The Chao Phraya River in what is now Central Thailand had once been the home of the Mon Dvaravati culture, which prevailed from the 7th century to the 10th century.[9] The existence of the civilizations had long been forgotten by the Thai when Samuel Beal discovered the polity among the Chinese writings on Southeast Asia as “Duoluobodi”. During the early 20th century the archeologists led by George Coedès made grand excavations on what is now Nakhon Pathom Province and found it to be a center of Dvaravati culture. The constructed name Dvaravati was confirmed by a Sanskrit plate inscription containing the name "Dvaravati".