Shridravya

Shridravya (Thai: ศรีทรัพย์) is introduced in a local fable of Miang kham as a legendary monarch who is said to have ruled Nakhon Pathom during the 7th century. His narrative, however, is transmitted in a highly fragmentary and confused manner. Rather than being preserved as an independent tradition, the story of Shridravya is disorderly interwoven with that of a much later figure, the 9th-century ruler Phraya Pan (พระยาพาน), within the legend of Phraya Pan Kong – Phraya Pan [th]. This conflation renders the historical plausibility of Shridravya uncertain. Yet, the tale nonetheless conveys a dynastic relation: it recounts that the king of Chenla sought reconciliation by offering his daughter in marriage to Shridravya, who thereafter assumed the throne of Dvaravati's Nakhon Pathom.^[1]

Shridravya ศรีทรัพย์
King of Takkasila
King of Dvaravati's Kamalanka
Reign	?–687?
Predecessor	Anuruddha
Successor	Sai Thong Som
Born	Nakhon Pathom
Died	687 Nakhon Pathom
Father	Anuruddha

Evidence for the persistence of monarchical authority in Nakhon Pathom following the relocation of the royal seat to Lavapura in Lavo under Kalavarnadisharaja in 648 is found in The Legend of the Arhat (ตำนานนิทานพระอรหันต์; Tamnan Nithan Phra Arahant), compiled by Aung Wailamlang (อ่อง ไวกำลัง). According to this account, Balidhiraja, son of Kalavarnadisharaja, overthrew Indraraja Jayadhiraja (อินทราชาไชยธิราช) at Sukhothai in 687 and subsequently advanced southward to depose the ruler of Nakhon Pathom, installing his younger son, Sai Thong Som (ใสทองสม), as sovereign.^[2]: 3–4 Within this framework, should Shridravya indeed have held kingship at Nakhon Pathom, his reign would most plausibly be situated in the interval between Anuruddha who reigned after Kalavarnadisharaja’s transfer to Lavo in 648 and Balidhiraja’s campaign of 687. The fable also intimates a possible dynastic succession at Nakhon Pathom during this period: first, Cakranarayana (จักรนารายณ์), identified as the brother of a preceding monarch; and subsequently Shridravya, who is described not as Cakranarayana’s son but rather as the son of the earlier ruler.^[1][a]

Chinese historical records, particularly the Tongdian, mention Qi-zhang-mo as a ruler of the Tou-he kingdom (identified with Dvaravati) who reigned after Pu-xie-qi-yao of the Tou-he-luo dynasty, although the chronology is not explicit and one or more rulers may have intervened between them. Qi-zhang-mo is further described as lacking a dynastic affiliation, and his identification with rulers preserved in local sources remains inconclusive.^[3]: 132 Nevertheless, the Tongdian records that Dvaravati, under the designation Tou-he, dispatched tributary missions to the Tang court in 649 CE during the reign of the Emperor Taizong.^{[3]: 132–3}

Notes

1. Since the ruler of Nakhon Pathom prior to Cakranarayana was evidently Anuruddha—although local tradition attributes this role to Phraya Pan, who in fact governed the polity later in the 9th century—it is therefore plausible that Shridravya was the son of Anuruddha.