Hariphunchai

Hariphunchai ( Thai: หริ ภุ ญ ไชย, also Haripunchai, Haribhunjaya ) was the 8th or 9th to 13th century kingdom of the Mon in the area of present-day northern Thailand. The kingdom is named after the city which is now called Lamphun.

Hariphunchai was besieged end of the 13th century by troops of King Tai Mangrai and taken and added to the Kingdom of Lan Na.

Foundation

The legendary early history of Hariphunchai can be found at Chamadevi.

According to the chronicles of Chamadevivamsa and Jinakalamali the city was founded in 661 by a hermit named Suthep. The Mon ruler of Lopburi sent in the area, according to the chronicles of his daughter Chamadevi here to be first queen. This data is considered too early, the actual beginning of the kingdom lies more in the middle of the 8th century. At that time, the largest area of present-day central Thailand was in the hands of some Mon - kingdoms, which are summarized as Dvaravati.

Chamadevi Queen gave birth to twins, the first born followed her to the throne, while the other rulers in neighboring Lampang was.

The earliest known inscriptions of the Mon in the field Hariphunchais date from the early 11th century. They are similar in language and script which the Mon in Lower Burma ( Pegu and Thaton ), but not those in Central Thailand ( Dvaravati ).

Rise and Fall

Perhaps the population Hariphunchais in the 11th century fled to an epidemic in the Mon - States Pegu and Thaton. There she met the Theravada Buddhism, which they brought with them on their return to Hariphunchai. The chronicles report that the Khmer Hariphunchai besieged unsuccessfully several times during the 11th century. These reports may relate to legends, but the fact is that other Mon kingdoms at that time actually fell to the Khmer. Hariphunchai supported in the 11th and 12th century, the Mon - Dvaravati states of the network in today's central Thailand against the expansion of the Khmer. The chedi of Wat Chamadevi in today's Lamphun to commemorate the victory of the Mon - Khmer States on the. The then king Ādittarāja ( Athittarat ) is said to have erected in 1150, the Chedi ( stupa ) of Wat Phra That Hariphunchai. In it, a relic of the Buddha is to be stored, the Ādittarāja allegedly discovered.

Based on Theravada Buddhism was Hariphunchai the first state in the area of ​​today's northern Thailand, who went on a merely small-scale tribal rule out. It extended its influence from the city Hariphunchai far to the south in the plane of the Ping River from. Middle of the 13th century dominated Hariphunchai clear the area today northern Thailand, in political, economic and cultural terms. Its capital city was an important center of trade between China and Southeast Asia, and perhaps the most important trading center on the trade route from Yunnan to the Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Martaban.

Although it was ruled by kings and Mon - Mon and related with them Lawa probably put the majority of the population, Hariphunchai was not ethnically homogeneous state. The Chronicle mentioned already in 1147 a village of Thai and in the 13th century are also in the elite of the State Thai occupied. In 1257 the governor rebelled taistämmige the city Khelang Nakhon (today Lampang ) and brought even briefly the capital Hariphunchai under his control.

The Thai prince Mangrai from Ngoen Yang in the far north of present-day Thailand, Chiang Rai was founded and made ​​it his capital, Hariphunchai conquered in the years 1281/82 or 1292 /93. The annual number varies in different chronicles, 1292/93 but is considered likely. Hariphunchai was occupied by military superiority of troops Mangrai. According to the Chronicle of Chiang Mai to Ai Fa came to pass, according to an aide Mangrai Hariphunchai and there rose to the closest confidants of the king Yiba. In fact, his intention was to weaken the kingdom by trickery and betrayal. He ruled in the name of the king to the system of a sophisticated irrigation system and ordered the population to forced labor. The resentment caused thereby weakened Hariphunchai and allowed the conquest by Mangrai. This added the state added his newly founded kingdom of Lan Na, whose capital he was soon to Chiang Mai made ​​and extended its influence over the whole of northern Thailand and beyond.