Identification and location of Indapraṣṭhanagara Early Thai historiography has frequently identified Indapraṣṭhanagara with
Yaśodharapura, The equation was subsequently reinforced in later Thai and foreign scholarship, including the 1957 Thai-language recension of the
Lan Xang Chronicle (4th–5th centuries CE), thereby further complicating the Angkorian identification. This equation has been explicitly challenged by
Michael Vickery since 1995; nevertheless, his critique has not been widely accepted within mainstream Thai scholarship. in contrast to Thai narrative traditions that depict the reign of
Padumasūriyavaṃśa as an era of territorial consolidation encompassing polities such as
Lavo,
Sukhothai, and
Talung ( or ). An alternative localization of Indapraṣṭhanagara in the
Phraek Si Racha region, east of
Sankhaburi, has been proposed on the basis of chronological, textual, and geographical considerations, particularly the geographical indications preserved in the
Ayutthaya Testimonies which existed between approximately 1180 and the early 13th century. The period of conflict with Sukhothai coincides with the reign of
Se-li-Mo-hsi-t’o-pa-lo-hung or Mahīdhāravarman of
Chen Li Fu, whose reign began in 1204/05. by depictions of
Xiān (Siamese) mercenaries in
Angkor Wat reliefs; by the presence of large numbers of Siamese people in the
Angkorian capital of
Yasodharapura in the 13th century, as recorded by the Chinese envoy
Zhou Daguan; and by the dispatch of several Buddha images for installation in polities of the Menam basin by
Jayavarman VII, as attested in the Preah Khan inscription (K.908). Additional indications include a week-long religious observance undertaken after 1188 by the Siamese monarch
Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri at Lavapura of Lavo,
Reassessing the Legend of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Pagan intervention The identification of Indapraṣṭhanagara with
Phraek Si Racha, when considered alongside proposed dynastic connections between Siamese and Angkorian monarchs, provides a contextual framework for reassessing an alternative version of the ''''. In this version of the narrative,
Sri Dharmasokaraja I—the father of
Sri Dharmasokaraja II—is depicted as a foreign monarch who exercised political authority over the
Phraek Si Racha–
Lavo region prior to his southward relocation. established a royal center at Indapraṣṭhanagara and governed the surrounding
Menam basin. and the reported invasion of
Ayodhya in 1087, which resulted in the death of King
Narai I and a subsequent two-year interregnum before the accession of
Phra Chao Luang, a ruler of uncertain origin. These narratives align with Burmese historiographical traditions, which record that during the reign of
Anawrahta of Pagan (r. 1044–1077), Pagan engaged in a series of military conflicts with Angkor and is even said, in some accounts, to have temporarily seized Angkor itself.
Lan Xang historiographical debates Narratives concerning the Emerald Buddha ==References==