Driving through the central plains of Thailand this weekend took me through some of the towns associated with the ancient kingdom of Dvaravati. Wikipedia Dvaravati entry tells us we are looking at a kingdom or possibly a collection of city states dating from 6th. to the 11th. Centuries straddling the Chao Phraya river basin. It’s likely that the Gulf of Thailand’s shores were much farther north than they are today due to the gradual silting up of the river’s estuary.
Not much is known of the people but it is a good guess to say they were or were related to the Mons. The Mons had reached Chao Phraya river basin prior to the Christian era and no other large town settlements have been found from before this. The Dvaravati civilization was very much influenced by Indian culture and also the Buddhist religion.
