Shridravya

Shridravya (Thai: ศรีทรัพย์), probably identifiable with "Qi-zhang-mo" (齊杖摩) in the Tongdian, appears in a local fable of Miang kham as a legendary monarch who is said to have ruled Nakhon Pathom during the 7th century. The narrative concerning Shridravya is, however, transmitted in a highly fragmentary and confused manner. Rather than being preserved as an independent tradition, his story is disorderly interwoven with that of a much later figure, the 9th-century ruler Phraya Pan (พระยาพาน), within the Legend of Phraya Pan Kong – Phraya Pan. This conflation renders the historical plausibility of Shridravya uncertain. Nevertheless, the fable conveys a claim of dynastic connection, recounting that the king of Isanapura (Chenla) sought reconciliation in 637/638 by offering his daughter in marriage to Shridravya, described as a prince under the ruler of Nakhon Pathom, after which Shridravya is said to have ascended the throne of Nakhon Pathom.^[1]

Although derived from a later narrative tradition, the dynastic connections implied in this account can be compared with the dynastic patterns proposed by Michael Vickery on the basis of his interpretation of the Copper Plate Inscription of Mueang Uthong (K.964), which identifies a local ruler named Harshavarman as a grandson of Isanavarman.^[2] Vickery proposed that this Harshavarman belonged to a collateral lineage descending from Isanavarman I (r. 616–637) of Chenla, who is also known to have established royal intermarriage with the Cham polity to the east. From this Cham alliance, another grandson of Isanavarman I, Prakāśadharma, is recorded as having ascended the Cham throne at Mỹ Sơn in 658. The Harshavarman mentioned in the Uthong inscription may therefore represent a different grandson of Isanavarman I, born of his princess who entered into marriage with a local ruling house in the lower Chao Phraya region,^{[3]: 51–2} a context consistent with broader patterns in which, during the 7th and 8th centuries, Chenla and the Cham exerted influence on artistic traditions in the Menam Basin, particularly in the western valley.^{[3]: 49–53}

On the basis of these comparative considerations, and assuming that Shridravya did in fact exercise kingship at Nakhon Pathom, modern reconstructions have tentatively situated his putative reign in the mid-7th century, following the departure of Kalavarnadisharaja for Lavapura in 648 and broadly overlapping with the floruit of Pú jiā yuè mó, king of Ge Luo She Fen (c. 656–665),^[4]: 133 whose territory, according to Hoshino, encompassed the Si Thep and Nakhon Pathom regions.^{[5]: 38–9} The local fable further intimates a possible dynastic succession at Nakhon Pathom during this period, first naming Cakranarayana (จักรนารายณ์), identified as the brother of a preceding ruler, followed by Shridravya, who is described not as Cakranarayana's son but as the son of the earlier monarch.^[1][a] These narrative traditions have also been examined alongside Chinese records of Dvaravati tributary missions to the Tang court during the Zhenguan period (627–649), in which a ruler named Qi-zhang-mo is mentioned;^[6] while no direct identification can be established,^[7]: 132 this context suggests that Shridravya's reign, if historical, would not have begun later than the mid-7th century.

The Chinese historical text Tongdian records Qi-zhang-mo (齊杖摩) as a ruler of the Tou-he kingdom (投和國, commonly identified with Dvaravati). In the same entry, the ruler of Tou-he-luo (墮和羅) is named Pu-xie-qi-yao (脯邪乞遙), who sent a tributary mission during the Zhenguan period (貞觀, 627–649) of Emperor Taizong of Tang. The text further notes, upon inquiry of the elders of the kingdom, that the king had no surname and was called Qi-zhang-mo.^[6] The chronology is not explicit, and it remains unclear whether Qi-zhang-mo and Pu-xie-qi-yao refer to the same individual or to different rulers; accordingly, Qi-zhang-mo’s identification with rulers preserved in local sources remains inconclusive.^[7]: 132

Following this mission, no subsequent Chinese sources record additional embassy from Dvaravati to the court. In Tatsuo Hoshino's interpretation of the Chinese material, this silence corresponds to the southward expansion of Si Thep—identified by him with Qiān Zhī Fú^[5]: 30—which annexed Nakhon Pathom; the resulting polity appears in Chinese sources as Ge Luo She Fen,^[5]: 54 ruled by Pú jiā yuè mó during approximately 656–665 CE.^[4]: 133