# Xiān

Xiān (Chinese: 暹) or Siam (Thai: สยาม) was a confederation of maritime-oriented port polities along the present Bay of Bangkok,$^{:39,41}$ including Ayodhya, Suphannabhum, and Phip Phli [th],$^{:37}$ as well as Nakhon Si Thammarat (Ligor), which became Siam in the late 13th century. Previous studies suggested that Xiān in Chinese dynasty records only referred to Sukhothai, $^{:140}$$^{:102}$ but this presupposition has recently been rebutted.$^{:37–9}$
Xiān was formed from city-states on the west Chao Phraya plain after the decline of Dvaravati in the 11th century. In 1178, the region was mentioned in the term San-lo 三濼,$^{:290}$ as recorded in the Chinese Lingwai Daida,$^{:288}$ in which Thai scholars suggest it was plausibly referred to Chaliang's new center, Sawankhalok.$^{:8}$
Xiān or Siam, which was also recorded as Suphan Buri and Nakhon Si Thammarat in the late 13th century, joined a federation with Lavo in 1351; this led to the formation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom with the federal seat at Ayutthaya. Phip Phli [th] was demoted to a frontier city following the federative formation and was then governed by Suphan Buri, which was completely annexed into the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1438, whereas Nakhon Si Thammarat maintained its vassal status throughout the Ayutthaya and Thonburi eras with short periods of independence and was demoted to Rattanakosin's province in 1782.
However, modern scholars suggest that the term Xiān mentioned in several Chinese and Đại Việt texts from 1149 until the official establishment of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351 was potentially Lavo's new capital Ayodhya instead of Sukhothai Kingdom, Suphannabhum, and other initial Siamese polities.

## Location

As described in the Chinese Daoyi Zhilüe, Xiān was surrounded by height mountains and deep valleys and was not located in the infertile land, which made the polities have to depend upon the neighbor Luó hú (Lavo) for the rice supply. It supports the people with commerce.$^{:39–40}$ Several studies propose that Xiān might refer to the Suphannabhum Kingdom centered in the present Suphanburi Province$^{:40}$ as some tributary missions sent to the Chinese in the Hongwu era were done under the name of King of Su-men-bang 蘇門邦 of Xiānluó hú, in which the term Su-men-bang has been identified with Suphanburi.$^{:40}$ In 1295, an envoy led by Xian's king Gan-mu-ding from Pi-ch'a-pu-li, which identified with Phetchaburi, visit the Chinese court.$^{:140}$ These correspond with the Chinese The Customs of Cambodia by Zhou Daguan in 1296–1297, who records that Xiān is on the southwest of Chenla.
In the Jinakalamali, a local Pali chronicle of the northern Thai principality of Lan Na (Chiang Mai) mentions siam-desa and siam-rattha refer to the "area (desa) or state (rattha) of Siam," which one passage further identifies as the Sukhothai region.$^{:71}$

## History

Xiān city-states were formed around the 11th century in the late Dvaravati period, which was potentially declined due to the Menam Valley and the upper Malay peninsula conquered of Tambralinga's king Sujita who also seized Lavo in the mid-9th century.$^{:283}$$^{:16}$ the 9-year civil wars in the Angkor in the early 11th century, which led to the devastation of Lavo, as well as the Pagan invasion of Menam Valley around the mid-11th century.$^{:41}$ All of these are probably the causes of the decline of the initial states in this area.$^{:283}$$^{:41}$ The region, as well as Junk Ceylon (Phuket) and Tambralinga, were once raid by the Mau Shans from Shan States in his Indo-China raid campaign between 1220 and 1230.$^{:292}$

### Early perception

Prince Damrong, who constructed a unilinear system of Thai history that was previously generally acknowledged in school textbooks, proposed in 1914 that the history of Thais in Siam proper began with establishing the Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238. This first Siamese kingdom was succeeded by Ayutthaya, Thonburi, and Rattanakosin.$^{:222}$ His works were eventually translated and edited in 1924 by Cœdès, who made this theory proliferated through his influential writings, such as The Indianized States of Southeast Asia.$^{:191}$ However, the equation that Xian was long-believed Sukhothai was contested in 1989 by Tatsuro Yamamoto, who proposes that the term "Xian 暹" found in Dade Nanhai-zhi during the era of the Yuan Dynasty (1297–1307) was probably another polity politically superior to Sukhothai.$^{:110}$ Several modern studies also declined the theory that Sukhothai was the first independent Siam polity.$^{:37}$

### Khmer, Cham and Pagan records

The term Siam, whose origin remains disputed, first occurs as syam in Funan–Chenla inscriptions of the 7th century. It is probably a toponym referring to some location in the lower Chao Phraya Basin.$^{:69}$ In surviving inscriptions of this period, syam occurs four times to designate female slaves ("ku syam", Inscriptions K557 (dated 611 CE), K127 (683 CE), K154 (685 CE),$^{:21,89,123}$ and K904 (713 CE)$^{:54}$) and once to identify a landlord-official ("pon syam"), who donates rice fields to a temple (K79 639 CE).$^{:69}$ In one case syam occurs in a list where the preceding entry has the word vrau in the same sentence position (K127).$^{:89}$ The term vrau has been considered the name of an ethnolinguistic minority group, possibly ancestors of the modem Bru or Brau people.$^{:297}$ Therefore, syam may have similarly functioned at that time, perhaps as a toponym that could also be used to refer to people of the area.$^{:69}$
Siam later occurs in slave lists on inscriptions of the Champa and Khmer kingdoms, dated in the 11th and 12th centuries.$^{:140}$$^{:124}$$^{:62}$ From about the same period there is also a well-known bas relief panel of Angkor Wat showing mercenaries of the Khmer army, who are identified as syam-kuk, perhaps "of the land of Siam." One cannot be certain what ethnolinguistic group these mercenaries belonged to, but many scholars have thought them to be Siam people.$^{:70}$ At about the same time (from 1120 CE onwards) in Pagan to the west syam occurs over twenty times in Old Mon and Burmese inscriptions. One syam reference is to Saṁbyaṅ an Old Mon title for a high government official, but the term mainly occurs in lists of temple slaves, both male and female.$^{:124}$ Some Syaṁ are identified by occupation, such as dancers, weavers, or carpenters.$^{:70}$
There was a record of Siamese led by Passara, son of the king of Siam, settled in Java and established the city of Passaraan in 800 CE after they failed to sail to Makassar on Sulawesi due to the storm.$^{:xvi}$

### Chinese records
#### As Xiān: 13th–14th century

Xiān was first mentioned in Chinese record Yuán Shǐ 元史 in 1278 when Yuan dynasty sent He Zi-zhi 何子志, a commander with 10,000 households, as an emissary to Xian$^{:38}$ but they were detained by Champa.$^{:140}$ Xiān was on the list of the entities that Kublai Khan prepared to conquer, together with Lavo and several kingdoms on the Malay peninsular, Sumatra, South India, and Ceylon after his final conquest of China in 1279.$^{:139}$$^{:61}$
Ten years later, the first tribute sent to China by Xian was mentioned in 1292. The Chinese court dispatched emissaries to persuade Xian to submit the following year,$^{:38}$ but Xian refused.$^{:39}$ It is recorded that an imperial order was issued again to summon and persuade the king of Xian in 1294.$^{:39}$
Due to such a persistent persuasion, the king of Xian named Gan-mu-ding (Kamrateng, กมรเต็ง) from Pi-ch'a-pu-li city (Phip Phli [th]; present Phetchaburi)$^{:140}$ personally appeared at the Chinese court to present the tribute with a golden plate in 1295.$^{:39}$ The tribute was sent from Xian again the following year. In 1297, emissaries from Xian, Luó hú (羅斛, Lavo), and Jambi (Srivijaya) were recorded. In 1299, both Xian and Sù gǔ chí (速古漦, Sukhothai) sent tribute to China. These last two records indicate that Xian is not Sukhothai and the polities in the Chao Phraya River basin at that time consisted of at least 3 polities, including Lavo, Sukhothai, and Xian.
In 1304, the Dade Nanhai-zhi 大德南海志 mentions that Sù gū dǐ (速孤底, Sukhothai) rely on Xian: "Xian controlled Sù gū dǐ, which is located upstream." (暹国管 上水速孤底). This makes Tatsuro assume that Sukhothai was controlled by Xian.$^{:38}$ However, a Thai academic, Keatkhamjorn Meekanon, proposes that Sukhothai may have had to use Xian to export. Xian additionally sent tribute to China in April and July 1314, 1319, and the last one in 1323.$^{:39}$ As described in Daoyi Zhilüe (1351), the export items of Xian included sappanwood, tin, chaulmoorgra, ivory, and kingfisher feathers.$^{:39}$
Xian appearing in Chinese dynastic history is found in the biography of Chen-yi-zhong in the Sung-shi. It reads, “In the 19th year of the Zhi-yuan 至元 era (1282–83) the Great Army attacked Champa and [Chen] Yi-zhong fled to Xian, where he died eventually.” Chen-yi-zhong was a defeated minister of the Southern Sung Dynasty who tried unsuccessfully to find a haven in Champa, which was eventually invaded by the Yuan army. Chen’s subsequent flight to Xian might suggest that Xian was a commercially flourishing port in the post-Srivijayan Southeast Asian trade order, where the Southern Sung Dynasty minister could find a settlement of compatriots.$^{:38}$$^{:70}$
Another term San-lo 三濼 in the Lingwai Daida, written in 1178, is believed to have been an early Chinese attempt to transcribe the name of the country or the people of the upper and central Menam, which Khmer inscriptions had called Syam and which the Chinese were soon to call Xiān and Xiānluó.$^{:290}$
In the Shū yù zhōu zī lù [zh] 殊域周咨錄, written in 1583, states that when the Sui dynasty dynasty send an embassy to Chi Tu probably between 605 and 618, the kingdom was already renamed to Xian, as the quote below.$^{:115}$
   暹古名赤土，羅斛古名婆羅剎也。暹國土瘠不宜耕種，羅斛土田平衍而多稼。
   The ancient name of Xiān is Chì Tǔ, and the ancient name of Luó Hú is Póluó Shā. The land in Xiān is barren and unsuitable for farming, but the fields of Luó Hú are flat and full of crops.

#### As Xiānluó hú/ Xiānluó: 14th century

According to the Daoyi Zhilüe, Luó hú (Lavo) annexed Xiān in 1349;$^{:40}$ this was consistent with the establishment of Ayutthaya, which was said to be formed by the merging of Lavo and Siam's Suphan Buri. The new polity was recorded by the Chinese as Xiānluó hú 暹羅斛 and was later shortened to Xiānluó 暹羅. This confederation performed 41 tributary missions to the Chinese court during the Hongwu era, 33 in the name of Xiānluó hú and as Xiānluó for the remaining.$^{:40}$$^{:70}$

### Đại Việt records

During the 1334–1336 Trần dynasty invasion of Ai Lao [zh], Xiān and other countries paid tribute to Đại Việt, as mentioned in the Khâm định Việt sử Thông giám cương mục Volume 9. In another Vietnamese chronicle, Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, Xiān is also mentioned during the Lý dynasty and Trần dynasty periods, as follows:
| Year | Reign | Original text | Key Points |
| 1149 | Lý Anh Tông | 己巳十年〈宋紹興十九年〉春二月，爪哇、路貉、暹羅三國商舶入海東，乞居住販賣，乃於海島等處立庄，名雲屯，買賣寳貨，上進方物。$^{:line61}$ | Merchants from the Xiān Kingdom (Chinese: 暹羅) and others arrived at Hǎidōng (chữ Hán: 海東) and requested permission to trade and set up a trading post at Yún tún. (chữ Hán: 雲屯) |
| 1182 | Lý Cao Tông | 暹羅國來貢。$^{:line25}$ | Xiān came to pay tribute. |
| 1241 | Lý Cao Tông | 暹羅、三佛齊等國商人入雲屯鎮，進寳物，乞行買賣。$^{:line29}$ | Merchants from Xiān, Srivijaya, and others came to Yún tún to buy goods and request permission for trade. |
| 1313 | Trần Anh Tông | 時占城被暹人侵掠，帝以天覷經畧乂安、臨平徃救。後凣西邉籌畫，明宗悉以委之。$^{:line148}$ | Xiān people attacked and raid the Champa Kingdom. The emperor sent an army to help Champa. |
| 1360 | Trần Dụ Tông | 冬十月，路鶴、茶哇哇音鴉、暹羅等國商舶至雲屯販賣，進諸異物。$^{:line109}$ | Xiān merchants arrived at Yún tún for trading. |

#### Note

* ↑ The wars lasted for 2 years.$^{:121–3}$

### People

Xian or Siam people are described as maritime-oriented groups as said in the Chinese Daoyi Zhilüe:$^{:39}$
   Its people are aggressive. Whenever they see another country in a state of disorder, they immediately dispatch as many as one hundred ships full of sago to invade it. Recently more than seventy ships invaded Dān mǎ xī (單馬錫, identified as far as Tumasik, or Singapore), and Xī lǐ (昔里)$^{:39}$
   When someone dies, mercury will be injected into the body to preserve. The people, both men and women, dress in the same way as the Lavo (tire hair in a bun, wrap it with a cotton turban, and wear a long shirt) and use shell coins as currency.$^{:62}$
At the end of the 13th century, an emerging Xian seems to have started a southward advance to the cost of the Malay peninsular. The well-known Chinese imperial admonition issued in the year 1295 well reflects such a move, reading “do not harm Ma-li-yü-êrh (Melayu).$^{:39}$$^{:140}$ The maritime Xian also attacked Samudera Pasai Sultanate on Sumatra probably between 1299–1310, but failed. The troops might have been launched by the southernmost Xian of Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom with either Takua Thalang or Trang or Syburi/Kedah as the navy bases. Xian also raided Champa in 1313.$^{:line148}$
In The Customs of Cambodia written by Zhou Daguan, who visited Zhenla as part of an official diplomatic delegation during 1296–1297, also referred to Siam people as:
   In recent years people from Siam have come to live in Cambodia, and unlike the locals, they engage in silk production. The mulberry trees they grow and the silkworms they raise all come from Siam. (They have no ramie, either, only hemp.) They themselves weave the silk into clothes made of a black, patterned satiny silk. Siamese women do know how to stitch and darn, so when local people have torn or damaged clothing they ask them to do the mending.
The people in the early Xian proper—based on inscriptions dated to the Dvaravati period, found in the area together with the existing Dvaravati evidence—were probably the Buddism Mon.$^{:21}$ The migration of the Tai-speaking people from the north to the Chao Phraya River basin happened around the 9th century. It was speculated that the trade interaction between the polities as well as the intermarriage caused a language assimilation among the people in this area.

## Political entities

According to the Chinese records, the early Xian or Siam probably consisted of at least two main polities, including Phip Phli [th], which sent emissaries to the Yuan dynasty during the late 13th century to the early 14th century,$^{:38–39}$ and Su-men-bang (Suphannabhum), which later joined Lavo in the Ayutthaya Kingdom formation.$^{:40}$ Ligor became Siam proper after the preceding Tambralinga fall due to the losses in the 1247–70 wars in Sri Lanka, the 1268–69 invasion of the Javanese Singhasari, and the 1270 plague.$^{:42–43}$ It was revived by the Siam people from Phip Phli [th] and evolved to the Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom.$^{:81}$
Although archaeological studies specify that the region was once a vibrant trading spot controlling long-distance maritime trade between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea since the beginning of the 1st millennium,$^{:6–7}$$^{:28}$ the historical records about them were rarely found, and most of the existing evidence is local legends. The ancient entities mentioned in the Chinese records potentially located in the region are the five cities of Tun Sun$^{:28}$$^{:259}$$^{:34}$ and its northern neighbor Chin Lin. This is most likely owing to the change in maritime trade routes, which no longer need to cross the Kra Isthmus as before 500 C.E., as well as the degradation of paper, which is more favored as a recording material in the Buddhist-dominated area.$^{:12–3}$