![LocationThailand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/LocationThailand.svg)
Known as "Lavo" during most of its history,
Lopburi Province is one of the most important cities in the
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
of
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
. The city has a long history, dating back into the prehistory period since the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
of more than 3,500 years ago.
Later, it was influenced by the art and culture of India in the 11th century when it entered the historical era. This first period under the influence of Indian culture was called the Dvaravati Period. Since that time, Lavo has been ruled by the Khmer, coming under the influence of their art and culture, in the 15th century, a time commonly called the Lopburi Period in
Thai art
Traditional Thai art is primarily composed of Buddhist art and scenes from the Indian epics. Traditional Thai sculpture almost exclusively depicts images of the Buddha, being very similar with the other styles from Southeast Asia, such as Khmer. ...
history.
Eventually, when the Ayutthaya empire was established, Lavo decreased in importance until the reign of
King Narai
King Narai the Great ( th, สมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช, , ) or Ramathibodi III ( th, รามาธิบดีที่ ๓ ) was the 27th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, the 4th and last monarch of the Pr ...
. He had a palace built in Lavo, and each year spent most of his time there. After the time of King Narai, Lavo had been abandoned, until the 19th centuries, King
Mongkut
Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibod ...
(Rama IV) had it restored to be used as an inland royal city.
Later, in the 20th century, Prime Minister Marshal P. Piboolsongkhram developed Lopburi as a national military center.
Location
Lavo is in central Thailand on a river which descends from the mountains "Sam-Yod" (Khao Sam Yod) above the city, and runs into the
Lopburi River
The Lopburi River ( th, แม่น้ำลพบุรี, , ) is a tributary of the Chao Phraya River in central Thailand. It splits from the Chao Phraya river at Tambon Bang Phutsa, Singburi. Passing through Tha Wung district and the town of ...
west of the city. This river runs into
Chao Phraya
The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand.
Et ...
River in
Singburi Province
Sing Buri ( th, สิงห์บุรี, ) is one of the central Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Nakhon Sawan province, Nakhon Sawan, Lopburi province, Lopburi, Ang ...
.
Prehistorical era
![Arrow-head Olynthus BM GR1912](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Arrow-head_Olynthus_BM_GR1912.4-19.4.jpg)
This city is in the Chao Phraya River basin where historical, archaeological, and cultural evidence has been discovered that prehistoric humans lived here about 3,500 – 4,000 years ago or in the
Bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
age. Abandoned ancient cities with many pre-historic instruments and human skeletons has been found in several parts of the modern-day province.
![DvaravatiMapThailand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/DvaravatiMapThailand.png)
According to the ''Northern Chronicles,'' Lavo (Lopburi) was founded by King Kalavarnadishraj, who came from Takkasila in 648 CE. According to Thai records, King Kakabatr from Takkasila (it is assumed that the city was
Tak or
Nakhon Chai Si) set the new era,
Chula Sakarat
Chula Sakarat or Chulasakarat ( pi, Culāsakaraj; my, ကောဇာသက္ကရာဇ်, ; km, ចុល្លសករាជ "''Chulasakarach''"; th, จุลศักราช, , , abbrv. จ.ศ. ''Choso'') is a lunisolar calendar deri ...
in 638 CE. His son, King Kalavarnadishraj founded the city a decade later. And several years later he assigned
Jamadevi
Camadevi (also spelled Jamadevi; IPA: ʃaːmaˈdeːʋiː Pali: Cāmadevī; th, จามเทวี, , Mon: စာမ္မာဒေဝဳ, ; 7th-century – 8th-century) was the first ruler/Queen of Hariphunchai (Pali: Haribhuñjaya), which wa ...
to reign on the throne of the
Haribhunjaya kingdom in the northern Thailand.
These kingdoms adopted Indian culture together with Theravada Buddhism and grew up under post-Indian (the local technology that adapt from Indian) and Mon influence in the 11th to 12th centuries, as it entered into the historical era. This first period under the influence of Indian culture was called the
Dvaravati
The Dvaravati ( th, ทวารวดี ; ) was an ancient Mon kingdom from the 7th century to the 11th century that was located in the region now known as central Thailand. It was described by the Chinese pilgrim in the middle of the 7th ce ...
period. For the time being this kingdom was known as Saruka Lavo (
Mon language
The Mon language (, mnw, ဘာသာမန်, links=no, (Mon-Thai ဘာသာမည်) ; my, မွန်ဘာသာ; th, ภาษามอญ; formerly known as Peguan and Talaing) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon peopl ...
). Although the inscription stones found in this area are the Mon language, however there is not clear evidence to prove if the population of Lavo were actually of Mon ethnicity.
In 2018-2019 The Italian-Thai "Lopburi Regional Archaeological Project", co-directed by Dr Roberto Ciarla (ISMEO - International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies) and Dr Pakpadee Yukongdee (Thai Fine Arts Department, Bangkok), discovered several hundreds of stone and shell adzes, remains of shell industry waste, terracotta artifacts, clay pots of different style, animal and human remains dating back to the Neolithic Period as well as to the Iron Age in the Lop Buri River basin at Khok Phutsa few kilometers north of the Lop Buri City. C14 dates, DNA analysis and full study of the artifacts are still in progress.
Lavo in Chinese records
![Xuanzang w](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Xuanzang_w.jpg)
In the 6th century, Lavo sent tribute to the Chinese emperor during the
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
(618–907), and another during the
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960–1279). The Tang Chronicles refer to Lavo and Dvaravati as Tou-ho-lo. The diary of the monk
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
, dating from the same period (629–645), also mentions the region, referring to it as Tou-lo-po-ti.
Lavo sent tributes to
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
twice, in 1115 and 1155. The Song Chronicles mention Lavo at that time as Lo Hu.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
's writings also refer to Lavo, as
Locak.
[Robert J. King, "Finding Marco Polo’s Locach", ''Terrae Incognitae'', vol.50, no.1, April 2018, pp. 1–18.] It was described as being in the hinterland of the Chao Phraya basin, a place too far to be subject to attack by the
Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...
's army of
Yuan (1271–1368).
Khmer era
![Lopburi Prang Sam Yot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Lopburi_Prang_Sam_Yot.jpg)
In the 10th century, when it was known as Lavodayapura (
Khmer language
Khmer (; , ) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language spoken by the Khmer people, and the Official language, official and national language of Cambodia. Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pāli, Pali, especiall ...
), Lavo was subordinate to the
Khmer empire(
Kambojas
Kamboja ( sa, कम्बोज) was a kingdom of Iron Age India that spanned parts of South and Central Asia, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Eponymous with the kingdom name, the Kambojas were an Indo-Iranian people o ...
, in this case, the Khmers of Cambodia) came with the influence of their art and culture, in the 10th to 16th centuries. New construction used the stones of ruined Dvaravati holy places that were built originally without mortar. Thus, the oldest ruins that can now be found in Lopburi are always Khmer-style on a Dvaravati foundation.
The Khmers were present since the tenth century, but Lavo "became detached from Cambodia" at the end of the thirteenth century, sending embassies to China from 1289 to 1299.
Ayutthaya era
![Lopbprnivet0306f](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Lopbprnivet0306f.jpg)
In 1350, the
Ayutthaya kingdom
The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...
was founded by King
Ramathibodi I
King U-thongThe Royal Institute. List of monarchs Ayutthaya''. ( th, พระเจ้าอู่ทอง) or King Ramathibodi I ( th, สมเด็จพระรามาธิบดีที่ ๑ ; 1314–1369) was the first king of ...
,
[ which merged Lavo with the kingdom ruled from ]Suphanburi
Suphan Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand. It covers ''tambon'' Tha Philiang and parts of ''tambons'' Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the Mueang Suphan Buri District. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,656. The town ...
called ''Subharnabhumi'' or ''Pan Pum'', which according to the common Thai history to be identical with the Suvarnabhumi kingdom. This event had been recorded in the Chinese texts that called Thai as ''Xian-lo-guo'' or Siam-Lavo country.
At that time Lavo became a "Mueang
Mueang ( th, เมือง ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( lo, ເມືອງ ''mɯ́ang'', ; Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''muang''), Mong ( shn, ''mə́ŋ'', ), Meng () or Mường (Vietnamese), were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principali ...
Luk Luang", an important city ruled by a crown prince for several years in the beginning of Ayutthaya period. There were not any evidences the prosperity of Lavo was transferred from Lavo to Ayutthaya, but with time Lavo decreased in importance to become only a border town to the north of Ayutthaya.
In the reign of King Narai the Great, the 26th king of Ayutthaya, in the mid-17th century Lavo become an important city again. He commanded to reconstruct the palace at the same place of King Ramesuan's Palace as a summer palace, King Narai's Palace
The King Narai's Palace ( th, พระนารายณ์ราชนิเวศน์; ) in Lopburi was built by King Narai the Great, the king who ruled Ayutthaya from 1656 to 1688. He ordered the palace built in 1666 in the same area as Ki ...
in 1666. Lavo thus served as a second capital, next to Ayutthaya, the king stayed here for about eight months a year.
Rattanakosin era
After the time of King Narai, Lavo had been abandoned, until King Mongkut
Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibod ...
(Rama IV) of Rattanakosin kingdom had it restored to be used as an inland royal city.
Lavo had also been renamed to Lopburi
Lopburi ( th, ลพบุรี, , ) is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is about northeast of Bangkok. It has a population of 58,000. The town (''thesaban mueang'') covers the whole ''tambon'' Tha Hin and parts of Th ...
in this period.
Later, in 1937, Prime Minister Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram
Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram ( th, แปลก พิบูลสงคราม ; alternatively transcribed as ''Pibulsongkram'' or ''Pibulsonggram''; 14 July 1897 – 11 June 1964), locally known as Marshal P. ( th, จอมพล ...
desired to set up Lopburi as the military center of Thailand. Therefore, the city had been expanded. He laid out Lopburi city, with its modern center about 4 km. east of the historical center. His building style, Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
, is apparent along Narai Maharat Road. The improvements he made to the city are apparent to the present day.
Archeological researches
* several flaked stone tools were discovered in Ban Mi district dated back to the Paleolithic Age
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tool ...
by Karl Friedrich Sarasin in 1931.
* a number of tools, human burial sites and bronze accessories belong to Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
were found in Lop Buri river Basin in 1964.
* Bracelets and beads dated back 2700–3500 years were revealed at Ban Khok Charoen under the leadership of Helmut Loofs-Wissowa, prof. Chin You-di and Wiliam Watson in 1966–1970.
* Prehistoric human skeletons and clay jugs were found in Ban Tha Kae in 1979.
* A Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
source was discovered in Khao Wong Phrachan in 1986-1994 by archaeologists from the Fine Arts Department
The Fine Arts Department ( th, กรมศิลปากร, ) is a government department of Thailand, under the Ministry of Culture. Its mission is managing the country's cultural heritage.
History
The department was originally established ...
and the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Lopburi
Lopburi province