Mueang Chaliang

Formation

The region was inhabited since the Neolithic–Iron Ages.^[1]: 30 It then evolved into agricultural communities in the early 4th century and turned into complex societies around the 9th century.^{[1]: 29–32} Artifacts found in Chaliang-Si Satchanalai show that the communities engaged in trade with several Dvaravati polities, such as Si Mahosot [th] in the southeast, and Mueang Fa Daet Song Yang and Ban Mueang Fai (บ้านเมืองฝ้าย) in northeastern Thailand.^{[1]: 32–33} Chaliang, on the great bend of the Yom River, was likely inhabited by Mon people who had migrated from the lower Chao Phraya basin, whereas Si Satchanalai, which was situated close to the base of the mountain and along the river, was probably of the people from the northern highlands, the Tais.^{[1]: 33–34}

According to the Northern Chronicle [th], Chaliang was founded in the early 600s by a hermit, Satchanalai (สัชนาลัย; or Anusit อนุสิสส in the Tamnan Mulasasana [th]^[3]), who united four surrounding chiefdoms and built moats and walls to define the city's boundaries.^{[1]: 37 [2]: 7} Chaliang layout is also the model for Haripuñjaya's plan, which Hermit Suthep built,^[3] indicating that it existed before Haripuñjaya's establishment in 629. In the first era, Chaliang's initial territory included Thung Yung [th] or Wiang Chao Ngo [th] to the northeast and met Sukhothai to the south.

Hermit Satchanalai had four colleagues, each of whom played an important role in the establishment of the ancient kingdoms in modern-day Thailand, as detailed below.

1. Satchanalai, founder of Chaliang and assisted Suthep in establishing Haripuñjaya.^[3]
2. Suthep, founder of Haripuñjaya, who seek advice from another hermit Sukkatanta (สุกกทันตะ) in Lavo for selecting the first Haripuñjaya ruler.^[3] Lavo princess, Camadevi, was then introduced.^[3][15]
3. Sukkatanta, teacher of Camadevi.^[15]
4. Phutthachatil (พุทธชฎิล or พุทธชลิต) was asked by Anantayot (เจ้าอนันตยศ), prince of Camadevi, to build a new city for him but refused and advised him to meet his colleague, Hermit Suprom.^[15]
5. Suprom (สุพรม or สุพรหมยาน or อสีพรหมสิฤาษี or พรหมิสิ), founded Lampang for Anantayot.^[15]

Early Tai city-state

Since the latter half of the first millennium, Tais have dominated the Yom and Nan Rivers Valleys in present-day northern Thailand. Several Tai independent principalities emerged. Other ethnolinguistic groups in the area, such as Austroasiatic, were captive and Tainized over time.^[16]: 39

Initially, Chaliang was under Mon's Sukhothai, which itself was a trading hotspot of the Lavo Kingdom.^[17]: 3 Chaliang established relations with Tai's Chiang Saen to the north in the late 10th century when the princess of King Supojarat married the King of Chiang Saen, Sri Thammasokkarat (potentially Phrom),^[2]: 18 and the son of them later enthroned the king of Chaliang.^[2]: 21 This marked the beginning of Tai influence over the Chao Phraya Valley. Chaliang was mentioned as an independent polity centered in Chéng Liáng (程良) in the 4th year of Xián Píng [zh] era 咸平 (1001 CE) in the Chinese Song Shi volume 489 section 248.^[4][1]: 28 It was said to be located 60 chéng (程) to the north of Tambralinga, and to the southeast met the Lavo Kingdom.^[5]

丹眉流國，東至占臘五十程，南至羅越水路十五程，西至西天三十五程，北至程良六十程，東北至羅斛二十五程，

...Tambralinga is 50 chéng (程) from Zhanla in the east, 15 chéng from Luoyue waterway in the south, 35 chéng from Xītiān (西天) in the west, 60 chéng from Chéng Liáng in the north, 25 chéng from Luohu in the northeast...

The Chinese term San-lo 三濼 mentioned in Lingwai Daida in 1178,^[6]: 288 which Lawrence P. Briggs speculated to have been an early Chinese attempt to transcribe the name of the country or the people of the upper and central Menam,^[6]: 290 was probably Chaliang.^[1]: 8 The Chinese were soon to call the region Xiān (暹) and Xiānluó (暹羅) in the 13th century.^[6]: 290 The timeframe mentioned in Chinese writings conforms to various archeological findings, which show that the region was occupied since the prehistoric period and continued until the Dvaravati period when the region was influenced by the Lavo Kingdom.^[1]: 28

To the southeast, Lavo's Lavapura faced several circumstances, such as the conquest of Lavo by Tambralinga in 927/928^{[18][19]: 23} and the 9-year-long Angkorian civil wars, which led to the destruction of Lavapura by the Angkorian king Suryavarman I in 1002.^[20] These were potentially the reasons for Lavo's decrease in influence over northern polities, which included Chaliang and Sukhothai, in the mid-10th century.

In the late 10th century, after Suphannabhum and Haripuñjaya joined forces and retook Lavapura from the Angkor in 1052^{[7]: 532 [21]: 42} and moved the capital to Ayodhya in 1080s.^[10] The seat at the former capital, Lavapura, was vacant from 1087 to 1106, Chaliang or Si Satchanalai's king, Kraisornrat (ไกรศรราช) then took over the seat. This de facto made Chaliang a northern fortress of Lavapura and was ruled by the crown prince.^[21]: 109 An attempt to re-expand influence to Lavo's Lavapura by the Angkor occurred in 1181 when Jayavarman VII appointed his lineage Narupatidnavarman to govern Lavapura.^[9] Due to this political pressure, a Tai ruler Sri Thammasokkarat (ศรีธรรมโศกราช), who was also from Si Satchanalai, fled to Nakhon Si Thammarat.^{[22]: 38–39} However, Lavapura was probably taken back by a Tai royal from Phraek Si Racha (แพรกศรีราชา; present-day Sankhaburi) in the 13th century.^[21]: 109

The text given in the Pu Khun Chit Khun Jot Inscription (จารึกปู่ขุนจิดขุนจอด) shows the royal relationship between Nan [th] and Chaliang,^[23] which later expanded its influence on Sukhothai.^[1]: 4 This corresponds with the detail provided in the Nan Chronicles, Wat Phra That Chang Kham version.^[24]: 89

Sukhothai period

After Chaliang led by Sri Naw Nam Thum^[12] annexed Sukhothai^[1]: 4 in 1157,^[12] the seat was moved to Sukhothai, which subsequently led to the establishment of the Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238.^[1]: 4 Sri Naw Nam Thum was expected to be a Tai noble from the present-day Uttaradit province, located in the Nan River Basin, north of Sukhothai.^[16]: 52

Due to the change in the direction of the Yom River, bank erosion occurred; Chaliang was moved 2.5 kilometers westward to the present-day Si Satchanalai Historical Park and was also called Sawankhalok/Si Satchanalai around the early 13th century during the reign of Si Inthrathit (Phra Ruang I; r. 1238–1270).^{[1]: 38–39} In the first era, Sukhothai kings were also considered the rulers of Chaliang until the end of the reign of Ram Khamhaeng in 1298, when Sukhothai's influence waned, allowing other vassals to gain independence;^[25] Chaliang went nearly 50 years without a ruler^[17]: 29 until Lithai was appointed to the title in 1340.^[26]: 31

According to the text given in several Sukhothai inscriptions, Chaliang or Si Satchanalai was a city-level settlement, comparable to and equal to Sukhothai, both of which were considered capital cities ruled by the kings of the Sukhothai-Si Satchanalai Kingdom.^{[1]: 25–26}

In the 14th century, Sukhothai-Si Satchanalai expanded its territory to the north by destroying and annexed a Tai Yuan's city-state of Mueang Li [th]. A large number of Li people were forcibly moved to Sukhothai-Si Satchanalai.^{[27]: 2210 [28]: 3}

After the reign of Lithai, Sukhothai declined; both Sukhothai and Chaliang were vassals of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. According to the legend, Khottrabong (โคตรบอง) was appointed the ruler.^{[17]: 32, 35} He was dethroned probably in 1429 by an usurper, Saeng Hang (แสงหัง).^[17]: 35

Ayutthaya period

During this era, Chaliang was known as Sawankalok.^[29]: 174 Historical records on Chaliang during this period are sparse.^{[1]: 9–12} After Sukhothai became the vassal of Ayutthaya, it is speculated that Chaliang together with Phitsanulok and Kamphaeng Phet were separated from the Sukhothai Kingdom by Ayutthaya under the divide and rule policy to annex and reduce the power of Sukhothai.^[30]: 10 Sukhothai and the aforementioned principalities were collectively called by Ayutthaya as the Northern cities (หัวเมืองเหนือ).^[31] Thai chronicles revised during the Rattanakosin period list these four cities as four of the sixteen vassal states of the Ayutthaya Kingdom during the reign of King Ramathibodi I. However, since the information about these vassals conflicts with other evidence, it is assumed that they were added to the chronicles later, perhaps during the reign of King Intharacha.^[13][32]

Due to the succession issue of Sukhothai which was determined by Ayutthaya, Yutthisathian [th], the son of Maha Thammaracha IV of Sukhothai, was not satisfying to be appointed as the ruler of a lower-tier city, Songkwae–Phitsanulok. He therefore pledged allegiance to Lan Na in 1452 and advised King Tilokaraj of Lan Na to invade the northern cities of Ayutthaya.^{[33]: 54–57} As a result, Ayutthaya demoted three of its four northern cities, including Songkwae, Sukhothai, and Kamphaeng Phet, from vassals to frontier cities and sent central nobles to govern instead; Chaliang remained its vassal status until it was conquered by Lan Na in 1462 when it was renamed Chienjuen (เชียงชื่น).^[13]

Ayutthaya re-gained Chaliang in the following years. Nevertheless, Chaliang was occasionally deserted as a result of the people escaping the war, as it was situated on the route of the warring parties between Ayutthaya, Burma, and Lan Na.