Anuraja

Anurāja (Thai: อนุราชา) was a Siamese monarch of the 12th century, recorded in the Ayutthaya Testimonies as the ruler of Mueang Phreak, whose political center was located at Sing Buri.^[1] At the age of 20, he ascended the throne by overthrowing his elder brother, Suryavamsa, at Chai Nat, and subsequently transferred the royal seat to the newly established city of Sing Buri,^[1] where he reigned for 35 years.^[2] The chronicle further records that Anurāja had two sons, Indrarāja (อินทราชา), also known as Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, born of his principal queen consort, Indrasujādevī (อินทสุชาเทวี),^[3] and another son Uthong I.^[b] According to the Dong Mè Nang Mưo’ng Inscription (K. 766), dated to 1167 CE,^[5] Sri Dharmasokaraja II may have assumed control over the Phraek Si Racha region,^{[6]: 36–9} an event that would mark the termination of Anurāja’s reign. After that, Sri Dharmasokaraja II lost the region in 1180 to a new dynasty, during which the polity was referred to by Chinese sources as Chen Li Fu.^[a]

The reign of Anurāja is recorded as being characterized by significant socio-political unrest. The sources indicate that he enacted the systematic confiscation of private wealth, imposed strict limitations on the accumulation of property by his subjects beyond legally prescribed thresholds, and levied augmented taxation, all while maintaining a conspicuously extravagant and ostentatious courtly lifestyle. In consequence of these measures and his conspicuous pursuit of material accumulation, he was posthumously ascribed the epithet Phra Chao Lop Mahasombat (พระเจ้าโลภมหาสมบัติ), conventionally translated as “the Monarch Avaricious for Wealth.”^[3]

However, the account exhibits a notable inconsistency concerning the royal succession. While the text explicitly identifies Indrarāja, also known as Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, as the son and legitimate heir of Anurāja,^[3] it simultaneously records that Anurāja was succeeded by a sequence of eight monarchs prior to his son’s accession. It is plausible that this line of eight rulers—of whom the source provides no further information beyond a nominal enumeration^[10]—may have belonged to a distinct polity bearing the same designation of Mueang Sing, specifically Jayasiṃhapurī (the Glorious City of Siṃhacode: lit promoted to code: lt ), identified with the site of the present-day Mueang Sing Historical Park and referenced in the Preah Khan Inscription (K.908).

According to Du Royaume de Siam and the Instructions Given to the Siamese Envoys Sent to Portugal (1684), during the early reign of King Anuraja, his elder son, Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, was reportedly transferred from Lavo to the northern region, where he was joined by his younger brother, Uthong I of Mueang Chaliang. The two princes subsequently advanced southward, during which the younger, Uthong I, is said to have ascended the vacant throne of Suphannaphum in 1163. Approximately six years later, around 1169, Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri is recorded to have succeeded a kinsman as ruler of Jayasimhapuri and later proceeded southward to re-establish the city of Phetchaburi in 1188. His heir, Uthong II, later acceded to the throne of Ayodhya in 1205, while Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri ultimately reclaimed his ancestral polity of Phraek Si Racha in 1225, appointing his preceptor as its governor.

Anuraja and his elder brother, Suryavamsa, were born to Suvaṇṇapabbata (สุวรรณบัพพตา), the second queen consort of King Srisimha. Upon the accession of Suryavamsa to the throne following the death of their half-brother Surindraraja—who had been born to Srisimha’s principal queen consort, Suchāvatīdevī (สุชาวดีเทวี)—the chronicles record that Anurāja became involved in an illicit relationship with his sister-in-law, Queen Padmavatī (ปทุมวดี).^[11] The two are said to have eloped, an act which provoked the wrath of King Suryavamsa, who subsequently ordered Anurāja’s arrest, though the attempt proved unsuccessful.^[12] Following his flight, Anurāja is described as having assembled military forces, launched a campaign against his elder brother, and ultimately usurped the throne. Thereafter, he established a new royal city named Siṃhapurī (Sing Buri) and designated it as the new capital, supplanting Chai Nat as the seat of power.^[1]

In the section of the Ayutthaya Testimonies pertaining to his reign, Anurāja is described as having had only one son, born to his principal queen consort, Indrasujādevī (อินทสุชาเทวี).^[1] This son, Indrarāja (อินทราชา), is identified with Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, as the political and migratory movements attributed to both figures correspond closely with one another.^[c] Nevertheless, a subsequent passage within the same source introduces an apparent contradiction by asserting that Indrarāja had a brother named Uthong (Uthong I), without specifying the identity of Uthong’s mother, thereby leaving the genealogical relationship and dynastic continuity ambiguous.^[4]

• Fine Arts Department, ed. (1968) [First published in Thai in 1912.]. Khamhaikan Chao Krung Kao Khamhaikan Khun Luang Ha Wat Lae Phra Ratcha Pongsawadarn Krung Kao Chabab Luang Luang Prasoet Aksorn คำให้การชาวกรุงเก่า คำให้การขุนหลวงหาวัด และ พระราชพงศาวดารกรุงเก่าฉบับหลวงประเสริฐอักษรนิติ์ [Testimony of the King Who Entered a Wat, Testimony of the Inhabitants of the Old Capital, and Royal Chronicle of the Old Capital: Luang Prasoet Aksorn Version] (PDF) (in Thai). Bangkok: Rung Rueang Tham. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2024.