Kamalanka

Kamalanka, variously recorded in Chinese sources as Chia-mo-lang-chia, Lang-chia, and Lang-ya-hsiu, elsewhere as Kolo (Gē Luó), in Ptolemy's Geographike Hyphegesis as Balangka or Kalonga, in the Tanjore Inscription as Mevilimbangam, and in the Bhavavarman II inscription as Sambuka, was a Dvaravati polity in the western Chao Phraya basin of central Thailand. Established in the late 1st or early 2nd century CE, it endured until 1058, when its capital at ancient Nakhon Pathom was likely destroyed by Anawrahta of Pagan during his invasion of the Lavo Kingdom. Regarded as the successor of Tun Sun, its first embassy to China in 515 CE claimed a foundation some four centuries earlier, and subsequent embassies were dispatched in 523 and 531. The polity remained known in later tradition, with 20th-century Chinese settlers still referring to the western Chao Phraya region, specifically the Meklong-Tha Chin Basins, as Lang-jia-jiu, while the Lan Na Yonok Chronicle recorded Ayodhya of the pre-Ayutthaya era as Guru Rath (กุรุรัฐ; lit. 'Country of Guru' गुरुcode: san promoted to code: sa ), closely resembling the Chinese name Kolo.

By the 7th century, southern Kamalanka was incorporated into Pan Pan, while its northern territories merged into the Dvaravati sphere alongside neighboring polities after the collapse of Funan. Though once identified with Langkasuka, Chinese geographic descriptions place Kamalanka in the lower central plains of Thailand. Attempts to identify it with the Mon kingdom of Thaton, whose existence before the 13th century is questioned by Michael Aung-Thwin, remain disputed, particularly in light of Xuanzang's account of Kamalanka as it was hemped mountains and rivers. Piriya Krairiksh has argued that early Indianized Nakhon Pathom first served as Pan Pan's port at Mueang Uthong before the Mon shifted power to Nakhon Pathom, which was later recorded as Ge Luo She Fen in the Cefu Yuangui (1005) and as the Ge Luo Kingdom in the New Book of Tang (1044).

Kamalanka declined in the 12th and 13th centuries, with its center likely relocated to Sambukapattana in present-day Ban Pong district, Ratchaburi province. Concurrently, breakaway polities emerged, including Chen Li Fu in Suphanburi and Phrip Phri in Phetchaburi. Chen Li Fu developed into Suphannabhum, while Phrip Phri expanded northward in 1224, subsuming both Chen Li Fu and Kamalanka. All three were later consolidated into the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 14th century. Certain Thai traditions ascribe a far earlier origin, claiming that nobles of the Anuradhapura Kingdom of Lanka established Kamalanka in 216 BCE, with a related group founding Langkasuka in 217 BCE in present-day Pattani as its sister polity.