Bhagadatta (of Chanasa)

Bhagadatta is attested in the mixed Sanskrit–Old Khmer Śrī Canāśa Inscription (K.949), dated 937 CE, as the progenitor of a dynastic lineage associated with Canasapura in Dvaravati, within the bounds of present-day Thailand.^[1]: 122 Given that the inscription was discovered on the Ayutthaya Island,^[2] the Japanese scholar Tatsuo Hoshino has argued that Bhagadatta and his three immediate successors more plausibly ruled from Si Thep—referering to as Ayojjhapura in local chronicles—rather than from Muang Sema, which likely functioned merely as a secondary regional center. Hoshino identifies this polity with Gē Luó Shě Fēn, a toponym referenced in the Cefu Yuangui and the New Book of Tang during the 7th century.^{[3]: 32–4} According to Hoshino, Gē Luó Shě Fēn constitutes a corrupted transcription of Jiā Luó Shě Fú (迦逻舍佛), interpreted as Canasapura, which is believed to have extended its political and economic influence into the western Menam valley under the reign of Pú jiā yuè mó in the 7th century.^[a]

Notably, the Bô Ika Inscription (K.400), dated to 863 CE and discovered at Muang Sema, which was the outer center of Si Thep, records a nobleman named Aṅśadeva (อังศเทพ) who had acquired an abandoned domain located beyond the territory of Kambujadeśa,^[4][5]: 55 thereby indicating that the region was not under Khmer authority at that time.^{[5]: 55–8 [6]: 219}

Bhagadatta has been hypothesized to have a dynastic connection with Bhavavarman II, the Chenla monarch whose origins remain uncertain. Yet, some scholars argue that Bhavavarman II was in fact a son of Prathivindravarman, the ruler of Si Thep attested in the Wang Pai Inscription (K.978).^[7]: 20

Bhagadatta was succeeded by his son, Sundaraprakrama.^[1]