Dvaravati

The civilization of Dvaravati flourished in the valley of the Chao Phraya River from about AD 400 to 900. It then came increasingly under the influence, and at times control, of the Kingdom of Angkor. The people spoke the Mon language, which is closely related to Khmer. There are many Iron Age settlements in this area that reveal increasing cultural complexity between 400 BC and AD 300. These include Ban Don Ta Phet, where rich burials contain a number of Indian imports. At Ban Tha Kae, the late prehistoric phase incorporates ceramics, gold beads, querns, and stamp seals similar to those from Oc Eo, the Funan city on the Mekong Delta. There is a continuous record for the transition from prehistory to the historic period of Dvaravati at the site of Chansen, where the second period of occupation included a notable ivory comb decorated with a goose, two horses, and Buddhist symbols dating probably to the first or second centuries AD (see Asia, South: Buddhist Archaeology). Although the documentary sources for Dvaravati are few, it is known that the scribes employed Sanskrit in their inscriptions, and that Buddhism was particularly favored but not to the exclusion of major Hindu deities.

The archaeology of Dvaravati is dominated by a series of large, moated cities of oval or subrectangular outline. The favored location involved a stream that fed the moats, just as in the later prehistoric Iron Age of the region. Excavations have often revealed the foundations of religious buildings in laterite and brick. These were coated in decorated stucco with Buddhist figures or symbols. The buildings were constructed to house relics or images of the Buddha. There are three geographic groups of centers, known as the Eastern, Central, and Western. It is not known whether there was an overall integration into a single kingdom, or a series of small, regional polities.

The major sites in the western group are strategically located on the flood plains of the Maeklong and Chao Phraya rivers. At that juncture, the sea level would have been slightly higher than at present, and there would have been less sedimentation. Large centers would then have been closer to the shore and able to participate in maritime trade. The principal sites in this group are Pong Tuk, U-Thong, Nakhon Pathom, and Ku Bua. The central region is dominated by the site of Lopburi, Ban Khu Muang, and Sri Thep, while the western group incorporates Muang Phra Rot, Dong Si Mahosod, and Dong Lakhon.

The few inscriptions of the Dvaravati civilization are important sources of information. Unlike the situation in Cambodia, where the actual names of the Funan and Chenla kingdoms have not survived, we know that the name of the Chao Phraya polity centered at Nakhon Pathom was Dvaravati, because two coins inscribed with the Sanskrit text “meritorious deeds of the King of Dvaravati’’ were found there. Six surface finds of coins from Muang Dongkorn also refer to the King of Dvaravati. Dvaravati means ‘‘which has gates,’’ perhaps referring to the gates giving access through the city walls. A mid-seventh-century inscription from the site of U-Thong reads ‘‘Sri Harshavarman, grandson of Ishanavarman, having expanded his sphere of glory, obtained the lion throne through regular succession.’’ The king had given meritorious gifts to a linga, and described his exalted ancestry and military achievements. A further text from Lopburi names Arshva, son of the King of Sambuka. Finally, a seventh-century inscription from Sri Thep records ‘‘In the year... a king who is nephew of the great King, who is the son of Pruthiveenadra-varman, and who is as great as Bhavavarman, who has renowned moral principles, who is powerful and the terror of his enemies, erects this inscription on ascending the throne.’’