Sri Dharmasokaraja II

Sri Dharmasokaraja II (Thai: ศรีธรรมโศกราชที่ 2), also known by the alternative names Narapati (พญานรบดี)^[1]: 7 and Chandrabhanu I (จันทรภาณุที่ 1), was a 12th‑century monarch attested in both epigraphic and literary sources, most notably the Pali–Khmer–Thai Dong Mè Nang Mưo’ng Inscription (K. 766)^[2] and the Legend of Nakhon Si Thammarat.^{[3]: 36–43} These sources portray him as the ruler of the Lavo–Tambralinga polity during a period of intensified political competition between regional centers of the Chao Phraya basin and the expanding Angkor.^{[3]: 36–43}

The reign of Sri Dharmasokaraja II is characterized by a temporary reassertion of authority over Lavo and the lower Menam basin in the mid-12th century,^[a] followed by the loss of Lavo under Angkorian pressure during the reign of Jayavarman VII.^[3]: 39 In response, he consolidated Tambralinga as his principal political center, from which the kingdom continued to exercise religious patronage and maintain diplomatic relations, including tribute missions to China.^[3]: 40 His rule also coincided with regional conflicts and negotiated alliances involving other contemporary dynasties, contributing to the reconfiguration of power that preceded later political formations in southern and central Thailand.^[3]: 41 He died in 1183 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Sri Dharmasokaraja III (Chandrabhanu II).^[3]: 41

Sri Dharmasokaraja II appears to have ascended the throne around 1157.^[3]: 41 His reign is attested most clearly in the Dong Mè Nang Mưo’ng Inscription (K. 766),^[2] dated to 1167/68,^[3]: 38 which indicates that by this time he had regained or reaffirmed authority over Lavo and the lower Menam basin. The northernmost limit of his recognized power extended to Dong Mae Nang Mueang (ดงแม่นางเมือง) in the present-day Banphot Phisai district.^[3]: 40 The inscription records his order to a subordinate local ruler, King Sunat (สุนัต), to donate rice fields for the veneration of the Buddha's relics, illustrating the interrelationship between royal authority, local governance, and Buddhist patronage.^[2]

Narrative traditions preserved in the Legend of Phatthalung suggest that by circa 1180 Sri Dharmasokaraja II was ruling from a city other than Nakhon Si Thammarat, potentially Lavo.^[3]: 48

Around 1180,^[a] Sri Dharmasokaraja II appears to have lost effective control over Lavo, a development commonly attributed to increasing political and military pressure from the Angkorian king Jayavarman VII (r. 1181–1218).^[3]: 39 This intervention followed earlier attempts by Lavo to assert autonomy, including the dispatch of a tributary mission to a royal court in 1155.^[4]: 19 In the aftermath of Angkorian intervention, Jayavarman VII installed his son Nripendravarman—later enthroned as Indravarman II—as ruler of Lavo, thereby terminating Sri Dharmasokaraja II's authority in the region.^[3]: 39 The year in which Sri Dharmasokaraja II lost control of Lavo also appears to correspond with the emergence of a new dynasty, likely bearing dynastic connections to the Mahidharapura clan of Angkor, which conquered the Phraek Si Racha region and re-established it as Chen Li Fu.^{[5]: 20–3}

This period coincided with wider population movements and dynastic realignments in the Chao Phraya basin. The temporary restoration of Lavo under Sri Dharmasokaraja II corresponds chronologically with the northward movement of a Xiū Luó Fēn prince identified in later traditions as Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, who migrated from Tasoo Nacora Louang or Yassouttora Nacoora Louang, potentially Lavo, toward the Sukhothai–Nakhon Thai area.^{[6][7]: 127} Subsequent accounts record that this ruler and his brother, Uthong I, later shifted southward and established authority in the western Menam basin.^{[8]: 46 [9]: 61}

In the same year that Angkorian forces displaced him from Lavo, Sri Dharmasokaraja II is recorded to have engaged in territorial conflict with Phichaithep Chiang Saen (พิชัยเทพเชียงแสน), a figure frequently equated with Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, ruler of Phrip Phri, father of Uthong II of Ayodhya, and a predecessor at Lavo. The conflict arose from competing attempts to expand influence southward, possibly as far as regions below the Kra Isthmus. It ultimately concluded through negotiation rather than prolonged warfare, resulting in an alliance between the two royal houses.^[3]: 41

Following the loss of Lavo, Sri Dharmasokaraja II established Tambralinga as his chief political center. From this base, the kingdom continued to participate in transregional diplomatic networks, as evidenced by the dispatch of a tributary mission to China in 1168.^[3]: 40 This act underscores Tambralinga's integration into wider maritime and diplomatic systems linking mainland Southeast Asia with East Asia.

Sri Dharmasokaraja II died in 1183. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Sri Dharmasokaraja III, also known as Chandrabhanu II, who inherited a polity reshaped by Angkorian intervention, regional conflicts, and the consolidation of Tambralinga as the dominant center of power.^[3]: 41