Phrip Phri

Phrip Phri () or Srijayavajrapuri, later known as Phetchaburi, was a Xiān political entity located on the west coast of the Bay of Bangkok, lower central Thailand. It was established in the 12th century by a royal Pprappanom Tteleiseri from Soucouttae/Locontàï. Previously, the city was a maritime-oriented port on the ancient trade route between India and China during the Dvaravati period, but was abandoned around the 11th century following the decline of the Dvaravati civilization.

In the 12th century, Phrip Phri was possibly under Lavo's Ayodhya since several royals from Ayodhya were appointed the rulers of Phrip Phri, as mentioned in local chronicles and legends. It then became the vassal of the emerging Siamese Sukhothai and later formed part of the Ayutthaya kingdom in 1351, which made it functioned as a significant fortified frontier of Ayutthaya.

History

Early settlements

Human settlement in Phetchaburi dates back to the prehistoric era, according to archaeological evidence found in caves and rock shelters, such as Ban Nong Fab in the west of Tha Yang district, and Tham Fa Tho in Mueang district. Several settlements dating to the Metal Age in the late prehistoric period have been discovered on the plains and coastal area. Prominent archaeological sites from the Iron Age include Ban Khok Phrik, an ancient community established on a large hummock along the coastline in Khung Krathin sub-district, Mueang district, Ratchaburi.
This community performed burial rituals, established relationships with other communities at important regional mineral sites, and had maritime connections with faraway communities for bartering foreign goods.

Dvaravati period: 6th–11th centuries

Although no traces of Dvaravati-style communities have been found in the Phetchaburi River basin, many historic sites and artifacts dating to the Dvaravati Period (6th-11th centuries), including Buddha statues and sculptures of the Wheel of Dhamma, were found scattered in the area. In Ban Lat district, traces of buildings and stone statues were recovered at Ban Nong Phra and pieces of earthenware, moulds of Buddha statues and glass beads in Noen Pho Yai. Traces of human settlement and historic sites were found near Khao Krajiew of Tha Yang district, while ruins of a large religious building were uncovered in Thung Setthi, Cha-am district. Trade ties with other communities in faraway lands from the late Metal Age onwards contributed to the formation of large communities on fertile alluvial plains. These components made the location suitable for cultivation and settlement, as evidenced by archaeological sites and religious monuments from the Dvaravati period.

Phrip Phri of the Xiān: 12th–13th centuries

Formation

There is no clear evidence to confirm the year of the establishment of Phrip Phri. However, the base of main stupa is made of large bricks in the Dvaravati art style, the pagoda is in the , and several temples that has a large red sandstone Buddha statue in the pre-Ayutthaya U Thong Style, given such evidence, Phrip Phri must have been founded before the Ayutthaya period - possibly when Buddhism spread from Ceylon via the southern city of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

According to the ''Instructions Given to the Siamese Envoys Sent to Portugal'' composed in 1684, Phrip Phri was built in 1157/58 by King Sommedethia Pprappanom Tteleiseri Maahesa Vorauaarintti Raacha Boppitra () from Soucouttae ( Sukhothai). The kingdom had four kings who reigned for 163 years. The last king, Sommedethia Praa Raamaattibodi Bopptra (, or Uthong V), then founded the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351. This conforms with the . Legend of Nakhon Si Thammarat (in Thai) In contrast, Du Royaume de Siam of Simon de la Loubère cites Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri (), the King of Locontàï ( Nakhon Thai), who ascended to the throne in 1188, was the founder of Phrip Phri. Some believed the house of Pprappanom Tteleiseri which ruled Lavo's Ayodhya and Phrip Phri was the Mon, and the rivalry, house of Suphannabhum, was the Tai, but A. B. Griswold proposed that the house of Suphannabhum was perhaps more Mon or Khmer, and another was definitely Tai.

To the north, the Legend of Singhanavati mentions the movement of Chaiyasiri, a Tai royal of the Singhanavati clan, to found Nakhon Thai in the 6th century, and several Thai scholars propose that Pprappanom Tteleiseri was the descendant of the legendary Phrom, who was the father of Chaiyasiri. Because of that, the house of Singhanavati at Nakhon Thai might have established royal intermarriage with the Mon dynasty in the area since another lineage of Pprappanom Tteleiseri was said to be from Yassouttora Nacoora Louang, which equated to Yaśodharapura of Angkor, or ฺTasoo Nacora Louang (), as cited in the Du Royaume de Siam. However, the exact time mentioned in the Legend of Singhanavati remains controversial.

The following shows the movement of Siamese dynasties before the traditional foundation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, based on the texts provided in the ''1684 Instructions Given to the Siamese Envoys Sent to Portugal'', ''Voyage de Siam'' of Guy Tachard, and the '' Du Royaume de Siam'' of Simon de la Loubère.

Together with several cities in the west-central Thailand, the town of Phetchaburi was mentioned as ''Srijayavajrapuri'' in the Jayavarman VII inscription (Preah Khan inscription), which was engraved by his son Veerakumar (), but the texts do not provide any political exercise among them, only subjugating of some little former Angkorian ally states were mentioned, such as ''Ts'an-pan'' in the south of the present-day Battambang Province. However, some Bayon-style architectures, which were limited to the Jayavarman VII era, were found, such as 's shrine. During this era, both Phetchaburi and its sister city, Ratchaburi, might have functioned as port cities that connected several far-off communities.

Territory disputed between Ayodhya's Phetchaburi led by Phichaithep Chiang Saen or Uthong (, Father of Ayodhya's king Uthong II) and Sri Thammasokaraj II of Tambralinga was recorded in 1196. However, the conflict ended with the negotiation, and political economy relations between these two polities were also established. The relations bore fruit in the early 14th century when Tambralinga was revived by Phetchaburi princes after it collapsed due to the invasion of Singhasari and the spread of plague. Moreover, it was mentioned in the Nakhòn Si Thammarat chronicle that King Mahesvastidrādhirājakṣatriya of Phrip Phri expanded his territory northward to Phraek Si Racha (in present-day Chai Nat) in 1204 and sent his praeceptor to govern. The area he conquered also encompassed the proposed region of Chen Li Fu.

Phrip Phri – China relations

After the formation of Phrip Phri in the late 12th century, Phrip Phri then engaged in trading with China. The trade with China was prosperous, and the Phrip Phri's King also married Chandradevi (), a Chinese princess who was born to the Chinese Emperor and the Champa queen, as mentioned in the . During this period, there was a record in the British Museum version of the on Lavo's Ayodhya side that the King of Kampoch (Ayodhya), potentially King Dhammikaraja who reigned from 1165–1205, died with no male heir, the nobles then offered the throned to a plutocrat Uthong II, who then relocated the city to the south due to the endemics. This conforms to the text given in the that says the son of a Chinese mercenary named Uthong became the new ruler of Ayodhya. Thus, Uthong II was potentially the son of Pprappanom Tteleiseri, who was born to a Chinese queen. However, a Thai journalist, Sujit Wongthes, proposed that Uthong II was the rightful son of King Dhammikaraja. This clan continued to rule Ayodhya until their descendant, Uthong V, united all polities in the lower Chao Phraya River valley to form the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351. It was speculated that Uthong V married a Chinese princess named Pacham Thong. Intermarriages between Siamese kings and Chinese princesses also occurred earlier in the Sukhothai and Lavo's Ayodhya period.

In 1293, the Chinese court dispatched emissaries to persuade Xiān to submit. but was refused. It is recorded that an imperial order was issued again to summon and persuade the king of ''Xian'' in 1294. Due to such a persistent persuasion, the king of Xiān named ''Gan-mu-ding'' (Kamrateng, ) from (; present Phetchaburi) personally appeared at the Chinese court to present the tribute with a golden plate in 1295. This potentially specifies that Xiān mentioned in the records was centered in the present Phetchaburi during the late 13th to the early 14th centuris.

According to the king's title, ''Gan-mu-ding'', the Khmer title given to the city ruler, Phrip Phri was not a fully independent polity during that period. Chinese text identifies Phrip Phri as ''Chéng'' () which means ''city'' or ''city-state'', not ''Guó'' (, ). From 1280s–1290s, Phrip Phri was listed as one of the vassal of the Sukhothai Kingdom. Moreover, several chronicles and legends also show the dynastic relations between Phrip Phri and Lavo's Ayodhya (also known as Xiān), which was ruled by the Lavo (Uthong) dynasty that was previously more often in touch with the Angkorean than other regions in the Siam proper. The dynasty might have received the Ankorian norms of titling their local rulers.

The following shows the royal connection between the Chinese dynasty and local dynasties in the lower Chao Phraya River Valley, along with the two disputed theories of the origins of Uthong II, king of Lavo's Ayodhya, who reigned from 1205 to 1253.

Formation of Ayutthaya Kingdom: 14th century

Several sources, such as the ''Instructions Given to the Siamese Envoys Sent to Portugal'', ''Ayutthaya Chronicle'' of Jeremias van Vliet, and the '' Du Royaume de Siam'' of Simon de la Loubère, state that the first king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Uthong V, was once the king of Phrip Phri, which was ruled by the same dynasty for 4 generations. During his reign in Phrip Phri, he married the only Suphannaphum princess, which made him also the King of Suphannaphum. After he was offered the throne at Lavo's Ayodhya in 1351, all four polities he ruled—Suphannaphum, Phrip Phri, Lavo, and Ayodhya—''de facto'' united, which marks the formation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

Following the traditional formation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351, Phrip Phri was dissolved and became the cities directly under the control of Ayutthaya. Phrip Phri which later known as Phetchaburi, together with its sister city, Ratchaburi, took on a crucial role in this era: Ratchaburi was a major border town to against the invasion of Burma, and artistic evidence discovered there shows some relation to Ayutthaya art, for instance, the main sanctuary of Wat Mahathatworawihan, while Phetchaburi was a hub that linked cities in the Chao Phraya River basin with coastal cities in the south and was also an important port city where merchant vessels lay at anchor before sailing to the capital or major southern cities. These significant roles of the two cities lasted until the Rattanakosin period.

Rulers

Notes

References

Further reading

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