Sindhob Amarin

Sindhob Amarin (, ), also known by the abbreviated title Phraya Kreak (), emerges as a monarch of the 10th century in mainland Southeast Asian historiography, principally attested in the Northern Chronicle, the Ayutthaya Testimonies. and the . These sources identify him as a ruler exercising authority over the ancient polities of the Phraek Si Racha–Ayodhya historical region, a strategic zone within the central Menam Basin. While the Ayutthaya Testimonies do not explicitly record the dates of his reign, a chronological reconstruction derived from the narrative framework of the Northern Chronicle suggests that Sindhob Amarin's rule extended approximately from 937 to 993 CE. The polity of Lavo is also said to have come under his authority during this period. Moreover, his reign also associated with the episode of Sricandradhipati, who, after being ordered arrested by the king of Indaprasthanagara, fled and was subsequently offered the throne of Sukhothai in 959 CE.

This reconstructed reign period partially overlaps with that of Sudhammaraja, another ruler associated with Phraek Si Racha, whose reign is estimated to have lasted from 922 to 957 CE. The apparent overlap can be plausibly reconciled by the testimony of the Ayutthaya Testimonies, which records that Sudhammaraja subsequently relocated northward to establish Phitsanulok as his new political seat. On this basis, it is reasonable to infer that Sindhob Amarin's accession coincided with, or immediately followed, Sudhammaraja's departure from Phraek Si Racha.

No extant source explicitly records the dynastic relationship between Sindhob Amarin and his predecessor, Sudhammaraja. Nevertheless, his reign corresponds chronologically with a period during which Tambralinga exerted influence over the lower Menam Basin, approximately from 927 CE to the mid-10th century, with Lavo functioning as a principal regional power center. The Sihinganidāna further records that in 1500 BE (958/59 CE) political authority associated with Sukhothai encountered that of Nakhon Si Thammarat (Tambralinga) to the south.

Sindhob Amarin is also found in the regnal lists of Ayutthaya reconstructed by the Burmese compilers of the Ayutthaya Testimonies. However, these Burmese-derived king lists have subsequently been interpreted by Thai scholars as containing numerous errors and chronological inconsistencies when compared with other extant sources.

Background

The 1934 version of the Northern Chronicle does not identify Sindhob Amarin's parents or origins, but states that he ascended the throne at the age of 17 after Gotraboṅ fled to Saccanāha (), a place later associated with Lan Xang. Sujit Wongthes interprets this narrative as reflecting a conflict between two religious traditions: the older establishment, which practiced Brahmanism and Mahayana Buddhism, and the newly introduced Theravada Buddhism from Lanka, with the latter ultimately prevailing.

The 1934 Northern Chronicle does not explain how Sindhob Amarin came to rule Phraek Si Racha. Elsewhere in the Ayutthaya Testimonies, Sudhammaraja, the former ruler of Phraek Si Racha, is said to have moved northward and established himself at Phitsanulok, although no reason is given for his departure. None of the extant chronicles explicitly connects Sudhammaraja's departure with Sindhob Amarin's accession at Phraek Si Racha.

The oldest available recension of the Northern Chronicle, published in 1869, preserves a fuller genealogy of the same Phraya Kreak tradition. It identifies Phraya Kreak as Gautamadevarāja () and as a grandson of Sudarsana, who is described as the ruler of an earlier seat of Indaprasthanagara, but the chronicle provides no individual details about his offspring before introducing Phraya Kreak as his grandson. The 1934 recension does not preserve this preceding genealogy and instead begins the account of Phraya Kreak with his accession at the age of 17.

In the 1869 account, Phraya Kreak subsequently moved the seat eastward, a journey said to have taken about 15 days. The new seat retained the name Indaprasthanagara and is further described as being 15 days' journey north of Ayodhya. The new settlement had previously been known as Koṇḍaññagāma () and was ruled by Koṇḍaññabrāhmaṇa (), described as the greatest of all brāhmaṇas and as having a large following. Phraya Kreak took his family and as many as 80,000 people with him on the journey eastward. The equation between Koṇḍaññabrāhmaṇa in the Northern Chronicle and Sudhammaraja in the Ayutthaya Testimonies has not been studied.

The chronicle further records that Phraya Kreak had a son named Vaiyākṣa (), also known as Kāñcanakumāra (), who succeeded him. Three further rulers are said to have followed Vaiyākṣa, although their names are not given. The last of these rulers had only a daughter as heir, who subsequently married Uthong II, described as the son of a wealthy merchant. Seven years after Uthong's accession, the city was struck by a severe plague. He subsequently moved southward, a journey of about 15 days, to a new location described as an island. The chronicle identifies this location with modern Ayutthaya.

The dynastic link of Sindhob Amarin with the Padumasūriyavaṃśa tradition is traced through his grandfather, Sudarsana, in the 1869 recension of the Northern Chronicle. The Legend of Mueang Phaya Re, by contrast, attributes the refounding of the first Indaprasthanagara to Sudarsana and places the city in eastern Thailand. The Ayutthaya Testimonies, however, attribute the establishment of the first Indaprasthanagara in 757 to the Padumasūriyavaṃśa, on an abandoned settlement east of Sankhaburi. A chronological calculation based on the stated length of the ruler's reign places the end of this first city around 800. If the Padumasūriyavaṃśa ruler is identified with Sudarsana, the approximately 137-year gap before the reconstructed accession of Phraya Kreak around 937 would require multiple intervening reigns or generations. The geographical traditions also differ substantially: the Legend of Mueang Phaya Re places Indaprasthanagara in eastern Thailand, the Ayutthaya Testimonies place the first city east of Sankhaburi, while the 1869 Northern Chronicle describes successive of two seats bearing the same name, with the later seat 15 days' journey north of Ayodhya.

Warfare

Narratives concerning Lavo

In 927 CE, Lavo is recorded as having come under the authority of King Sujita of Tambralinga. Three years later, he was succeeded by his son, Kampoch, who is said to have conducted several campaigns against polities in the Menam basin, including Haripuñjaya. During one retreat from Haripuñjaya to Lavo, Kampoch reportedly led his forces to attack Nakaburi (), but the attempt was unsuccessful.

During the reconstructed reign of Sindhob Amarin (937–993 CE), Lavo is described in the Northern Chronicle as a tributary of Indaprasthanagara. In the same source, Sricandradhipati, originally named Ruang and identified as a commoner of Lavo, fled after being ordered arrested by the ruler of Indaprasthanagara and was subsequently offered the throne of Sukhothai in 959 CE. The sources do not specify when and how Indaprasthanagara assumed control over Lavo from Tambralinga, and Nakaburi remains unidentified in relation to other contemporary polities.

Moreover, the possible connection between the narrative of Sindhob Amarin's flight from the old Indaprasthanagara following the appearance of “a person of greater merit” and the Tambralingan campaigns into the Menam basin during the same period has not been studied.

Conquest of Ayodhya

The Northern Chronicle further provides a narrative backdrop that illuminates Sindhob Amarin's military campaign. According to the chronicle, in 944 CE, a nobleman from Mueang Bang Pan (; in present-day Phran Kratai district) named Bhuddhasagara () migrated southward and was subsequently enthroned as ruler of Mueang Wat Derm (), later known as Ayodhya, located on the eastern bank of the Pasak River opposite the site of modern Ayutthaya Island. In 974 CE, Bhuddhasagara's son succeeded to the throne, only to be later deposed by Phraya Kreak. Upon this successful usurpation, Phraya Kreak assumed the regnal title Sindhob Amarin.

Following his victory over the ruling house of Mueang Wat Derm, Sindhob Amarin consolidated political authority over both Mueang Wat Derm (Ayodhya) and Mueang Phreak, thereby unifying two key centers within the lower Pasak–Menam corridor. Notably, despite this expansion of control, he continued to maintain his principal seat of power at Phraek Si Racha.

Legacy

The legacy of Phraya Kreak [also known as Phraya Phreak (), the title which later also referred to of Ayutthaya, who once ruled Phraek Si Racha], persisted into the Ayutthaya period through regalia believed to have originated in his reign. Chief among these was the Phra Saeng Khan Chaiyasi (; ), regarded as a sacred emblem of kingship and employed in the royal oath-taking ceremony (). A late Ayutthayan account, , states that this sword was lost during the succession conflict during the late period of King Thai Sa in the 18th century, when fleeing princes cast it into the river amid political turmoil.

Equally significant was the Crown of Phraya Kreak, which symbolized primordial royal authority and continuity of sovereignty. Unlike the sword, the crown was said to have survived the dynastic upheavals of the late Ayutthaya court and remained in royal possession until the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767.

Basic calculation

The dates of Sindhob Amarin's enthronement and death can be calculated from the chronological anchors provided in the chronicle, as shown below.