Si Inthrathit

Si Inthrathit (Thai: ศรีอินทราทิตย์, pronounced [sǐː ʔīn.tʰrāː.tʰít]; also spelt Śrī Indrāditya) was the first king of the Sukhothai Kingdom, a historical polity in what is now Thailand. He reigned from 1238 until around 1270 and is credited as the founder of the Phra Ruang dynasty, regarded as the first historical Siamese dynasty. His dynasty holds a dual claim to this distinction—having originated in the very region later designated by foreigners as "Siam", and for being the royal house that liberated the Thai principalities from the Khmer Empire.^[2]

Si Inthrathit ศรีอินทราทิตย์
Khun[1]
Statue of Si Inthrathit, Sawankhalok District, Sukhothai Province, Thailand
King of Sukhothai
Reign	1238–1270
Predecessor	Khom Sabat Khlon Lamphong
Successor	Ban Mueang
Born	Bang Klang Hao c. 1188 Mueang Rat
Died	1270 (aged 81–82) Sukhothai Kingdom
Spouse	Sueang
Issue	Ban Mueang Ram Khamhaeng the Great Three other children
Regnal name Kamonteng Ansi Inthrabodinthrathit
House	Phra Ruang
Father	Chantha Racha
Mother	Nang Nak
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Difficulties in interpretation

Initially known as Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao (Thai: พ่อขุนบางกลางหาว), interpreted as ”the lord who rules the sky”, the controversy surrounding this names illustrates the limitations of epigraphy. This science studies inscriptions or epigraphs as writing, to identify graphemes, clarify their meanings, and classify their uses according to dates and cultural contexts. Texts inscribed on steles are often missing the top or bottom portions, just where one would expect dates, complicating the drawing of conclusions about the writing and the writers. Specifically excluded from epigraphy are the historical significance of an epigraph as a document, and the artistic value of a literary composition. These complications led to the ruler in his early life being known as simply Hao (หาว).^{[citation needed]}

Biography

Origin

Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao was born to Sirisudhārājadevī (สิริสุธาราชเทวี), a queen consort of Candraraja,^{[3]: 15 [4]} who relocated the seat from Kamphaeng Phet to Sukhothai.^[3] The Ayutthaya Testimonies delineates his dynasty as the descendants of King Phatumsuriyawong,^[3] whom certain historians have identified with the Khmer monarch Suryavarman II.^[5] However, such an assumption appears chronologically inconsistent when juxtaposed with the genealogical account of an early Siamese royal line that ruled Xiū Luó Fēn, situated in the Phraek Si Racha region. The first monarch of this lineage, Visnuraja, who likewise claimed descent from King Phatumsuriyawong,^{[3]: 37–8} is recorded to have been born in 950 CE.^[a] This temporal discrepancy therefore suggests that King Phatumsuriyawong could not have been identical with the Angkorian Suryavarman II, whose reign extended from 1113 to 1150 CE.

Polical legacy

Before the late 12th century, the Menam River basin comprised several independent polities, among which Xiū Luó Fēn,^{[6]: 22 [7][8]} centered at Phraek Si Racha, held regional prominence.^[b] This polity maintained its autonomy through successive generations and traced its lineage to the ancient house of Phatumsuriyawong.^{[3]: 37–8} In the late 12th century, the Angkorian Empire expanded northward under the Mahidharapura dynasty, reasserting its authority over Lavo and extending control into the central basin.^[11] By 1180 CE, the domain of Xiū Luó Fēn had come under a new royal house that may have been connected to Angkor and was re-established as Chen Li Fu.^{[12]: 18 [13]} During this period, Candraraja, a descendant of the Xiū Luó Fēn line and father of Si Inthrathit, ruled at Kamphaeng Phet before transferring the royal seat to Sukhothai.^[3]: 11

Initially, Candraraja continued to pay tribute to Angkor, but under Si Inthrathit’s direction, the payments ceased^{[3]: 15–6} in response to Khmer control and its prohibitive taxes.^[14] This led to armed conflict between Sukhothai and Angkor, in which Si Inthrathit commanded the Sukhothai forces to victory. The outcome ended approximately two decades of Angkorian domination and marked the restoration of Sukhothai’s independence.^{[3]: 15–6} Concurrently, the short-lived polity of Chen Li Fu, centered at Phraek Si Racha,^{[13]: 20–1} regained autonomy and dispatched a tributary mission to the Chinese court in 1200 CE, indicating the broader decline of Angkorian influence in the region.^{[15]: 3 [16]: 20}

Following this triumph, Si Intharathit was appointed to govern Mueang Bang Yang, located in the present-day Nakhon Thai district,^[17] which had previously served as the power base of his kinsman, Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri.^[18] During his tenure there, Si Intharathit was potentially supported by Tai Yuan refugees who had fled to the region following the fall of Yonok.^[19]: 30 He also married Nang Sueang [th], a Tai Lueang (ไทเลือง) princess and daughter of Sri Naw Nam Thum, the ruler of Mueang Rat (เมืองราด), situated in modern Lom Sak district, to the east of Mueang Bang Yang.^[20] The Tai Lueang polity subsequently expanded its sphere of influence into Mueang Chaliang, which had been under the mixed Monic–Chinese Haripuñjaya dynasty, during the waning reign of Rajadhiraj II in the early 13th century.^{[21]: 15–6 [22]}

After consolidating control over Mueang Chaliang, the Tai Lueang monarchs, led by Sri Naw Nam Thum and his son Pha Mueang, extended their dominion southward toward Sukhothai in 1219,^{[23]: 4 [24]} overthrowing the Mon ruler E Daeng Phloeng.^[25]: 115 However, the remnants of the older Monic aristocracy, led by Khom Sabat Khlon Lamphong, staged a successful revolt, reclaiming control of Sukhothai.^[26] In response, a coalition of Siamese forces led by a local chieftain, Bang Klang Hao—later known as Si Intharathit—recaptured the city and re-established it as an autonomous Siamese polity in 1238. Si Intharathit was militarily aided by his brother-in-law, Pha Mueang, a son of Sri Naw Nam Thum.^{[27]: 195–196} Pha Mueang was given Mueang Chaliang following this event.^[28]

Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao was then declared king at Sukhothai, taking a regnal name of Sanskrit origin, Si Inthrathit, translated from Adityan Indra.^[29] His skill and bravery greatly impressed the people of the kingdom, who thus conferred him the title Phra Ruang (glorious prince). This title was given to all subsequent rulers of Sukhothai, thus giving rise to the first Thai royal dynasty of Phra Ruang.^[30]

Si Inthrathit and his queen, Sueang, had three sons. The eldest died at a young age, and the second was named Ban Mueang. His third son defeated a Khmer prince on elephants in mounted combat; he named this youngest son Ram Khamhaeng (Rama the Bold) in tribute to the feat.^[31] Si Inthrathit died around 1270, and was succeeded by his son Ban Mueang.^[14]

Notes

1. The reigns of the monarchs belonging to this lineage were retroactively reconstructed on the basis of the documented accession date of a later ruler, Fang-hui-chih, who governed Chen Li Fu—a polity likewise centered in the Phraek Si Racha region—from 1180 to 1204 CE, as attested in contemporary Chinese sources.
2. As per the map of Dvaravati kingdoms by K. M. Mudar,^[9]: 4 Nakhon Pathom region corresponded to Dvaravati's Kamalanka or later Ge Luo She Fen; the Lopburi and Prachinburi regions formed the Lavo Kingdom; the Suphanburi region was identified as She Ba Ruo (舍跋若),^[10]: 30 and the Si Thep region as Qiān Zhī Fú.^[10]: 30 Therefore, Xiū Luó Fēn potentially was likely located in the only remaining area with a significant number of ancient Dvaravati settlements — the Phraek Si Racha or Chai Nat region.