Narapatisimhavarman

Narapatisimhavarman
King of Si Thep
King of Qiān Zhī Fú
Reign937–949 or 971
PredecessorSundararavarman
SuccessorVap Upendra (as governor under Angkor)
Mangalavarman (Mueang Sema)
HouseCanasapura

Narapatisimhavarman (Thai: นรปติสิงหวรมัน, RTGS: Narapati Singha Woraman) is recorded in the Śrī Canāśa Inscription (K.949) as a ruler of Canasapura.: 122  Peter Skilling [th] cautions that the evidential base for Cānāśa is unusually narrow. The name is attested in this inscription and in the Bo Ika inscription alone, and in no literary source, and he describes the polity as a mystery that speculation cannot resolve. He adds that old Khorat lay on the routes later taken by Ayutthayan armies marching to the plateau, so the stone found at Ayutthaya may have been carried south at some later date.: 81  He succeeded his father, Sundararavarman, in 937 CE, yet his reign appears to have been abruptly curtailed following the conquest of Si Thep by the Angkorian ruler Rajendravarman II in 946. In the aftermath of this campaign, the Angkorian monarch is reported to have installed "Vap Upendra" as his representative in the Rāmaññadesa in 949 CE,: 3546  thereby subsuming Canasapura into the expanding Angkorian polity.: 95  The same designation recurs two generations later in the Khmer inscription K.1198, dated 1014, in which Suryavarman I charges his general Lakṣmīpativarman with the government of Rāmanya, glossed as a form of Rāmañña and taken to denote the Mon "who occupy the western region".: 140 

The subsequent status of Narapatisimhavarman remains uncertain. Some scholars have posited that his political authority was significantly diminished, citing the Sema Inscription (K.1141), dated to 971 CE, which refers to a nobleman named "Driḍhabhakti Simhavarman" (Thai: ทฤฒภักดี สิงหวรมัน). This individual has been tentatively identified with Narapatisimhavarman, suggesting that he may have adopted a new titular designation following the Angkorian conquest, thereby continuing in a subordinate or redefined role within the regional hierarchy.: 150 

After the incorporation of Si Thep into the Angkorian sphere of influence, the city experienced a marked decline in both political authority and economic significance, while its former eastern satellite, Mueang Sema [fr], emerged as a more prominent regional center. Epigraphic evidence from this period attests to the activities of Mueang Sema elites, indicating the continued vitality of the area within the broader Angkorian polity. Nevertheless, after the reign of Jayavarman VII (r. 1181–1218), references to Angkorian presence or influence in the Mueang Sema [fr] area disappear from the historical record.: 151 

Notes

  1. ↑ Referred to as Rāmaññadesa in the Rajendravarman II Inscription.

References

  1. ↑ Coedès, G. (1968), The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press
  2. 1 2 "จารึกศรีจานาศะ" (in Thai). Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre. 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. 1 2 Anna Bennett; Hunter Watson, eds. (2019). Defining Dvāravatī: Essays from the U Thong International Workshop 2017 (PDF). Distributed by Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai. DASTA and BIA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2026.
  4. ↑ Hall, Kenneth R. “Khmer Commercial Development and Foreign Contacts under Sūryavarman I.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 18, no. 3, 1975, pp. 318–336. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3632140. Accessed 3 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Supitchar Jindawattanaphum (2020). "Evidences of Governors and Aristocrats' Existences in Dvaravati Period" (PDF) (in Thai). Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Sujit Wongthes (2022). "นครราชสีมา กำเนิดจาก "โคราชเก่า" เมืองเสมา อำเภอสูงเนิน จังหวัดนครราชสีมา". In Phanupong Cholsawat (ed.). บอกรักษ์สูงเนิน :รวมบทความวิชาการ-สารคดีในพื้นที่อำเภอสูงเนิน จังหวัดนครราชสีมา [Tell Rak Sung Noen: A collection of academic articles and documentaries in Sung Noen District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province.] (in Thai). Bangkok: Silpakorn University. p. 220. ISBN 9789746417679.
  7. ↑ "Stele de Sema (Korat) (K. 1141)". Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (in Thai). 2023. Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. 1 2 Rungroj Phirom-anukul (2022). "หลักฐานโบราณวัตถุประเภทจารึกที่มีอายุเก่ากว่า พ.ศ.1800 จากอำเภอสูงเนิน นครราชสีมา". In Phanupong Cholsawat (ed.). บอกรักษ์สูงเนิน :รวมบทความวิชาการ-สารคดีในพื้นที่อำเภอสูงเนิน จังหวัดนครราชสีมา [Tell Rak Sung Noen: A collection of academic articles and documentaries in Sung Noen District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province.] (in Thai). Bangkok: Silpakorn University. p. 220. ISBN 9789746417679.
  9. ↑ Depimai, Anurak (2020). The Cultural Development of Si-Thep as the Hinterland Ancient Town Prior to 14th Century (Ph.D. thesis). Silpakorn University.