The seat is the Buddhist town of Nakhon, the rice plain behind it and the road to Trang.
The Chinese lists disagree about whom he answers to (San-fo-ts'i, Angkor, Pagan or nobody), and on 1 January 1200 no source settles it.
Who he is
- Title
- Ruler of Tambralinga
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
A modern table gives Sri Dharmasokaraja (III) 1183 to 1230 on chronicle tradition; it is not confirmed. Chandrabhanu (Sri Dharmaraja) is securely named from 1230.
What it holds
- Nakhon and its plain
- Tin of Ron Phibun
- The road to Trang
How things stand that morning
Not recorded.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Thin: no source names the holder or dates a fact near 1 January 1200.
On the map: Core only.
Primary sources for Tambralinga
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
- The Leiden grants of Rajaraja I and Kulottunga I concerning the Srivijaya vihara at Nagapattinam, The Chola chancery (Rajaraja I, Rajendra I, Kulottunga I) (the Larger plates about 1005 to 1014 (completed under Rajendra I); the Smaller plates 1090). Background documents for the relations between the Cholas and the Malay world. Read online
- The Grahi (Chaiya) Buddha inscription and the Tambralinga records, Various (the officers of Grahi and the kings of Tambralinga), edited by George Coedes (the Chaiya bronze Buddha inscription 1183; the Nakhon Si Thammarat records 13th century; edited 1929, revised 1961). The peninsula in 1200 has one near-contemporary dated text: the Old Khmer inscription on the base of a bronze Buddha from Wat Hua Wiang at Chaiya, dated 1183, which records the image's casting by order of the mahasenapati Galanai, governor of Grahi, under the king Srimat Trailokyaraja Maulibhusanavarmadeva, a name that is argued to be either a Malayu (Srivijaya) overlord or a local king.
- The Inscriptions of Cambodia, Various (the Khmer kings and their officers), edited by George Coedes (inscriptions of the 6th to 14th centuries; edited 1937 to 1966). The Khmer empire of 1200 is known almost entirely from the great foundation stelae of Jayavarman VII (reigning from 1181), which Coedes edited: the Ta Prohm stele of 1186 (K. Read online
- A Description of the Foreign Peoples (Records of Foreign Nations), Zhao Rukuo (Zhao Rugua) (1225 at Quanzhou). The best single text for the island world around 1200, written by the superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou from merchants' reports a generation after the date. Read online
- Description of the Foreign Peoples (Chau Ju-kua), Zhao Rukuo (趙汝适) (about 1225, while superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou). The Song customs officer's survey of the overseas world, compiled from merchants and from Zhou Qufei, a generation after 1200 but describing trade routes that were the same in 1200. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia (English): Tambralinga
- D. K. Wyatt on Tambralinga and Grahi, as summarised in the English Wikipedia article on Tambralinga
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.