Editing History of Thailand (section)

== Classical Thailand ==

=== Initial states ===
{{main|Initial states of Thailand|Peopling of Thailand}}

There are many sites in present-day Thailand dating to the Bronze (1500–500 BCE) and Iron Ages (500 BCE–500 CE). Areas comprising what is now Thailand participated in the Maritime Jade Road, as ascertained by archeological research. The trading network existed for 3,000 years, between 2000 BC and 1000 AD.<ref>Tsang, Cheng-hwa (2000), "Recent advances in the Iron Age archaeology of Taiwan", Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, 20: 153–158, doi:10.7152/bippa.v20i0.11751</ref><ref>Turton, M. (2021). Notes from central Taiwan: Our brother to the south. Taiwan's relations with the Philippines date back millennia, so it's a mystery that it's not the jewel in the crown of the New Southbound Policy. Taiwan Times.</ref><ref>Everington, K. (2017). Birthplace of Austronesians is Taiwan, capital was Taitung: Scholar. Taiwan News.</ref><ref>Bellwood, P., H. Hung, H., Lizuka, Y. (2011). Taiwan Jade in the Philippines: 3,000 Years of Trade and Long-distance Interaction. Semantic Scholar.</ref> The site of [[Ban Chiang]] (around [[Udon Thani Province]]) currently ranks as the earliest known center of [[copper]] and [[bronze]] production in Southeast Asia and has been dated to around 2,000 years BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Higham |first1=Charles |last2=Higham |first2=Thomas |last3=Ciarla |first3=Roberto |last4=Douka |first4=Katerina |last5=Kijngam |first5=Amphan |last6=Rispoli |first6=Fiorella |title=The Origins of the Bronze Age of Southeast Asia |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |date=10 December 2011 |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=227–274 |doi=10.1007/s10963-011-9054-6 |s2cid=162300712 }}</ref>

The oldest known records of a political entity in Indochina are attributed to [[Funan]]—centered in the Mekong Delta and comprising territories inside modern-day Thailand.<ref>{{cite web    |url=http://www.funan.de/culture1.php    |title=The Virtual Museum of Khmer Art – History of Funan – The Liang Shu account from Chinese Empirical Records    |publisher=Wintermeier collection    |access-date=10 February 2018    |archive-date=13 July 2015    |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713144007/http://www.funan.de/culture1.php    |url-status=live }}</ref> Chinese annals confirm Funan's existence as early as the first century CE. Archaeological documentation implies an extensive human settlement history since the fourth century BCE.<ref>{{cite web    |url=http://web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~nomura/m1.pdf    |title=State-Formation of Southeast Asia and the Regional Integration – "thalassocratic" state – Base of Power is in the control of a strategic points such as strait, bay, river mouth etc. river mouth etc.    |publisher=Keio University    |access-date=10 February 2018    |archive-date=4 March 2016    |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085818/http://web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~nomura/m1.pdf    |url-status=live }}</ref>

The region also hosted a number of indigenous [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic-speaking]] and [[Malayo-Sumbawan languages|Malayo-Sumbawan-speaking]] civilisations. However, little is known about Thailand before the 13th century, as literary and concrete sources are scarce, and most of the knowledge about this period is gleaned from archaeological evidence. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, starting with the Kingdom of Funan, around the first century, until the [[Khmer Empire]].<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/589625/Thailand/274233/History?anchor=ref509754 Thailand. History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006123348/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/589625/Thailand/274233/History?anchor=ref509754 |date=6 October 2014 }}. Encyclop?dia Britannica Online</ref> These "Indianised kingdoms" are composed of [[Dvaravati]], [[Srivijaya]], and the Khmer Empire.<ref name="ReferenceA">"Some Aspects of Asian History and Culture"  by Upendra Thakur p.157</ref> E. A. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Thailand from India at the time of the Indian emperor [[Ashoka]] of the [[Maurya Empire]] and into the first millennium.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Later, Thailand was influenced by the south Indian [[Pallava dynasty]] and north Indian [[Gupta Empire]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Central Thailand===
{{main|Dvaravati|Lavo Kingdom}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2/1|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| title = Dvaravati
| image1 = DvaravatiMapThailand.png|caption1=Territory of Dvaravati.
| image2 = Vishnu-khmer.jpg|caption2=Khmer period sculpture of [[Vishnu]] c. tenth century CE.
| image3 = Wat Dhammachaksemaram-HDR.jpg|caption3=A 13 meter long reclining Buddha, [[Nakhon Ratchasima]].
}}
The [[Chao Phraya River]] in what is now central Thailand had once been the home of the Mon Dvaravati culture, which prevailed from the seventh century to the tenth century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wyatt|2003|p=18}}</ref> Samuel Beal discovered the polity among the Chinese writings on Southeast Asia as "Duoluobodi". During the early 20th century, archaeological excavations led by [[George Coedès]] found [[Nakhon Pathom Province]] to be a centre of Dvaravati culture. The two most important sites were Nakorn Pathom and U Thong (in modern [[Suphan Buri Province]]). The inscriptions of Dvaravati were in Sanskrit and Mon using the script derived from the [[Pallava alphabet]] of the [[South India]]n Pallava dynasty.

It is believed that the Dvaravati borrowed [[Theravada|Theravada Buddhism]] through its contacts with Sri Lanka, while the ruling class participated in [[Hindu]] rites. [[Dvaravati art]], including the Buddha sculptures and [[stupa]]s, showed strong similarities to those of the [[Gupta Empire]] of India. The eastern parts of the Chao Phraya valley were subjected to a more Khmer and Hindu influence as the inscriptions are found in Khmer and Sanskrit.<ref>Brown, Robert L. (1996). ''The Dvaravati wheels of law and the Indianization of South East Asia''. Leiden: E.J.Brill</ref>

Dvaravati was a network of city-states paying tribute to more powerful ones according to the [[Mandala (Southeast Asian political model)|mandala political model]]. Dvaravati culture expanded into [[Isan]] as well as south as far as the [[Kra Isthmus]]. Dvaravati culture lost its influence around the tenth century when they submitted to the more unified Lavo-Khmer polity.

[[File:Wat Phra Prang Sam Yod-001.jpg|thumb|The Khmer temple of Wat Phra Prang Sam Yod, [[Lopburi]].]]
Around the tenth century, the city-states of Dvaravati merged into the mandalas of: [[Lavo]] (modern [[Lopburi]]) and [[Suvarnabhumi]] (modern [[Suphan Buri]]). According to a legend in the Northern Chronicles, in 903, a king of [[Tambralinga]] invaded and took Lavo and installed a Malay prince on the Lavo throne. The Malay prince was married to a Khmer princess who had fled an Angkorian dynastic bloodbath. The son of the couple contested the Khmer throne and became [[Suryavarman I]] (1006–1050), thus bringing Lavo under Khmer domination through marital union. Suryavarman I also expanded into the [[Khorat Plateau]] (later styled "Isan"), constructing many temples.

Suryavarman, however, had no male heirs and Lavo again became independent. After the death of King Narai of Lavo, the Lavo kingdom was plunged into a bloody civil war. The [[Khmer Empire]] under [[Suryavarman II]] took advantage by invading Lavo and installed his son as the King of Lavo. The repeated but discontinued Khmer domination eventually Khmerized Lavo. Lavo was transformed from a Theravadin Mon Dvaravati city into a [[Hindu]] Khmer one. Lavo became the [[entrepôt]] of Khmer culture and power of the Chao Phraya river basin. The bas-relief at [[Angkor Wat]] shows a Lavo army as one of the subordinates to Angkor. One interesting note is that a Tai army was shown as part of the Lavo army, a century before the establishment of the [[Sukhothai Kingdom]].

===Southern Thailand===
Malay civilisations dominated the area below the [[Kra Isthmus]]. Early Malay kingdoms are described as tributaries to [[Funan]] by second-century Chinese sources, though most of them proved to be tribal organisations instead of full-fledged kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jacq-Hergoualc'h|first1=Michael|title=The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk-Road (100 BC-1300 AD)|date=2002|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-11973-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a5rG6reWhloC|access-date=25 January 2017}}</ref> From the sixth century on, two major mandalas ruled southern Thailand, the Kanduli and [[Langkasuka]]. Kanduli centred on what is now [[Surat Thani Province]] and Langasuka in [[Pattani Province]].

Southern Thailand was the centre of [[Hinduism]] and [[Mahayana|Mahayana Buddhism]]. The 7th century Tang monk [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]] stopped at Langkasuka to study [[Pali]] grammar and Mahayana during his journey to India. At that time, the kingdoms of Southern Thailand quickly fell under the influences of the Malay kingdom of [[Srivijaya]] from [[Sumatra]]. The Tamil King [[Rajendra Chola I]] of the [[Chola dynasty]] invaded [[Tambralinga]] in the 11th century.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Paine|first1=Lincoln|title=The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World|date=2013|publisher=Knopf Doubleday|location=New York|isbn=978-0-307-96225-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djsi3nve26MC|access-date=25 January 2017}}</ref>{{RP|866}}

===Northern Thailand===
{{main|Hariphunchai}}

[[File:Wat-Kukut-Lamphun-3.jpg|thumb|150px|left|A Buddha from Wat Kukkut, [[Lamphun]]]]
According to the ''[[Cāmadevivaṃsa]]'', the city of [[Hariphunchai]] (modern [[Lamphun]]) was founded by [[hermit]]s. [[Camadevi]], a princess of the [[Lavo Kingdom]], was invited to rule the city around 700.{{clarify|date=June 2015}} Hariphunchai may be a later (10th century) offshoot of the Lavo Kingdom or instead related to the [[Thaton Kingdom]].

Hariphunchai was the centre of Theravada in the north. The kingdom flourished during the reign of King Attayawong who built [[Wat Phra That Hariphunchai]] in 1108. The kingdom had strong relations with the Mon Kingdom of Thaton. During the 11th century, Hariphunchai waged lengthy wars with the Tai [[Ngoenyang]] Kingdom of Chiang Saen. Weakened by Tai invasions, Hariphunchai eventually fell in 1293 to [[Mangrai]], king of [[Lan Na]], the successor state of the Ngoenyang Kingdom.