 'the red Siva linga', or even 'the copper Siva linga', with 'linga' meaning 'land, kingdom', and 'Siva' reflecting the prominence of Sivaism. The earliest Indian records of the second century AD call it 'Tamali'. The final Chinese recording of it, from 1351, uses the term 'Dan-maling'.

Archaeological evidence indicates that the area's earliest inhabitants lived in the mountains in the Mesolithic period between about 10,000-3000 BC. Coastal areas were definitely settled during the Neolithic period between about 3000-700 BC. The region's Iron Age occurred between 700 BC and AD 400, as evidenced by Dong Son bronze drums. People in the area created fishing communities and engaged in trade.

Tambralinga is first mentioned in Indian records in the second or third century AD. Indian merchants voyaged there. It dominated the region from the fifth century, by which time it had developed a state structure, to the twelfth century. Indeed, twelfth century Tambralinga was the most powerful state in the peninsula.

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(Information by John De Cleene, with additional information from the John De Cleene Archive, from Early Mainland Southeast Asia, C Higham (River Books Co, 2014), from Encyclopaedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations, Charles F W Higham (Facts on File, 2004), from Historical Atlas of the World, R R Palmer (Ed) (Rand McNally & Company, 1963), from A History of Thailand, Chris Baker & Pasuk Phongpaichit (2005), from Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopaedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Keat Gin Ooi (ABC-Clio, 2004), and from External Links: Archaeology and Cultural Geography of Tambralinga in Peninsular Siam, Wannasarn Noonsuk (Cornell University, 2012, available via Cornell University Library), and The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, George Coedès (Walter F Vella (Ed), Susan Brown Cowing (Trans), University of Hawaii Press, 1968, and available online via the Internet Archive), and Thailand (World Statesmen), and The Urban Development in Nakhon Si Thammarat (Peninsular Thailand) Based on Preliminary Results of Excavations, Wannasarn Noonsuk (Bulletin de 'l'École française d'Extrême-Orient, 2012-2013, available via JSTOR).)

AD 100s- 200s

Following the end of the Dong Son culture, a state exists in Tambralinga. Nothing is known about its specific political structure or any of its rulers. The area around Tambralinga is one of many points along trade routes between the Roman empire and the Han.

5th century

Archaeological evidence reveals the existence of images of Vishnu in Tambralinga, and the kingdom is a trade centre as well as a source of cultural innovation in South-East Asia.

8th century

The practice of pilgrimages which common in Hinduism has by now spread to Tambralinga and has helped to unify the state. Hinduism and Buddhism both have been practiced since at least the sixth century.

This aerial view shows the Kra Isthmus, the narrowest point of the Malayan peninsula and home to an early Iron Age kingdom known as Tambralinga

800s - 1200s

A Tamil-speaking people inhabits the kingdom, the result of the presence of southern Indian merchants. They promulgate a law against the taking of lives which has been proposed by one Dharmasenapati (possibly the minister of law).

early 1000s

Possible ruler. Invaded to try to gain Khmer throne.

1001 - 1011

Following the death of Khmer ruler Jayavarman V, a ten-year period of civil war erupts between rival fiefdoms. One Jayaviravarman is involved, ruling briefly from Angkor, and potentially originating in Tambralinga. Finally, in 1011, Suryavarman I triumphs and ascends the throne. His accession ends the warring.

1196

The Dao-y-za-zhi, a Chinese record which is written in the 1270s, reports that Tambralinga is sending tribute to the Song of China who, since 1127, have ruled only the south of their country.

Emperor Huizong was the eighth of the Northern Song emperors and the most artistically accomplished of his imperial line

1226

A Chinese record in 1226 mentions Tambralinga's king (translated literally as 'minister of state') as being dependent upon the state of Srivijaya. A kingdom which is known as Ri-luo-ting is within the control of Tambralinga.

fl c.1230 - 1262

Invaded Sri Lanka. Died in second attempt to capture it.

1230

Candrabhānu is described as king of Tambaliṇgu by Sri Lankan chronicles. He invades the kingdom of Dambadeniya in Sri Lanka during the reign of the latter's King Parakrambahu II (1236-1270).

Candrabhānu is seeking Buddhist relics from the land which South-East Asians regard as being especially holy. He fails, but later obtains those relics through diplomacy, thanks to the help of the king of Sukhothai (Ramakhamhaeng).

Candrabhānu has the honorary title of Śrī Dharmarāja, from which the name of Tambralinga's successor kingdom is possibly derived: Nakhon Si Thammarat. The name is also given to the dynasty he founds, the Sri Dharmasoka or Si Thammasok, which rules until the state falls.

A good deal of information about the state of Sukhothai under the rule of Rama 'the Great' is contained on an inscribed stone stele which was discovered at the Wat Mahathat temple in Sukhothai Historical Park

late 1200s

Tambralinga has control over other countries on the Malay peninsula according to the Chinese-authored Da-de-nan-hai-zhi of 1304. These include Ri-luo-ting, Langasaka, Phatthalung (?), Ji-lan-dan, Terengganu, and Pahang.

1262 - ?

Founded the city of Phra Wiang.

c.1279

Nakhon Si Thammarat, or Ligor, as it is known at this point, succeeds the Tambralinga kingdom. That latter name remains in circulation, often being used instead of the new name. By now, the state is part of Sukhothai.

1351

The Chinese Duo-yi-zhi-lu of 1351 makes the last Chinese reference to Tambralinga, noting that Ayutthaya has now displaced Tambralinga as the controlling power in the region. Tambralinga itself is now firmly embedded as Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Ayutthaya took on influences from many external players, including Sukhothai and the Khmer, as well as China, Japan and - later - several European countries, with that influence being seen in Wat Chaiwatthanaram