Vijayaraja

Vijayaraja
พิไชยราชา
King of Xiān
King of Phitsanulok
Reign987–early 11th century
PredecessorVisnuraja
SuccessorUnknown (Next ruled by Śrīdharmatripiṭaka of Chiang Saen)
King of Phetchaburi
ReignEarly 11th century–1027
PredecessorUnknown (Title earlier in the 9th century held by Dhalemesvara)
SuccessorSrisimha
Born962
Phraek Si Racha?
Died1027
Phetchaburi
ConsortShrikanyarajadevi
IssueSrisimha
DynastyPadumasuriyavaṃśa
ReligionTheravada Buddhism

Vijayarāja (Thai: พิไชยราชา, RTGS: Pichairacha) was a tenth-century Siamese ruler known primarily from the Ayutthaya Testimonies, which identify him as exercising authority over Phitsanulok and Phetchaburi. The text presents him as a descendant of the Padumasūriyavaṃśa dynasty and states that he ascended the throne of Phitsanulok at the age of fifteen following the death of his elder brother, Viṣṇurāja. Vijayarāja is further said to have shifted his political center southward, founding Phra Nakhon Phichai Buri (Thai: พระนครพิชัยบุรี), generally identified with present-day Phetchaburi, which thereafter functioned as his principal seat of power.

According to the same source, Vijayarāja was married to Queen Śrīkanyārājadevī (Thai: ศิริกัญญาราชเทวี), by whom he had a son, Śrīsiṃha, who succeeded him upon his death in 1027. The Ayutthaya Testimonies attribute a reign of forty years to Vijayarāja. His reign was contemporaneous with the period during which Angkorian authority asserted political influence over the eastern Menam Valley.

The Ayutthaya Testimonies also record a contemporaneous dynastic realignment in the upper Mae Klong basin during Vijayarāja’s period of authority at Phetchaburi. This transition is located at Mueang Sing, identified with Jayasimhapuri in the Preah Khan Inscription (K. 904), situated along the upper Khwae Noi River, a tributary of the Mae Klong River.: 53  The text states that a new ruling lineage founded by Ekarāja (เอกราชา) supplanted the earlier dynasty of Bodhisāra (โพธิสาร). This lineage is said to have continued for three further reigns—Baramatiloka (บรมติโลก), Śrībhūparāja (ศิริภูปราชา), and Jatirāja. The last of these rulers, Jatirāja, is described as a relative of a descendant of Vijayarāja, Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, who is said to have succeeded him around the 1160s.: 127  The preceding dynasty at Jayasimhapuri is recorded as having comprised four rulers: Rāmeśvara (ราเมศวร), Baramarāja (บรมราชา), Mahācakravartin (มหาจักรวรรดิ), and Bodhisāra.

Notes

  1. 1 2 As Chen Li Fu was likewise centered in the Phraek Si Racha region,: 18 : 15  Chinese historical sources record that the dynasty’s first monarch ascended the throne in 1180 CE.: 6–7  This chronological datum serves as a basis for retrospective calculation in determining the approximate period of reigns of the Siamese rulers belonging to this lineage. However, the Dong Mè Nang Mưo’ng Inscription (K. 766), dated to 1167 CE, suggests that Sri Dharmasokaraja II may have extended his authority northward as far as present-day Nakhon Sawan Province, which would imply that the Phraek Si Racha region likewise fell under his control;: 36–39  if this interpretation is accepted, the reigns of the Xian rulers in question must have ended no later than 1167 CE, rather than in 1180 CE.
  2. ↑ In the text, he is referred to as Indrarāja (อินทราชา), a figure whose recorded activities closely correspond to those attributed to Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri. These parallels include the refoundation of Phetchaburi and a comparable genealogical configuration, in which Indrarāja is said to have had a son named Uthong (II) and a younger brother likewise bearing the name Uthong (I).

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Walailak Songsiri (2025). "ในดินแดนแห่งเจนลีฟู นครรัฐที่ไม่ได้อยู่ในอำนาจทางการเมืองของพระเจ้าชัยวรมันที่ ๗ สู่ปัญหาทางประวัตศาสตร์ที่หาทางออกไม่เจอของสังคมไทย" [In the land of Chen Li Fu, a city-state that was not under the political power of King Jayavarman VII, to the historical problems that cannot be solved for Thai society.]. Lek-Prapai Viriyahpant Foundation (in Thai). Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  2. ↑ Walailak Songsiri (2025). ในดินแดนแห่งเจนลีฟูและตามหารากเง้าพระอาจารย์ธรรมโชติ [In the land of Cenlifu and searching for the roots of Master Thammachot] (in Thai). Lek-Prapai Viriyaphan Foundation.
  3. ↑ O. W. Wolters (1960). "Chên Li Fu: A State On The Gulf Of Siam at the Beginning of the 14th Century". The Journal of the Siam Society. XLVIII.
  4. ↑ "จารึกดงแม่นางเมือง" [Dong Mè Nang Mưo’ng Inscription]. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (in Thai). 8 September 2025. Retrieved 18 December 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ↑ Chatchai Sukrakarn (October 2005). "พระเจ้าศรีธรรมาโศกราช" [Sri Thammasokaraj] (PDF) (in Thai). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Fine Arts Department 1968, p. 38.
  7. ↑ Fine Arts Department 1968, p. 37–38.
  8. ↑ Fine Arts Department 1968, p. 39.
  9. ↑ Fine Arts Department 1968, p. 45–6.
  10. ↑ Nakhon Pathom Provincial Cultural Council. ทวารวดีศรีนครปฐม: พัฒนาทางประวัติศาสตร์และโบราณคดี [Dvaravati Sri Nakhon Pathom: Historical and Archaeological Development] (PDF). Nakhon Pathom. ISBN 978-616-543-559-8.
  11. 1 2 Fine Arts Department 1968, p. 45.
  12. 1 2 Fine Arts Department 1968, p. 46.
  13. ↑ Michael Smithies; Dhiravat na Pombejra (2022). "Instructions Given to the Siamese Envoys Sent to Portugal, 1684" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. 90 (Part 1 & 2). Archived from the original on 2025-08-23. Retrieved 2025-09-10.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Sources