Bhagadatta (of Chanasa)
| Bhagadatta | |
|---|---|
| King of Si Thep | |
| King of Qiān Zhī Fú | |
| Reign | 859 – early 10th century |
| Predecessor | Adītaraj |
| Successor | Sundaraprakrama |
| Spouse | Sundaraprakrama |
| House | Canasapura |
Bhagadatta (Thai: ภคทัตต์, RTGS: Phokkathat) is attested in the mixed Sanskrit–Old Khmer Śrī Canāśa Inscription (K.949), dated 937 CE, as the progenitor of a dynastic lineage associated with Canasapura in Dvaravati, within the bounds of present-day Thailand.[1]: 122 Peter Skilling cautions that the evidential base for Cānāśa is unusually narrow. The name is attested in this inscription and in the Bo Ika inscription alone, and in no literary source, and he describes the polity as a mystery that speculation cannot resolve. He adds that old Khorat lay on the routes later taken by Ayutthayan armies marching to the plateau, so the stone found at Ayutthaya may have been carried south at some later date.[2]: 81 Given that the inscription was discovered on the Ayutthaya Island,[3] the Japanese scholar Tatsuo Hoshino has argued that Bhagadatta and his three immediate successors more plausibly ruled from Si Thep—referering to as Ayojjhapura in local chronicles—rather than from Muang Sema, which likely functioned merely as a secondary regional center. Hoshino identifies this polity with Gē Luó Shě Fēn, a toponym referenced in the Cefu Yuangui and the New Book of Tang during the 7th century.[4]: 32–4 According to Hoshino, Gē Luó Shě Fēn constitutes a corrupted transcription of Jiā Luó Shě Fú (迦逻舍佛), interpreted as Canasapura, which is believed to have extended its political and economic influence into the western Menam valley under the reign of Pú jiā yuè mó in the 7th century.[a]
Notably, the Bô Ika Inscription (K.400), dated to 863 CE and discovered at Muang Sema, which was the outer center of Si Thep, records a nobleman named Aṅśadeva (Thai: อังศเทพ) who had acquired an abandoned domain located beyond the territory of Kambujadeśa,[5][6]: 55 thereby indicating that the region was not under Khmer authority at that time.[6]: 55–8 [7]: 219 The two inscriptions style the ruler differently: the Bo Ika text uses śrī-cānāśā-īśvara, while the Śrī Canāśa inscription of 937 uses śrī-cānāśādhipati.[2]: 74
Bhagadatta was succeeded by his son, Sundaraprakrama.[1]
Notes
- ↑ As says in the Chinese Cefu Yuangui that Gē Luó Shě Fēn, which is a corrupted toponym of Si Thep's Jiā Luó Shě Fú, has the territory covering the region west of Dvaravati.[4]: 38–9
References
- 1 2 Coedès, G. (1968), The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press
- 1 2 Anna Bennett; Hunter Watson, eds. (2019). Defining Dvāravatī: Essays from the U Thong International Workshop 2017 (PDF). Distributed by Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai. DASTA and BIA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2026.
- ↑ "จารึกศรีจานาศะ" (in Thai). Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre. 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- 1 2 Hoshino, T (2002). "Wen Dan and its neighbors: the central Mekong Valley in the seventh and eighth centuries.". In M. Ngaosrivathana; K. Breazeale (eds.). Breaking New Ground in Lao History: Essays on the Seventh to Twentieth Centuries. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. pp. 25–72. ISBN 978-974-7551-93-8.
- ↑ "จารึกบ่ออีกา" (in Thai). Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre. 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- 1 2 "ศิลาจารึกบ่ออีกา" [Bô Ika Inscription] (PDF) (in Thai). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
- ↑ David Welch (1998). "Archaeology of Northeast Thailand in Relation to the Pre-Khmer and Khmer Historical Records". International Journal of Historical Archaeology. 2 (3).