For the district, see Amphoe U Thong. For the style of Buddha iconography, see U Thong Style.
Not to be confused with Uthong II or Uthong V.
Uthong I
อู่ทองที่ 1
TitleKing of Suphannaphum
SuccessionKing of Si Satchanalai
Reign?–1156/57 or 1163
Predecessorname unknown (Title earlier held by Suvacanaraja)
SuccessorPattasucaraja
Succession 1King of Suphannaphum
Reign 11163–1205
Predecessor 1Kar Tayy (1081–1121)
Vacant (1121–1163)
Successor 1Merged into Xiān's Ayodhya (1205–mid 13th-c.)
Saenpom (Mid 13th-c.)
Succession 2King of Jayasimhapuri
Reign 21188–1205
Predecessor 2Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri
Successor 2Seat shifted to Phrip Phri and Ayutthaya
DynastyGuruwamsa[a]
HousePhetchaburi–Viang Chaiprakarn
FatherAnuraja of Sing Buri
MotherIndrasujādevī
Death date1205
Death placeSuphanburi

Uthong I (Thai: อู่ทองที่ 1), also known as Soi La (สร้อยหล้า), the king of Xiān at Suphannaphum, who took over the vacant throne at Suphanburi in 1163.[1]: 46[2]: 60–1 Uthong was also appointed by his elder brother Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri as the ruler of either Singburi or Jayasimhapuri following Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri's departure to rule Phrip Phri in 1188.[1]: 46

Records

The presence of Uthong I is preserved in a fragmented and often contradictory body of sources, which complicates any attempt to reconstruct his historical role. The Ayutthaya Testimonies identify him as the younger brother of Indraraja, who was equated with Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri.[1]: 46 Yet European and Thai documents diverge over his significance and movements.

The two principal French accounts—Du Royaume de Siam and Instructions Given to the Siamese Envoys Sent to Portugal (1684)—acknowledge his brother Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, describing him as a prince from Tasoo Nacora Louang (or Yassouttora Nacoora Louang) who subsequently relocated to Soucouttae/Locontàï. These works, however, make no mention of Uthong I, thereby excluding him entirely from the European record.[3][4]: 127

In contrast, the Royal Northern Chronicle emphasizes Uthong I directly, situating his origins in Mueang Chaliang.[2]: 60–1 According to this account, he, together with his elder brother Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri, moved southward in the mid-12th century, and the elder brother eventually seized control of either Singburi (lit. 'the city of Singha')[2]: 60 or Jayasimhapuri (lit. 'the glorious city of Singha') in 1169.[1]: 46 The chronicle also records that Uthong I had earlier been appointed to the throne of Suphannaphum in 1163,[2]: 60–1 though, according to the Ayutthaya Testimonies, this arrangement was altered when Pra Poa Noome Thele Seri reestablished his authority at Phrip Phri. At that point, Uthong I was assigned to govern Mueang Sing, thereby consolidating authority over more than one regional center.[1]: 46

The conclusion of Uthong I's reign is unrecorded. Modern Thai scholars have hypothesized that he was succeeded by his nephew, Uthong II, who later became a monarch of Ayodhya, suggesting that Uthong I's reign came to an end around 1204/05. The Northern Chronicle further reports that Uthong II entrusted three major regional centers to his sons, yet Suphannaphum is conspicuously absent from this list.[2]: 65 This omission has been interpreted as evidence that Mueang Suphannaphum, once associated with Uthong I, had diminished in importance by the early 13th century.

Suphannaphum dynasty

The political seat at Suphannaphum appears to have been left vacant following the reign of Uthong I. According to the local legend of Saen Pom,[5] dated to the last half of the 1220s,[6]: 60–1 Saen Pom is said to have migrated southward from the Tai polity of Tri trueng, located in the upper valley under the suzerainty of the Sukhothai Kingdom, to Suphannaphum, where he assumed the vacant throne. His son, Uthong III, succeeded him,[5] thereby establishing a dynastic line subsequently known as the Suphannaphum dynasty, which continued to govern the polity until the foundation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351, when Uthong V, the Ayutthaya first monarch married Suphannaphum princess and incorporated the polity into his kingdom.[6]: 60–1

This hypothesis aligns with the theory that Khun Luang Pho Ngouy—identified either as the son or the son-in-law of Uthong III and later enthroned as Borommarachathirat I, the third monarch of Ayutthaya and the first ruler of the Suphannaphum lineage[7]—may have possessed ancestral connections to Sukhothai. Such connections are suggested by his marriage to a daughter of King Loe Thai of Sukhothai, as well as by the repeated instances of royal intermarriage between his descendants and members of the Sukhothai dynasty.[8] Moreover, political interactions and architectural developments in Suphanburi during the Ayutthaya period indicate a close relationship between these two dynastic houses. The kinship ties between the royal families of Suphanburi and Sukhothai may therefore be traced back at least to the reign of King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai (r.1279 - 1298).[9]

Notes

  1. ^ According to the Yonok Chronicle of Lan Na, Ayodhya during this period is referred to as Guru Rath (กุรุรัฐ; lit. 'Country of Guru') and is reported to have been ruled by King Guru Wongsa or Guruwamsa (กุรุวงศา; lit. 'Family of Guru').[10]

References

  1. ^ Fine Arts Department (ed.) (1968 [First published in Thai in 1912.]). Khamhaikan Chao Krung Kao Khamhaikan Khun Luang Ha Wat Lae Phra Ratcha Pongsawadarn Krung Kao Chabab Luang Luang Prasoet Aksorn [Testimony of the King Who Entered a Wat, Testimony of the Inhabitants of the Old Capital, and Royal Chronicle of the Old Capital: Luang Prasoet Aksorn Version] (in Thai). Bangkok: Rung Rueang Tham. Archived 25 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  2. ^ Northern Chronicle
  3. ^ Simon de La Loubère (1693). "Du royaume de Siam". ota.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Archived 2025-09-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  4. ^ Michael Smithies & Dhiravat na Pombejra (2022). "Instructions Given to the Siamese Envoys Sent to Portugal, 1684". Journal of the Siam Society. 90 (Part 1 & 2). Archived 2025-08-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
  5. ^ Prangpanan Chuangpitak (5 October 2019). "ท้าวแสนปม : จากปมตำนานสู่ปมประวัติศาสตร์" [Thao Saen Pom: From Legendary Knot to Historical clue] (in Thai). www.silpa-mag.com. Archived 2025-08-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  6. ^ David K. Wyatt (2020). "Relics, Oaths and Politics in Thirteenth-Century Siam". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 32 (1): 3–65. JSTOR 20072298. Archived 20 September 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  7. ^ "ราชวงศ์สุพรรณภูมิ" [Suphannabhum Dynasty] (in Thai). www.rungsimun.com. Archived 2024-11-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  8. ^ Pramint Kreuathong (1 August 2021). "กรุงศรีปฏิวัติ : ศึกเจ้าพี่น้อง 2 ราชวงศ์ วงศ์พระรามรบวงศ์พระอินทร์ ใครได้ราชบัลลังก์" [Krung Sri Revolution: The Battle of the Two Royal Brothers, Phra Ram Dynasty vs Phra In Dynasty, Who will win the throne?] (in Thai). www.silpa-mag.com. Archived 2024-11-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  9. ^ Piseth Chiachanphong (26 August 2022). "สุพรรณภูมิ : ตําแหน่งที่ตั้งและความสัมพันธ์กับสุโขทัย" [Suphanburi: Location and relationship with Sukhothai] (in Thai). www.silpa-mag.com. Archived 2024-06-22 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ Yutthaphong Matwises (4 August 2024). "บ้านเมืองอีสาน-สองฝั่งโขง ใน "อุรังคธาตุ" ตำนานพระธาตุพนม" [Northeastern towns and cities on both sides of the Mekong River in "Urankathathu", the legend of Phra That Phanom] (in Thai). silpa-mag.com. Archived 27 May 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 May 2025.