The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXXV, Part 1-2, 1997 - Khamkoo

The Journal 

of 

The Siam Society 

Volume 85, Parts 1 & 2 

1997 

All Rights Reserved 


1997 

ISSN 0857-7099

CONTENTS 

Ian C. Glover 

Editorial 5 

H. Leedom Lefferts Jr. and Louise Cort 

Little things mean a lot: pots and cloth in Northeast Thailand 9 

Richard Engelhardt and Pamela Rogers 

The Phuket Project revisited: the ethno-archaeology through time 17 

of maritime-adapted communities in Southeast Asia 

Janell Mills 

The swinging pendulum: from centrality to marginality- 35 

a study of southern Tenasserim in the history of Southeast Asia 

Michael Smithies 

The Siam of Mendes Pinto's Travels 59 

Sven Trakulhun 

The view from the outside - Nicolas Gervaise, Simon de la 75 

Loubere and the perception of seventeenth century Siamese 

government and society 

John Guy 

A warrior-ruler stele from Sri K~?etra, Pyu, Burma 85 

Sheila Middleton 

Two engraved gems with combination monsters from 

Southeast Asia 

Elizabeth Moore and Anthony Freeman 

Circular sites at Angkor: a radar scattering model 

Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h 

Archaeological research in the Malay Peninsula 

Dougald O'Reilly 

The discovery of clay-lined floors at an Iron Age site in 

Thailand- preliminary observations from Non Muang Kao, 

Nakhon Ratchasima Province 

Dawn Rooney and Michael Smithies 

The Khmer kilns of Ban Ya Kha 

95 

107 

121 

133 

151 

Journal of The Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2 

3

Contents 

Jean-Pierre Pautreau, Aude Matringhem 

and Patricia Momais 

Excavation at Bang Wang Hi, Lamphun Province, Thailand 

Ian Glover 

The excavations of J.-Y. Claeys at Tra Kieu, Central Vietnam, 

1927-28: from the unpublished archives of the EFEO, Paris, 

and records in the possession of the Claeys family 

Peter Skilling 

Dharmakirti' s Durbodhiiloka and the literature of Snvijaya 

161 

173 

187 

REVIEWS 

Ian Morson 

Northeast Thailand from Prehistoric to Modern Times by Peter Rogers. 195 

Dawn Rooney 

The Khmers by Ian Mabbett and David Chandler, 195 

Angkor Life by Stephen 0. Murray, 196 

Reporting Angkor: Chou Ta-Kuan in Cambodia, AD 1296-1297 by Robert Phillpots. 196 


The Manchus by Pamela Kyle Crossley 201 

Peter Rogers 

Aerial Nationalism: a History of Aviation in Thailand by Edward M. Young 202 


Burmese Manuscripts Part 3 by Heinz Braun 205 


A Handbook of Piili Literature by Oskar von Hiniiber 206 

Notes for Contributors 209 

4 Journal of The Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2

When I was invited in 1996 by the 

President and Honorary Secretary of 

The Siam Society to take over the position as 

Honorary Editor of its journal from 1997 I 

realised that this was a considerable honour 

but, nevertheless, it was an honour I accepted 

with some apprehension. For one 

thing, I knew that I could not make more 

than occasional visits to Bangkok and most 

of the work would have to be done in England, 

and not even in London, but in a 

remote rural village in Shropshire where, 

for most of the year, I live following my 

retirement from teaching at the Institute of 

Archaeology, University College London. I 

knew of the long and proud reputation of 

the Journal of The Siam Society for representing 

so many aspects of Thai culture to the 

academic community at large, but I was 

also aware that in recent years production 

schedules had slipped, that the volume for 

1994 had not yet appeared, and other ones 

were late. 

One brief I was given was to try to get the 

journal back on time, and if possible to 

produce the two issues for 1997 within the 

year; a daunting task which has not really 

been achieved, but more on that later. Furthermore, 

I felt that there was a need to reestablish 

the links between the Society and 

the broader international world of scholarship-particularly 

in regard to Thai studies. 

In its early years, the Society's journal was 

almost the only regular outlet, in a western 

language, for scholarship on Thailand. But 

the past thirty or so years has seen a phenomenal 

growth of higher education in 

Thailand, as world-wide, and a concomitant 

increase in scholarly publications. In 

Thailand, this comes mainly from Thai universities, 

government and public institutions 

in Thai language, but also from North 

America, Europe and Australasia in Western 

languages, as well as in Japanese and 

Chinese from various centres in eastern Asia. 

The result is that a single journal can no 

EDITORIAL 

longer play the sort of role for Thai cultural 

studies such as enjoyed by the Journal of The 

Siam Society in its earlier years. This is not a 

matter for regret but it is important that the 

journal finds its proper niche in a much 

bigger 'pond' and continues to attract high 

quality papers from Thai scholars who want 

to present their work to non-Thai readers, 

and by overseas scholars whose focus of 

interest is in Thailand and its' cultural area'. 

I mention this here because I feel that it is 

important that studies of Thailand be considered 

within a broader framework than 

merely the national boundaries of the 

present-day kingdom. In fact contributors 

to the journal have always looked outwards, 

as well as backwards in time, and presented 

significant papers on Burma, Cambodia, 

Malaysia as well as the Tai-speaking areas 

surrounding the country to the northwest, 

north and northeast, and in this the present 

volume is no exception. 

When I started to work on Volume 85 in 

the middle of 1997 I found that only three 

papers had been received, or at least passed 

to me in England, for consideration for publication 

and while some others were promised 

there was clearly not enough material 

available to produce a single good issue, let 

alone two, within the calendar year. In order 

to accelerate matters I have taken something 

of a 'short cut' which I hope subscribers 

will understand, and which to some 

extent explains the archaeological bias of 

this volume. 

In September 1996, the European Association 

for Southeast Asian Archaeology, an 

organisation which I had helped to establish 

ten years earlier, held its Sixth biennial 

Conference at the International Institute for 

Asian Studies in Leiden in the Netherlands, 

and by the middle of 1997 a substantial 

number (about forty-four) of the revised 

papers presented there had been received 

for the conference proceedings. Funding 

levels and production facilities, however, 


5

Editorial 

meant that only a single volume of conference 

proceedings was possible and the total 

length of the papers received was too great 

for a single volume. Following a brief visit 

to Leiden in July 1997 in order to discuss 

this matter with the conference organiser, 

Dr Marijke I

Editorial 

lishable form, but today the text goes, rather 

directly, from the authors' own word-processor 

system to the printer, and the onus is 

on the authors to present their material in 

the most acceptable manner. Contributions, 

however excellent in their content, will be 

returned to authors for re-presentation if 

the guidelines are not followed. 

In preparing this issue I have had the 

help of quiteanumberofpeople, particularly 

in the Society's office in Bangkok and I would 

especially like to thanki

.I 

I

LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT: 

POTS AND CLOTH IN NORTHEAST THAILAND 

H. Leedom Lefferts Jr. 1 

and 

Louise Cort 2 

Abstract 

Studies of Thai culture tend to focus on Buddhism and state; studies of Thai art 

tend to focus on art as defined in Euro-American terms. This research report, 

based on a decade of fieldwork with more under way, is intended as a thoughtpiece 

to address ways of ascertaining the lives of everyday people through 

everyday things. Our studies of weaving and pottery production in Northeast 

Thai villages have provided ways to understand not only technology and 

marketing but also such issues as the relationship of ethnicity to technology; 

gender roles; social hierarchy of production; and the artistic dimensions of 

traditional production wherein individuals engage in making more or less 

standardized products. Weaving used to be a requisite skill for almost every 

village woman; pottery-making takes place as a seasonal activity only in specific 

communities that have access to clay. Our current study shows, in particular, 

how systems of pottery-making technology sometimes align with, but sometimes 

cut across, conventional ethnic identities, and how earthenware production 

seems to have provided a portable occupation for displaced ethnic/ social 

groups. 

Studies of Thai culture tend to focus on 

Buddhism and state, while studies of 

Thai art history tend to focus on art as defined 

in Euro-American terms. Our paper offers 

some alternative ways of addressing the 

lives and arts of everyday people through 

everyday things, using our studies of pots 

and cloth in Northeast Thailand over the 

past decade. This paper reflects a strategy 

designed to deal with the present moment 

among peoples for whom monumental 

architecture, sculpture, and painting no 

longer perpetuate regional styles but mirror 

national - or even international - models. 

This paper also reflects our conviction that 

examination of the details of local products 

such as cloth and pots brings to light realms 

1 Department of Anthropology, Drew University, 

Madison, New Jersey 07940, USA. 

2 Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler 

Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 

DC 20560, USA. 

Introduction 

of artistic production, technological styles, 

and intricate meanings more truly reflective 

of the complexities of local cultures. 

Our region-wide surveys have revealed 

unexpected ties, in the case of pots - or an 

equally surprising lack of relationships, in 

the case of cloth -to the commonly proposed 

historical ebb and flow of diverse ethnic 

groups within the region. Connections 

embodied in the construction of a pot or a 

length of cloth contradict concepts of 

ethnicity associated with more prominent 

monumental structures. In a region where 

Khmer political influence waned in the 

fourteenth century, leaving the great stone 

structures to crumble, we find Khmer 

patterns of technology hidden in the ongoing 

production of pots by Lao-speaking women. 

Through textiles and their use in ceremonies, 

we see the perpetuation of statements of 

meaning originating in Khmer usages, but 

now applied in northeast Thai-Lao Theravada 

Buddhist contexts. 


9

H.L. Lefferts & L. Cort 

The area now known through political 

affiliation as Northeast Thailand occupies 

theKhoratplateau,anopenbutwell-defined 

region bordered to the north and east by the 

Mekong River, to the south by the Dangrek 

escarpment overlooking Cambodia, and to 

the west by the Petchabunmountains leading 

to what is now called Central Thailand. This 

area, lying at the heart of mainland Southeast 

Asia, has been appropriated by successive 

dominant cultures over the millennia, 

beginning with the Ban Chiang efflorescence 

and including the Dvaravati civilization and 

the Khmer empire. Khmer influence 

seemingly waned with thedeclineofAngkor, 

while, later, the populace of the Lao 

kingdoms spilled across the Mekong to 

occupy open land (Keyes 1976). Various Laospeaking 

ethnic groups predominate in 

present-day Northeast Thailand, with 

smaller populations of Khmer and Suay 

living in the southern half of the plateau 

(Lebar, Hickey, and Musgrave 1964 map). 

Cloth 

An intensive study of textiles, resulting from 

many years of work in the region, first gave 

rise to the questioning of received opinions. 

It became apparent that textiles highlighted 

and re-affirmed, in ways we had not been 

led to expect, the roles of women in producing 

and reproducing household, village, and 

Buddhist social structures (Gittinger and 

Lefferts 1992). 

Focusing on textiles permits us to 

hypothesize that women exercise a controlling 

force on the trajectory of Theravada 

Buddhism. This occurs through their control 

of the production of cloth used to mark the 

transition of a young man first to the liminal 

status of 'serpenthood' and then to monkhood 

(Lefferts 1994). This hypothesis 

contradicts the received opinion that men 

are the important figures in Theravada 

Buddhism. At minimum, textiles permit us 

to visualize a complementarity between 

women and men, resulting in a reconfiguration 

of the role ofTheravada Buddhism 

in daily Thai-Lao life. Using textiles, we can 

begin to bring contemporary Thai women 

into Buddhist history. We can also describe 

women as well as men as active agents in 

Buddhism. 

Focusing on textiles also initiated other 

questions. These concern technology, 

production, and ethnicity. First, we found 

that textile production is arguably the single 

most complex pre-industrial technology in 

Thai-Lao culture. Even rice cultivation on 

the Khorat Plateau may not have used as 

complex a set of tools and procedures as 

does textile production, ranging from yarn 

production and finishing to dyeing, weaving, 

and distribution. Moreover, all of these 

processes classified under the rubric of 

'weaving' are women's work, whereas most 

aspects of rice production are shared by 

men and women. 

Second, textile production requires years 

of focused study for a woman to become 

proficient. It was not unusual for elderly 

women to tell us that they had started 

weaving at age twelve under their mother's 

or a neighbor's supervision and had 

progressed in learning the repertory of 

techniques in order to become skilled in 

time for their marriage, at eighteen or so. 

Brides wove specially required textiles and 

presented them to their new in-laws. After 

raising their children, some especially adept 

women continued to perfect their techniques 

and learn new ones, becoming recognized 

as 'master' weavers. We have estimated that 

Thai-Lao weavers had access to more than 

thirty different methods for varying their 

weaving in order to produce different 

designs. 

Third, the implications of weaving in 

terms of ethnicity and politics contradicted 

our expectations. It became apparent that 

the women we talked to were part of a 

regional distribution of yarn, designs, dyes, 

loom parts, and completed textiles stretching 

far beyond the Khorat Plateau or a single 

ethno-linguistic group. Silk from China and 

Tai Dam peoples; cotton from Laos and 

Thailand; prohibitions on silk production 

affecting some Theravada Buddhist women 

but not others; the widespread distribution 


Pots and Cloth in Northeast Thailand 

of the same design with different names or 

no name; the ability of weavers to execute 

the same design using different techniques; 

and the important role of fashion- all served 

to explode the myth that a textile could be 

associated with a certain people or even 

with a specific function. 

Furthermore, there was every reason to 

suppose that these factors were at least as 

prominent several centuries ago, prior to 

the inroads of Western capitalism and 

industrially-produced yarns, dyes, and cloth, 

as they are today. In fact, the ease with 

which these outside materials were accepted 

Figure 1. Master weaver Mae Nu at her loom, 

experimenting with a new pattern on one portion 

of the warp. Baan Hua Chang, Mahasarakham 

Province, Thailand (1990). 

shows that weavers relished their increased 

ability to do more with more variety (Lefferts 

1996). 

The openness of textile production to 

external inputs confirms the conclusions of 

studies such as those of Katherine Bowie 

(1992) on Chiang Mai, and Lefferts on 

Northeast Thailand and Laos, which make 

clear that production has always been a 

matter of 'state' concern. Textiles cannot be 

explained as only the products of women, 

based in some ethnic matrix, acting in 

seemingly isolated, subsistence-oriented 

households. Women weavers act in a 

complex environment of religion, politics, 

power, trade, and fashion. In this context 

art, in part, becomes a matter of politics 

and power. 

Pots 

Our discovery of the fluid movement of 

textile style across ethnic boundaries in 

present-day Northeast Thailand influenced 

our initial approach to the documentation 

of earthenware production in the same 

region. We did not anticipate that ethnicity 

would have appreciable impact on potmaking. 

We expected to find a more or less 

uniform technology in the fifty-odd 

earthenware sites scattered across the 

plateau and we planned simply to document 

it as we addressed differences related to 

other factors, such as gender. Instead, our 

major focus has become the ethnic specificity 

of pot-making technology and the way it 

enables us to trace the dynamic migration of 

one group of potters in particular. In this 

approach we fully acknowledge the 

inspiration of William Solheim's pioneering 

studies on the distribution of ceramic 

technologies in Asia (e.g. Solheim 1964). 

Our model for technological style was 

Baan Maw (Pot Village) in Mahasarakham 

Province, close to the geographic center of 

Northeast Thailand and familiar to us 

because of its location near our base of 

operations for textile research. In BaanMaw, 

the potters, who are women, make 

earthenware water jars. They form a cylinder 

of clay, stand it upright on a short wooden 

post, and-in the most distinctive movement 

of their work- walk around the cylinder, 

sometimes forward, sometimes backward, 

to shape the rim first before they shape the 

body. Baan Maw potters then shape the 

round body of the pot using a paddle and 

anvil. They fire their pots in short, violent 

Journa l of The Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2 

11


bonfires that finish in less than an hour. 

This distinctive technological style is 

associated with a division of labor and 

economic system which we have come to 

define as the industrial household. 

While women produce pots, men collect 

clay, manage the firing, and market the pots, 

travelling up to fifty kilometers from Baan 

Maw. BaanMaw families typically have little 

or no rice land and depend almost entirely 

on pot-making for their income. Almost all 

Baan Maw households follow this pattern, 

leading to a single-occupation, industrialized 

settlement (Lefferts and Cort 1997). 

The issue of ethnicity was thrust upon us 

as soon as we began visiting other potteryproducing 

villages for our survey. In the 

process of eliciting genealogies, we found 

that the numerous other villages of potters 

who claimed a relationship to Baan Maw 

through recent migration or marriage also 

traced their ancestry ultimately to districts 

north of the old city of Khorat, in the 

southwest corner of the plateau. Moreover, 

all such potters identified themselves 

ethnically as Thai-Khorat, an ethnic category 

not significant in our textile studies. 

Our survey made clear the numerical 

dominance of Thai-Khorat pot-making 

villages, but we also located a handful of 

communities of potters of other ethnicities, 

including Suay and Lao. In our visits to such 

communities, we typically found women 

potters operating as members of farming 

households, conducting occasional potmaking 

entirely by themselves as a part- 

figure 2. Thai-Khoratpotter beginning to shape 

a water jar from a cylinder of clay, using a paddle 

and anvil and walking forward around the 

wooden post that serves as work table. Baan 

Talat, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand 

(1995). 

Figure 3. Water-cooling jar with paddled neck 

decoration and smooth surface, made by Thai 

Khorat potter, Baan Maw, Mahasarakham Province, 

Thailand (1994). 



Figure 4. Suay potter holding two cooking pots 

with paddle-marked striations. Baan Cham 

Saming, Surin Province, Thailand (1994). 

time, seasonal activity. These potters' 

technological styles differed in many details, 

including preparation of the clay, forming 

of the pot, and firing. Above all, the leisurely 

pace of production in such communities 

stood in striking contrast to the intense 

industriousness of Thai-Khorat potters. 

These comparisons brought us back to 

the question of who the Thai-Khorat potters 

are and why they dominate this occupation 

in a region predominantly inhabited by Thai 

Lao farmers. Khorat, once a major Khmer 

city in the Khorat plateau, is now cal~ed 

Nakhon Ratchasima, a Thai name meanmg 

Royal Boundary Marker City, signifying its 

role as an outlier of the Siamese kingdoms of 

Ayutthaya and early Bangkok. Thai-Khorat 

people identify themselves as such because, 

even though they live among Thai-Lao on 

the Khorat Plateau, they are understood to 

be Khmer colonized by Central Thai. 

When we expanded our search across 

present political borders, we found a 

relationship in modern Cambodia for the 

Thai-Khorat potters' technology (Biagini and 

Mourer 1971; Cort, Lefferts and Mori, n.d.). 

We now see Thai-Khorat pot production as 

'crypto-Khmer.' Fully six centuries after the 

Khmer Empire disintegrated, Thai-Khorat 

potters in northeast Thailand use production 

technology embodied in a transmitted 

pattern of behavior that is still recognizably 

Khmer. We have come to focus on this 

complex of motor skills, rather than on tools 

or the appearance of the finished pots, to 

distinguish among groups of potters. In 

particular, from our close observations of 

the activities of potters in differing ethnic 

groups, we realize it is not sufficient to 

describe pots simply as shaped with paddle 

and anvil, since any number of highly 

distinctive procedures may lead up to that 

process (Cort, Lefferts, and Reith 1997; 

Vandiver and Chia 1997). 

The migration of Thai-Khorat potters to 

all corners of the Khora t plateau seems to go 

back at least to the beginning of the 

nineteenth century, as families of potmakers 

left Khorat for Lao-populated areas 

further east and north, drawn by the 

opportunity for work if not pushed by 

famine, drought, flood, and the lack of 

sufficient farmland in the heavily populated 

districts north of Khorat City. Today, Thai 

Khorat potters' communities serve all parts 

of the plateau; the Thai-Khoratstyle of water 

jar dominates in all markets. We have 

observed recent additions of 'Ban Chiang 

style' decoration to such water jars. Potters 

tell us that such pots sell for five baht (about 

US$ 0.10 cents) more than non-decorated 

pots, a worthwhile difference in household 

economies depending entirely upon pot 

production. The few Thai-Lao potters who 

continue potting are at the fringes of the 

Thai-Khorat encroachment; because these 

households rely on more than one source of 

income, they do not see the loss of potmaking 

from their repertory as disastrous. 

The present dominance of Thai-Khorat 

pottery is a matter not of style or taste or 

ethnic preference, but of economics. 


13


Conclusion 

This paper shows that contexts of different 

artistic media appear to vary independently 

across what might be supposed to be readily 

identifiable ethno-linguistic groups. Cloth 

production depends on extremely welltrained 

women who manipulate complex 

technologies, readily adapt new designs to 

existing technologies, and are involved in 

meaningful structural statements. Textiles 

and their component technologies seem 

today to move freely across the landscape of 

people and cultures. 

This differs from pot production and 

distribution, wherein we see the distribution 

of ethnicity coeval with distinctive 

technologies and, in the case ofThai-Khorat 

potters, an intensive division of labor 

requiring both men and women. This 

configuration has led us to wonder whether 

so-called Thai-Khorat ethnicity may be 

adopted by those people who take up potmaking 

as a survival strategy, together with 

constructed histories and possible fictive 

kinship, regardless of what ethnicity they 

might have claimed before (cf. Foster 1972). 

Meanwhile, pots and cloth also vary in 

the meanings attributed to them within their 

cultural frameworks. Textiles are 

fundamental proxies whereby Thai-Lao 

women assert themselves in social and 

religious structures. Pots, by contrast, seem 

to be more simply 'things' - produced and 

used without great symbolic meaning or 

overt Buddhist context. 

For neither pots nor cloth do we find 

simple correlations that support generally 

accepted statements of the co-terminal 

boundaries of material culture and ethnicity. 

Our research on the 'little things' of cloth 

and pots has involved us in questioning the 

idea that' art' is not an easy gloss for cultural 

systems. 

Acknowledgement 

This research was funded in part by a grant 

from the Nishida Memorial Foundation for 

Research on Asian Ceramic History. An 

earlier version of this paper was read at 

Symposium VII, American Council on 

Southern Asia Art, University of Minnesota, 

May1996. 

References 

Cort, L.A., H. L. Lefferts, and Mori Tatsuya (n.d.) 

Report: Technical and Social Contexts for 

Earthenware and Stoneware Production in 

Present-Day Northeast Thailand (Lowland 

Laos and Cambodia), 29 December 1996- 27 

January 1997. 

Cort, L. A., H. L. Lefferts, and C. Reith 1997. 

'Before' Paddle-and-Anvil: Contributions 

from Contemporary Mainland Southeast 

Asia. Paper presented at Conference on Ceramic 

Technology and Production, London, 

November 1997. 

Biagini, J. and R. Mourer 1971. La Poterie au 

Cambodge. Objects and Mondes 11(2):197-220. 

Bowie, K. 1992. Unravelling the myth of the 

subsistence economy: textile production in 

nineteenth century Thailand. Journal of Asian 

Studies 51(4): 797-823. 

Foster, B. 1972. Ethnicity and Economy: the case 

of the Mons in Thailand. PhD. dissertation, 

Department of Anthropology, University of 

Michigan. 

Gittinger, M. and H. Leedom Lefferts, Jr. 1992. 

Textiles and the Tai Experience in Mainland 

Southeast Asia. Washington, DC: The Textile 

Museum. 

Keyes, C. 1976. In Search of Land: Village Formation 

in the Central Chi River Valley, Northeastern 

Thailand. In, J. Brow ( ed.) Population, 

Land, and Structural Change in Sri Lanka 

and Thailand. Contributions to Asian Studies 9: 

45-63. 

Lebar, F. M., G. C. Hickey, and J. K. Musgrave 

1964. Ethnic Groups of Mainland Southeast Asia. 

New Haven: HRAF Press. 

Lefferts, H. L. 1994. Clothing the Serpent: transformations 

ofthe Naakin Thai-Lao Theravada 

Buddhism. In, L. Milgram and P. Van Esterik 

(eds), The Transformative Power of Cloth in 

Southeast Asia, Toronto: The Museum for Textiles, 

pp. 19-38. 

Lefferts, H. L. 1996. Continuity, Change, 'Development': 

The Case of Thai Textiles, In M. J. G. 

Parnwell (ed.), Uneven Development in Thailand, 

London: Avebury, pp. 146-160. 

Lefferts, H. L., and L.A. Cort 1997. Women at the 

Center of an Industrializing Craft: Earthen- 

14 

Journal of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2


ware Production in Northeast Thailand. Paper 

presented at the Annual Meeting, Association 

for Asian Studies, Chicago, March 

1997. 

Narasaki Shoichi, L.A. Cort, and H. L. Lefferts, 

1994. Tai tohokubu no dokizukuri (Earthenware 

productioninnortheastThailand). Aichiken 

Toji Shiryokan Kenkyu Kiyo 13 (Research 

Report of the Aichi Prefecture Institute of 

Ceramics No. 13), pp. 2-15. (in Japanese) 

Solheim, Wilhelm G., II 1964. Further Relationships 

of the Sa-huynh-Kalanay Pottery Tradition. 

Asian Perspectives 8(1):196-210. 

Vandiver, P. and S. Chia 1997. The Pottery Technology 

from Pukit Tengkorak, A 3000-5000 

Year Old Site in Borneo, Malaysia. In, 

Vandiver, P., J. Duzik, J. Merkel andJ. Stewart 

(eds) Proceedings, Conference on Materials Issues 

in Art and Archaeology. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 

Materials Research Society. 

KEYWORDS- POTTERY, CERAMICS, 

WEAVING, NORTHEAST THAILAND, 

ETHNICITY, EARTHENWARE 

Journal of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2 15

THE PHUKET PROJECT REVISITED: THE ETHNO 

ARCHAEOLOGY THROUGH TIME OF MARITIME 

ADAPTED COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA 

Richard A Engelhardt 1 

and 

Pamela Rumball Rogers2 

Abstract 

The Phuket Project aims to model all aspects of the Chaw Lay maritime 

adaptive strategy in order to understand how various activities, and their 

evolutionary sequence, can be identified in the archaeological record. This 

paper describes the previous work of the project, focusing on the palimpsest of 

sites representing four levels of socio-economic organization, from temporary 

base camp, through base settlement, to sites in distress and in a state of collapse. 

New research at the same, and additional sites, in Phuket is described and 

analyzed for the ways in which it adds to our understanding of the various 

levels of complexity. The paper ends with a discussion of the networks formed 

by these sites and how they act as safety nets to maintain the adaptation 

regardless of the pressures which change, stress and time might impose on 

them. The value of this research is the opportunity it has given to add a 

temporal dimension to ethno-archaeological work. 

The Phuket Project was initiated in the 

late 1970s and early 1980s as a means to 

investigate the ways in which adaptive strategies 

based on the specialisation in marine 

resources have evolved in the tropical island 

environment of Southeast Asia. These 

strategies have resulted in a widespread 

distribution of archaeological deposits 

throughout the archipelago which has been 

widely remarked upon but not explained. 

To investigate this phenomenon a multidisciplinary 

team with a commitment to 

long-term ethno-archaeological research was 

constituted. Over the seventeen years which 

the project has been on-going, specialists 

from the disciplines of geology, oceanogra- 

1 Regional Advisor for Culture for Asia and the 

Pacific, UNESCO, PO Box 967 Prakanong, 920 

Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. 

2 Archaeological Assessments, A2 1st floor, Po 

Shan Mansions,14- 6 Po Shan Road, Hong Kong, 

China. 

Background to the Phuket Project and 

review of previous research 

phy, marine biology, anthropology, demography,mathematical 

topology and, of course, 

archaeology have all contributed to the work 

of the project. 

The Phuket Island group lying off the 

west coast of southern Thailand is one of 

many such places in the South China Sea 

where most, if not all, beach sites yield 

evidence of past human exploitation. This 

area is also the present-day home to three of 

the still-thriving groups of transhumant sea 

peoples known collectively in the Thai ver-: 

nacular as Chaw Lay-Sea Gypsies, or People 

of the Sea. Twenty years ago, the Phuket 

Group, now well-known as an international 

tourist destination, was already poised for 

rapid ~conomic development and thus inevitable 

social change for the indigenous 

inhabitants of the area. Because of the widespread 

distribution of archaeological remains, 

the existence of an ethnographically 

analogous indigenous population, and im- 


17

R. Engelhardt and P. Rogers 

pending social change, the area was chosen 

as the laboratory in which to investigate the 

issues concerning specialisation in maritime 

resources -issues which have wide 

relevance throughout insular Southeast 

Asia. The initial phase of ethnographic documentation 

and archaeological research continued 

for a period of three full years from 

1978 through 1981, during which a series of 

nine living communities of Chaw Lay were 

studied and fifteen sites were excavated. 

Recognising that much ethno-archaeological 

research lacks a time dimension 

and thus is open to a critique of speculation, 

our research has been updated by 

periodic return visits culminating in a 

formal project extension in the spring of 

1996 in which eight sites were re-excavated 

and one newly-discovered site investigated. 

The ethnographic data pertaining 

to the populations of four Chaw 

Lay communities were updated and the 

demographic connections of these populations 

re-mapped in order to determine 

what, if any, changes in the pattern of 

movements had taken place over the 

course of a generation. 

This was a unique opportunity to return 

and observe how events which were first 

encountered as living behaviour more than 

fifteen years ago have now been converted 

into archaeological deposits-thus adding a 

temporal dimension to our ethno-archaeological 

model. 

As predicted, certain sites have reached 

the limits of their carrying capacity and are 

changing function while others have been 

abandoned entirely. However, the social 

links binding together the network of sites 

have enabled the populations of these 'dead' 

sites to move elsewhere and continue their 

lifestyle substantially unaltered. 

While confirming the previous interpretations 

of site use and distribution, the new 

data have given insight into the patterns of 

horizontal redistribution of material remains 

within a given occupation site over 

time. The insights gained concerning impermanence 

of structural evidence and 

the recycling of discarded midden material 

can have important implications for the 

interpretation of maritime gatherer-hunter 

campsites throughout the tropical South 

China Sea. 

In previous papers we have extensively 

reported on the ethnography of the Chaw 

Lay (Engelhardt 1980, 1989; Rogers 1992), 

the nature of coastal archaeological deposits 

in the study area (Engelhardt and Rogers 

1995, In Press), and the explanatory models 

which we have developed to interpret these 

deposits and explain their distribution 

(Engelhardt and Rogers 1997, In Press). In 

this paper, we report the results and insights 

obtained during the recent field season 

when we returned to and re-excavated 

both old and new sites since it is useful to 

make a brief review of the deposits and 

archaeological transforms so that the new 

data can be understood in the context of our 

previous findings. 

The ecological niche to which maritime 

people have adapted themselves to exploit 

is characterised by long stretches of sandy 

beach broken by estuarine areas of mangrove 

and mud flat, rocky outcrops and 

offshore island groups. 

The climate is warm with a monsoon 

pattern of mild, sunny winters and rainy 

summers with strong winds. The sea is 

shallow, warm and low in salinity resulting 

in plentiful marine fauna. In general, coastal 

areas tend to have a larger number of ecological 

niches crowded into the same area 

than do non-coastalareas. As a result, coastal 

areas exhibit higher species diversity and 

longer food chains. The more species exploited, 

the more stable is the entire resource 

pattern and more suitable for supporting 

human population densities over a 

sustained period of time. There is evidence 

suggesting occupation of the area since at 

least the end of the Pleistocene by people 

who for the past several millennia have 

increasingly specialised in exploiting the 

marine resources of this ecologically diverse 

area. 

As already noted, an autochthonous 

population of strand-loopers cum fishermen, 

known in some anthropological lit- 

18 

Journal of The Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2

The Phuket Project revisited ... 

erature (Sopher 1977) by the linguistic designations 

as Moken, Moklen or Uruk Lawoi, 

but commonly referred to collectively as 

the Chaw Lay, exists to this day moving 

constantly through a biologically rich island 

environment. At any one time the area 

actively exploited by a Chaw Lay group 

will be comprised of many 'vertical 

transects' containing most if not all of the 

available ecological mini-zones found at 

spread and sparse, but even, spacing of 

Chaw Lay groups throughout the archipelago, 

and puts limits to the human population 

which a given area can support from 

fish alone. 

Although fish are the preferred resource 

exploited by the Chaw Lay, shellfish form 

the baseline of their subsistence. If the biomass 

of the preferred resource-fish- is low 

for one reason or another, the ecological 

A 

\ 

Figure 1. The environmental econiche occupied by the Chaw Lay consists of raised sandy beaches 

backed by mangrove-filled lagoons. Nearby typically are rocky tidal flats rich in oyster beds which 

provide the basic subsistence resource of these maritime-adapted people. 

every coastal site. Where certain zones do 

not exist at a site, it is not uncommon to find 

that the Chaw Lay have purposely altered 

the site in an attempt to create, extend or 

enhance the zone. [Figure 1] 

Throughout the region, the Chaw Lay 

have adopted a subsistence strategy devoted 

exclusively to the exploitation of the 

resources of the sea and the shoreline. The 

Chaw Lay, by strategic preference, pursue 

the larger species of fish. These tend to be 

solitary wanderers in the sea and therefore 

too great a concentration of fishermen in 

any one area reduces the economic validity 

of the expedition. This encourages wide- 

diversity of the coastal niche assures that 

alternatives are available to buffer the population. 

The buffering effect of easily-available 

shellfish is therefore the most important 

consideration of the Chaw Lay subsistence 

strategy. Access to and harvesting of shellfish 

is the essential feature of their economic 

adaptation. As a result, bulky and highly 

visible shell debris is the main archaeological 

marker of their use of a site. The presence 

and density - or lack thereof - of deposits 

of shellfish debris are the essential 

archaeological features which therefore 

must be examined and explained if we are 


19


to understand the evolution and workings 

of a subsistence strategy based on maritime 

resources. 

The objective of the Phuket Project has 

been to model all identifiable aspects of this 

maritime adaptive strategy in order to understand 

how the various activities and 

their evolutionary sequence can be identified 

in the archaeological record. The ecology 

of these strategies has been studied in 

depth as has the material culture developed 

to exploit the marine environment. Models 

have been built to explain the nature and 

evolution of sites as well as the relationships 

between these sites and the role of 

community and individual mobility in 

maintaining the networks linking them. 

Special attention has also been paid to the 

archaeological transforms characteristic of 

this environment which directly affect the 

nature and retrievability of the archaeologicalrecord. 

The research strategy formulated to 

achieve these aims consisted of several main 

lines of investigation. 

Firstly, a series of environmental studies 

was undertaken to clarify the geology, geography 

and resource base of the region. 

Much of this work was original field research 

because of the paucity of available 

data relevant to the coastal econiche under 

study. 

Secondly, a programme of demographic 

studies was designed to supply data on the 

sea-based population of the area, their distribution 

and movements. During the course 

of research more than 1600 individuals were 

tracked, which accounts for more than onethird 

of all known Chaw Lay inhabiting 

Thai waters. 

Thirdly, aerial, boat and ground surveys 

identified a series of sites, ranging from 

long-abandoned locations to those still in 

use. At the latter, detailed mapping was 

done of all the material, spatial and demographic 

components of living sites. 

Special studies were undertaken of material 

culture and its role in site-based activities. 

These studies focused on the ethnoarchaeological 

journey of artifacts and rna- 

terials through use in an activity, reuse, 

storage, recycling and finally discarding. 

Next, micro-excavation, or 'dermabrasion' 

using razor blades and calligraphy 

brushes of both activity areas and depositions 

was carried out to evaluate the visibility 

of artifacts and activities in the archaeological 

record and the effectiveness of various 

methods of retrieval. 

These studies at environmental, community, 

site, activity area and subsoil levels 

were developed into a number of predictive 

models of site use and formation. 

Fundamental to these models have been 

such concepts as 'catastrophe theory' (Postle 

1980) and theories borrowed from biogeography 

such as 'carrying capacity,' 'nearest 

neighbour analysis' and the 'founder effect' 

(MacArthur and Wilson 1967). Such theories 

are useful tools for explaining the ways 

in which multiple, small niches are selected 

and developed, linked, abandoned and then 

re-used. 

A final line of investigation was the critical 

evaluation of these models. Archaeological 

methodology was employed at several 

abandoned Chaw Lay sites in an attempt 

to reconstruct a map of their living 

form. This reconstruction was then evaluated 

for the degree to which it fits expectations 

based on the ethnoarchaeologicallyderived 

models. 

As a result of our most recent phase of 

field work, the models we have developed 

have been re-tested, refined and given a 

greater degree of time depth, as we shall 

shortly describe below. 

Network of sites form 

an archaeological palimpsest 

Although the water is both the physical and 

the psychological link and limit between 

social communities of maritime adapted 

communities, the physical manifestation of 

their use of the catchment area is to be retrieved 

at each coastal site, be it a shellfish 

gathering site in the mangrove, a temporary 

fishing camp on a small beach, or a more 

permanent base camp along the coast. 

20 



Figure 2. Evolutionary typology and palimpsest 

of coastal sites of maritime-adapted communities. 

Throughout our study of the evolution of 

maritime adaptation in Southeast Asia, the 

interchangability of the coastal econiche 

coupled with the specialisation of certain 

communities in the exploitation of this 

econiche is the basic phenomenon which we 

have attempted to understand and explain. 

As we examined a wide range of beach and 

strand camp sites and travelled by boat between 

these sites with our Chaw Lay informants, 

it became clear that the catchment 

area exploited by each Chaw Lay group 

includes a much larger area than their immediate 

habitation sites. It is the limit of the 

extended catchment area that determines 

the spacing of Chaw Lay throughout the 

potential econiches at any given time. This 

has created the pattern of archaeological 

deposits to be found on so very many of the 

islands of the archipelago. 

Each site in the network has the potential 

to be used in a continuous but intermittent 

fashion in both a regular and erratic manner. 

This seemingly contradictory situation is a 

result of the varied patterns of econiche use. 

A site, or a portion of a site, may be used as 

a base camp by one Chaw Lay group, while 

several small and transient groups may use 

portions of the site for temporary occupation. 

At the same time-space, a boat group 

may use the econiche for water and vegetable 

collection, but not for residence, as 

they stay on their boats and move on. The 

pattern is further complicated by aspects of 

seasonality and the occasional need for a site 

to be temporarily, but regularly under-utilized 

while its resources regenerate. 

In the attempt to conceptualize and understand 

this diversity a typology-or more 

preciselyphrased,apalimpsest-ofarchaeological 

sites and their interlinkages or network 

throughout the catchment area has 

been developed. [Figure 2] 

To develop our palimpsest we originally 

identified the ethnographic and archaeological 

patterning at four levels of socioeconomic 

organization. 

(i) Temporary seasonal camp sites, forming 

the basic unit of Chaw Lay colonization of a 

site. 

(ii) Base settlements of longer-term occupancy, 

functioning in a sustained-manner 

well within a site's carrying capacity. 

(iii) Communities at the point of collapse 

from over-exploitation of the environment 

resources of a site's catchment area. 

(iv) Abandoned occupation areas, past the 

point of collapse, now in a state of environmental 

regeneration and used only for intermittent 

scavenging. 

The Chaw Lay's conceptual organization 

and use of space for social and economic 

subsistence activities is what determines the 

spatial patterning of archaeological remains 

at ground and below-ground levels. The 

complex patterning creates on the sandy 

matrix of the beach sites a multiple overlay 

of partly visible lines of archaeological'text', 

each one imperfectly erased but remaining 


21


in partial form. The concept of palimpsest 

seems particularly applicable for intermittently 

occupied coastal sites, where the phenomena 

such as the annual monsoon and 

action of the inhabitants through regular 

maintenance of activity areas and scavenging 

of abandoned sites partially erases the 

evidence on the ground. 

At each site the Chaw Lay subsistence 

strategy implies a range of activities for 

extraction, processing and consumption of 

the resources from their environment. Those 

activities which occur on-site have potential 

impact on the archaeological record of a site 

in the form of the tools and materials used, 

associated discards, deposition and impact 

on the activity loci. These are the elements 

which make up each layer of the palimpsest. 

Activity areas: 

the importance of negative space 

From this analysis we have found that, for 

peoples who rely on maritime resources for 

their subsistence, the remains of individual 

events of extraction and processing activities 

are not reliably retrievable directly or 

proportionally in the spot where they took 

place. This is because of post-depositional 

factors-particularly the cleaning and maintenance 

of the activity areas which resulted 

in the removal of most debris associated 

with specific activities. 

Of course, it is obvious to all archaeologists 

that many post-depositional 

forces will transform activity areas. Other 

contemporaneous activities, some unrelated 

to subsistence, take place on top of 

shell middens; animals scavenge and children 

play in the middens; traffic tramples' 

the midden; shell from the midden is recycled; 

structures are built on and removed 

from middens; tidal action both 

along the strand and along the lagoon 

alter the deposit. 

But the important point to note is that 

primary in-situ depositions are almost without 

exception swept up and cleared away 

leaving the activity area clean and usable for 

other activities. What remains in-situ is only 

the soil transforms of repeated maintenance 

of the site together with fragments of artifacts 

so small as to be incorporated with the 

soil itself and, typically, mixed by subsequent 

scavenging by animals at the site. 

This continual maintenance of activity 

areas is related to the use of communal areas 

for a wide variety of social activities including 

boat and fish trap repair, shellfish processing, 

cooking, daily domestic traffic and 

children's play and semi-annual communal 

feasts and festivals, all of which are community-wide 

activities participated in, at one 

time or another, by all members of a Chaw 

Lay group. 

This overlap of activities also obscures 

traditional archaeological retrieval techniques, 

as does the repeated mixing of the 

resulting by-products of activities which do 

remain in-situ. 

That this is a complicated process often 

repeated over and over again on the same 

depositional materials has been shown by 

our recent field work which will be described 

below. 

In other papers we have examined these 

archaeological transforms at coastal sites of 

maritime-adapted communities and can 

concludethatartifactsandmaterialby-products 

of activities should not be expected to 

be retrieved in-situ except in situations of 

very temporary use of a site at the entry level 

of the palimpsest or when a site is on the 

verge of abandonment and may soon drop 

from the network altogether. 

What does remain and is retrievable 

through careful excavation is a record of 

archaeological impact of repeated site use, 

modification and maintenance consisting of 

a pattern of open, communal areas; depositional 

midden frames; and surfaces differentially 

compacted by repeated mechanical 

action such as walking and water erosion 

from roof run-off. This is the archaeological 

pattern of the Chaw Lay past as a maritimeadapted 

community. 



Depositions: debris and 

potential artifacts 

Let us now turn to debris depositions which 

are, along with activity areas, the two main 

components of coastal archaeological sites 

of the Chaw Lay and other transhumant 

maritime strand-loopers. Debris depositions 

are also the places where the by-products of 

the activities which took place in the open 

communal spaces are to be found, if at all. 

As noted above, the accumulation and 

patterning of the remains of extensivelyavailable 

and intensively predated shellfish 

species found in the intertidal (such as oysters 

and mussels) is the definitive characteristic, 

or trait, of sites occupied by maritimeadapted 

gatherer-hunters of Southeast Asia. 

Shells which comprise the 'trait' depositions 

are collected, processed and deposited 

in bulk. As such they are evidence for the 

economic basis of the subsistence strategy of 

the inhabitants of a site. The important point, 

archaeologically, is that they are not in primary 

deposition. Redeposition of trait processing 

remains is necessary to keep sites 

from being overwhelmed with refuse. Thus 

redeposited shell debris frames a site and 

defines the spatial limits of the site. 

At any one location, the space available 

for both productive and social activities becomes, 

over time, increasingly constricted 

by accumulating shell refuse. Eventually 

the carrying capacity of a site is reached and 

a way must be found to extend the site to 

increase, or to reduce, the number of persons 

relying on the site for their subsistence. 

If not, the group must abandon the site, 

splintering and moving on to one or more of 

the many other similar and available 

econiches within their catchment area. Therefore, 

from the position of secondary depositions 

we can reconstruct the limits of a site 

and the degree to which the site has reached 

its carrying capacity. 

Concepts of activity area maintenance, 

and redeposition also affect the meaning of 

'artifacts'. Few (if any) can be assumed to be 

in-situ objects found where they were used. 

As discussed elsewhere (Engelhardt and 

Rogers 1995, In Press), due to the intensive 

re-use of objects by maritime-based communities, 

objects can be expected to be found 

in terminal deposition only if they are considered 

un-recyclable, i.e. without potential 

for future reuse, by their users. An 'artifact' 

-that is to say any object utilized by humans 

-if found in archaeological context has meaning 

only as discarded rubbish (i.e., part of a 

terminal deposition) or as potential tool. 

This explains why stones are frequently 

found cached at sites. In addition to being 

inconvenient to transport from site to site, 

they are multifunctional, so even after one 

use, they have the potential to be used for 

other things. But it is important to understand 

that in their cached context, they have 

yet no specific function. They are undifferentiated 

artifacts. 

The archaeological record of the Chaw 

Lay can be understood as a more or less 

continuous distribution of depositions, surfaces 

and open spaces within a specific and 

limited environmental niche. It is, above all, 

not a collection of artifacts waiting to be 

found. This concept of the archaeological 

reality of transhumant maritime communities 

means that variability in density of these 

three factors as well as that of cached artifacts 

is potentially explanatory. In such situations 

as Dunnell (1992: 34) has pointed out, 

the analytical task of archaeology is to explain 

the density and character of the more 

or less continuous distribution of these features 

throughout a 'cultural landscape'. 

It is important to understand that these 

patterns created are regular, predictable and 

indicative of both the carrying capacity of a 

site and of the place a site has in the evolutionary 

palimpsest of maritime communities. 

These patterns are therefore both meaningful 

and retrievable from the archaeologicalrecord. 

They are also quite different from what 

archaeologists usually expect to study: shellfish 

depositions must be assumed not to be 

in-situ; artifacts, in particular stone, are significant 

only for their 'potential'; the absence 

or presence of open or negative spaces is a 

diagnostic of human social interaction; the 


23


segregation of these elements is correlated to 

the extent to which the carrying capacity of a 

site is stressed. These are the defining elements 

of the archaeological remains of a 

maritime-adapted community. 

Type sites revisited 

These included three temporary campsites: 

Haad Hin Khaw 

We have described the minimal level of 

spatial patterning which is recognisable at a 

site as characteristic of a temporary campsite 

- the basic unit on a palimpsest of site 

complexity. Typical of such sites is Haad 

Hin Khaw on Ko Lon. During our initial 

investigation seventeen years ago we identified 

a single compacted surface, some small 

amount of debris redeposited at the back of 

the site and a peripheral activity area consisting 

of charred stones and shell remains 

on a flattened surface associated with a shade 

tree. Through ethnographic analogy we 

know that this type of site represents the 

basic unit of Chaw Lay occupation-a single 

boat group on a short-term visit to the site 

resulting in minimal impact, but one which 

nevertheless leaves characteristic alterations 

in the ground. 

On returning to Haad Hin Khaw wereidentified 

all of the site features originally 

found. The compacted surface and the peripheral 

activity area were overgrown and 

showed no evidence of use since our last 

investigation. However, new evidence for 

continued use of the site was found in the 

form of several individual in-situ deposits 

of shell on the raised beach, the results of 

short stops to collect and consume shellfish. 

Note that these in-situ depositions are characteristic 

of, and found primarily at, temporary 

campsites or at sites which have been 

abandoned for permanent settlement and 

are experiencing re-use at another level of 

the palimpsest. 

The explanation for this new and even 

more transient use of this small campsite is 

that in the intervening fifteen years the Chaw 

Lay of this area have acquired motors for 

their boats. This has altered the physical as 

well as the mental map of the Chaw Lay, 

shortening the distances between sites within 

their catchment area. RecallingthattheChaw 

Lay do not, if it can in any way be avoided, 

spend overnight on the open sea, the distance 

between Haad Hin Khaw and the 

nearest base camp previously necessitated 

an overnight stay. Now that the Chaw Lay 

have acquired motors for their boats it is 

possible to visit and use the site on a day-trip 

basis. This has altered the nature and degree 

of archaeological impact by making it even 

more ephemeral. Consequently,. we have 

refined and added another level to our palimpsest 

reflecting the most temporary and 

transitory of minimal archaeological impact. 

Ao WaiDaeng 

The site of Ao Wai Daeng, also on Ko Lon, is 

a larger beach with more spatial potential 

for this minimal stage to expand into a more 

long-term and complex occupation. Previously, 

three or four activity surfaces, a path 

along the front of the site and several secondary 

midden deposits were recorded. On 

returning after more than fifteen years all 

these features were re-identified although 

not all showed signs of continued use during 

the interval. There was also evidence of 

increased recent use at the west end of the 

beach, with remains of several shell cracking 

stones and shell debris on an activity 

surface. The status of this site also appears to 

have been affected by the technological 

change in the Chaw Lay mode of transport 

with an increase in day-use over short-term 

stay. This is reflected in the increased number 

of activity surfaces, cached artifacts and 

primary debris scatter which one would 

have expected to have been redeposited in 

secondary midden if the site were still occupied 

over a longer or seasonal time-period 

as had been the case only fifteen years ago. 

HaadYao 

When the econiche is larger still, with denser 

and more diverse resources, we see a movement 

beyond a temporary campsite towards 

the minimal requirements for a more or less 

24 



permanent base site habitation. This level 

was characterised by Haad Yao on the island 

of Ko Bon. Here we recorded nine or 

ten activity /habitation surfaces at the north 

end of the beach, extensive secondary deposits 

of shell refuse and a central open area 

under large shade trees. At the opposite end 

of the site were a turtle butchering area and 

a spirit house area. Informants had told us 

that until seventy years prior to our initial 

study this site had been a base camp supporting 

a substantial population of up to 

thirty households or, more precisely, residential 

boat groups. The site had been abandoned 

due to continuing erosion of the beach 

front by monsoon action exacerbated by the 

changes in the ecology of the sea bed caused 

by widespread tin-dredging carried out in 

the vicinity in the early part of this century. 

Subsequently, the site had reverted to a 

camp site used for short stays similar to 

Haad Hin Khaw and Ao Wai Daeng. 

On our return we found that the entire 

site at Haad Yao had been developed into a 

tourist beach facility, thus closed to further 

use by the Chaw Lay. The beach was entirely 

covered with bungalows, a restaurant 

and various other structures. Survey of the 

site however revealed the remains of all the 

surfaces and shell deposits previously identified 

underlying the recent effort to landscape 

the site. One of the compacted surfaces 

recorded fifteen years ago was re-used 

as the foundation for a resort bungalow 

structure. Material and artifact debris could 

be seen eroding out of the foundation, being 

swept up as part of contemporary site maintenance 

and being redeposited, again at the 

rear of the site. This site provides an interesting 

opportunity to see what must surely be 

a common phenomenon confronting the 

archaeologist in these areas: that of the ongoing 

creation of archaeological deposits of 

different cultures and different uses being 

superimposed and integrated- from base~ 

camp to temporary campsite to tourist resort 

- and evidence of all levels of use still 

discernible in and on the ground. We shall 

return to this interesting issue of cultural 

replacement and overlay later in this paper. 

KoRaya 

During the 1996 field season, an additional 

site was added to our typology of site development. 

TheislandofKoRaya Yailiesmany 

nautical miles to the south of Phuket and is 

barely visible from Phuket in clear weather. 

Although the trip to Ko Ray a now takes only 

three to four hours by modem speedboat, 

by traditional means of transportation the 

trip took more than one day and necessitated 

a night at sea. 

The island has two beaches, Raya on the 

northeast and another deep bay on the northwest. 

The beach at Raya is long and shallow 

with rich oyster beds; the beach to the west 

is apparently not utilised by the Chaw Lay 

because it is exposed to the open ocean, has 

little shellfish and even at low tide the water 

is too high and the shoreline too rocky to be 

easily accessible by boat. Behind the beach 

at Raya is an area of mangrove-filled brackish-water 

lagoon with drainage channels 

inhabited by crocodiles. The Chaw Lay say 

that, although rich in shellfish resources, the 

site itself has never been the site of longterm 

habitation because the island is short 

of fresh water and too isolated from other 

sites to serve as a base camp and hub of a 

network of sites. Nonetheless, because of its 

very rich shellfish resources, the site is frequently 

visited, especially by boat groups of 

intrepid young men. Visitors sleep on the 

open beach and focus their activity at the 

rocky eastern end of the beach. 

Investigations at the east end of the beach 

did indeed reveal evidence of both past and 

recent use. A stone built cistern was found 

terraced into the rocky hill slope, just above 

the high tide line. The date of this structure 

is unknown, although informants have 

known of its presence for at least three generations 

and there is evidence of continuing 

and very recent maintenance of the cistern. 

The cistern is placed to collect run-off from 

the hill slope, as the water from the channel 

is too saline to be used for drinking purposes. 

Associated with this cistern was found 

evidence of continuing use in the form of 

plastic, net, a charred coconut bowl, and 

burnt stones and driftwood from fire re- 


25


mains. These remains represented periodic 

use of the site as a temporary campsite. The 

purpose-built and continuously maintained 

cistern can be understood as a site modification 

designed to increase the carrying capacity 

of the site as well as of the catchment 

area as a whole by making the potential 

exploitation of this isolated site a realistic 

possibility known by the wider Chaw Lay 

community and used communally by all 

members of the group. This is an example of 

the extension of the potential carrying capacity 

of a site for the benefit of future users. 

Such a communal approach to a site manifests 

itself also in other ways, such as the 

planting of coconut trees on potential sites. 

Chaw Lay informants told us that these 

plantings are indicators visible from afar 

that a site would be potentially inhabitable 

and resource rich. 

In addition, some eighteen metres to the 

northeast along the rocky shoreline was 

found a processing site under the shade of a 

large tree. The remains consisted of a shell 

cracking platform, two hammer stones, remains 

of a fire, a matchbox and shell debris 

on and between the rocks. The evidence was 

arranged in such a way as to reflect the 

presence of at least two working individuals 

- i.e. a basic boat group - each with their 

own hammer stone and resulting shell debris, 

centred around a shared cooking fire. 

The data from Ko Raya have added to 

our picture of temporary campsites and their 

importance within the network of sea-linked 

econiches. This site has also added to our 

understanding of the diagnostic nature of 

in-situ shellfish remains at temporary fishing 

campsites, remains which are distinctly 

anomalous at other types of sites. The environmental 

limitations of Ko Raya and its 

position as an outlier in the network prevented 

it from ever evolving into a base site. 

At the same time, its value as an exploitable 

econiche, albeit limited to a tiny portion of 

the overall site, justified modification of the 

site's environment to increase its viability 

and thus link it into the catchment area 

network. 

Mature base settlements: 

Tukay and Rawai 

Tukay: an expanding site 

The next major evolutionary type site in our 

palimpsest is the mature base camp, typified 

by Tukay, a site which we returned to 

and re-investigated during our most recent 

field work season. 

In the fifteen years since our initial study 

the overall space at Tukay has been encroached 

upon by Thai-Chinese shop expansion 

in the central area. To compensate, 

a deliberate attempt has been made to expand 

the available site space by modification 

of the site itself. 

On our map of 1981 we recorded numerous 

large mounds of shell in the central 

areas of the village. To create additional 

space many of these have in the interval 

been removed leaving only shallow and 

shadowy evidence of their locations. 

Along the rear of the site more space has 

been created by expanding into the low area 

lagoon. This has been achieved by the levelling 

of what was the rear, framing deposition 

and the moving of its bulk outward into 

the low area and filling it with secondary 

midden material. The frame of deposition 

along the rear of the site is therefore in redeposition, 

a concept with implications beyond 

the meaning, as it is normally understood, 

of secondary deposition resulting 

from the maintenance of activity areas. It is 

obvious that this process has been repeated 

more than once and that the same garbage 

could travel outwards, being mushed and 

mixed, until finally it reached its 'terminal' 

position. [Figure 3.] 

As the garbage travels outward some is 

left behind both intentionally to create a 

level surface and unintentionally as a kind 

of archaeological smear of debris on the site 

surface. 

At Tukay, the new space has been filled 

in an orderly fashion by rows of new structures. 

However, no significant rearrangement 

of previous structures or spaces could 

be seen. In other words, a straightforward 

expansion took place to redefine the limits 

26 



RAWAI STRUCTURES: 

1980 

SEA 

SEA 

1996 

THAI 

Figure 3. Tukay: a base camp site comparing 

the location of shell deposits in 1980 with that in 

1996 after the many small shell deposits within 

the site had been redeposited at the back of the 

site, thus expanding the total inhabitable area of 

the site. 

of the site by repositioning the frame of 

secondary midden material to create enough 

space to accommodate the evacuated population 

of La em Thong, a collapsed and abandoned 

site which we will return to later. 

Rawai: a constricted site under stress 

A further evolution in the palimpsest is 

found at Rawai, another base camp where in 

the past fifteen years site space has been 

seriously encroached upon along the sea 

front and along the rear lagoon by alien 

buildings and associated land fill. A frontage 

road limits one side of the site and a new 

perpendicular road now literally cuts the 

settlement in half and gives access to the 

lagoon behind the site which has been filled 

in by developers. Here, unlike at Tukay, 

there is no option for expansion by moving 

the frame outwards. Fifteen years ago Rawai 

was in a state of incipient stress. Now this 

has become serious. Markers of stress include; 

increased density of structures; increase 

in percentage of total surface area of 

the site which is hard-compacted; shrinkage 

of open communal areas; increase in area 

occupied by debris deposition and loss of 

segregation between depositions and habitation 

space. [Figure 4] 

These are all indications that the econiche 

has been overpopulated and over-exploited 

with the result that we are beginning to see 

the blurring or loss of the characteristic Chaw 

Lay sense of space and grouping. 

As population pressure intensifies on 

limited environmental resources at Rawai, 

more and more time and effort is being 

expended to maintain the environment by 

resorting to such means as the shifting of 

structures, filling, raising and consolidating 

of surfaces and the construction of drainage 

arrangements. It is clear that in times of 

stress much more energy is devoted to environmental 

alteration than would be the case 

in a site in equilibrium. When sites are in a 

state of equilibrium, with adequate space to 

maintain patterning and segregation of activity 

areas, open spaces and debris deposition, 

maintenance input is equal to replacement 

and a stable site structure results. This 

is what we have seen at Tukay. However, 

when a site is approaching the limits of its 

carrying such as it now is at Rawai, dramatically 

increased input in site alteration is 

necessary. 

Perhaps the most important marker of 

site stress is a dramatic amount of structural 

movement. At Tukay eighty-seven percent 

of structures are still in the same position 

they were fifteen years ago, although the 


27


TUKAY DEPOSITION 

1980 

•• SHEL'+ MOUND 

MIXED MIDDEN 

0 STRUCTURE' 


other sites on the basic acquisition of food 

which during our initial research was at 

sixty-five percent of the time, as compared 

to thirty-five percent of time at a mature and 

flourishing base camp. This meant that virtually 

all daylight hours were spent in subsistence 

activities. Furthermore in terms of 

fish versus shellfish, all Sapam residents 

reported that shellfish was the primary resource 

on which they relied. 

Catastrophe theory suggested a predictivemodelofwhatwouldhappenatSapam; 

when such a system becomes unsustainable 

in the long term a radical or catastrophic 

change is to be expected. The 'catastrophic 

jump' we predicted was what we called the 

'removal response'. In this problem-solving 

strategy, when the carrying capacity of 

a site is reached, it can be expected that out 

migration either of individuals or of small 

splinter groups in an attempt to establish a 

new equilibrium will precede any final abandonment 

of the site, in the attempt toreestablish 

equilibrium. However, if the pressure 

has already resulted in the decline of 

the essential shellfish resource base, removal 

of the group to another site is inevitable and 

the abandoned site reverts in status to a 

temporary camp, allowing the site time for 

the very slow process of regeneration. 

We have described such a turn of events 

at the site of Laem Thong, on Ko Phi Phi, 

where acquisition of the land by outsiders 

and subsequent development resulted in 

the displacement of a Chaw Lay group. 

At Laem Thong the residents removed 

firstto a peripheral side beach and attempted 

to re-establish themselves there but this 

proved impossible as the site was too small, 

had few buffering shellfish resources and 

no place to beach boats. A process of evacuation 

began and most inhabitants of Laem 

Thong shifted their base camp of residence 

to Tukay. This process is now complete and 

Laem Thong is no longer a part of the complex 

network of the Chaw Lay world [Figure 

5]. 

The events which have overtaken Sa pam 

since our original study have created a complicatedstateofaffairswhichtestsourmodel 

and has helped us to understand the precise 

limits to a site's viability in the system - 

limits which attest to the tenacity of a site 

and help explain the phenomenon of widespread 

site distribution and the presence of 

remains over an extended time period. 

Originally Sapam consisted of a relatively 

small settlement on the north edge of 

a river channel mouth. Structures built on 

posts over the intertidal mudflats expanded 

the site area into the sea. As density increased, 

several households moved across 

the channel to its southern mouth. 

Recently developers have levelled all of 

the southern settlement and all but the seaward 

edge of the northern settlement and 

covered it with a soil deposit some one and 

one-half metres thick. On top of this have 

been built a complex of houses for Thai 

fishermen. Similarly soil has been deposited 

on the sea edge to reclaim land, extending 

the shore line some sixty meters and isolating 

the former Chaw Lay settlement behind 

the landfill. 

Only two patches of Sapam have been 

left exposed: the spirit area in south Sa pam 

which continues to be used and a thin strip 

of north Sa pam now no longer on the sea but 

fronting a road. 

Thirty-two structures from both north 

and south Sa pam have relocated to a makeshift 

stilted community over the intertidal 

along the edge of the reclamation. 

One group still remains of the original 

houses; all are recognisable on our map of 

1980, but now they are in new positions. Of 

these dozen houses only one continues to be 

occupied by a Chaw Lay family. The rest are 

either abandoned or squatted in by Thai 

fishermen. 

Like at Laem Thong, at Sa pam displacement 

has similarly resulted in removal to 

the fringe of the site and to the splintering 

and out-migration of population. Only two 

of the original thirty-two resident boat 

groups present fifteen years ago at Sapam 

are still intact. However, Sapam continues 

to be exploited even under these very adverse 

conditions. The question this poses is 

what has enabled Sapam to be retained in 

Journal of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2 

29


the Chaw Lay network of sites, whereas 

Laem Thong has been dropped entirely. 

Networks as safety nets 

Clues to this can be found in a) continued 

existence of abundant shellfish resources in 

the nearby mangrove; and b) the relative 

position of Sa pam and Laem Thong within 

the Chaw Lay network of fishing and migratory 

links. Laem Thong is isolated at the 

outer edge of the network. If the population 

of such a distant node falls below a certain 

threshold it ceases to be a viably sustainable 

community and the predicted catastrophic 

jump takes place in the form of removal. 

Sapam is sufficiently close to the centre of 

the same network that it remains viable 

even when its population is depleted by 

individual out-migration. There will be 

enough traffic of neighbouring Chaw Lay in 

and out as part of the normal functioning of 

the network to maintain its viability as a site. 

Sa pam provides us with a good example of 

the tenacity of the survival mechanisms of 

the maritime adaptation. Their elasticity allows 

them to absorb a great deal of stress 

without the necessity for abandonment of 

the basic adaptation. It also points out that 

the network itself is constantly in flux with 

the relative position, function and importance 

of sites within the network constantly 

changing. 

In the past fifteen years, Sapam has 

changed its position in the palimpsest. It has 

jumped to near the bottom of the chain. 

Relative positioning within the network is a 

key to understanding the system. We have 

seen how in the seventeen years since our 

project began, the centre of the network has 

switched from Rawai to Tukay. The central 

position ofTukay has been reinforced by the 

in-migration six years ago ofthe La em Thong 

population. The shift of the centre to Tukay 

has also given Sa pam an extended lease on 

life as it has brought Sapam closer to the 

centre and makes it a viable site for base 

settlement exploitation on a more casual or 

temporary basis with Tukay fulfilling the 

base camp social and support functions for 

the Sapam population. 

Returning to our earlier discussion on 

the concepts ·borrowed from the biogeographic 

model- carrying capacity; spacing; 

splintering; colonialisation; and filtering - 

we can understand how and why certain 

sites change their relative importance and 

drop in and out of the network, depending 

upon factors such as, (i) their position and 

relative isolation along dendritic networks 

linking satellites with base camps; (ii) the 

absolute size of the satellite site; (iii) the 

critical level of population which the buffering 

resources of the site can support; and, 

(iv) the degree to which the site's carrying 

capacity has been overreached and its resources 

exhausted. 

The removal response is a maritimeadapted 

solution to the problem of how to 

sustain human population densities and 

conserve resources over an extended period 

of time in an environment where the resources 

themselves are mobile and widely 

scattered. Because of the population's mobility 

and the availability of interchangeable 

econiches, a complex pattern of movement, 

social splintering and regrouping has 

evolved. The advantage of this strategy is 

that it does not entail a change in the means, 

forces or in the relations of production. 

The insights which have been the result 

of our long-term study and repeated reexamination 

of these phenomena both 

archaeologically and ethnographically have 

been essential in testing and clarifying our 

previous models of maritime adaptation of 

the sea peoples of the Southeast Asian archipelago. 

Infiltration, displacement, 

expansion and replacement 

The situation of invasion by intruders at 

Laem Thong, Haad Yao, Tukay, Rawai and 

Sa pam- as we knew was happening when 

we first initiated the Phuket Project- also 

has made it possible to investigate the issue 

of relations between maritime adapted and 

non-maritime adapted groups as shown 

archaeologically in their material culture 

30 



INTER-SITE 

NETWORKS 

1980 

I 

v: CONNEcnON 

f;:::::!:IMAJOR LINK 

TO 

KO ADANG 

J 

UNEQUAL LINK 

._,.,?' RELOCATION 

INTER-SITE 

NETWORKS 

1998 

v: CONNECTION 

~MAJOR LINK 

KO ADANG 

J 

UtfEQUAL LINK 

........-' RELOCATION 

KO LANTA 

Figure 5. The networks and hierarchical linkages between Chaw Lay sites is constantly in flux as 

shown in these comparisons between 1980 and 1996, after the abandonment of the Laem Thong base 

camp on Ko Phi Phi. 

Journal of The Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2 31


and in the use-patterning of sites. At Sa pam 

the Chaw Lay had been co-existing with the 

Thai fishermen for some time before the 

outsiders expanded into Chaw Lay space. 

Laem Thong is a different case of invasion 

by total outsiders, in this case overseas developers, 

and commensurably violent displacement. 

This difference may have played 

a part in the decision of the Laem Thong 

residents to evacuate and those of Sa pam to 

continue to co-exist a bit longer with their 

encroaching Thai neighbours. 

At Rawai we have a situation where there 

is gradual infiltration by outsiders as evidenced 

by both space and demographic statistics 

which reveal that unique among Chaw 

Lay villages, marriage with non-Chaw Lay 

is not just a social possibility; it is on the 

increase especially among the children of 

the traditional village leaders. 

Such episodes of infiltration, displacement, 

expansion and replacement of one 

cultural group by another are frequently 

presumed to be the cause of complex stratified 

deposits which archaeology attempts to 

unravel. Sa pam supplies us with a stunning 

example of just how easily the most mystifying 

stratigraphy can be created. If we were 

to look at a schematic presentation of what 

archaeology might reveal at this site we 

would see a complex interweaving of Chaw 

Lay presence in a matrix of midden and 

mud coexisting beside Thai presence in soil, 

then in artificial fill over Chaw Lay midden 

and in landfill over mud. Complicating this 

picture we have a spirit area outliving its 

related settlement, two distinct stages of 

Chaw Lay habitation of both sides of the 

channel, a Thai shop in a Chaw Lay matrix 

and evidence of the displaced Chaw Lay 

confusingly present at the site's new periphery. 

In contrast, at Laem Thong a long sequence 

of strata of Chaw Lay culture in a 

matrix of sand will be juxtaposed with 

patchesofremainsoftheThaiMuslimswith 

whom they shared the site. Dramatically 

overlaying this will be a destruction layer of 

bulldozed debris, a layer of levelling soil all 

topped with a tourist resort. 

This use of and competition for a coastal 

site is not surprising given the biotic richness 

and strategic location of such sites. Nor 

is it new, for the coasts of the South China 

seas have been contested for millennia. 

The processes by which different cultures 

coexist, often economically linked, and 

thenreplaceordisplaceoneanotheris,however, 

a subject which we will not be able to 

go into here. We will examine this phenomenon 

in a future paper in which we will 

show how the insights gained during the 

Phuket Project can help to interpret the archaeological 

data of many of the sites which 

have been reported, for example, along the 

coast of South China, along the west and 

south coasts of the Philippine Islands and in 

the Mekong Delta. 

References 

Dunnell, R. C.1992. The Notion Site, In Rossignol, 

J. and Wandsnider, L. (eds), Space, Time and 

Archaeological Landscapes, Plenum Press, New 

York, pp 21-37. 

Engelhardt, R. A. 1980. Maritime adaptations in 

South Thailand, Thailand Anthropology Bulletin 

12 (1): 55-9. 

Engelhardt, R. A. 1989. Forest-Gatherers and 

Strand-Loopers, In Culture and Environment 

in Thailand, The Siam Society, Bangkok, pp. 

125-41. 

Engelhardt, R. A. and Rogers, P.R. (In Press) The 

Ethno-Archaeology of Southeast Asian 

Coastal Sites: a Model for the Deposition and 

Recovery of Archaeological Material. Proceedings 

of the 34th International Congress 

Asian and North African Studies, 1993. Hong 

Kong. 

Engelhardt, R. A. and Rogers, P.R. 1997. Maritime 

adaptive strategies in post-Pleistocene 

Southeast Asia. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory 

Association 16. Indo-Pacific Prehistory: 

the Chiang Mai Papers Volume 3:177-92. 

Engelhardt, R. A. and Rogers, P. R.1995. Traits or 

Treats? Units of Archaeological Study: the 

example of maritime-adapted cultures in 

SoutheastAsia,in Yeung,C.T.andLee, W.L.B. 

(eds), Archaeology in Southeast Asia, Hong 

Kong: University Museum and Art Gallery, 

University of Hong Kong, pp. 305-17. 

MacArthur, R H. and Wilson, E. 0. 1967. Island 

Biogeography, Princeton: Princeton University 

Press. 

Postle, D. 1980. Catastrophe Theory, Glasgow: 

32 



Fontana Publishing. 

Rogers, P.R. 1992. Celebrations of the Sea Peoples 

of Southern Thailand, Hong Kong Anthropologist. 

5: 29-32. 

Sopher, D. E. 1977. The Sea Nomads, National 

Museum Singapore. 

KEYWORDS - SEA PEOPLE, MARITIME 

HUNTER-GATHERERS, NOMADISM, 

THAILAND, SOUTHEAST ASIA, FISHING 


THE SWINGING PENDULUM: 

FROM CENTRALITY TO MARGINALITY- A STUDY OF SOUTHERN 

TENASSERIM IN THE HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 

J. A. Mills1 

Abstract 

From early in the first millennium AD, southern Tenasserim, now part of 

Myanmar (Burma) has played a significant role in the history of Southeast Asia, 

being always open to trade and cultural influences from India and the West. 

From the 15th century it was the major port of the Siamese Kingdom of 

Ayutthaya until its conquest by the Burmese in 1760 when its importance 

declined and today it plays a marginal role in the economy and politics of both 

Myanmar and Thailand. Recent developments in both states, particularly in the 

field of gas and oil exploration, promise to give back the region some of its 

former importance. 

Southern Tenasserim is the most southerly 

part of the state of Burma. Lying on 

the west coast of the narrow neck of land, it 

adjoins the even narrower Isthmus of Kra 

linking mainland Southeast Asia to the 

Malay Peninsula and wider maritime Southeast 

Asian region. Historically Mergui has 

been the most important town on this coast, 

though now it is virtually unknown to the 

outside world, a state of affairs exacerbated 

by the fact that much of this region has been 

largely in the grip of insurgents for the last 

half century. The period when it achieved 

greatest fame, moreover, was when it was 

the major western port of the Thai state of 

A yutthaya until its fall to the Burmese in 

1760, for Mergui lies much closer to both 

A yutthaya and Bangkok than to any of the 

major cities of Burma - past or present- so 

that its history is as much a part of that of 

Thailand as it is of Burma. 

For much of that long history, Mergui, 

sometimes also known as Tenasserim because 

of the river it stands on and the old 

entrepot town of that name some forty miles 

inland, has been on the periphery of major 

1 Department of Economic History, University 

of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. 

Introduction 

political and economic developments in the 

history of this part of Southeast Asia but at 

other times has been of pivotal significance. 

Possessing both resources of economic value 

and a position of strategic significance, 

Mergui undoubtedly has had its history 

shaped by what Trevor Roper (1957: vi) 

once called the 'interplay between ... intractable 

geographical facts and the creative or 

disruptive forces which wrestle with them'. 

Lying atop the long tongue of land 

stretching from the mainland to the Malay 

Peninsula that divides the waters of the Bay 

of Bengal from those of the Gulf of Thailand, 

Mergui is one of a number of places at river 

mouths on the isthmus situated astride the 

main sea routes from East to West. In the 

early history of the region the narrowness of 

the peninsula at these places, and of the 

watershed along its spine separating streams 

flowing down both sides to the coasts, greatly 

facilitated transpeninsular crossings. These 

portage routes, circumventing the longer 

sea voyage around the peninsula, were particularly 

attractive at times of political instability 

or hostility in the Straits area further 

south and their importance was enhanced 

because of the access they provided to the 

interior of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and 

journal of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2 

35

J. Mills 

GUJARAT 

~ .,Pagan 

.~ 

BAY OF BENGAL ~gk~oulmein 

B~. o~('-yutthaya 

Coco Island . 

, , .Angkor 

AND ·ANDAMAN , 

~ ;'Mergui • 

ISLANDS v t . '\~ ( 

• I SEA . GULF OF 

, TiiAILAND 

Isthmus of Kra 

NICOBAR ISLAND~_; 

INDIAN OCEAN 

~~~~ Wlfrn 

~7 

c~\ ~ 

.p(a .. ~ ·.:' ingapore 

-~~ ·~·· 

~ I - 

,.Q 

JAVA SEA 

Figure 1. The Indian Ocean and surrounding areas, locating important places mentioned in the text. 

even inland China. Trading and entrepot 

centres grew up along the coast where ships 

could shelter, their crews seek provisions, 

and their traders engage in commerce with 

others from afar, aided by the yearly rhythm 

of monsoons bringing and sending traders 

from east to west and back again. 

Archaeological and historical evidence 

suggests the port of Mergui was integral to 

one of the number of early isthmus entrepot 

centres created by the growing trade of India 

and further west with China and the 

east. Once powerful mainland states such as 

Pagan, Ayutthaya, and later Ava arose, the 

capacity of Mergui and its hinterland city of 

Tenasserim to sustain their autonomy was 

considerably reduced and mostly they became 

instead valuable outliers of the domains 

of these larger states as well as focuses 

for periodic inter-state contention. 

After the establishment of Singapore in 1819 

as the major entrepot for Southeast Asia and 

the advent of steamships, Mergui and the 

isthmus largely lost their strategic significance. 

In the colonial period Mergui became 

merely a small and somewhat neglected 

coastal port for the immediate hinterland, 

though several stillborn schemes to cut a 

canal through the narrow Isthmus of Kra 

along the border between Burma and Siam 

served as reminders of the strategic potential 

of this zone. Once Burma regained its 

independence, insurgency ensured that the 

district remained marginal to the Burmese 

state; but towards the end of the 20th century 

there are indications that this southern 

Tenasserim coast is regaining importance, 

because of both its position and its resources. 

36 


The Swinging Pendulum ... southern Tenasserim 

Ye 

BAY 

•• 

OF o, 

BENGAL 

(l· 

' , 

ANDAMAN 

SEA 

OF 

THAILAND 

0 

TENASSERIM 

& PENINSULAR 

THAILAND 

Figure 2. The southern Tenasserim Coast and Peninsular Thailand. 


J. Mills 

Geography 

The south Tenasserim littoral lies sheltered 

from the open sea by the fringe of 900 or so 

islands of the Mergui Archipelago extending 

about 80 miles north of Mergui and 

many miles south beyond Victoria Point 

(Kawthaung) on the boundary with Thailand. 

Though Victoria Point stands on the 

Pakchan River which cuts well into the Isthmus 

of Kra, the river is shallow and tidal, 

unsuitable for sizeable craft (Smyth 1898 IT: 

30). From north of Tavoy to as far south as 

Kapoe (Takuapa) in southern Thailand, 

Mergui was undoubtedly the best port along 

this stretch of the coast, though some of the 

islands also possessed good harbours (Brown 

1907: 476; Collis 1953: 240). Navigable channels 

along the coast are tortuous, sometimes 

no more than a quarter of a mile wide, with 

unmarked shoals and islets on either side, 

and historically the harbour itself was not 

always easy to find, as attested by Caesare 

dei Fredici who spent eight days fruitlessly 

looking for it among the maze of islands in 

1568 (Tregonning 1967: 145-7; Collis 1965: 

34). Because of the calm sheltered waters 

lying behind the island on which Mergui 

largely stands, the town was widely regarded 

as a safe all-weather port, offering protection 

from the monsoons which caused many 

shipwrecks along this coast. The Tenasserim 

River itself was navigable for quite large 

boats up to Tenasserim, the main entrepot, 

which possibly had developed there to be 

out of reach of pirates on the coast (d. Smyth 

1898 II: 64) or else to be more accessible from 

the Gulf of Siam. 

In climate, terrain, and physical resources 

this part of Burma can be regarded as an 

extension of the Malay Peninsula with its 

heavy rainfall, narrow coastal plain and rugged 

mountain spine as well as mineral deposits 

of tin, antimony, coal, wolfram and 

offshore deposits of petroleum. Of these, 

historically tin was undoubtedly the most 

significant. Indeed there is evidence suggesting 

the tin deposits ofTavoy and Mergui 

have been worked for many centuries, probably 

contributing to the attractions of the 

early isthmian entrepots (Tremenheere 1886: 

251). Mergui may also have been one of the 

sites the Arabs called Kallah, (cf. Wheatley 

1961: 223-4; Hall 1985: 176, 200, 326). The 

hinterland was also the source of valuable 

forest produce - sapanwood, gums, and 

honey. In its entrepot period Mergui 

Tenasserim also had a reputation for the 

quality and exports of its rice. But fertile soil 

was limited to a narrow coastal strip and it is 

likely locally-grown rice was supplemented 

by imports from the larger granary areas of 

Tavoy and Pegu (Collis 1965: 168; Milburn 

1813 II: 289-90; Burney 1971 II ii: 207). By the 

late 1930s the region was a rice deficit area 

but ideally suited to fruit growing and by 

then the main rubber producing area of 

Burma. The irregular and highly indented 

coastline and island shores, mostly edged by 

mangroves, constitute rich fishing grounds, 

yielding sea produce similar to that of the 

Malay region, while edible birds' nests come 

from caves in the islands. 

Population density has fluctuated in 

this region mostly because of political factors, 

but its limited agricultural capacity 

and comparative remoteness from the 

major Thai and Burmese political and economic 

centres ensured it has never had 

the same demographic potential as the 

mainland river kingdoms. Even when 

Tenasserim was famous as an entrepot, 

travellers in the region noted that much of 

it was more the haunt of wild animals 

such as tigers, elephants, crocodiles and 

rhinoceros than of man (Kerr 1933: 205; 

Smyth 1898 1: 310; Gervaise 1989: 50-1). 

The peoples of this region are ethnically 

diverse, reflecting historical events as well 

as geography, and this ethnic fragmentation 

serves to undermine political development 

and any long-term communal cohesion. 

Much of the population to the north ofTavoy 

and Mergui has always had a strong Mon 

component but the peopleofTavoyregarded 

themselves as quite distinct, with memories 

of a separate identity dating back to the time 

of the empire of Pagan (Smith 1991: 31; 

Lieberman 1978: 468,479). Similar to Tavoy, 

the population of Mergui was, according to 

38 Journal of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2


Henry Burney, 'neither BurmansnorSiamese 

but a peculiar race with a language of their 

own' and he gave credence to local traditions 

claiming the original inhabitants were 

Arakanese (Burney 1971 II ii: 8, 209). Over 

time the population also became very mixed 

with a Portuguese element in it, a Chinese or 

'baba' component, and an Arab one (Collis 

1953: 212-4). Only after 1760 did the Burman 

element gain any significance but there were 

also Indians, Malays, a few Siamese, and a 

sizeable community of what are now termed 

Zerbadees (i.e., Burmese Muslims, descendants 

of the local population and 'coastal 

Muslims', presumably Muslim Indo-Malays 

involved in trade) (Andrews 1962: 12; Yegar 

1972: 118). Pockets ofPwo Karens were also 

in the district, principally in the Palaw area 

to the north of the town of Mergui, though 

Karens extended to both sides of the isthmus, 

reflecting their shifting agricultural 

practices (Ryan 1858: 1; Smith 1991: 430; 

Smyth 1895: 406-8). Inland a community of 

Shans survives, possibly descended from a 

garrison dating from the wars between 

Burma and Thailand (Smith 1991; 281) or 

one of the communities from Upper Burma 

resettled there after the depopulation of the 

region in the 18th century after the wars with 

Siam (Spearman 1987:402, 405). In the south 

the Chinese, Siamese, and Malay elements 

increase towards the border and in the mid- 

19th century the town of Malewan on the 

southern Burmese border had no Burmans 

at all (Ryan 1858: 4). 

A further ethnic element exists in the 

islands of the Mergui Archipelago - the socalled 

sea gypsies, called Maw ken by themselves, 

Salon by the Burmese, and Chao Nam 

or Chao LaybytheThais(Forbes 1991: 1020). 

With a life style similar to that of the orang 

laut of the Malay world further south, the 

Mergui mawken are part of a wider group 

found in the island fringe of the eastern 

AndamanSea. Like their southerly confreres, 

the Mergui mawken appear to have once 

engaged in the piracy widely associated historically 

with these people. This ensured the 

coastal areas south of Mergui remained at 

times largely deserted in the past (Bowrey 

1895: 237-8; Hamilton 1930 II: 68ff). By the 

20th century they had become a timid and 

primitive people, open to exploitation by 

others, and for decades were themselves at 

the mercy of pirates based further south 

(Brown 1907: 470; White 1922: 106-17). Because 

of government policies they became, 

after 1947, even more isolated from mainland 

developments, though under pressure 

from by Chinese and Sino-Burman patrons 

and by insurgent groups (Sorenson 1994: 

228-9; Lewis 1954:64-5, see below). 

Yet it is possible that they played an even 

more important role in shaping the history 

of Mergui as an entrepot. Similarities in its 

circumstances to those of the Malay entrepot 

of Melaka, are striking. Not only did the 

orang laut have a crucial role in the latter's 

emergence (cf. Andaya and Andaya 1982: 

40) but Mergui, like Melaka, was a safe 

harbour, relatively easily defensible, among 

the maze of islands and tortuous channels 

along the coast. It is therefore not inconceivable 

that the mawken played the role both of 

pilots into the port and boatmen on the 

rivers and of patrolmen and protectors (cf. 

O'Kane 1972: 44). The Persian scribe accompanying 

the envoy of Shah Sulaiman the 

Safavid to Siam in the mid-1680s noted: 

... the standard form of transport ... is 

boat. And so boats are the mainstay 

of the populace, the very pivot of 

these people's lives. Their boats are 

their houses as well as their markets. 

They ride their boats wherever they 

wish, tie them up alongside one another 

and do all their buying and 

selling without going ashore. 

(O'Kane 1972: 47). 

Like the orang laut, the mawken may also 

have lapsed into piracy once the fortunes of 

the entrepot declined (see below), so that 

some of the forces shaping the history of 

Mergui may possibly be regarded as another 

extension of the Malay world. 


39

J. Mills 

Early History 

Despite the lack of conclusive evidence for 

the early history of Tenasserim, it seems 

likely that a trans-isthmian portage route to 

reduce the passage by sea was already in use 

by the second century AD when travellers 

from the Roman empire to China passed 

this way (Hall 1992: 192). At that time 

Tenasserim may have been part of what the 

Chinese referred to as Tun-Sun, an identification 

not undisputed by scholars though 

Paul Wheatley regarded this as most probablyreferringtoTenasserim(Wheatley1964: 

44-5). Straddling the isthmus, the Tun Sun 

polity had as its centre a market city some 

ten li from the sea, a place of exchange for 

traders from across the Indian Ocean with 

those from the east (Hall 1985: 64-5). This 

bustling entrepot situated on the Isthmus of 

Kra portage attracted the attention of the 

southern Mekong state of Funan which 

sought to control trade on both sides of the 

Gulf of Thailand and have access to seaborne 

trade from India. By the 5th century Funan' s 

commercial dominance was in decline when 

new sea routes south were opened round 

the Malay peninsula so that the trade of the 

Isthmus of Kra portage area also gradually 

decreased (Hall1985: 41, 72). 

The portage route did not fall into complete 

disuse, as Chinese ceramics from the 

Tang period right up to the 18th century 

have been discovered in the area (Collis 

1953: 227). In the Tang period the rise of 

Srivijaya in the 7th century brought the upper 

isthmus and its various crossings within 

its orbit and Tenasserim may have been one 

of the ports visited by Chinese pilgrims such 

as I Ching en route to India from the 

Srivijayan capital in Sumatra (Ray 1936: 24- 

5). 

From about the ninth century the expansion 

of Mon trading cities from Lopburi to 

the Burmese delta probably loosened the 

Tenasserim coast from Srivijayan control as 

the region came under growing Mon influence 

(Hall and Whitmore 1976: 308; Wyatt 

1984: 18; Luce and Pe 1939: 272; Aung-Thwin 

1985: 104). Wheatley even suggested Tun 

Sun was a Mon city, a claim given some 

support by H. L. Shorto, though Lieberman 

believed Yewas the most southerly centre of 

Mon settlement with Tavoy, according to 

Luce, the most southerly site for Mon inscriptions 

(Shorto 1963: 583; Wheatley 1961: 

17-30, 286, 292; Lieberman 1978: 468; Luce 

1953: 9; cf. Bauer 1990: 21, 39). By the lOth 

century the isthmus had gained further economic 

significance. This was mainly because 

of the expansion and increased economic 

activity of Khmer Angkor as its empire extended 

into the Chao Phraya valley. This 

improved access to the trade routes across 

the isthmus, particularly round Chaiya on 

the east coast (Hall1985: 171-6), thoughMon 

hegemony seems to have prevailed further 

north. Traders and travellers were also possibly 

more attracted to the isthmian crossings 

because the waning power of Srivijaya 

had led to increased piracy in the waters 

under its control. 

When in the 11th century the southern 

coastal cities of Mon Burma were absorbed 

by Burmese Pagan, Mergui shared their fate, 

coming for the first time, about AD 1057, 

within the Burmese orbit, as it was pushed 

as far south as Takuapa on the west coast at 

the terminus of the transpeninsular route to 

the Bay of Bandon (Hall and Whitmore 1976: 

309-10). These port towns became Burmese 

fiefdoms, some ruled directly by princes of 

royal blood, Mergui being given to 

Aniruddha' s son, Sawlu (Aung-Thwin 1985: 

105, 114). 

Although the Burmese had secured domination 

of the isthmus with little apparent 

Khmer resistance, they held this position for 

possibly less than a century (cf. Hall and 

Whitmore 1976: 3). The fact that the upper 

isthmus and its hinterland lay on a direct 

route linked with South India and Sri Lanka 

began to have greater impact on developments 

there (Collis 1965: 31),especially after 

1070. Then Theravadan Buddhist Sri Lanka 

became a significant factor in political, religious 

and commercial developments in both 

Angkor and Pagan (Hall 1985: 199, 201-5) 

and seems also to have promoted religious 

activity in the isthmus itself (Wyatt 1994: 

40 



31). The emergence of an apparent threeway 

contest between Sri Lanka, Angkor, 

and Pagan for domination of the isthmus 

and its commerce culminated in a successful 

Sri Lankan naval raid on Burma, which Hall 

described as 'the high point of the twelfth 

century competition for control of the isthmus' 

(1992: 250). As a result the isthmus 

entrepots became largely independent, neutral 

or possibly even part of an isthmian 

galactic state centred on Tambralinga 

(Nakhon Si Tham'marat) (Wyatt 1994: 30-1, 

35). 

At about the same time- the end of the 

12th century - new maritime trade routes 

from China opened further south, by-passing 

the upper isthmus and its hinterland. 

This marked a significant change in the history 

of the upper isthmus. In the words of 

Hall and Whitmore, 'the upper Malay Peninsula 

receded from the patterns of power 

and trade in the island world and was drawn 

into those of the mainland' (1976: 319). 

The period of Thai dominance 

Towards the end of the 13th century, after 

the collapse of Pagan, new autonomous Mon 

centres, loosely aligned within what 

Lieberman has called the galactic state of the 

Kingdom ofRamayana (1978: 461), emerged 

along the coastline of southern Burma and 

on the upper isthmus as far south as Mergui 

(Hall 1977: 166). These exported local produce 

and served as links in the international 

entrepot trade, particularly with the emerging 

Thai principalities in the lower Menam 

basin (Lieberman 1987: 172; Harvey 1967: 

132-3). This trade became important in helping 

the Thais throw off the yoke of Angkor 

and establish the state of Ayutthaya and 

inevitably Thai interest was attracted to controlling 

it. According to Phayre (1969: 67), 

Tavoy and Tenasserim came under Siamese 

sway in the early 14th century, Harvey claiming 

the Siamese founded the town of 

Tenasserim in 1373 with the frontier of 

SiameseterritorydrawnatTavoy (1967: 112, 

157). This initial Thai authority over the 

Tenasserim area seems to have been ephem- 

eral because of the upheavals in Siam in the 

next century. Wyatt (1984: 86) notes that 

Tenasserim was seized by Ayutthaya by the 

1460s and Tavoy in 1488, and this marked 

the beginning of a lasting Thai interest in the 

area because of its access to the Indian Ocean 

and relative proximity to the Thai heartland. 

Given the paucity of historical data for 

this period, it seems most probable that 

Mergui-Tenasserim, like other coastal states 

such as Tavoy, Pegu and Martaban, merely 

reasserted their autonomy to participate in 

the new era of prosperity dawning in the 

region. This was generated by the steady 

build -up in the momentum of maritime trade 

in the 14th and 15th centuries, when Melaka 

emerged as the preeminent peninsula 

entrepot (cf. Lieberman 1980: 548; 1987: 172). 

By its paramount position on the convergence 

of the major maritime trade routes, 

Melaka facilitated the exchange of major 

commodities such as Southeast Asian spices 

for Chinese ceramics and Indian textiles. 

Inevitably in the growing tide of regional 

prosperity brought by this maritime trade 

the upper isthmus port cities were also affected 

as new and wider links were forged, 

integrating the economy of the region more 

closely with that of China and the east and 

that of India and further west. Old centres 

such as Mergui-Tenasserim, Tavoy, Mon 

Pegu and Marta ban prospered, the port city 

of Y e being reclaimed from the jungle by the 

Mons in 1438 (Lieberman 1980a: 205). These 

centres became renowned for their shipbuilding, 

their ships venturing throughout 

the region and beyond. Traders from 

Tenasserim were reported as far afield as 

Ormuz in 1442 (Imperial Gazetteer 1908: 292; 

Reid 1993: 38,42). 

This trade and prosperity attracted aresurgent 

A yutthaya under King Trailok (1448- 

88). Denied any claim to suzerainty over 

Melaka by Ming China's sponsorship, he 

instead seized control of Tenasserim in the 

1460s gaining 'direct access, rather than indirect 

access through Melaka, to the international 

trade of the Bay of Bengal and the 

Indian Ocean' (Wyatt 1984: 86). Possession 


41

J. Mills 

of Tenasserim as A yutthaya' s Indian Ocean 

port and Ayutthaya's own position as port 

on the Gulf of Siam on the networks of trade 

routes through the Malay Archipelago and 

South China Sea contributed significantly to 

A yutthaya' s rise to commercial prominence 

in the 15th century and later (Pombejra 1993: 

127). 

By this time the isthmus and mainland 

states were important markets for Indian 

textiles and supplied the tin, elephants, precious 

stones, scented woods and other local 

luxury products in growing demand by an 

increasingly stable and prosperous Indian 

subcontinent. Because of its pivotal function 

as conduit for the valuable trade in goods 

from India and Burma for markets in Siam 

and China, Tenasserim by the opening of 

the 16th century had been elevated to become 

the seat of a viceroy, one of the most 

important official positions in the kingdom 

(Pires 1944 1: 109-111; Arasaratnam 1984: 

122). 

As such a powerful and rich province, 

Mergui was also a significant Buddhist centre, 

King Trailok himself possibly serving as 

a high-ranking monk for a brief time while 

ordaining a large number of monks (Vickery 

1973: 66-68). Whether this was purely an act 

of piety or cloaked more explicitly political 

motives, the 16th century Tibetan monk, 

Buddhagupta, testified to the role Mergui 

played as a centre of Buddhist pilgrimage as 

well as its relation to Tenasserim, theentrepot 

upstream: 

In this island [of Dhanasri] also there 

are very many monks. There is a 

great stupa of immense proportion 

. . . On the east there is a very big 

town where there is an enormous 

assemblage of merchants coming 

from different countries such as Cina, 

P'ren gi (= ... Firingi) land and India. 

(Ray 1936: 86) 

When Melaka fell to the Portuguese in 

1511 the attractiveness of Mergui, as well as 

ofYe,JunkCeylon(Phuket)andothernorthern 

peninsular ports was greatly enhanced 

for Muslim traders. The access these ports 

provided to transpeninsular trade routes to 

the Gulf of Siam allowed traders to bypass 

Portuguese Melaka on their way to 

A yutthaya, now the most powerful kingdom 

in mainland Southeast Asia. As trade 

continued to expand with China and Japan 

it was estimated that over eighteen per cent 

of India's eastern trade was going to the 

ports of lower Burma and Mergui at the 

close of the 16th century (W .H. Moreland, as 

in Lieberman 1980a: 217). 

Even the Portuguese were forced to come 

to the lower Burma ports when their enemies 

disrupted the supply of foodstuffs to 

Melaka (Lieberman 1980a: 210, 213; 

Arasaratnam 1984: 123) and by the end of 

the 16th century Portuguese trade at 

Tenasserim, then the main entrepotfor Pegu 

as well as Siam, had grown considerably. 

From there the Portuguese exported goods 

to their settlements along the coast of Madras 

and Bengal, a significant export being 

the coconut wine called 'Nype da Tanassaria' 

which the Portuguese shipped in great 

Martaban jars all over India (Linschoten 

1885: I, 103). By the second decade of the 

17th century Portuguese influence in the 

Bay of Bengal and along the Burma coast 

had expanded to such an extent that the 

Siamese regarded it a threat to the 

Tenasserim trade (Wyatt 1984: 109). 

An even greater and earlier threat to 

Siam with its prosperous transpeninsular 

trade was Tabinshweti of the new Toungoo 

dynastyinBurma.Havingrecentlyreunited 

that country, he had hitherto had only indirect 

access to this trade via Mon Martaban 

but after its fall in 1541, he went on to attack 

Ayutthaya in 1547-1548. Although Mergui 

did not fall to him then, Ayutthaya was so 

much weakened that Tabinshweti could set 

the harbour tolls of Mergui for the Siamese 

king as part of his price for the release of 

some high-ranking prisoners (Lieberman 

1980a: 213, 217). 

Two decades later in 1569 his successor, 

Bayinnaung, conquered Ayutthaya and 

42 



seized Mergui. For the time being Burma 

then dominated the maritime trade of mainland 

Southeast Asia. The importance 

Bayinnaung attached to the isthmus commerce 

can be attested by the detailed administrative 

arrangements he made for 

Tavoy and Mergui. Weights and measures 

were standardised, special officials appointed 

to supervise shipping, and accommodation 

erected for envoys from India, 

with the crown also profiting from tribute 

in Burmese commodities for the Indian 

Ocean luxury trade, such as musk, benzoin 

and rubies (Lieberman 1980a: 216-7). 

The benefits to Burma of control of the 

coastal trade did not last long, as three years 

afterBayinnaung'sdeathin 1581,Ayutthaya 

threw off the Burmese yoke and under the 

leadership of Naresuan conclusively secured 

the defeat of the Burmese at Nong 

Sarai in 1593, when the Siamese also regained 

Mergui. Tavoy was retaken too and, 

according to Ralph Fitch in 1599, had become 

a major source of tin for 'all India', its 

tin resources much greater than those of 

Mergui (quoted in O'Connor 1972: 12). With 

thecaptureofTavoyin 1614 by the Burmese 

King Anaukpethlun this source of riches 

passed finally out of Siam's commercial 

orbit (Hall1977: 275, 359). 

Despite this loss, with Mergui firmly 

under Siamese control again, the 17th century 

opened on an epoch extraordinarily 

'outward-looking' as Siam deliberately fostered 

an even wider trade with outsiders 

ranging from Europe to Japan (Pombejra 

1993: 128). In this Mergui played a major 

role as the western gateway to A yutthaya 

with the governorship of Tenasserim still 

considered 'one of the finest appanages of 

the Siamese crown' (Gervaise 1989: 50), 

ranked, according to the 15th century Palatine 

law, as one of the eight great cities of 

the kingdom (Vickery 1970: 864). 

Mergui, as the port to Tenasserim, had 

significance in its own right, being regarded 

as 'one of the most beautiful and safest 

anywhere in the Indies' (Gervaise 1989: 17). 

It probably appeared then much as it did in 

this early 20th century account of the 

harbour with its view of 'the pagodacrowned 

hills of Pataw and Patit on the 

islands opposite and the distant heights of 

King Island beyond' (Andrews 1962: 35). 

The reputation of Mergui for its shipbuilding 

and timber for refitting vessels cheap 

and readily available also enhanced its attractiveness 

(Gervaise 1989: 17). Tenasserim 

itself at the peak of the transpeninsular 

trade to Ayutthaya was described in a Persian 

account of about 1670 as, 

... a town oflush greenness ... [with] a 

population of about five or six thousand 

householders. The inhabitants 

are made up of Siamese, Indian Muslims 

of the Shavf' i and Hanafi schools 

and Hindus and Franks. (O'Kane 

1972: 27) 

River valleys such as the Tenasserim with 

their fruit orchards and rice-fields 'backed 

by wooded hills, ... [were] hardly less beautiful 

than the outer islands of the archipelago 

... [though there were 'also vast areas 

of dismal swamp and almost impenetrable 

forest' (Brown 1926: 140-141). Famous among 

travellers for its rice and fruit (Choisy 1993: 

233), the town of Tenasserim, situated on 

one side of the river, was walled to enclose 

an area of about a square mile containing 

court house, pagodas, warehouses, and hostelries 

for the various merchants. On the 

other side of the river was the elephant 

market (Andrews 1962: 36-7;Collis 1965:57- 

9). 

From Mergui supercargoes from ships 

berthing there could go up to Tenasserim to 

select goods and bring them down in barges 

for loading on their ships (Collis 1965: 42). 

Alternatively, ocean-going ships could come 

up river to Tenasserim and off-load their 

cargoes which were then carried first in 

small dugouts further upriver to the village 

of Jeling. From there they went by carts or 

porters across the isthmus to various ports 

on the Gulf of Siam. The principal route 

seems to have gone through the Maw Daung 


43

J. Mills 

Pass down to the lowlands around Prachuap 

Khiri Khan on the shore of the Gulf of Siam 

but there was also a route through the Isthmus 

of Kra through the headwaters of the 

Lenya River to Chumphon, also of significance 

for travel to Tavoy (Burney 1971 II ii: 

182-3; Smyth 1898 II, 47-52; Collis 1965: 44- 

5). The name, Chumphon, is derived from 

the Thai for 'meeting place'. Small boats, 

carts and elephants were the main means of 

transport, the journey ranging from six to 

twenty days, according to season and urgency 

(Kerr 1933: 212; Smyth 1898 II: 47-52). 

This mode of transport in such comparatively 

difficult terrain was feasible because 

the trade goods were high in value and 

relatively low in bulk and weight and because 

transport, while not exactly easy, was 

safe and well-organised across a Thai-controlled 

isthmus. 

Trade by this time was dominated by 

ships owned by Muslim Persians and Indians, 

including a large group ofMughal state 

officials in Bengal and possibly even some 

from Aceh. A few Hindus from the Coromandel 

coast and some Siamese officials, 

including the king himself, also traded 

(Prakash 1985: 229; Pombejra 1990: 134; 

Forbes 1991: 1021). In the 17th century the 

king's role as trader increased markedly, 

particularly in the reign ofKingNarai (1657- 

1688) (Reid 1993: 249). Virtually all cotton 

textiles for Siam were supplied by Muslim 

merchants from Golconda so that in the first 

half of the 17th century all the major towns 

en route to the capital were governed by 

Indian or Persian Muslims. Until about 1680 

the shahbandar of Mergui and governor of 

Tenasserim were Muslims, controlling a 

market which the growing number of Europeans 

in the region, especially the Dutch, 

found difficult to penetrate (Prakash 1985: 

226-8; Arasatnam 1984: 120-21). 

In addition to textiles, imports to 

Ayutthaya across the isthmus included 

opium, iron and dyestuffs. Exports entering 

the Bay of Bengal from Mergui included 

aromatic woods and gums, mostly destined 

for the Yemen and Hidjaz, tin, ivory, elephants, 

spices - particularly cardamom. 

44 

The latter came mostly from the Mergui 

Tenasserim area itself, while Chinese porcelain 

and Thai Sawanhalok ceramics were 

trans-shipped out(Forbes 1982;Milbum 1813 

II: 289-90). 

While some of the expansion of the 

Tenasserim trade could be attributed to the 

Portuguese conquest of Melaka, the coming 

of the Dutch and British to the region was to 

contribute to its decline as the Straits of 

Melaka became again a viable and cheaper 

route for commerce (Forbes: 1982). By the 

early 1680s the trade of Mergui had declined 

dramatically. Changing circumstances in 

India and increased European pressure on 

the textile trade also played a part, coinciding 

with changes in the political situation at 

the court of Ayutthaya and in Mergui itself 

(Gervaise 1989: 50; Prakash 1985: 229-30). 

Paramount among these was the rapid 

elevation at the Siamese court of the former 

East India Company employee, the Greek, 

Constantine Phaulkon, who,like many other 

foreigners in the seventeenth century, had 

entered the service of the Siamese king. This 

enabled him to bestow on his English associates, 

Richard Burnaby and Samuel White, 

the positions of governor and shahbandar of 

Mergui, much to the resentment of the resident 

Muslim community. Under White, 

Mergui was to develop the trade with Coromandel 

in Siamese ships built in Mergui and 

captained by English seafarers, but as much 

of White's activities were little more than 

freebooting, the resulting tensions with 

Golconda caused trouble also for the East 

India Company as well as tensions between 

the Company and Siam. This led to costly 

fortifications of Mergui soon outweighing 

the revenue from trade (Choisy 1993: 186); 

then in 1687 the Siamese massacred most of 

the English community in Mergui, allowing 

a short-lived French attempt to secure 

Mergui as a shipbuilding and repair centre. 

From this time dates the Anglo-French 

appreciation of the strategic advantages of 

Mergui with its links to Melaka, Aceh, Bengal, 

Sri Lanka, Pegu and the Coromandel 

Coast. Phaulkon had noted them in his letters 

to Louis XIV and Phaulkon' s con tempojournal 

of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2


rary, Sir Joshua Childe, the English East 

India Company President in Madras, was 

also aware of them. The Anglo-French rivalry 

in the region for a strategic base on the 

eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal began at 

this time and was to endure for more than a 

century (Hall 1953: 3; Collis 1965: 96-100, 

191; Hall1977: 369-71,489). This rivalry also 

contributed to British opposition in the 19th 

and 20th centuries to the possibility of a 

canal across the Kra isthmus; this despite 

various surveys which indicated the impracticality 

of such a canal (Fisher 1966: 

153,526). 

After 1688 Siam's trade with India declined 

somewhat, but because Indian textiles 

were considered essential imports by 

the Siamese court, Mergui continued as 

Ayutthaya's main western port with King 

Phetracha ordering a new ship and two new 

sloops to be built at Mergui in 1697 for the 

trade (Pombejra 1993: 263-4). Although the 

Siam-China trade grew significantly in the 

18th century (Wyatt 1984: 127), and Chinese 

provincial officials increasingly replaced the 

earlier Chulia ones, even at Junk Ceylon on 

the west coast (Bowrey 1895: 257), there is no 

indication that this happened at Mergui. 

This was part of the Syriam-Martaban run 

for traders from the Coromandel coast, 

Madras and San Tome, the last-mentioned 

port assuming greater significance after 1690, 

particularly with traders from Siam 

(Arasaratnam 1984: 125; Bassett 1989: 633, 

636). For a time after 1688 Mergui was 

avoided by country traders but by the second 

decade of the 18th century it ranked 

second after Pegu among Southeast Asian 

ports for the country trade from Madras. 

Asian shipping dominated the trade; elephants 

being the preferred export cargo, 

while the country traders carried mostly tin 

(Bassett 1989: 636-7). 

South of Mergui coastal shipping was 

hazardous because of the depredations of 

the maw ken from the islands, possibly stimulated 

by the activities of White and his associates 

earlier. Mawken piracy and slave-taking 

for the Aceh slave market ensured the 

coast between Mergui and Junk Ceylon was 

virtually uninhabited and must have enhanced 

the attractiveness of the Mergui portage 

routes (Bowrey 1895: 636-38; Hamilton 

1930 II: 37; Smyth 1895: 418). 

Tenasserim under the Burmese 

The end of Siam's centuries of control over 

the upper isthmus and of the lucrative portage 

traffic came in 1760 when a resurgent 

Burmese force conquered Mergui and the 

briefly independent states of Martaban and 

Tavoy (Hall1953: 3; Lieberman 1978: 478-9). 

Seven years later in 1767 Ayutthaya itself 

was forced to capitulate to the Burmese. 

Though destroyed, it was soon replaced by 

the new capital downriver at Bangkok which 

struggled to regain control of the upper 

isthmus and for more than half a century to 

maintain control over the southern isthmus. 

For a time Junk Ceylon (Phuket) was in 

Burmese hands and even Kedah was drawn 

into the Burmese orbit (Skinner 1993: 2; 

Cushman 1991: 8). Only in 1793 did the 

Siamese abandon serious efforts to retake 

Tavoy and Mergui, though frontier skirmishes 

continued for decades thereafter. 

What these events highlighted was the strategic 

significance of the upper isthmus and 

Martaban region for both Burma and Siam, 

the vulnerability of their kingdoms to whoever 

was in possession of it, as well as the 

importance to Siam of continued access to 

the Bay of Bengal through its remaining 

Indian Ocean seaports (Koenig 1990: 14,20- 

1; Bonney 1971: 165; Kobkua 1988: 17). 

For the Burmese Mergui did not have the 

significance for Indian Ocean trade that it 

had for the Siamese. Denial to the Siamese 

therefore rather than rivalry in trade was a 

more likely factor in Alaungpaya's acquisition 

of Mergui, though complaints about 

Siamese officials' obstructing Burmese boats 

in peninsular ports may have had some 

effect (Lieberman 1984: 267). Possibly the 

resources, especially the tin deposits of the 

region, were of greater significance. The 

Siamese had worked various deposits from 

Tavoy to Bokypin in the past as had the 

Burmese (Burney 1971 II ii: 184; Tremenheere 


45

J. Mills 

1886: 283) and the desire to regain access to 

the wealth of the region may also have had 

some bearing on the unsuccessful1793 Thai 

attack on southern Burma. This was centred 

not on Mergui but on a rebellious Tavoy 

though supported by a sympathetic Mergui 

(Wenk1968: 72-9). Thai preferenceforTavoy 

over Mergui was still maintained in the 1826 

discussions with the British over the future 

of Tenasserim, when the Siamese revealed 

they regarded Tavoy as more desirable than 

Mergui because of its natural resources of 

tin, sapan and teak wood (Burney 1971 I i: 

160). 

Once in possession of Mergui the Burmese 

provincial officials attempted to foster 

trade on their own account but its days as a 

major entrepot were over (Burney 1971 II ii: 

208). The establishment of the British settlement 

at Penang in 1786 off the Malay Peninsula 

hastened Mergui' s decline to merely a 

local centre and the Thais developed isthmian 

crossings further south. Rangoon became 

the more significant port with revenue 

from trade in 1797 amounting to three times 

that of Mergui (Koenig 1990: 120), and even 

that probably reflected the effects of a French 

trading factory there in the 1780s and of 

Mergui becoming again a centre for French 

cruisers and privateers and base for attacks 

on British shipping during the Napoleonic 

wars (Milburn 1813 II: 290; Burney 1971 II ii: 

205-8). 

The old trade conducted by Indian Muslim 

merchants continued but under the 

Konbaung dynasty policy of encouraging 

Chinese traders, Mergui was linked with 

Rangoon, Junk Ceylon, Kedah and other 

Malayan ports in the Chinese coastal trade 

which particularly focussed on the birds 

nests of Mergui. Some country traders such 

as James Scott also traded China goods as 

well as Bengal opium and Madras piece 

goods (Milburn 1813 II: 290; Forrest 1792: 

32). In addition to this, Mergui became the 

main source of salt fish and ngapi (fish or 

prawn paste) for Ava. Despite considerable 

depopulation ofthe area because of conflicts 

with the Siamese, and a constant drain of 

manpower for the various projects and wars 

of the king, Tavoy and Mergui were far 

more prosperous than any towns between 

Rangoon and Ava visited by Burney in the 

1820s (Burney 1971 II ii 208; Hall1974: 209). 

Siamese reluctance to accept the loss of 

theupperisthmus and their various attempts 

at recapture caused parts of the area to become 

almost deserted in the cross border 

raids which continued after the British occupation 

ofMerguiin 1824. Lenyaand Bokypin, 

places of some importance under the 

Siamese, declined into straggling villages 

and the prosperity of towns on the other 

side of the isthmus dependent on the traffic 

from Mergui atrophied as other isthmus 

crossings were revived or developed further 

south (Spearman 1987: 408). The town 

of Chum phon, once a thriving port, the easterncounterpartto 

Mergui, became little other 

than 'a military post' for monitoring Burmese 

movements and launching cross border 

raids and its governor was specifically 

forbidden to trade (Anderson 1890: 395,399; 

Burney 1971 II ii 182-3). Crossings between 

Pungha (Phangnga) /Takuapa and Chaiya 

on theAo Ban Don becamethemainSiamese 

portage routes as access to the Indian Ocean 

remained vital for Siamese trade until the 

rise of Singapore impacted on trade routes 

(Burney 1971 II iii: 210). Even then until the 

southern rail line went through in the 20th 

century these routes retained significance 

for east coast local trade because of isolation 

in the northeast monsoon and lack of safe 

harbours (Smyth 1895: 421). 

The Colonial Period 

Following the first Anglo-Burmese war of 

1824-26 Mergui was retained as a district in 

the new British province of Tenasserim, a 

distant adjunct of British India, on the initial 

justification of its being a protective barrier 

between Siam and Burma. Major Burney 

(1971 I iv: 765) also revived the argument 

about the dangers to British shipping from 

foreign possession of Mergui and the adjacent 

islands. Once it became apparent, however, 

that the old portage trade to Siam 

would not be revived and that the heavy 

46 



defense costs against border raids made 

Tenasserim province a financial liability, 

the British Indian government contemplated 

exchanging it with the Siamese and even 

with the Burmese for some other equivalent 

territory (Furnivall1991: 71; Woodman 1962: 

99-101). 

Under British rule the trade of Mergui 

declined and that of the old town of 

Tenasserim virtually disappeared. By 1891 

the town had waned to only a small village 

of fewer than 600 inhabitants with the former 

fortifications in ruins (Keith 1891: 40). Until 

Rangoon was annexed by the British in 1853, 

Moulmein became the main British Burmese 

trading port to which Mergui products 

were transported for the inland trade 

established with the Shan States and China 

(Smyth 1895: 417). They were also taken 

south to Singapore, now the preeminent 

entrepot for the region and the new destination 

for shipping from India that had previously 

gone to Mergui. 

Tin mining, which Mr Maingy, the first 

British commissioner of Tenasserim, had 

great hopes of reviving attracted no interest 

from merchants in Moulmein and little from 

the few Chinese - not the many from the 

south he hoped for (Furnivall1991: 65, 76; 

Tremenheere 1886: 300). What tin mining 

went on occurred on the southern frontier 

town of Malewan initially largely as an extension 

of the tin mining in Ranong started 

by the Siamese in the 1830s on the southern 

side of the Pakchan (Burney 1971 IV 1: 63,84). 

Hopes for a sugar cane industry developed 

by Chinese sugar growers coming from Siam 

likewise came to little (O'Riley 1849: 731-2; 

Butler 1884: 36). Most Chinese were tradesmen 

and merchants inMergui (Malcom 1840: 

16), to whom were farmed out the rights to 

the birds' nests and the sea produce of the 

MerguiArchipelago(Ryan 1858:5;Furnivall 

1991: 78; Lewis 1954: 64-5). 

It was partly interest in facilitating the 

import of Chinese labour to Tenasserim that 

prompted the first brief examination in the 

1840s of the feasibility of a canal through the 

Isthmus of Kra. Such a canal through the 

borderlands between British Burma and 

Siam, it was believed, would improve communication 

with Hong Kong. The Indian 

Mutiny in 1857 revived British interest in 

the idea, as the canal would allow the China 

squadron faster access to the subcontinent 

(Kiernan 1956: 137). Pressure was also 

mounting for British Burma to be the conduit 

for British trade with inland China, and 

the Kra route was touted as a way of accessing 

the Chinese market via Bangkok. A survey 

undertaken in 1863 by two military 

engineers from the British Indian army 

showed the difficulties of cutting a canal but 

their alternative recommendation of a railway 

received little support (Fraser and 

Forlong 1886: 285-96; Woodman 1962: 172- 

3, 183; Fisher 1966: 153). In 1883 the French 

De Lesseps revived the idea of a canal for the 

Siamese king as 'la route fram;aise au Tonkin' 

but again nothing came of the idea largely 

because of the relatively small saving in 

distance it could offer. What it did achieve 

was an abiding British concern about retaining 

command of the seaways between the 

Indian and Pacific Oceans. This underlay 

the guarantee in the 1909 Anglo-Siamese 

Treaty that no third party should acquire 

concessions of strategic significance on the 

west coast of the Gulf of Siam (Fisher 1966: 

153, 156; Kiernan 1956: 146). 

Under British administrative control, 

centred first at Moulmein and then at 

Rangoon, it was Mergui's relative isolation 

- as well as its small population that hampered 

economic development. As a remote 

and poorly-paying outpost of British India, 

Mergui' slot did notimprove with the end of 

Company rule after 1857 and transfer to the 

Crown. A road linking Mergui with 

Moulmein, sanctioned initially by the new 

Governor of India, was shelved because of 

the expenses caused by the Mutiny (Marshall 

1860 II: 252). Until 1865 all trade with the 

outer world was carried by a few Chinese 

junks though a government steamer made 

irregular appearances. After 1865 the government 

provided a monthly steamer service 

from Moulmein to both Tavoy and 

Mergui; ten years later this became a fortnightly 

service, by which time other ser- 

journal of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2 

47

J. Mills 

vices linked it with Chittagong and Penang 

but even by 1940 the coastline and adjacent 

islands had never been properly charted 

(Butler 1884: 9; Tregonning 1967: 145). In 

1898 the electric telegraph line was extended 

to Mergui and a beacon leading into Mergui 

harbour erected about two years later 

(Andrews 1962: 13). Access to the hinterland 

was still mainly by boat. Even after World 

War I when the government embarked on a 

major road building programme in Burma, 

it was estimated that there was 'probably 

not more than twenty miles of metalled road 

in the whole district' (Enriquez 1922: 52). By 

1940 the railway had been extended from 

Moulmein to Ye but consistently showed a 

deficit indicating little prospect of further 

extension, but by the same time 'a road of 

sorts' linked Mergui to Tavoy in the dry 

season and Mergui, Victoria Point, and 

Tavoy all had airfields (Andrus 1947: 251; 

Lunt 1989: 65; Christian 1945: 296). 

Undoubtedly the isolation of Mergui, 

hampering economic development, left it in 

some respects the frontier zone it had been 

on British acquisition. Across the eastern 

boundary in the adjacent Thai provinces the 

situation was little better with a similarly 

small population and rampant dacoity outside 

the main settlements at least through 

the 19th century (Smyth 1898 I: 278; Keith: 

1891a: 64). In Ranong to the south, immediately 

opposite Victoria Point, the situation 

was generally rather better if only because 

of Thai sensitivities towards international 

pressures, particularly that of the British in 

both Burma and the Malay Peninsula 

(Cushman 1991; 30-2; Smyth 1895: 535; Tej 

1977: 38). 

Fishing remained an important industry 

for the district, with supplies of ngapi, salted 

fish and prawns providing a significant and 

staple export throughout Burma. This was 

boosted in 1892 by a pearl boom, carried out 

first by an Australian company, then by a 

syndicate of Chinese. The latter were interested 

not only in pearls but also in motherof-pearl 

shell, sea slugs, and sea snails, collected 

mainly by mawken with Filipinos and 

then Japanese pearl divers operating in 

deeper waters (Dautremer 1913: 157-8,283- 

4; O'Connor 1905 II: 498; Smyth 1895: 522-4). 

Despite the development of tin mining in 

the west coast Thai peninsular states, tin 

mining in the Mergui district was still slow 

in taking offbecause oftheshortageoflabour, 

a lack of water in the dry season, and the 

poor transport system (Andrews 1962: 14). 

Only after the World War I increased demand 

for metals was the government roused 

to begin some road building in the tin- and 

wolfram-rich Tavoy area (Enriquez 1922: 

51). The tin price boom of 1924-27 provided 

some stimulus for British capital to enter 

mining in both Tavoy and Mergui. In the 

twenty years after 1921 tin output for all 

Burma (including Mawchi in Karenni) quadrupled 

but of this seventy-five per cent of 

tin production and sixty-two per cent of 

wolfram in 1939 came from only four per 

cent of the mines. The vast majority of mines 

were small, suffered from lack of capital, 

equipment, labour, and transport and used 

the tributing system where workers were 

paid for such tin as they could supply (Fox 

1974: 75-7}. 

One critic noted: 

These tributing methods were guaranteed 

to produce more tin, to employ 

the maximum number of parttime 

workers, to fit in with the agricultural 

life of a tin-containing area 

and to weaken the general future of 

the industry. (Fox ibid. 76) 

Limited as these developments in tin 

mining were, they coincided with an expansion 

of rubber planting in the area. This 

allowed a further improvement in transport 

when the Straits Steamship Company began 

providing regular services linking all 

the tin ports from Penang to Moulmein in 

1922 (Tregonning 1967: 56), so that a modest 

improvement in the economy of the region 

was underway by the 1920s. 

Because of natural conditions similar to 

those in the Malay Peninsula, the Mergui 

district, both mainland and the islands, developed 

into the major rubber growing area 

48 



of Burma. After 1909 a number of large 

estates as well as a very large number of 

small holdings were established so that by 

1937 rubber occupied a fifth of the district's 

agricultural area, representing more than 

thirty per cent of total rubber cultivation in 

all Burma (Voon 1973: 219-221; White 1922: 

31). Unlike the situation in Malaya or 

Sumatra to the south, output was relatively 

unaffected by the International Rubber Restriction 

Agreement, but yield per acre was 

low and in the 1930s few estates made profits 

(Andrus 1947: 52; Voon 1973: 219). Moreover 

the fact that nearly seventy per cent of 

the rubber acreage was in estates worked by 

Indian labour reflected the distaste that Burmans 

felt for employment as estate workers, 

or even as smallholders, and the situation 

did not augur well for the industry once the 

Indian labour force disappeared after the 

Japanese occupation, and the policies of the 

postwar national government were in place 

(Fisher 1966: 441, fn.26; Fryer 1971: 377). 

Overall the modest economic improvements 

in southern Tenasserim in the interwar period 

were largely undertaken by non-indigenous 

interests so that prospects were bleak 

for continued improvement under a nationalist 

regime in the postwar period. 

World War II and the 

Japanese Occupation 

The outbreak of the war in the Pacific in 1941 

was to highlight once more the strategic 

significance of the isthmus. Burma was revealed 

as poorly defended and Tenasserim 

virtually indefensible. Nevertheless some 

effort was made to defend it, though the 

logistics of this were compounded by British 

anticipation of invasion through Chiang 

Mai to cut the Burma Road to China 

(Chandra 1984: 34) rather more than from 

Raheng to Moulmein. In fact, at that stage 

the Tenasserim airfields were of prime interest 

to the Japanese because of the aircraft 

cover they provided for Singapore so that 

seizure of this part of Burma was an early 

Japanese priority and the rest of Burma only 

of secondary importance (Chandra 1984: 35; 

Lunt 1989: 58). Japanese military activity 

also led to a revival of Siamese claims to 

Tenasserim in 1940 so that by early 1941 

relations were decidedly hostile along the 

Burmese border near Kawkareik (Maybury 

1984 I: 168; 1985 II: 58; Smith 1991: 290; 

Brailey 1986: 98-9). 

The Japanese invasion of Thailand and 

Malaya on 7th to 8th December 1941 was 

followed on 11th December by the beginning 

of the Japanese offensive on Burma 

with the seizure by 23 January 1942 of the 

three Tenasserim airfields which provided 

fighter cover for bombing raids on Rangoon 

(Keegan 1990: 263; Allen 1984: 28). Allied air 

protection of Singapore was reduced and 

the way also opened to Moulmein for Japanese 

forces entering by the Three Pagoda 

Pass. 

Apart from the mining of the harbour, 

Mergui was relatively untouched for the 

rest of the war apart from incendiary bomb 

damage mostly to the waterfront just before 

the Japanese surrender. Similar damage occurred 

at Tavoy and Ye (Craven and Cate 

1953: 237; Maybury 1986 III 92: 137). The 

people suffered severely from food shortages, 

malnutrition and related problems, 

dependent as they normally were on rice 

imports to make up local shortfalls. A general 

breakdown of law and order also occurred 

with dacoity on land and piracy at 

sea increasingly frequent while a series of 

massacres of Palaw Karens by Burmese militia 

ignited long-term ethnic enmity and 

fuelled later Karen insurgency (Maybury 

1986 III: 112-119, 131, 168; Tinker 1967: 47). 

Some tin mining continued but rubber 

plantings were tapped heavily to maximise 

latex output for distilling rubber fuel for 

motor vehicles because of wartime petroleum 

shortages (Andrus 1947: 127-8; Voon 

1973: 220). 

War further highlighted the strategic 

potential of the isthmus, when the Japanese 

early revived the prospects of a Kra canal for 

quicker access to Indian ports across the Bay 

of Bengal but built instead a trans-isthmian 

railway from Chum phon to a port made at 

Kao Huakang near Victoria Point (Christian 


49

J. Mills 

1945: 291-7). In use in January 1944, with a 

capacity of four trains each way a day, it 

reduced sea traffic through the Straits of 

Melaka to Rangoon, then under increasing 

attack by Allied aircraft and submarines 

(Kirby 1961: 375; Fisher 1947: 85-6). Once the 

port of Kao Huakang was razed by Allied 

bombing its use was ended (cf. Fisher 1947: 

97; Craven and Cate 1953: 237) and on October 

19 the Japanese naval forces at Mergui 

surrendered, so that the Tenasserim region 

which had been the first part of Burma affected 

by war was also the last area to be 

liberated when it ended (Maybury 1986 III: 

112). 

Continued marginality in the postwar 

period up to 1988 

In the period following the Second World 

War Tenasserim remained largely marginal 

to the political control of the central government 

up to the 1980s. To some extent the 

marginality of the area reflected not only its 

relative neglect by the colonial government 

but the residual memory of local autonomy 

in earlier centuries and concomitant defiance 

of local authority by its inhabitants. 

These developments, promoted both by the 

essentially frontier nature the region had 

assumed and by its ethnic fragmentation, 

were enhanced by the wartime legacies of 

anti-Japanese resistance as well as of smuggling 

and dacoity (Lieberman 1978: 478-9; 

1980: 548; Maybury 1986 III: 200). Not only 

did these merge with insurgent activities in 

the postwar period they melded with yet 

another product of postwar Burma - the 

web of graft and corruption linking rebels, 

robbers, and rulers, often erstwhile wartime 

comrades in arms, sundered by postwar 

political differences buttoo frequently linked 

by the animus of personal gain (Walinsky 

1962: 383-5). In other words maintenance of 

the status quo was in the interests of many 

though not necessarily of the majority living 

in the region. According to Walinsky (ibid. 

325): 

Too many politicians and officers in 

the area were benefiting in one way 

or another from the situation, and 

their ties to Rangoon were such that 

little or nothing was done to change 

it. Of the political leaders in Rangoon, 

it was U Ba Swe himself, then Minister 

of Mines and Defense as well, 

who had the closest political ties to 

the area. 

Although Walinsky was writing in 1962, 

comparatively little would appear to have 

changed in this respect in the thirty years or 

more that have elapsed since then, except 

that some of the players have changed, with 

some wanting even more control of the resources 

of the region than before. 

What was also changing through this 

period was the political significance of the 

region. In the early years of the new Burmese 

state southern Tenasserim was a zone 

where Rangoon's power reached but imperfectly 

and competed not only with that of 

the various insurgent groups entrenched 

along the border but also to some extent 

with elements within the neighbouring state 

of Thailand. By the opening of the 1990s not 

only were the insurgents being increasingly 

outmanoeuvred by Rangoon but relations 

with the Thai state were also becoming more 

cordial and less fragmented even as Rangoon 

was forging closer links with China to the 

north. 

Insurgents 

In 1945 Tavoy-Mergui had emerged as a 

CPB (Communist Party of Burma) stronghold 

under the Tavoyan, Thakin Ba Thein 

Tin, leader of the anti-} apanese resistance, 

with CPB bases established in the mountainous 

jungle region behind Tavoy and 

near Palaw and Mergui in the late 1940s 

(Lintner 1980a: 101). By then Karen and 

Mon separatists were also active in this 

area, with both groups, but especially the 

Mon, receiving aid from Chinese 

Guomindang forces. Their hope of using 

the Andaman coast to secure supplies from 

Taiwan for continuing their struggle against 

50 



Chinese Communist (CPC) forces highlighted 

once again the strategic significance 

of the region (Lintner 1994: 108-9). 

Until the end of the 1970s southern 

Tenasserim remained the arena of these various 

insurgent groups, including the CPB, U 

Nu' s Parliamentary Democratic Party of the 

1970s, the Karen National Union (KNU), the 

Tavoyan Liberation Front, and the New Mon 

State Party. While they were sometimes in 

alliance, more often each strove to take control 

of the area for itself, reflecting not only 

ideological differences but often ethnic enmity, 

such as that between Karen and Burman 

(Smith 1991:31, 152,292-3, 323). 

Under pressure the CPB progressively 

declined but links established with the 

neighbouring Communist Party of Thailand 

(CPT) bases ranging down to the Malaysian 

border allowed it to receive valuable support 

in armaments and medicine, underlining 

the continued vulnerability of the Thai 

state from this area (Smith 1991: 306). It was 

partly this context which explained growing 

Thai support for the staunchly anti-communist 

KNU which, after 1962, controlled 

the increasingly important black market 

cross-border trade from Sawta on the Kayah 

State border to the Maw Daung Pass south 

of Mergui. As the Karen insurgent leader, 

Bo Mya, allegedly said in 1976: 

We are like a 'foreign legion' for the 

Thai armed forces. We guard their 

border and prevent links between 

the Burmese and Thai communists. 

(Aung Kin 1980: 104). 

Also funding the Karen rebellion was the 

sale of local timber, until supplies were 

exhausted, and of antimony and tin, until 

the collapse of the tin market in the mid 

1980s. Timber mills and mines were run 

jointly with local Thai businessmen in arrangements 

receiving tacit Thai government 

support (Smith 1991: 283, 299; Falla 1991: 

356). This situation also highlighted once 

more the value of Burma's border trade and, 

especially, of the natural resources of this 

area. 

Economic factors 

Throughout this time central government 

control was partially competing with the 

rebels, not only for tin, but also for marine 

resources which additionally attracted illegal 

fishing interests from Thailand. Poor 

transport and communications with 

Rangoon continued to hamper better economic 

and social development despite the 

expansion of state-owned shipping after 

1955. This together with currency controls 

and dwindling cargoes led the Straits Steamship 

Company to cease servicing Tenasserim 

ports after 1962 which only augmented the 

isolation of the region (Tregonning 1967: 

254-8). No new roads or railways were built 

to the region until the 1990s with the controversial 

rail link between Ye to Tavoy so that 

air transport and shipping remained the 

main means of communication. 

The socialist policies of the Burmese government 

of this time also impaired the economic 

interests of the tin mining and rubber 

industries of Tenasserim because of 

nationalisation,limitations on capital inputs, 

and substitution of Indian estate and Chinese 

mine labour with Burmese. It meant 

there was no incentive to update plant and 

port facilities although the Korean War temporarily 

boosted prices and output (Fox 197 4: 

77; Tinker 1967: 302-3). The fishing industry 

was similarly hampered. It also had the 

problem of obsolete equipment and infrastructure 

and a joint venture of Burmese and 

Japanese private interests, the Martaban 

Fishing Company, operating for a time in 

the waters of the Mergui Archipelago did 

little to change things (Lewis 1954: 58; Hill 

and Jayasura 1986: 49), though a cultured 

pearl farm set up in the Bay of Mergui survived 

(Taburiaux 1985: 163). 

Burma's historic under-utilisation of its 

marine resources partly explained the increase 

in illegal fishing in Burmese waters, 

particularly by Thai fishermen, with 273 

Thai trawlers being caught with their crewmen 

imprisoned in Burmese jails between 

1965 and 1976 (Aung Kin 1980: 108). The 

problem worsened as the 1970s progressed · 


51

J. Mills 

and official Burmese interest in the fisheries 

increased. The difficulty was compounded 

by the fact that until1980 no clear sea boundary 

between the two countries had ever 

beendemarcated(AungKin 1981: 124). Thai 

Burmese relations became somewhat 

strained with the Thai navy announcing in 

January 1977 that three gunboats would 

patrol coastal waters in the Andaman Sea 

between Ranong and Phuket for the first 

time and plans were announced for a Thai 

naval base at Thap Malu Bay, Phangnga 

Province (Moscotti 1978: 89). A further source 

of conflict lay in the existence of some 3000 

illegal Burmese workers in Ranong Province, 

working as cheap labour in the numerous 

tin and coal mines there and constituting 

seventy per cent of the labour force 

(Aung Kin 1980: 105). 

Rangoon's growing interests in the 

Tenasserim region in the 1970s reflected the 

serious economic difficulties the country 

was then experiencing so that the region's 

economic potential was scrutinised more 

closely. Mon-Karen insurgents came under 

greater pressure on the eastern border as the 

government opened new mines in 

Tenasserim Division. The region's marine 

resources also received greater attention, 

especially the pearl fisheries of Mergui, the 

valuable pearl trade becoming one of the 

most lucrative government agencies and, in 

the pattern established from the past, passing 

to the control of Ne Win's son-in-law 

after his marriage to Sanda Win (Aung Kin 

1981; 113, 117; Lintner 1990: 62). 

Developments after 1988 

The 1988 political crisis in Burma and subsequent 

military takeover in September led to 

more intense government interest in the 

region in both security and economic terms. 

At this stage south Tenasserim provided 

one of several escape routes for dissident 

students fleeing the military junta. Fishing 

boats took them to Kawthaung (Victoria 

Point) where they crossed to Ranong on the 

Thai side of the Paknam. Many also fled to 

Karen rebel camps along the border with 

Tavoy and Mergui becoming a centre for 

propaganda efforts by the All Burma Students' 

Democratic Front in 1989 (Lintner 

1990: 147; F.E.E.R. 7.9.89: 27). 

As a consequence the State Law and 

Order Restoration Council (SLORC) government 

increased its attacks on the insurgent 

border groups to gain political and 

economic control of the region, especially 

after insurgent activity emerged in late 1991 

in the Irrawaddy delta region, linked to 

Karen infiltration of the area and reactivation 

of old ties with former Karen rebels 

there. To thwart potential Karen alignment 

with anti-SLORC Burman groups, Burmese 

navy surveillance off the delta coast and in 

the Gulf of Marta ban was stepped up to cut 

logistical support from Karen controlled 

bases on the Tenasserim seaboard and 

tatmadaw attacks on Karen border bases also 

increased (E.I.U. 19931: 33; Falla 1991:218- 

9). The search for illicit arms on fishing boats 

also served to deprive insurgents of revenue 

from maritime resources, occasionally revealing 

the continuing ambiguity of politicoeconomic 

interests in the area, such as the 

exposure of the Sino-Burman Brigadier Aung 

Gyi as patron-employer of people, presumably 

mawken, collecting birds' nests in the 

Mergui Archipelago and carrying illicit 

weapons as well as paying protection money 

to Karen rebels (F.E.E.R. 14.11.91: 26; 3.6.93: 

19). 

The Open-Door Policy and the continuum 

of Thai interests 

Increased government interest in the region 

coincided with the adoption of the so-called 

SLORC 'Open Door Policy', focussing largely 

on freeing up the economy and including 

the legalisation of border trade (Mya Than 

1992: 53, 55-6). This was to have far-reaching 

ramifications for southern Tenasserim, as 

legal border trade would bypass the various 

insurgent groups profiting for so long from 

the government's old economic policies. For 

the Karens it meant an undermining of their 

position and strength as they became increasingly 

irrelevant to the Thais as closer 

52 



bonds were established between Rangoon 

and Bangkok after 1988 when significant 

logging concessions were granted to Thai 

timber companies as well as sanction to 

official border trade. 

The strong trade relationship developing 

at this time with Thailand allowed a 

reassertion of Thai historic interest in the 

resources of the area and included not only 

timber concessions but fishing arrangements, 

generating reputedly US $20 million 

in fees for the Rangoon government 

(E.I.U.1991: 1,34). Theywerealsoofconsiderable 

economic significance for Thailand, 

given the earlier closure of its own forests 

for logging and the needs of Thailand's voracious 

fishing industry. 

Of even greater significance, for both 

Thailand and Burma, was exploitation of 

the rich natural gas reserves in the Gulf of 

Marta ban to be developed in a joint venture 

by the California-based Unocal, Total of 

France, and a subsidiary of the Petroleum 

Authority of Thailand. A cornerstone in a 

strategic plan for meeting Burma's oil and 

natural gas needs, the venture was also intended 

to earn much-needed revenue from 

sales to Thailand through a pipeline across 

the upper isthmus north of Tavoy through 

Mon territory to Ratchaburi in Thailand 

(F.E.E.R. 13.7.95: 65). For Thailand, historically 

poor in petroleum reserves, the project 

was seen as only a beginning as a second 

project was soon under consideration to tap 

the Yetagun reserves in the Andaman Sea 

by another pipeline to Ranong and Krabi 

(E.I.U.: 1994,1,26). 

These developments significantly 

boosted the economic significance of this 

part of the Thai coastline and with the growing 

economic links with Kawthaung as well, 

local Thai business interests and the Fourth 

Army floated a plan in 1993 to make Ranong 

Province a 'special economic zone'. In 1996 

the Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand 

was considering the feasibility of extending 

this zone to include an industrial estate the 

Burmese government was planning for 

Tavoy (Bangkok Post Weekly Review 13.9.96). 

The concurrent expansion of the Thai tourist 

industry along the coast from Phuket as far 

north as the Burmese island of Thaytay Island 

off Kawthaung, plans for a naval base 

at Krabi, for developing the Southern Seaboard 

and for trans-isthmian road communication 

betweenKrabi and Khanomshowed 

the quickening of Thai interest in the area it 

had once controlled in the distant past (Arthit 

1994; E.I.U. 1994,iii: 21). 

For the Burmese regime these developments 

meant economic benefits as well as 

enabling the government to increase pressure 

on this historically recalcitrant region 

and its peoples. Timber concessions to the 

Thais hurt Karen insurgent coffers. Foreign 

fishing rights punitively prohibited local 

people in the Tavoy-Mergui area from fishing 

where they had fished for generations 

while entire villages in the Mon-Ye area 

were displaced for the Marta ban oil pipeline 

and local villagers conscripted for work on 

the rail line, paid work on the pipeline being 

reserved for SLORC supporters. Further 

south Karen porters from Mergui were impressed 

for tatmadaw attacks on nearby KNU 

border camps (Falla 1991: 218-9; Lintner 1990: 

179;F.E.E.R.12.5.94: 64; 15.8.96: 66;Hazelton 

1994: 5). 

The continuation of Burmese military 

onslaughts on ethnic insurgents on the Thai 

Burmese border and related incursions by 

Burmese troops into Thai territory inevitably 

precipitated tensions which threatened 

the wider economic relationship. In December 

1992 border relations became particularly 

fraught along disputed sections of the 

boundary between Ye and Songhla Buri and 

along the Tha Sae district in Chumphon 

province. Thai memories of past Burmese 

depredation revived to fuel the tension, diffused 

eventually by the unprecedented intervention 

of King Bhumibol Adulyadej 

(Maisrikrod 1993: 347; Hazelton 1994: 4; 

E.I.U.1993,i;33; Buszynski 1994: 729).Growing 

Chinese economic and political influence 

in Burma and competition with Thai 

interests served only to heighten Thai sensitivities. 


53

J. Mills 

Expanding Chinese interests 

The relationship between Burma and China 

grew rapidly after government suppression 

of the 1988 Rangoon democracy demonstrations. 

Armaments deals with the Chinese 

vastly strengthened tatmadaw forces against 

dissidents and insurgents butthere was also 

an almost exponential expansion of the Chinese 

role in the Burmese economy, Chinese 

commercial interests penetrating as far south 

as Tenasserim by 1991 with Andaman Sea 

prawns trucked to Ruili in southern China 

(F.E.E.R. 14.4.91: 55). Later developments 

suggested a Chinese interest in Burma's offshore 

petroleum reserves in the Andaman 

Sea (Steinberg 1993: 3). 

The relationship with China also encroached 

on that being forged with Thailand. 

Not only were Thai consumer goods 

on the Burmese market undermined by 

cheaper Chinese ones but timber concessions 

to Thais were revoked in 1992 and at 

the end of 1993 fishing rights granted to Thai 

fishing companies suspended, with Chinese 

fishing vessels replacing Thai ones on Burmese 

waters. Harsh penalties were put in 

place for both foreign and Burmese nationals 

impinging on specified blocks of water, 

termed Exclusive Economic Zones (E.I.U. 

1994,i: 43). 

Wider regional concerns 

What was also causing concern to Burma's 

neighbours was evidence of China's promise 

of increased military and economic aid to 

Burma in exchange for access to the Indian 

Ocean through naval bases, an interest foreshadowed 

in a 1985 Chinese document proposing 

China's becoming a two-ocean naval 

power (Steinberg 1993: 3). Chinese aid enabled 

the building of five new ports on 

Burma's coastline fromKawthaungto Sittwe 

innorthernArakan. In southern Tenasserim, 

Kaidan Island off Mergui became a base for 

new Burmese patrol boats under Chinese 

instructors and Zetdetkyiisland off Burma's 

southernmost point at Kawthaung a joint 

China-Burma listening post so that as the 

20th century waned this region was gathering 

new international and strategic significance 

(F.E.E.R 16.12.93: 26; 22.12.94: 23; 

6.11.97: 17-18). 

It was not only the Thais who were concerned 

but others in the region and further 

afield. With the security the pax Britannica 

had once offered to all those on the Indian 

Ocean rim long gone, India now with ambitions 

of its own in the Indian Ocean, indicated 

unease about the nature of China's 

naval aid to Burma. A particular issue was 

therefurbishingofnavalfacilities on Burma's 

Coco Island and installation of radar surveillance 

equipment close to India's naval 

base in the adjoining Andaman Islands. 

India's seizure of alleged Chinese surveillance 

vessels carrying the Burmese flag in 

August 1994 was an intimation and confirmation 

of these concerns (Steinberg 1993: 5; 

Boucaud 1994; E.I.U. 1994, i: 37; F.E.E.R 

20.10.94: 15; 22.12.94: 23). Indonesia also 

registered disquiet because its northern 

province of Aceh in Sumatra is not so far 

from these developments and Japan was 

also known to be concerned because it relies 

on these waters being kept open for vital 

Middle Eastern petroleum imports (Mya 

Maung 1994: 459; Badgley 1993: 158; E.I.U. 

1993 i: 32). For Malaysia and Singapore it is 

also essential that the Straits of Melaka be 

kept open for sea traffic. Both have also 

invested heavily in Burma with even a Malaysian 

interest in tourist resorts on islands 

off the coast of Kawthaung. ASEAN economic 

and strategic interests in Burma and 

particularly those of Thailand in the 

TenasserimandAndaman coast, in part only, 

offset Chinese interests, as in fact does 

Burma's membership in ASEAN in 1997. 

Historically the isthmus and the 

neighbouring Tenasserim coast have tended 

to play a more prominent role in wider 

regional developments at times when strong 

states have existed in Burma and Thailand. 

These times have also tended to coincide 

with the existence of an assertive China. 

Moreover, since the end of the Cold War 

geopolitical patterns in this part of the world 

are reverting to ones where region


predominate - not external ones such as 

Britain in the pax Britannica days or the 

United States more recently. In consequence, 

highly strategic areas and ones rich in resources, 

such as the upper isthmus region, 

must inevitably be drawn into more mainstream 

activities. The Burmese government 

is now in control of more of the territory of 

Burma than any post-colonial government 

before it, and this comes at a time when an 

economically resurgent Thailand aspires to 

a much stronger role in Southeast Asia. Taking 

these facts into consideration, it seems 

likely that the Tenasserim coast will play an 

increasingly pivotal, rather than peripheral, 

role in events in this part of the Indian Ocean 

littoral. 

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KEYWORDS - BURMA, MYANMAR, 

TENASSERIM, SIAM, THAILAND, 

A YUTTHA YA, HISTORY, POLITICS 


THE SIAM OF MENDES PINTO'S TRAVELS 

Michael Smithies· 

Abstract 

The Peregrina~iio of Mendes Pinto is an important source for the history, society 

and political culture of Siam in the mid 16th century. Although many doubts 

have been cast on its reliability, it cannot be ignored and a recent translation by 

Rebecca Catz (1989) gives reliable access to this difficult text for Englishspeaking 

scholars. The present article extracts all references in the Peregrina~iio 

which deal with Siam. 

Fernao Mendes Pinto (?1510-1583) spent 

twenty-one years in Asia, returning to 

his native Portugalin 1558. After some years 

in vain soliciting an official position or a 

pension, he wrote his huge text, Peregrinar;iio 

(formerly spelt Peregrinar;am), between 1569 

and 1578. On his death, he willed the manuscript 

(now lost in all known copies) to a 

pious establishment, the Casa Pia dos 

Penitentes in Lisbon, clearly intending it 

should be published. This was consulted by 

historians and permission to publish was 

sought in 1603, but it still took another 

eleven years to appear. Rebecca D. Catz 

(1989), in her recent edition and the first 

complete translation into English of the text, 

advances two reasons for Pinto's hesitancy 

to publish and the delay in the book's final 

appearance in Portuguese. The first is attributed 

to the power of the Inquisition and 

the nature of the text, a tongue-in-cheek 

attack on religious persecution and intolerance; 

and the second to the form and framework 

of the text, full of hardly known proper 

names, rambling unpunctuated sentences, 

and its sheer size. 

The purpose of this article is to highlight 

the references to Siam in the text, and not to 

enter into the disputed territory of whether 

Mendes Pinto was telling the truth or not 1 . 

He gained the posthumous reputation of a 

liar, and was accused of invention, exag- 

*PO Box 1, Bua Yai, Korat 30120, Thailand. 

Introduction 

geration, and worse, but already he had his 

defenders in the seventeenth century: the 

Portuguese Jesuit, Fr. Cardim, who was in 

Ayutthaya from 1626 to 1629, wrote that 

'Though the book of Peregrinar;am of Pinto is 

considered to be apocryphal, he is correct in 

that which he writes about the kingdom of 

Siam.' (de Campos 1940: 17).2 

Eight of Mendes Pinto's 226 chapters 

deal extensively with Siam in the 1540s and 

1550s and there are numerous references 

throughout to the country, its outposts and 

dependencies. The article by Wood (1920: 

25-39) closely examines the correspondence 

of dates in Pinto's text and Luang Prasert's 

Pongsawadan, and finds little agreement 

between the two. Both were often wrong: 

Pinto wrote up his narrative several years 

after the events he describes, and given that 

he had been captured thirteen times, enslaved 

sixteen or seventeen times (he gives 

both figures), and shipwrecked so many 

times one loses count, he is hardly likely to 

have had any surviving notes to consult; 

Luang Prasert' s chronology has, furthermore, 

been called to question, and his record 

was in any case written a century after this 

period. 

It has been known for a long time that 

Cogan's 1653 English translation, based itself 

on an imperfect French version by 

Figuier, was abridged and inaccurate. In 

Catz' s (1989) complete translation, which 

follows the first edition of 1614 and is done 


59

M. Smithies 

into flowing, unaffected English with copious 

footnotes to enlighten the reader, one is 

still left with the problem of what Mendes 

Pinto actually saw, what he invented, and 

what he borrowed from earlier sources. 

For, like many travellers, Pinto incorporated 

in his text pieces from earlier authors; 

the mediaeval traveller-priest Odoric is apparently 

one source, and Pinto's account of 

the kingdom of Prester John in Abyssinia 

seems to be another that is second-hand. 

Sifting out what is first-hand and what not 

is no easy task, and Catz does her best: but 

she wisely tends to let the text speak for 

itself. 

However, it is known for certain that his 

travels took him to the dependencies of Goa 

and then Malacca, where he was certainly 

based for some time and became fluent in 

Malay. From Malacca he apparently travelled 

throughout the islands now constituting 

Indonesia, was in Pattani, Siam, Pegu 

and Burma (there are extensive chapters on 

the ruthless treatment by the Burmese of 

Mon uprisings), China, the Ryukyus, and 

Japan, which he claims to have discovered 

and whither he accompanied the saintly 

Francis Xavier. He may have gone to the 

kingdom of Luang Prabang, and also seen 

the Dalai Lama in Tibet. Mendes Pinto was 

definitely in Ayutthaya before 5 December 

1554, for a letter survives from him giving 

an eye-witness account of the city (Catz 

1983: 43-4). 

Europeans knew relatively little of these 

eastern lands, of course; as Mendes Pinto 

writes in Chapter 143, in relation to the 

Ryukyus, 'what we have seen and read in 

the works of Ptolemy as well as the others 

who have written on geography, not one of 

them ever went beyond the kingdom of 

Siam and the island of Sumatra, with the 

exception of our own cosmographers', that 

is, the Portuguese, who were a little more 

adventurous. 

The chapters on Siam 

Chapters 181-187 cover the 120 Portuguese 

mercenaries in Siam (including, he implies, 

60 

Mendes Pinto himself) and their participation 

in the 1545 attack on Chiangmai; the 

poisoning of King Chairacha (r. 1534-1547) 

by his consort; an account of the good deeds 

of the king; the king's cremation and the 

usurpation by the consort and her lover of 

the throne; the selection of the new King 

Chakkraphat (r. 1548-1569), then a monk, 

and a Burmese invasion of Siam; the siege of 

Ayutthaya and final assault in 1549. 

Chapter 181, 'Portuguese mercenaries 

in Siam,' has Mendes Pinto arriving with 

two Portuguese ships in Ayutthaya, to be 

welcomed by fellow-nationals established 

there. The king of Chiangmai laid siege to 

the unidentified Siamese city of Quitirvao 

and killed Oya Ok-Pyra Kamphaengphet. 

The Siamese king (Chairacha) ordered a 

general mobilization, including foreigners, 

who were given the choice of leaving the 

country or joining the Siamese army; 120 of 

the 130 Portuguese chose to stay in the 

expectation of promised favours and 

honours. After twelve days, the king left 

with an army of 400,000 men, including 

70,000 foreign mercenaries. The King of 

Chiangmai and his allies attacked and were 

eventually repulsed, both sides suffering 

many losses. 

Chapter 182, 'The King of Siam poisoned 

by the Queen,' starts with the King of 

Siam fortifying Quitirvao, making war on 

the unidentified Guibem because its queen 

had allowed passage to the King of Chiangmai 

and had consented to the death of Oya 

Kamphaengphet and his army. Guibem 

capitulated, paid an indemnity, and handed 

over the widowed queen' s son. The King of 

Siam reached Lake Chiangmai (also known 

as Singuapamor or Singapamor), captured 

towns thereabouts, then withdrew, returning 

to Ayutthaya to an extravagant reception. 

His queen (the royal concubine Si 

Sudachan) in the king' s absence 'had committed 

adultery with one of the purveyors 

of the royal household, and with a man by 

the name of Uquumchenira' (Ok-Khun 

Chinarat), and was four months pregnant. 

Afraid of her fate, 'as well she might be,' she 

decided to poison the king. He only surjournal 

of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2

The Siam of Mendes Pinto's Travels 

vived five days. The nobles agreed to crown 

his eldest son (he had two sons by Si 

Sudachan) while the king was still alive; 

this was Yot Fa, (r. 1547-48). The ceremony 

was performed by Oya Phitsanulok, 'the 

highest dignitary in the land;' the boy also 

received the acknowledgement of the most 

senior priest, Quiay Pomvede. 

Chapter 183, 'The good King of Siam,' 

relates some of the praiseworthy deeds of 

the late king, particularly as they concern 

the Portuguese, and many of which Mendes 

Pinto claims to have witnessed himself' during 

the years between 1540 and 1545 when 

I was trading in this kingdom'. An envoy 

was sent from Malacca to secure the release 

of Domingo de Seixas, and this was agreed 

by the late king. In 1545 a Portuguese ship 

was wrecked off Ligor, and the shahbandar 

(harbour master) confiscated everything; 

the Portuguese in Ayutthaya heard of their 

misfortune, and on a festival day, 'The Day 

of the White Elephant,' they sought redress 

for the Portuguese in Ligor, which was obtained. 

A reference to the king' s corvee levy 

in 1545, and a dishonest official in Bancha. is 

mentioned under that location later. One 

Portuguese less brave than his fellows in an 

attack on the city of Lantor was ordered to 

stay at home and cut his beard for his cowardice, 

whereas the others had their pay 

tripled, were exempted from customs duties 

and were given permission to build 

churches 'where the name of the Portuguese 

God could be worshipped.' 

Chapter 184, 'The Queen and her lover 

usurp the throne,' begins with a description 

of the elaborate cremation of the late king. 

His ashes were placed in a silver coffer 

towed by priests and followed by one hundred 

large barges with life-like animal figures 

on them covered by pieces of silk, a 

huge serpent, and an angel-like child. The 

animal-idols were set on fire 'in a pagoda 

called Quiay Pontar' to the great noise of 

musket fire, bells, gongs, and shouts; this 

was followed by 'many clever pageants,' 

after which everyone in the city shut themselves 

up for ten days. After this, the new 

king was announced, and passed 'though 

the entire city with great pomp and majesty'. 

Since he was only nine, his mother 

was made his tutor and president of the 

Council of Governors. Things were quiet 

until the queen gave birth to a son four and 

a half months later, and she decided to kill 

her first-born so the bastard son could inherit. 

She had a special guard created to 

watch over the young king, and began to 

lay hands on, and execute, some of the 

grandees of the kingdom. Pretending to be 

ill, she resigned the presidency of the council 

to her lover, 'leaving the way open for 

him to usurp the throne and make himself 

absolute lord of the Sornau (Siamese) empire, 

which yielded an income of twelve 

million in gold, to say nothing of its other 

resources, which amounted to nearly as 

much'. She had her lover marry her, murdered 

all the lords of the kingdom, confiscating 

their estates, and poisoned the little 

king her son Yot Fa. Mendes Pinto says her 

lover Uquumchenira was proclaimed king 

(Worawongsa r. June-July 1548, according 

to Wyatt) on 11 November 1545 but he and 

his queen were killed, says Mendes Pinto, 

by Oya Phitsanulok and a duke from Cambodia 

at a panquet on 2 January 1546. 

Chapter185, 'The Burmese invade Siam,' 

starts with Oya Phitsanulok and the duke 

from Cambodia selecting the monk Pretiem, 

a younger half-brother of the good late king, 

to reign (Phra Tien, r. July 1548-January 

1569 as Chakkraphat). The Burmese, seeing 

the disarray of Siam and its throne occupied 

by a monk with no experience of warfare, 

resolved to attack from Pegu. The king 

(Tabinshwehti, r. 1531-1551) decided on a 

campaign, leaving Martaban in 1548 with 

an army of 800,000 men including 100,000 

foreign mercenaries, among them 1,000 

Portuguese. He laid siege to the unidentified 

fortress of Tapurau, then set out for 

Sukhothai nine leagues away, but decided 

to march on Ayutthaya without delay and 

take the new king by surprise. He 'reached 

a town called Tilau which is on the coast of 

Junk Ceylon,'3 took the unidentified city of 

Juropiao, and came within sight of 

A yutthaya, near where he pitched his camp. 


61

M. Smithies 

Chapter 186, 'The Siege of Ayutthaya,' 

has the city surrounded and attacked on 19 

June 1548. The Turkish mercenaries in the 

Burmese army were about to open the city 

gates from within and claim the prize offered 

by the Burmese king, but were attacked 

and all killed by 3,000 Javanese amoks 

'in less time than it takes to recite three or 

four Credos.' Oya Phitsanulok, in charge of 

the defence of the city, opens the gates and 

mockingly asks for the prize money from 

the Burmese king. Tabinshwehti ignores 

his taunting; Chakkraphat is attacked, and 

the Burmese withdraw. 

Chapter187, 'The final Burmese assault,' 

took place the following day. A Greek military 

engineer invented 'ingenious military 

devices' to assist the assault using reinforced 

wheeled fire-rams. All the A yutthaya 

castles were burnt to the ground, and the 

Burmese withdrew for what remained of 

the night. 

Chapter 188, 'Rebellion in Pegu,' opens 

with the Burmese deciding to continue the 

siege and build a mound from which to 

bombard the city with cannon. News arrives 

that the Xemindo (Smim Thaw or 

Thamindaw) of Pegu has revolted, killing 

15,000 Burmese and capturing its strongholds. 

The Burmese king decides to lift the 

siege of Ayutthaya at once and march on 

Marta ban. 

Chapter 189, 'The marvellous Kingdom 

of Siam,' is a description what is often here 

called 'the empire of Sornau,' 4 its extent, 

wealth, trade and its cities. These on the 

Indian Ocean include Junk Ceylon (Phuket) 

and Tenasserim, and on the China Sea 

Mompolocota (speltMompollacota in chapter 

46 where it is indicated as being 'off the 

bar of the river of Siam'), Cuy (Kuiburi), 

Lugor (Ligor, Nakhon Si Thammarat), 

Chintabu (Chantaburi), and Berdio (possibly 

Phatthalung). 

The capital city Ayutthaya is 'the only 

one which is surrounded by walls which 

are made of mud, brick, and adobe'. There 

are said to be '400,000 hearths within its 

walls and that 100,000 of them belong to 

foreigners from many different parts of the 

world'. These figures are undoubtedly exaggerations, 

like those of the number of 

troops in the armies given above; supposing 

that each house contained only five 

persons, that would still give the capital a 

population of one million, which, given that 

Siam was notoriously underpopulated before 

the twentieth century, is most unlikely. 

Sornau' s lands produced an' abundance 

of meat and agricultural products,' the highlands 

'are densely forested with angelywood 

from which thousands of all kinds of 

ships can be built'.lts mines produced 'silver, 

iron, steel, lead, saltpetre, and sulphur.' 

Also available were 'a great deal of silk, 

eaglewood, benzoin, lacquer, indigo, cotton 

cloth, rubies, sapphires, ivory, and 

gold-all available in huge quantities.' Brazil 

wood and rosewood are exported in 'more 

than a hundred junks every year to China, 

Hainan, the Ryukyus, Cambodia and 

Champa' (though it seems unlikely that 

Cambodia and Champa would import wood 

from Siam). There are also 'large supplies of 

wax, honey, and sugar' and also (much 

sought after by Europeans) 'pepper, ginger, 

cinnamon, camphor, alum, cassia fistula, 

tamarind, and cardamom.' All these, with 

the exception of cotton cloth and probably 

silk, are raw primary products, and the 

agricultural items are forest products as 

much as cultivated ones. 

This produce causes the country to be 

'very rich,' and it carries on 'an enormous 

amount of trade with all the provinces and 

islands of Java, Bali Madura, Kangean [an 

island group east of Madura], Borneo, and 

Solor.' Each year more than 'a thousand 

junks' leave from the country to trade. 

Import duties levied throughout the 

country are 'set aside for certain pagodas as 

charity.' Since the temples are not allowed 

to accumulate wealth, duties are consequently 

low: 'the merchants are only asked 

to pay what they wish, by way of charity, of 

their own free will.' 

Politically, the country is divided into 

2,600 communities known as produm [prae 

don?], 'whicharelikecitiesand towns among 

us,' and do not include villages. The king, 

62 



who 'is by no means a tyrant,' goes by the 

name of Prechau [Phra Chao) Saleu (Mendes 

Pinto translates this as 'holy limb of God'), 

only 'appears in public twice a year, surrounded 

on both occasions with a splendid 

showofmajesty.'Inspiteoftheking'swealth 

and grandeur, 'he acknowledged the superiority 

of the emperor of China.' This payment 

of tribute is explained, probably correctly, 

as a means of obtaining the right to 

send his junks to the port of 'Comhay' 

[Kwanghai in Kwantung province]. 

Other references to the country 

and its cities 

Scattered throughout the text are references 

to the country, its people, and its other 

cities. The first extensive reference to the 

power of the King of Siam occurs in Chapter 

36: 

There is a great king who rules over 

the entire coastal region and interior 

of Malaysia. Of all his titles, the one by 

which he is best known is Preechau 

Saleu, emperor of all the Sornau, which 

is a province comprising thirteen separate 

kingdoms, otherwise known as 

Siam. Subject to him are fourteen lesser 

kings who are required to pay him 

tribute every year. According to ancient 

custom, they were forced to make 

an annual journey to the city of 

Ayutthaya, capital of the Sornau empire 

and kingdom of Siam, in order to 

deliver the required tribute personally 

and perform the zumbaia, a ceremony 

that consists of kissing the 

sword at his side. 

There is another important section in Chapter 

124, when Mendes Pinto and his companions 

are at the Tartar court, not then in 

Beijing but in the unidentified Tuymicao, 

where the king, 

... was greeted in person by some 

princes from neighbouring states, as 

well as by the ambassadors of other 

kings and lords of remote areas ... 

[including] ... the Sornau of A yutthaya, 

known as the King of Siam, whose 

domain extends for seven hundred 

leagues from Tenasserim to Champa, 

bordering, along the coast, on the lands 

of the Malays, Berdios, and Pathans, 

and in the interior of Phitsanulok, 

Kamphaengphet, Chiangmai, Laos, 

and the lands of the Gueos. Thus he 

has a total of seventeen kingdoms in 

his domain alone where he goes by the 

supreme title among all these heathens 

of 'lord of the white elephant'. 

As Ayutthaya was a long way away 

from many places in the kingdom, 'it was 

not unusual for these petty kings to be left 

stranded for the entire winter, entailing vast 

expenditures to them.' So they petitioned 

the King of Siam to 'find a less costly method 

of paying the tribute'. A viceroy ('called 

poyho'; perhaps pu-phra) was appointed to 

represent the king, to whom the minor kings 

paid homage every three years, and the 

tribute should be sent as one lump sum 

every three years to the capital. 

Chapter 41 reports that a Portuguese 

party explores Champa and the author comments 

that these Portuguese were from the 

kingdom of Siam where they lived and 

traded. The leader, Antonio de Faria, lived 

'in the foreign quarter of Tenasserim.' This 

claim is repeated in nine subsequent chapters 

when the party was in China, but a 

variant occurs in Chapter 86, where the 

Portuguese specify they were 'natives of 

the kingdom of Siam, from a land called 

Malacca.' But Chapter 48 makes clear that 

the Chinese were familiar with people from 

Southeast Asia and 'could tell from our 

features and clothes that we were neither 

Siamese, nor Javanese, nor Malaysians'. 

Chapter 200 refers back to the events 

described in the main chapters on Siam 

(Chapters 182-184), to 'the death of the 

good king of Siam and the adultery of his 

wife, the evil queen' and the 'dissensions 

and cruel wars that took place in the two 


63

M. Smithies 

kingdoms of Pegu and Siam, which lasted 

for three and a half years.' Mendes Pinto 

details how the King of Burma became absolute 

lord of Pegu, and speaks of a second 

Burmese invasion of Siam (possibly in 1563- 

4) by an improbably large force of 1,700,000 

men and 16,000 elephants. 

The Mon ruler of Martaban, under siege 

from the Burmese, in Chapter 148, sought 

permission to leave with his family (and his 

treasure) for Siam, which was refused. In 

the following chapter, Siamese troops are 

noted as being among the mercenaries of 

forty-two different countries in the King of 

Burma's army attacking Martaban; the 

Siamese mercenaries alone are said (in Chapter 

151) to number 3,000 armed with muskets 

and lances. The region of Martaban, 

according to Chapter 167, apparently 

shipped benzoin to Siam. When Mendes 

Pinto visits the court of the Tartar king 

(Chapter 122) among the attendant noblemen 

were 'Burmese from the Sornau, King 

of Siam'; the presence of Burmese rather 

than Siamese may perhaps be attributed to 

a slip of the pen. 

Four other incidental references to the 

Siamese should be noted. Chapter 39 finds 

Mendes Pinto, Antonio de Faria and his 

companions at Pulo Condore, off the southern 

coast of Vietnam, where he meets a junk 

from the Ryukyu islands bound for Siam, 

and carrying an ambassador from the 'prince 

of Tosa,' the Japanese island of Shikoku. 

In Chapter 55 we are told of the presence 

of Siamese junks in the Chinese port of 

Comhay (near Macao). In Chapter 165 a 

letter is sent to the ruler of Luang Prabang 

indicating he could travel to Pegu 'without 

fear of the Siamese'; the reference is obscure, 

but clearly the Siamese were on the 

offensive. And in Chapter 68 there is an 

unflattering reference to the local music, as 

'a deafening racket of trumpets, shawms, 

timbals, fifes and drums and many other 

instruments used by the Chinese, Malays, 

Chams, Siamese, Borneans, Ryukyu Islanders, 

and other nations'. 

The last general reference to Siam is in 

Chapter 220, relating another journey from 

Pattani to China, running 'for two days 

under favourable south-easterly winds 

along the coast of Ligor and Siam'; however 

Siam here may mean the capital rather than 

the country. Mendes Pinto and his companions 

crossed over from the 'bar of Cuy' 

going in the direction of Annam when they 

met with a storm which carried them back 

to the Malay peninsula and Pulau Tioman. 

Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam 

Europeans frequently used the term 'Siam' 

for the capital Ayutthaya3. But in Chapter 

36 Mendes Pinto mentions by name the' city 

of Ayutthaya, capital of the Sornau empire 

and kingdom of Siam', adding that the 'city 

is fifty leagues inland and accessible only 

by a rapidly flowing river'. The very large 

population of Ayutthaya, as given by 

Mendes Pinto in Chapter 189, has already 

been commented upon. 

Chapter 46 details an attack by a Chinese 

pirate with a Portuguese hostage who 'was 

afraid to show himself in Pattani on account 

of the Portuguese who lived there' and so 

'laid over for the winter in Siam'. Siam here 

means Ayutthaya, and there are several 

other references to ships wintering in 'Siam' 

in the text. With small ships at the mercy of 

the monsoon, many spent several months 

there, or in Chinese ports, waiting for 

favourable winds. 

In Chapter 53, Antonio de Faria, hunting 

for Ligor, met pirate Khoja Hassim, decided 

to hove to in Siam for winter although another 

shipwreck changed his mind. Still 

chasing Khoja Hassim, de Faria then learns 

(in Chapter 58) that he is preparing to depart 

China for Siam. He finally tracked him 

down and successfully attacked. 

In Chapter 66 we learn of a robber 

Premata Gundel who had done the Portuguese 

much harm in Pattani, Sunda, and 

Siam; he too is attacked and his ship taken 

as a prize. 

64 

journal of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2


Tenasserim 

In Chapter 17, there is a reference to a war 

between Siam and Aceh, the king of which 

sent a fleet to Tenasserim (then Siamese 

territory). The ruler of Kedah says that he 

was offered a noble lady as a wife from 

Tenasserim (among other places) in Chapter 

19, and in Chapter 20 Mendes Pinto 

writes that a Portuguese, Jeronimo de 

Figueiredo, 'crossed over to the coast of 

Tenasserim, where he seized some vessels 

coming from the Straits on Mecca, from 

Aden ... and other parts of the Persian Gulf'. 

The statement in Chapter 41 that Mendes 

Pinto and his companions lived 'in the foreign 

quarter of Tenasserim' has already 

been noted. 

Tenasserim is listed in Chapter 124 giving 

the extent of the kingdom of Siam (700 

leagues from Tenasserim to Champa), and 

incidentally as a port of destination of a fleet 

from Aceh in Chapters 144, 145, and 148. 

The Portuguese were not necessarily 

innocent merchants in unknown lands. They 

were also sometimes pirates. This activity, 

noted in Chapter 146, 

.. .led to a sharp decline in the customs 

revenues of the ports of Tenasserim, 

Junk Ceylon, Mergui, Vagura [between 

the Sittang and Martaban], and 

Tavoy, so that the people in those 

places were forced to report it to the 

emperor of the Sornau who is the supreme 

lord of all this territory, and to 

ask him to take steps to remedy this 

evil'. 

The king 'who was then residing in the 

city of Ayutthaya,' decided to send to 

Tenasserim a Turk, Heredim Mohammed, 

who entered royal service after his galley 

accidentally arrived in Siam. Heredim 

Mohammed had been stationed on the Lao 

frontier and was considered invincible. The 

Turk was promised the duchy of 'Bancha 

[Bang Sap han] which is a very large state, if 

he would bring back the heads of the four 

Portuguese captains'. He arrived in 

Tenasserim with a fleet of fifteen ships. The 

local ruler of the unidentified Pulo Hinhor, 

a Christian convert who was selling some 

dried fish in Tenasserim, heard of this armada 

and rushed to warn the Portuguese. 

Forewarned, they achieved total victory, on 

28 - 29 September 1544. 

Mendes Pinto sailed for Tenasserim once 

more in Chapter 147 in search of Portuguese 

needed for the defence of Malacca, 

but found none. Finally, Tenasserim in 

Chapter 205 is mentioned, along with Junk 

Ceylon, as a place in which to obtain victuals 

on the west coast. 

Mergui 

Mergui, the seaport of Tenasserim, has already 

been noted in Chapter 146 as experiencing 

'a sharp decline in the customs revenues', 

and its population appealed to the 

King of Siam to rid them of Portuguese 

pirates. 

Mendes Pinto notes in Chapter 147 that 

he passed by Mergui on 26 March 1545, and 

in Chapter 150 the lord of Mergui, called 

Dambamluu by Mendes Pinto, is noted as 

attending the surrender ceremony of the 

Mon ruler ofMartaban to the Burmese king . 

Phuket (Junk Ceylon) 

Junk Ceylon is mentioned seven times in 

Mendes Pinto's work. Many of these references 

are to it simply as a port of destination 

-and sometimes not reached, on account of 

storms and pirates- as in Chapters 19, 144, 

and 153. The King of Burma went via 'Tilau 

which is on the coast of Junk Ceylon' in 

Chapter 185 to attack Ayutthaya by surprise. 

Like Tenasserim it is mentioned in the 

general description of the kingdom in Chapter 

189; it is also listed in Chapter 146 as a 

place, like Tenasserim and Mergui, where 

customs duties were in decline on account 

of Portuguese piracy, and again, also paired 

with Tenasserim, in Chapter 205 as a place 

in which to obtain victuals on the west 

coast. 

Chapter 147 has a reference to Juncay, 


65

M. Smithies 

which is clearly shorthand for Junk Ceylon, 

but it again provides no description of the 

place: Mendes Pinto 'passed by Tenasserim, 

Tavoy, Mergui, Juncay ... without finding 

any trace of the one hundred Portuguese I 

was looking for in those ports ... '. 

Pattani 

Pattani was clearly an important trading 

port, with a substantial Portuguese merchant 

colony, and there are many references 

to it in Mendes Pinto's text, but most 

of them are incidental mentions to the city 

as a port of departure or destination (Chapters 

32,34, 36, 39, 42, 50,51, 57, 132, 204, and 

207). 

In Chapter 35, the King ofPattani, under 

pressure from 'the Moors', refused to expel 

the Portuguese, 'insisting that under no 

circumstances would he do anything to mar 

the peaceful relations that his ancestors had 

always maintained with Malacca'. 

We learn in Chapter 46 of a Chinese 

pirate, Nakhoda Xicaulem, who 'refused to 

show himself in Pattani on account of the 

Portuguese who lived there' whom he had 

wronged. Another pirate in Chapter 56 is 

cited as being fearful of returning to Pattani, 

for different reasons: the pirate Panjao is 

'afraid to go back to Pattani, where my wife 

and children reside, because I know for 

certain that the king will confiscate all my 

possessions on the pretext that I have left 

without permission'. Many Portuguese from 

Malacca, Sunda, Siam, and Pattani went to 

Ning-po in China for the winter, we are told 

in Chapters 55 and 57. 

Pattani is also a reference point for the 

location of Cuy (Kuiburi) in Chapter 88. The 

city was the destination of the ruler ofKedah 

fleeing from an attack from Aceh in Chapter 

205. 

The importance of Pattani as a staging 

post can be judged from the reference in 

Chapter 71 to the two ships led by Ant6nia 

de Faria to China with fifty-six Portuguese, 

complete with a priest to say mass, as well 

as forty-eight seamen to handle the oars 

and sails, 'all natives of Pattani who had 

been offered good terms because they were 

a loyal and trustworthy crew'. This position 

as an entrepot is confirmed in Chapter 220, 

where the Portuguese, en route to Japan to 

convert the natives and build on the missionaryworkofFrancisXavier,stayedeight 

days, during which time Mendes Pinto went 

to see the king with a letter from the captain 

ofMalacca. The king ordered the shahbandar 

to help supply the Portuguese with all that 

they needed and for which they paid. But 

the king, presumably a practical trade-oriented 

Muslim, thought that going to preach 

Christianity in Japan was 'nonsense', and 

stated in a down-to-earth fashion that it 

would be better to go to China and get rich. 

Nakhon Si Thammarat (Ligor) 

The ancient city of Ligor, also known as 

Lugor, Lakhon, and now Nakhon Si 

Thammarat, is mentioned by Mendes Pinto 

in several chapters. The first reference, in 

Chapter 36, has the most extensive piece on 

the city, where Mendes Pinto, under the 

leadership of Ant6nio de Faria e Sousa, 

went trading with a cargo of Indian calicoes. 

It was 'a rich, heavily-trafficked seaport 

in Siam ... always crowded with junks 

from the island of Java and from the ports of 

Laue, Tanjampura, Japara, Demak, 

Panaruca, Sidayo, Pasuruan, Solor, and 

Borneo, becausetheyusuallypaid well there, 

in gold and precious stones, for that kind of 

merchandise'. The party on arrival at the 

bar of Ligor made enquiries about trading 

possibilities and their own safety, and were 

assured on both counts, particularly the 

latter, as the month when they were there, 

September, had been decreed the month of 

reverence of the king. This was when the 

homage was paid every three years to the 

viceroy, referred to above, and during that 

month 'they were to be granted customs 

exemptions on all their goods, the same 

privilege being extended to all other merchants 

entering or leaving the harbour, 

whether native or foreign.' 

The anticipation of good sales was not to 

be; a huge junk manned by Muslims led by 

66 



Khoja Hassim, and some Turks, came alongside 

the small Portuguese ship, attacked it, 

relieved it of its cargo, and sent it to the 

bottom. 

In the following chapter, the three surviving 

Portuguese travel inland and meet 

by chance an old woman who tells them to 

accept fate, as she, who had seen her husband, 

'and my whole family, father and 

sons, two brothers, and son-in-law all torn 

to pieces in front of my eyes by the trunks of 

the elephants of the king of Siam'. No reason 

for this is given. 

The other references to Ligor are of no 

great consequence; Chapter 38 contains a 

casual reference to this same lady leaving 

for Ligor; in Chapter 132 off the China coast 

the Portuguese meet 'Two junks from the 

Malay coast, one from Pattani and the other 

from Lakhon'. Chapter 183 mentions a port 

called Chatir five leagues below Ligor and 

Chapter 189, as already noted, mentioned 

Ligor as one of the cities of Siam on the 

China Sea. The last reference to Ligor is 

again incidental; in Chapter 220 Mendes 

Pinto notes 'we ran for two days under 

favourable south-east winds along the coast 

of Ligor and Siam'. 

Bang Saphan (Bancha) 

In Chapter 33, Mendes Pinto indicates he 

was sent by Pero de Faria, captain of Malacca, 

to 'Pattani ... with a letter and a gift for 

the king, to negotiate for the release of some 

five Portuguese imprisoned by his brotherin-law, 

the monteu, [councillor] of Bancha, 

in the kingdom of Siam'. Bancha is identified 

by Armando Cortesao in his edition of 

Tome Pires' Suma Oriental as Bang Saphan 

(sometimes Bang Tap han) at latitude 11 °· 12' 

north; but the reference here by Mendes 

Pinto is confusing, since the ruler of Pattani 

was virtually independent. 

Bang Saphan clearly was not independent, 

for in chapter 146 (as noted above 

under Tenasserim) its dukedom is offered 

by the King of Siam to the Turk Heredim 

Mohammed. A reference in Chapter 38 

speaks of the murder in Bancha of the 

harbour master of Prevedim (unidentified) 

in 1538, and a reference to Bancha in Chapter 

141 as an island south of the Ryukyus 

must be erroneous. 

There is a long section in Chapter 183, 

already mentioned above, about the wealth 

of the people of Bancha, 'generally given 

over to the pleasures and delights of the 

flesh,' who managed to wriggle out of a 

recruitment drive by bribing the recruiting 

officer who only enlisted the old, the poor 

and the sick. The recruiting colonel, on the 

discovery of his treachery, had melted silver 

poured down his throat, from which he 

unsurprisingly died on the spot; all his effects 

were seized and given to the poor 

conscripts from Bancha. Those who escaped 

the recruitment by bribery were banished 

to an island 'called Pulao Catao'5 and had to 

dress as women. 

From these five scattered references, it is 

clear that Bang Sap han in the sixteenth century 

was more important than it is now. The 

fact that gold was found in the river there 

may have been a factor in its relative importance. 

Kuiburi (Cuy) 

The bar harbour of Cuy or Cui (the name 

formerly given to modern Kuiburi, close to 

the coast between Hua Hin and Prachuap 

Khirikhan) is mentioned in Chapter 88 as 

being at the mouth of the Tauquiday River 

and about 130 leagues 'below' (above) 

Pattani. Chapter 95 again refers to a river 

going into the sea 'at the bar harbour of 

Cuy'. As noted in Chapter 189 Cuy is listed 

among the cities on the China Sea coast of 

Siam and clearly served as a directional 

point (perhaps because of the nearby peaks 

of Sam Roi Yod), for in Chapter 200 Mendes 

Pinto and his party, en route from Pattani to 

Japan, hit a storm 'as we were crossing over 

from the bar of Cuy'. The final mention of 

Cuy, in Chapter 222, seems to be more an 

example of Mendes Pinto's multiple use of 

place-names. The people of Canton 

(Guangzhou) were mourning after a severe 

earthquake in Shaanxi (Sansay), saying 


67

M. Smithies 

'Know ye, that because of all our sins, God 

had brandished the sword of his divine 

justice over the people of Cuy and Sansay, 

bringing destruction down on the entire 

province ... ' This does not refer to Cuy 

(Kuiburi) in Siam. 

The importance of Kuiburi lies in its 

position on the coast, as the point of departure 

across the mountains for Tenasserim 

and Mergui, a trading route of increased 

significance in the following century. 

Berdio 

The location of Berdio is not known exactly; 

in Chapter 189 it occurs at the end of a 

listing of Siamese towns on the China Sea 

which comprise 'Mompolocota, Cuy, Lugor, 

Chintabu, and Berdio.' The order in which 

they appear is either random, or follows a 

listing first on one side of the gulf, then 

another; but Chantaburi is generally held to 

be the furthest extension of the King of 

Siam's domains eastward, and it seems 

unlikely that Berdio was found on the coast 

beyond it. 

It was sufficiently important for it to 

offer one of its nobles in marriage to the 

incestuous ruler of Kedah: 'I had to refuse 

many other good offers of marriage I had 

been considering, to women in Pattani, 

Berdio, Tenasserim, Siak, Jambi, and 

Indragiri, all of them sisters and daughters 

of kings' (Chapter 19). Mendes Pinto again 

credits it with a king as ruler in Chapter 150, 

when a brother of the 'king of Berdio,' who 

may have been the ruler of Sandoway in 

Arakan, attended the surrender ceremony 

of the Mon ruler of Martaban. It is, as has 

been noted above, also mentioned in Chapter 

124 as being on the borders of Siam. It 

may be the ancient city of Phatthalung, 

called Bordelong by Schouten (c. 1638), 

Bordelongh by Van Vliet (c. 1641), marked 

Bordelong in Placide's 1686 map, andreferred 

to as 'Petelong or Bordelong' by La 

Loubere in 1691. 

Mompolocota 

As noted above, this unidentified city is 

given in Chapter 46 as a place 'off the bar of 

Siam,' and is listed in Chapter 189 as a town 

on the China Sea side of the peninsula. 

Chantaburi (Chiamtabuu, Chintabu) 

The first mention of Chiamtabuu occurs in 

Chapter 128, as being at 26 degrees latitude 

at the bar of the mouth of the river Ventrau 

flowing through Siam. Chantaburi is mentioned 

in Chapter 189 in the listing of towns 

on the China Sea which comprise 

'Mompolocota, Cuy, Lugor, Chintabu, and 

Berdio'. 

Kamphaengphet 

In Chapter 122 Mendes Pinto notes that the 

Tartar king was accompanied by many 

princes, lords, and captains, among whom 

was the King of Kamphaengphet. From his 

description of the extent of the kingdom, 

given in Chapter 124 and cited above, it 

would seem that this ruler might be semiindependent 

of Siam. In Chapter 128 

KamJ?haengphet is mentioned in relation to 

the supposed River Pumfileu that cuts across 

it and Sukhothai. The reference in Chapter 

181 simply indicates that it was below 

Chiangmaiand the Oya ofKamphaengphet 

was 'general of the armies of the frontier'. 

Above Kamphaengphet, Mendes Pinto tells 

us in Chapter 181, were the Laotians, the 

Gueos, and the Timocouhos, in alliance with 

the King of Chiangmai and in Chapter 182 

(see above) we are told how Oya 

Kamphaengphet and 30,000 of his men had 

been killed. The reference in Chapter 185 

indicates that Kamphaengphet had seventeen 

kings; by 'king' one presumes Mendes 

Pinto here means lord or governor. 

Sukhothai 

Sukhothai receives only two mentions; in 

Chapter 128 the River Pumfileu (called the 

68 



Leibrau River in Chapter 185) is said to cut 

across it and Kamphaengphet, and in Chapter 

185 as the object of an attack by the 

Burmese king. Sukhothai would appear to 

be a place of little consequence in the sixteenth 

century. 

Phitsanulok (Passiloco) 

Passiloco is mentioned in Chapter 41 as the 

destination of the product of the mines 

around Lake Chiangmai. Chapter 124 cites 

Phitsanulok on the borders of the interior of 

Siam. Above Phitsanulok and 

Kamphaengphet, Chapter 181 refers to the 

Laotians, the Gueos, and Timocouhos, in 

alliance with the King of Chiangmai. In 

Chapters 182-5 (see above) there are many 

references to the Oya Phitsanulok and the 

usurping Queen of Siam. The position of 

Phitsanulok as a border town is again 

emphasised in Chapter 183, for 'in this same 

year of 1545 it became urgent for this King 

of Siam to defend his borders in the area of 

Phitsanulok against an invading army led 

by the king of the Tuparoh6s who were 

destroying and plundering some of the 

weaker towns around there'. 

Chiangmai 

There is an incidental mention of Chiangmai 

in Chapter 70 to a local lord waging war 

against its king as well as the Pafuas and 

Champa. Chiangmai is cited in Chapter 124 

as being on the borders of Siam, and seems 

to be counted among 'the seventeen kingdoms' 

in the domain of the Sornau of 

Ayutthaya(Chapter124).Ifso,itwasclearly 

rebellious, given that the King of Siam 

waged war on Chiangmai in Chapter 181. 

The Queen of Guibem, as noted in Chapter 

182 above, was in association with the King 

of Chiangmai, and Chapter 184 contains 

another incidental reference to Chiangmai: 

the concubine who had murdered King 

Chairatcha accused two of the 'deputies of 

the government' of corresponding with the 

King of Chiangmai and of 'plotting to give 

him access to the kingdom through their 

lands'; they lost both their heads and their 

estates. 

The river Janeguma is mentioned in 

Chapter 28, as flowing through the kingdom 

of Chiangmai and the Laotians, and 

having its 'outlet to the sea at the bar of 

Martaban'. This is apparently an inaccurate 

reference to the Salween. 

Other names 

Mendes Pinto uses, as has been seen, several 

often unidentifiable place-names and 

peoples in connection with Siam. To the 

north are the Timocoulhos, Gueos, 

Tuparah6s (Chapter 183) on the borders of 

Phitsanulok, and elsewhere the Chaleus. de 

Campos (1940: 10) thinks that the Gueos 

were the Wa and the Lawa. The kingdom of 

the Chaleu is marked on early maps on the 

Irrawaddy, between Ava and Prome. The 

Tuparaha6s remain elusive. The unidentified 

cities ofSuropisem, twelve leagues from 

Quitirvao, the valley of Siputay, Guitor the 

capital of Guibem, the city of Lantor, 

Juaroposao city near Kedah, Tilau near Junk 

Ceylon, and the fortress Tapurau all occur 

in the chapters on Siam. 

Mendes Pinto frequently uses Quiay to 

mean temple, and specifically names in 

Ayutthaya temples called Quiay Fanarel 

(given the meaning 'god of the joyous'), 

Quiay Pontar, Quiay Figrau (mentioned 

twice), and given the meaning 'god of the 

motes of the sun', and Quiay Mitreu; but he 

makes multiple use of proper names in 

other parts of his work, and Quiay is no 

exception. It appears as a title of dignity in 

Quiay Raudiva, the dishonest recruiting 

colonel of Bancha (Chapter 183), and elsewhere. 

Mendes Pinto also cites phrases which 

are supposed to be Siamese. He gives 

xamxaimpoum meaning 'amen,' and maxinau 

to mean 'I promise' when the young King 

Yot Fa is being sworn in as his father lays 

dying from poisoning, and writes of a solemn 

holiday 'that is known as Oniday Pileu 

meaning 'joy of good people'. One suspects 

many of these, as with his supposed phrases 


69

M. Smithies 

in Chinese elsewhere in the text, are probably 

invented gibberish. 

Catz lists a glossary of foreign and uncommon 

words, of which seven are said to 

be from Siamese, and one, bico, from bhikku, 

has current acceptance in Siam in its original 

form. Grepo is thought possibly to derive 

from kru (guru) and is found passim. 

Oya is given as coming from Siamese hua, 

but this, and the extended form Ok-ia (Ok 

Phra), were extensively used in the following 

century as Siamese titles of rank. Prechau 

(from phra chau), a royal title, appears in 

eight chapters. Of the others, the most frequently 

employed is nhay, from Siamese 

nai, meaning, in Mendes Pinto's text, 'sir' or 

'madam'. 

Bracaliio, said to derive from boromo 

kromo, and used as meaning 'royal minister' 

in four chapters, seems more likely to come 

from phrakhlang or even phra kalahom. Poyho 

used once to mean 'viceroy' is said to derive 

from pu-phra, but a more likely source would 

seem to be phya. The term produm, used once 

to mean town, is said by Catz to derive from 

prae-don, but Thai scholars consulted doubt 

this, though no plausible alternative sources 

come to mind. 

Lakes and rivers 

Chapter 41 also has the first reference to the 

mythical lake of Chiangmai which is given 

as the source of four great rivers flowing 

through the region and around which are 

... many mines of silver, copper, tin, 

and lead, which are in constant production 

and yield huge quantities of 

these metals which are then carried by 

merchants in elephant and yak caravans 

to the kingdoms of Sornau or 

Siam, Passiloco [Phitsanulok], ... and 

other provinces in the interior. 

Chapter 88 has a reference to the River 

Tauquiday meaning 'mother of the waters' 

which rises in an unnamed lake and 'enters 

the sea through the empire of the Sornau, 

commonly known as Siam, at the bar 

harbour ofCuy [Kuiburi], about 130 leagues 

below [above] Pattani'. 

The river themes of Chapters 88 and 95 

are picked up again in Chapter 128, where 

there is mention of the lake of Singapamor 

(which in Chapter 182 Mendes Pinto tells us 

is called Chiangmai by the local people), the 

source of four great rivers. J oaquim de Campos 

points out that 'The Lake of Chiangmai 

is not an invention of Pinto, for it existed in 

legend and in popular belief centuries before.' 

He adds that Joao de Barros in 1552, 

before Pinto started writing his Peregrina£;iiO, 

placed the lake not in Chiangmai but 30 

degrees north, in the plateau of Tibet (de 

Campos 1940: 19). Mendes Pinto does not 

claim to have seen the lake in Chiangmai, 

and when he states the King of Siam stayed 

twenty-six days there, he may, thinks de 

Campos, be referring to a local lake. 

Mendes Pinto then proceeds to allocate 

different names to the rivers. The Ventrau 

'flows straight west across all the land of the 

Sornau of Siam and empties into the sea at 

the bar of Chiamtabuu [Chantaburi] at 

twenty-six degrees latitude'. Another is 

called the J anguma, which goes through the 

kingdom of Chiangmai and enters the sea at 

Marta ban. 'The third river, called Pumfileu, 

cuts across all of Kamphaengphet and 

Sukhothai ... emptying into the sea ... near 

Arakan'. As noted under Sukhothai, this 

river is renamed Leibrau in Chapter 185, 

and it appears to be the same as the 

Batobasoy mentioned in Chapter 88. The 

fourth was thought to be the 'Ganges of 

Chittagong'. 

Mendes Pinto was rather arbitrary in his 

assignment of names of rivers and their 

courses. He clearly had some concept of the 

importance of the Salween, the Ping, and 

the Mekong, referred to under different 

names at different times, but their source is 

given in the long-established mythical Lake 

Chiangmai. 

Religion 

Chapter 92 talks of a sect and a monastery 

called Gizom, from the Japanese word mean- 

70 



ing a bodhisattva, found in China, Japan, 

Cochinchina, Cambodia, and Siam. Mendes 

Pinto's references to eastern religions are to 

say the least confusing, but he does seem to 

have grasped the fact that the same creed, 

without realizing what it was, flourished in 

these countries. He also has some concept 

of the origins and spread of Buddhism, 

saying in Chapter 112: 

This religious sect, as well as all the 

other barbaric sects of China ... reached 

Siam from the kingdom of Pegu and 

(was) spread from there by priests 

and cabizondos throughout all the mainland 

countries of Cambodia, Champa, 

Laos ... Cochinchina, and over to the 

archipelago of the islands of Hainan, 

the Ryukyus, and Japan ... infecting 

with the poison of their herpes as great 

a part of the world as did the cursed 

sect of Mohammed. 

Mendes Pinto makes a very curious reference 

in Chapter 57 to the existence of a 

'Siamese pagoda' at the mouth of a river 

near Amoy but since he appears to have 

difficulty in distinguishing the two great 

divisions of Buddhism, one wonders if he is 

correct in identifying a pagoda in China as 

being Siamese. 

Tenasserim is surprisingly mentioned 

on two occasions in relation to Christianity; 

the one to a local ruler converted, the other 

in providing a martyr, originally a Hungarian, 

who went to his death in China around 

1400. 

Associated with religion in Mendes 

Pinto's mind is the festival called (Chapter 

159) Sansaporau by the Siamese; he uses the 

word as a god's name and says it meant 

'remembrance of the dead'. This marked 

the new moon in December. It was also 

celebrated by the Burmese, Chinese, Japanese, 

Ryukyuans and Cochinchinese. Chapter 

183 also has a reference to the 'Day of the 

White Elephant,' when the King of Siam 

goes about his capital distributing charity. 

Conclusion 

As mentioned earlier, the purpose of this 

article is not to examine Mendes Pinto's 

historical accuracy, but simply to detail his 

references to Siam and its dependencies, 

and the presence of Siamese in the region. 

Thus Mendes Pinto's exactitude in his 

records of the funeral of the chief monk of 

Pegu in Chapter 167 and of the King of Siam 

in Chapter 184 is not questioned, though 

they have been criticized as invention, particularly 

in the matter of the animal figures 

which were burnt after the cremation; but 

which may well have been true. de Coutre 

(1991) gives a similar description of the 

funeral of a white elephant in Siam in the 

sixteenth century, and the American envoy 

Roberts, of the funeral of the second king in 

the early nineteenth century. 

Independent kingdoms include Chiangmai, 

with its mythical lake, believed to be 

the source of the great rivers of East Asia, 

and also Pattani, clearly already an important 

trading place on the run from Malacca 

to China. Bancha, identified as BangSaphan, 

with its five references, appears to have 

been important. Mergui and Tenasserim 

are clearly within the realm. The Laotians 

are mentioned by name, and so are, in the 

north, the mysterious Gueos and 

Timocouhos. The northeast does not enter 

into the picture at all and appears to have 

formed part of Laos (Calaminhan), howsoever 

ill-defined. Cambodia, though mentioned 

several times in the text, is seen as no 

real threat to Siam. 

That Siam's fortunes were bound up 

with those of Pegu and Pegu' s conquerors, 

the Burmese, comes out clearly, and the 

second half of the sixteenth century was one 

of instability in A yutthaya on this account. 

Mendes Pinto's understanding of oriental 

religions is nil; but the generosity accorded 

by the monks of China to him and 

his fellow Portuguese make up for his - 

necessarily, given the Inquisition - sometimes 

harsh judgement of Muslims. 

The picture of a comparatively substantialPortuguese 

presence in Siam and Pattani 


71

M. Smithies 

in the 1540s and 1550s is perhaps surprising, 

given that Malacca was only captured 

in 1511, the year in which the first Portuguese 

embassy reached Siam, and that Portugal 

was a small country in any case. 

Incidentally, almost nowhere in this summary 

of references to things Siamese does 

the humour with which much of the book is 

permeated appear, though a hint has been 

given in relation to Si Sudachan' s misdoings, 

in Chapter 182 

Mendes Pinto's account remains disordered, 

that of a swashbuckling opportunistic 

merchant sometimes turned pirate and, 

for a time, a devout lay Jesuit under the 

influence of Francis Xavier. He does not 

present neat descriptions of the different 

lands he visited. His text has all the enthusiasm 

and energy of the Renaissance, and 

none of the ordered neo-Classicism of later 

texts dealing with Siam which carefully 

describe its geography, government, 

peoples, buildings, religion, fruits, etc., in 

self-contained sections. The form of Mendes 

Pinto's work is different: it describes his 

personal travels, which were as chaotic and 

accident-prone as his text. 

Siam may not have been central to 

Mendes Pinto's wanderings in the east. His 

base, such as it was, was Malacca, but the 

country clearly held a dominant position in 

Southeast Asia and was extremely important 

in East Asian trade. It was cosmopolitan 

thanks to the ships which passed the 

winter there and to the merchant traders 

more or less permanently based in its capital 

and the maritime city of Ligor. It unsuccessfully 

attempted expansion and control 

of the kingdom of Chiangmai to the north, 

while at the same time was subject to constant 

Burmese attacks, made the more dangerous 

by the recent subjection of the formerly 

independent kingdom of Pegu to 

Burma. While Ligor was clearly within the 

domain of Siam, Pattani, given its conversion 

in the fifteenth century to Islam under 

the influence ofMalacca, seems more likely 

tohavebeenacompletelyindependenttrading 

state, possibly sending token bunga mas 

to Ayutthaya. Siam's wealth made it a de- 

sirable conquest, and Mendes Pinto is one 

of the first of many to comment on its attractiveness 

as a potential European colony. 

Notes 

1. See Flores, M. C. (1995) for an argument for 

the veracity of those parts of Pinto's work 

that deal with Siam, as well as admitting his 

'exageros, erros e confusoes'. 

2. Fr Cardim, in the Batalhas da Companhia de 

Jesus, 1894:286, comments, 'I say he [Mendes 

Pinto] does not depart from the truth, because 

a Mandarin ... told me that what the 

history and records of the country recorded 

about the coming of the Portuguese to that 

kingdom and about the heroic deeds in which 

they helped the king to conquer many kingdoms 

... telling me that it was true and whoever 

is interested in it can look it up in Pinto's 

book.' 

3. For the sake of uniformity, the spellings of 

the cities of A yutthaya, Kamphaengphet, 

Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Chiangmai, Junk 

Ceylon, Pattani, and Ligor appear thus and 

not as in the quotations taken from Catz's 

1989 edition. 

4. According to Yule & Burnell (1968), Sornau 

derives from the Persian Shar-i-nao, meaning 

'new city', referring to Ayutthaya, 

founded in 1350. de Campos (1940) thinks it 

comes from suvarna or suvarnabhumi, meaning 

'land' or 'land of gold'. Ibn Muhammad 

Ibrahim (1972) gives the Persian Shahr Nav 

for Ayutthaya, indirectly confirming Yule & 

Burnell. Brown (1970:35) also gives Shahru' n 

nuwi for Siam. 

5. Pulao Catao is said by Catz (1989) to be the 

Pulao Canton off Annam. As this was not 

within the King of Siam's domains it seems 

more likely to be a reference to Pulo Cara 

(modern Ko Krah) east of Ligor (Nakhon Si 

Thammarat). 

References 

Campos, J. de 1940. Early Portuguese Accounts 

of Thailand, Journal of the Thailand Research 

Society [The Siam Society] XXXII (1): 1-27. 

Catz, R. 1983. Cartas de Ferniio Mendes Pinto e 

outros documentos, Lisbon: Biblioteca 

National/ Editorial Presenca. 

Catz, R. D. (ed.) 1989. The Travels of Mendes Pinto, 

72 



(trans. by the editor), Chicago and London: 

University of Chicago Press. 

Cortesao, A. 1944. The 'Suma Oriental' of Tome 

Pires, London: Hakluyt Society. 

Coutre,Jacques de 1991. Vida de Jacques de Coutre, 

Madrid 1640, republished as Andanzas 

Asidticas, Madrid, Historia 16. 

Flores, Maria da Concei

THE VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE -NICOLAS GERVAISE, SIMON 

DE LA LOUBERE AND THE PERCEPTION OF SEVENTEENTH 

CENTURY SIAMESE GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY 

Sven Trakulhun1 

Abstract 

This analysis examines the accounts of two European seventeenth century 

authors, Nicolas Gervaise and Simon de La Loubere, against the background of 

European modes of interpretation. Hitherto, European sources for Siam were 

mainly used to reconstruct historical facts. However, this has specific difficulties. 

Being a part of a literary genre, the composition of travel accounts did not 

depend on individual observations alone but also on the methods being used to 

present distant civilisations and exotic cultures to a European public. This study 

focuses on the detection of conventions and categories of judgement which were 

developed in West European discourse. The writings of Nicolas Gervaise and 

Simon de La Loubere are perfect examples to illuminate the nature ofEurocentric 

attitudes toward the observed society. 

Due to the fact that most of the contemporary 

Thai writings were burnt in the 

flames which swept and consumed the city 

of Ayudhya in 1767, European records, as 

uneven and spotty as they are, have a great 

value to the reconstruction of Thai history. 

Owing to this paucity of indigenous sources 

that have survived from before the lateeighteenth 

century, western historians might 

be encouraged to reduce Thai history to a 

peripheral part of European history and, by 

doing so, tend to renew a somehow 

Eurocentric view. Yet this inquiry is exclusively 

based on European source material; 

but its motive is not to stress out a special 

European impact on Thai society during the 

period concerned, but rather to bring out the 

differences, minute and great, between Thai 

and European practices and values and the 

nature of an encounter of different cultural 

systems that presented a challenge to Euro- 

1 University of Giessen, Neustadt 32, 35394, 

Giessen, Germany. 

Introduction 

pean intellectual thought. Simon de la 

Loubere's Du Royaume de Siam 2 and Nicolas 

Gervaise's Histoire naturelle et politique du 

Royaume de Siam may be considered the 

most authoritative-and maybe best known 

- accounts of ancient Thailand published 

during the last twenty years of the seventeenth 

century. Therefore, their work can be 

used as representative examples for an early 

anthropological absorption of the (to Europeans) 

exotic world of Siam. 3 Naturally, a 

greater part of these accounts deals with its 

objects in a pejorative way; some parts disclose 

more of the authors' intentions than of 

the nature of their objects. That is why it is 

necessary to devote part of this examination 

to the detection of perceptional schemes 

behind the text. 

Much has been written about the two 

historical accounts concerned, and this analysis 

does not assert the claim of covering all 

aspects incorporated in the historical writings. 

These accounts have certainly been 

very helpful in adding detail and depth to 

the history of Ayudhya. My aim, however, 


75

S. Trakulhun 

is to emphasize a number of remarkable 

points which might illuminate the methodological 

problems as epistemological barriers 

to a proper understanding of Siamese 

society at the end of the seventeenth century. 

I will first glance very briefly on the 

importance of travel accounts for perceptions 

of Asia in Europe and will then present 

a more detailed examination of the works of 

two writers, Nicolas Gervaise and Simon de 

la Loubere. 

Encountering ancient Siamese society, 

Gervaise and La Loubere were faced with a 

multiplicity of complex conceptual structures, 

many of them superimposed upon or 

knotted into one another, which were at 

once strange, irregular, and inexplicit, and 

which they had to retrieve first and grasp 

then to describe.4 

Generally speaking, the experience of 

distance by getting in touch with the lives of 

strangers had to be compensated by specific 

strategies guiding perceptions. However, 

this fact was scarcely an object to reflect 

upon, and even the ablest observers and 

chroniclers lacked self-consciousness about 

their modes of representation. The reasons 

for this attitude are not difficult to find. 

Especially when religious and moral subjects 

were concerned, it was assumed by 

virtually all true believers during the period 

under consideration (and they all were true 

believers) that the Holy Bible was a divinely 

inspired work of universal validity for all 

times, for all places and for all peoples (see 

Boxer 1978: 1). However, next to dogmatic 

attitudes toward indigenous religions, scientific 

categories in a more or less modern 

sense started developing. The attempt to 

gain more clarity and to observe more systematically 

is embodied in the form and 

convention of travel literature in the seventeenth 

and eighteenth century. 

That observations are shaped by preexisting 

interpretive schemas and that perception 

itself depends on those schemas has 

long been argued by anthropologists as well 

as by historians. In the later state of the 

Enlightenment in Europe the oriental world 

was often perceived in a highly selective 

manner. Those who referred to Asia (and 

especially to China) did so with a specific 

rhetorical or ideological purpose (see Lottes 

1991: 66). As a result, the aim of my analysis 

is to feature the motives behind written text 

rather than to examine the reality of Thai 

history. I will endeavour to sort out the 

structures of signification and determine its 

social, political and religious ground. 

Travel accounts and the 

perception of the world 

To the public of seventeenth century Europe, 

travel literature was the only window 

on the world outside Europe. Travels into 

the Far East were long, expensive, unhealthy 

and dangerous. Most Europeans who undertook 

such a journey were sailors, soldiers 

and merchants, and only few of them 

were willing or able to compose an account 

of considerable worth (Furber 1976: 300). 

Hence travel accounts received the highest 

attention of the public. They had a profound 

effect on the construction of the image of the 

Orient in seventeenth century Europe. At a 

later time, the German philosopher Hegel 

depended for his view of Asia upon these 

European sources (Hegel1986: 319) and so 

did his famous predecessor Immanuel Kant 

to whom reading travel literature and travelling 

itself came down to virtually the same 

thing (Kant 1968: 120). The great collections 

of travel literature were compiled for different 

reasons; some ofthemhave a more clearly 

expressed scientific and intellectual purpose 

than others, some were intended to promote 

national overseas enterprise, and finally, 

other compilers were mainly concerned with 

the publication of travel accounts which 

would appeal to the popular taste for the 

remote and exotic (see Lach 1965: 204). Considering 

that perception makes its objects, 

each account only represents an individual 

view of its author and it is useful to be 

explicit as to what divides them. Yet even if 

statements and propositions may differ, we 

do find systematic modes of description and 

established structures inmostoftheseworks. 


The View from the Outside ... 

For example, plausibility and truth were 

major challenges required by the public. 

Therefore, the confirmation of truth was a 

part of the form and convention of the genre. 

Simon de la Loubere as well as Nicolas 

Gervaise followed that rule. La Loubere initially 

remarks: 

In a word, those with whom I am acquainted 

do know that I love the Truth; 

but it is not sufficient to give a sincere 

relation to make it appear tru_e: 'Tis 

requisite to add clearness to sincerity, 

and to be thoroughly informed of that 

wherein we undertake to instruct others. 

I have therefore considered, interrogated, 

and penetrated, as far as I was 

possible; and to render myself inore 

capable of doing it, I carefully read 

over, before my arrival at Siam, several 

Ancient and Modem Relations of 

divers Countreys of the East. So that in 

my opinion that preparation has supplied 

the defect of a longer residence, 

and has made me to remark and understand 

in the three Months I was at 

Siam, what I could not perhaps have 

understood or remark'd in three Years, 

without the assistance and perusal of 

those Discourses. (1693: 2) 

And Gervaise stated: 

If novelty and truthfulness are two 

qualities in a history that are especially 

estimable, then I may hope that this 

book will be very well received by the 

public, for both these qualities are happily 

united in it. (1989: 3) 

The demand for truthfulness refers to the 

fact that in the early stage of Enlightenment 

in Europe travel literature was not only 

regarded for fiction and light reading, but 

also to be of great importance for the scientific 

knowledge of the world (see Adams 

1962). 

The conventions in writing and composing 

travel accounts comprehended structural 

similarities concerning geographic 

matters as well as the description of the 

people, the habits of the society observed, 

the way men and women dressed and how 

people exercised the arts and sciences; they 

covered justice and government, kingship 

and religion, medicine, marriage and funeral 

ceremonies. 

This topical framework, the way objects 

were disposed and how and in what terms 

reality was adjusted to it, certainly affected 

the way in which reality was perceived by 

the reading public. 

Nicolas Gervaise: the description 

of Siamese kingship and court 

Nicolas Gervaise (1662-1729) spent almost 

three years in Siam in the 1680s and his work 

widely was based upon empirical data collected 

during these years. 

WhenGervaisereachedAyudhyain 1683, 

the French Societe des Missions Etrangeres de 

Paris (SME) had maintained a more or less 

continuous presence in Siam since 1662 (see 

Hutchinson 1959). One of Gervaise's main 

interests in Siamese society was to 'work for 

the salvation of souls', since he had been 

sent out as a missionary by the SME in Paris 

and was accompanied by Monsieur Fran

S. Trakulhun 

than those of the King of Portugal (Boxer 

1969: 243). Their self-assessment also raised 

them up against the Dutch who 'prefer a 

good warehouse to a beautiful church' 

(Gervaise 1989: 176). 

In contrastto Portuguese and Dutch strategies 

of economical overseas expansion, 

French Asian policy initially was connected 

rather with national interests. As a result, 

Gervaise intended to give a' complete knowledgeofthehabitsand 

propensities' for those, 

who 'go there for the intention of settling 

there' (1989: 4). 

The reasons for this shift of emphasis 

concerning the aims and attitudes of French 

ambassadors and missionaries in Siam may 

be found in the structures of the European 

political status quo. French overseas policy 

during the reign of Louis XIV initially focused 

on the accumulation of power and 

political influence for the French crown 

rather than the establishment of trade in 

Europe or throughout the non-European 

world (Reinhard 1983). The relations between 

Siam and France could be used as a 

political argument to justify the model of 

French absolutism. Gervaise not only intended 

to promote missionary work in Siam, 

he also made efforts to spread the political 

influence of France in the entire region of 

Southeast Asia. He did his best to insinuate 

that Siam was a nearly perfect case in point 

(1989: 1-2). Highly impelled by ideologically 

motivated ideals, Gervaise's description 

of the Siamese king differs from that 

given by the Dutch or the Portuguese. The 

latter were interested in A yudhya purely for 

commercial reasons (see Smith 1977: 10). 

Unlike the Dutch merchant Jeremias van 

Vliet, who had lived in A yudhya in the first 

half of seventeenth century and who condescendingly 

commented on the political reality 

observed in Ayudhyas, Gervaise was 

much impressed by King Narai (r. 1656-88) 

and the way he ruled his kingdom: 

Although the present king, following 

the custom of his predecessors, makes 

his dufy to amass great wealth in this 

way ... he does not neglect to make rich 

presents to the ambassadors of 

neighbouring rulers and even of more 

distant princes when honour and courtesy 

demand it [ ... ] All this demonstrates 

well enough that it is not out of 

avarice that he desires always to keep 

his treasury well filled, but in pursuance 

of a wise and prudent policy. 

(1989: 219) 

Although his observations were based 

on personal experiences he made during his 

three years of residence in Siam, his sympathy 

for the Siamese king was made possible 

only by attributing an almost European mind 

to that ruler. It shows that experience alone 

cannot confirm the truth of facts. The philosopher 

Alfred Schutz has argued that the 

interpretation of lived experience consists 

in the 'referral of the unknown to the known, 

of that which is apprehended in the glance 

of attention to the schemes of experience' 

(Schutz 1932: 84). Experiences do not have 

meaning; rather, we give meaning to our 

experience through reflection (see Kertzer 

1988: 83-84). 

In Gervaise's versionKingNarairesented 

the ceremonies practised at his court: 

It must be most frustrating for him to 

be unable to speak to a commoner or to 

a peasant without having to ennoble 

him, and it must be equally tiresome 

for all his subjects to be unable to obtain 

his ear until they have performed 

all the ceremonies that are observed at 

royal audiences. (1989: 223) 

Actually, it is most unlikely that the 

Siamese king disapproved of those practises. 

It seems that Gervaise's impressions 

were based on political or ideological intentions 

and preconceived conviction rather 

than on personal observations. Apart from 

the question of whether his observations are 

in accordance with the truth (a question 

which has to be suspended in this case), his 

description signifies a strategy to diminish 

cultural distance and to justify his hopes to 

convert the king. Therefore, he creates his 

78 



own image of King Narai, endowing the 

king's person with attributes more suitable 

to a European mind than a member of the 

Siamese society. 

Gervaise's attitude to the King of Siam 

not only differed from that of the Dutch. His 

compatriot Simon de la Loubere stated: 

But these Kings which are so absolutely 

the Masters of the Fortune and 

the Life of their Subjects, are so much 

the morewaveringin the Throne. They 

find not in any person, or at most in a 

small number of Domestics, that Fidelity 

or Love which we have for our 

Kings. (1693: 106) 

In old Siam the monarchy was absolute 

and the Thai king's position was quite extraordinary. 

Until the time of King Rama IV 

(r. 1851-68) who installed today' s court ceremonial, 

the monarch's unlimited power 

was embodied and enacted in an elaborate 

ritual more suited to a divinity than an 

ordinary human beil).g (Terwiel 1991: 38). 

The ritual construction of political power in 

old Siam was primarily incarnated in symbolic 

forms. According to Gervaise 'there 

has never been any court anywhere in the 

world more ritualistic than the court of the 

king of Siam' (1989: 221). 

Gervaise noted the symbolic systems of 

Thai court rituals with amazement rather 

than with disgust. But he points out that 

King Narai surely would be 'more communicative, 

if he was not unfortunately restrained 

by the customs of the country and 

the false idea which his people have of the 

greatness of kings' (1989: 223). 

His characterization of the people of Siam 

turned out to be less respectful: 

The spirit of servility with which they 

are born and in which care is taken 

that they should be brought up, damps 

their courage and makes them so timid 

that they tremble at the sight of the 

smallest danger they encounter. Perhaps 

it is this natural timidity which 

makes them so loyal to their king and 

so respectful that they dare not even 

look at him when he speaks to them. 

(1989: 53) 

The usage of terms like 'timidity' and 

'servitude' (occasionally replaced by terms 

like 'temperate' and 'sober') attributed to the 

people of Siam play a key role in Gervaise's 

description as well as in La Loubere' s 'Du 

Royaume de Siam'. Leaving aside pejorative 

connotations, their terminology reflects a 

highly selective categorisation of perception. 

In Gervaise's description the Siamese king, 

the mandarins at the court, the people of 

Siam, and the indigenous monkhood are all 

representing separate parts of a social world 

which in fact was a homogeneous cultural 

and political system. 

Simon de la Loubere: the burden 

of higher education 

Simon de la Loubere made his observations 

after three months of residence in A yudhya 

also in the 1680s. He reached Siam in September 

1687 as an envoy from the court of 

Versailles and left in January 1688. Since he 

was interested in political and cultural subjects 

rather than in religious ones, he placed 

a different emphasis than Gervaise on nonreligious 

aspects of the kingdom of Siam. As 

we know from his preface, he regarded himself 

as well prepared after having read 

'several Ancient and Modern Relations of 

diversCountreysoftheEast' (1693:2). We do 

not know exactly which literature he was 

able to gather; but his intellectual background 

surely covered the Greek tradition including 

the Historia of Herodotos, the Ptolemaic text, 

LucianandthemythsofAlexandertheGreat. 

It is also likely that he was familiar with the 

accounts of Medieval Europe, especially the 

famous and popular writings of Marco Polo 

as well as with the Travels of Sir John Mandeville 

dating back to the Renaissance. Contemporary 

relations and materials of the sixteenth 

century consisted mainly of the writings of 

Iberian commentators and Dutch merchants, 

but at least in the sixteenth century, a large 

part of the Portuguese literature was not 


79

S. Trakulhun 

readily available to the general public. 

The most famous itineraries of the Iberian 

world were those of Tome Pires: Suma 

Oriental and the Book of Duarte Barbosa. We 

cannot assume with certainty that La 

Loubere had access to these books. Particularly 

Pires work, written between 1512 and 

1515, was presumably dispatched shortly 

thereafter to the Casa da India, where it was 

kept as a secret document. However, 

Habsburg ascendancy in Portugal brought 

a definite end to Lisbon's control of information 

of the routes, ports and products of Asia 

and at least in the second half of the seventeenth 

century, the Book of Barbosa was available 

in France (Lach 1993: 921; see also 

Pottinger 1958: 122-31.). 

Simon de la Loubere himself mentions 

that he has read the relations of Nicolas 

Gervaise,FernaoMendesPinto,andJeremias 

van Vliet. The literature compiled by Jesuit 

missionaries was more international in its 

composition, more easily accessible to the 

general public, and became a major purveyor 

in the sixteenth and seventeenth century 

of information about non-commercial 

andnon-politicalaspectsoflifeinAsia.(Lach 

1965:185). Therefore,laLouberemighthave 

used these texts to prepare himself for his 

journey to A yudhya. 

Obviously, his interpretation was influenced 

by his readings. We may safely assume 

that he tried to sort out structures of 

significancethatseemed to him quite strange 

and irregular by using familiar terms. This 

patterns of interpretation is illustrated with 

an example: 

Lying towards Superiors is punished 

by the Superior himself; and the King 

of Siam punishes it more severely than 

any other: and notwithstanding all this, 

they lye as much or more at Siam than 

in Europe[ ... ] Their manner of promising 

themselves an eternal amity, is by 

drinking of the same Aqua Vita in the 

same cup, and when they would swear 

themselves more solemnly, they taste 

the blood of one another; which Lucian 

gives us for a custom of the ancient 

Scythians, and which is practised also 

by the Chinese, and by other Nations: 

but the Siameses cease not sometimes 

to betray after all these Ceremonies. 

(1693: 74/76) 

As this example suggests, the use of Antique 

examples like the reference to the 

Scythians (first described in the Historia of 

Herodotos) reflects the burden of higher 

education. 6 Steeped in classical learning, La 

Loubere's knowledge and intellectual capacitydetermined 

his mode of categorisation 

of his observations? 

In early modern Europe, the ancient 

Greek and Roman traditions symbolized 

much more than a historical period only. 

The canonization of various ancient authors 

established a certain judgement as to values 

and particular standards of social morality 

and social organization, which had a most 

pervasive effect on European conceptions of 

the world and a decisive function in shaping 

the experiences and perceptions of an educated 

seventeenth century European mind. 

Hence, de la Loubere' s understanding of 

Siamese social practices are widely based on 

the values handed down by antiquity: 

Anciently in Greece the Stagyritre made 

a Law in these words: What you have 

not laid down take not up; and it is 

perhaps from them that Plato learned 

it, when he inserted it amongst his 

Laws. But the Siameses are very remote 

from so exquisite a probity' (1693: 

75). 

The comparison of the Siamese with the 

people of antiquity or those from China 

(which were better known in Europe by 

several accounts published since the sixteenth 

century) coul!f ease the understanding 

of strangers. In a way, this comparison 

constructs accessibility. The more frequently 

a construct, or schema, is employed, the 

more available it becomes for dealing with 

thefuture.Conversely,itaggravatesadeeper 

analysis of the peculiarities of the Siamese 

people and the cognition of what these pe- 

80 



culiarities derived from. The consequences 

ofaestheticalandsocialidealsthatareshaped 

by antique traditions should not be underestimated. 

La Loubere was conscious of the fact that 

he was an observer looking at a homogeneous 

cultural system from an outside position. 

Although he might have been able to 

learn more about the Siamese society on his 

way to A yudhya (in which he was accompanied 

by the Siamese ambassador Kosa Pan 

and his attendants) he stressed that the information 

he could achieve during his residence 

at Siam was limited and rather incomplete. 

He suspects that details on the inner 

parts of the country (1693: 3) as well as the 

Siamese law (1693: 81) were kept secret. 

Therefore, he states: 

The publick Law of Siam is written in 

three Volumes. Nothing would have 

been more necessary than a faithful 

extract of these three Volumes, tightly 

to make known the Constitution of the 

Kingdom of Siam: but so far was I from 

being able to get a Translation, that I 

could not procure a Copy thereof in 

Siamese. It would have been necessary 

upon this account to continue longer 

at Siam, and with less business. This is 

therefore what I could learn certainly 

about this matter, without the assistance 

of those Books, and in a Country 

where everyone is afraid to speak. The 

greatest token of Servitude of the 

Siamese is, that they dare not to open 

their mouth about anything that relates 

to their Country. (ibid.) 

It cannot be proved whether or not the 

Siamese people wanted to keep secret their 

laws and geography of their country; more 

important is that the nature of the Siamese 

character is perceived as mystifying. 

The interpretation of what is being 

viewed could not always be comprehended 

by perceptional categories employed. Sometimes, 

if communication failed, the experience 

of distance was held for insincerity (for 

the reproach of 'lying' was a topical pattern 

in early modern European travel literature). 

In other cases this distance was perceived 

and confirmed in a more general way, or in· 

the words of Simon de la Loubere: 

Uncertain in the whole thing wherein 

all Europeans are not. In all the rest we 

vary every day, and they never do. 

Always the same manners amongst 

them, always the same Laws, the same 

Religion, the same Worship; as may be 

judged by comparing what the Ancient 

have writ concerning the Indians, 

with what we do see now. (1693: 

102) 

European mutation and Siamese inconvertibility 

as a contrasting classification of 

European and Siamese peoples and habits 

in general is a basic pattern in La Loubere's 

account. The presentation of what is new 

and unknown is represented as an inversion 

of what is known. A characterization of 

unknown and exotic civilisations is only 

possible by comparing it to Western standards 

and this characterization is to a wide 

extent based on the description of equality, 

similarities, and dissimilarities between the 

Occidental and the Oriental world: 

In general they have more moderation 

than us[ ... ]. Theyactonlybynecessity, 

and do not like us place merit in Action. 

It seems not rational to them that 

Labour and Pains should be the Fruit 

and Reward of Vertue. They have the 

good Fortune to be born Philosophers, 

and it may be that if they were not born 

such, they would not become so more 

than we. I therefore willingly believe 

what the Ancients have reported, that 

Philosophy came from the Indies into 

Europe, and that we have been more 

concerned at the Insensibility of the 

Indians than the Indians have been at 

the wonders, which our Inquietude has 

produced in the discovery of so many 

different Arts, whereof we flatter ourselves, 

perhaps to no purpose, that necessity 

was the Mother. (1693: 76) 


81

S. Trakulhun 

Conclusion 

This analysis examines two European travel 

accounts of the seventeenth century against 

the background of European modes of interpretation. 

European characterizations of the national 

and regional qualities of various Asian 

peoples in pre-industrial times were likewise 

a mixture of the factual and fanciful 

and resembled many of the beliefs still popular 

in the West. Beside the fact that from the 

point of view of their documentation of the 

kingdom of Siam the accounts from Nicolas 

Gervaise and Simon de la Loubere remain of 

contestable value, they reproduce a stark 

picture with an absence of gray and shading. 

Provincialism, temperance, timidity and 

peace are, along with extraordinary ritualistic 

court ceremonies, the fundamentals of 

the Siamese and Siamese society. Compared 

to Simon de la Loubere, the knowledge presented 

in Nicolas Gervaise's account is based 

primarily on individual observation. But an 

acquaintance or familiarity gained by sight 

or experience does not necessarily mean an 

increase of reliability. Both Gervaise as well 

as la Loubere referred to Siam with a specific 

rhetorical or ideological purpose. Siam was 

perceived in a highly selective manner. Both 

writers created their own image of Siamese 

society. 

These built-in attitudes towards distant 

civilizations had been shaped by categories 

of analysis and judgement which were developed 

in an essentially European or even 

West European discourse. As a result, the 

individual experiences of those who composed 

and published travel accounts on Siam 

were submitted to topical conventions inherently 

expressed in the literary genre of 

itineraries. Therefore, the use of European 

accounts and travel accounts on Siam as 

historical source materials for the reconstruction 

of Thai history is linked with specific 

difficulties. First, one must be aware of 

the fact that a major part of all Occidental 

presentations of empirical data produced in 

early modern Europe are based on the adaptation 

of 'proto-scientific' conventions and 

topical traditions handed down by the authors 

of antiquity. Being a part of a literary 

genre, the composition of travel accounts 

did not depend on individual observations 

alone but also on the methods being used to 

perceive and present exotic cultures. La 

Loubere' s Du Royaume de Siam is a perfect 

example of the way in which civilisations 

beyond the Old World were introduced to a 

European public. Faced with a multiplicity 

of complex social structures, he had to classify 

his perceptions according to the categories 

that a European education and the 

knowledge of antique and contemporary 

literature were able to deliver. It rendered 

them accessible; setting them in the frame of 

familiar terms dissolved their opacity. 

Due to the fact that a composite picture of 

the history of A yudhya will always be closely 

connected with European conceptions 

modes of interpretation of foreign culture, a 

systematic and comprehensive analysis of 

hidden conceptional schemas inherently 

expressed in the readings of Occidental historical 

texts on Siam remains a vital task for 

both Thai and European historiography. 

Notes 

2. La Loubere,1691. This study is based on the 

English edition of 1693, for other editions see 

References. 

3. There is, of course, a great number of other 

French and Dutch travel accounts that deal 

with the description of the Siamese culture 

and society and which are worth to dedicate a 

separate analysis. Of the numerous French 

accounts written in the seventeenth century 

there should be mentioned Bouvet, Pere [1685] 

1963; Chaumont, Chevalier de 1686; Choisy, 

Franr;ois-Timoleon de 1995; Tachard, Guy 

1688. The most important seventeenth century 

Dutch accounts areNeijenrode, Cornelius 

van 1854; ibid. 1871; Schouten, J ost 1636; Vliet, 

Jeremias van 1910; ibid. 1975. 

4. For a general outlook upon terms and strategies 

of ethnological work see Geertz 1973. 

5. 'By the usurped authority of the kings and by 

the continuous praise of the people the pride 

of the former kings had reached such a height 

that it looked as if the king was not there for 

the good of his community, but that the whole 



country and the people were for his pleasure 

alone', (Vliet 1910: 18). 

6. References to antiquity were still used by 

Malinowski (1922). This shows that still in the 

twentieth century, the evocation of mystical 

conceptions, in the sense of a 'rhetorique de 

l'alterite', was able (and necessary) to illustrate 

the character of strangers. 

7. Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h (1987: 28) stressed 

La Loubere's affinity to the writings of antiquity. 

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KEYWORDS- SIAM, THAILAND, HIS 

TORY, TRAVEL, 171'H CENTURY 


A WARRIOR-RULER STELE FROM SRi K~ETRA, PYU, BURMA 

John Guy· 

Abstract 

Beginning to construct a chronology of Pyu sculpture is exceedingly difficult. 

An extraordinary stone stele, discovered at Sri ~etra in the 1970s presents a 

new dimension to our understanding of the origins of the Pyu sculptural style. 

It invites comparison with Indian prototypes of the early centuries AD from 

Andhra Pradesh, especially the low relief panels favoured for stupa decoration 

at Nagarjunakonda and related sites of the lksavakus and Visnukundins rulers 

(c. third to sixth centuries AD). It also exhibits what one suspects is a strong 

indigenous aesthetic but for which comparative material is exceedingly scarce. 

Given the nature of the Pyu cultural context in which this sculpture was found, 

I would provisionally suggest a fifth century date. 

The stele, over 1.5 metres in height, depicts a warrior-king, accompanied by 

two standard bearers, holding agaru£!.adhvaja and what appears to be a cakradhvaja 

respectively. Portable standards were used as emblems of rank and in the Indian 

epics no warrior of note appears without one. Associated with rulers and heroes 

in early India, dhvajas were always displayed by noble warriors as a source of 

magical power to assure victory. The garu£!.adhvaja in India is linked with Vishnu 

and kings, and taken together with the cakradhvaja, a warrior symbol, suggests 

a Vaisnavite allegiance amongst the ruling elite of Sri K~etra (as also supported 

by sculptural evidence from Sri K~etra). This rests uneasily with the overwhelmingly 

Buddhist nature of the site in its later history. 

This paper is concerned with the cultural 

activity of the Pyu, who occupied central 

and upper Burma in the first millennium 

AD. Little is known about their origin, 

though they employed a written script which 

has links to southern India. 1 The bulk of the 

archaeological data for this period was obtained 

through excavations of Pyu urban 

settlements in upper and central Burma 

(Aung Thaw 1972). It is surely significant 

that the Pyu were recognized by the Chinese, 

in the Hou Han Shu (2nd century AD), 

as a civilized people (Wheatley 1983: 167), 

perhaps reflecting the Pyu's early adoption 

of Buddhism. 

A later Chinese source, Man Shu by Fan 

Ch'o, AD 863 (Luce 1961: 90), endorsed this 

view: 

• John Guy is Deputy Curator of Indian and 

Southeast Asian Art, Victoria & Albert Museum, 

London SW7 2RL. 

[The people of] the [P'iao = Pyu] 

kingdom use a silver coinage. They 

use green bricks to make the walls 

surrounding their city. It is one day 

to walk around it. The common 

people all live within the city-wall. 

There are twelve gates. In front of 

the gate of the palace where the king 

of [this] kingdom dwells, there is a 

great image seated in the open air, 

over a hundred feet high, and white 

as snow ... The people's nature is 

friendly and good ... They reverence 

the Law of the Buddha. Within the 

city there is absolutely no taking of 

life. Also there are many astrologers 

who tell fortunes by the stars. 

This graphic description, most probably 

of the northern Pyu city of Halin, was written 

by a Chinese official who served in 


85

J.Guy 

Yunnan and Annam during the closing years 

of the Tang dynasty. He describes the urbanized 

nature ofthe Pyu settlements, arguably 

the most advanced in mainland Southeast 

Asia in this period. The Pyu, however, 

gradually succumbed to pressure from the 

rising power of the Burmans and were absorbed 

into the Pagan state. The last traces of 

them appear at Pagan in the quadrilingual 

inscription erected by King Rajakumar in 

AD 1113. Soon after this, the Pyu disappeared 

from the records. Yet their legacy 

survived as a folkloric memory in the 

chronicles of the Burmans and the name of 

'Sri K$etra', linked to their premier capital, 

assumed a mythic role in later Burmese 

history making. 

The central zone of Burma shows archaeological 

evidence of continuous occupation 

at sites associated with the Pyu from 

as early as the first century AD (Aung Thaw 

1972: 9). It is evident from the major Pyu 

sites investigated to date, namely Halin, 

Beikthano and Sri K$etra, that the Pyu were 

among the first people in mainland Southeast 

Asia to embark upon a high level of 

urbanization. Their settlements are 

characterised by walled and moated enclosures, 

within which (according to the Man 

Shu) the bulk of the population lived. These 

urban settlements were rectangular, and 

large by pre-modern standards: the city of 

SriK$etra (Prome) is defined by a fired-brick 

perimeter wall eight and a half miles long; 

Halin by a six mile wall and the Beikthano 

urban centre covers an area of three and a 

half square miles (Luce 1985; Stargard t 1990). 

The extent of Pyu culture has only become 

clear as postwar archaeology has built 

up a store of information from these sites 

which have shared characteristics and point 

to a common culture. Inscriptional evidence 

confirms the common ethnicity of these 

peoples. The Pyu, whom we define by the 

use of the largely undeciphered Pyu script, 

established their urban centres at sites as far 

north as Halin (near Shwebo, north of 

Mandalay), and in Central Burma (Beikthano 

and Sri K$etra). In addition, there is evidence 

of a Pyu presence, possibly cohabit- 

ing with the Mon, as far south as the gulf 

region around Pegu. 

The Pyu urban settlements contain within 

their walls (and sometimes beyond) brick 

structures. Most of these can be identified as 

religious, notably stu pas (Beikthano and Sri 

K$etra) and assembly halls and cellular 

monastic residences (Beikthano). It is in association 

with these structures thatthe sculptures 

and other objects chronicling the religious 

and ceremonial life of the Pyu have 

been found. These objects, and the handful 

of surviving (and heavily restored) monuments, 

constitute the single most important 

body of knowledge about the life of the Pyu 

and record the considerable achievements 

of an otherwise lost early culture of Southeast 

Asia. 

Pyu sculpture 

The most substantial artistic legacy of 

the Pyu is religious sculpture. The bulk of 

this is Buddhist, but isolated examples of 

Hindu imagery also survive, some of which 

appear to date from the Pyu period. By far 

the largest group of sculptures is from Sri 

K$etra, lending weight to this city being the 

focus of sustained patronage and royal endowment 

(Taw Sein Ko 1914: 113-23; 

Duroiselle 1915: 141-4, 1928: 118-21, 1930: 

171-83, 1931: 127-32, 1933: 105-9). Pyu Buddhism 

was fused onto an indigenous set of 

beliefs, including animistic nature cults. An 

unusual example of the localization of Buddhism 

is evident in the continued use of 

stone urns for the internment of royal ashes, 

as witnessed by large stone urns located 

within the city walls.2 Variants of this custom 

were widely practised throughout 

Southeast Asia. Another possible expression 

of a 'megalithic' legacy is to be seen in 

the Pyu' s insistence on retaining the monolithic 

stone stele when sculpting religious 

imagery. This is a particularly striking aspect 

of the Buddhist stele sculptures, which 

are monumental slabs, worked on one side 

in low relief. The megalithic aspect is 

strengthened by the uniquely Pyu device of 

forming groups of such stones, usually as 

86 


A Warrior-Ruler stele from Sri K~?etra ... 

Figure 1. Line drawing of stele relief depicting a warrior-king. Discovered at Sri K~?etra in the 1970s. 

Pyu. Sandstone, ht. c. 1.5 m. 


J.Guy 

two confronting triads, in an as yet unexplained 

configuration. Could these belong 

to a similar tradition seen atSudhammapura 

(Thaton) in lower Burma and throughout 

the Mon kingdom ofDvaravati, where semas 

were installed to signify the boundaries of 

ritually important spaces?3 In the Mon context, 

the baisemas (lit: leaf boundary markers) 

were installed to demarcate areas within 

which Buddhist monks could assemble and 

perform prescribed ceremonies. Such distinctive 

practises in the Mon and Pyu context 

very probably share a common pre 

Buddhist ancestry rooted in the installation 

of ritual stones. 

Beginning to construct a chronology of 

Pyu sculpture is exceedingly difficult. In 

this context, I want to focus on a stone stele, 

discovered within the city walls at SrlK!?etra 

in the 1970s (Figure 1). The carved surface of 

the sandstone stele is over 1.5 metres in 

height, 96 em in width and an average of 10 

em in depth. The stele has a rounded top and 

is decorated in low relief on the front, reverse 

and sides. 

This stele is important for our understanding 

of the origins of the Pyu sculptural 

style and for the sets of beliefs that it points 

to regarding kingship, secular authority and 

religious legitimization. Its significance is 

enhanced by the secular nature of the subject-matter, 

an armed warrior-figure with 

standard bearers, which I have titled 'warrior-ruler'. 

The large figure, who occupies the centre 

of the stele, clasps a massive club in his right 

hand, the weight of which rests on his shoulder. 

Together with his attendants, he is 

dressed in a short dhoti-style waist-cloth 

with pendant sash. Other sashes criss-cross 

the chest and he wears jewellery, notably a 

heavy torque and bracelets. He also wears a 

headcloth tied into an elaborate turban which 

probably conceals long uncut hair, the end 

of which is seen fluttering from the chignon. 

Extended earlobes contain large disc or earplug 

ornaments. Direct parallels to this figure 

and, as I will argue, near contemporary 

ones, are to be seen in the silver repousse 

plaques of club-bearing guardian figures 

from the Khin Ba reliquary hoard. They 

exhibit the same robust physique and posture, 

flamboyant hairstyles and chest and 

ear ornaments (Figure 2). 

The reverse of the stele depicts a seat and 

throne back with makara-terminal cross-bar 

as seen on Buddha image thrones of early 

Pyu sculpture, such as the Khin Ba silver 

reliquary (Figure 5). The empty throne is 

flanked by two female attendants who appear 

to be holding, or perhaps supporting, 

the seat. A floral medallion pattern fills the 

upper section of the backslab. 

The warrior-ruler is flanked by two figures 

who are represented on a smaller scale, 

appropriate to their rank. They exhibit the 

same costume features as the central figure 

and may be interpreted as men of authority, 

perhaps noblemen or sons of the ruler. More 

significantly, they have a specific role as 

bearers of the standards (dhvajas) of office. 

They hold a garurjadhvaja and a cakradhvaja 

respectively, standards surmounted with 

symbols evocative of kingship and religious 

affiliation. These devices are highly significant 

in this context, serving to enhance the 

status and authority of the ruler through the 

adaptation of an Indian value system. 

The portable standards are signifiers of 

authority and sectarian allegiance. They were 

used in India as emblems of rank and in the 

epics and puranic literature no warrior of 

note appeared without one. Dhvajas carried 

the emblem of the ruling dynasty, usually 

linked to the household's presiding deity 

and variously represented as one of the 

deity's attributes or as his vehicle (vahana). 

They are regularly associated with kings 

and heroes in early Indian literature and 

were displayed as a source of magical power 

and protection. The display of a dhvaja was 

seen as mandatory to ensure victory. 

The garurjadhvaja in India is closely linked 

with Vishnu - Garu

A Warrior-Ruler stele from Sri K~etra ... 

kings on Gupta gold coins of the fourth and 

fifth centuries.s In this stele Garuc;l.a is represented 

only by the head of a beaked bird, the 

body being omitted. 

In pre-Gupta Indian art Garuc;l.a was represented 

in a variety of hybrid forms, part 

avian and part anthropoid. In the Gupta 

Period the hybrid nature of Garuc;l.a persists, 

but with a tendency for an anthropomorphic 

head with beaked nose to replace the 

eagle's head, whilst preserving the feathered 

body which increasingly assumed an 

upright,human-like posture. The bird's head 

on this reliefis clearly at odds with this trend 

in Gupta representations, analysed by Ellen 

Raven in her 1991 dissertation (Raven 1994). 

Whether this form of Garuc;l.a represents 

another stream of iconographic development 

in Indian art, notably the Andhra regions 

of southern India with which the sculptural 

style of this relief has clear affinities, or 

is an early manifestation of an indigenous 

Southeast Asian interpretation of this Indian 

concept, is unclear. A convention did 

emerge in Southeast Asian art of representing 

Garuc;l.a either with a bird's head and an 

only part-human body (Luce 1985: pl. 49), or 

fully avian but standing in a human-manner, 

as often seen in Khmer and Thai art. The 

Pyuganu:fadhvaja under discussion could be 

interpreted as providing a progenitor for 

this Southeast Asian convention, widely seen 

in Man, Khmer, Cham, Thai and Javanese 

art. 

The second standard is surmounted by a 

cakra, a circular discus or wheel which carries 

a number of meanings. It is often characterized 

as a sun symbol and used to evoke 

a solar aspect of Vishnu's cosmogony. The 

link between Vishnu as Preserver and the 

solar association of the cakra is by no means 

clear in the earliest sources and is most 

Figure 2. Repousse images of dvtiraptilas from the reliquary chamber of the Khin Ba mound, 

excavated in 1926-27, near Kalagangon village, Sri K~etra. Pyu, late 5th century. Silver gilt. National 

Museum, Rangoon. 


J.Guy 

probably a later interpretation. Rather, the 

epic literature stresses the cakra as one of the 

most ancient and fearsome of weapons. 

Clearly it was intended to evoke a protective 

aspect when linked to a deity and, by implication, 

to a ruler. Vishnu's role in the epic 

and puranic literature is that of divine warrior, 

armed with this ancient orbicular 

weapon. When displayed by a warrior-ruler, 

the cakra can be interpreted as symbolising 

both the protective power of the deity being 

evoked (so ensuring victory over his enemies) 

and the protective power which the 

warrior-ruler vahana could in turn extend to 

his subjects. That the discus was not exclusively 

the weapon of the gods is made clear 

in medieval treatises on statecraft which 

stress the importance of training a prince in 

'the five kinds of weapons, beginning with 

the discuss'. 6 

The cakra has a third meaning, that of the 

wheel, which even more clearly links it to 

the world of men. The early Indian concept 

of cakravartin, universal ruler or world sovereign, 

takes its meaning from the concept 

of a supreme king as one who turns the 

wheel, the eight spokes of which indicate 

the directions of the universe, signifying 

universal supremacy as evoked in the relief 

fromJaggayyapeta (Figure 6 ). The cakravartin 

concept also conveys the meaning of one 

who swings the disc weapon, evoking the 

cakra as a warrior-ruler's symbol. 

Finally, the discus may be understood as 

the wheel which ensures the continued prosperity 

of the kingdom, specifically in relation 

to the power of the cakravartin to ensure 

plentiful rains. In this aspect, the cakra is 

linked to Indra (the Hindu god of rain) in the 

early Hindu iconography of the region; witness 

two stambha capitals from Arakan in 

western Burma which depict Indra within a 

cakra and, in one, also holding a cakradhvaja 

(Aung Thaw 1972: 27).7 

The combined presence of the cakradhvaja 

and the garwjadhvaja in this stele can be 

interpreted as being primarily intended to 

evoke the martial references associated with 

these emblems. As noted, the dhvaja is 

characterised as an essential attribute for 

warrior-kings in the Indian epic and puranic 

sources. Ellen Raven's analysis of Gupta 

gold coins reveals that the garwjadhvaja is 

predominantly associated with 'those designs 

that emphasize the martial aspects of 

Gupta kingship' (Raven 1994: 195). However, 

it must be stressed that in these Indian 

depictions, the garucjadhvaja and the 

cakradhvaja never appear together. 

These emblems, of magical significance, 

were clearly borrowed from the Indian cosmology. 

Invested with these powerful Indian 

ideas of religious and royal authority, 

they served to protect and strengthen, even 

perhaps legitimize, the position of the unknown 

ruler represented in the stele. Both 

these symbols are intimately associated with 

Vishnu, which taken together suggests a 

Vaishnava allegiance among the ruling elite 

of Sri K!?etra. This view is supported by 

other sculptural evidence from the city site. 

A number of sandstone sculptures ofVishnu 

survive with cakra of similar form to that 

represented in the stele under discussion 

(Luce 1985: pl. 49a). Further support of this 

possible Vaishnava allegiance among the 

first rulers of Sri K!?etra is provided by the 

earliest Pyu silver coins which are decorated 

with the conch (Luce 1985: 62), another 

attribute of Vishnu. The warrior stele 

lends itself to another interpretation, that of 

an early form of 'hero-stone', a memorial to 

a great warrior-leader lost in battle. However, 

the presence of the dhvajas and the 

representation of the throne on the reverse 

strongly suggests a royal association and 

supports the interpretation that this stele 

celebrates not a deceased warrior but a ruler 

at the height of his powers. 

The warrior-ruler stele invites comparison 

with other club-bearing figures found at 

Sri K!?etra, usually described as dvarapalas 

(door-guardians). Two examples are preserved 

in the Hmawza Museum, Prome. 

One fragment of a monumental figure, of 

which only the head and shoulders (complete 

with club) survives, may well have 

shown a similar representation of a ruler, 

though probably without attendants. 

The second example, a largely complete 

90 


A Warrior-Ruler stele from Sri K~ e tra ... 

stele, was retrieved from the Sri K$etra palace 

site and was published by Aung Thaw 

(1972: 27) as a dvtlrapala (Figure3).However, 

the stele displays a number of features which 

indicate that it should be identified as an 

anthropomorphic Garu9a. The figure is 

humanoid, with its only avian feature being 

small wings which issue crest-like from its 

headdress.B It stands in an aggressive posture, 

engaged in deadly struggle with a 

scaled-serpent (naga) which has ensnared 

his feet and whose head rears up to the left 

of the figure. The Garu9a is represented as a 

warrior-figure, dressed in a curious maillike 

armour and with twisted robes which 

are suggestive of snake-garlands. Similar 

patterns, though perhaps more feather-like, 

appear on the lower body of the Garu9a 

supporting Vishnu on a stele from Sri K$etra 

(Hmawza Museum) (Luce 1985: fig. 49a). A 

textual reference to Garu9a wearing a coat 

of mail (kavaca) is extant from nineteenth 

century Nepal and may be assumed toreflect 

earlier Indian sources.9 The representation 

of mail armour in Nepalese art is not 

confined to Garu9a, where the heroes in 

battle scenes such as the Rtlmifym_1a, are regularly 

depicted in such attire.1o 

This Garu9a stele is attributable to around 

the end of the first millennium. Precedent 

for such a dramatic anthropomorphic representation 

of Garu9a in Indian art is scarce. 

The nearest prototype perhaps being provided 

by the sixth-century rock-cut reliefs at 

Badami which depict an anthropomorphic 

Garu9a (without mail) holding a rearing 

snake (Rao 1914: pl. LXXXIV). This example 

of Garu9a clad in mail from Pyu Burma may 

represent one of the earliest extant examples 

of this concept in sculpture, from India or 

beyond. 

The problem of dating 

Figure 3. Garuda battlinf$ a naga, excavated in 

the Royal palace zone of Sri K~etra. Pyu. Sandstone. 

Hmawza Museum. 

Establishing a chronology for Pyu sculpture 

remains problematic. The only securely datable 

sculpture of the Pyu period is an image 

of Buddha seated in padmlisana with his 

hands in dhyanamudrtl, excavated at Sri 

K$etra in 1927 (Figure 4) (Duroiselle 1930: 

171-83). 

It bears an undated bilingual inscription 

in Sanskrit and Pyu which can be linked by 

the common appearance of the name 

'Harivikrama' to an inscribed stone funerary 

urn, dated AD 695. Accepting that this is the 

same person as that named on the bi-lingual 

inscription, then the sculpture can be accepted 

as late seventh century. This date 

stands as a solitary landmark in the chronology 

of Pyu sculpture. 

Epigraphy provides another avenue for 

dating. The Khin Ba hoard, excavated from 

a stone slab reliquary at Sri K$etra, contains 

highly important Pali and Pyu inscriptions, 

found together with repousse silver and 

gold sculptures. The dating of sculptures 

from associated inscriptions is problematic 

in Burma, where the scripts are borrowed 

from India and where their use may outlive 


91

J. Guy 

Figure 4. Buddha in meditation, with bilingual 

Sanskrit and Pyu inscription on four sides of the 

base. Excavated at Kan-wet-khaung-gon, south 

of the Bawbawgyi pagoda, Sri K:;;etra. Pyu, late 

7th century. Sandstone. Hmawza Museum. 

the parent script. Pyu script is especially 

archaic, most resembling the Kadamba form 

of Telegu-Kannada from Andhra Pradesh 

(Luce 1985: 62andn.16). Recentworkon the 

Khin Ba hoard inscriptions has helped to 

reduce this by combining epigraphic, grammatical 

and canonical information to limit 

the date range. This is valuable, as the Khin 

Ba hoard represents the most important discovery 

of an undisturbed Pyu relic chamber 

to date. The recent consensus amongst Pali 

scholars is that the script on the Khin Ba 

twenty-leaf gold Pali manuscript most 

closely resembles that seen on fifth century 

Pallava copper grants of southern India 

(Stargardt 1995: 199-213). Textual links between 

the gold manuscript and the silver 

gilt reliquary inscription establish they belong 

to a common era, which may be accepted 

as the second half of the fifth century. 

The Khin Ba silver gilt reliquary (Figure 

5) has strong stylistic affinities with south 

Indian sculpture. The drum of the reliquary 

is decorated with the raised images of four 

Buddhas, seated in bhumisparsamudra, alternating 

with standing disciples. The Buddha 

is represented with broad shoulders and 

slender limbs and wears the robe off the 

proper right shoulder; the Buddha's UEjnfE;a 

Figure 5. Reliquary from the relic chamber of 

the Khin Ba mound, excavated in 1926-27, near 

Kalagangon village, Sri K:;;etra. Pyu, Ia te 5th century. 

Silver gilt, ht. 66 em. National Museum, 

Rangoon. 

Figure 6. Relieffrom the drum ofthe main stupa 

at Jaggayyapeta, Andhra Pradesh, depicting 

Mandha ta or Raja Cakravartin with regalia, Limestone. 

Government Museum, Madras. 

92 


A Warrior-Ruler stele from Sri K~etra ... 

Figure 7. Relief depicting a nobleman and attendant. 

Limestone. Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh. 

Government Museum, Madras. 

is barely discernible, and the feet are layered 

rather than crossed. These are all conventions 

associated with Buddhist art of southern 

India. The Buddha's head is shown with 

a radiating spiky nimbus framed by the 

dramatic rearing makara of the throne-back. 

The makara throne-back closely resembles 

the depiction of that motif on the reverse 

face of the warrior-ruler stele. 

These south Indian stylistic connections 

are strengthened by some additional inscriptional 

evidence. The lower inscription on 

the silver gilt reliquary contains two proper 

names, Srf Prabuvarma and Srf Prabhudevf. 

The name-ending 'varman' is a South Indian 

royal convention associated both with 

thePallavasofTamilNaduand theKadamba 

dynasty of the Kannada-speaking Banavasi 

region of the southern Deccan (Sircar 1965: 

202-4). It may be presumed that this richly 

endowed stupa reliquary was donated by 

the couple named, perhaps the rulers of Sri 

K~etra in the latter part of the fifth century; 

certainly the site has the hallmarks of a royal 

endowment. 

The three figures in the warrior-ruler 

stele belong, however, to an earlier phase of 

sculptural development. They invite most 

direct comparison with Indian prototypes 

of the early centuries AD from Andhra 

Pradesh, especially the low relief panels 

favoured for stupa decoration at Amaravati 

and other Buddhist sites in the Krishna delta 

region. The cakravartin relief from the Krishna 

valley (Figure 6) shows the ruler standing in 

an animated posture, with raised arm and 

one flexed leg. He and his attendant figures 

(his chief minister and general) are dressed 

and jewelled in similar fashion, and a 

cakrastambha asserts his authority as a universal 

ruler. A related relief from Amara va ti 

shows more clearly the tripartite turbanstyle 

of headdress (Figure 7). Other stylistic 

parallels can be drawn with the sculpture of 

Andhra: a stele from Halin, the most northern 

Pyu site, depicts rows of devotees with 

hands clasped in veneration in a configuration 

directly comparable to similar subjects 

depicted in Andhra sculpture spanning from 

the late Satavahana and Iksavaku periods 

(second and third century) to that of the 

Vishnukundin and early Pallava (fourth to 

sixth century). 11 

These comparisons point to the Andhra 

region of southern India as providing the 

most likely source for the sculptural style of 

the Pyu. This view is strengthened by the 

recent interpretations of the epigraphic and 

textual evidence of the Khin Ba inscriptions 

which are identified as being derived from 

southern India in the second half of the fifth 

century. I would suggest that on stylistic 

evidence the warrior-ruler stele predates 

the Khin Ba hoard and may be assigned to 

the first half of the fifth century, if not earlier. 

Acknowledgements 

I am grateful to Dr Donald Stadtner and Dr Ellen 

Raven for their helpful comments on this paper. 

Joumal of The Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2 

93

J.Guy 

Notes 

Written in a script closely related to the records 

of the Kannada-speaking Kadambas of fourth 

century KarnatakaandAndhraPradesh (Sircar 

1965: 202). 

2 One large group, arranged in neat rows, remainsinsitu; 

others are housed in the Hmawza 

Museum. 

3 Thai sema = boundary marker, from the Pall 

sima. For examples from Thaton which illustrate 

BuddhistJataka tales see Luce 1985: pis. 

93-4. 

4 VamanaPurana (3, 14),citedinRaven 1994:21. 

5 Garwjadhvaja appear on five of the twenty-one 

gold coins issued by the Gupta rulers (Raven 

1984: 191). 

6 Kalingattu Parani, cited in Begley 1973:33. 

7 For the cakradhvaja' s association with the bringing 

of the rains, see Gutman 1986: 281-2. 

8 The face is damaged so that we cannot determine 

the form of the figure's nose or beak, a 

defining feature of all Garudas, including anthropoids. 

9 The Dharmako~a-sarhgraha, fol. 29A (Bhattacharyya 

1974: 51-2). I am indebted to Ellen 

Raven for alerting me to this source. 

10 As seen for example in a fifteenth century 

Nepalese embroidered textile depicting the 

R.amiiya1Ja in the Victoria and Albert Museum 

(IM24-1936), illustrated in Crill1989: 30. 

11 Compare Aung Thaw 1972: 13 and Ray 1983: 

fig. 39, Prasad 1978: pl. 3. For the history of the 

Deccan in this period, see Sircar 1939. 

References 

Aung Thaw 1972. Historical sites in Burma, 

Rangoon: Ministry of Union Culture. 

Bhattacharyya, D.C. 1974. Tantric Buddhist Iconographic 

Sources, Delhi: Munshiram 

Manoharlal. 

Begley, W.E. 1973. Visnu's Flaming Wheel: the 

Iconography of the Sudarsana-Cakra, New York: 

College Art Association of America. 

Crill, R., 1989. Nepalese Embroidery. A New 

Chronology, Hali 44: 30-5. 

Duroiselle, C. 1915. Excavations at Hmawza, 

. Prome, in Archaeological Survey of India Annual 

Report, 1911-1912, pp. 141-4, Calcutta. 

Duroiselle, C. 1928: Burma Circle, in Archaeological 

Survey of India Annual Report, 1925-1926, 

pp. 118-21, Calcutta. 

Duroiselle, C. 1930. Excavations at Hmawza, in 

Archaeological Survey of India Annual Report, 

1926-27, pp. 171-83, Calcutta. 

Duroiselle, C. 1931. Excavations at Hmawza, in 

Archaeological Survey of India Annual Report, 

1927-1928, pp. 127-32, Calcutta. 

Duroiselle, C. 1933: Excavations at Hmawza, in 

Archaeological Survey of India, 1928-1929, pp. 

105-9, Delhi. 

Gutman, P. 1986. Symbolism of Kingship in 

Arakan, in D. Marr and A. Milner (eds ), Southeast 

Asia in the 9th to 14th Centuries, Singapore: 

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 279- 

87. 

Luce, G.H., 1961. The Man Shu (Book of the Southern 

Barbarians), Ithaca: Cornell University. 

Luce, G.H.1985. Phases of Pre-Pagan Burma. Languages 

and History, 2 vols., Oxford: Oxford 


Prasad, R.1978. Temple Sculpture of AndhraPradesh, 

Hyderabad: Government of AndhraPradesh. 

Rao, T.A.G. 1914. Elements of Hindu Iconography, 

Vol. I (1 ), Madras: The Law Printing House. 

Raven, E., 1994. Gupta Gold Coins with a Garuda 

Banner, 2 vols., Gonda Indological Studie~ 1, 

Groningen: E. Forsten. 

Ray, A. 1983. Life and Art of Early Andhradesa, 

Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan. 

Sircar, D.C. 1939. The Successors of the Satavahanas 

in Lower Deccan, Calcutta: University of Calcutta. 

Sircar, D.C.1965. Indian Epigraphy, Delhi: Motilal 

Banarsidass. 

Stargardt, J. 1990. The Ancient Pyu of Burma. Vol. 

1. Early Pyu cities in a Man-Made Landscape, 

Cambridge: Pacsea. 

Stargardt, J. 1995. The oldest known Pali texts, 

5th-6th Century, Journal of the Pali Text Society, 

XXI: 199-213 

Taw Sein Ko, 1914. Excavations at Hmawza, near 

Prome, in Archaeological Survey of India Annual 

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Chicago: University of Chicago. 

KEYWORDS-SRI KSETRA, PYU, BURMA 

MON, ARCHAEOLOGY, ART, HISTORY 

94 

Journal of The Siam Society Vol 85, f'arts 1 & 2

TWO ENGRAVED GEMS WITH COMBINATION MONSTERS 

FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA 

Sheila E. Hoey Middleton* 

Abstract 

The article describes two engraved gems from Cambodia. The first is a rockcrystal 

perforated stamp-seal with a convex back-a distinctive type which has 

been found at Oc Eo and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The surface is engraved 

with a makara and it is tentatively dated to the 7th century AD or later. The 

second gem, set in a large gold ring, is a flat dark brown sard or onyx ringstone 

engraved with a gana or Ganesha/horse combination and probably dates to 

about the 9th or lOth century AD. The seals illustrate motifs which are found on 

Khmer stone lintels in Cambodia and Thailand. 

The two gems described below were acquired 

in Bangkok and are said to have 

come from Cambodia. They form part of a 

large collection but, as they are of exceptional 

interest and quality, it seemed worthwhile 

describing them separately. The first 

(Figure 1) is a rock crystal stamp-seal, perforated 

for suspension, which has a makara 

engraved on the flat surface in intaglio. The 

second (Figure 4) is a large filled gold finger 

ring, set with a dark sard intaglio, showing 

an elephant-headed creature (possibly agana 

or Ganesha) riding his own trunk which 

turns into a horse. Both are variations on 

motifs which appear on stone lintels in Thailand 

and Cambodia. 

The Makara (Figure 1) 

This rock crystal pointed ovoid stamp-seal 

has the intaglio engraved on a raised flat oval 

surface measuring 25.5 x 22.0mm. It has a 

convex back rising to a ridge running along 

its length and a wide perforation (c.7-8mm 

diam.) across its width. The overall measurements 

of the gem are: length 33 x width 26 x 

depth 17mm. It weighs 15.4g. There is one 

chip on the right-hand point, and another on 

the back which runs from the edge up to the 

perforation. The whole surface has a matt 

finish- possibly caused by burial. 

*12 Polstead Road, Oxford, OX2 6TN, UK. 

Introduction 

The rock crystal gem group 

Most examples belong to a distinctive group 

of rock crystal stamp-seals (as well as different 

types ofintagli found so far in Indochina). 

Most are recorded as coming from Oc Eo in 

South Vietnam, but others have turned up 

on various sites in Cambodia and Thailand 

-that is, in the main areas where the Funan 

kingdom (1st century AD to c.AD 550) had 

extended its territories. Oc Eo is believed to 

have been a port in the Mekong Delta for the 

Funan kingdom and an important trading 

centre on the maritime route for Indian, 

Chinese and later Persian ships engaging in 

commerce round the Indian Ocean (see 

Briggs 1951: 12ff.). 

These rock crystal ovoid (or 'coniforme') 

seals are described by Louis Malleret (1951: 

189-99, pl.46.8.14, pl.47.7,9-10 (= Malleret 

1962: 275ff., pl.71 nos.1296-98, pl.72 nos.1299- 

1300; Malleret 1952: 349-58, pl.40.3-5; 

Malleret 1963: 99-116, pl.3.5-6, pl.4.1-3). 

Malleret suggests that the form of these rock 

crystal seals (Figure 2b) was adapted from 

the natural mineral structure of flattened hipyramidal 

prismatic rock crystals (Figure 

2a), and in order to economise both on work 

and material the gem cutter had little more 

to do than to round off the apex and the 

angles where the faces of the crystal meet 

(Malleret 1952: 356-7, figs.39 and 40; Malleret 


95

S. Middleton 

Figure 1. Makara - rock crystal stamp-seal (c. 7th 

century AD?) 33 x 26 mm x 17 mm high- a) 

Intaglio face, b) impression, c) back view, d) side 

1962: 187-8, 193-5, fig.40) . But they also reflect 

the shape of finger rings: compare the 

similar profile of the gold finger ring described 

here with its heavy shoulders and 

raised bezel (Figure 4) which resembles rings 

of Hellenistic type (Figure Sa) as well as a 

ring made entirely of rock crystal from Wat 

Pra Pathom in Bangkok Museum, Figure 2c 

(Malleret 1963: pl.4.1-3) and the bronze ring 

with intaglio from Cambodia, Figure 2d 

(Malleret 1952: 357, fig.40). 

In Cambodia early gems (sometimes reset) 

were placed with later objects in sacred 

deposits under the foundations of temples 

and sema boundary stones- see for example 

the rock crystal ovoids excavated at Chhba 

Ampu pagoda, Kien Svay Province, and at 

Plmom Bakheng, Angkor (Malleret 1952: 

351, 353, pl.40.4-5; Malleret 1963: 100). Although 

the original significance and function 

of these seals was probably forgotten, 

they were regarded as precious objects. Elsewhere 

clay impressions from seals appear to 

have been sometimes used as ex voto offerings. 

Two motifs seem especially popular and 

turn up several times on rock crystal seals 

from Oc Eo and Cambodia: there are three 

zebus and five examples of a frontal seated 

figure- perhaps a noble or a king- in the 

maharajalilasana or 'royal ease' position 

(Malleret 1951: pl.46. 8,14, pl.47. 7, 9, 10; 

Malleret 1952: pl.40. 3, 4, 5). Two seals from 

Thailand belonging to this group have more 

unusual motifs: one seal shows a standing 

figure holding a branch; another intaglio on 

a ring, Figure 2c, made entirely of rock crystal 

(and with a shape which relates it to this 

group) shows a fish with a piece of seaweed 

or foliage emerging from its mouth (Malleret 

1963: pl.3. 5-6 and pl.4. 1-3). An impression 

of a ship was possibly also made by a seal of 

this shape- Malleret 1963: pl. 5.10. 

Malleret thinks the figure seated in 

maharajalilasana position on the seals may 

represent the ruler of Funan. A passage 

describing the customs of Funan in the History 

of the Liang Dynasty (AD 502-556) says 

that 'When the king sits down, he squats on 

one side, raising the right knee, letting the 

96 


Two Engraved Gems ... from Southeast Asia 

~ 

~ 

0 

a 

b c d 

Figure 2a Flattened hi-pyramidal prismatic rock crystal (Malleret 1952: 356, fig.39) 

Figure 2b Profile and face view of rock crystal stamp-seal (Malleret 1952: 357, fig.40) 

Figure 2c Profile view of rock crystal ring from Wat Pra Pathom, Bangkok Museum (after Malleret 

1963: pl.4.1) 

Figure 2d Profile of bronze ring with intaglio from Cambodia (Malleret 1952: 357, fig.40) 

left knee touch the earth. A piece of cotton is 

spread before him, on which are deposited 

the gold vases and incense burners' (Briggs 

1951: 29;Malleret 1951: 192). Malleretpoints 

out that the figure on the seals fits this description 

and also that a number of bronze 

amulets from Oc Eo show the same seated 

figure with objects in front of him which 

possibly represent the vases described. On 

the reverse of these amulets there is often a 

hump-backed bull and Malleret suggests a 

possible connection between the motifs on 

the two sides (Malleret 1960: 337-8, nos. 

669-72, pl.llO. 3 & 4); a rock crystal amulet 

has these motifs on either side.1 

Before the introduction of the cult of 

Shiva into Southeast Asia, the zebu or humpbacked 

bull could have been a symbol of 

kingship and power as it was in India until 

the4th-5thcenturiesAD(Malleret1951:192- 

3). If Malleret's theory is correct (and the 

seated figure represents the ruler of Funan) 

it would help support a Funanese provenance 

and date for at least a number of 

these rock crystal seals. Malleret points out 

thatanumberofunfinishedringstonesatOc 

Eo probably indicate a local gem engraving 

industry (Malleret 1962: 278). Although several 

of these seals have the same motif, the 

iconography of the group as a whole is 

eclectic and the quality of engraving seems 

uneven; the common factor i~ their shape 

and material (Figure la, c-d, Figure 2b).l 

The makara (Figure la-b) faces to the right 

(in impression) with his trunk raised and the 

tip turned forward; he has a short tusk, two 

or three large teeth and a crest-like scroll of 

foliage on the top of his head; a lotus flower 

hangs out of his mouth; he has a small ear 

and small round eye; his unpatterned body 

is heavy and smooth with three thick folds 

on his chest; he has short front legs with 

three-clawed feet; his scroll-like tail trails 

underneath him; the point where the tail 

emerges from the body is marked by a ring 

and a small volute curling forward. 

Rock crystal (quartz, Si0 2 ; Hardness scale 

7) is particularly difficult to work and the 

slightly rough and pitted surface inside the 

motif suggests that it was hollowed out by 

micro-chipping, a method which was used 

in Western Asia for thousands of years from 

c.3000 BC (Sax and Meeks 1995: 28-9). The 

engraving is of high quality and there ap- 


97

S. Middleton 

a 

b 

c 

d 

e 

f 

g 

Figures 3a-h Makaras - on lintels and other reliefs: 

3a Lintel, Prasat Khao Noi (7th century AD), Thailand (after Smitthi et al. 1992: 81) 

3b Lintel, Prasat Dap (7th century AD), Cambodia (Parmentier 1927: 265, fig.82) 

3c Lintel, Sambor Prei Kuk, N .21 (7th century AD), Thailand (Benish 1970: fig.69) 

3d Corner of building, Wat Pra Pathom (7th century AD), Thailand (Dupont 1959: Figure E) 

3e Laterite pond relief, Dong Si Maha Pot, (c.7th century AD or earlier?), Thailand (Lajonquiere 

1909: 214, fig.10) 

3f Jain Temple relief, Aihole (Western Chalukya, 8th century AD), India (after Sivaramamurti 

1983: fig.l15) 

3g Lintel, Beshnagar (Gupta, c.AD 500), India (after Vogel1929-30: pl.35c) 

3h Elephant-fish, Bharut (2nd century BC), India (after Vien.not 1954: pl.l) 

h 



pears to be more detailing than on other 

seals in this group (see Malleret 1951-63 and 

the earlier references). The makara's large 

body has been carefully hollowed out to 

show a powerful shoulder and the folds on 

its neck; a round drill has been used for 'a 

globolo' details of the tail and eye. 

The makara is a mythical marine monster 

which seems to have had its origin in India 

but is found in numerous variations and 

'mix and match' combinations over a vast 

area in time and space. During its later development 

in India (i.e. in the early centuries 

AD) it was influenced by the Greek 

ketos, a different marine monster from the 

west (Boardman 1986: 447ff.), while later, 

elements of its iconography were to influence 

art as far east as China. In the early 

centuries of the Christian era the makara 

motif spread from India to Southeast Asia 

where it became extremely popular on lintels 

of the 7th century AD. They are closely 

related to Indian post-Gupta types but certain 

characteristics developed locally. 

Early Indian examples have been shown 

to derive mainly from the elephant and the 

crocodile (Viennot 1954: 190). J.P. Vogel 

(1929-30) makes a distinction between the 

elephant-fish (or jaleba) and the true makara 

(magara or crocodile in Sanskrit, and magar 

in Hindi) which is closer to the crocodile. 

However, divisions are often not clear-cut. 

Both types appear at Amaravati in about the 

3rd century AD, but the crocodile type was 

to become the more popular model in India. 

The makara on this seal is unusual. It 

combines both the 'elephant-fish' and crocodile 

types of makara in more or less equal 

proportions but is not very close (to my 

knowledge) to any one extant example in 

India or Southeast Asia. It shows a number 

of both Indian and Khmer features which 

appear on reliefs and lintels of varying styles 

and dates in India and Southeast Asia. 

Early wooden buildings have disappeared 

and few makara seem to have survived 

on small objects. Only a terracotta 

fragment and a bronze lamp in the form of a 

makara have been recorded from Oc Eo - 

neither similar to this example (Malleret 

1959: pl.73b; 1960: pl.90). One is, therefore, 

confined to making comparisons with makara 

on surviving stone lintels, reliefs and other 

architectural fragments in India and Southeast 

Asia. In an architectural context the 

makara has a precise decorative and functional 

purpose and therefore their portrayal 

on buildings is restricted to some extent by 

convention and the space to be filled; they 

conform to a number of types and can be 

grouped into distinctive styles-but they do 

show considerable variations in detail. 

Makara also decorated other objects, including 

jewellery, and so gem engravers must 

have had a variety of models to copy and 

interpret as they wished. 

Benisti (1970: 18ff.) has compared in detail 

characteristics of makara as they appear 

on lintels in Indian and Khmer art. This 

example superficially resembles somemakara 

on early Khmer lintels in Thailand and Cambodia 

of about the 7th century AD. One can 

compare, for example, Figure 3a fromPrasat 

Khao Noi (Smitthi et al. 1992: 81); Figure 3b 

fromPrasat Dap (Parmentier 1927: 265,fig.82; 

Benisti 1974: fig. 22); Figure 3c from Sambor 

Prei Kuk, N.21 (Benisti 1970: fig. 69). 

The heavy triangular body-shape of the 

makara on the seal is similar to a 7th century 

AD example (Figure 3d) on the corner of a 

building at Wat Pra Pathom (Dupont 1959: 

Fig. E and p.82) - and although the makara 

here has scales, a fish tail and no trunk, it 

also has a scroll on top of its head. Fragmentary 

makara of about the same date (Figure 

3e) as the last example are among the relief 

carvings on the laterite wall of the pond at 

Dong Si Maha Pot (Lajonquiere 1909: 214, 

fig.10; and Phiraphon Phitsanuphong 1993: 

101-28)2.MostmakaraonlintelsintheSambor 

Prei Kuk style (Figs. 3a-c) are more stylised, 

have heavily patterned bird-shaped bodies 

suggesting scales or feathers - unlike the 

smooth body and naturalistic appearance of 

the creature on the gem. However, confronting 

8th century AD elephant-like makara in a 

Western Chalukyan style Jain temple at 

Aihole are perhaps more comparable (Figure 

3f): their bodies, less patterned, fit into a 

triangular space, they have similar small 


99

S. Middleton 

legs with three-clawed feet, longish trunks 

and a tusk - but their foliate tails are very 

different(Sivaramamurti 1983: fig.l15;compare 

also fig.l16 where the tail coils round 

under the makara). 

The makara on the seal has a long elephant 

trunk turned forward and a tusk or 

incisor (like those in the Sambor Prei Kuk 

style and the Indian examples Figs.3a-c,f). 

This type of trunk (rather than the earlier 

curled back variety) seems to have first appeared 

towards the end of the Amaravati 

period in about the 3rd century AD (Viennot 

1954: pl.4.5) and continues in the Gupta art 

oftheAjanta caves andNorthernindia (c.4th- 

5th century AD). 

The scroll on top of its head is unusual 

and most resembles the scrolls over the eyes 

of makara on the Khmer lintels (Figure 3a) in 

the Sambor Prei Kuk style (mid 7th century 

AD) atPrasatKhaoNoiin Thailand, (Smitthi 

et al.1992: 81) or the rather similar example 

(Figure 3b) in the same style at Prasat Dap in 

Cambodia. Other examples are slightly different 

and have scrolls growing out of large 

round eyes (Marchal1951: 39, fig. 56, Sambor 

Prei Kuk) or the horn-like feature over their 

eyes (Benisti 1970: fig. 96, Thala Borivat). 

Indian examples with horns and scrolls are 

fewer and not very similar. Compare Benisti 

(1970: fig.214, Sivalaya Temple Badami; 

fig.l99, Cave 3, Kanheri)- here the makara 

appears to have feathery tufts behind its 

eye; sometimes the scrolls appear to function 

more as ~ackground filling motifs, for 

example at Aihole (Figure 3f) (Sivaramamurti 

1983: fig.ll5). 

On Khmer lintels the makara are usually 

planted firmly on the ground on large feet 

which support their heavy bodies. Here the 

feet (Figure 3f) are small in comparison but 

resemble those on a lintel oftheuppertemple 

at Shivalaya, Badami, 7th century AD (?) 

(Benisti 1970: fig.214) or the 7th and 8th 

century Jain examples at Aihole (Figure 3£). 

Early makara had a fish tail. The foliate 

tail first appeared in India in about the 6th 

century AD and became very common in 

Southeast Asia. Indian influences had 

reached Southeast Asia in the early centu- 

ries AD but seem to have been greatest 

during the 6th century AD when the foliate 

tail was introduced (see Coral Remusat 1934: 

247). 

The frond-like appearance of this tail is 

perhaps a simplified version of the Sambor 

Prei Kuk, or Prasat Dap style tails (Figures 

3a-c). There is also one of similar style in 

Cave27atAjanta (Benisti 1970:fig.l67). The 

round drill holes in the seal give the same 

effect as the dentil edges of the sculpted 

versions. On Khmer lintels, however, makara 

never have pendant foliate tails, and only 

seldom do the tails fall below the level of the 

creature's feet as they do at Prasat Khao Noi 

and Prasat Dap (Figures 3a-b). The tail ofthe 

makara on the seal trails underneath its body 

- more like the tail on an early 6th century 

AD Gupta makara at Beshnagar, but there 

the large scrolls are very different in style 

(Figure 3g) (Vogel1929-30: pl.35c). Quadruped 

horned monsters, though, have similar 

tails scrolling in two rows of small volutes 

underneath them on a 9th century AD 

Pratihara period temple at Nachna (Snead 

et al. 1989: 190, pl.170). 

Although this elephant-like makara has 

no elephant feet or fish tail and its ears are 

rather small, it shows severalfeatures which 

recall the much earlier elephant-fish types at 

Bharhut and Sanchi. It has a heavy smooth 

body, folds under its chin and even a ring 

round its taillike the example on the 2nd 

century BC medallion from Bharhut (Figure 

3h) (Viennot 1954: pl.1.3; also pl.1.2,4). Like 

the elephants at Bharhut it carries a lotus 

flower in its mouth (Vogel1929-30: fig.l). 

The association between elephants, lotuses 

and water is referred to again on these early 

reliefs where elephant-fish have lotus tendrils 

growing out of their mouths, Figure 3h 

(Viennot 1954: pl.l). A true elephant fish 

appears on a 2nd-1st century BC Indian 

black steatite stamp seal in the British Museum 

(AF 318). 

There appear to be no surviving close 

prototypes (to my knowledge) for this eclectic 

makara combination. The main indicators, 

therefore, for a date and context for this 

gem are the shape and material of the seal 

100 



a 

b 

c 

d 

Figure 4. Gana/horse combination or Ganesha? - Sard intaglio set in a gold ring (c.9th or lOth 

century AD?) a. Intaglio face (ht. 29 x diam. 30 x shoulder 37mm). b. Impression (scale: x 3) c. & d. 

Profile views of ring (29 x 23mm) 

itself, and the makara's foliate tail. If, as 

Malleret suggests, this distinctive group of 

rock crystal seals can be placed in a Funanese 

context (i.e. between the 1st century AD and 

500 AD), and as foliate tails on makara do not 

appear in India earlier than the 6th century 

AD, this seal could perhaps be tentatively 

dated at the earliest to about the 6th or 7th 

century AD. 

A Gana or Ganesha/Horse Combination 

This black-brownsard or onyx (quartz, Si0 2 

; 

Hardness c.6.5) ringstone intaglio (Figure 

4) has a flat face and bevelled edge and 

measures 29 x 23mm; it is set in a filled gold 

ring and the overall measurements are: ht.29 

x diam.30 x 37mm across the widest point at 

the shoulder. It weighs 23.9g. The hoop is 

plano-convex in section but forms a ridge 

on the outside as it expands upwards towards 

the shoulder which finishes in a small 

point where it joins the bezel. The oval 

intaglio is set in a gold band above the level 

of the pointed oval bezel. 

A Gana-like figure (half elephant, half 

dwarf) with pointed foot rides to the left (in 

impression) on his own trunk which has 

turned into a horse's body underneath him 

(Figure 4a-b). The gana has two tusks - the 

far one pointing upwards; he has both hands 

raised above his head holding a tendril(?) 

which follows the contour of the gem and 

frames the motif. He appears to wear only a 

belly band with two tails flying out behind, 

rather than the more usual sampot (no pleats 


101

S. Middleton 

Figure Sa Views of 3rd-1st century BC Greco 

Roman ring, (after Henkel1913: pl.44, no.1101). 

Figure Sb Views of 3rd century AD Roman ring 

(after Henkel1913: pl.ll, no.220). 

or hem are visible). The headless horse kicks 

its right front leg in the air and vegetation 

sprouts from its chest. 

The size and shape of this ring (Figure 4cd) 

is reminiscent oflarge rings of Hellenistic 

and Greco-Roman type of c.3rd-1st century 

BC, Figure Sa (Henkel1913: pl.44, no.l101) 

and compare also a later 3rd century AD 

Roman ring with raised bezel and hoop with 

central ridge, Figure Sb (Henkel1913: pl.11, 

no.220) but its profile, the pointed oval of the 

setting, the ridge on the shoulder and the 

raised oval bezel also relate it closely to the 

shape of the rock crystal stamp seal group 

and related rings described here, Figures 

2b-d (see Malleret 1952: 357, fig.40 for profiles; 

Malleret 1963: pl.4.1-3). 

The gem is in excellent condition and of 

a high quality. The lively and pleasing composition 

and skilled engraving are an indication 

that techniques learnt much earlier in 

India from the west had not been forgotten. 

Wheel drills of different sizes have probably 

been used for hollowing out the large areas 

and a bouterolle or round drill for 'a globolo' 

details of vegetation. Traces of the final polishing 

are shown in fine striations following 

the contours of the body. The style of the 

elephant's head and torso on the ringstone 

resembles early sculptures of Ganesha in 

mainland Southeast Asia and the engraving 

shows a similar naturalism and simplicity. 

Like the early examples the elephant on the 

a 

gem has a high-domed head which is joined 

to its body without a neck; the transition is 

shown instead by a plain band representing 

a roll of flesh (see Brown 1991: 171-233, and 

compare especially the statues of Ganesha 

which date from the late 6th to 8th century 

AD- figs.1, 2 and 18). 

Indian images of Ganesha comparable 

with those from Cambodia and Thailand 

date from about the 5th century AD or earlier 

and so pre-date the Southeast Asian 

versions by about 150 to 200 years. Southeast 

Asian figures of Ganesha (like the gana/ 

horse combination on lintels) usually wear 

the sampot unlike their Indian counterparts 

who are shown unclothed (Brown 1991: 172- 

6 and compare figs. 8 and 9; fig. 8 shows 

Ganesha (Mathura Mus. no.758) wearing 

only a serpent belt, reminiscent of the belly 

band worn by the gana on the gem). 

The monster combination on this 

ringstone is a version of a motif which (like 

the makara) appears on stone lintels in Cambodia 

and Thailand. Ganas (dwarf-like figures) 

were servants of the god Ganesha, but 

this gana/horse combination- rather like a 

centaur - does not appear, to my knowledge, 

in India and is most probably an indigenous 

creation. These lively monsters gallop 

amongst scrolls of foliage at either end of 

lintels - sometimes turning into foliage or 

with only part of the horse's body shown. 

The gana on the ring is a freer version of 

these monsters; he is shown in humorous 

fashion skittishly kicking a leg in the air and 

appears to fend off an invading tendril 

(rather as dancing Ganesha holds a serpent 

over his head) - but vegetation is taking 

over and sprouting from his chest. 

These elephant-headed riders or ganas 

occur quite often on Khmer lintels in Cambodia 

and Thailand, but until 1971 (see 

Lohuizen-de Leeuw 1973: 170-813) they had 

been seldom mentioned and seldom illustrated. 

There has been some uncertainty 

over the identity of these figures and they 

have been variously described as fanciful 

creations, ganas or even Ganesha himself. 

For example: 

a) Lajonquiere illustrates 'cette figure de 

102 



Figures 6a-c Lintel reliefs showing the Canal 

horse combination: 

6a'figure de monstre fantastique' (c.9th century 

AD?), Phum Prasat (no.568), Cambodia 

(Lajonquiere 1911:256, fig.76) 

6b' ... l'elephant (Ganesa?)' Mebon Oriental (lOth 

century AD) Angkor, Cambodia (after Jacques 

1990:75) 

6cGana, Prasat Muang Khaek (9th-10th century 

AD), Thailand (after Smitthi et al. 1992: 94) 

c 

a 

b 

monstre fantastique' on a fragment of a lintel 

(c.8th-9th century AD) from Phum Prasat 

(no.568) in Khet Siemreap, about 30km east 

of Angkor 1 · Figure 6a (Lajonquiere 1911: 

256, fig.76), and describes another nearby at 

Prasat Khla Krahom (254, no.566). 

b) Parmentier, describing the Mebon 

Oriental (AD 952) at Angkor, refers briefly 

to the motif remarking that 'Ces linteaux 

offrent le curieux personnage a tete d' elephant 

chevauchant sa trompe, spirituel motif qui met 

un peu de fantasie parfois dans la monotonie de 

l'art classique' (Parmentier 1919: 62, n.l). 

Figure 6b shows an example from the 

Me bon Oriental illustrated in Jacques 1990: 

75 as 'Elephant (Ganer;a? )'; Lohuizen de 

Leeuw 1973: fig.l45). 

c) Boisselier (1966: 298, n.3) noted that 

the elephant-headed gana (which he says 

should not be confused with Ganesha) appeared 

to have been popular at Preah Ko 

(c.875-893 AD) 1 Bakheng (c.893-935 AD) 1 and 

Pre Rup (947-965 AD) in Cambodia and 

drew attention to the 'curieux arrangements 

de nombreux linteaux au le gana chevauche sa 

trompe transformee plus au mains completement 

en cheval aux extremites de la branche'. 

In Thailand the same gana /horse combination 

motif is also found on either end of 

stone lintels: at Prasat Muang Khaek in Koh 

Ker style, c.940 AD, Figure 6c (Smitthi et al. 

1992: 93-4 (illus.); Suksvasti 1988: 34-5; 

Lohuizen-de Leeuw 1973: fig.l47). These 

Khmer gana figures from Cambodia and 

Thailand resemble each other quite closely, 

gesture in more or less the same way and 

occupy the same position on the lintels; · 

some, though, lack front legs or have hands 

dissolving into foliage. Of these examples, 

only the gana from Phum Prasat 1 Figure 6a 

(Lajonquiere 1911: no.568, fig.76) and another 

on a lintel dated to about the mid lOth 

century from Baksei Chamkrong (Lohuizende 

Leeuw 1973: figs.142-4) are bareheaded 

like the one on the ring; all the others wear 

diadems. 

J. E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw believes the 

elephant-rider combination 'is obviously 

meant to represent Ganesa' (Lohuizen-de 

Leeuw 1973: 177) and illustrates a lintel from 


103

S. Middleton 

the region of Battambang which explains the 

origin of the motif: 'a normal Ganesa riding a 

normal horse' (Lohuizen-de Leeuw1973: 180- 

1, fig.148). The horse (asva) is numbered 

among Ganesha's mounts; Ganesha is described 

in the Ganeshapurana as riding a blue 

horse in his incarnation as Dhumraketa (Martin-Dubost 

1997: 231, 234, 242). However, 

apart from their elephant forms, these riding 

figures on lintels appear to have none of 

Figure 7. Elephant-headed monster wielding a 

baton and riding a tortoise? Prah Theat Prah Srei 

(no.114) (c.9th century AD) Cambodia 

(Lajonquiere 1902: 145, fig.97; and Lohuizen-de 

Leeuw 1973: 177, fig.146). 

Ganesha's attributes - except perhaps the 

example from Baksei Chamkrong if he brandishes 

an ankusa rather than stick or baton as 

the author suggests (Lohuizen-de Leeuw 

1973:177-8, figs.143-4). AlintelatPrah Theat 

PrahSreiin Thbong Province shows a related 

motif: an elephant-headed monster wielding 

a baton and also riding its own trunk; but 

here the trunk turns into a turtle which has its 

head at the rear, Figure 7 (Lajonquiere 1902: 

145, no.114, fig.97); van Lohuizen de Leeuw 

suggests that Lajonquiere's sketch is inaccurate 

and that he mistook the horse's tail here 

for a turtle's head (Lohuizen-de Leeuw 1973: 

177, fig.146). It seems probable that the elephant-rider 

/horse combination (which must 

have developed from the gana or Ganesha 

riding a normal horse) is intended to represent 

Ganesha. 

The iconography of Ganesha underwent 

various changes in Cambodia and indigenous 

inventions appeared which do not 

seem to occur in India - such as the divine 

triad with Shiva on a lion, Skanda on a 

peacock and Ganesha on an elephant (Indra' s 

vehicle) carved on a lOth century AD stone 

stele(Brown 1991: 184-5,fig.20);and then, in 

a later development, on two small bronze 

triads (dated 12th and 13th century AD) 

Ganesha is shown in pure human form riding 

his elephant (Brown, ibid., figs.22-3). In India 

he usually rides a rat but he has a number 

of other vehicles, including the elephant 

and horse (Martin-Dubost 1997: 231). 

The gana or Ganesha/horse combination 

often appears on the ends of lintels in association 

with Indra as the central motif on his 

(usually three-headed) elephant, Airavata; 

or with Vishnu Vamanavatara on a lintel at 

PrasatMuangi


the plant here be a stylised and simplified 

representation of the parijata flower; perhaps 

a local addition to Ganesha' s attributes 

based on the myth? If so, it could be considered 

as a symbol of the transference of power 

from Indra to Ganesha. Or is he just fending 

off the invading foliage? 

Just as Ganesha sometimes rides Indra's 

elephant vehicle, so the gana or Ganesha/ 

horse combination sometimes holds Indra' s 

truncheon (see Suksvasti 1987: 86-7; and 

compare Lohuizen-de Leeuw 1973: figs.l42- 

4, 146). Indra, an ancient Vedic god was 

'Hurler of the Thunderbolt', and god of the 

sky and rain. It has been pointed out that 

Indra as the rain-giver had a particularly 

important place in Khmer culture - especially 

in the arid areas of Cambodia and 

Northeast Thailand. The links between 

Ganesha, Indra and the gana/horse combination 

seem clear; and if the tendril on the 

intaglio represents the parijata flower, it 

would support the theory that the elephantrider 

/horse combination is intended to represent 

Ganesha. 

On both the rock crystal stamp-seal (Figure 

1) and on this ringstone it appears there 

is an allusion to the association between the 

elephant, water and fertility. The lintels with 

the gana or Ganesha/horse combinations6 

are dated to the 9th and lOth centuries AD 

and perhaps a similar date should be suggested 

for the ring. 

Notes 

1. A number of ovoid (as well as conoid) rock 

crystal perforated stamp-seals with convex 

backs from Ta Keo (Ta Kev) have recently 

come to my notice. These gems appear related 

to the distinctive group described here 

but should perhaps be dated slightly later. 

They are similar in shape but none has the 

intaglio on a raised oval surface surrounded 

by a bevelled or stepped edge (described by 

Malleret as an 'etroit chanfrein anterieur') 

which is usual on the rock crystals from Oc 

Eo; also, edges round the engraved surfaces 

and the ridges along the backs of the gems 

appear more rounded. Divinities and dancing 

figures seem more usual but a few have 

motifs similar to those from Oc Eo: for example, 

a two-sided rock crystal tabloid pendant 

has a female(?) figure (an ascetic?) seated 

in maharajalilasana position (engraved in similar 

fashion to the figures on the Oc Eo gems) 

with staff in his/her right hand on one side, 

and a running zebu on the other side. A 

number of seals of this type (also from Ta Keo 

but mostly smokey quartz) and dated 7th- 

13th century AD are illustrated in Spink 1997: 

101. 

2. Henry Ginsburg kindly looked through this 

article for me and translated the title. 

3. I am very grateful to Robert L. Brown for 

drawing my attention to this article by J. E. 

van Lohuizen-de Leeuw. 

4. I am also grateful to J. L. Brockington for 

checking the Sanskrit text. 

5. There seems to be some uncertainty over the 

identity of the parijata flower: parijata is translated 

as 'mandara or Coral tree' (Monier Williams 

1964: 620) although in other publications 

the two plants are given quite different 

botanical names. This is one of the five trees 

in Indra's paradise. 

6. The motif appears to have spread from Cambodia 

to Java where it appears slightly later 

on a stone gargoyle (11th-13th century AD), 

a relief (13th-15th century AD), and bronze 

lamps (c. 14th or 15th century AD). See 

Lohuizen-de Leeuw 1973, figs:139-41. 


I should like to thank Tom and Danielle 

White for their help and cooperation in 

allowing me to publish these items in their 

collection. I am also grateful to Professor Sir 

John Boardman for encouraging me to write 

this article, reading the text and making 

some useful suggestions. Any omissions or 

errors, however, are my own. The photographs 

are by Robert Wilkins. 

References 

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et l' art indien. Paris: EFEO. 

Benisti, M.1974. Recherches sur le premier art 

Khmer (vi). Linteux inedits et linteux 

inconnus. Arts Asiatiques 30: 131-72. 

Boardman, J. 1986. The Ketos in India. Bulletin de 

correspondance hellenique, supp1.14: 447-53. 

Boisselier, J. 1966. Le Cambodge. Paris: A. &. J. 


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S. Middleton 

Picard. 

Briggs, L.P. 1951. The Ancient Khmer Empire. Philadelphia: 

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Brown, Robert, L. 1991. Ganesa in Southeast Asian 

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in Ganesh- Studies of an Asian God 

(ed. R.L. Brown) Albany: States University of 

New York Press. 

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des linteaux de l'Inde Pallava et des 

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asiatiques 8: 242-50. 

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Rheinlande und der benachbarten Gebiete. Berlin: 

G. Riemer. 

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Paris: EFEO. 

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81 

Malleret, L. 1951. Apen;u de Ia glyptique d'Oc 

Eo. Bulletin de /'Ecole Franqaise d'Extreme-Orient 

44 (i): 189-99. 

Malleret, L. 1952. Intailles et cachets anciens du 

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/'Ecole Franqaise d'Extreme-Orient 51: 99-116. 

Marchal, H. 1951. Le decor et Ia sculpture khmers. 

Paris: Vanoest. 

Martin-Dubost, P.1997. Ganesa, the Enchanter of 

the Three Worlds. Mumbai: Project for Indian 

Cultural Studies, Publication 6. 

Monier Williams, M. 1964. A Sanskrit-English 

Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Parmentier, H.1919. L' Art de Indravarman. Bulletin 

de /'Ecole Franqaise d'Extreme-Orient 19: 1- 

98. 

Parmentier, H. 1927. L'Art khmer primitif. Paris: 

EFEO. 

Phirphon Phitsanuphong 1993. Phap salak nun 

tam thi kho'p sa kaeo Tambon Khokbip 

amphoe Simahapho changwat Prachinburi 

(Low relief incised pictures at the edge of the 

pond at Khokbip, Simahapho District, 

Prachinburi Province) Silpakorn 36 (3): 101- 

28; and 127, fig.l.N2 etc.). 

Sax, M. and Meeks, N.D. 1995. Methods of engraving 

Mesopotamian quartz cylinder seals. 

Archeometry 37 (1): 25-36. 

Sivaramamurti, C. 1983. Panorama of Jain Art. 

New Delhi: Times of India. 

Smitthi Siribhadra, Moore, E. and Freeman, M. 

1992. Palaces of the Gods; Khmer Art and Architecture 

in Thailand. London: River Books. 

Snead, S., Doniger, W. and Michell, G. 1989. 

Animals in Four Worlds; Sculptures from India. 

Chicago & London: University of Chicago 

Press. 

Spink, M 1997. A Divine Art. Sculpture of South 

East Asia. London: Spinks Exhibition Catalogue. 

Suksvasti, M.R. Suriyavudh 1987. Iconography 

of a Man sitting in Maharajlilasana Position 

above the Kala in Khmer Art. Muang Baran 13 

(1): 86-7. 

Suksvasti, M.R. Suriyavudh 1988. Stone Lintels in 

Thailand. Bangkok: Muang Boran. 

Viennot, 0. 1954. Typologie du makara et essai 

de chronologie. Arts Asiatiques (1): 189-208. 

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de l'Inde. Revue des Arts Asiatiques (6): 133-47. 

KEYWORDS - ENGRAVED GEMS, IN 

TAGLI SEALS, ROCK-CRYSTAL, 

MAKARA, GANA, GANESA, CAMBO 

DIA, INDIA 

106 


CIRCULAR SITES AT ANGKOR: 

A RADAR SCATTERING MODEL 

Elizabeth H. Moore* 

and 

Anthony Freeman** 

Abstract 

The paper describes the use of radar data to detect curvilinear patterns around 

circular mounds in the Angkor region. The radar data was acquired with 

equipment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory. A three-component scattering model is used to assess 

the presence of water at mound sites. The sensitivity of the radar allows 

detection of inundated areas covered by low-growing vegetation which are not 

apparent on optical imagery. The patterns are compared to comparable sites in 

Northeast Thailand, and used to suggest a similar prehistoric tradition of 

Khmer water management. 

The city of Angkor exploited waters 

flowing down from the Kulen Hills, a 

Khmer expertise which grew out of an earlier 

tradition of water management control 

in periods of flood and conservation during 

the dry season. Vestiges of this tradition are 

detectable on images generated from data 

acquired by the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration/} et Propulsion Laboratory 

(NASA/JPL) radar instrument, the 

Space Imaging Radar version C, Synthetic 

Aperture Radar carrying the X-Band (SIR 

C/X-SAR). The NASA/JPL SIR-C/X-SAR 

data was obtained when the instrument 

was carried on space shuttle Endeavour. 

The instrument was turned on over Angkor 

on 30 September 1994 during the 15th orbit 

of Endeavour. 

Radar data from three scattering mechanisms 

form curvilinear patterns which are 

described here for eleven mound sites in the 

Angkor region. The sites average 200 metres 

in diameter and are located at elevations 

between 11 and 23 metres above sea level. 

The curvilinear patterns do not necessarily 

*School of Oriental and African Studies, University 

of London, WC1, UK. 

**Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, USA. 

Introduction 

enclose the mound but are sectors, the locations 

of which may relate to slope and drainage. 

It is suggested that these patterns are 

man-made moats and dikes, remnants of 

pre-Angkorean (pre-9th century AD) Khmer 

water management. 

Archaeological applications of the 

NASA/JPL radar have principally been 

conducted in arid regions. These have detected 

earlier man-made linear features (e.g. 

roads at Ubar and along the Silk Road), or 

climatic changes affecting habitation (such 

as desiccated subsurface water channels in 

the Safsaf Egyptian desert). Subsurface detection 

relies on an absence of ground level 

moisture and vegetation, allowing shorter 

and long~r wavelengths (X-Band [3 em], C 

Band [6 em], L-Band [23 em]) to sense variations 

in the soil's dielectric constant which 

may be characteristic of former river beds. 

At Angkor, stratigraphic interpretation is 

not completely precluded, as the radar backscatter 

presents hydrological patterns of 

different chronological periods. However, 

the greatest potential is the discrimination 

of surface variations resulting from the 

radar's sensitivity to moisture and vegetation. 

Initial examination of Angkor using ra- 


107

E. Moore and A. Freeman 

Figure 1. Colour composite of the Angkor floodplain. This colour composite is made up of data at 

L-Band and C-Band. The data in the green channel was sent from the radar antennae polarised 

horizontally and was returned to the satellite polarised vertically. This is referred to as Lhv. This 

green band dominates M t. Kulen, highlighting relief on interior parts. Data courtesy of NASA/ JPL. 

108 Journa l of The Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2


0 Chau Srei Vibol 

-- Ancient Khmer road 

= Modern road 

e Modern town 

0 

0 10 km 

Figure 2. Diagram of Angkor area. The map shows the Puok, Central Angkor, and Hariharalaya 

sectors discussed in the tex t. 

dar was of an image with data displayed in 

red, green and blue channels to form a 

colour composite (Figure 1). The Angkor 

floodplain may be separated into three sectors 

from west to east: Puok, Central 

Angkor and Hariharalaya (Figure 2). The 

central part of the image has both light and 

dark areas. The light areas are vegetated, 

which gives a high or 'bright' radar return. 

These contrast with black rectangles, water 

tanks, where the radar signal has diffusely 

scattered off a smooth surface, giving a low 

or 'dark' radar return. Other rectilinear features, 

either water control devices or temple 

enclosures, are also visible on the image. 

Further study of the radar data from 

Angkor included examination of images 

produced from the many possible polarization 

representations of the data. It seemed 

pertinent to attempt to link sea ttering mechanisms 

to man-made and natural features at 

Angkor. However, developmental generalizations 

were questionable given the large 

number of input parameters: man-made 

archaeological features such as prehistoric 

mounds, barays, linear dikes, roads, temple 

enceintes; natural elements (rivers, streams, 

fares t); and agricultural land like rice paddy, 

a range of other crops and forest fellings. 

The available literature which offer explanations 

of particular polarimetric signatures 

are mathematically based, sometimes yielding 

combinations of three scattering matrices. 

These, however, are difficult to relate to 

physical sea ttering models, and in turn to 

the landscape of Angkor. Polarimetric radar 

data has received much attention in 

recent literature, with discussion of its classifi 

ca tion, decomposition and modelling. 

However, many models of polarimetric radar 

backscatter have a larger number of 

terrain input parameters than the radar 


109


Figure 3. Scattering mechanism image of central Angkor at L-Band. 



Figure 4. Scattering mechanism image of central Angkor at C-Band. Referring to Figure 2, two 

tanks within Angkor Thom appear black at L-Band but are red at C-Band. The double-bounce, 

displayed in the red channel, is greater at C-Band than at L-Band. This suggests low-growing 

vegetation in an inundated area. Low-growing vegetation is also seen in the northeastern corner of 

the West Baray. Data courtesy of NASA/JPL. 


E. Moore and A Freeman 

Figure 5. L-Band scattering model image of Lovea-Phum Reul area. 



Figure 6. C-Band scattering model image of Lovea-Phum Reul area. The U-shaped dike midway 

between Lovea and Phum Reul is visible on both C-Band and L-Band images. The circular mound 

of Phum Reul is on the northeast of the larger circle of canopy return seen at L-Band and at C-Band. 

This larger circle is seen on the bend of the modern road, marked on Figure 2. To the west of the road, 

the terrain appears black at L-Band, but in the C-Band sca ttering model shows various types oflandcover, 

probably a combination of rice field and garden crop cultivation. The bulge of the alluvial fan 

northeast of the modern road and Phum Reul is defined at both C-Band and L-Band, although the 

greater penetration of the canopy at the longer L-Band has distinguished both bare (blue) and 

double-bounce (red) areas within the ca nopy (green). This is also apparent at C-Band but the shorter 

wavelength means that the data is predominantly a reflection of the tops of the trees. Data courtesy 

of NASA/JPL. 



measurement output parameters. For example 

in a forested area inputs might include 

trunk dielectric constants, ground 

roughness and dielectric constant, branch 

size and angular distribution, measurements 

of tree heights and diameters, and 

tree density. Complex models have therefore 

been developed which incorporate large 

numbers of variables. These models are 

predictive, capable of solving a 'forward' 

search for polarimetric signatures assigned 

to variables in a given area. However, it is 

difficult, if not impossible, to invert these 

models to provide initial interpretation and 

identification of signatures. This dilemma, 

seen at Angkor, has been a major problem 

in analyzing the radar data. 

Scattering mechanism model 

The model used in this paper classifies polarimetric 

radar observations in relation to 

three scattering mechanisms, the behaviour 

of the radar signal when it hits the terrain. 

(Freeman and Durden 1992; N orikane and 

Freeman 1993.) These are double-bounce 

scatter from a pair of orthogonal surfaces 

with different dielectric constants, volume 

or canopy scatter from a cloud of randomly 

oriented dipoles, and Bragg, odd or surface 

scatter from a moderately rough surface. In 

the L-Band and C-Band images generated 

using this model these mechanisms were 

displayed in the red, green and blue channels 

respectively (Figures 3 and 4). While 

the model has had various applications, it 

has not been applied in Southeast Asia, and 

not in relation to archaeological investigation 

of the terrain. 

Previous applications of the model have 

included a tropical rain forest in Belize; a 

boreal forest site in Alaska; an arid semidesert 

site in Wyoming. The most relevant 

ofthese to Angkor is the Belize study, where 

a land-cover classification was derived for 

an area measuring 12.3 x 12.6 km. The results 

of the study showed that the model 

could be used to the first order to determine 

the dominant scattering mechanisms for 

observed backscatter in polarimetric radar 

data. This in turn allowed assessment of the 

fit of the model for the different land-cover 

types to the surface, volume and doublebounce 

components. These proved useful 

in differentiating between different surface 

cover types, as well as monitoring changes 

in surface cover. 

The same potential is seen in applying 

the model to Angkor where classification of 

land-cover is fundamental in understanding 

terrain and hydrological preferences for 

prehistoric and historic settlements and 

water management structures. Decomposition 

of the radar signatures or measurements 

into different scattering mechanisms 

allows the observer to differentiate between 

different landforms. For example, terra firma 

in the form of raised dikes and mounds can 

be separated from areas prone to flooding. 

Rice paddies can be differentiated from areas 

overgrown with denser vegetation. Circular 

'moats' and linear-form canals can be 

detected by the effect of water on the radar 

signature, when present beneath a layer of 

vegetation or with no vegetation cover. 

Puok-Mokak mounds 

In the study of early water management in 

the region of Angkor, the richest-distribution 

of sites is found to the west of the 

historical urban area, north of the present 

town of Puok (Figure 2). These sites extend 

northward some twenty-five kilometres to 

Mokak, and beyond. The Puok and Mokak 

mound sites are located along the limits of 

an alluvial fan spreading southwest from 

the Kulen massif. Within what appears to 

be an ancient river bed forming the Puok 

Mokak 'corridor', these slightly raised 

mounds- now just off the edge of the alluvial 

fan- were isolated through a combination 

of processes. These included gradual 

erosion and downcutting of water along the 

edge of the alluvial fan (north to south and 

northeast to southwest), continued deposition 

of sediment, and aeolian action. 

The Puok-Mokak fan is separated in its 

southern portions by remnant streams flowing 

northeast-southwest. These diffuse the 

114 



margins of the terrace in contrast to the 

clear perimeter of the northern bulge. This 

pattern is repeated to the east of the Roluos 

River, but rotated vertically, so that the 

more clearly delimited portions are to the 

south. The temple of Chau Srei Vibol rests 

on the western edge of one of these. As with 

the Puok area to the west, this combination 

of canopy and more inundated drainage 

areas presents a hospitable zone for prehistoric 

occupation. One of three dikes containing 

Angkor period kilns has been reported 

in this area, southeast of Chau Srei 

Vibol. It is possible that the Indratataka 

takes advantage of another of these terraceriver 

interfaces. However, the later building 

of the East Baray, as well as the diversion 

of the Stung Siem Reap, have dramatically 

altered the hydrology of the 

Hariharalaya area (Moore 1998). 

Isolated patches, today village mounds, 

are generally located west and south of the 

main spread of the alluvium. Only one, 

Lovea, is seen as moated on aerial photographs 

and SPOT images. On scenes generated 

from the radar data, other mounds 

appear moated. These sites benefited from 

the slope of the land, with pooled water 

around the perimeter of the mound. Manmade 

moats in some. cases exploited this 

collection process, acting as diversionary 

structures during times of inundation. 

The southern portion of the Puok valley 

is of particular interest, as the ancient course 

of the Stung Siem Reap flowed into this 

area. Clear evidence of this can be seen on 

the SIR-C images. There is a roughness in 

the radar return, with contrasting areas of 

canopy and smoother, inundated rice fields. 

The northeast-southwest flow of water here 

in former times is also demonstrated by the 

U-shaped dike located midway between 

the mound sites of Phum Reul and Lovea. 

Lovea, however, is also-and perhaps more 

closely - associated with a more homogeneous 

portion of alluvium to the north 

(Figures 5 and 6). 

Angkor and Northeast Thailand 

All of the eleven sites where curvilinear 

patterns were studied are circular mounds; 

some are inhabited; all are rural. Their westeast 

distribution extends some 30 km, from 

Phum Reuland Lovea on the west to Phum 

Stung on the west. The most northerly site, 

Mokak, is 15 km north of Phum Reul (Figure 

2). These circular mounds are comparable 

to sites in Northeast Thailand. The 

curvilinear patterns visible on images generated 

from the radar data are similar in 

form to moats and earthworks which surround 

the mounds in Northeast Thailand 

(Moore 1988, 1989, 1992b). With some exceptions, 

the moats of the Angkor sites are 

vestigial, not typically apparent on the 

ground, nor visible on optical imagery. 

As suggested by the inclusion of nine 

out of eleven sites in this region, the Puok 

area west of Angkor has proved the richest 

for the present study. The sites are similar in 

size to many of the mounds of Northeast 

Thailand. There, mound size is not linked to 

number of earthworks: Ban Takhong, Buri 

Ram province (15.13°n x 103.20°e), is 250 

metres in diameter and has three earthworks 

(Moore 1992a). Multiple earthworks are not, 

however, generally associated with floodplain 

sites of Northeast Thailand, and to 

date it is floodplain sites which have been 

investigated in the Angkor region. (For a 

description of the sites, see Note 1.) 

Study of curvilinear patterns: method 

Although curvilinear patterns are visible 

on radar colour composites, picture element 

points (pixels) were selected from L 

Band scattering images to focus on the 

double-bounce, canopy and odd scattering 

mechanisms. Points were selected where 

they formed patterns around the generally 

higher volume return of the central mound, 

and tabulated by geographical sector. They 

were then averaged (see Note 2) to give six 

measures for each site, expressed in decibels 

(dB). Table 1 separates volume, odd 

and double-bounce for the mounds, com- 


115


paring results for the scattering model at C 

Band and L-Band. A number of sites have 

an additional exterior 'ring', or fragmented 

curves, probably remnant earthworks. 

A total of 20 to 28 pixels were measured 

for each site. Inmost cases the pattern formed 

a single row, although there were some 

parts of the curves that widened to two 

pixels. Given a resolution of approximately 

25 metres per pixel for the data, this width 

approximated the width of the visible moat 

at Lovea, and also the average of thirty 

metres for the moats of Northeast Thai sites 

(Moore 1988). The variation in the measurements 

provides a remarkably sensitive indicator 

for ground verification of moats. 

Each mound, like those in Northeast Thailand, 

is unique. Any man-made alterations 

such as moats utilise the mound contours, 

available water, and the slope of the terrain. 

Comparison volume, odd, doublebounce 

return 

The volume return was generally brighter 

at C-Band than at L-Band, although there 

was variation in both. The standard deviation 

for the C-Band volume was less than 

that for the L-Band volume [ +0.91 versus 

+2.38]. A higher return for C-volume than 

L-volume may suggest low growing vegetation 

over moist or inundated areas, which 

might explain why the moats are not easily 

seen during ground survey (Note 3). The 

odd return was not as consistent, at times 

being nearly the same, and at others the C 

Band or L-Band exceeding the other. The 

averages for the sites at both bands had the 

highest standard deviation of the three scattering 

mechanisms [+4.0 for C-Band and 

+4.2 for L-Band- see Note 4). As with the 

volume return, a high or bright reading for 

the double-bounce at C-Band but not at L 

Band may suggest low growing vegetation 

over moist soil or water (Note 5). In many 

cases, however, the difference between the 

two wavelengths for the double-bounce was 

small. 

Interpretation of the results from all 

eleven moats at the mound sites (Table 1) 

shows that C-Band volume scatter is relatively 

high {>-7.5 dB) for all sites. In all 

cases, the volume scatter exceeds the odd or 

double-bounce. Taken together, in comparison 

with data from other tropical sites, these 

suggest the presence of vegetation in the 

moats. The nature of this vegetation may be 

assessed through variations in the L-Band 

volume scatter, usually indicative of different 

vegetation canopy height/ density or 

biomass (Note 1 6). 

The high percentage of volume scatter at 

both L-Band and C-Band suggests woodland 

or forest (i.e. dense vegetation cover), 

Mound C-volume L-volume 

Reul -6.0 -9.9 

Love a -7.0 -14.9 

TreiNhor -4.8 -9.8 

Mokak -7.5 -16.6 

TaSaom -5.4 -15.4 

Tonle Sa -6.6 -15.3 

Chakrey -7.0 -13.9 

Pongro -7.3 -15.0 

NokorPheas -5.4 -13.5 

ODek -7.2 -16.6 

Stung -6.1 -12.2 

Mean -6.4 -13.9 

C-odd L-odd C-double L-double 

-16.1 -19.3 -16.6 -17.0 

-24.6 23.7 -20.3 -12.8 

-11.5 -16.0 -12.3 -11.6 

-14.9 -21.7 -11.4 -18.3 

-17.3 -16.6 -15.3 -10.5 

-19.2 -17.0 -15.6 -11.0 

-15.6 -23.7 -11.6 -14.6 

-16.4 -23.8 -9.4 -13.8 

-23.5 -14.7 -19.1 -14.5 

-17.7 -13.2 -19.9 -18.9 

-12.8 -13.1 -18.8 -18.1 

-17.2 -18.4 -15.5 -14.6 

Table l.Average return (in decibels) of curvilinear patterns for volume, odd and double-bounce at 

C-Band and L-Band 



with no underlying water, as there is comparatively 

little double-bounce (Note 7). 

Overall, this suggests terra firma; earthworks, 

with low vegetation cover and moderate 

vegetation cover. Some sites have a greater 

(brighter) L-double than L-volume (- 2) and 

less (darker) L-odd than L-volume or L 

double, which due to the high L-double, 

indicates strongly the presence of water 

underneath the vegetation canopy (see Note 

8). 

Conclusion 

Study of curvilinear patterns on images 

generated from the radar data interpreted 

as remnants of earlier moats at the Angkor 

mound sites. Also in some cases, the radar 

data indicates the presence of terra firma, 

which is likely to take the form of (possible 

prehistoric) dikes at these sites. These results 

await verification by field or aerial 

surveys. 

Analysis of the many archaeological features 

of the Angkor site require a repertoire 

of techniques which thrive on rather than 

shy away from the immense quantity of 

data obtained by the NASA/JPL SIR-C/X 

SARradarinstrument(Note9).Atthesame 

time, when faced with the huge volume of 

data, it is difficult to know which variations 

will provide the most useful insights. Even 

when single attribute variations are incorporated 

into correlations, and those into a 

matrix of correlations, the variables remain 

too numerous to provide a simple interpretation 

of their relationship. Another approach 

to the data is through modelling, 

such as the example employed here, which 

fits three scattering mechanisms to polarimetric 

radar observations. 

The focus is on water management features 

of the prehistoric landscape where 

images processed from the SAR data depart 

unequivocally from optical images. The 

natural and man-made features at Angkor 

which are relevant to the ancient city fully 

exploit the sensitivity of polarimetric SAR 

radar, not only to moisture but all contributors 

to the biomass. Many factors contrib- 

uted to the present vegetation and hydrology 

of Angkor: the formation of mounds, 

diversion of river courses, the siting of 

temples, moats, dikes, and barays. It has not 

been possible, however, to generate a developmental 

or conceptual paradigm to 

explain fundamental aspects of Angkor such 

as the conservation and control of water. 

There is no generally accepted geographical 

and hydrological history of the city, 

despite years of excellent scholarship investigating 

the urban zone and its remains. 

Yet it is commonly agreed that there exists 

an intimate relationship between those remains 

and elements such as vegetation and 

moisture. In the use of microwave remote 

sensing to study this relationship, new understanding 

is brought to the critical transition 

from village to city through exploitation 

of water resources to alter the terrain. 

The succession of royal structures at Angkor 

are often presented as the height of Khmer 

culture and innovation. However, in the 

earlier transition from village to city change 

was equally if not more radical. 


Many people and organizations have 

made this research possible. In particular 

I express my gratitude to the Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory, APSARA [Authorite 

pour la Protection d u Site et 

L' Amemangement de la Region d' Angkor] 

(Cambodia), the Royal Angkor Foundation 

(Budapest), the World Monuments 

Fund (New York), the School of Oriental 

and African Studies, and the British Academy. 

Notes 

1. Description of mounds: 

Mokak sites 

Mokak (13.39n x 103.42e) appears on aerial photographs 

to have water management structures 

on its northeast side, whereas the majority of 

sites show a stronger indication of water control 

on the downslope side, the southwest. How- 


117


ever, there is an Angkor period tank, and a clear 

northeast to southwest flow of water. 

Sala Khum Ta Saom (13.39n x 103.41) presents 

a very circular appearance with a continuous 

moat and an outer earthwork. An area 500 

metres north of Phum Ka Ro Lum also shows 

traces of a moat. It is one kilometre west of Ta 

Saom, on the opposite bank of the stream running 

northeast to southwest. 

Phum Tonie Sa (13.38n x 103.43e) and Phum 

Pongro (2) (13.37n x 103.43e) are four kilometres 

south east of Mokak. On 1954 French aerial 

photographs Phum Tonie Sa presents clear evidence 

of water pooling on the south of the 

mound. An additional barrage and small tank 

are located to the northeast. At Pongro, the outer 

perimeter of a band of rice fields encircling the 

mound suggests that remnants of an earthwork 

remain. Phum Romiet, 2.5 kilometres northeast 

of Phum Pongro, also shows evidence of a moat, 

but was not included in the data processed for 

the present study. 

Phum Chruoy Chakrey (13.36n x 103.42e) 

and a site 500 metres north east of Phum Nokor 

Pheas (13.36n x 1 03.43e) parallel the main northsouth 

road (Rte. 671) at the same latitude, on the 

west and east respectively. Nokor Pheas appears 

to be uninhabited, although 1:50,000 maps 

do note a temple. It forms a 'bridge' across the 

south end of a northeast-southwest inundated 

strip, possibly a former streambed. In this context, 

it-and all the sites on the Mokak and Puok 

scenes except Chakrey- conform to the pattern 

of being slightly isolated from the main spread 

of alluvium. Chakrey's hydrological relationship 

is to Mokak and Ta Saom to the north. 

Puok sites 

Phum Trei Nhor (13.34n x 1 03.43e) is 3 kilometres 

further south along the road. As with Nokor 

Pheas and Phum Chakrey, there is a parallel site 

on the west of the road, Phum Thipdei, although 

it was not included in the present study. 

Phum Reul (2) (13.33n x 103.44e) is initially 

difficult to distinguish on images generated from 

the radar data. The mound, like that of Trei 

Nhor, is nestled close to the edge of the alluvium. 

However, the backscatter from the mound 

is merged with return from three to four villages 

to the south and south west of the mound. The 

most southerly of these may have an inundated 

area on its southwestern perimeter. Thus what 

initially seems a contiguous mass is several different 

areas. Further verification is needed for 

the diameter of Reul: measured as 200 metres, 

ground check in December 1996 and April1997 

suggests the mound is larger. 

The Lovea mound (13.28n x 103.43e) is recorded 

as being the largest of the sites with a 

diameter of 350 metres. Further ground survey, 

however, may reduce this. For example, the 

present monastery, east of the site, may not have 

formed part of the original mound. On the other 

hand, Lovea remains unique in the visible remnants 

of two earthworks, which may be a reflection 

of an importance accorded to its size. Other 

interesting aspects of the site are the U-shaped 

bund or dike midway between Phum Reuland 

Lovea, the canal running north from the site, the 

east-west dike north of the site, and the large 

rectangular baray to the south. 

Hariharalaya sites 

Phum Stung (13.22n x 103.45e). The mound was 

visited several times, between December 1992 

and April1995. An exterior earthwork is faintly 

visible at Phum Stung on aerial photographs 

[most visibly on the 1945 Williams-Hunt Collection, 

somewhat on the French 1954 1:40,000 

cover]. Moat remnants were confirmed on the 

ground on the east and west sides of the mound. 

The mound is largely uninhabited, with parts 

given over to upland crops. A stone tool was 

recovered from a cornfield, along with a few 

pottery sherds (Moore 1997). 

0 Dek (0 Spean Dek or Kaek, 13.22n x 

103.57e) appears quite clearly on aerial photographs 

as a mound nestled in a curve of a small 

stream. Ground survey (not yet possible due to 

securityproblems)mayconfirmasmallermound 

diameter than recorded (300 metres). 

2. The measurements were taken from files generated 

by A. Freeman. The data was transformed 

from a 1-254 scale to decibels with Excel, using 

the formula: 10*LOG10 ((255 -C27)*0.0039212 + 

0.0001). The decibel measurements were then 

averaged per sector and as a whole. 

3. Sites of particular interest to check in this 

regard would beTa Saom and 0 Dek, although 

they are difficult to access. Lovea, more accessible, 

could be checked on the southwest sector 

where the C-volume and L-volume difference 

was quite high [ -6.3 versus -22.4], and then compared 

to other sectors, such as the southeast or 

northwest where the difference is less [ -6.5 versus 

-11.7, and -7.7 versus -12.7]. 

4. Only at Nokor Pheas was the L-odd much 

brighter than the C-odd [-14.7 versus -23.5]. In 

comparing the odd and double-bounce return, 

118 



many C-Band returns were similar. Pongro was 

an exception with a double-bounce return of -9.4 

but only -18.4 for the C-Band odd. This was the 

case for all four sectors of Pongro, although the 

difference was the greatest in the southwest 

sector [-13.6 versus -4.7]. 

5. This was the case at Mokak, where a bright C 

return and dark L-return were seen on average 

for all three scattering mechanisms. At Ta Sa om 

the L-Band return was less [-15.3] than the C 

Band [-10.5]. AtTonleSa the double-bounce was 

-15.6 at C-Band and -11.0 at L-Band. But at 

Lovea, the L-Band was much brighter than the 

C-Band [-12.8 versus -20.3]. Recalling the much 

brighter C-Band return for volume in the southwest 

sector of Lovea, it is of note that the doublebounce 

difference was primarily generated by 

the data from the southwest sector: the C-Band 

return was only -27.6 while the L-Band was -8.3. 

Mokak and Pongro provided the most consistency, 

with all or nearly all sectors having 

brighter C-Band than L-Band returns for volume 

and double-bounce. 

6. The moat at Phum Reul, for example, has: 

C-volume = -6.0 dB 

C-double = -16.6 dB 

C-odd = -16.1 dB 

L-volume -9.9 dB 

L-double = -19.3 dB 

L-odd = -17.0 dB 

7. When Phum Reul is compared to the other 

moats by comparing the relative levels of doublebounce, 

volume and odd-bounce scattering in 

each frequency band it can be seen that the sites 

vary. For example, Phum Trei Nhor has: 

C-volume = -4.8 dB L-volume = -9.8 dB 

C-double = -12.3 dB L-double = -11.6 dB 

C-odd = -11.5 dB L-odd = -16.0 dB 

These figures indicate, relative to Phum Reul, 

that Trei Nhor has a greater amount of dense 

vegetation over water in the moat. Both 0 Dek 

and Phum Stung, have a relatively high L-odd 

(--13 dB) and low L-volume (-16.6 dB) and moderate 

L-volume (-12.2 dB) respectively. 

December 1996, as part of the NASA/JPL Pacific 

Rim Campaign. The AIRSAR equipment included 

P-band (68 em) in addition to C-band 

and L-band, and the ability to process data in 

polarimetric (POLSAR) and topometric 

(TOPSAR) modes. 

References 

Freeman, A. and Durden. S. 1992. A three-component 

scattering model to describe polarimetric 

SAR Data. SPIE 1748, Radar Polarimetry: 

213-24. 

Norikane, L. and Freeman, A. 1993. User's Guide 

to MacSigma. 

Moore, E. H. 1988. Moated Sites in Early North East 

Thailand. Oxford: BAR International Series 

400. 

Moore, E. H. 1989. Water management in Early 

Cambodia: Evidence from Aerial Photography. 

The Geographical Journal155 (2): 204-14. 

Moore, E. H. 1992a. Water-enclosed Sites: links 

between Ban Takhong, Northeast Thailand, 

and Cambodia. In Rigg. J.(ed.) The Gift of 

Water, Water Management, Cosmology and the 

State in South East Asia, pp. 26-46. SOAS: 

University of London. 

Moore, E. H. 1992b. Moated settlement in the 

Mun Basin. In Glover, I. & E. (eds) Southeast 

Asian Archaeology 1986, pp.210-22. Oxford: 

BAR International Series, 361. 

Moore, E. H. 1997. The prehistoric habitation of 

Angkor. In Manguin, P.-Y. (ed.), Southeast 

Asian Archaeology 1994, Vol. 1. Hull: Centre 

for South-East Asian Studies, pp. 27-36. 

Moore, E. H. 1998. The East Baray: Khmer water 

management at Angkor. Journal of Southeast 

Asian Architecture, University of Singapore, 

(Forthcoming) 

KEYWORDS - CAMBODIA, ANGKOR, 

SATELLITE IMAGING, RADAR, KHMER, 

SPATIAL ANALYSIS 

8. This is seen at Lovea, Trei Nhor, Mokak, Ta 

Saom, Tonie Sa, Chakrey, and Pongro. Of all the 

sites, based on L-volume scatter, Phum Reuland 

Trei Nhor have the highest levels of vegetation 

relative to the other sites. The figures from Nokor 

Pheas suggest a moderate level of vegetation 

and perhaps a mixture of terra firma and inundated 

vegetation. 

9. Further data on the sites was acquired on 6 


119

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE MALAY PENINSULA 

Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h· 

Abstract 

The paper summarises recent archaeological research in southern Thailand and 

the northern part of the Malay Peninsula where the author has been investigating 

ports and entrepots significant for the early trade between Western Asia, 

India, Southeast Asia and China. Particular attention is given to the important 

site of Yarang in Patani Province which has been neglected until recently. 

Since 1990 we have been interested in the 

earlycenturiesofthehistoryoftheMalay 

Peninsula and have been attempting to reconcile 

old Greek, Indian, Arab and Chinese 

texts with the most recent results of archaeological 

research in the region. 

Literary research on the history of the 

peninsula began more than a century ago 

and was synthesized by Paul Wheatley 

(1961) in a book which remains important. 

Archaeological research began at the beginning 

of the present century, notably under 

the initiative of the Commission archeologique 

de l'Indochine, and research continues both 

in Thailand and Malaysia. In recent years, 

in collaboration with the Fine Arts Department 

of Thailand, we have been making an 

inventory of, and conducting excavations 

at, some of the sites in the region of Yarang 

in Patani province, South Thailand, which 

until now have been neglected. This recent 

research covered the eastern part of the 

coast of the Kra isthmus near Nakhon Si 

Thammarat, and has just been completed 

by an investigation of the northernmost 

part of the isthmus, near Takuapa, Chaiya 

and Chumphon. 

Overseas trade was at the origin of the 

'Indianization' of the peninsula. Our intention 

is to take into account these differing 

civilizations in order better to understand 

developments along the shores of the Malay 

*Directeur de Recherche, Centre National de la 

Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France. 

Introduction 

Peninsula from the beginning of the Christian 

era. The preliminary results and the 

problems posed by this research are summarized 

in the paper. 

Ports of trade and Indianization 

Archaeological remains along the coasts of 

the Malay Peninsula date from between the 

first centuries of the Christian era and the 

fourteenth century AD. An extensive international 

trade, concerning many very different 

Asian spheres - the Chinese, the Indian 

and the Middle Eastern - was at the 

origin of these remains. For the needs of 

merchants, numerous ports of call were 

created along the coasts, the importance, 

rank and destiny of which were very different 

from each other. Other settlements, 

somewhat to the interior of the peninsula, 

were also created in relation to the commercial 

activities on the coasts, in order to furnish 

a supply of local products in demand 

and also, perhaps, to make easier the transportation 

of some goods brought by traders, 

from one coast to the other, by transpeninsular 

routes. 

Depending on the period, these trading 

places-through which an important part of 

Indian cultural influence first reached Southeast 

Asia - were more or less independent, 

or controlled by one of the local states, such 

as Funan and Srivijaya, which had received 

an Indianized social and political organization 

thanks to their intermediary role. 


121

M. Jacq-Hergoualc'h 

CHINA 

.si Thep 

Three 

Pa odasPass 

• Dvaravati 

~Thong • Si Maho Sot 

Koh 

pa 

Cambodia ; 

Satingpra ••••••••• / 

Songl

Archaeological Research in the Malay Peninsula 

Archaeological research, which had already 

started early in the century, developed 

further, both in Thailand and in Malaysia, 

after the Second World War. One of 

its most interesting results in recent years in 

Peninsular Thailand is the inventory of the 

sites - and the excavation of some - in the 

vicinityofYaranginPataniProvince,southern 

Thailand, sites which until now have 

been neglected (Yukongdi Pakpadee and 

Puntokowit Pornthip 1993). 

Our work on this subject started in 1990 

in Malaysia on the archaeological sites of 

South Kedah (Jacq-Hergoualc'h 1992a and 

b) and this short paper covers only very 

general considerations concerning, firstly, 

the importance, as we see it, of geography 

and, secondly, the different kinds of ports 

of call and places of exchange which can be 

defined in this international trade. 

The geography of the Malay Peninsula 

The location of the different trading 

places (Figure 1) entirely depends on the 

physical and climatic geography of Southeast 

Asia and, more particularly, the geographical 

characteristics of the peninsula. 

The Malay Peninsula appears as a northsouth 

barrier between the maritime complex 

of the Indian Ocean and that of the 

Pacific Ocean; that is to say between India 

and the Middle East on one side, and China 

on the other. It was possible to sail around 

the peninsula during the same expedition 

from the east or from the west and, in either 

case, to stop for a while at Palembang 

Srivijaya, but probably early navigators 

considered the peninsula a place where it 

was more convenient to call and wait for 

commercial partners from the other side of 

Asia - or their go-betweens - and to conduct 

business with them. 

This fitted with the rhythm of the monsoon 

winds blowing alternatively southwest 

to north-east from April to October 

and north-east to south-west from November 

to March. 

All these ports of call were created on the 

isthmus for geographical reasons. Coming 

from the west, that is to say from India or 

the Middle East, it was at this latitude, 

between 6° and 11° north, that the Peninsula 

was reached after the crossing of the 

Gulf of Bengal by the shortest route, which 

goes north of Sumatra. From the east, if 

navigators wanted to sail quickly to the 

peninsula after having passed Cape Camau 

and hugged the shores of Champa and Cambodia, 

they had to cross the Gulf of Thailand 

to reach the latitudes of the isthmus. 

By coincidence this middle portion of 

the peninsula is also its narrowest part-an 

isthmus. This fact helps to explain the main 

location of the entrepot ports and suggests 

the existence of transpeninsular routes 

which appeared an alternative to the transportation 

of goods around the peninsula by 

sea. 

But, in fact, despite this attractive narrowness, 

the peninsula is not easy to cross 

from one coast to the other. The relief is 

entirely dominated by ranges of mountains 

which lie staggered in step formation and 

cut across the Peninsula on NNE-SSW lines 

(Figure 2). Between them possible routes 

are long and risky since it is necessary to go 

from one point to another obliquely, following 

the direction of the ranges. Nevertheless, 

the river valleys running from the 

line of the summits to the two coasts, and 

the low altitude at many points of these 

ranges, seem to have made possible the 

existence of short transpeninsular routes. 

It was an attractive suggestion which 

was well accepted but, in our view, even the 

shortest of them was difficult to use due to 

geographical conditions (sharp relief, rivers 

difficult to navigate, heavy tropical forest, 

dangerous fauna, etc.) and we do not 

believe that they were much used by navigators 

who would prefer, in spite of the 

distance, to go round the Straits when they 

wanted to reach the other coast (Jacq 

Hergoualc'h 1998). Moreover, how can one 

explain the expansion of Srivijaya, at 

Palembang, if a large part of the international 

commerce avoided the circum-peninsular 

route? Nevertheless, these routes 

were parts of a dendritic network allowing 


123


local tropical products to reach the coast in 

accordance with a system well described by 

Bronson (1977). 

The emergence of important city- states 

on the isthmus was due to another geographic 

characteristic; the existence at this 

latitude - but only on the east coast of the 

Gulf of Thailand - of coastal plains broad 

enough to make possible the cultivation of 

rice on a significant scale and so to permit a 

substantial population to live there, with 

possibilities of more sophisticated social and 

political organization than in a chiefdom, as 

occurred on the west coast (Figure 2). 

Different types of ports of call and places 

of exchange created by the international 

trade on the Malay Peninsula 

In this short paper I can only propose a brief 

description of the different categories of 

places created by international peninsular 

trade. 

Atthetop of the hierarchy are the entrepot 

ports associated with the Indianized citystates. 

These city-states, as noted, arose only 

on the east coast, at the latitude of the median 

part of the peninsula. There, the coastal 

rice-growing plains allowed a significant 

population to thrive. Commerce, and 

through it the arrival of Indian cultural influences, 

led the local chiefs, very early, to 

transform traditional customs into a social, 

political, military and religious system based 

on the Indian model. 

We only know three certain examples; 

that is to say locations which have historical 

confirmation (mostly through the Chinese 

annals) which can be linked with archaeological 

remains of some importance, still in 

existence today, or which have been studied 

in the past and published about. They are 

Pan pan on the Bay of Bandon, Tambralinga 

in the area of Nakhon Si Thammarat, and 

Langkasuka in the vicinity of Patani. Our 

research during the last three years was 

mainly concerned by the forms of civilization 

found in these city-states (Jacq 

Hergoualc'h et al. 1995, 1996 and in preparation). 

One of the most interesting and the least 

known of these archaeological sites is that of 

the ancient city-state of Langkasuka, which 

was neglected until recently due to political 

problems. Many things remain to be discovered 

about this site but during the last few 

years much has been learnt thanks to the 

activities of the Thai archaeologists from the 

Fine Arts Department of Thailand. An inventory 

of thirty-three archaeological structures 

has been published. All are found in 

the vicinity of Yarang, linked to some remains 

of earth fortifications and with a complex 

canal network (Figure 3). 

Three have now been excavated. They 

are brick temples of some importance (Figure 

4), the date of which, estimated from the 

religious artefacts found in association with 

them (votive stupa, votive tablets, statuettes, 

ceramic shards), is as early as the sixth century 

AD. Nevertheless this is not so old as 

the supposed date of the second century AD 

given by the Chinese annals for the foundation 

of this city-state. 

The style of these temples is problematic 

if we keep in mind their early foundation. It 

appears to be very close to that of Dvaravati 

but, in our opinion, the artistic influences 

came directly from Gupta and post-Gupta 

India, perhaps by way of South Kedah. After 

that, the same influences reached the 

Dvaravati lands which started to be formed 

at the same time. For this last area, of course, 

it was not the only source of Indian influences, 

but Langkasuka was certainly one at 

an early stage. 

This city-state does not appear to have 

had any entrepot ports. Our recent research 

with Thai archaeologists in charge of the 

sites and with Professor Thiva Supajanya 

from Chulalongkorn University, a specialist 

in aerial and satellite photographic interpretation, 

led us to express the hypothesis 

that these ports were situated in the western 

part of the city on the bank of the ancient 

estuary of the Patani River which went very 

far inland and which has now completely 

disappeared (Figure 5). This theory is supported 

by the testimony of local peasants, 

who speak of very numerous ceramic shards, 



too• 

II' 

GULF OF THAILAND 

10' 

SOUTH 

CHINA 

SEA 

ANDAMAN 

SEA 

7' 

C]+300 m 

+500m 

- + IOOOm 

Transpcninsular routes 

o.__~---'---~-'_,00 km 

Figure 2. Median portion of the Malay Peninsula with archaeological sites and transpeninsular 

routes. 



to 

Patani 

Ban 

Jalae 

to 

Yala 

6"4f20.5" 

•BW20 

101 • 17' 47.9" 

•BW18 

.- Rivers or ancient rivers 1 canals or ancient canals with 

~ water all the year or omy during the rainy season, 

7 sometimes converted in rice-fields 

Traces of ancient earth walls 

Roads and paths 

0 300m 

Archaeological sites 

101" 18' 46.3" 

M. J.-Kfocit 

Figure 3. Archaeological sites in Yarang (Patani, South Thailand). 



9.5m 

················································~ 

Ei 

A~ : 

~f 

C"i' 

tt 

A 

= :;I 

··~· 

"l 

E 

vi "' 

F55:! 

111 ll 

N 

...-(···· 

9.5m 

······- ·--------------· -- i3 _ ;;;;;· · ---·--··-···---·--- ··~ 

·· ·· ----------·------------------ ·· --·· --------·--·--···---·-----···---··-·-------·-······----·-······--·------·-····> 

oi----~----'2=-im 

Figure 4. Plan and elevation of the Buddhist sanctuary BJ3 at Yarang (Patani, South Thailand). 

including some from China and the Middle 

East, at a depth of less than a metre where 

canals, coming from the city, join the estuary. 

Excavations, of course, are needed to 

confirm this. 

This kind of city-state attested to by remains 

of temples very close to one or several 

entrep6t ports, also indicated by many 

locations of ceramic shards, can also be 

found in ancient Panpan in the vicinity of 

the Bay of Bandon. Here Laem Pho was at 

first the port but, after the ninth century, 

this moved further to the south to Tha Rua, 

located near the present town ofNakhon Si 

Thammarat (ancient Tambralinga)-the heir 

ofPanpan. 


The commercial prosperity of these citystates 

depended on their capacity to receive 

foreign boats, thus on their port installations. 

These, on a coast which silted considerably, 

were moved several times over the 

centuries and when nothing could be done 

to overcome this the trading ships were 

obliged to look for a better place to shelter. 

The second kind of port of call was the 

entrep6t port created in a non-Indianized 

place, probably a chiefdom. Two significant 

examples are in the area of South Kedah 

(Malaysia) and the vicinity of Takuapa 

(north of Phuket). The first of these locations 

today gives the impression of being a 

rice-growing area, thanks to the existence 

127


of a rather large coastal plain. But recent 

studies by Jane Allen (1988) from the University 

of Hawaii, on the distribution of 

settlements in that early historic period of 

this part of the peninsula, have demonstrated 

that this plain was not in existence at 

that time and thence that the inhabitants 

living in the region were limited in number; 

they were nowhere near numerous enough 

to create a social, political, religious and 

military organization as in Langkasuka, for 

example. 

Nevertheless, the primitive local organization 

permitted- because it was to its 

advantage-the arrival of foreign merchants 

along its coasts during the time it was necessary 

to wait for favourable winds; the 

winds to cross the Gulf of Bengal to reach 

India and beyond to the Middle East, or the 

winds to go down the Straits of Malacca to 

reach Palembang-Srivijaya. 

The location on that portion of the west 

coast seems to have been favoured in the 

nanhai network since the archaeological remains 

are as old as the fifth century AD. No 

entrepot port was established at this early 

period but the one which succeeded it, during 

the ninth century AD, Kampong Sungai 

101°15' 

/~- Present shme 

,/'' Fonner shme 

,....- Rivers and canals. 

D Y arang archaeological site. 

---................_..._.-..-....._.,___...., 

/' 

~:::: 

0 

Figure 5. Geomorphological evolution of the vicinity of Yarang and probable location of its portsentrepots. 



NB 1 (9W) 

l Gunong Jerai 

(1217 m) 

s• 45' 

Strait 

of 

Malacca 

SMM 2 (26w) 

• 

SMM 11. • 

SMM 12 (40m)• SMM 10 (38m) 

SMM 9 (39m) e--.:~-~ 1 

SMM 8 (37m) 

0 2km 

~ EntrepOt ports zones 

~ 

w: a. Wales' numbers (1940) 

m : Muzium Arkeologfs numbers 

PB : Pengkalan Bujang zone 

SB : Sungai Bujang zone 

SMK : Sungai Merbok Kechil zone 

M. J.-H. fecit 

NB : North of the Bujang zone 

SMM : Zone between Merbok & Muda 

UM : Zone upstream the Muda 

Figure 6. Archaeological sites in South Kedah. 


129


Mas, was recently discovered and 

Kamaruddin bin Zakaria has excavated 

some places on the site during the last few 

years (Nik Hassan and Kamaruddin 1993). 

The silting of this second entrepot port 

led to the opening of a third, at Kampong 

Pengkalan Bujang, the fortunes of which 

grew from the end of the eleventh century 

until the fourteenth century. Finally, during 

the fourteenth century, a port was created 

briefly at Kampong Sireh before South 

Kedah was completely abandoned by international 

traders. 

The location and general appearance of 

some forty archaeological sites (mostly 

temples) listed today in South Kedah confirm 

this interpretation (Figure 6). The 

archaeological sites appear to be grouped, 

mostly in the area of the two important 

entrepot ports, Kampong Sungai Mas and 

Kampong Pengkalan Bujang, but, in fact, 

many of them were completely isolated in a 

countryside very different at that time from 

how it is now and which certainly could 

only be reached with the help oflocal inhab- 

itants (we have in mind, particularly, the 

location of the most important of all these 

temples, Candi Bukit Batu Pahat). These 

religious sites, both Buddhist and Hindu, 

were not systematically linked to settlements 

which could be considered as cities. 

Their location makes them appear rather as 

hermitages, probably established by the 

piety of Indian merchants or Indian communities, 

as at Takuapa where a ninth century 

inscription has been found. 

Accordingly, all these temples are small; 

their foundations cannot be compared to 

the temples in Langkasuka, for example. 

Furthermore, if their plans preserve Indian 

prototypes (Figure 7), their elevations were 

adapted to local construction concepts by 

the use of timber above the lintels of doors. 

These beams were supported by stone pillar 

bases. The solid part of the structure was 

always built with material available in the 

immediate vicinity- granite, laterite, river 

pebbles or bricks when no other materials 

were available. In fact, they appear to be 

constructions built with some economy be- 

0 0 0 0 0 0 

0 0 

0 0 

0 0 

0 0 

0 0 0 0 0 0 

0 0 0 0 0 0 

0 0 0 0 0 0 

0 0 E 

0 

n 

0 

0 0 

0 0 0 0 0 0 

0 0 0 0 0 0 

I I 

I - 

10 .70 m 

h 

~ 

13.40 m 

0 4m \ 

Figure 7. Plan and elevation and east profiles of the Candi Bukit Batu Pahat (SMK 1(8w), South 

Kedah, Malaysia. 

130 Journal of Th e Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2


cause their founders were not permanent 

residents or Indianized locals (for more information 

on South Kedah, see Jacq 

Hergoualc'h 1992). 

Takuapa, more to the north, also has 

archaeological remains which are less well 

studied than those in South Kedah. Nevertheless, 

what we know aboutthem when 

linked to the local geographical context 

enables something very similar to be imagined. 

Collecting Centres and Feeder Points 

Besides these two types of major ports of 

call, there are others well described by Leong 

Sau Heng (1990, 1993) of the University of 

Malaya: she calls them the 'collecting centres' 

and the 'feeder points'. 

The importance of the collecting centres 

is in their location in the country or near 

places from where a range of local products 

can be collected. They constitute departure 

points for such products all along the trade 

network using the Straits of Malacca. The 

best locations became busy centres which 

could be also places for redistributing some 

foreign products in demand in the surrounding 

country. Such products- particularly 

Chinese ceramics - have been discovered 

locally and show the former activity of the 

ports; perishable goods which formed the 

bulk of this trade, have left no discernible 

trace. One typical example of this kind of 

place is Tioman Island (Pulau Tioman) near 

the southeast extremity of the Peninsula. 

The last category constitutes the feeder 

points. They form part of the trade network 

and act as suppliers oflocal products for the 

collecting centres and the entrepot ports. 

They are not necessarily found at strategic 

places on the long distance international 

trade routes but at points where they could 

easily relate to resource areas or supply 

zones. Consequently, the most numerous 

locations are the confluences of rivers draining 

a large resource base (centres of types D, 

E and Fin Bronson's 1977 model); but they 

can also be found on the coast, in the vicinity 

of tin mines, for example. The identifica- 

tion of these feeder points is uncertain and 

depends on the products traded. Those, 

inland, which were suppliers of perishable 

goods, will eventually be traced thanks to 

the presence of some objects coming from 

an entrepot port (mostly Chinese ceramics). 

Others on the coast could be located through 

tracesofmetallurgy(tiningots,forexample) 

or other activities, such as the making of 

glass or hard stone beads from imported 

materials. A typical example is Kuala 

Selinsing on the coast of Perak (Malaysia), 

studied by Evans during the 1920s and more 

recently by Nik Hassan Shuhaimi (1991). 

This centre probably had close links with 

South Kedah as a feeder point and its contacts 

with its entrepot port are attested by 

the discovery of shards of Chinese ceramics 

and some Indian objects. Another similar 

centre in this category on the same west 

coast of the Peninsula is Khuan Luk Pad 

near Krabi in south Thailand (Figure 1). 

Summary 

In the book we are writing on this subject, 

we hope to clarify the history of the peninsula 

from the first centuries of the Christian 

Era to the fourteenth century by providing, 

as far as possible, an archaeological reality 

to political entities defined, up to the present, 

in relation to Chinese texts, and which have 

remained vague both geographically and 

culturally. 

This will include the examination of the 

sites not mentioned, or barely touched on, 

in the texts but which have an archaeological 

importance which has recently been 

demonstrated (that is to say, the collecting 

centres and the feeder points). 

This trade, as is well known, was at the 

origin of the 'Indianization' of the peninsula; 

an ambiguous term, but serving to 

designate the forms of civilization which 

developed locally. The trade was extensive 

and involved such far-removed 

worlds as the Middle East, India and 

China. Our intention is to take into account 

these differing civilizations in order 

better to understand the cultures 


131


which developed along the shores of the 

Malay Peninsula. We also wish to determine 

the destiny of the peninsular entrepot 

ports and the city-states in the history of 

Southeast Asia proper, dominated or influenced 

at different times by diverse political 

entities, including Funan, Dvaravati, 

Srivijaya, the Khmer Empire and Central 

Java, whose own Indianization owed 

much, in the first instance, to the staging 

posts which were con-situated on the peninsula 

at the beginning of the Christian 

era. 


The work described here was made possible 

thanks to the collaboration of archaeologists 

from the NationalMuseum at Kuala 

Lumpur, among them Adi haji Taha, 

Othman Mohm. Yathim and Kamaruddin 

bin Zakaria, Curator of the Kedah sites, and 

to Professor Nik Hassan Shuhaimi, from 

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. This research 

was continued in Peninsular Thailand 

with collaboration of members of the 

Fine Arts Department of Thailand, especially 

Tharapong and Amara Srisuchat, 

Pakpadee Yukongdi and Pornthip 

Puntukowit, as well as many others. We are 

greatly indebted to these persons for their 

collaboration, and our published research 

on the subject owes much to them. 

References 

AllenJ.1988. Trade, Transportation and Tributaries: 

Exchange, Agriculture and Settlement Distribution 

in Early Historic-Period Kedah, Malaysia. 

University of Hawaii, Ph. D. Dissertation. 

Bronson B. 1977. Exchange at the upstream and 

downstream ends: notes towards afunctional 

model of the coastal state in Southeast Asia, 

in K. L. Hutterer (ed.), Economic Exchange 

and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia: Perspectives 

from Prehistory, History and Ethnography. 

Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, 

pp.39-52. 

J acq-Hergoualc'h M. 1992a. La civilisation de portsentrepots 

du Sud Kedah (Malaysia) ve-xrve siecle. 

Paris: L'Harmattan. 

Jacq-Hergoualc'h M. 1992b. Un exemple de 

civilisation de ports-entrepots des Mers du 

Sud: leSudKedah (Malaysia). ve-XIVe siE!de, 

Arts Asiatiques XL VII: 40-8. 

Jacq-Hergoualc'h M. 1998. Les voies transpeninsulaires 

en Peninsule Malaise. ve-XIVe 

siecle, in Aller et venir en Asie orientale. Paris: 

CREOPS, Presses de l'Universite de Paris 

Sorbonne (in press for February ). 

Jacq-Hergoualc'h M., Pakpadee Yukongdi, 

Pornthip Puntukowit & Thiva Supajanya 

1995. Une cite-etat de Ia Peninsule malaise: le 

Langkasuka, Arts Asiatiques L: 47-68. 

Jacq-Hergoualc'h M., Srisuchat Tharapong, 

Supanjanya Thiva and Wichapan Krisanapol 

1996. La region de Nakhon Si Thammarat 

(Thailande peninsulaire) du ve au XIVe siecle, 

Journal Asiatique 284 (2,): 361-435. 

Jacq-Hergoualc'h M., Srisuchat Tharapong, 

Supanjanya Thiva and Wichapan Krisanapol 

(in preparation). L'isthme de Kra au Ix.e siecle. 

Leong Sau Heng 1990. Collecting Centres, Feeder 

Points and Entrepots in the Malay Peninsula, 

1000B.C.-A.D.1400,inJ.Kathirithamby-Wells 

& J. Villiers (eds), The Southeast Asian Port and 

Polity. Rise and Demise. National University of 

Singapore, Singapore University Press, pp.17- 

38. 

Leong Sau Heng 1993. Ancient Trading Centres 

in the Malay Peninsula, Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia 

6: 1-9. 

Nik Hassan Shuhaimi bin Nik Abdul Rahman & 

Kamaruddin bin Zakaria, Recent Archaeological 

Discoveries in Sungai Mas, Kuala 

Muda, Kedah, Journal of the Malaysian Branch 

of the Royal Asiatic Society LXVI (2) 1993: 73-80. 

Shuhaimi Nik Hassan 1991. Recent Research at 

Kuala Selinsing, Perak, in P. Bellwood (ed.), 

Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Bulletin, 11: 

141-52. 

YukongdiPakpadee&PuntokowitPomthip 1993. 

Report on the Archaeological Site of Yarang. 

Bangkok: Fine Arts Department (in Thai). 

Wheatley, P. 1961. The Golden Khersonese, (1980 

reprint) Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Universiti 

Malaya. 

KEYWORDS - TRADE, PENINSULAR 

MALAYSIA, THAILAND, INDIANIZA 

TION, PORTS, KRA ISTHMUS 

132 


THE DISCOVERY OF CLAY-LINED FLOORS AT AN IRON AGE 

SITE IN THAILAND- PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS FROM 

NON MUANG KAO, NAKHON RATCHASIMA PROVINCE 

Dougald J. W. O'Reilly* 

Abstract 

Non Muang Kao was excavated as part of an effort to illuminate the origins of 

complex polities in Northeast Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia. This large 

site, ringed by several channels, may represent an important prehistoric centre. 

Non Muang Kao, which was occupied during the Iron Age, revealed several 

burials containing Phimai black ceramic vessels and glass beads. Many of the 

burials were lined with a white clay and some were filled with burnt rice. A 

succession of floors made from the same clay as that in the burials were also 

discovered. One floor contained structural features including the remains of a 

wall and a post which had clay packed around it. 

Introduction 

N 

on Muang Kao was excavated as part 

of the 'The Origins of Angkor Archaeological 

Project' (OAAP). This project is codirected 

by Charles Higham of the University 

of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand and 

Ratchanie Thosarat of the Fine Arts Department 

of Thailand. Research began in December 

1996 with the excavation of Ban 

Lum Khaol, a Bronze Age site, located in 

Amphoe Non Sung, Nakhon Ratchasima 

Province, Northeast Thailand. Non Muang 

Kao2 was excavated over two seasons from 

January 1996- February 1997. 

The research explores the enduring question 

of the rise of civilisation in Southeast 

Asia. The civilisation of Angkor, founded in 

802 AD, is famous for its vast temple complexes.Itwastheleadingpre-industrialstate 

of Southeast Asia, yet little is known of its 

origins. Under the French, attempts to understand 

the development of Angkor 

emphasised the impact of Indian culture, 

religion, architecture, language, as well as 

political and legal systems. The influence of 

these external factors, although significant, 

are insufficient to explain the rise of this 

powerful empire. To date, little consideration 

has been given to the contribution of 

the indigenous societies. The Origins of 

Angkor Archaeological Project seeks to focus 

upon internal developmental factors, 

which trace the cultural trajectory in Southeast 

Asia from the Bronze Age (beginning c. 

1400 BC), through the Iron Age (from c. 500 

BC) and the first contacts between the Indian 

subcontinent and Southeast Asia. 

Objectives 

The research programme was designed to 

illuminate the indigenous late prehistoric 

culture and assess the nature of the transition 

to the Angkorian state. The prehistoric roots 

of Angkor can be traced to the appearance of 

large, apparently moated sites in Cambodia 

andNortheastThailand. These sites may represent 

a shift in the social organisation of the 

region from autonomous villages to what 

appear to be centralised chiefdoms. In order 

to understand this transition, OAAP proposed 

to investigate the transition from the 

Bronze Age, represented at Ban Lum Kao, 

and compare it with that of the Iron Age 

moated site of Non Muang Kao as well as 

Noen U-Loke which was excavated during 

1996-97 by Higham and Thosarat. 

*Department of Anthropology, University of 

Otago, New Zealand. 

1 Lat. 102".20', long. 15".14' (RTSD 1984) 

2 Lat. 102".17', long. 15".13' (RTSD 1984) 


133

D. O'Reilly 

The late prehistoric landscape of the Mun 

River valley, where the excavations were 

conducted, was dominated by substantial 

sites, some attaining 50 ha in area and ringed 

by what appear to be concentric moats. It is 

a central aim of the project that the nature 

and use of these channels be determined. 

Based upon their morphology (Boyd pers. 

comm.), it is unlikely that they were utilised 

for defensive purposes, although they may 

have been used for the cultivation of fish or 

aquatic plants. The channels may have a 

symbolic purpose or perhaps were reserved 

by the elite for rice production. If we are able 

to document the development of centralised 

authority in later prehistory, it will allow us 

to appreciate more clearly the transition to 

statehood. 

The excavation and analysis of material 

from Ban Lum Kao, Noen U-Loke and Non 

Muang Kao will make possible an assessment 

of the social, technological and economic 

life of both an early and a late prehistoric 

community. It will also contribute an 

essential foundation to our understanding 

of regional development and cultural evolution 

in Northeast Thailand. The research 

will clarify the nature of the societies which 

were prepared to incorporate certain Indian 

traits into their own culture, while continuing 

such long-established practices as rice 

cultivation, water control, exchange in exotic 

goods and the maintenance of ancestral 

cemeteries. 

Previous research 

There is a paucity of scholarly literature in 

the area of state formation pertaining to 

Southeast Asia. The presence of walled and 

moated sites on the Khorat plateau has been 

noted since the 19th century (Aymonier 1895, 

1897). The first excavation of sites of this 

type occurred in 1955 when Wales (1957) 

dug test pits at Ban Thamen Chai and Muang 

Phet. Later the Thai Fine Arts Department 

surveyed moated sites in the Khorat region 

and undertook limited preliminary excavation 

at two sites, Muang Serna (F.A.D. 1959) 

and Kantarawichai (Subhadradis Diskul 

1979). Non Dua, in Roi Et province, was 

investigated by Higham (Higham and Parker 

1970),revealingevidenceofoccupationfrom 

500 BC and Ban Chiang Hian, a large moated 

site revealed evidence of occupation from 

1000 BC (Chantaratiyakarn 1984). 

Wichakana (1991) excavated at Noen U 

Loke, one of the sites being investigated by 

the OAAP, finding evidence of Iron Age 

occupation atop a Bronze Age cemetery. 

Other sites which have recently been excavated 

include Ban Don Plongwhich revealed 

evidence of iron smelting and inhumation 

burials and Non Yang, a site with many 

parallels to Non Muang Kao (Nitta 1991). 

Ban Krabuang Nok lies at the confluence of 

the Mun and the Lam Sa Thaet rivers. It was 

excavated by Indrawooth et al. (1990) giving 

evidence of bronze and iron smelting. Moore 

(1992) excavated at Ban Takhong, another 

'moated' site situated on a tributary of the 

Mun River, finding evidence of occupation 

dating to the early part of the first millennium. 

Several studies have used aerial photographs 

and topographic maps of the Khorat 

plateau. Saengwan (1979), Higham, Kijngam 

and Manly (1982) and Srisakra (1984) located 

numerous sites in Northeast Thailand 

showing possible moats and earthworks. 

More recently, Parry (1992) undertook an 

exarnina tion of Landsat satellite images and 

conventional air photographs to categorise 

the main types of earthworks and demonstrate 

the value of this type of technology in 

settlement pattern analysis. Aerial photographs 

have been used by Elizabeth Moore 

(1985, 1986, 1988) in locational analysis and 

classification of moa ted settlements. Moore's 

work has found significant size differences 

between moated sites which may indicate a 

hierarchical arrangement. 

A thorough synthesis and interpretation 

of the social and political developments in 

Southeast Asia as they were understood at 

the time was undertaken by Wheatley (1983). 

He laments the lack of archaeological research 

undertaken in the area. Welch and 

McNeill(Welch 1983,1984,1985, Welch and 

McNeill1988-9) have turned their attention 

134 


The discovery of clay-lined floors ... at Non Muang Kao 

Figure 1. Aerial view of the mound at Non Muang Kao locating excavated area. 

to the development of centres such as Phimai. 

The 'moated' settlements of Northeast 

Thailand pose an important and intriguing 

range of problems. Sites of this type are 

documented in the Angkorian heartland, 

posited as seminal aspects of the later Khmer 

empire (Moore 1989, 1992). The current 

political climate in Cambodia and a host of 

other logistical problems render an examination 

of sites of this type more feasible in 

Thailand. Recognised in areas of both Thailand 

and Cambodia, moated sites are especially 

densely distributed in the Mun River 

valley. 

The current research seeks to expand 

upon that which has already been undertaken. 

It is hoped that through examining 

BanLumKhao,NonMuangKao,andNoen 

U-Loke, that a more complete understanding 

of developmental processes in the Mun 

River valley will be attained. 

Non Muang Kao 

Non Muang Kao, 'Mound of the Ancient 

City', is a 50 ha prehistoric mound, ringed 

by two wide 'moats' or channels (Figure 1). 

These channels are 33m in width and the 

'ramparts' separating them are up to 3 m 

high. The mound itself is 300 m in diameter 

and rises seven metres from the surrounding 

rice fields. The only evident disturbance 

of the site has been the construction of a 

railway and a road w hich destroyed the 

moats to the west and east of the mound. 

The entire site is bounded by a rectangular 

feature, the date of which is unknown. Non 

Muang Kao today is surrounded by extensive 

rice fields. Isolation has probably contributed 

to its preservation clearly enhancing 

its archaeological value. Based on the 

recovered ceramics, Non Muang Kao appears 

to have been unoccupied since about 

AD 600 in the early historic period. 

Joumal of The Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2 

135

D. O'Reilly 

0.5 1.0 

1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 

Datum 5 • 0 ";, 

0.5 

2.0 

2.5 

3.0m 

NON MUANG KAO 

South section 1996-1997 

---Whiteclaylens 

Figure 2. Key to south section of trench excavated at NMK in 1996. 

1. 5 YR 3 I 3 Dark Reddish Brown 2. 10 R 416 Red 3. 2.5 YR 5 I 8 Red 

4.10 YR 816 Yellow 5. Mottled 6. 2.5 YR416 Red 7. 5 YR514 Reddish Brown 

8. 2.5 YR614 YR Lt. Yellowish Brown 9. 2.5 YR512 Weak Red 

10.5 YR 613 Light Reddish Brown 11. 7.5 YR 714 Pink 12.5 YR 713 Pink 

13. 10 R 613 Pale Red 14. 10 R 618 Light Red 15. Laterite 16. 10 YR 811 White 

17.10 YR 716 Yellow 18. 2.5 YR 418 Red 19.10 YR 713 Very Pale Brown 

20.10R416 Red 21. 7.5 YR 716 Reddish Yellow 22. 7.5 YR516 Strong Brown 

23. 7.5 YR 6 I 4 Light Brown 24. 5 YR 5 I 1 Grey 25. 7 YR 3 I 6 Dark Red 

27. Black P.H. =Post Hole 

The excavation 

Excavations at Non Muang Kao were undertaken 

in a five by five metre area on the 

top of the mound. The excavation procedure 

involved the removal of cultural layers 

within ten em spits. The cultural sequence 

was divided into three broad periods based 

upon the nature of the matrix (Figure 2). 

Layer one comprised the surface layer 

and was found to be a dark reddish brown to 

reddish brown colour (Munsell: 5 YR313 to 

2.5 YR 514). Layer two was a mottled reddish 

yellow to light brown colour (7.5 YR 7 I 

6 to 7.5 YR 6 I 4). The third layer was pinkish 

grey (5 YR 612). The basal layer was light 

brown (7.5 YR 614) (M.S. C. C. 1994). The 

datum referred to throughout this report 

was located 17 em above the surface of the 

mound. 

Based upon the ceramics recovered and 

the radiocarbon dates from the 1996-97 field 

season the entire sequence excavated at Non 

Muang Kao was found to date to the Iron 

Age. The archaeological material rested 

upon a natural mound which, in antiquity, 

would have been situated beside a major 

river (Boyd pers. comm.). The top of this 

136 


The discovery of day-lined floors ... at Non Muang Kao 

Code Wk dC13 %Modern Result 2I corrected 

NMK32 4512 -26.9+ I -0.2 80.4+1-1.6 1750 ± 160 BP 3 BC -639 AD 

NMK81 4513 -24.0+ I -2.0 NA 1640 ±70 BP 315-584 AD 

NMK66 4514 -25.3+/-0.2 80.9+/-0.9 1700 ±90 BP 129-545 AD 

NMK32 4515 -26.2+/-0.2 81.9+/-0.6 1610 ± 60 BP 336-600AD 

Table 1. The radiocarbon dates from Non Muang Kao. 

natural mound is four metres above the 

present fields with just over three metres of 

cultural material on top of it. 

Radiocarbon determinations 

Several samples from the first field season at 

Non Muang Kao were submitted to the 

University of Waikato's Radiocarbon laboratory. 

All the samples were taken from 

secure contexts. The resulting dates are listed 

in table one. 

• NMK 32 (Wk 4512) Charcoal sample from 

within a pot in 2:1 Feature 1. This feature was 

sealed by a clay floor (Transition Ll-2 Feature 

4). This sample dates the use of the pot as a 

possible hearth base. 1.44 m below datum. 

• NMK 81 (Wk 4513) Charcoal from the fill over 

a clay floor (2:5 Feature 15). The sample therefore 

postdates this floor and predates another 

clay floor (2:3 Feature 5). 1.54 m below datum 

• NMK 66 (Wk 4514) Charcoal from fill over a 

clay floor (2:5 Feature 15) therefore post-dating 

the floor and contemporary with pot scatters 

2:3 Feature 7 and 2:3 Feature 8. 1.53 m below 

datum. 

• NMK 32 (Wk 4515) Charcoal from 2:1 Feature 

1. The sample lay below a Phimai black pot 

which contained sample Wk 4512. It should 

date the use of the hearth and predate the clay 

floor (Transition Layer 1-2 Feature 4). 1.45 m 

below datum. 

A further set of radiocarbon dates obtained 

during the 1996-97 excavation are being processed 

at the University of Waikato Radiocarbon 

Laboratory. 

Layer One 

The surface and first 50 em of the excavated 

area featured concentrations of pot sherds 

(Figure 2). It is speculated that they were 

deposited as occupation material. One deposit 

appears to have been a midden. The 

first substantial feature was encountered 70 

em below datum. A collection of antlers, 

animal bone, pottery and ash were uncovered 

in close proximity to a hearth. The 

antlers were arranged end to end to the 

north of the hearth. Pottery and a line of rim 

sherds were arranged along one edge between 

an ash deposit and red soil. The pattern 

of concentrated ceramic material, bone 

and hearths continued in the excavated spits 

down to 1.3 m. The animal bone encountered 

in these layers were comprised mainly 

of Bas and pig. 

At this same level the first of a series of 

unusual features were encountered. Two 

floors constructed of white (5Y 7/3 to 5Y 7 I 

4) plaster or clay, one lying atop the other 

were uncovered. At the same level a circular 

feature, constructed of identical material to 

the floors, was discovered. In section it was 

seen to be c. 50 em across and 7-10 em high. 

The top surface was dish shaped. At a slightly 

lower level there was a two metres oblong 

extension of steel grey plaster from the cir- 


137

D. O'Reilly 

cular feature. The function of the feature is 

unknown but may have served as a mortar 

in which rice was crushed. 

Theupperclayfloorwasratherdegraded 

and covered an area of about one by one and 

a half m. The clay was very thin and patchy. 

Below this, however,lay another floor which 

covered a much larger area, being nearly 

three metres long and two metres wide before 

disappearing into the baulk. This surface 

was sloped downward in the southern 

end. The lower floor was found to be only 

three mm thick in section. The possibility 

that these floors may be alluvial or other 

naturally deposited features must be dismissed. 

The presence of packed white clay 

around former posts and walls negates this 

possibility. Some of the original posts have 

survived as pseudomorphs. Although there 

are no organic wooden remains, the morphology 

of these posts still clearly indicates 

growth rings. 

At 1.26 m below datum the first burial 

was encountered. Burial one consisted of 

metatarsals and tibiae projecting out of the 

south baulk, with the head presumably orientated 

to the south. The burial appeared to 

rest on the lower of the two clay floors. In 

section however it was apparent that the 

body had been encased in a day-lined grave, 

structurally unrelated to the clay floors. No 

grave goods were found in association with 

this interment. 

Layer Two 

The first level of layer two appeared to be 

uneven, dropping downward on the east 

side of the unit where a shallow ditch had 

been dug. In the same layer, below the white 

clay floor described above, the remains of a 

large pot sitting on an area of burnt soil and 

ash were discovered. The feature clearly 

represents an in situ cooking hearth which 

was sealed by the construction of the clay 

floor. 

The second burial was discovered c. 1.5 

m below datum. Burial two was only partially 

exposed, nearly everything except the 

skull remained in the north baulk. The post- 

cranial remains which were exposed were 

poorly preserved. The burial cut through 

another feature, which consisted of potsherds 

in a matrix of laterite pebbles in 

which were several post holes filled with 

laterite nodules. The grave contained nine 

copper alloy bangles, found to the left of the 

skull, two small monochrome drawn Indo 

Pacific glass beads (Francis 1990), found to 

the right of the cranium and several fragments 

of copper alloy recovered from the 

fill. Although it was difficult to ascertain, it 

appears that this burial was orientated with 

the head to the south. 

Another burial was encountered along 

the middle of the west baulk and again it 

was only partially exposed. Although the 

bone was very poorly preserved, several 

infant teeth were recovered. Burial three 

contained five copper alloy bangles, a copper 

alloy ring and a Phimai black pot. The 

fragility of the pot distinguished it from the 

sherds found in non-burial contexts from 

the same level. The skeletal remains were 

surrounded by rice silica and rested on a 

white clay surface which was curved and 

bowl-like in section. The orientation of the 

burial was unclear, but probably ran eastwest. 

Burial4 was discovered at a depth of 1.44 

m below datum along the south baulk. Only 

the cranium was protruding into the excavated 

area. The grave contained four Phimai 

black pots, a copper alloy earring and a 

bimetallic earring. The individual was interred 

with the head to the north, contrary to 

the orientation of the previous burials. Beneath 

the mandible an area of green staining 

was noted, and interpreted as the remnants 

of a rice bed. As the excavation progressed it 

became apparent that the prehistoric inhabitants 

ofNonMuang Kao interred their dead 

with large quantities of rice often in graves 

lined and sealed with white clay. To the 

author's knowledge this practice has not 

been previously noted in the literature. A 

congruent burial practice was encountered 

during the 1996-97 excavation of Noen U 

Loke, although none of the graves were clay 

lined (Higham pers. comm.). 

138 



At a depth of 1.45 m another feature, 

which may be related to the lower of the two 

clay floors above, was discovered. It covered 

the same area as the lower clay platform 

but consisted of reddish, burnt soil and 

charcoal as opposed to white clay. There 

was a very clear edge (to yellow silty clay) 

running north-south from the south baulk. 

In section this feature was found to be c. 10 

em deep. There was a great deal of charcoal 

mixed with reddish soil. Below this reddish 

soil there was another clay floor (1.55 m 

below datum). On the surface of this clay 

floor was found a great deal of broken pottery 

and charcoal. The floor appears to have 

been constructed in prehistory by excavating 

about 10 em into the surface thereby 

creating a lip running north-south. The excavated 

surface then appears to have been 

covered with a thin coating of white clay. 

This floor, like those above it, disappeared 

into the east baulk. 

Ten em below this clay floor at c. 1.60 m 

below datum in the southeast corner,lay the 

patchy remains of yet another floor (Figure 

3) which varied in thickness. Within this 

floor there were found linear features, which 

may have been seatings for wooden wall 

structures, although this was not readily 

apparent in section. Post holes were also 

burnt 

soil 

7.5 YR6/6 

reddish 

yellow 

fire 

ackened 

hite clay" 

potsherds 

tiP 0 0 

postholes 

co 0 

0 

disturbed 

Figure 3. Clay lined burial and disturbed clay floor in Layer 2 at c. 1.60 m below datum. 


D. O'Reilly 

disturbed 

N 

2.5 YRS/6 

red 

0 

lOYRB/2 

"white clay" 

pot 

sherd 

disturbed 

2.5YR5/6 

red 

One metre 

Figure 4. Clay floor at c. 1.76 m below datum, Layer 2. 

noted which had the white clay packed up 

around them. Two small pots were discovered, 

lip to lip, set into the clay floor, in a 

precisely cut hole (Figure 3, centre). 

An interesting feature was discovered c. 

1.67 m below datum. During excavation it 

appeared to be a large area of broken pottery. 

The sherds seem to have been arranged 

in such a way to form a crude drain which 

disappeared into the western baulk. Some 

of the sherds were stained a sulphurous 

green. There was a similar feature discovered 

along the northern wall of the excavation 

slightly lower than the white clay floor. 

It is possible that these features served as 

drains. 

At 1.76 m below datum a larger clay floor 

was revealed (Figure 4). This floor covered 

nearly the entire eastern half of the excavated 

unit. The morphology of this feature is 

identical to the others in that the floor is 

depressed c. 10 em into the ground and 

plastered. The floor was covered with scatters 

of carbonised rice and bamboo. 

Burial five was found in the south-west 

comer of the unit. The grave fill was a pebbly 

lateritic material. The grave appears to 

have been lined with clay. The bottom sur- 

140 



face was constructed of the same white clay 

as the floors. The grave cut was about 70 em 

deep. The burial was capped with a thin 

layer of white clay and contained an infantmandible. 

The only grave good recovered 

was a copper alloy ring. The orientation was 

impossible to determine. 

Another burial was encountered along 

the eastern baulk. Burial six contained substantial 

quantities of rice silica and pieces of 

the clay floor through which it was dug. The 

grave appears to extend north-south from 

the south baulk. The bone was very poorly 

preserved, only fragments of the skull, pelvis 

and parts of the tibiae being recovered. 

Burial six was the richest of the burials 

encountered, containing 25 artefacts. The 

head lay to the south, an agate bead rested 

on the chest, below the skull. On the arms, 14 

bronze bangles were found and the legs had 

several bronze bangles apiece. On the fingers 

numerous bronze rings were discovered. 

There was a bimetallic ear ring as well 

as several other rings of iron and bronze, a 

hammerstone and some concreted iron. 

There were also 48 drawn Indo-Pacific glass 

beads recovered and a Phimai black bowl. 

Along the south baulk, c. 1.80 m below 

datum, a concentration of pottery was discovered 

which was associated with bronze 

N 

7.5YR6/4 

One metre 

Burial6 

Grave 

cut 

Figure 5. Clay floor at c. 1.98 m below datum, Layer 2, showing lipped edge and interior wall. 


D. O'Reilly 

ear rings, one bimetallic bangle and two 

concentrations of drawn Indo-Pacific glass 

beads, one group comprising only yellow 

beads and the other of mixed colours. Other 

artefacts included several broken pots and 

more beads all encased in a clay envelope. 

No human remains were uncovered due to 

poor bone preservation. There was a notable 

amount of burnt bamboo and rice remains 

in the area as well. 

Although no bone was recovered near 

the concentration of artefacts it is likely that 

this represents a burial, which, based upon 

the cross section of the clay envelope, ran 

north-south. It was lined with the same white 

clay as the others. This burial was in close 

proximity to one of the clay floors. It was 

difficult to distinguish where one began and 

the other ended but it was determined that 

the two were probably unrelated. The burial 

disturbed the white clay floor when it was 

dug. The clay bottom of the burial is thick 

and of a slightly different colour than the 

floor. 

The remains of another white clay floor 

were found at a depth of 1.80 m below 

datum on the east side of the unit. This 

surface was found to be extremely patchy 

and discontinuous, the largest area coveringl 

x0.6m. 

The next major feature encountered was 

another white clay floor at c. 1.98 m below 

0 

rock 

0 

~ 

potsherds 

e:!!/!1 

pot rim 

0 CQ 

0 

108/1 

"white clay" 

7.5YR6/6 

reddish 

yellow 

potsherds 

0~ 

lip 

laterite ........._ 

pit ~ 

D 

One metre 

c==-... 0 

disturbed 

Figure 6. Three successive clay floors at c. 2.10 m below datum, Layer 3. 



datum (FigureS). There were some fire blackened 

areas (c. 40 em in diameter) along the 

east baulk. The floor covered approximately 

two thirds of the excavation unit. Although 

it was disturbed in many places this feature 

was easily recognisable. The remains of an 

interior wall could be seen running eastwest. 

The white clay lipped up on either side 

of the place where the wall had once stood. 

This lip was c. 20 em in height. The remains 

of a large post (20 em diameter) which had 

clay packed around it were also found. 

This floor had been cut through by burial 

six, but there was yet another clay surface 

below it which had not been disturbed by 

the digging of burial six. It was difficult to 

determine the relationship between the clay 

floor and the bottom of the interment. It 

appeared that the floor below may represent 

a replastering of another floor which is 

two em below it. This appears in section as 

three separate episodes in the same location, 

indicating perhaps, continuity over a very 

short period of time. 

Layer Three 

The advent of layer three was heralded by a 

notable change in matrix colour, from a 

mottled reddish brown (5 YRS/3) to a very 

pale brown (10 YR 7 I 4) at a depth of 2.16 m. 

A clay floor demarcated the change in soil 

colour from layer two to layer three. This 

floor, although not as well preserved as 

those above it, was extensive, covering the 

entire unit from north to south and nearly 

two thirds of the unit, east to west (Figure 6). 

The floor was lipped along its western edge 

and the remains of two more lipped edges 

could be discerned below it. Excavation demonstrated 

that these lips were the only remains 

of the previous floors. 

The reason for this was soon revealed as 

several large areas of burning were uncovered 

with the removal of the intact white 

clay floor. Directly beneath the clay floor 

and possibly related to the burning mentioned 

above, there was extensive blackening 

of the soil yet no charcoal. This may 

represent the removal of debris after the 

destruction of the structure and subsequent 

reconstruction in the same location. 

At a depth of2.16 man interesting pyrotechnological 

feature was encountered 

which consisted of two abutting circles of 

burnt soil. There was a crust over the top, 

below which lay a powdery grey ash. The 

northern circle was about 9 em deep when 

sectioned. The middle of the circle was 18 

em in diameter and consisted of a hard, 

fired, orange earth. This was surrounded by 

very fine grey ash. The southern circular 

feature also had a hard crust on the top, 

below which was the same fine grey ash 

contained in a passage which connected to 

the northern part. The purpose of this feature 

is unknown. 

Along the eastern baulk a large area of 

dark brown soil (5 YR 6/4) was abutted by 

an area of reddened earth to the north at 2.25 

m below datum. The feature became a good 

deal larger with the removal of another 10 

em spit (2.35 m below datum), extending 

two metres into the unit from the east wall. 

There were also four post holes along the 

edge of the feature, following its contour. 

The feature contained clumps of burnt clay 

and fragmentary shell, a drawn Indo-Pacific 

bead and pot sherds. It appeared to be a 

midden deposit. 

At the same level the edge of a new clay 

floor was uncovered (Figure 7). This floor 

was located in a different position than those 

above it. The clay floor, fully exposed had 

been disturbed by many posts and a grave 

cut. This grave cut contained carbonised 

rice, 444 yellow glass beads and sherds of 

Phimai black pottery. No bone remained 

but the grave was orientated north-south. 

The clay floor measured 3.90 m east-west 

and 3.60 m north-south where it disappeared 

into the south baulk. Its construction was the 

same as the others, a seven to eight em lip 

around the edges. The floor was the best example 

encountered and was relatively undisturbed 

by later activity, with the exception of 

some post holes and the grave cut mentioned 

above. There was some evidence of burning 

on the floor in the south west comer. This floor 

lacked evidence of interior walls. 


143

D. O'Reilly 

One metre 

2.5 YR 5/6 red 

10YR8/2 

"white clay" 

cPcj 

0 0 

/ 

lip 

postholes 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Figure 7. Clay floor at c. 2.43 m below datum, Layer 3. 

Near the southeast corner at 2.54 m below 

datum, an iron artefact, which although 

corroded resembles a chisel, was discovered 

encased in the lip of the clay floor. 

The surface of layer three, spit nine, consisted 

of soft yellowish-brown clay-like 

material about four em thick. A sample of 

the white clay was removed revealing a 

layer of very red soil beneath. There was 

also a great deal of pottery embedded in the 

white material. The absence of skeletal material 

renders a precise determination of 

body orientation impossible but the grave 

appeared to run north-south. 

In the south west corner of layer three, 

spit 11, a curious feature was discovered. An 

area of 60 by 30 em was coloured black and 

red from heat exposure, in which were blocks 

of highly heated ceramic. This was originally 

interpreted as a smithing hearth. Later 

analysis by the project palaeometallurgist 

determined that this was not the likely function 

(MacDonnell pers. comm.). The feature 

was notable for the heavily-tempered clay 

which appeared to have been heated causing 

it to be white-yellow and orange in 

colour. The temper appears to be rice chaff 

and stems as opposed to just rice husks often 

144 



found in pottery. The heavy tempering 

would allow the clay to withstand repeated 

thermal stress (Skibo 1992). In section this 

hearth feature was found to have a thin base 

of white clay beneath it. In this base three 

post holes were identified going through 

the clay floor of the hearth. There was a large 

lump of charcoal in the section of the hearth 

and the clay was burnt a yellow-orange 

colour. 

Another hearth of similar morphology 

was discovered in the northwest corner of 

the unit. This was a white clay depression 

filled with ash and charcoal surrounded by 

the same heavily tempered clay. 

At 2.91 m below datum another burial 

(burial eight) was discovered in the western 

portion of the unit. A grave cut was clear 

due to the rice silica outlining it. A curious 

linear band oflateritic deposits was found in 

close association. There was a sharp division 

of soil types across the square running 

from north to south. The grave was situated 

in a matrix of light brown soil/ sand (7.5 YR 

6/ 4), while the rest of the unit was of a 

reddish brown hue (5 YR 5 I 4) and much 

harder. 

During excavation the grave cut appeared 

to taper inwards about 3 em down, creating 

a step. The cut, 130 em by 57 em, was full of 

rice silica. Burial eight contained a Phimai 

black bowl, some pot sherds and two small 

bangles. It would appear to be a child's 

burial, with a similar orientation to burial 

seven, although no bone was recovered. 

Layer Four 

The nature of the matrix changed abruptly 

to a homogeneous brown (7.5 YR 6/4) at c. 

3.09 m below datum. Accordingly, the layer 

assignment was changed. There was a 

marked reduction in the amount of ceramic 

material recovered from this level, although 

a number of features were still apparent. 

The paucity of ceramics and the nature of 

the matrix suggested that the surface of the 

natural substrate had been reached. A test 

pit in the north east corner of the unit revealed 

no change in the homogeneity of the 

matrix down an additional 0.75 m. Layer 

four was naturally deposited material with 

no evidence for cultural stratigraphy although 

it was apparent that the first inhabitants 

had excavated into the natural mound 

surface. 

In the first spit of layer four several industrial 

features were encountered (3.16 m 

below datum). Along the east baulk there 

was a large greyish brown area (10 YR 5 /2), 

extending some four metres, which was associated 

with what was thought to be another 

smithing hearth to the north. This 

hearth was similar to those previously mentioned 

in that it was dish shaped in section 

and had white clay lining the bottom with 

post holes in close association. Another of 

these features was found along the north 

baulk which was circular in plan, 40 em in 

diameter, with a post mould on either side 

of it. A ring of white clay surrounded it 

which in section was bowl shaped along the 

bottom of the hearth. 

A dark stained area, similar to that along 

the east baulk, but much smaller, was also 

noted in the first spit of layer four. As the 

area was excavated a line of rice silica began 

to appear identifying this as an interment. 

The grave cut of burial nine was 2.10 m long. 

As it was excavated a significant amount of 

rice silica was revealed. The grave contained 

a Phimai black shouldered pot, some pigs' 

teeth, 33 agate beads, 3 drawn Indo-Pacific, 

and 454 brick-red glass beads, sometimes 

referred to as mutisalah or 'Indian reds' 

(Dubin 1987) as well as a single carnelian 

bead. Human remains were observable in 

the section. Only 30 em of the burial was 

exposed along the west baulk, although the 

orientation of the body could be determined, 

with the head to the south. The grave had 

been excavated into natural substrate to a 

depth of 1.40 m (4.52 m below datum). 

Discussion 

Based upon the available evidence it appears 

that Non Muang Kao was continuously 

occupied for a period of 4-500 years. 


145

D. O'Reilly 

The site seems to have been abandoned 

sometime during the Early Historic period. 

Although we await radiocarbon confirmation, 

the initial occupation of the mound, 

at least in the area excavated, appears to 

have occurred during the Iron Age based 

upon the ceramic styles found at the deepest 

levels, including Phimai black wares in the 

earliest burials. It is, however, possible that 

other areas of Non Muang Kao contain evidence 

for Bronze Age occupation. A nearby 

site, Noen U-Loke, excavated by Wichakana 

(Wichakana 1991) contained Bronze Age 

burials, yet no evidence of these was found 

in the areas excavated by Higham (pers. 

comm.). 

Non Muang Kao was probably selected 

for settlement based upon its strategic location 

next to a major waterway (Boyd pers. 

comm.), which partially surrounded it. The 

natural mound was an estimated four metres 

higher than the surrounding flood plain 

which would have afforded the occupants 

some protection against flooding, as well as 

being an ideal defensive position. 

The area excavated had seen a variety of 

uses, including habitation, industrial activity 

and disposal of the dead. Eleven burials 

and grave cuts were identified during the 

excavation of Non Muang Kao. The paucity 

of interments makes it very difficult to assess 

accurately the nature of the mortuary 

regime and the chronological sequence. The 

stratigraphic proximity is perhaps the best 

indicator of contemporanaeity, although the 

nature of the interment is also useful in this 

regard. Five periods may be identified on 

the basis of stratigraphic location. The type 

of interment is also variable through the 

stratigraphic sequence at Non Muang Kao. 

Burials one, three, four, five, 2:6 Feature 20, 

and burial six were all lined and sealed with 

a layer of thin white clay, most containing 

evidence for rice. The burials found below 

2.45 m below datum were not clay lined, 

rather they were pits filled with rice. Initial 

impressions in the field suggest a recurring 

grave assemblage of whole pots, often shallow, 

streak burnished, Phimai black bowls, 

potsherds and copper alloy artefacts such as 

bangles. The artefacts from these interments 

await analysis which may refine the differences 

between the phases. All but one of the 

burials and features interpreted as burials 

were oriented in the same direction, northsouth. 

This continuity would suggest a limited 

time span and is congruent with the 

mortuary behaviour at several other nearby 

Iron Age sites. Considering this, the different 

type of interment facility may indicate 

status differences within the mortuary population. 

Perhaps the most interesting component 

of the site was the discovery of successive 

clay floors. The preservation of this type of 

feature in archaeological contexts is uncommon 

in Thailand and merits considerable 

attention. 

A total of ten clay floors in varying states 

of preservation were uncovered. The first 

eight were constructed successively on top 

of one another. The earliest two floors, one 

intact and the other burnt remains, were in 

a different position from the succeeding clay 

surfaces. The size of the structures is difficult 

to determine as they extended beyond 

the excavated area. The earlier floors (3:6 

Feature 2 and 3:9 Feature 3) were approximately 

3.80 m across and at least 3.70 m 

along the other two walls where they ran 

into the baulk. Some of the later floors (2:11 

Feature 1) extended beyond the limits of the 

excavatedarea.Intemalstructuralfeatures 

were noted, including an interior wall running 

c. two m and several post moulds with 

clay packed around them for support. 

The construction of these clay features 

appears to have been the same throughout 

the occupation and involved the excavation 

of about ten em of earth to form a lipped 

edge, followed by the plastering of this area 

with a thin coating of white clay or plaster. 

The foundation for the interior walls appears 

to have been substantial, over 0.5 min 

one instance. 

Comparable features were found at Non 

Yang, Amphoe Chumphonburi, Changwat 

Surin, Thailand(Nitta 1991).Nittadescribes 

irregularly shaped clay floors, the north and 

south walls of which measure 2.3 m and 2.6 

146 



m respectively. At both Non Yang and Non 

Muang Kao, a shallow pit was excavated to 

facilitate construction of the floor. The walls 

in the structures at both sites are of a similar 

size in section, 12-16 em across. Nitta found 

the remnants of half split logs which he 

interpreted as a foundation for the structure, 

an aspect not encountered at Non 

Muang Kao. Other notable parallels between 

Non Yang and Non Muang Kao include the 

discovery of complete ceramic vessels, laid 

atop one another, lip to lip. This practice has 

been noted also at Noen U-Loke (Higham 

pers. comm.) and Ban Prasat (F.A.D. 1992). 

Three such features were encountered at 

NonMuangKao,in which twoPhimai black 

bowls were placed in a close fitting hole. The 

purpose of these depositions remains enigmatic. 

It is possible they were ceremonial, 

foundation offerings as suggested by Nitta 

(1991), or related to a mortuary ritual. 

Ban Takhong is a 'moated' site located on 

a tributary of the Mun river which had similar 

features to those described at Non Yang, 

including clay derived from walls or floor 

features (Higham 1996). It is notable also 

that no pattern burnished Phimai black pottery 

was recovered from this site. 

There are several possible explanations 

for the intriguing clay floors at Non Muang 

Kao. They may represent work areas, perhaps 

for rice threshing. In modem Thailand 

threshing floors are constructed by clearing 

a suitable area approximately 15m in diameter, 

and coating it with a mixture of buffalo 

dung and water (Thompson 1996). In the 

past, threshing was conducted closer to the 

fields to minimise grain loss in transport 

and handling (Chung and Lee 1978). Grain 

loss may have been more apparent in antiquity 

because the rice was more prone to 

shatter (Thompson 1996). It seems unlikely 

that the prehistoric inhabitants would have 

brought the harvested rice to the top of the 

mound for threshing. There was also very 

little evidence of rice remains on the floors 

themselves although it was found in other 

contexts. 

It is also possible that the clay floors may 

represent domestic occupation. The pres- 

ence of interior walls and repeated plastering 

of the floors in the same location could 

indicate the floor was part of a dwelling 

successively occupied. A possible association 

with interments must be considered. 

Several of the graves are lined with white 

clay, similar to that of the floors. The clay 

floors were frequently found in close association 

with burials, a relationship being 

very difficult either to confirm or dismiss. 

Conclusion 

The Iron Age of Northeast Thailand is little 

understood. The excavation of Non Muang 

Kao represents a significant contribution 

toward an understanding of a period which 

saw the rise of complex political entities 

such as Dvaravati and Angkor. The analysis 

of the ceramic and other artefactual material 

from Non Muang Kao will lead to a fuller 

understanding of the events there and allow 

a finer definition of the cultural chronology 

of the site. However, Non Muang Kao must 

not be viewed in isolation. A more complete 

comprehension will only evolve by placing 

this site within a regional, synthetic model, 

encompassing propinquent sites, such as 

Ban Lum Khao, Ban Prasat, Ban Tam Yae, 

and Noen U-Loke. For a more comprehensive 

understanding of the prehistoric period 

in the Mun River valley, further excavations 

are needed, especially at sites ringed by 

ditches or moats. Although small, the burial 

assemblage will prove invaluable in assessing 

the prehistoric mortuary sequence, especially 

with regard to the recently excavated 

cemetery at Noen U-Loke. 

Further excavations at Non Muang Kao 

within the 'Origins of Angkor Archaeological 

Project' are not planned due to financial 

and other restrictions. It is clear, though, 

that this large site constitutes an important 

component of Iron Age settlement in the 

Mun River valley and a larger scale excavation 

in the future would contribute to an 

enhanced understanding of the enigmatic 

moated settlements of Northeast Thailand. 


147

D. O'Reilly 

Acknowledgments 

I acknowledge with thanks the Thai Fine 

Arts Department, Dr Ratchanie Thosarat 

and Professor Charles Higham. I also am 

grateful to the University of Otago and the 

Marsden Fund for their support. The constructive 

criticism of James Samson was also 

appreciated as well as the support of Teresa 

Smith. Any errors are of course my responsibility. 

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69-79. 

KEYWORDS-IRON AGE, CLAY FLOORS, 

NORTHEAST THAILAND, EXCA 

VATION, BURIALS, PHIMAI, BLACK 

POTTERY, MUN RIVER VALLEY, 

MOATED SITES 


THE KHMER KILNS OF BAN YA KHA 

Dawn F. Rooney 1 and Michael Smithies2 

Abstract 

A large group of partly disturbed Khmer kilns was discovered between 1993- 

95 near the village of Ban Ya Kha in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern 

Thailand. The sites have yielded more than 2,000 surface finds of Khmer 

earthenware and stoneware. They are classified according to form, decoration, 

glaze and colour. Attempts have been made to reconstruct vessels from the 

shards, and the chronology and range of Khmer ceramics is discussed. It is also 

possible that a prehistoric site is located near the kilns. Recommendation is 

made for controlled excavation at some of the Ban Ya Kha sites in order to 

resolve the many outstanding problems identified. 

The identification of Khmer kiln sites in 

northeastern Thailand in the mid-1970s 

was a revelation, as no previous kilns had 

been positively identified in any part of the 

former Khmer Empire. The only potential 

site was Phnom (mountain) Kulen, some 40 

km east of Angkor, reported by Etienne 

Aymonier (1901) who had visited the site in 

1883. Abundant shards and mis-fired vessels 

found in the area led A ymonier to assume 

it was a kiln site but, so far, no kiln has 

been found and no excavation has been 

conducted. For now, Phnom Kulen can only 

be considered a provisional kiln site. 

In the mid-1970s quantities of brown 

and green glazed wares appeared in the 

Bangkok antiques market. According to local 

art dealers, they were found by farmers 

in northeastern Thailand. Following this 

discovery, numerous surveys, surface collections 

and salvage excavations were carried 

out by the Fine Arts Department 

(Natthapatra 1990). By the 1980satleast200 

kiln mounds had been identified on the 

Khorat Plateau in the vicinity of Khmer 

temples. The greatest concentration of kilns 

is in the southeastern area of Buri Ram 

1 PO Box 1238, Nana P.O. Bangkok 10112, Thailand. 

2PO Box 1, Bua Yai, 30120, Thailand. 

Introduction 

Province at two main sites, Ban (village) 

Kruat and Ban Baranae. Both are close to an 

ancient road extending over 225 km across 

the Dangrek Mountains between Angkor 

and the Khmer outpost of Phimai. The road 

was probably one of the transport routes 

mentioned in inscriptions and ceramics may 

have been among the products thus transported. 

Subsequent excavations at Ban 

Baranae and radiocarbon dating of finds 

associated with ceramics place the kilns 

between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, 

which is consistent with the historical evidence 

(Khwanyuen 1985: 143). 

One kiln area near the village of Ban Ya 

Kha inNakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern 

Thailand, has attracted little attention 

from archaeologists to date, yet it merits 

a more extensive examination because of 

its atypical location, surface finds and kiln 

structure. Ban Ya Kha lies 7 km southwest 

of amphur (district) Bua Yai by road, approximately 

on the 170 m contour. It is 

reached from the amphur on Highway 202 

(Chaiyaphum-Sida), by passing through 

Ban Chan and Ban Don Khen Sanit (Figures 

1 and 2). 

The possibility that the site might be of 

archaeological significance came to light 

accidentally in 1992 when a green-glazed 

stoneware shard, clearly the remnant of a 

cover, was presented to the second author 


151

D. Rooney and M. Smithies 

by a villager who had found it near his 

house. Subsequently numerous shards were 

found in the village. Most were unmistakably 

dark brown glazed Khmer stoneware, 

mainly fragments of jars and some bases of 

pedestal jars. Finds included thinly-potted 

unglazed pieces with incised patterns on 

the exterior. One fragment of a Chinese 

bowl was found; enquiries in the village 

revealed that when the primary school football 

field was being levelled by a bulldozer 

some years back, a cache of pots and artefacts 

was discovered, including what were 

said by villagers to be Buddha statues, but 

which the headman thought were images 

of Ganesha and Shiva. These were apparently 

sold. Some inhabitants in the village 

had unearthed sections of large Khmer jars 

within the house compounds; others found 

smaller fragments which were discarded as 

of no value. A few families had some pieces 

in good condition, including a large shallow 

basin, a storage jar and an elephantshaped 

pot, all covered with a characteristic 

dark brown glaze as well as a green-glazed 

bottle with a tall narrow neck and a covered 

box (Figures 5-8). 

Surface digging by the villagers produced 

other ceramics, of a similar type and 

date. One villager came across a cache of 

bones when digging in the garden, which 

was quickly disposed of for fear of spirits 

invading the house. The site of a village 

rubbish dump, between the nang (rain-fed 

water tank) and the chonlapratarn (reservoir) 

revealed several fragments of richly 

decorated Khmer jars. In one field close to 

the southwestern and higher end of the 

village a number of shards could still be 

found in 1994, and some metal objects had 

been unearthed, including what appeared 

to be a corroded and damaged presentation 

tray.It is worth noting that some art dealer's 

runners became aware of the site, and one 

elderly couple was 'robbed' at gun point of 

a large Khmer jar after being handed a 500 

baht note. The pieces were clearly worth far 

more in the Bangkok antiques market. 

Other artefacts of note found so far comprise 

two cut laterite blocks; one, almost 

square, 68 x 72 em and 23 em thick, is now in 

the village school grounds (its source is not 

known for certain), and one is in the middle 

of a field which is sometimes flooded. It 

protrudes some 20 em from the soil and an 

attempt to remove it was abandoned when 

the farmer found the block extended more 

than 2 m into the soil. The purpose of the 

blocks is not known. 

A part from the presentation tray already 

mentioned, other metal objects have acci- 

Schematic location of Ban Ya Kha 

and Bua Yai in northeast 

Thailand 

(not to scale) 

Figure 1. Sketch map locating Bua Yai. 

dentally been discovered in the village. 

These include a bronze Khmer palanquin 

support, and a set of plain hooped narrow 

bracelets, possibly of iron. These had been 

sold in Bangkok before it was possible to 

examine or photograph them. 

152 



Figure 2.The terrain at Ban Ya Kha. 

The village 

The village of Ban Ya Kha today is a poor 

Lao-speaking, rice-farming community 

largely dependent on remittances from its 

youth working in Bangkok. Closer inspection 

reveals that the village is raised on a 

slight eminence above a uniformly flat land, 

and at the northern part of the reservoir 

there are three hillocks, one to the west of 

the water area, two to the east; on the easternmost 

of these a temple serving Bon Don 

Kheng was erected in 1992. 

According to oral tradition, the present 

inhabitants of the area have mostly come to 

the locality only in the last hundred or so 

years. The oldest inhabitants speak of their 

fathers finding a jungle-covered land full of 

every kind of wildlife, especially tigers. They 

have no potting tradition and until the last 

few years, no realisation that the 'stones' 

they found in their gardens and occasionally 

in their fields were remains of Khmer 

structures. 

The kilns 

It was when walking over the eminences to 

the northeast of the village that the second 

author first came across what turned out to 

be a string of kilns, most severely disturbed, 

on both sides of what can be called the 

Upper Huay Rahat leading from the outflow 

of the reservoir on the northern side of 

the eastern dyke, leading to Don Cheng. 

Those to the north side of the stream bed 

provided a large number of glazed and 

unglazed shards. Ploughing the slope of the 

hillock in 1992 disturbed the surface sufficiently 

to reveal many fragments of wasters. 

On the western side of the central hillock, 

an area rich in cord-marked pottery 

was uncovered by persons digging for sand; 

at first sight these appear to be much earlier 

than the Khmer pottery. 

For ease of identification these kilns could 

be grouped into: 

Site 1. Here, twelve mounds on the northern 

side appear to comprise at least three 

identifiable kilns extending into the hillock 

now topped by a temple. The mid-stream 

area contains at least one kiln, possibly three 

more, and the much-disturbed southern side 

three, possibly six kiln sites. Enquiries 

among villagers indicate that columns (sao) 

sed to exist at the point where the reseroir 

leads into a stream, and more were 

revealed when the concrete outflow was 

constructed about 1982; there is no trace of 

t ese now. 

Several more possible kiln sites were 

en discovered above the water level of the 

r . servoir, on a peninsula and islands to the 

est and south of the westernmost hillock. 

lthough not as rich in shards as Site 1, the 

t Hee kilns are nevertheless similar in struct 

re. This kiln group is termed Site 2. The 

ln most easily distinguished is almost 

r und, approximately 15m north to south 

a d 14.5 m east to west. 

Finally a much larger number of kiln 

s es, ten for certain and possibly more, was 

·scovered at the northwest end of the rese 

. voir which is called Site 3. These can only 

b visited in the dry season. One kiln is 

extremely large, some 60 by 39 m, but may 

a so have been an earlier (burial?) site, judgii 

g from the huge quantity of cord-marked 

p ttery found on its northwestern end. This 

h s apparently been partially excavated, 

tl ough by whom and for what purpose is 

n t known. 

A typical kiln mound at Ban Ya Kha is 

elliptical shape, raised some 20 em or more 

at its lowest part above the surface of the 

land, and is surrounded by a denuded area 


153


leaching salt. The kiln bulges to a slight 

eminence in its centre, a metre or more 

above the land, and has a tree or two growing 

on top. Entrances appear slightly indented 

on the southern side. No trace of a 

chimney at any site is visible. Each kiln is 

located very close to and slightly above the 

water level of the reservoir or stream. In all 

what appear to be 29 kilns have been identified 

around Ban Ya Kha, and others are 

said to exist at a greater distance from the 

village. 

Scattered finds at Ban Ya Kha 

The centre of the school playing field continues 

to reveal shards, mostly of cordmarked 

pottery, as does the nearby temple, 

in which excavations for a new cremation 

structure in January 1993 produced anumber 

of Khmer shards. This, referred to as 

Site 4, would appear to be another area 

worthy of closer investigation as well as the 

rubbish dump north of the two water tanks. 

Similarly, a field southwest of the village 

area, Site 5, seems likely to produce artefacts 

other than wasters such as found at 

Sites 1, 2 and 3. 

The structure of Khmer kilns 

A few Khmer kilns found in other parts of 

the northeast (e.g. those in Buri Ram Province) 

have been complete enough to allow a 

study of the structure (Figure 3). So far the 

evidence shows that they were constructed 

with slabs of fired clay and that bricks were 

not used. Initially we believed that several 

kilns shared one chimney and that the kilns 

had adjoining walls but our current thinking 

is that the features may be superimposed 

and represent a series of kilns from 

different periods. These kilns are in three 

parts - a fire box, a chamber for the wares 

and a chimney- and were of the cross-draft 

type which gave sufficient draft to draw the 

gases downward and enable the flow of 

heat to be changed to obtain a more even 

temperature. These kilns are believed to 

date from the eleventh to thirteenth centu- 

ries, but there is at Ban Ya Kha another type 

of kiln built with semi-cylindrical fired 

bricks, of which many examples can be 

found in the ground nearby the sites along 

with the shards. Most of these kilns are 

oriented north-south with the mouths facing 

south, except those to the south of the 

Upper Huay Rahat, which appear to face 

north. 

Ceramics found at the kiln areas 

The data for this report were collected from 

January 1993 through May 1995. The sites 

around Ban Ya Kha have yielded more than 

2,000 surface finds of Khmer earthen wares 

and stonewares to date. They have been 

classified into categories based on form, 

decoration and glaze colour, and attempts 

have been made to reconstruct vessels from 

the shards. Particular attention was given 

to rims and bases which are distinguishing 

features. 

The forms and distribution of the material 

studied so far suggest that ceramics 

were produced at Ban Ya Kha as containers 

for daily use in the village and surrounding 

area and some, possibly, as ritual vessels. 

Typical containers include jars for storing 

water, pots for cooking and bowls for serving 

food. The absence of ceramic forms for 

eating is probably due to the custom of 

using leaves from tropical plants and trees, 

especially banana leaves, for dishes. The 

potters were most likely farmers and the 

potting probably took place during slack 

periods in the farming cycle, rather than 

full-time. The angularity of some forms, a 

strong horizontal element in the profile, 

ridges on the shoulder, a flaring mouth and 

a pedestal foot call to mind metal forms and 

it is possible that ceramic vessels were made 

in emulation of metal shapes (Rooney 1994). 

Animal-shaped pots with traces of calcified 

lime on the interior were undoubtedly used 

for betel chewing, widely practised in northeastern 

Thailand. The large number of 

shards in the shape of a pedestal foot suggests 

that ceremonial jars with an ovoid 

body and a flaring mouth were produced. 

154 



ban don chen9 

• • 

• • 

I 

ban ya 

S5 

Figure 3. Plan of the kiln area at Ban Ya Kha (drawing by J. Dumarc;ay). 

The finds indicate the extensive use of lids 

to cover jars and pots. A typical lid is shallow 

with carved rings on the top and a knob 

in the form of a lotus bud or a spire with 

diminishing tiers. 

The types of ceramics found at Ban Ya 

Kha include all those known in the limited 

Khmer ceramic repertoire: stoneware with 

green and brown glazes, two-colour and 

slipped wares; and unglazed stoneware and 

earthenware. The proportion of the glaze 

colours roughly conforms to that found at 

the Buri Ram kilns (Brown 1981: 43-4). The 

most numerous are brown glazed wares, 

followed by green; then come a few twocolour 

shards. 

The large numbers of unglazed earthenware 

and stoneware found at Ban Ya Kha 

is surprising. In many cases the forms and 

incised motifs are identical to those found 

on glazed wares which suggests these were 

biscuit-fired, but for some reason never 

glazed. Only two other examples of Khmer 


155


biscuit-firing are known from Thailand and 

it is unusual to find so many at one location. 

The local ceramic technology 

The area around Ban Ya Kha is rich in the 

natural materials needed for ceramics-clay, 

water and wood for firing. The rice fields 

would have been an abundant source of 

clay. Khmer stoneware has a body rich in 

iron and sand that varies in colour, after 

firing, from cream to grey. The texture is 

dense and grainy. It was probably fired in 

an oxidising atmosphere at a kiln temperature 

of at least 1,200 degrees centigrade 

(Srisuchat 1989: 52). It is not uncommon to 

see iron particles that have broken through 

the surface. The nature of the raw materials 

is uneven and thus imperfections are inevitable. 

Medium and large vessels were coilbuilt. 

Coils of clay were gradually built up 

from a thick circular disk and luted together 

to form the walls of the vessel; then the coils 

were partially smoothed on the exterior to 

form a more homogerteous surface. Small 

wares, such as lime pots, were thrown on a 

potter's wheel. A scar on the base that looks 

like an enlarged thumb-print testifies to the 

use of a wheel. It occurred when a reed or 

cord was pulled tautly underneath the pot 

to sever it from the wheel. A visual comparison 

of the body with those found at 

other sites in Thailand suggests the Ban Ya 

Kha pots share a similar content and perhaps 

clay source, although scientific testing 

would be necessary to confirm this point. 

Decoration was mainly incised, probably 

using a bamboo stylus. Motifs are 

mainly geometrical and consist of swirls, 

curves, diamonds, circles, waves, rectangles, 

etc. (Figures 9-1 0). Horizontal bands on the 

shoulder dividing the design into registers 

are typical. Some shards reveal a motif with 

fuzzy edges that looks as though it were 

incised hesitantly, suggesting a somewhat 

blunt instrument was used or perhaps the 

vessel had dried too long before decorating, 

causing the tool to stick in the clay. 

A slip, or thin layer of liquid clay, was 

applied to some of the shards. It fired a 

purplish colour and was probably used either 

to mask the imperfections in the clay or 

to improve the body for glazing. The colour 

and texture of Khmer glazes vary considerably. 

Crazing, or fine-line cracks that spread 

through the surface of the glaze, and flaking 

are the most common defects. In many cases 

the glaze trickles over the body forming 

thick strands, indicating a poor match between 

the body and the glaze. 

Dating the ceramics 

The finds from Ban Ya Kha support the 

need for a complete reassessment of the 

dating of all Khmer ceramics, especially 

those from northeastern Thailand. Previously 

a glaze type was assigned a date 

based on an art style established by architectural 

work at Angkor (Brown 1988: 50-1). 

The finds in Thailand, however, indicate 

that all glazes were made during the period 

of ceramic production, that is at least in the 

eleventh and twelfth centuries, and perhaps 

longer. The original chronology based 

on art historical periods was proposed by 

Bernard Groslier and derived from archaeological 

work he directed at Angkor in the 

1950s and 1960s. The purpose of his excavations 

was not ceramic-oriented, but rather 

to determine the layout of the structures of 

the former Royal Palace. When quantities of 

ceramics were surprisingly found in association 

with dated temples as well as in a 

burial site near the royal bath of Srah Srang, 

Groslier (1981) astutely recorded his findings 

and analysed the material. He subsequently 

constructed a provisional chronology 

for Khmer ceramics. 

However, neither Groslier's chronology, 

nor that established on the basis of kiln excavations 

in northeast Thailand is really adequate. 

The material collected in Thailand 

lacks enough samples in a stratigraphic context 

from a broad range of sites to yield 

conclusive results. The ultimate goal is to 

record and analyse samples in sufficient 

quantities to determine the source of the raw 

materials, the site of manufacture and the 

regional distribution of the finished product. 

156 



Figure 4 Khmer kiln in northeastern Thailand 

excavated by FAD. 

Figure 7. Village find: brown-glazed basin. 

Figure 5. Village find: brown-glazed storage 

jar. 

Figure 8. Village find: green-glazed jar with a tubular 

neck. 

Figure 6. Village find: brown-glazed jar with 

a broad shoulder. 

Figure 9. Brown-glazed shards with incised wave 

motif. 



Figure 10. Shard with incised loop motif. 

Figure 11. Unglazed rim shard 

Figure 12. Comparative jar from an other site. 

Conclusions and analysis 

The sites at Ban Ya Kha raise a number of 

questions. They are much further north than 

all previously known Khmer kiln sites, 

though ares till within the area of the former 

Khmer Empire, as the nearby temples of 

Ban Sida and Pran Ku in Chaiyaphum tes- 

tify. The village of Ban Ya Kha would appear 

to be an ancient one and presumably 

contained a community of potters. There 

are so many kiln sites that production must 

have been considerable, but may have lasted 

for a relatively short period of time, from 

about the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. 

The fact that the present kiln sites are all 

slightly above the water level of the reservoir 

and the stream seems to indicate that 

water levels have changed little over time, 

in spite of the raising of dykes and the 

building of an outflow in recent years; consequently 

the reservoir would appear to be 

ancient, though its present extremely irregular 

shape in noway resembles a Khmer 

baray. The 'columns' formerly located at the 

point of outflow might have constituted 

part of an early dam. If this were so, then the 

community must have been relatively prosperous 

and settled, and production sufficient 

to justify important earthworks. The 

laterite blocks are puzzling; they might 

possibly once have formed part of temple 

altar bases similar to those excavated in 

south Kedah. 

Another enigma relating to the site is the 

presence of what appear to be three artificial 

hillocks in otherwise flat land. The largest 

and highest, the westernmost, reveals 

no traces of ancient habitation, though a 

structure involving columns and a stone 

base appears to have been erected, and 

subsequently abandoned. Perhaps this hillock 

was an early burial mound but only 

controlled excavation can determine this. 

The central hillock, with its cord-marked 

pottery on the western side, appears, with 

greater certainty, to have been a burial site, 

and is undoubtedly worth excavation. The 

presence of the new temple on the easternmost 

hillock now is likely to preclude extensive 

excavation there. 

The semi-cylindrical fired bricks found 

at Ban Ya Kha are difficult to place in time 

and function. They appear to belong to part 

of a kiln structure, yet no brick kilns for 

firing Khmer wares have been found anywhere. 

They may represent a different type 

of Khmer kiln but this requires confirma- 

158 



tion. The bricks may also belong to a later 

kiln sequence superimposed on top of the 

earlier, slab constructed clay kilns. A lesslikely 

possibility is that the bricks are part of 

a religious structure associated with a habitation 

site. These tantalising prospects await 

further study. 

Note: All illustrations have been supplied by 

Dawn F. Rooney, except where indicated. 

References 

Aymonier, E. 1901. Le Cambodge, vol 2, Paris: 

Ernest Leroux. 

Brown, R. M. 1981. Khmer Ceramics of the Korat 

Plateau: unravelling the mysteries, in Khmer 

Ceramics: 9th -14th Century, Singapore: Southeast 

Asian Ceramic Society, pp. 41-9. 

Brown, R. M. 1988. Ceramics of South-East Asia: 

Their Dating and Identification, Kuala Lumpur: 

Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 

Groslier, B.-P. 1981. Introduction to the ceramic 

wares of Angkor, in Khmer Ceramics: 9th - 

14th Century, Singapore: Southeast Asian 

Ceramic Society, pp. 9-39. 

Khwanyuen, S. 1985. The excavation of Baranae 

Kiln Site, Thailand SPAFA, Final Report: 

Technical Workshop on Ceramics (T-W4), 

Bangkok, SPAFA, 1985, pp. 137-68. 

N atthapatra, Chandavij, 1990. Ancient Kiln Sites 

in Buriram Province, Northeastern Thailand, 

in Ho, Chui-mei (ed.), Ancient Ceramic Kiln 

Technology in Asia. Hong Kong, Centre of 

Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, pp. 

230-43. 

Rooney, D. 1994. An Examination of the relationship 

between metalwork and Khmer ceramics, 

Paper presented at a conference on 

Asian Ceramics, Potters, Users, and Collectors, 

Chicago, USA: The Field Museum and The 

Asian Ceramics Research Organization 

(ACRO). 

Srisuchat, Tharapong & Amara 1989. Introducing 

Buri Ram ceramics and kilns. Silpakorn 

Journal 33 (2): 52-60. 

KEYWORDS- THAILAND, CAMBODIA, 

KHMER CERAMICS, KILNS, ARCHAE 

OLOGY 


------,--------

EXCAVATION AT BAN WANG HI, 

LAMPHUN PROVINCE, THAILAND 

Jean-Pierre Pautreau,· 

Aude Matringhem 

and 

Patricia Mornais 

Abstract 

The cemetery of Ban Wang Hi, which lies on the left bank of the Kwang River, 

was found when a water tank was dug there in 1986, and first investigated by 

the Fine Arts Department the next year. From 1996 the Thai-French Prehistoric 

Research Project started systematic excavation there in collaboration with the 

F.A.D. and the Mission Archeologique Franc;aise. Four burials were excavated 

belonging to the same phase of the late prehistoric period which probably date 

to between the last centuries BC and the early centuries of the Christian Era. 

Research will continue in 1997. 

Introduction 

In Southeast Asia, the beginnings of history 

and the establishment of a protourban 

society date back to the first centuries 

of our era. At this period, the contacts with 

China and chiefly with India, increased. 

India then had a great influence in religious 

and socio-political ideology. On the Southeast 

Asian mainland funeral sites provided 

the last witnesses of Bronze and Iron Age 

times. 

In Thailand, the end of the protohistoric 

period is quite well-known in the northeastern 

part of the country and on the vast 

plains of the Chao Phraya river valley. But 

the period is still not so well-known in the 

north. This moderately-high mountain and 

piedmont region was long thought to have 

stayed apart from the movements of the 

end of the last millennium BC in the great 

plains ideal for rice-growing. 

A funeral site of Obluang (Santoni et al. 

1988: 50-7) and random finds from Ban San 

*French Archaeological mission in Thailand, and 

Laboratory of Anthropology, UMR 6566 CNRS. 

Universite de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 

avenue General Leclerc, 35042 Rennes- France. 

Translated by the students of the Centre de 

Formation de Traducteurs, Terminologues, 

Redacteurs de l'Universite de Rennes 2. 

Pha Ka in San Kamphaeng and Ban Yang 

Tong Tau near the Doi Sakhet are still difficult 

to place in the chronological evolution 

of the northern cultures. These elements 

are also difficult to compare with those of 

the northeastern regions and the central 

plain. 

The necropolis of Ban Wang Hi 

(Lamphun) is considered to be a reference 

for the protohistory of the north. The deposit,3 

km southeast of the provincial capital,lies 

on the left bank terrace of the K wang 

River. 

Trial excavation No. 1 

Trial excavation No. 1 is located northeast 

of the fish-farm tank, close to the scattered 

archaeological finds. Five human skeletons 

were discovered in this region, all of them 

facing southeast. Two of these skeletons 

seem to correspond to an individual deposit, 

and the three others were grouped 

together. Skeletons 1 and 2, discovered 30 

em from one another, were identified as 

being female, however, this sex determination 

is uncertain considering the poor condition 

of the remains. Skeleton 3 was identified 

as a male, and on his chest were found 


161

J.-P. Pautreau, A. Matringhem and P. Mornais 

the skeletal remains and the upper part of 

the skeletons of two other individuals. 

Near skeleton 1 a tool was found on the 

right side of the skull, and an iron blade on 

the left side of the right femur. In the middle 

of the body, the archaeologists found the 

fragments of a red polished vase, and at its 

feet, a rounded pot. Skeleton 2 also had 

three tools and an iron blade near its head. 

Similarly, an iron blade was discovered on 

the right of skeleton 3. Five stone tools and 

a dozen stone flakes were found at the 

inhumation level. 

In the upper level, numerous vase fragments 

of the medieval Haripunchai periods 

were discovered. 

Trial excavation No.2 

The second trial excavation was located 

about 25 meters southeast of the first. The 

two skeletons found there were in a very 

bad state of preservation. A deposit of glass 

paste beads was found about 30 em from 

the feet of skeleton 1. The second person 

wore an arm band made of four bronze 

rings and was lying near two red paste 

vases. A chip of cut stone was found at the 

burial level. The upper level of this trial 

excavation also revealed shards from the 

Hariphunchai Period and fragments of polished 

stones. Finds in the paddy fields show 

that the cemetery extended beyond the zone 

of the trial excavations, both to the east-and 

west. 

The 1996 excavation 

(Trial excavation No.3) 

This trial excavation was undertaken near 

the second excavation trench of 1987. Four 

more burial places-including one of a very 

young child -were discovered. This brings 

to eleven the number of burials found at the 

Wang Hi site (Figure 1). They all are associated 

with funerary deposits. 

Stratigraphy 

The present soil (Layer 1,.15 - 25 em), a 

beige, brown or yellow-brown sediment, is 

quite loose. In the northern sector this corresponds 

to the soil removed during the 

digging of the water tank which led to the 

site being discovered. 

Layers 2 (5 -10 em), 3 (10- 20 em), 4 (40- 

0 60 em) and 5 (a few centimetres only) are 

all made of a compact, dense and homogeneous, 

thin, muddy sediment, the colour of 

which varies from beige-grey to pinkish. 

This sediment holds greyish clayey deposits 

that may be due to former paddy field 

channels and ferruginous inclusions, which 

easily merge with the osseous tissue. 

Layer 6 (30 em) corresponds to the unaltered 

natural soil and appears between a 

depth of 1.3 and 1.6 m with a particularly 

dense ferruginous gravel. The base of the 

burial level is about 1.2 m below the present 

surface. 

Funerary collections 

We were able to identify four burial places 

(a child and three adults) and a funerary 

deposit covered by a vase (Figure 1). 

Funerary deposit no. 96 

Near the child's burial place, but apparently 

not linked to it, we found a piece of 

pottery that had been deliberately placed 

upside down, in order to protect a deposit 

composed of a curved iron tool and a long 

necklace made of glass and agate beads. 

This deposit included a long necklace made 

of more than 250 glass paste beads and 

three agate beads together with a curved 

iron instrument. Similar deposits were observed 

in most proto historic burial grounds 

in the region; for example at Ban Don Ta 

Phet. 

The bones lie about 1.4 m below the 

present surface. They are very eroded and 

almost mineralised making the identification 

of small pieces of bone very difficult. 

The most fragile bones (hip bones, vertebrae 

and spongy parts) are often very damaged, 

or have even disappeared. While none 

of the burial places seems to have been 

altered, none has totally escaped damage 

162 


Excavation at Ban Wang Hi 

.·:.··, 

"" . (, 

}/'- -- 'CHI.-\ NG RA I; .. - -, 0 J' 

:;? _: 

~- e CHIANG MAl i 

• • 

B~N WANG HI 

4 

0 

0 

Scm 

4cm 

Figure 1. The location of Ban Wang Hi illustra ting pottery, bracelet and beads from 1996 excavations 

(Drawing M.A. F. T., P. Mornais and A. Matringhem). 



by termites, burrowing animals and roots. 

The corpses had been laid down at the 

bottom of deep pits; the distribution patterns 

of artefacts (essentially pottery) show 

this and also a concentration of the fragments, 

above the burial places, from the 

upper layers onwards. The fill and surrounding 

sediments are very similar, both 

being very compact, white and of the same 

granulation. For the three adult burials of 

the same area, we cannot say whether it is a 

collective burial or individual graves. The 

partial superposition of the three skeletons 

within a few centimetres (skeleton 145lies 

under No. 300, itself lying under skeleton 

No. 146) makes it difficult to determine 

with any certainty the chronology of the 

burials and to resolve whether this was ~ 

simultaneous collective burial or succe~sive 

deposits spread over time. A very thin 

grey clay film seems to preserve the imprint 

of a container of some perishable material 

that would have protected the bodies laid in 

the pits. 

All the burials are extended and supine 

and several taphonomic phenomena lead us 

to think that the corpses were wrapped in a 

kind of supple and flexible shroud such as 

vegetal matting or animal skin which provided 

some lateral compression. 

Skeleton 96-1 (No. 145) 

This skeleton is that of an adult, lying supine 

with its upper and lower limbs lying 

straight. Considering the position of the 

forearms, close together, and the small bones 

of the right hand grouped near the right 

coxal bone, its hands are apparently close to 

the pubis. A large root severely damaged 

the skeleton around the shoulder. There are 

only a few remains left of the badly damaged 

ribs and rachis. Coxal bones have disappeared. 

Foot bones, still in fairly good 

condition, have some loose connections. 

However, a large part of the right foot is 

missing. 

The whole skeleton, head to the southeast 

is lying on a slope dipping slightly from 

north to south. The outline of a container is 

clearly visible along the sides. The left part 

of the skeleton, and particularly the lower 

limb, seems to 'fit' against this outline. 

Skeleton 96-2 (no. 146) 

This skeleton is oriented southeast to northwest. 

The third body laid down in the grave 

has also many parts missing. The entire 

upper part of the trunk has been cutthrough 

by the same termite nest which damaged 

the above-mentioned burial. The skull, the 

rachis, the right upper member and right 

coxal bone have totally disappeared. The 

left forearm is parallel to the left femur. The 

hand is lying underneath the femur. The 

lower limbs, severely damaged, are lying 

straight. The few small bones lying at the 

end of these limbs could be the feet. Bad 

distortions can be noticed near the diaphysis 

of the two tibias. They probably result 

from pathologies. The outline of the container 

appears here to be clearly defined 

along the sides. 

· Skeleton 96-3 (No. 300) 

Skeleton 300, an adult, also lies supine, 

southeast to northwest, with its lower limbs 

lying straight. The right forearm parallel to 

the trunk is slightly askew. A concentration 

of small brown spots near the coxal bone 

possibly come from a small grain bracelet 

on the left wrist. The skull, which is seriously 

damaged, has been displaced by termites 

although the dentition of the maxilla 

is complete. Teeth are regular but deeply 

filed. Ribs, rachis and coxal bones remain 

incomplete. Tibiae are intact but amputated 

at diaphysis level by the passage of an root 

or burrow. Due to this, the distant segments 

and tibias have been pushed a few 

centimetres downwards, among the 4pper 

trunk bones of the underlying burial145. 

Unlike the previous burial, the outline of 

the container does not clearly show. However, 

the position of some bones implies the 

existence of a larger container. 

Skeleton 96-4 (No. 124) 

Burial124, partly preserved, is that of a very 

young child who was buried about 1.5 

meters north of the adult skeletons, at a 

164 



similar depth. The head is clearly facing 

eastwards and the feet westwards. In spite 

of the damage near the skull caused by 

termites and a small burrow near the pelvis, 

it is clear that the skeleton is again supine. 

The position of the forearms is not clearly 

defined. One of them, displaced towards 

the pelvis, still has a small grain bracelet 

around the wrist. 

A dentition examination by the Ubelaker 

method indicates that the infant was about 

one year old(+/- 4 months). 

The fairly straight limit of the container, 

visible through a thin layer of clay, is clearly 

defined along the left side of the body. There 

is a regular gap between this and the line 

drawn by the bones. Two pieces of pottery, 

one on top of the other, overlay the burial. 

This series of burials forms an apparently 

homogeneous whole: the grave goods 

were similar and the depth at which the 

bodies were buried as well as the orientation 

of the graves were the same. 

The general state of preservation does 

not enable us to be accurate as to the age 

group of the buried people, except for the 

child who, according to the results of the 

dentition examination, died at about one 

year old. For these reasons, it is not possible 

to determine the sex of the skeletons. The 

slight orange-brown colouring that stains 

the enamel of most teeth found in the burials 

searched in 1987 and 1996 (especially that of 

the infant) were considered, in 1987, by the 

excavators to be traces of consumption of 

betel. The mastication of betel chew is still in 

practice nowadays in this area; it is the traditional 

privilege of women. The orange 

colouring seems to be the result of ferruginous 

oxidation and to have the same origin 

as the ferruginous gravel of the soil. 

Preliminary study of 

archaeological goods 

The materials excavated include pottery, 

personal ornaments and some lithic elements. 

We can note that charcoal is extremely 

scarce and that there is no trace of 

macro plant remains, excluding the grain 

bracelet worn by the baby. 

Personal adornments are the main objects 

found with the burials. These are 

objects worn when alive or ornaments 

specifically for funeral ceremonies, such 

as the little grain bracelet on the baby's 

wrist or the bronze arm band, composed 

of four bangles, on the adult's forearm. 

Iron tools were found only with the burials 

excavated in 1987 by the FAD. 

Personal ornamentation - glass beads 

More than 250 beads, perhaps from a necklace 

arranged in short one-colour series, 

were found inside the upturned vase in 

burial 54. They are all monochrome, of two 

colours only -blue-green and red-orange. 

Other isolated beads were discovered, in 

the upper levels as well as in contact with 

the adult skeletons. Another necklace, of 

400 glass beads, was excavated in 1987, laid 

down close to the feet of a skeleton of indeterminate 

sex. 

Two of these beads, one opaque orangered, 

the other opaque green, and both from 

Orange-green bead 

Orange- red bead 

Sodium 12.24 10.17 

Potassium 3.23 2.27 

Silica 67.79 59.27 

Alumina 9.81 5.20 

Calcium 2.48 5.12 

Lead

.. 


SOUNDING N°) 

2539 WANG HI 1996 

DJSTRIBUTION MAP 

F.chellc/Sc:ale 

0 

0 

'\ 

~ 

~ 

2 

3 4 s 

\ 

. 

.. 

fl' 

~ .... 

,: ~ 

. : 

.. ,. 

~~·11· 

_w 

!1 ~- 

Child grave 96-4 (n°124) Adult grave 96-1 (n°145) Adult grave 96-2 (n° 146) Adult grave 96-3 (n°300) 

Figure 2. Ban Wang Hi: sounding No.3, 1996. Location of burials and details of skeletons (Drawing 

M.A. F. T., P. Mornais and A. Matringhem). 



IRON 

g 

' . 

nU \t 

} t!~, . 

. ' 

; u ;, ,." 

~',~ 

0 10 20 30 

-...~:::::=--em. 

0 -=· =--===-- 4 em o-=-=- 4cm 

2 

Figure 3. Ban Wang Hi: skeletons from Sounding No.1, 1987. Glass earring, iron tool and pottery 

from 1987 excavations (After F.A.D). 

Journa l of The Siam Society Vol85, Parts 1 & 2 167


Burial146, were analysed by Amy Salisbury 

in London (Salisbury and Glover 1997). Results 

show that they are both a soda glass 

low in calcium and magnesium, but with 

high alumina. The low magnesium and high 

alumina content is characteristic of many 

glasses from India and it is probable that 

both these beads were imports. The high 

copper content in the orange-red bead is 

also typical of this variety of red Indo-Pacific 

drawn beads. 

Elements of semiprecious 

stone necklace 

Three elongated stone beads of white-veined 

brown agate are parts of a necklace. Two are 

almost circular in section, and the third is 

faceted. The largest is 27.5mm long by 

7.78mm in diameter and the smallest one is 

10.8mm long by 10.4mm in diameter. The 

combination of small glass beads with semiprecious 

stone elements - and especially 

agate - seems to be a regular feature of 

burial sets in Southeast Asian protohistory 

-as for instance at Ban Chiang and Ban Don 

Ta Phet. 

The bronze bracelet 

A bronze bangle, made through the lost 

wax process, 8 em by 7.4 em in diameter and 

5 em high, was excavated ten metres east of 

the trial excavation (Figure 1.5). The size is 

exactly the same as that of the four bangles 

from trial excavation No. 2, which were 

found around the radius and the elbow of 

the skeleton. A horizontal linear decoration 

is close to both openings. A more complex 

decoration is near the large opening. Local 

parallels to these ornaments are rare; one 

was discovered in 1987 and conserved at 

the National Museum of Lamp hun, but requires 

cleaning and conservation before a 

useful stylistic comparison can be made. A 

spectrographic analysis of the core metal 

composition taken together with a comple- 

1 Analyses by J.-R. Bourhis, UMR 153 CNRS 

(Universite de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 

35042, Rennes, France). 

mentary analysis of the surface patina suggests 

an overall composition of the bracelet 

to be about 71 percent copper, 17 percent 

lead and 10 percent tin 1 • 

Glass earrings 

A fragment of a translucent clear glass earring, 

about 55 mm in diameter, was found 

in a rice paddy, to the west of the trial 

excavation. The polygonal section has flat 

surfaces, a pronounced angle towards the 

outside and a slighter one toward the inside. 

One of the tips corresponds to the 

opening of the ring, and the other one represents 

an accidental break. 

Five other glass earrings were excavated 

with the first burials in 1986 during the 

digging of the basin at Ban Wang Hi .. Their 

sizes are different; the diameters range from 

35 mm to 110 mm. Sometimes considered as 

bangles, these glass earrings are well-known 

in the contemporary protohistoric necropolises 

of northern Thailand, such as Ban 

Chiang. 

Spindle whorls 

Three ceramic spindle whorls were discovered 

with the burials; one near the feet of an 

adult, in the first 1987 trial excavation. The 

presence of spindle whorls, together with 

the use of betel, is used to characterise female 

burials. Two spindle whorls were also 

found in trial excavation No. 3. They are 

respectively 32 and 30 mm in diameter and 

24 and 15 mm high. The biggest one, an 

asymmetrical smooth black example, was 

laid down with the ceramics placed at the 

top of Burials 145 and 146. 

Spindle whorls are only found in Thailand 

in the late stages of the Metal Age and 

particularly at sites containing iron tools 

and weapons, and also at protohistoric sites 

such as Ban Chiang, Non Pa Kluay or Ban 

Don Ta Phet (Glover 1990: 175). They seem 

to be associated with the use of spun textile 

fibres and might characterise female tasks. 

168 



Iron tools 

Trial excavation No. 3 revealed only one 

iron tool: a strongly corroded blade coming 

from the funeral site and covered by the 

upturned vases. It is about twenty 

centimetres long, and bent in the middle, 

with a tapering tang widening to a straight 

cutting edge. Iron tools and blades were 

already found in 1987. Some of them might 

have had sockets. Others were interpreted 

as fish-spears. The similarity between these 

three objects and another one found in 1996 

proves that these are instruments, once with 

wooden handles, that were probably used 

to work the land. In 1987, trial excavation 

No. 1 also produced a bifurcated blade 

which could have belonged to a dagger or a 

little spear. 

The deposit of iron instruments with the 

bodies is attested during this period in this 

region (sites near Ban San Pha Ka and Ban 

Yang Thong Tai). Another remarkable example 

is the Ban Don Ta Phet cemetery with 

its numerous socketed iron tools. 

Lithic material 

In 1996 a heavy scraper was found in the 

upper levels of trial excavation No.3. It has 

unifacial marginal retouches and an intact 

tang. The 1987 research exposed a stone tool 

left of the skull of a skeleton. A quartzite 

instrument was found near another body. 

Lithic material (entire or broken, quarried 

stones and tools) was found in a significant 

quantity in Ban Wang Hi if the earlier finds 

are taken into account. All the stones, 

worked or not, probably came from the 

nearby river, and are thus extraneous to the 

direct environment of the site. It is unlikely 

that their presence in the site is by chance. 

These stone tools, probably linked to the 

working of bamboo and associated with 

human remains and iron tools, cannot be 

considered as chronological evidence of 

archaism. 

Ceramic 

These are the most numerous objects (Figures 

1-3). Their arrangement and numbers 

in the grave do not correspond to any precise 

rule. The pottery vessels are found either 

near the feet or above the abdomen 

(1987 burials). Most of the time, they are 

found near the skull or above it or rather 

high in the pit fill. The vases found near the 

burials in Ban Wang Hi are bowls with 

rounded bottoms, and different forms of 

flat based pots with globular bodies, short 

necks; round-based hemispheric vessels, 

and big jars. Cord impression is the only 

form of decoration and the vessels were 

undoubtedly used in the everyday life. 

Pottery technology 

All pottery vessels found in the protohistoric 

cemetery were hand formed and the 

broken edges indicate the use of the coilbuilt 

method. Colours of the pastes range 

from ochre to grey on outer surfaces, and 

from dark ochre to black on the inner surfaces. 

Temper was derived from local sands. 

Most of the time they show an exceptionally 

thin, medium grain-sized distribution, and 

frequently have coarse-grained inclusions. 

Most vessels have a smoothed surface or 

were buffed with a burnishing tool. Several 

bases have traces of cord-prints made by a 

beater. 

Pottery morphology 

The pottery shapes display little variety. 

Two major types dominate the whole of the 

productions. First are open vases like porringers 

and bowls. These are all small or 

medium-sized vessels. Their mouth diameters 

are around 12 em and they are mainly 

around 3 em high, or slightly more. All 

these small bowls display a sub-vertical or 

slightly incurved edge, a rounded or slightly 

flattened bottom. Most vases or fragments 

of this kind have suspension holes. They 

seem to go together with vessels such as 

pots, which are equipped with the same 


169

J.-P. Pautreau, A. Matringhem and P. Momais 

orifices as displayed in the deposit above 

the child's burial (see Figure 1.4). 

The second common type are globular 

vessels with an upper incurved side and a 

more or less pronounced everted neck. In 

this category, there are small pots with flattened 

bottoms and large jars that have either 

a rounded bottom or a pedestal. 

Among the flat-base pots, we notice small 

sized specimens, that are pot-bellied, and 

have short everted necks with rounded lips, 

bases marked by incisions made with a 

beater. Their height is always less than the 

mouth diameter. The vase above the child's 

burial belongs to this category. So does the 

slimmer vessel found in trial excavation No. 

2 Many vases and fragments of this kind 

also have suspension holes. 

The hemispheric shapes with rounded 

bottoms and short everted necks resemble 

traditional pots used today in everyday life 

for cooking. These vases, which are about 12 

em high and from 15 to 18 em wide, often 

have traces of beating on the bottom or on 

the entire belly. The vessel that contained 

the necklace and an iron tool belongs to this 

category, together with one vase from trial 

excavation No. 1. 

An entire series of much larger vessels 

belongs to the jar category. These were originally 

used for storage. One pot that was 

found near burial No. 145 was atleast 40 em 

high, with a 20 em diameter at its opening 

and 30 em diameter at the widest point. ~ts 

short everted neck ends in a rounded lip. 

Another vase found above burial No. 300 

should have the same capacity as that of the 

previous one. The almost straight upper 

side of the belly is marked by a wide 

carination to the fairly flared neck. 

Pottery decoration 

Decoration is relatively limited, comprising 

incisions and cord impressions made by 

a beater. They are found either on the vase 

bottom or its belly under the carination. 

After smoothing, they only appear in small 

areas. The necks are often smoothed, however 

they are never decorated. The 

carination may be emphasised by a horizontal 

cord in relief. 

Ceramic comparisons 

On the basis of such a small sample, it is still 

difficult to say whether the style variations 

that are observed on the pottery are the 

results of, a) the limited range of pottery in 

use in the community at the time the cemetery 

was used; b) the personality of the 

deceased (such as sex, occupation or wealth), 

or c) wider cultural or chronological phenomena. 

There is no doubt though of the 

cultural unity of the cemetery. 

One of the most important characteristics 

of neolithic and protohistoric Thai pottery 

remains the cord impressions, which 

were apparently made by a beater bound 

with cords. Globular vases with curved necks 

as well as rounded vases are usually embellished 

with such ornamentation which is 

often 'over-carved'. This is the case in Ban 

Wang Hi. Like in the other regions, cordate 

vases are often associated with more easily 

characterised pottery types. The large jars 

can be found on numerous more or less 

contemporary sites, but like globular vases 

with cordate bellies, it does not seem possible 

that they represent any reliable cultural 

or chronological feature. It is only 

through association with other artefacts such 

as personal ornaments and tools that valid 

comparisons can be established. 

The Hariphunchai ceramics 

The Indianised Mon Kingdom of 

Haripunchai from the region of Lamp hun 

remained independent until it was conquered 

by King Mengrai in AD 1292, and 

the Lamp hun Museum holds several vessels 

similar to those which were excavated 

in the upper levels of Ban Wang Hi. 

Two main morphological categories of 

Haripunchai ceramics can be distinguished: 

1) bottle-shaped vessels, rather 

pot-bellied, with long thin necks and a 

curved rim. 2) ovoid vases with a short 

enlarged pedestal and a small curved rim. 

170 



Of course, hand-made pieces of pottery 

such as everyday cooking vases must have 

been used in the Hariphunchai Period as 

they have been known for a long time. 

The decorative motifs of Hariphunchai 

Period vases remain characteristic of this 

period. The flat-bottomed bottles are made 

up of three ornamental zones, the first one 

being at the top of the neck, just at the 

junction with the curving neck. In almost 

every case, there is a thin horizontal relief, 

sometimes with impressions, and surrounded 

by fluting. The other pottery vessels 

are mainly decorated with parallel 

and horizontal flutings and bulb edges. 

The fragments of these historic-period 

vases from the upper levels of Ban Wang 

Hi have sometimes been interpreted as 

the remains of funeral urns. But nothing 

in the work at the site in 1996 could confirm 

the theory that the necropolis continued 

into the Buddhist period. 

Some general comparisons 

There are notable differences between the 

Ban Wang Hi necropolis and the rare comparable 

nearby burial places. Only Ban Wang 

Hi has provided wheel-made ceramics and 

numerous glass beads together with elements 

from a semi-precious stone necklace. 

Glass earrings and large bronze arm bands 

have no equivalent in the sites near Ban San 

Pha Ka or Ban Yang Tong Tau. The pottery 

accompanying the burials are also quite different 

from those in the two other cemeteries. 

And in Ban Wang Hi no burnished axes, 

marble bracelets or glazed ceramics were 

found. 

The Bang Wang Hi site might have been 

occupied at the end of the first millennium 

BC or into the early centuries AD. The very 

limited investigation so far prompts us to 

caution. Similar cemeteries in Northeast 

Thailand, as well as in the Central Plains, 

were used over a long period of time and 

broad comparisons are relatively meaningless. 

The associations for each deposit must 

be established and chronological, sexual, 

social and ethnic markers must be defined 


for each group. 

The excavation of the Ban Wang Hi cemetery 

site has to be continued to gather more 

data concerning the internal chronology and 

social organisation of the cemetery. This 

work would add to our knowledge of the 

evolution ofprehistoricpopulationsinnorthern 

Thailand where the proto historic period 

also remains largely unknown. 


We wish to express our gratitude to the Fine 

Arts Department of Thailand, and in particular 

to Mrs Chanya Manavid of its Archaeology 

Division in Bangkok who, since 

the beginning of our work, encouraged and 

helped us. We also owe a great debt to Mr 

Surasak Srisamang, Head of the 6th Office, 

F.A.D., Chiang Mai, to Mr Sayan 

Prischanchit and Mr Tasana Doy Asa, Head 

of Archaeology in the 6th office, F.A.D., 

Chiang Mai who encouraged us on all occasions. 

Funds for the Project were provided by 

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, 

through the support of the Social and Human 

Resources Division, and the Commission 

Consultative des Fouilles Fram;aise a 

l'Etranger who made our work possible. We 

benefited greatly, as ever, from the support 

of the Cultural Service of the French Embassy 

in Bangkok. Translation was by les 

Etudiants du Centre de Formations de 

Traducteurs, Terminologies, Redacteurs de 

l'Universite de Rennes 2. 

References 

Archeologie du Nord: Muang Mae Moh, Obluang, 

Ban Yang Tong Tau, BE. 2531 Bangkok: Publications 

of the Division of Archaeology, Department 

of Fine Arts (in Thai). 

Excavation at Ban Wang Hi, Vieng Yang sub-district,Muang 

district, Lamphun. BE 2531. Publications 

of the Division of Archaeology, Department 

of Fine Arts (in Thai). 

Charoenwongsa P. 1988. The current status of 

prehistoric research in Thailand, In P. 

Charoenwonsa and B. Bronson (eds), Prehistoric 

studies: The Stone and Metal Ages in Thai- 

171


land, Papers in Thai Antiquity, vol.1, pp. 17-41. 

Bangkok: Thai Antiquity Working Group. 

Glover, I. C. 1990. Ban Don Ta Phet: the 1984-85 

excavation, in Ian and Emily Glover (eds), 

Southeast Asian Archaeology 1986, pp. 139-184, 

Oxford: BAR International Series 561. 

Higham, C. F. W. 1989. The Archaeology of Mainland 

Southeast Asia from 10,000 B.C. to the fall of 

Angkor. Cambridge: Cambridge University 

Press. 

Pautreau J.-P., Matringhem A., Mornais P. 1997. 

Thailande, la fin des temps prehistoriques, 

Archeologia, 330: 60-6. 

Salisbury, A. and Glover, I. C. 1997. New analyses 

of early glass from Thailand and Vietnam. 

Bead Study Trust Newsletter 30: 7-14. 

Santoni, M. 1996. Problemes d'archeologie 

prehistorique en Thai:lande du Nord : 

l'exemple d'Obluang (province de Chiang 

Mai)., Premier Symposium Franco-Thai, La 

Thailande des debuts de son histoire au XVeme 

siecle (July 1988) Bangkok: University of 

Silapakorn. 

Santoni, M., Pautreau J.-P. and Prishanchit, S. 

1988. Decouverte dun site prehistorique en 

Thai:lande. Archeologia 236: 50-7. 

Santoni, M., Pautreau J.-P. and Prishanchit, S. 

1990. Excavations at Obluang, Province of 

Chiang Mai, Thailand, in Ian and Emily Glover 

(eds), Southeast Asian Archaeology 1986, pp ... 

37-54, Oxford: BAR International Series 561. 

KEYWORDS-PREHISTORY, THAILAND, 

BURIAL, IRON AGE, ARCHAEOLOGY 


THE EXCAVATIONS OF J.-Y. CLAEYS AT TRA KIEU, 

CENTRAL VIETNAM, 1927-28: FROM THE UNPUBLISHED 

ARCHIVES OF THE EFEO, PARIS AND RECORDS IN THE 

POSSESSION OF THE CLAEYS FAMILY 

Ian C. Glover* 

Abstract 

Problems in reconciling the material excavated at Tra Kieu between 1990 and 

1993 with the findings made by J.-Y. Claeys nearly 70 years earlier led to the 

'discovery' of a rich archive of unpublished photographs and records in France. 

The study of these is helping to correlate results from the various excavation 

seasons. 

Introduction 

lean-Yves Claeys (1896-1978), architect and 

archaeologist, was employed by the Ecole 

ran~aise d'Extreme Orient in Indochina 

from 1923 to 1953 and undertook a series of 

major excavations at Tra Kieu, Duy Xuyen 

District, Quang Nam Province (Figure 1) 

between June 1927 and October 1928 during 

which he uncovered the foundations of 

two major, and several minor, Cham 

temples, large quantities of sculpture and 

some inscriptions. Most of these are now 

kept in the Museum of Cham Sculpture in 

Da Nang with smaller collections in museums 

in Paris, Saigon, Hue, Hanoi, Bangkok 

and elsewhere. Despite the large scale of the 

excavations Claeys published relatively few 

details of his work; two long but preliminary 

articles in the Bulletin de l'"Ecole Fran~aise 

d'Extreme Orient (1928 & 1929), one in the 

Revue des Arts Asiatiques (1931) which to 

some extent repeats material from the earlier 

articles, and a summary of the work in 

his book of 1934. 

J.-Y. Claeys was a trained architect, a 

skilled draftsman, painter and photographer 

and learned to navigate light 

aeroplanes in order to take aerial photographs 

of the work at Tra Kieu (Figs 2 & 6) 

and later at other sites. It seems that he was 

*Institute of Archaeology, University College 

London, WClH OPY, UK. 

also a keen amateur cine photographer and 

in the 1950s, after his retirement in Paris, he 

compiled a film on the archaeology of Vietnam 

and Cambodia based on the materials 

he had shot in the field between 1930-40. 

Between 1990 and 1996 Vietnamese archaeologists 

(from 1993 collaborating with 

British and Japanese colleagues) have undertaken 

a series of small scale excavations 

at various locations within the ancient 

walled city at Tra Kieu (Figure 3) with the 

aims of obtaining a dated ceramic sequence 

and investigating the relationship between 

the Indianized Cham Civilization and the 

late prehistoric Iron Age Sa Huynh Culture 

which preceded it in the central coastal 

region of Vietnam. This work continued in 

1997 and some results have been published 

elsewhere (Nguyen, Lam et al. 1991; 

Yamagata and Glover 1994; Glover 1995; 

Glover and Yamagata 1995; Glover, 

Yamagata et al. 1996) or are in press. However, 

in the analysis of the excavated materials, 

we have found it difficult to relate the 

stratigraphic and ceramic sequence obtained 

from these excavations with the structures 

and sculpture revealed by Claeys' work of 

the 1920s. In August 1995 the present author 

started to investigate records held at 

the EFEO in Paris in the hope that more 

details of Claeys' excavations were preserved 

there. The results, thanks to the help 


173

I. C. Glover 

Li\05 

Ci\MBOD!i\ 

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:;) ~:: 

) ,.; - 

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200km 

Figure 1. Map of Vietnam locating the places mentioned in the text. (Drawing by Ruth Prior) 


The Excavations of J.-Y. Claeys at Tra Kieu .... 

Figure 2. Aerial view Tra Kieu from the southwest taken by J.-Y. Claeys. His excavation at Point A 

is at the top centre, beyond the chapel on Buu Chau Hill. 

Figure 3. Plan of Tra Kieu- Simhapura showing the ancient city walls and locating the excavations 

of 1927-28. 


I. C. Glover 

Figure 4. Workmen in trench at 

Point A, in early July 1927. 

Figure 5. The mound at Point A 

in 1927 before excavation. The 

pagoda, an ancestral shrine to 

the Mac family, was removed by 

Claeys and has since been rebuilt. 

Figure 6. The temple foundations 

at Point A after excavation, 

from a low-level aerial photograph 

taken by Claeys. 

176 



of Pierre-Yves Manguin, the Librarian, and 

the staff of the EFEO, were most rewarding. 

In the archives, over 170, largely unpublished, 

photographs were found covering 

many aspects of the excavation at Tra Kieu 

and illustrating objects found there, often in 

situ before their despatch to the museums. 

The original plates of these stayed in Hanoi 

and most are believed to have been destroyed 

1. 

In addition, a microfilm made by the 

EFEO in Hanoi in 1957 was located and after 

viewing this in January 1996 a duplicate was 

made for me. The microfilm, of over 500 

pages, contains the monthly reports made 

by Claeys to the Director to the EFEO in 

Hanoi, various other reports and letters relating 

to the work at Tra Kieu. In addition it 

includes, as separate files, a copy of Henri 

Parmentier's hand-written reports made on 

Mi Son and Dong Duong earlier in the century- 

material which he drew on for the 

Inventaire descriptif des monuments chams de 

l'Annam (1909 & 1918). 

In the course of this archival research I 

contacted two of the surviving children ofJ. 

Y. Claeys who live in Paris in the hope that 

they would have more records of their 

father's work and again this has been most 

productive. H.-P. Claeys, an interior architect, 

and his sister Marie-Yvonne have kept 

quite a number of books and records of their 

father's work, including cine film made by 

him between 1930-40. In July 1996 M. Claeys 

loaned to me the original hand-written field 

diary kept by his father at Tra Kieu and the 

inventory of finds made at the site. These 

four books contain many details of stratigraphy 

and the association of material omitted 

from the publications as well as many revealing 

details of the conditions under which 

the work was done, and recording the visits 

to the site by officials of the French Government 

oflndochina and well-known scholars 

from the EFEO. 

The background to the excavations by 

J.-Y. Claeys at Tra Kieu 

Claeys' fieldwork arose out of the researches 

of earlier French scholars such as Bergaigne 

(1888), Bergaigne and Barth (1893), 

Aymonier (1889, 1891), Finot (1904) and 

Maspero (1928) on Cham inscriptions, and 

by Pelliot (1903, 1904) and especially 

Leonard Aurousseau (1914, 1923) on Chinese 

historical accounts relating to presentday 

Vietnam and their relations with the 

'barbarous tribes' south of the commandery 

of Jinan (Zhinan); the southernmost border 

of the Han and later Chinese imperial administrations. 

Maspero and some other scholars placed 

Jinan north of Hai Van pass with its capital 

near modern-day Hue whereas Aurousseau 

believed it lay further south, with a territory 

extending as far as Cape Varella near modern 

Nha Trang. In the late 2nd century AD a 

polity known to the Chinese as Lin Yi, probably 

the earliest Cham principality, emerged 

on the Chinese southern border but there 

has been continuing uncertainty regarding 

its precise location and even whether Li Yi 

referred to a whole kingdom with its capital 

at Siang Lin or whether it was simply a city. 

The site at Tra Kieu 

The remains of an ancient Cham city (Figure 

3) with temple foundations and substantial 

perimeter walls, at Tra Kieu in the 

Thu Bon River Valley, Duy Xuyen District 

of Quang Nam- Da Nang Province had 

been known since the late 19th century (Paris 

1891, 1892) and had been recorded by 

Lajonquiere (1901) and Parmentier (1909- 

1918). Aurousseau was convinced that Tra 

Kieu was the capital of Lin Yi and was the 

city sacked by the Chinese in the mid 5th 

century. Claeys' mission there between 

1927-28, under the direction of Aurousseau, 

was to test this theory and hopefully to 

demonstrate its validity. This, both Claeys 

and Aurousseau seemed to have believed 

to have been demonstrated. But although 

some sculpture and inscriptions of 5th- 6th 

century AD have been found at or in the 

vicinity ofTra Kieu, the overwhelming bulk 

of the statuary and the building remains 

can be dated, according to most authorities 


177

I. C. Glover 

Figure 7. Plans of the temple 

foundations at Points A and B 

during excavation. The Tombaux 

Royaux in the bottom right were 

those of the Mac family which 

Claeys had relocated. 

Figure 8. A length of moulded bricks on the facade of a 

basement at Point A: sketch from Claeys' field notebook. 

Figure 9. Drawn section from the 

notebooks showing the structure of 

the temple foundations. 

Figure 10. Cross-section through the 

temple base at Point A showing how 

Claeys envisaged the superstructure. 

178 Journal of Th e Siam Society Vol 85, Parts 1 & 2

The Excavations of J.-Y. Claeys at Tra Kieu ... . 

Figure 11. Henri Parmentier (left) 

with his daughter and dog together 

with Claeys at Tra Kieu, Point A in 

September 1927. 

Figure 12. Rubbings of two Chinese 

coins found during the excavations 

at Tra Kieu. Most of the 

coins belong to the 11th-12th centuries. 

(Identifications by Helen 

Wang of the British Museum) 

~/.1 "..!• 

·- J~~ ~~ 

~! ~uJ ~f ~- 

~"' - 

nr 

g 

!'It 

@ ~ 

h 

rr_ 

t2..1 

Figure 13. Location of reliquary 

deposits on Point A. 


179

I. C. Glover 

Figure 14. Claeys' suggested 

reconstruction of the lingam 

base from the 'Ramayana' altar 

now in the Cham Museum, 

'l'luJee ~ 

l OWI


~ (). o.-......{-l..• -.. ""~ c:(..,.,..J ~ 

-;t;.tow>u4 .L -~ ~ ~ 

1,., .,ul~ ~ c:u t----u... .. ~~t 

.......... ~~~....._ ~......cti. 

. "' r~...

I. C. Glover 

Figure 20. A sketch of a carved stone lion from Point A, Tra 

Kieu, from Claeys inventory. A gift to the King of Siam; now 

(?) in the National Museum, Bangkok. 

Figure 21. A sketch of a carved stone devotee from Point A, 

Tra Kieu, from Claeys' inventory. 

-- - -- 2.1 {) -'-_·-- --· 

Qr:com·flhJ m.)fi 

a lr:Jt1AIJU1 

( 1!,\l"lt 

Figure 22. Reconstruction of ancient Simhapura; a water colour made by Claeys for the Colonial 

Exhibition at the Chateau de Vincennes in 1931. 



to the 9th-11th centuries, while most of the 

coins found there by Claeys have been dated 

to the 11th century. 

In a later reassessment of the Chinese 

sources Stein (1947) showed, to the conviction 

of most modern scholars (but see Claeys 

1951) that Aurousseau was wrong and that 

Lin Yi and its capital lay well to the north of 

Hai Van Pass; but this was long after the 

excavations at Tra Kieu. 

After the excavations Claeys quickly 

published two quite lengthy but still preliminary 

reports (Claeys 1928, 1929) and 

incorporated much of the same material 

into an article (Claeys 1931) which he wrote 

as a guide to exhibits at the International 

Colonial Exhibition at the Chateau de 

Vincennes in 1931, where he identified Tra 

Kieu, in its later stages, with the city of 

Simhapura known from an inscription of 

the 9th century. He also went over the same 

ground more briefly in a general book on the 

archaeology of Central Vietnam (Claeys 

1934) and very much later commented on 

Stein's re-working of the historical geography 

as known from Chinese texts (Claeys 

1951). He never published a major monograph 

on the work at Tra Kieu which' some 

nine months of fieldwork surely could have 

supported, for his duties for the EFEO, particularly 

supervising building and administration, 

kept him too busy. However he kept 

meticulous records of his work at Tra Kieu, 

as I have discovered. 

Jean-Yves Claeys is also said to have 

been the best field archaeologist in the employ 

of the old EFEO and he certainly worked 

effectively. He first arrived at the site on 16th 

June 1927 and quickly made arrangements 

for accommodation, engaged four gangs of 

workmen, called on officials, and after cabling 

to Hue and Hanoi for his funds to be 

made available, he started work at 6 am on 

1st July. The first excavation was on a low 

mound surmounted by a small'pagoda', an 

ancestral shrine to the Mac family (Figures 4 

and 5) which he had removed after complex 

negotiations with the Annamese court in 

Hue. The shrine has recently been rebuilt. 

This mound, the site of the main tower called 

Point A in Claeys' reports, had already produced 

many pieces of sculpture which had 

earlier been taken to the Cham Museum at 

Tourane (present day Da Nang) by 

Parmentier and others. 

By the second day of the excavation the 

four teams of workmen (Figures 6 and 7) 

were already finding pieces of sculpture, 

dressed stone and decorated brickwork. On 

the fourth day he had uncovered a substantial 

length of carved and moulded bricks 

forming the facade of a basement (Figure 8). 

He was able to sketch, over a depth of more 

than one metre, the structure of the foundations 

on which the Cham built their great 

towers; alternating layers of rammed red 

earth (betons), broken bricks, and courses of 

well laid bricks (Figures 9 and 10). 

This was quickly achieved despite regular 

visits to Faifo (Hoi An) and Mi Son with 

DrSallet from the Cham Museum in Tourane 

(modern Da Nang). Claeys continued to 

work at Tra Kieu until 14th November despite 

periods of heavy rain and visits from 

various officials and colleagues such as the 

redoubtable Henri Parmentier who came 

with his daughter and dog on 24th September 

(Figure 11). 

During the excavation season Claeys 

lived in the local Community House (Dinh) 

which served as a depository for the sculpture 

found in the excavations before its despatch 

to museums in Tourane, Saigon, Hanoi 

and Hue. He also built a darkroom there 

where his photographic plates were developed 

and printed. The building still stands, 

re-roofed, enlarged and back in use as a 

Dinh. 

On 20th September Claeys notes that he 

received from Aurousseau a report on the 

various coins (sapeques) that had been found 

in the course of work. Aurousseau dated 

most of them to the 11th century; the oldest 

about 1.4 m below the surface of Point A was 

said to be of the 8th century and the most 

recent, from the 19th century, was found on 

the surface of Point B. A re-examination of 

the coins on the basis of the rubbings made 

by Claeys (Figure 12) shows that one is 

marked with a regnal year in the early 7th 


183

I. C. Glover 

century AD, although Aurousseau's attributions 

were mainly correct2. 

Excavation seems to have stopped on 

17th September 1927 and by October the 

weather was deteriorating; the diary entry 

for 7th October for instance refers to 'heavy 

rains since midnight with a tornado ... the 

trenches were flooding, the walls collapsing, 

and the river was rising'. On 11th October 

a typhoon threatened to overwhelm them 

all. He had temporary roofs built to protect 

the work but could do little outside work. 

Claeys seems to have concentrated on writing 

reports, making drawings and plans for 

the enlargement of the Museum at Tourane 

to accommodate all the new finds. He left 

the site for a while to accompany Parmentier 

who was on tour but returned and on 11th 

November he was joined by Emile Pajot, 

well-known (perhaps notorious is better) as 

the first excavator of Dong Son. He closed 

down the excavation until 24th February 

1928, leaving the site in the care of Pajot. 

I have mentioned that Claeys was a meticulous 

recorder of his excavations (Figure 

13) despite the relatively little amount finally 

published. For example he noted quite 

a number of stratigraphic details omitted 

from the publications and these observations, 

together with photographs in the EFEO 

archives and some elusive notes in the reports, 

may allow us to identify at least two, 

and perhaps three, phases of construction of 

the main temple complex at Tra Kieu. This 

may resolve the question as to whether there 

was. a major urban site already there in the 

5th-6th century as the great Tra Kieu altar 

(Figure 14) might suggest; nonetheless, the 

main surviving building remains and sculpture 

belong to the 9th - 11th centuries (Figure 

15). But of course even the existence of 

early occupation does not resolve the problematic 

identification ofTra Kieu as the capital 

of Lin Yi. 

I have mentioned that despite, or perhaps 

because of his main focus towards 

architecture and sculpture Claeys paid rather 

little attention to ceramics and roofing tiles 

which in our experience are very numerous 

at Tra Kieu. For example, the small excava- 

tions at Buu Chau hill in 1990 and 1993 

yielded some30,000 sherds. But from Claeys' 

records I can find only one or two rather 

poor sketches in the Field Diaries and a 

photograph of a heap of sherds and tile 

fragments on an excavation baulk (Figure 

16). 

Claeys did take rather more interest in 

the roofing tiles he found, especially the 

face-decorated end tiles (Figure 17). He 

sketched a possible reconstruction of the 

roofing arrangement (Figure 18) and published 

one short article on the value of roof 

tiles for determining habitation areas (Claeys 

1929a). Despite this none of the tiles he excavated 

seem to have survived. Further 

searches in the archives may indicate what 

happened to them at the end of the excavation 

as I find it difficult to believe that he just 

dumped them all back in the trenches. 

Finally I must briefly mention the inventory 

of sculpture he made; a summary of this 

was typed up as a report to the EFEO in 

Hanoi, and is on the microfilm mentioned 

earlier. But he did keep a separate handwritten 

inventory, made at the site - perhaps 

on those stormy days in October-November-and 

in this he listed and described 

341 piecesofsculptureandillustrated 126of 

these by neat ink sketches on pages facing 

the descriptions (Figs 19-21). On many he 

also indicated to which museum they were 

sent. 

From these one can see Claeys was quite 

an artist and for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition 

at Vincennes he was asked to make some 

large water colours showing his idea of how 

ancient Simhapura would have looked at its 

zenith in the lOth century. One of these he 

published in his book of 1934 (Figure 22). 

In summary 

Analysis of all this material will take some 

time and we have as a medium term plan 

the intention to put together a book on Tra 

Kieu which will integrate the results of the 

earlier researches by Claeys and other 

French scholars with the recent excavations 

by the Vietnamese and ourselves as well as 

184 



more recent art historical work by William 

Southworth and the analyses of ceramics by 

Mariko Yamagata and Ruth Prior. 


For locating and working on the main archives 

on Tra Kieu in the EFEO I must thank 

Dr Pierre-Yves Manguin who told me of 

them, and Professor Denys Lorr;bard, Late 

Director of the EFEO and J.-L. Taffarelli, 

Librarian there for permission to use, copy 

and publish these records. Work on them 

with Dr Anna Bennett in August 1995 led 

me to contact Henri-Pierre. Claeys, architect 

and son of J.-Y. Claeys, and his sister 

Mari-Yvonne, who provided me with much 

additional information about their father 

and loaned to me the four hand-written 

notebooks kept by their father at Tra Kieu 

between July 1927 and 5th August 1928. For 

information on the historical background 

to the excavations at Tra Kieu I am much 

indebted to discussions with, and the unpublished 

writings of, William 

Southworth, although any errors in the 

interpretations offered here are my own 

responsibility. 

Notes 

1 At the Leiden Conference I was told by Dr 

Nora Taylor that many of the old photographs 

of EFEO have been preserved in the 

library of the National Institute of Social Sciences 

in Hanoi but I have not yet had the 

occasion to check whether these include either 

the plates or prints made by Claeys at 

Tra Kieu. 

2 Claeys made rubbings of these coins in his 

field diary. He also mentioned which boxes 

he placed them in, but so far I have not been 

able to find if they have been preserved, and 

if so where. The Director of the Cham Museum 

at Da Nang has told me that they are 

not kept there. They have been identified, as 

far as it is possible to do so from rubbings, by 

Helen Wang of the Department of Coins and 

Medals of the British Museum. 

References 

Aurousseau, L. 1914. Georges Maspero - le 

Royaume de Champa. Leiden: E.J. Brill. Review 

article in the Bulletin de I' Ecole Franr;aise 

d'Extreme Orient 19 (9): 8-43. 

Aurousseau, L. 1923. La premiere conquete 

chinoise des pays annamites (IIIe siecle avant 

notre ere). Bulletin de /'Ecole Franr;aise 

d'Extreme Orient 23: 137-264. 

Aymonier, E. 1889. Grammaire de la langue 

chame. Excursions et Reconnaissances 31:5-92. 

A ymonier, E. 1891. Les Tchames et leur religions. 

Revue de l'histoire des religions 24: 7-111. 

Bergaigne, A. 1888. L'ancien royaume de Campa 

dans l'Indo-chine, d' apres les inscriptions. Paris: 

Imprimerie nationale. 

Bergaigne, A. and A. Barth 1893. Inscriptions de 

Campa et du Cambodge. Paris: Imprimerie 

Nationale. 

Claeys, J.-Y. 1928. Fouilles a Tra-Kieu. Bulletin de 

I' Ecole Franr;aise d'Extreme Orient 27: 468-82. 

Claeys, J.-Y. 1929. Fouilles a Tra-Kieu. Bulletin de 

I' Ecole Franr;aise d'Extreme Orient 28: 578-96. 

Claeys, J.-Y. 1929a. Note au sujet ?es abouts de 

tuiles chinoises. Bulletin de /'Ecole Franr;aise 

d'Extreme Orient 28: 345-6. 

Claeys, J.-Y. 1931. Simhapura- grande capitale 

chame. Revue des Arts Asiatiques 7(2): 93-103. 

Claeys,J.-Y.1934. Introduction a I' etude del' Annam 

et du Champa. Hanoi: Societe des Amis de 

Vieux Hue. 

Claeys, J.-Y. 1951. Considerations sur la recherche 

archeologique au Champa eten Indochine 

depuis 1925. Bulletin de /'Ecole Franr;aise 

d'Extreme Orient 44(1): 89-96. 

Finot, L. 1904. Inscriptions de Quang Nam. Bulletin 

de /'Ecole Franr;aise d'Extreme Orient 4: 

83-115. 

Glover, I. C. 1995. Decorated roof tiles from ancient 

Simhapura - an early Cham city in 

Central Vietnam, In Studies and Reflections on 

Asian Art History and Archaeology - Essays in 

Honour ofH.S.H. Professor Suphadradis Diskul. 

S.-A. Khaisri ed. Bangkok: Silpakorn University, 

pp. 311-22. 

Glover, I. C. and M. Yamagata 1995. The Origins 

of Cham Civilization: indigenous, Chinese 

and Indian influences in Central Vietnam as 

revealed by excavations atTra Kieu, Vietnam 

1990 and 1993, in Archaeology in Southeast 

Asia. C. T. Yeung and W. L. Li (eds), Hong 

Kong: Hong Kong University Museum and 

Art Gallery, pp. 145-70. 

Glover, I. C., M. Yamagata & W. Southworth 


185

I. C. Glover 

1996. Excavations at Buu Chau Hill, Tra Kieu, 

Quangnam-DanangProvince, Vietnam, 1993. 

Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 

(Papers from the Chiang Mai Conference) 14: 

166-76. 

Lajonquiere, E. L. d. 1901. Atlas Archiologique de 

l'Indochine: monuments du Champa et du 

Cambodge. Paris: EFEO. 

Maspero, G. 1928. Le Royaume de Champa. Paris & 

Brussels: G. Van Oest. (1st ed. in 1914). 

Nguyen, Chieu, Lam My Dung & Vu Thi Ninh. 

1991. Ceramics from the excavation of the 

ancient Cham site at Tra Kieu, 1990 (in Vietnamese). 

Khao Co Hoc 1991(4): 19-30. 

Paris, C. 1891. Les ruines tjames de Tra-Keou, 

Province de Quang-Nam (Annam). 

L'Anthropologie 1891 (2): 283. 

Paris, C. 1892. Les ruines tjames de Tra-Keou, 

Province de Quang-Nam (Tourane). 

L' Anthropologie 1892 (3): 137. 

Parmentier, H. 1909-1918. Inventaire descriptif des 

monument cames del' Annam. Paris: Imprimerie 

Nationale. 

Pelliot, P. 1903. Le Founan. Bulletin de l'Ecole 

Franc;aise d'Extr€me Orient 2: 248-333. 

Pelliot, P. 1904. Deux itineraires de chine en inde 

a Ia fin di VIlle siecle. Bulletin de l'Ecole 

Franc;aise d'Extr€me Orient 4: 131-413. 

Stein, R. A. 1947. Le Lin-Yi; sa localisation, sa 

contribution a Ia formation du Champa et ses 

liens avec Ia Chine. Han-Hiue 2(1-3): 1-335. 

Yamagata, M. and I. C. Glover 1994. Excavations 

at Buu Chau Hill, Tra Kieu, Vietnam, 1993. 

The Journal of Southeast Asian Archaeology 14: 

48-57. 

KEYWORDS - VIETNAM, CHAM, 

CHAMPA, TRA KIEU, ARCHAEOLOGY, 

CLAEYS, SIMHAPURA, INDOCHINA, 

EFEO 


DHARMAKiRTI'S DURBODHALOKA 

AND THE LITERATURE OF SRiVIJAYA 

Peter Skilling* 

Abstract 

Although Srivijaya was esteemed as a centre of Buddhist scholarship, only one 

example of its presumably extensive literature has survived. This is an abstruse 

philosophical commentary entitled Durbodhaloka composed at the beginning 

of the 11th century by Dharmakirti. Written originally in Sanskrit, it 

survives only in a Tibetan translation done by Atisa, a monk from Bengal who 

later travelled to Tibet. Information about the author and place and date of 

composition of the Durbodhiiloka is given in the colophon, which is studied in 

this paper. 

The Southeast Asian polity known as 

Srivijaya was not only a political and 

economic power, but also a centre of 

Buddhist culture. Writing at Srivijaya itself 

towards the end of the seventh century, the 

redoubtable Chinese pilgrim-scholar I-ching 

described it as a centre of Sanskrit and 

Buddhist studies (Takakusu 1982: xxxiv). 

In the fortified city of Po-shih 

[Takakusu transcribes this as Bhoja] 

Buddhist priests number more than 

1000, whose minds are bent on learning 

and good practices. They investigate 

and study all the subjects that 

exist just as in the Middle Kingdom 

(Madhyadesa, India); the rules and 

ceremonies are not at all different. If 

a Chinese priest wishes to go to the 

West [India] in order to hear (lectures) 

and read (the original), he had 

better stay here one or two years and 

practise the proper rules and then 

proceed to Central India. 

It seems that Srivijaya maintained its 

standards of scholarship until at least the 

first half of the eleventh century, when the 

Indian monk Dipa:qtkarasrijftana (circa 982- 

1054) travelled there to study, and stayed 

* c/o The Siam Society, Bangkok, Thailand. 

I 

for twelve years, from about 1012 to 1024.1 

Through his translations into Tibetan, 

Dipa:qtkara-also known as Atisa-is 

responsible for the preservation of the only 

certain example of the literature of Srivijaya 

that has survived. 2 Some scholars have 

questioned or even rejected the historicity 

of Dipa:qtkara' s journey to Srivijaya, but I 

feel that the evidence is inconclusive.3 

Dipaxpkara was from eastern Bengal, and 

studied at Vikramasila and Nalanda. East 

Bengal is itself on the fringes of South East 

Asia, and cultural and religious (especially 

Mahayana Buddhist) relations between 

Nalanda and South East Asia are wellattested 

throughout the Pala and Sena 

periods. Even if we reject the tradition, the 

fact remains that the reputation of Srivijaya 

and its scholars was such that the Tibetans 

saw fit to invent the journey: that is, whether 

legend or fact, the tradition is significant in 

the context of South East Asian history. 

One of the important documents bequeathed 

to us by Atisa is his translation of 

the Durbodhiiloka by Dharmakirti.4 Dharmakirti 

is a common name, and the author of 

the Durbodhiiloka should not be confused 

with other Dharmakirtis, such as the famous 

logician, or the Dhammakittis of 

Theravadin tradition. Nothing is known of 

our Dharmakirti except that he was a resident 

of Srivijaya: in Tibetan tradition he 

became known as Dharmakirti of 


187

P. Skilling 

Suvar:r:tabhumi.5 The Durbodhaloka or Illumination 

of [Points] Difficult to Understand is 

a commentary on an Indian text, the 

AbhisamayiilaY[lktira. The AbhisamayiilaY[lktira, 

or Ornament of Realization, is a terse and 

systematic verse explication of the Prajfiiipiiramitii 

or Perfection of Wisdom. Composed 

in the 4th century CE, it was one of the most 

influential texts of scholastic Mahayana 

Buddhism, and the subject of numerous 

commentaries.6 It remains on the curriculum 

of Tibetan monasteries to this day. 

Like the AbhisamayiilaY[lktira, Dharmakirti' 

s commentary is divided into eight 

chapters. It takes up 128 folios in the Peking 

xylograph edition of the Tibetan Tanjur (collection 

of commentaries and treatises). In 

this short paper, I am concerned with the 

historical information embedded in the colophon? 

The colophon, which will be translated 

and edited below in Parts II and III, 

consists of two parts: 

(1) three verses and a prose sentence 

that were part of the original 

Sanskrit manuscript, and composed 

by Dharmakirti; 

(2) a brief prose 'translators' colophon' 

giving the name of the 

translators into Tibetan, which 

would have been added at the 

time of translation. 

Sections 1.3 (in verse) and 1.4 (in prose) 

establish that the Durbodhiiloka was composed 

at the request of, or during the reign 

of, King Cuqama:r:tivarman ofSrivijaya. Section 

1.4 establishes that the work was composed 

in the city of Srivijaya itself. The 

importance of this information cannot be 

gainsaid: the composition of the Durbodhiiloka 

presupposes the existence and study in 

Srivijaya of the abstruse Prajfiiipiiramitii and 

AbhisamayiilaY[lktira literature; of a high level 

of scholarship; and of royal sponsorship. 

The evidence of the colophon is unambiguous: 

whether or not Atisa travelled to 

Srivijaya, the fame of the work composed 

by a Srivijayan author was such that he 

introduced it to the 'Land of Snows'. 

The colophon states that the commentary 

was composed at the behest of King Sri 

Cuqamal).ivarman, in the lOth year of his 

reign. We do not know when the king took 

the throne, but we do know that he died 

between 1005 and 1008.8 It seems then that 

the Durbodhiiloka should have been written 

before 1005. This makes it one of the earliest 

extant works of South East Asian literature, 

predated only by a few works in Old 

Javanese. The translation of the Durbodhiiloka 

into Tibetan was done in Western Tibet 

(mNga' ris, perhaps at Tho ling) by Atisa 

and Rin chen bzang po.9 Since Atisa arrived 

in Western Tibet in 1042, and stayed there 

for three years, the two scholars must have 

made their translation between 1042 and 

1045.10 

Cuqama:r:tivarman is one of the few South 

East Asian kings of the period about whom 

we have any significant information. He is 

known from the present colophon, from 

Chinese records, and from Cola inscriptions 

from South India (Ccedes 1968: 141-2). Where 

did he reign? The colophon supplies two 

toponyms: Srivijaya-pura (dPal rnam par 

rgyal ba'i grong) 'of' Suvar:r:tadvipa (gSer 

gling).ll In an earlier contribution to the 

pages of this journal, I have argued that 

Suvar:r:tabhumi/Suvar:r:tadvipa was a general 

name for the region of South East Asia, 

rather than a specific kingdom or state (Skilling 

1992: 131). Paul Wheatley (1983: 267) 

arrived at a similar conclusion: 

Whatever the name signified to those 

who braved the perils of the ocean, it 

is more than doubtful if the Indians 

of the Classical period in general 

entertained any conception of 

Suvar:r:tadvipa more precise than that 

of a beckoning eldorado beyond the 

ocean.12 

That is to say, the mention of Suvar:r:tadvipa 

does not help us here. 

Much has been written about the location 

ofthe political centre of the entity known 

from various sources as Srivijaya, but the 

issue has not been resolved. While Ccedes 

188 


Dharmakirti's Durbodhaloka ... and Srivijaya 

Figure 1. Part of the 'domain of Srivijaya' with modem names of places mentioned in the text. 

placed it in Palembang in south-eastern 

Sumatra, other scholars have proposed other 

sites, either elsewhere in Sumatra or on the 

Malay peninsula. It has also been suggested 

that Srivijaya (perhaps a title) may have 

been attached to the name of more than one 

political entity over the centuries; or that the 

capital (and ruling family) may have migrated 

from one place to another, taking the 

name with them; or that there may have 

been two capitals of a single Srivijaya at one 

and the same time. This is not the place to 

review the evidence, arguments, and 

counter-arguments. For the period in ques- 


189

P.Skilling 

tion here, there is reason to conclude that 

King CuQ.amat).ivarman and his son and 

successor Maravijayottuitgavarmanreigned 

in the central Malay peninsula, perhaps in 

the region of Kedah. The evidence for this 

lies in the inscriptions of the CoJa kings 

Rajaraja I and Kulot tuitga I, the so-called 

'Leiden Plates' .13 The 'Larger Plates', in Sanskrit 

and Tamil, were issued in 1044/46, but 

refer to a grant made in 1005. The Sanskrit 

section describes Maravijayottuitgavarman 

as 'belonging to the Sailendra lineage,' 

(Sailendra-varrzsa), 'lord of Srivijaya' 

(Srfvi9aya-adhipati, taking Srivif?aya to equal 

Srivijaya), and 'lord of KaQ.aha' (K.atiihaadhipati) 

(Majumdar 1938:242, ll. 80-82, 90; 

243, 1. 100). The Tamil section describes 

King CuQ.amai).i-varman as 'lord of 

KaQ.ara/KiQ.ara' (Majumdar 1938: 243, 1. 6; 

244, 1. 13; 250, 1. 200). The 'Smaller Plates', 

composed in Tamil and issued in about 1089- 

1090, refer to the 'lord of Kadara' and describe 

CuQ.amai).ivarman as. a Sailendra 

(Majumdar1938:276,1.10;277,ll.13-14;278, 

ll. 39-40).14 Again, the Tanjore inscription of 

Rajendra I which details a Cola invasion of 

(pen)insular South East Asia in about 1025 

describes Sangramavijayottuitgavarman as 

the King of KaQ.aram (Wheatley 1961: 199- 

201). 

Here as well, much has been written. 

Many scholars, including Credes, have concluded 

that KaQ.aha/Katara/KiQ.ara refers 

to Kedah. Kataha is frequently referred to in 

Indian literature, and Kedah, in the central 

Malay peninsula at the head of the Straits of 

Malacca, occupied a central and strategic 

position on the maritime trade routes as one 

of the first landfalls (after the Nicobar islands) 

on the journey across the Bay of Bengal 

from India.IS Kataha is sometimes identified 

with the Kalah of Arab sources, which 

some have equated with Kedah, others with 

the isthmus of Kra further north (Bradell 

1980: 381-6: Wheatley 1961: 216-24; 1983: 

234-7 and n.28, 254). This gives us several 

possibilities to contemplate: 

Kataha = Kalah = Kedah 

Kataha = Kalah = Kra (area of 

Figure 2. Dharmakirti of Srivijaya 

Takuapa: see Hall1985: 199, following 

Lamb as referred to in Hall's n. 

28, p. 326) 

Kataha = Kedah :1= Kalah; Kala:J:t = 

Kra :1= Kataha 

Kataha = Kalah =the peninsula from 

Kedah to Kra. 

Whatcanweconclude?Thecolophonstates 

that Dharmakirti composed the Durbodhiiloka 

in the city ofSrivijaya in South East Asia 

(Suvari).advipa) ,sometime before 1005. This 

is a contemporary and reliable document. 

Cola inscriptions in- form us that the line of 

kings to which Dharmakirti's patron 

CuQ.amai).ivarman belonged reigned in 

Kataha. One of the inscriptions mentions 

Srivijaya, and Chinese annals relate the same 

kings to the realm of 'San-fo-ch'i', which is 

interpreted as Srivijaya. These too are contemporary 

and reliable documents. 

It seems within the evidence to conclude 



worked in the area of modern Kedah, perhaps 

elsewhere on the peninsula. This would 

make the Durbodhaloka not only one of the 

earliest extant works of South East Asian 

literature, as mentioned above, but more 

specifically the oldest surviving work composed 

on the Malay peninsula-whether in 

modern Malaysia or Siam cannot be said. If 

the illustrious Bengali pat:t

P. Skilling 

Srivijaya of Suval'I).advipa on the eleventh 

day of the first month of spring (Phiilguna) 

in the tenth regnal year of Deva sri 

Cii


Hall, K.R. 1985. Maritime Trade and State Development 

in Early Southeast Asia, Honolulu: University 

of Hawaii Press. 

Jacq-Hergoualc'h, M. 1992. La civilisation de portsentrepotsdusudK.edah(Malaysia), 

Ve-XIVesiecle, 

Paris: Harmattan. 

Longworth Dames, M. (tr.& ed.) 1989. The Book of 

Duarte Barbosa, an account of the countries bordering 

on the Indian Ocean and their inhabitants, 

written by Duarte Barbosa and completed about the 

year 1518 A.D., Vol. II (repr. New Delhi & 

Madras: Asian Educational Services. 

Majumdar, R.C. 1938. Note on theSailendra Kings 

mentioned in the Leiden Plates, Epigraphia 

Indica XXII :282-3, (1933-34, repr. New Delhi, 

1984). 

Majumdar,R.C.1979.Indiaand South East Asia (ed. 

K.S. Ramachandran and S.P. Gupta), Delhi: B. 

R. Publishing Corp. 

Nakamura, Hajime 1980. Indian Buddhism: A Survey 

with Bibliographical Notes, Hirakata: Kansai 

University of Foreign Studies. 

Naudou, J. 1968. Les bouddhistes kasmfriensau moyen 

age, Annales du Musee Guimet, Bibliotheque 

d' etudes LXVIII, Paris: Presses Universitaires 

de France. 

Nilakanta Sastri, K. A 1938. Kataha, JGIS V: 128- 

146. 

Nishioka, Sosh111981. Index to the Catalogue Section 

of Bu ston's History of Buddhism (II), 

Annual Report of the Institute for the Study of 

Cultural Exchange, University of Tokyo, No. 5. 

Obermiller, E.1932. The DoctrineofPrajnaparamita 

as exposed in the Abhisamayalaqtkara of 

Maitreya, Acta Orientalia XI (1984 repr. Talent, 

Oregon: Canon Publications). 

Sircar, D. C. 1938. Katahanagara in the Kaumudimahotsava, 

JGIS V: 59-60. 

Skilling, P. 1992. Two Ports of Suvari).abhiimi: a 

brief note, Journal of the Siam Society 80 (1): 131. 

Suzuki, Daisetz T. (ed.) 1957. The Tibetan Tripi taka, 

Peking Edition, Vol. 91, Tokyo-Kyoto: Tibetan 

Tripitaka Research Institute. 

Takakusu,Junjiro (tr.). 1982ARecord of the Buddhist 

Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago 

(AD 671-695) by I-tsing, [London, 1896] 

New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. 

Tucci, G. 1988. Rin-chen-bzan-po and the Renaissance 

of Buddhism in Tibet around the Millenium, (lndo 

Tibetica II; first published in Italian in 1932), 

New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. 

Wheatley, P. 1961. The Golden Khersonese: Studies in 

the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula 

before A.D. 1500, (1980 repr.) Kuala Lumpur: 

Penerbit Universiti Malaya. 

Wheatley, P. 1983. Niigara and Commandery: Ori- 

gins of the Southeast Asian Urban Traditions, 

Chicago: University of Chicago (Department 

of Geography Research Papers 207-208). 

Notes 

1 This statement assumes, provisionally, that the 

Srivijaya of the 7th century and that of the 11th 

were the same, which is not certain: see below, n. 

16. For Atisa's dates see Chattopadhyaya 1967: 

66, 330-1. For the date of his journey to Srivijaya, 

see ibid, p. 85. (I follow Eimer (pers. com.) in 

spelling Atisa with shorti, againstthe Ansa with 

long I of some sources.) 

2 I exclude here inscriptions, as well as the works 

that I-ching composed during his stay in 

Srivijaya. These (although the latter were composed 

in Chinese for a Chinese readership) both 

belong to the intellectual legacy of Srivijaya (or 

at least of the 'early 'Srivijaya': see, again, n. 16). 

3 See Eimer 1985: 3-12 and especially 8. For 

sources on Atisa' s life see Eimer 1982. 

4 For the question ofDipaqtkara' s birthplace, see 

Chattopadhyaya 1967 Chap. 6. 

5 The Sanskrit is sometimes given as Duravabodhiiloka. 

The full title is Abhisamayiilarrzkiiraniima 

-p ra jfi iipiira m ito pad e sa sii s t ra v r t t i 

durbodhiiloka-niima-tfkii (Shes rab kyi pha rol tu 

phyin pa'i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par 

rtogs pa'i rgyan ces bya ba'i 'grel pa rtogs par 

dka' ba'i snang ba zhes bya ba'i 'grel bshad): see 

Cordier 1915, mdo 'grel VII (3) and Suzuki 1957, 

cat. no. 5152 sher phyin ja, 161.8~ 

6 gSer gling pa Chos kyi grags pa: at e.g. the 

beginning of the Tibetan translation of the 

Durbodhiiloka in the Peking edition (sher phyin ja, 

161a7), or in Bu ston's catalogue of books translated 

into Tibetan (Nishioka 1981: § 539). 

7 For the Abhisamayiilarrzkiira, the question of 

authorship, and the commentaries, see 

Obermiller1932;Conze1978:101-20;Nakamura 

1980: 260-1. 

8 As far as I know, the prose colophon was first 

translated into a European language by Cordier 

(loc. cit.). Its significance was noted in Credes 

1968:141 (the colophon was apparently known 

to Credes only from a personal communication 

fromNaudou: seeCredes' n. 61, p. 323). A translation 

into English of the prose is given in 

Chattopadhyaya 1967: 88 and 475. Cordier, 

Credes, and Chattopadhaya all include the 

phrase 'in Malayagiri' (according to Cordier, the 

Tibetan is ri malaya), which is not given in any of 

the four standard xylographic editions of the 

Durbodhiiloka studied below. I suspect that the 

extra detail comes from a catalogue (dkar chag) of 


193

P. Skilling 

the Tanjur. (The chapter colophons simply give 

a version of the title and the name of the author, 

Chos kyi grags pa for all but Chap. 3, which 

gives instead 'Dharmakirti' in transcription.) 

9 See Credes 1968: 141-2 and Majumdar 1938: 

282-3. 

10 Rin chen bzang po was one of the central 

figures in the revival or 'Later Diffusion' (phyis 

dar) of Buddhism in Tibet. For his life and work, 

see Tucci 1988 and Naudou 1968, Chap. V. 

11 For the dates of Atisa's journey to Tibet and 

stay in mNga' ris, see Chattopadhyaya 1967: 

307-11 and 330-3. 

12 The relation between the two is given in the 

genitive in Tibetan (but the original Sanskrit 

could well have been a compound, 

*SuvarJ;tadvJ;tpa- Srivijayapura). Tibetan grong 

can stand for nagara as well as pura: the name 

could be either Srivijaya-pura or Srivijayanagara. 

13 See Wheatley 1983: 263-9 for an overview of 

representations of the 'Realms of Gold' in Indian 

literature. 

14 See Majumdar 1938; Aiyer 1938. 

15 For discussion of the plates and related sources 

see Majumdar 1979:29-31,50,63-81,82-93,94- 

101. I take the dates ofissue from Majumdar, pp. 

63 (Larger Plates) and 75 (Smaller Plates). 

16 For Kataha see Sircar 1938: 59-60; Nilakanta 

Sastri 1938: 128-46; Agrawala 1944: 96-7; 

Braddell1980: 343-52; Wheatley 1983: 336, n. 53. 

For a recent study of archreological remains in 

the area, see Jacq-Hergoulac'h 1992. I would 

suggestthatthe kingdom ofSan-fo-ch'i-which, 

starting from 904-5, sent numerous embassies 

to China through the lOth and 11th centuries 

and beyond-was also located in the region of 

Kedah, although the Chinese annals that record 

the embassies do not give any hints as to its 

location. For the embassies see Credes 1968: 

131-2, 141;Majumdar1938:281-2,and 1979:60- 

62. I leave aside here the question of the location 

of the 'earlier Srivijaya', and refer here only to 

the San-fo-ch'i of the lOth and 11th centuries: 

except to note that, as accepted by Credes (1934: 

63; 1968: 320, n. 176) there is no proven link 

between the earlier name Shih-li-fo-shih and 

San-fo-ch'i. 

17 Another interesting question is the relationship 

between Kataha and central Siam during 

the 11th century, especially in view of the fact 

that from the time of the early European records 

Kedah and other northern 'Malay states' were 

tributary to Ayutthaya (or, later, Bangkok). But 

the 11th century is a dark age in the history of 

Siam, and even the name(s) of the principal 

polity(ies) are not known. For European accounts 

of Kedah in the early 16th century, see 

Cortesao (1944: 106-7; Longworth Dames 

1989:164-5. For a later account, see Bowrey 1905: 

259-85. 

18 Palembang does not enter into the question, 

since we are concerned with Kataha (the importance 

of which is attested by a wealth of references, 

compared with a paucity of references to 

Palembang). This is not to deny that Palembang 

might have been associated with the 'earlier 

Srivijaya', or might also have styled itself 

Srivijaya during the period studied here: points 

which merit further sober research. 

19 I am grateful to Michael Aris (Oxford) and 

Gene Smith (Jakarta) for illuminating several of 

the difficult points in the colophon. 

20 Here the construction seems unusual, as is the 

use of the term 'tshal. 

21 Like the element of space, sentient beings are 

without limit; like the element of space, sentient 

beings have no inherent existence. 

22 Here the Narthang and Peking Tanjurs only 

add: 'By this may the jewel of the dispensation 

(siisana-ratna) be enabled to flourish. Blessings!' 

This statement would have been added by the 

Tanjur editors. 

23 par DNQ : pa C. 

24 'di CD: ni NQ. 

25 'tshal CD : mtshal NQ. 

26 dga'i CD : dga' NQ. 

27 gtsug DNQ : btsug C. 

28 kyi CD : kyis NQ. 

29 ring CDQ : rang N (broken ki ku?). 

30 bcu NQ : bcos CD. 

31 I NQ : not in CD. 

32 gyi CON : not in Q. 

33 tsa CD : tstsha NQ. 


Reviews 

Northeast Thailand -from Prehistoric to 

Modern Times 

Peter Rogers. 

OK Books, Bangkok. 1996, Baht 395. 

This work is a logical and more penetrating 

examination of the northeast of Thailand 

than the author's first book, A Window on 

Isan (1989). Isan, as the territory is known to 

Thais, constitutes one third of the land mass 

of today's Thailand and contributes one 

third of the population. It cannot therefore 

be ignored in an overall picture of Thailand. 

But since it was never a state, kingdom or 

possessed a culture in its own right it is not 

a country about which a conventional history 

can be written. 

The discovery of pottery in Ban Chiang, 

near Udon Thani, as recently as the 1970s 

does give rise to some speculation that the 

north of Isan may, some 6,000 years ago, 

have been part of an ancient civilisation. 

The reality of Isan is that it has always been, 

until very recent years, a barren tract ofland 

with little soil, few natural resources and a 

weather system not conducive to intensive 

cultivation until more modem irrigation 

works commenced. Isan was sparsely populated 

and was thus hardly attractive as a 

source of slaves to its neighbours. 

What previous accounts do exist of Isan 

are therefore fragmentary references within 

the histories of neighbouring civilisations. 

The author has sifted through all this mass 

of data and recorded the various cultures 

which have passed through Isan over the 

centuries. More importantly these include 

the Khmer from the south; the people of 

Sukhothai heading east, A yutthaya expanding 

east and south to complete the downfall 

of the Khmers. Finally the Ratanakosin regime 

under the Chakri kings gave Isan a 

form of unified government for the first 

time. 

All the earlier cultures passing through 

Isan left some traces of their own civilisation 

and religions. Their ruins have been carefully 

noted, and the account and conclusions 

are very much the author's own, with 

a few enlightening direct quotations. Thus, 

the book is far from being just a secondary 

source of compilation. But even the most 

minute references to sources have been 

meticulously recorded. 

The narrative flows easily without the 

pseudo-technical expressions nowadays so 

common. If the author is a trifle pedantic or 

avuncular this can be ascribed to his own 

long research into the background and his 

obvious enthusiasm for Isan which he has 

visited so often. His English is of high standard 

and this in itself is a bonus for the 

reader whether foreign or Thai. 

The maps are adequate but lack interrelation 

with one another. The generous colour 

photographs do a lot to enhance this work. 

All in all it is easy reading and gives a very 

full account of Isan and its absorption into 

today's Thailand. At its price this is a good 

buy for the casual reader or as a compact 

reference for the more academically minded. 

Ian N. Morson, Bangkok 

January 1997 

* * * 

Three recent books on aspects of 

Khmer life, culture and society are 

reviewed here together. 

The Khmers 

Ian Mabbett and David Chandler 

Oxford, UK & Cambridge Massachusetts, 

USA, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1995 cloth; 

reprinted 1996; 1996 paperback; ChiangMai, 

Thailand, Silkworm Books, 1996 (paperback) 


195

Reviews 

AngkorLife 

Stephen 0. Murray 

San Francisco, California, USA, Bua Luang 

Books, 1996 

Reporting Angkor: Chou Ta-Kuan in Cambodia, 

1296-1297 

Robert Philpotts 

London, Blackwater Books, 1996 

The publication of three books on the Khmer 

people within a year is surprising, as, previously, 

little had been written on this aspect 

of the great civilization that emanated from 

Angkor in northwest Cambodia. The three 

books are not equal in scope or content but 

they are examined together in this review 

because of their common subject. 

The Khmers, written by Ian Mabbett and 

David Chandler, is the third book in a series, 

'The Peoples of South-East Asia and 

The Pacific', edited by Peter Bellwood and 

Ian Glover, two academic archaeologists. 

The series aims to present scholarly material 

written by authorities in a style that is 

accessible to a general readership. Mabbett 

and Chandler are both authors of previous 

books on Asian culture and are associated 

with the History Department at Monash 

University, Australia. 

The seventeen chapters in The Khmers 

cover a period extending from prehistory to 

the late twentieth century. Mabbett wrote 

the first fifteen chapters and Chandler wrote 

the last two. Chapters 1 through 8 and 16 

and 17 are arranged chronologically, 

whereas the seven chapters in between are 

organized thematically. There are eight 

maps and forty-seven black-and-white photographs, 

and supporting material includes 

lists of Plates and Maps; a Preface; two 

Appendices (Chronology of Angkor's Rulers 

and The Periodization of Religious Art 

and Architecture); a combined Bibliography 

and Guide to Further Reading; and an 

Index. 

The inclusion of both traditional and 

recent theories on Khmer history gives this 

book a significant and unique place in the 

field of published works on Angkor, as 

previous books have mainly expressed the 

research and opinions of either one person 

or a single nationality. The text incorporates 

information resulting from the use of 

new methodology such as space and radar 

imaging techniques, and it also draws on 

recent research carried out by international 

experts working on the conservation and 

preservation of Angkor since its inclusion 

in UNESCO's World Heritage List in November 

1992. 

A fine example of the incorporation of 

new research in this book is in the area of the 

prehistory of Southeast Asia where some 

major changes have taken place recently. 

Chapter four, 'Before History Began', presents 

the current thinking on this complex 

subject in a highly readable manner. We 

learn that for the first time it is possible to 

reconstruct a chronological evolution and 

various possibilities for the migration pattern 

of the development of agriculture in 

Southeast Asia. Evidence from early sites in 

areas such as western Cambodia and the 

Khorat plateau in Thailand confirms that 

rice-based agriculture developed in the third 

millennium BC in Southeast Asia and that 

the technologies of copper, bronze, iron, 

and pottery followed. 

The next chapter takes up another perplexing 

topic; the growth of the social organization 

and the rise of cities in Cambodia 

and northeast Thailand. The authors believe 

that around the fourth century BC 

economic advances brought about a change 

in the pattern of social organization. Substantially 

large and presumably centralized 

settlements with the basic elements of a 

social hierarchy rose and these were the 

predecessors to the so-called 'states' in Cambodia. 

These fairly sophisticated settlements 

were firmly established long before any 

influence from India appeared in Cambodia. 

Mabbett and Chandler acknowledge 

that some elements of Indian social organization 

were adapted in Cambodia but they 

minimize its impact and emphasize that the 

degree of influence should be assessed with 

extreme caution due to scanty evidence. 

The earliest recorded Khmer history, 

196 


Reviews 

from the late sixth century to the end of the 

eighth, is covered in chapters 6 and 7, and, 

as previously, the inclusion of current ideas 

increases the reader's understanding of this 

controversial subject and sheds lights on a 

hazy period. The traditional theory supports 

the idea that the predecessors of the 

Angkor period were the states of Funan and 

Chenla (Zhenla) but this theory is strongly 

challenged today by modern scholars who 

argue against not only the existence of states 

by these names but also the location of 

them. A major objection is that the traditional 

theory relies solely on Chinese sources 

constructed from a Chinese perspective. 

Although the structure of the social organization 

in Cambodia preceding the ninth 

century is debated, historians generally accept 

that Jayavarman II unified the existing 

principalities in AD 802, declared himself 

king, and initiated a religious cult, kamraten 

jagat ta raja (Khmer) or devaraja (Sanskrit). 

Chapter 8looks at the meaning and significance 

of this cult through the views of scholars 

such as Claude Jacques and Herman 

Kulke. 

Reading the book, it seems surprising 

that so little attention is given to Hinduism 

and Buddhism since religion was an indivisible 

and integral part of the economy and 

the art. The worship of spirits by the Khmer 

people and the integration of these pre 

Angkor beliefs with the formalized religions 

are discussed in chapter nine, 'The 

Immortals'. However, Hinduism, the dominant 

religion at Angkor for nearly 400 years, 

and Mahayana Buddhism, which prevailed 

in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, 

receive minimal mention, whereas 

the other branch of Buddhism, Theravada, 

which was not fully adopted in Cambodia 

until the post-Angkor period, is described 

in considerable detail. 

The widely discussed topic of whether 

or not the Khmers built and maintained a 

centralized, large-scale irrigation system 

connected with moats, canals, and dikes to 

form a network, and the purpose, function, 

and importance of the vast barays (reservoirs), 

is examined in chapter 11. It contains 

the most complete and up-to-date information 

available on the subject of irrigation at 

Angkor. 

Chapter 14looks at the architecture and 

the iconography of the temples at Angkor. 

Although an attempt is made to show the 

development of Khmer architecture, it is 

confusing because the monuments are presented 

randomly, jumping from late to early, 

from complex to simple. The reader is deprived 

of the ordered expansion of Khmer 

architecture which progresses from a single 

brick tower to an entire complex of interconnected, 

stone structures. Subjective 

views on the beauty of the temples are 

seemingly included in an effort to appeal to 

a wider readership but this type of writing 

is more suited to a guide book. 

The main thread of the iconography in 

Khmer art is lost in an effort to be concise. 

Mythical animal figures are mentioned out 

of context and there are no illustrations to 

enhance the descriptions. It is difficult to 

visualize the kala as 'a bodiless monster 

with a face that seems to vomit serpent 

bodies', when, in fact, the figure has several 

distinguishing characteristics such as clawlike 

hands, bulbous eyes, a human or a 

lion's nose, and two horns, that could have 

been mentioned to help the reader form an 

image of the kala. The inclusion of legends 

such as how the kala lost its body, the naga, 

the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, and the 

role of Mount Meru in mythology would 

help the reader conjure up images of these 

figures. 

Four Hindu gods are identified but no 

explanation of their chronological sequence 

or popularity in Cambodia is given, which 

leaves the reader wondering how they fit in 

to the context of Khmer religion and art. The 

human form of Siva is described, for example, 

but it is not mentioned, at least in 

this chapter, that Siva's earliest form of 

worship in Cambodia was a symbolical one, 

that of a linga, or phallic emblem. Siva and 

Visnu were major gods and while they both 

survived from pre-Angkor times, each one 

maintained a period of popular dominance. 

Also, the authors seem to have consulted 


197

Reviews 

only sources concerned with the gods in 

India and ignored references on Khmer iconography. 

A lotus, for example, is one of 

Visnu's attributes in Indian iconography 

but in Cambodia it was replaced by a ball 

representing the earth. One would also like 

to read something about the magnificent 

Khmer stone sculpture that survives today. 

The 'past' history of Cambodia concludes 

in chapter 15 with a review of the achievements 

of the last major king, Jayavarman 

VII (reg. 1181-c.1218) and the decline of 

Angkor, which finally ceased to function as 

the centre of the Khmer civilization in the 

mid-fifteenth century. Modern scholars generally 

accept that Angkor was not sacked by 

the Thais in a decisive battle of 1430-31 as 

previously believed, but rather that it was 

weakened through repeated invasions by 

the Thais. Sometime around 1431, the 

Khmers began a gradual exodus to the southeast 

where they established a new capital in 

the area of Phnom Penh. A summary of 

theories by leading scholars on the causes 

for the shift of Angkor to the middle Mekong 

concludes the chapter. 

David Chandler's text covers the post 

Angkorian period, from after the decline of 

Angkor until1994. This long period is recapped 

in two succinctly written chapters 

beginning, in chapter 16, with the impact of 

the shift of the capital from Angkor to Phnom 

Penh and the role of foreign traders and 

missionaries in Cambodia in the sixteenth 

and seventeenth centuries. Then, the Vietnamese 

expansion southward in to the 

Mekong delta and the one hundred years 

that Cambodia was overwhelmed by internal 

struggles and invasions from Vietnam 

and Thailand are considered. 

The period of French colonialism beginning 

in 1863 when Cambodia was peaceful, 

both internally and with neighbouring countries, 

and had a stable economic environment 

is reviewed. The immense contribution 

by the French to our understanding of 

the culture of Cambodia when they became 

the first foreigners to survey and catalogue 

the ruins of Angkor and decipher hundreds 

of inscriptions is covered. The chapter ends 

with a discussion of the growth of nationalism 

in the 1930s which turned the Cambodian 

thinking towards independence. 

The text places the year 1945 as the chronological 

marker for the beginning of the 

post-war period when Cambodian history 

entered the international sphere. Chapter 

17 examines the French dominance of Cambodia 

following the Second World War and 

the country's struggle for independence 

during the so-called Sihanouk era, from 

1955 to 1970, when Cambodia was politically 

and economically reasonably stable. 

Concise summaries are given of the eras of 

Lon N ol, the American backed leader (1970- 

75), of Saloth Sar (Pol Pot) and Democratic 

Kampuchea (1975-78), and of the invasion 

of Vietnam at the end of 1978 until its withdrawal 

in 1989. 

The last part of chapter 17 covers the 

period from after the departure of the Vietnamese 

when Cambodia opened up to the 

international world up to 1994. The negotiations 

in 1989-90 involving the varying 

factions in Cambodia are explained. The 

Paris Peace Accords of October 1991 installed 

a United Nations-backed administrative 

power in Phnom Penh to oversee a 

'free and fair' election and to compile a 

constitution. Both these measures were completed 

by the end of 1993 and the United 

Nations withdrew. The authors conclude 

that maybe the deeply ingrained links with 

Cambodia's past history and culture may 

not be enough for sustained protection as 

Cambodia struggles to survive as an independent 

twentieth-century state. 

The illustrations -the selection, the placement 

within the text, and the poor reproduction-detract 

from the quality of the text. The 

inclusion of photographs such as a modern 

Cambodian bride, young women selling 

birds, and rice vendors in Phnom Penh are 

not relevant to the text. Additionally, the 

captions are inadequate. Some temples are 

identified, others are not. Plate 15 is almost 

certainly a photograph of the Buddha sheltered 

by the naga from Preah Khan in 

Kompong Svay that is now in the Musee 

Guimet in Paris, although no credit is given. 

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A few editorial errors also occur in the 

text: 'Angkor was definitely not abandoned' 

in chapter 15 is followed by a reference to 

'the abandonment of Angkor', in chapter 

sixteen-an inconsistency between the two 

authors that should have been picked up by 

the editors. Another similar type of error is 

the different title of Appendix I in the Contents 

verses the title on the last three pages 

of the Appendix. The Bibliography is combined 

with a Guide to Further Reading and 

organized thematically but not along the 

same themes as the chapter divisions, which 

makes it tedious for reference. 

Angkor Life, and Reporting Angkor 

The other two books reviewed here are 

surprisingly similar to each other. They are 

a small format with approximately the same 

number of pages and have black-and-white 

illustrations. Both feature the Khmer people 

of the Angkor Period, from the early ninth 

to the middle of the fifteenth century, and 

they are mainly modern interpretations of 

an account written by Chou Ta-Kuan (Wade 

Giles spelling) or Zhou Daguan (Pinyin), a 

Chinese emissary who lived at Angkor for 

nearly a year in the late thirteenth century. 

The account, originally in Chinese, was 

translated in to French by Paul Pelliot in 

1951 and subsequently in to English by J. 

Gilman d' Arcy Paul. The Siam Society in 

Bangkok has published three editions in 

English. 

The author of Angkor Life, Stephen 0. 

Murray, has written eight other books and 

holds a degree in sociology of religion with 

post-doctoral training in anthropology. His 

on-the-site knowledge of Angkor is limited 

to one visit before the publication of the 

book. The book is divided into twenty-seven 

sections, with headings similar to those in 

Zhou Daguan' s account. Three maps, a plan 

of Angkor, twenty-five black-and-white 

photographs, and twenty-one line drawings, 

make up the supporting material. End 

papers include a Glossary, a Chart of the 

Kings of Angkor, an annotated Bibliography, 

and an Index. 

The book is meant to supplement exist- 

ing guide books and the author states at the 

beginning that it is neither a history of the 

Khmer Empire nor an analysis of its art and 

architecture. He aims to summarize what is 

known about Khmer society in the Angkor 

period and the main focus, as with the other 

books in this review, is on the daily life of 

the people. Murray's knowledge of the 

Chinese language enabled him to use the 

Chinese account of Zhou Daguan as his 

main source. The bibliographical entries 

also indicate that he used French and German 

as well as English sources. 

The Introduction includes the author's 

reasons for writing the book and his method 

of research, aspects that are usually contained 

in a Preface, rather than an introduction. 

The text begins with the arrival of the 

Chinese delegation at Angkor in the summer 

of 1296. The subsequent twenty-five 

chapters recapitulate the observations of 

Zhou Daguan on subjects such as jurisprudence, 

officials and law, dress and rank, 

women and child-bearing, funerary practices, 

houses, diet, festivals, the army, and 

many more. 

On the topic of irrigation, the reservoirs, 

and rice growing the author presents his 

own opinions and the traditional view put 

forth by the French but he does not include 

the more recent thinking by modern scholars. 

It is surprising that Murray did not 

utilize the latest research that is widely 

available in such publications as those by 

Jacques Dumar

Reviews 

locates the reservoir near Preah Khan to the 

west but describes the temple of N eak Pean 

which is to the east of Preah Khan. The early 

ninth century capital of Hariharalaya was 

not part of Angkor as suggested in the Glossary 

and Yashodharapura is not the name 

used for the Khmer capital from AD 890 to 

1451 nor is it now generally referred to as 

Angkor Thorn. Yashodharapura was the 

so-called first Angkor when the capital was 

moved from Hariharalaya to Angkor and 

king Yasovarman built Bakheng as his state 

temple at the centre ofYashodharapura. 

Reporting Angkor: Chou Ta-Kuan in Cambodia 

1296-1297, by Robert Philpotts, is based on 

the French translation of Chou Ta-Kuan's 

account by Paul Pelliot. The book is divided 

into ten chapters plus an Introduction. Eight 

maps, seventeen line drawings by the author, 

and a Bibliography augment the text. 

Philpott'saccountofChouTa-Kuan'sstay 

at Angkor is a personal account that takes the 

reader back in time to the twelfth century 

where he tries to imagine what the life of the 

Khmer people was like. He speculates, for 

example, on what Chou Ta-Kuan may have 

been thinking when he arrived and how he, a 

Chinese representative of the Mongol empire, 

would be received not only by the Cambodians 

but also by the Chinese living in exile 

at Angkor, having fled from Kubalai Khan's 

rule. The text follows a pattern of setting up a 

descriptive backdrop and then the author 

imagines the surroundings. The judicial system, 

for example, is described amidst a background 

of an actual audience with 

lndravarmanill presiding and handing down 

punishment. Phil potts even hypothesises that 

the king may have 'sometimes found the 

sovereign' sduty oflisteningtothedailyround 

of complaints a little tedious'. 

The Introduction sets the historical background 

for Chou Ta-Kuan' s arrival in Cambodia 

and chapters 1 and 2 include an interesting 

account of China in the thirteenth 

century which is supported by a map showing 

the pressure exerted by the Mongols on 

the region of Southeast Asia. Then he describes 

the arduous journey by sea from 

China to Angkor in considerable detail. The 

Chinese junks, for example, were sometimes 

as 'white as snow' because of a lime 

wash applied to the exterior hull as a wood 

preservative and a worm repellent. He describes 

the passage through the confluence 

ofthe rivers at the Mekong and manoeuvring 

the Tonie Sap River to Angkor. The following 

three chapters deal with Chou Ta-Kuan' s 

arrival at and settling in the royal city of 

Angkor Thorn, and his exploring the city 

which includes a detailed description of the 

layout of the city. He notes that Chou Ta 

Kuan was an astute observer of the people 

and things around him. 

Philpotts, like Murray, relies on French 

sources for his description of the irrigation 

system and supports the existence of a 'waterway 

network'. Chapter 6 describes 

Angkor under the reign of Indravarman III 

and the religious background of the kingdom 

beginning with the Angkor period in 

the ninth century. Chapter 7 through 9 describe 

the women of Angkor and rites associated 

with them, such as the deflowering 

ceremony and marriage, and royal festivals 

and ceremonies, animals in the jungle, and 

flora and fauna. The final chapter recaps 

Chou Ta-Kuan's return journey to China. 

In summary, the three books reviewed here 

all add to our understanding of the Khmer 

civilization and life in the Angkor period. 

All three have approached the subject 

differently yet share a common theme. The 

Khmers, with the inclusion of the current 

thinking of modem scholars on various 

aspects of Cambodian history, and Angkor 

Life and Reporting Angkor with new 

interpretations of the only extant firsthand 

account, all make a positive contribution 

towards our knowledge of Cambodia's 

cultural legacy. 

Dawn F. Rooney, Bangkok, 

November 1997 

* * * 

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The Manchus 

Pamela Kyle Crossley 

Blackwell: Oxford, 1997, xv + 239 pages,26 

plates, 2 maps, Hardback, £20.00/$29.95 

To write a history of the Manchus is no 

enviable task: the story runs over centuries 

and across half of Asia, and has as actors a 

bewildering and shifting array of ethnic 

and economic elites striving for power and 

legitimation. For over two and a half centuries, 

during the Qing period from 1644 to 

1911, the history of the Manchus is the history 

of China-a discontinuity or a continuity, 

depending on point of view. The author 

(Professor of History at Dartmouth College) 

addresses this problem briefly in the 

Preface, where she warns the reader that 

her book 'is not in any way a history of 

China'. Later (p. 3) she notes that 'when 

viewed as an empire and not as a dynasty, 

the Qing yields a more coherent picture'. 

Her book belongs to 'the ongoing reassessment 

of the Qing period to seek a new 

understanding of how and why 'Manchu' 

culture and identity are woven into the 

imperial history' (p. 13). 

In other words, difficult choices must be 

made. Crossley handles the process of selection 

effectively and intelligently, returning 

to certain themes- Manchu identity as 

perceived and constructed by Manchu elites, 

by the Chinese, and by the progressively 

encroaching Europeans; educational and 

administrative policies; economic and social 

problems; the changing functions and 

fortunes of the 'bannermen'. She avoids the 

type of hindsight history that treats its subject 

as an orderly progression of events 

marching to an inevitable goal. History is 

multifaceted, not monolithic; a tangled web, 

not a straight march. 

Chapter 1, 'The Paradox ofthe Manchus', 

sets the conceptual stage, dealing with ethnic 

characterizations (Tartar, Manchu, 

Sinification), the 'Qing Empire as a Historical 

Idea', and the relationship between historical 

sources cast in several languages. 

Chapter 2, 'Shamans and 'Clans': The Origin 

of the Manchus', sketches the geogra- 

phy and culture of the Tungusic peoples of 

the Chinese North East as a 'Prelude to the 

Manchus', then deals with Manchu institutions, 

and the Manchu language and the 

'Altaic idea'. Unfortunately the treatment 

of Indian scripts (p. 35) is quite wrong: read 

Kharosthi for 'Devanagari', then jump to 

the end of the paragraph. 

Chapter 3, 'The Enigma of Nurgaci', 

brings us to the dawn of empire. The author 

juxtaposes different and contradictory traditional 

representations of Nurgaci (1582- 

1616), subsumed here as the 'myths of the 

Avenger'·, of 'Individual Supremacy', and 

of the 'Great Enterprise'. The contemporary 

account of Korean envoy Sin Chung-il is 

profitably exploited. Rather than give a history 

of battles, the author details the mechanisms 

of power that led to Nurgaci's rise 

from local chieftain to khan (self-declared 

in 1616). 

Chapter 4, 'The Qing Expansion', deals 

with the rise of N urgaci' s son and successor 

Hung Taiji, who in the years 1635 and 1636 

'publicly transformed the khanate into an 

empire', introducing the names 'Manchu' 

(for which see Appendix III, pp. 210-211) 

and 'Qing' (for which see Appendix III, pp. 

212-213). The chapter sketches the drawnout 

and sanguinary conquest of China and 

the ensuing problems, especially those 

centred on the bannermen. We are told that 

the Kangxi Emperor Xuanye, who has been 

compared to Peter the Great, 'went on to 

one of the most brilliant reigns that any 

ruler in the world can claim' (p. 87), but he 

remains faceless: a more careful account of 

his diverse intellectual enterprises would 

be expected. The chapter discusses Qing 

relations with the Jesuits, Mongols, Tibetans 

(but the powerful regent Sangye Gyatso 

was something more than a 'Tibetan official' 

[p. 99]), and Romanovs, and the burgeoning 

world trade. 

Chapter 5, 'The Gilded Age of Qianlong', 

brings out the fascination of the Qianlong 

period - emperor as cakravartin, the great 

literary enterprises, the role of religion and 

Lamaism, and the notorious censorship (that 

has its parallels in modern communist 


201

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China). Chapter 6, 'The Lingering Death of 

the Empire', covers the disturbed 19th century: 

beset by population strain, environmental 

damage, rebellions, and encroachment 

by greedy and unscrupulous colonial 

powers, China was brought to its knees. 

Attempts at reform and revival failed. Interesting 

comparisons are drawn between 

the Qing and the Mughal, Romanov, and 

Ottoman empires. 

Chapter 7, styled 'Epilogue: The 

Manchus in the Twentieth Century', opens 

with the increasingly virulent expressions 

of anti-Manchu sentiment, the 'deliberate 

racism' of the nationalist movement. Much 

of the chapter chronicles the fate of 'last 

emperor' Puyi. The treatment of the condition 

of the ordinary Manchus (nothing much 

more than two paragraphs, pp. 194-195) is 

insufficient. 

Good maps are essential to historical 

studies. Unfortunately The Manchus has only 

two maps: these are inadequate, since important 

places mentioned in the text (e.g. 

Liaodong or Fushun) are not shown, and 

the reader is obliged to turn to the better 

maps in, for example, Gernet's A History of 

Chinese Civilization or Ebrey' s Cambridge Illustrated 

History of China. Another problem 

is insufficient annotation: Chapter 1 has 

fifteen notes (the maximum), Chapter 4 only 

two (the minimum). The reviewer would 

like to learn more about the manipulation 

of the cakravartin concept and the Mahiikiila 

cult in the reign of Qianlong: but not a single 

source is given. If it is true that a book for the 

general reader should not be overly burdened 

with notes, there must still be some 

means for the reader to follow up subjects of 

interest: perhaps a section on 'suggested 

readings' by chapter or theme. There is a 

good bibliography, listing works in Chinese, 

Russian, Japanese, and Manchu, 

among other more quotidian languages, 

but which source was used where? 

The text is enhanced by twenty-six relevant 

and well-captioned plates. There are 

three useful appendices, including a table 

of the 'Reign Periods of the Aisin Gioro 

Rulers' and a glossary that discusses in 

some detail a number of key terms (titles, 

names, ethnonyms), and a good index. 

Altogether, although the quality is at 

times uneven, The Manchus is an intelligent 

and well-written treatment of a complex 

and demanding subject. 

Peter Skilling, Nonthaburi, 


* * * 

Aerial Nationalism: a History of Aviation 

in Thailand 

Edward M Young 

Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution 

Press, 1995. xxiii, 330pp 

There is probably no sphere of human endeavour 

in which progress in the Twentieth 

Century has been more dramatic than in 

aviation. The Wright brothers made the 

first tentative powered flights at Kitty Hawk 

in North Carolina in 1903; by 1969 Neil 

Armstrong and 'Buzz' Aldrin would walk 

on the surface of the moon. In the sixty-six 

years between these two historic events 

aviation made vast strides almost universally. 

Edward M Young's Aerial Nationalism 

brings us a fascinating, comprehensive and 

scholarly account of how these developments 

took place in Thailand. The choice of 

Thailand for an aviation history may at first 

glance appear strange when the major advances 

in the conquest of the air were, naturally 

enough, mostly taking place in the 

wealthier and more industrialized nations 

of the West. Young's obsession with Thai 

aviation was sparked by a visit he made to 

the Royal Thai Air Force Museum at Don 

Muang Airport in 1962 when he was an 

impressionable fourteen-year old living in 

Bangkok where his father was then American 

Ambassador to Thailand. A second factor, 

as he was soon to discover, was the 

surprisingly early participation of Thailand 

in using the emerging technology to advance 

its own domestic and military 

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progress. As William M Leary is quick to 

point out in his Foreword to the volume, 

Thailand was able to do this without relying 

upon foreign advisers or capital. 

The birth of aviation in Thailand coincided 

with the accession to the throne of 

King Vajiravudh in October 1910 upon the 

death of his father King Chulalongkorn. For 

the previous sixty years Thailand had been 

ruled by two men of superlative foresight, 

Mongkutand Chulalongkorn, both of whom 

had not only succeeded in keeping the 

predatory colonial powers at bay but had 

equally impressively set the country firmly 

on course towards becoming a modern state. 

Vajiravudh was imbued with the same 

awareness of the need to modernize and 

immediately saw the potential of the 

aeroplane as being integral to that process. 

It could also be used to demonstrate to its 

colonial neighbours, England and France, 

Thailand's continuing determination not to 

concede any further territory to these European 

powers. 

Such was the situation in Thailand when 

the first aeroplane, a Henry Farman biplane, 

arrived in Bangkok in January 1911. Demonstration 

flights were made from the 

grounds of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club 

before large crowds, King Vajiravudh himself 

visiting the scene. Two of his brothers, 

the ArmyChiefofStaffPrince Chakrabongse 

and the Commander of the Army Engineers 

Prince Purachatra, were important and enthusiastic 

participants who would subsequently 

promote the military applications 

of flight. Young's story of Thai aviation 

takes off from this early event. 

Chapter 1 takes us from those earliest 

days through the development of aviation 

up to the late 1920s. The author chronicles, 

in the rich detail which is a major characteristic 

of his book, the growth in the number 

of aircraft and pilots, with the gradual installation 

of the essential accompanying 

engineering and maintenance facilities; nor 

does he overlook the organizational aspects 

so important as the foundation permitting 

this progress. We learn how the nucleus of 

three pilots were trained in France in 1912- 

1913 on Breguet biplanes and Nieuport 

monoplanes, how they returned to form the 

first Aviation Section under the Royal 

Siamese Army, and how they made the first 

flights in Siam by Siamese pilots. The leading 

personality, commanding air services 

from 1914 to 1932, was Major Luang Sakdi 

Sanlayawut (later Air Marshal Phraya 

Chalerm Akas) whom many would considerto 

be the father of Thai aviation. Watching 

demonstration flights in 1914 King 

Vajiravudh was moved to comment, 'I am 

delighted that we Thai are not bested by the 

Westerners; truly we can do whatever they 

can do.' As if to corroborate the Royal remarks, 

by May 1915 the first flight in a 

locally-constructed Breguet Type III was 

made, although the engine had been imported 

from France. 

Siam entered World War I on the Allied 

side in 1917. The expeditionary force sent to 

the Western Front the following year included 

a flying unit consisting of no less 

than 115 pilots, 3 engineering officers and 

252 mechanics. Although the war ended 

before the unit could have its first taste of 

aerial combat, the intensive training it received 

whilst in France laid solid foundations 

for the further development of both 

military and commercial aviation upon its 

return to Siam in 1919. Young leads us 

through the subsequent rapid expansion. 

The early 1920s saw the beginning of 

airmail services in Siam, flying Breguet 14s 

to towns in the east and northeast of the 

country. From the start the service, the first 

in Southeast Asia, was a huge success, growing 

steadily in distance covered and quantity 

of freight carried. Limited passenger 

and medical evacuation flights were also 

inaugurated using a cabin version of the 

Breguet 14. Travel time between Korat and 

Nong Khai, for example, was reduced from 

2-3 weeks overland to 3-4 hours. By the end 

of 1925 the Aeronautical Service had expanded 

to 750 officers and men and almost 

200 aircraft. 

During these years new and more powerful 

aeroplanes were extending existing 

airline services in America, Europe and else- 


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where. At home Major General Phraya 

Chalerm Akas faced severe budgetary constraints 

and even though the first Siamdesigned 

bomber, the Paribatra, took to the 

air it was largely a period of enforced retrenchment. 

However, the new bomber was 

not entirely successful and was never produced 

in numbers; the search for more 

modern aircraft was once more pursued 

abroad, chiefly in considering models in 

production in America, England and France. 

The author writes in detail of the various 

aircraft and engines examined to replace 

the ageing fleet of the late 1920s. The end of 

the absolute monarchy in 1932 also marked 

the close of the early phase of aviation in 

Siam. 

In succeeding Chapters 3,4 and 5 Young 

examines the principal changes in Siamese 

aviation over the decade up to the 1941 

Japanese attacks in the Pacific and Southeast 

Asia. The reader may be at least mildly 

surprised to learn that government circles 

considered that a purely commercial airline 

could not be viable. Slow progress was the 

inevitable consequence. 

It was, all the same, a period in which the 

development of international air routes 

through the region effectively obliged Thailand 

to participate, leading also to the vital 

decision to separate civil and military aviation. 

With its fleet of seven Fairchild 24s, 

and two Puss Moths, a substantial increase 

of internal air routes took place in the later 

years of the decade. 

A similarly slow build-up of military air 

power was the principal feature of these 

years. Young tells us that by 1939 the Royal 

Thai Air Force had a first-line strength of 

four fighter and nine bomber squadrons 

made up of 48 fighter and 92 bomber aircraft; 

more were under construction. Gradually, 

by 1940, it had been transformed into 

an efficient fighting force- only just in time 

for its baptism of fire. 

Young next recounts the events leading 

to the outbreak of hostilities between Thailand 

and French Indochina in 1940. The loss 

of territory to France in 1893 and 1907 was 

a sore that continued to fester and negotia- 

tions for a new frontier agreement were in 

hand when France fell. But the Thai efforts 

failed. As tensions rose, incidents multiplied, 

with both sides bringing their forces 

to the ready. Provocative over-flights on 

both sides of the Mekong sparked the first 

combats which then continued sporadically 

for two months. A Japan-brokered cease 

fire brought the brief war to an end in late 

January 1941. In its first experience of combat 

the Royal Thai Air Force claimed to have 

shot down five French aircraft for the loss of 

three of its own; 17 French and about 10 

Thai aircraft were destroyed on the ground. 

Thirteen RT AF personnel were killed and 

five wounded. Thailand recovered, albeit 

only temporarily, some 25,000 square miles 

of Cambodian and Laotian territory previously 

ceded to France. 

The penultimate chapter of the book 

deals with the RTAF in World War II. Young 

deals cautiously with the somewhat equivocal 

attitude of Thailand in the immediate 

pre-war period. When the Japanese forces 

entered the country on 8 December 1941 

brief resistance cost the RT AF more than 40 

dead including a number of pilots. With no 

real alternative Thailand capitulated to the 

Japanese the same day. The Pact of Alliance 

with Japan signed on 21 December 1941 

forced theThaimilitary,includingtheRTAF, 

into operations in support of the Japanese 

campaign in Burma. The author provides a 

detailed account of this contentious period 

in the history of the RTAF when its Vought 

Corsairs, Curtiss Hawk Ills, Martin bombers 

and Nakajima Ki-21s were used against 

Allied forces in Burma and Southern China, 

as well as in defending its homeland against 

Allied air attacks. Later it became a vital 

link in supporting the Thai underground 

resistance. 

The book concentrates on the years up to 

1945 and only thirty pages are devoted to 

the history of Thai civil and military aviation 

over the fifty years of the postwar era. 

Thus only the main events of this long period 

in which so many major advances occurred 

can be recounted. Nonetheless Young 

rounds off his story with an impressively 

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concise summary of these years. The impact 

of political changes in neighbouring countries 

upon Thai military aviation is correctly 

stressed, whilst Thailand's share of 

the dramatic expansion of civil aviation 

worldwide is prominently featured. 

Young mentions briefly the perceived 

threat posed to a rapidly expanding Thai 

International by Air Siam, founded in 1965 

by Prince 'Nicky' Varanand, who was himself 

a former Thai International pilot. In fact 

Air Siam had only a short life, operating 

intermittently from 1970 to 1977, but it is 

surprising that Young does not devote a 

page or two to one of the great personalities 

amongstearlyThaiflyers. Prince Varanand, 

educated at Marlborough and Cambridge, 

joined the British Royal Air Force in 1942, 

spending 18 years as a fighter pilot in war 

and peace. In that time he flew Spitfires, 

Mosquitos, Meteors, Vampires, Venoms and 

Javelins before his resignation in 1960. He 

was a larger than life character, bent on 

enjoying every moment. Despite a potentially 

fatal encounter with a Messerschmitt 

109 whilst he was with 132 Squadron in 

France in 1944, he went through the war, as 

he liked to recall, 'without even a nosebleed'. 

In later years he was fortunate to escape 

with a broken back and a crushed ankle in a 

Mosquito crash in which his navigator was 

killed. Flying was his life, an enthusiasm he 

never lost; even the 210 million Baht the 

failure of Air Siam cost him could not dim 

his pleasure in, as he said, 'What keeps my 

body and soul together'. He died in 1990. 

As a former aviator, this reviewer understands 

well that spirit and the persistent 

desire to fly that it engenders. Those who 

have read Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Vol 

de Nuit or Terres des Hommes will recognize 

the feeling. The extraordinary, almost magical 

exhilaration of solo flight, casting off the 

shackles of earthly bondage, is a never to be 

forgotten experience. Young, master chronicler 

of Thai aviation history though he is, 

has not apparently enjoyed this privilege 

shared by a now rapidly diminishing band 

of pilots who flew solo in the pre-jet era. 

The book contains four appendices, 

forty-two pages of notes arranged by chapter, 

an extensive list of sources and references, 

and a comprehensive index. The 

twenty-eight pages of black and white photographs 

are of considerable historical interest 

but most have not reproduced well. 

Published in the Smithsonian History of 

Aviation Series the volume respects the high 

standards of printing and binding one may 

expect from the Smithsonian Institution 

Press. There are a few misprints and some 

varied spelling of proper names but these 

are very minor blemishes. No doubt the 

author has long since discovered that the 

top illustration opposite page 172 (and on 

the dust cover) is not of Prince Chula 

Chakrabongse, who was only three years 

old in 1911, but of his father, Prince 

Chakrabongse Bhuvanath. 

With this admirable, scholarly volume 

Edward M Young has made a distinguished 

contribution to the literature of aviation 

history in general and a very detailed addition 

to one facet of the history of twentieth 

century Thailand. It is a work of lasting 

value that is unlikely to be surpassed for 

many years to come. 

Peter Rogers, Bangkok 

July 1997 

* * * 

Burmese Manuscripts. Part 3, Catalogue 

Numbers 432-735 Compiled by Heinz Braun 

assisted by Anne Peters, edited by Heinz 

Bechert. 

Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart 1996, xxx + 

476 pages. Hardback. 

This is the third part of the catalogue of 

Burmese manuscripts in German collections, 

in the series Verzeichnis der orientalischen 

Handschriften in Deutschland (Band XXIII). 

Like part 2, it deals with the collection of the 

Berlin State Library. The present volume 

catalogues 119 manuscripts containing 304 

texts. The oldest manuscript, dated to CE 


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1643, is the oldest manuscript known so far 

in German collections. Five manuscripts 

belong to the late 18th century, while 115 

were produced between 1882 and 1896. Almost 

all are written on palm-leaf: the exceptions 

are one black paper accordion book 

(parabaik) and seven lacquered manuscripts. 

Of the latter, six are Kammavticti; one(§ 576) 

is a fragment of the Sammohavinodanfwhich 

may be a rare survival from a royal library. 

The catalogue includes a transcription of a 

woven ribbon (sarsegyo: § 580), used to wrap 

a manuscript. 

The manuscripts catalogued are in both 

Burmese and Pali, and cover a wide range 

of Burmese literature: from Tipitaka, commentaries, 

and subcommentaries, to noncanonical 

and grammatical works, all along 

with their nissaya (word-by-word Burmese 

glosses), to Burmese compositions on anumber 

of themes. A list given in the Introduction 

shows that in addition to many familiar 

texts, the collection includes a number of 

rare texts, some hitherto unknown, others 

known only by name. One text, the Riijanfti 

(§ 733), is a rare example of a Sanskrit text in 

Burmese script. 

The format is that of the previous catalogues. 

It gives a detailed physical description 

(which includes pagination, marginal 

titles, date, donor, etc.), and a transcription 

of the opening and closing passages of the 

text, the latter often cited at length. The title, 

nature of the work, identity and biographical 

details of the author, etc., are discussed 

as appropriate, and cross-references are 

given to other catalogued manuscripts or 

printed editions. At the end of the volume 

are indexes of A. Works, B. Authors, C. 

Scribes, Donors, and Former Owners, D. 

Geographical Names, E. Dates of Manuscripts, 

F. List of Manuscripts. 

The study of Burmese manuscript traditions 

and literature remains in its infancy. 

Like its predecessors, the dearly-presented 

catalogue supplies a wealth of data for this 

study, and for research on Theravada Buddhist 

literature in general. The notes on the 

authors often amount to biographical-cumbibliographical 

essays, and the transcrip- 

tions of the colophons give valuable information 

on popular passages, verses, and 

aspirations. With its high standards, the 

catalogue is a welcome addition to the field. 

Peter Skilling, Nonthaburi, 


* * * 

A Handbook of Piili Literature 

Oskar von Hiniiber 

(Indian Philology and South Asian Studies, 

Vol. 2) 

Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 

1996. OM 195, xiii + 257 pages. 

Oskar von Hiniiber' s Handbook of Ptili Literature 

represents a great advance in our knowledge 

of the subject, and is bound to take the 

field as the most comprehensive and reliable 

reference work for the foreseeable future. 

It deals with all aspects of the literature 

(except for medicine, law, and philology, 

to be dealt with by other scholars in 

future publications). The sequence of titles 

is largely based on that of the Epilegomena to 

the Critical Ptili Dictionary (Copenhagen, 

1924-), which itself broadly follows the traditional 

Theravadin system of classification. 

Thus the book starts with the 

'Theravada Canon'- the Tipitaka, in classical 

sequence - followed by 'Paracanonical 

Texts' and 'Chronicles', and 'Commentaries', 

'Handbooks', 'Sub-commentaries', 

'Anthologies', 'Cosmological Texts', then 

'Poetry', 'Collections of Stories'. A section 

is devoted to 'Pali Literature from Southeast 

Asia'. The two final sections deal 

with 'Letters and Inscriptions' and 'Lost 

Texts and Non-Theravada Texts Quoted 

in Pali Literature'. The handbook includes 

an extensive bibliography and five indexes. 

The layout is clear, and the book is 

a pleasure to use. 

In the foreword the author notes that he 

has 'attempted to deal with as many titles as 

possible, in order to give a survey of Pali 

literature as comprehensive as possible'. 

206 


Reviews 

The introduction gives a survey of previous 

work on the subject, both European and 

traditional. As a handbook, the text is necessarily 

concise, but this does not prevent 

the author from supplying a wealth of information. 

Each entry gives bibliographical 

references: to editions, translations, commentaries, 

and specialized studies. Compact 

descriptions deal with the structure, 

contents, and special features of sections of 

the Canon or individual works; brief critical 

analyses discuss the origin and evolution of 

terminology and classifications. In addition 

to better known texts the handbook describes 

lesser known texts or genres, such as 

letters and inscriptions. Many of the titles, 

including some from Southeast Asia, are 

here discussed in English for the first time. 

Errors in English or typography (e.g. on 

p. 45, § 88, read Dhammapada for 

Dhammmapda) are few and far between, and 

do not effect the value of the work. Otherwise 

I have very few complaints. On p. 33, 

' the name of the first division oftheMajjhimanikaya 

should be Mula- rather than Mahiipatjiisa. 

Note 427 (p. 124) states that the 

'reconstruction of the Skt. form of both the 

name of the author and title [of the 

Vimuttimagga] are uncertain'. In fact, that 

the name of the author was Pali Upatissa/ 

Skt. Upatif?ya seems well-established: it is 

the name of the translator into Chinese that 

is decidedly uncertain. That the title was 

Pali Vimuttimagga /Skt. Vimuktimiirga is also 

quite certain. There has been some confusion 

about the date of translation into Chinese, 

and I suspect the footnote means to 

record that 'the reconstruction of the Sanskrit 

form of the name of the translator is 

uncertain, and there has been some confusion 

in modern sources about the date of the 

translation'. Inn. 604 (p. 174) King Tiloka's 

dates are given as 1142-1487: this seems a 

mite long, and I suspect the first date should 

be 1442. 

The price of the de Gruyter edition is 

rather intimidating. Fortunately an Indian 

edition has recently appeared, published 

by Munshiram Manoharlal (New Delhi) at 

Rupees375. Thismakesthisimportantwork 

accessible to students and scholars in the 

subcontinent at a reasonable price. 

Peter Skilling, Nonthaburi 


* * * 


207


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Brown, E. M. and Green, Z. K. 1987. Trade and exchange in complex societies. In Specialization, 

Exchange, and Complex Societies (eds E. M. Einstein and J.-F Sallet). Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-9. 

Casement, H. 1986. Collecting Ancient Thai Coins. Bangkok: Siam Books. 

Mezzena, F. and Palma di Cesnola, A. 1973. Oggetti d'arte mobilare di eta gravettiana. 

Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche 27: 211-24. 

Rachman A. Z. 1984. Processes of urbanization in East Malaysia. Doctoral dissertation. 

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The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXXV, Part 1-2, 1997 - Khamkoo

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