Later on, many more Dvaravati sites were discovered throughout the Chao Phraya valley. The two most important sites were Nakorn Pathom and U Thong (in modern U Thong District, Suphan Buri Province). The inscriptions of Dvaravati were in Sanskrit and Mon using the script derived from the Pallava alphabet of the South Indian Pallava dynasty.
The religion of Dvaravati is thought to be Theravada Buddhism through contacts with Sri Lanka, with the ruling class also participating in Hindu rites. The Dvaravati art, including the Buddha sculptures and stupas, showed strong similarities to those of the Gupta Empire of India. The most prominent production of Dvaravati art are dharmachakras, stone wheels signifying Buddhist principles. The eastern parts of the Chao Phraya valley were subjected to a more Khmer and Hindu influence as the inscriptions are found in Khmer and Sanskrit.[10]
Dvaravati was not a kingdom but a network of city-states paying tributes to more powerful ones according to the mandala political model. Dvaravati culture expanded into Isan as well as southwards as far as the Kra Isthmus. Dvaravati was a part of ancient international trade as Roman artifacts were also found and Dvaravati tributes to the Tang Chinese court are recorded. The culture lost power around the 10th century when were submitted by a more unified Lavo-Khmer polity.
Si Kottaboon Edit
In what is modern Isan, another Indianized kingdom, of Si Kottaboon, rose with the capital of Nakhon Phanom. The territory of Si Khottaboon covered mostly northern Isan and central Laos.
Southern Thailand Edit
Below the Kra Isthmus was the place of Malay civilizations. Primordial Malay kingdoms are described as tributaries to Funan by second-century Chinese sources – though most of them proved to be tribal organizations instead of full-fledged kingdoms.[11] From the sixth century onwards, two major mandalas ruled southern Thailand – the Kanduli and the Langkasuka. Kanduli centered on what is now Surat Thani Province and Langasuka in Pattani Province.
Southern Thailand was the center of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. The Tang monk Yijing stopped at Langkasuka to study Pali grammar and Mahayana during his journey to India around 800. At that time, the kingdoms of Southern Thailand quickly fell under the influences of the Malay kingdom of Srivijaya from Sumatra. Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty invaded the Tambralinga Kingdom in Southern Thailand in the 11th century.[12]