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The Sukhothai kingdom was a kingdom in the north of Thailand around the city Sukhothai. It existed from 1238 till 1438. The old capital, now 12 km outside of New Sukhothai in Tambon Muang Kao, is now in ruins and is an Historical Park.

1 History

The city of Sukhothai was part of the Khmer empire until 1238, when two Thai chieftains, Pho Khun Pha Muang and Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao, seceded and established a Thai kingdom. Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao later became the first king of Sukhothai, Pho Khun Si Indrathit (or Intradit). This event traditionally marks the founding of the modern Thai nation, although other less well-known Thai kingdoms, such as Lanna, Phayao and Chiang Saen, were established around the same time.

Sukhothai expanded by forming alliances with the other Thai kingdoms, adopting Theravada Buddhism as the state religion with the help of Ceylonese monks. Intradit was succeeded by his son Pho Khun Ban Muang, who was followed in 1278 by his brother, Pho Khun Ramkhamhaeng. Under King Ramkhamhaeng the Great, as he became known, who ruled for forty years, Sukhothai enjoyed a golden age of prosperity. Ramkhamhaeng is credited with designing the Thai alphabet (traditionally dated from 1283, on the evidence of the controversial Ramkhamhaeng stele, an inscribed stone bearing the earliest known Thai writing). At its peak, stretching from Martaban (now in Burma) to Louang Phrabang (now in LaosThe Lao People's Democratic Republic is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar (commonly known in the west as Burma) and the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the) and down the Malay PeninsulaThe Malay Peninsula ( Malay: Tanah Melayu is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia. It runs approximately north-south and contains the most southerly point of the Asian continent. Its narrowest point is the Isthmus of Kra. The south-west coast is se as far south as Nakhon Si ThammaratNakhon Si Thammarat (often in short Nakhon Thai ) is one of the southern provinces changwat of Thailand, at the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from south clockwise) Songkhla, Phattalung, Trang, Krabi and Surat Thani., the kingdom's sphere of influence was larger than modern Thailand, although the degree of control exercised over outlying areas was variable.

Later kings found their power being gradually eroded by the kingdoms of Lannathai to the north and AyutthayaThe kingdom of Ayutthaya was a Thai kingdom that existed from the 1350 to 1767. King Ramathibodi I (Uthong) founded Ayutthaya as the capital of his kingdom in 1350 and absorbed Sukhothai, 640 km to the north, in 1376. Over the next four centuries the king to the south. Sukhothai became a tributary state of Ayutthaya between 1365Events Foundation of the University of Vienna Births Christine de Pizan, noted author Deaths Duke Rudolf IV of Austria the Founder died July 27 Office holders Holy Roman Empire Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor ( 1355- 1378) Austria Rudolf IV, Duke of Austri and 1378, and in 1438 a mere province.