Empire of The South Sea
By the 6th century, mariners had learnt to use the prevailing monsoons and navigate through the Straits of Malacca, which helped to shorten the journey to East Asia. This brought the Gulf of Thailand mariners into direct confrontation with their rivals, the seafarers of the Java Sea, who were already trading out of several important ports. About this time the importance of Suvarnabhumi lessened, whereas the importance of Malay Peninsula and Archipelago appeared to grow, together with the importance of the “Empire of the South Sea”. The new network extended as far as the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sri Lanka. The area located among these land and islands became the commercial and economic base for Srivijaya as a maritime state.
The early coastal states continued to grow physically and spread inland, where they met up with more diverse cultures, which had already been through their own process of historical and cultural development. Their radiating power extended throughout the hinterland of Chao Phraya basin. There is evidence that the “Empire of the South Sea” had conquered the mainland once. Tambralinga invaded Lavo or Kingdom of Dvaravati in 903. References to the kings of Haribhunjaya, King Bakaraj (Drabaka), King Ujajitachakravard, and Javaka Raja of Tambralinga, were mentioned in these records. According to the Song’s chronicle describes that San-Fo-Shih sent tribute to Chinese court by the command of King Che-Li-Wu-Ye in 961. The envoy reported the name of their kingdom was Xian-Lo-Gua.
Read more about this topic: Initial States Of Thailand
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