Kalavarnadisharaja

Kalavarnadisharaja (Thai: กาฬวรรณดิศราช) was a 7th-century monarch traditionally regarded as the founder and first ruler of the Lavo Kingdom. He was the elder son of King Kakabhadra of Takkasila or Nakhon Chai Si in Kamalanka and ascended to the throne in 641. Kalavarnadisharaja is recorded to have established his capital at Lavo in 648, following the earlier dispatch in 629 of a group of Brahmanic specialists associated with the former rulers of Takkasila to oversee the construction of the city.

In 656 CE, King Kalavarnadisharaja commissioned the construction of Phra Prathon Chedi, intended to enshrine and protect a pre-existing stone chamber that had formerly housed the golden tanan (ทะนาน)—a measuring bowl—which, according to local legends, had been employed in the calculation of the amount of the Buddha’s relics. This chronology is consistent with the evidence preserved in the Ayutthaya recension of the Traibhūmi Picture Book (สมุดภาพไตรภูมิฉบับกรุงศรีอยุธยา), in which an inscription states, “..ปโทนเมื่อสางสาศนาได้ 1199 ปี..” (lit. '“…Pathon was built in the 1199th year of the Buddhist calendar”'). This notation corresponds to the year 656 in the Common Era.

Kalavarnadisharaja's reign is described as a period of expansion, during which subordinate polities such as Kosambi, Ase, Sawangkaburi, and Sukhothai were founded under Lavo’s authority. The reign of Kalavarnadisharaja at Takkasila appears to have concluded with the relocation of his royal seat to Lavo. After his departure, sources indicate that other monarchs governed the polity. Among them was Anuruddha mentioned in the Pali chronicle Jinakalamali, followed by Shridravya, a prince of Nakhon Chai Si who is referenced in local folklore and is possibly to be identified as a son of Anuruddha. Another successor was Sai Thong Som, the younger son of Balidhiraja, the king of Sukhothai. Sai Thong Som assumed power at Nakhon Chai Si before 700 CE, following the overthrow of the preceding ruler by his father. It is further suggested that Shridravya was deposed by Balidhiraja, who then appointed his younger son, Sai Thong Som, as the new ruler of the polity.

At Lavo's Lavapura, Kalavarnadisharaja was succeeded by his grandson, Balipatijaya, an elder son of Balidhiraja. Some Thai scholars suggest that Queen Camadevi of Haripuñjaya may have been a princess connected to his lineage. Following his reign, several polities within the Menam river valleys appear to have exercised a considerable degree of autonomy, as evidenced by their dispatch of tributary missions to the Chinese court. These included the so-called “three brother kingdoms”: Gē Luó Shě Fēn—identified with the expanded Qiān Zhī Fú and centered at Si Thep and Nakhon Pathom—Xiū Luó Fēn, located at Phraek Si Racha, and Gān Bì, associated with the area of Kosamphi Nakhon. In parallel, Sukhothai is also described as having been subordinated to Qiān Zhī Fú.