The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

REVIEW ARTICLE 331
King Ajutaraja is said to have died at the age of 120 after a reign
of 100 years, and was followed by a son, mahraynaraja, and a grandson,
jo'ah, in whose reigns more Buddha relics were brought to the area.
After this there is a list of 16 kings with monosyllabic Thai-type
names such as jin, ga1p, ko'n, fa{i, etc., who reign through a period of
312 years, from 183-495 of the new era, in which no events are recorded
except their occasional repairs to reliquaries. There seems to be no
doubt about the era, since it is frequently identified as that of the Buddha's
nirvana.
Then the scene shifts to the outside world with mention of bra~ya
du!(hagamini, ruling in Ceylon, and the fourth Buddhist council which was
held at that time in 495 of the new era. The synchronism shows some
confusion with respect to Ceylonese chronology, which places the writing
down of the scriptures and the council in question in the reign of
King Vattagamani over a half century later than Dutthagamani, although
the date given by TS, 495 (B.C. 48), is rather close, by one reckoning, to
the accepted date for these events.ts We are probably faced here with
a simple case of scribal confusion of names, as Manit also noted.19
Five years later, in the year 500 after the Buddha's nirvana, the
text says, "the religion of the nuns" bas died out and Buddhism bas
disappeared from all the great countries. It is only flourishing from
mo'an rjjjagrh down to mo'an yuan j(d1 saen.zo This seems to be a
reference to an ancient prediction concerning the admission of women to
the order.21 With the name yuonjah saen the chronicler is getting ahead
•of his story, for that name bas not yet been established and the country
is still known as Yonakanagara.
18) The authorities seem to differ over these dates. Wilhelm Geiger, Culture of
Ceylon in Medieval Times. p. 223, has Dutthagamani reigning 101-77 B.C., and
Vattagamani in 43 B.C. and from 29-17 B.C., while c.w. Nicholas and S.
Paranavitana, A Concise History of Ceylon, pp. 59, 71, place these reigns
respectively in 161-13 7 and 89-77 B.C. Note the variant spelling of .the royal
names in the Thai tradition.
19) Manit p. 60, ~ection 136.
20) Manit p. 61 .•
21) . .Presence; p. 65·8.