Dvaravati

Dvaravati

Ancient kingdom of Southeast Asia (fl. 6th–13th centuries). The first Mon kingdom established in what is now Thailand, it had early commercial and cultural contact with India, which influenced Mon sculpture, writing, law, and governmental forms. Conquered in turn by the Burmans (Burmese), the Khmer, and the Tai (Thai), the Dvaravati Mon passed on Indian culture to their conquerers.

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Dvaravati 

an ancient Mon state in Southeast Asia that lasted until the tenth century. It probably arose in the second century A.D. The earliest Dvaravati inscriptions (in Mon and in Sanscrit) date from the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries. Originally the Dvaravati Kingdom occupied the region near the mouth of the Mekong River and was a vassal of the Funan empire. Dvaravati is first mentioned as an independent state in Chinese chronicles of the seventh century. About this time, the territory of Dvaravati embraced the southern part of the territory of present-day Thailand and Burma. Dvaravati maintained diplomatic and cultural relations with India and China. In the eighth and ninth centuries Lopburi (Luvo) became the capital of Dvaravati and the entire state took on its name; in the tenth century Luvo-Dvaravati was conquered by the Khmers. The art and architecture of Dvaravati were initially under the strong influence of Indian Buddhist art, but later they evolved many clearly original features.

REFERENCE

Brigg. L. P. “Dvaravati, the Most Ancient Kingdom of Siam.” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1945, vol. 65, no. 2.

E. O. BERZIN