Page:Origins of Sukhodaya dynasty - Coedes - 1921.pdf/3

 mention almost exclusively of embassies and provide no information as to the origin of the Kingdom of Sukhodaya.

From this rapid inventory of the documents utilised up till now, it will be seen that the Sukhodaya dynasty enters into history somewhat abruptly, and that its origins and beginnings are still wrapped in mystery. The object of the present communication is to make known a text which throws some light on this problem.

The text in question consists of an inscription from Sukhodaya which has already been indicated by Fournereau and studied in part by Father Schmitt (Siam Ancien, II, p. 35). But the whole of the portion upon which I am about to comment has been entirely neglected by the latter and may therefore be considered as new. Fournereau states that the pillar upon which this inscription is engraved originally came from Vat Si Xum, but the information furnished by this author regarding the place of origin of inscriptions is generally very suspect. In the National Library at Bangkok, where the stone is preserved, it is held to have come from Vat Mahadhatu at Sukhodaya; this is very likely, for the inscription, which does not number less than 200 lines, is probably the "detailed inscription placed in front of the Great Shrine at Sukhodaya" which is mentioned on the pillar, dating from A.D. 1357, known as that of "Nagara Jum" (Face B, l. 47). (Journal Siam Society, XIII, iii, p. 19). But the exact origin of the inscription is of secondary importance and the uncertainty which exists on this point in no way detracts from its interest. The text bears no date — at least in those portions of it which have been preserved: assuming that it is the one to which the inscription of Nagara Jum makes reference, it cannot be assigned to a later year than A.D. 1357; as a matter of fact, it probably goes back to the reign of the son and successor of Rāma Khamhēng, i.e. King Lo'dai, who, as will be seen later, is the last King of Sukhodaya named in it. The missing portions at the beginning and end of the text prevent us from grasping clearly the occasion upon which it was composed and engraved. The hero of it is an eminent monk named "Somdet Phra Mahāthera Śrī Sradhārājacūlāmūṇī (sic) Śrī Rattanalaṅkadipa Mahāsāmi pen chao", grand-son of a Thai prince, Phō Khun Phā Mu'ang. The biography and pious works of this holy personage are related with a