Nakhon Si Thammarat
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Nakhon Si Thammarat (नाखोनश्रीधम्मरत) is a city (thesaban nakhon) , capital of the Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and the Nakhon Si Thammarat District in southern Thailand.
Variants
- Nakhonashridhammarata (नाखोनश्रीधम्मरत), मलाया, (AS, p.483)
- Thai: นครศรีธรรมราช, pronounced [ná(ʔ).kʰɔ̄ːn sǐː tʰām.má.râːt];
- Pali: Nagara Sri Dhammaraja
- Ligor (लिगोर) (AS, p.422), (AS, p.483)
Location
It is about 610 km south of Bangkok, on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. The city was the administrative center of southern Thailand during most of its history. Originally a coastal city, silting moved the coastline away from the city. The city has a much larger north to south extension than west to east, which dates back to its original location on a flood-save dune. The modern city centre on the train station is north of Old Town. As of 2005, the city had a population of 105,417.
Origin
Thai honorific Sri or Si is from Sanskrit Sri; Thamma, from Dharma; rat, from Raja. Dhammaraja means "righteous ruler", an important Theravada concept.
History
Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom (Thai: อาณาจักรนครศรีธรรมราช RTGS: Anachak Nakhon Si Thammarat), or the Kingdom of Ligor, was one of the major constituent city-states (Mueang) of the Siamese kingdoms of Sukhothai and later Ayutthaya and controlled a sizeable part of the Malay peninsula. Its capital was the eponymous city of Nakhon Si Thammarat in what is now Southern Thailand. [1]
Ligor, one of the provinces of Indo-China, is supposed to have been founded by a certain Dantakumara who is said to have fled from the Godavari District of Kalinga. [2]
It is one of the most ancient cities of Thailand, previously the Kingdom of Ligor, and contains many buildings and ruins of historical significance.
The king of Srivijaya "had established a foothold on the Malay Peninsular at Ligor" by 775, where he "built various edifices, including a sanctuary dedicated to the Buddha and to the Bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani." [3]
With the fall of the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya in 1767 it regained independence, but returned to its allegiance on the founding of Bangkok. In the 17th century British, Portuguese, and Dutch merchants set up factories there and carried on an extensive trade. Its origins are not fully known. Most historians recognize the Tambralinga Kingdom of Chinese records as a precursor of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
The town chronicles of this time are hardly separable from legend, but they do tell of an abandonment and refounding of the town, which would explain the break in history between Tambralinga and Nakhon Si Thammarat.
References to a country named Poling appear in Chinese chronicles from the Tang dynasty period down to the early Ming dynasty. Many scholars identify Poling with Maling and Danmaling was one of the member-states of Sanfoqi (the Chinese equivalent to Srivijaya) in the central part of the Malayu Peninsula or today southern Thailand.
Poling may also be equated to the Tambralingarat (Tambralinga State) that appears in Indian sources. By the end of the 12th century, Tambralinga had become independent of Srivijaya Kingdom. Its rapid rise to prominence from the 13th century to the beginning of the 14th century, Tambralinga had occupied the entire Malay Peninsula and become one of the dominant south-east Asian states. By the end of the 14th century, Tambralinga had become a part of Siam (now Thailand) named Nakhon Si Thammaraj.
At the time of the Sukhothai Kingdom, the Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom was already listed as one of the kingdoms under control of the Thai, which it has remained during most of its history. It was usually known as Ligor to European merchants in the 16th century.
During the period of the five separate states following the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, the Prince of Nakhon Si Thammarat made an abortive bid for independence, but was pardoned by Taksin and retired to Thonburi.
At the end of the 19th century, the kingdom was finally fully absorbed into Siam by converting it into the Monthon Nakhon Si Thammarat. When the monthon system was abolished in 1932, the town became a provincial capital.
नाखोनश्रीधम्मरत
विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[4] ने लेख किया है ...नाखोनश्रीधम्मरत (AS, p.483) मलय प्राय:द्वीप में स्थित लिगोर नामक स्थान का प्राचीन भारतीय नाम है। मलाया के इस स्थान को भारत के बौद्धों ने उपनिवेश बनाकर बसाया था। इस स्थान का नाम 'नाखोनधम्मरत' नामक स्तूप के कारण पड़ा है। यह स्तूप पचास मंदिरों के बीच में बनाया गया था, जो भारतीय औपनिवेशकों की वास्तुकला का परिचायक है।
दंतपुर = दंतपुरनगर
विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[5] ने लेख किया है ...दंतपुर अथवा 'दंतपुरनगर' (AS, p.422) बंगाल की खाड़ी पर स्थित प्राचीन बंदरगाह था। कुछ विद्वानों ने वर्तमान जगन्नाथपुरी को ही दंतपुर बताया है। मलय प्रायद्वीप के लिगोर नामक प्राचीन भारतीय उपनिवेश को बसाने वाले राजकुमार के विषय में परंपरागत कथा है कि वह मौर्य सम्राट अशोक का वंशज था। वह मगध से भाग कर दंतपुर के बंदरगाह से एक जलयान द्वारा यात्रा करके मलय देश पहुँचा था। वर्तमान जगन्नाथपुरी ही प्राचीन दंतपुर है।
External links
References
- ↑ Reference- David K. Wyatt (2004). Thailand: A Short History (Second ed.). Silkworm Books. p. 30.
- ↑ Racial Synthesis in Hindu Culture, By S.V. Viswanatha.
- ↑ Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella (ed.). The Indianized States of south-east Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.p.84–85,91
- ↑ Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.483
- ↑ Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.422