Dhammaraja


Dhammaraja, the mixed Siamese Mon-Chinese and eighth monarch of Xiān at Ayodhya, ascended the throne in 1301 following the death of his father-in-law, Suvarnaraja. He was the elder son of Dharmatriloka, king of Si Satchanalai, and through marriage to Kalyādavī, daughter of Suvarnaraja, he strengthened the dynastic alliance. Contemporary account further describes him as a grandson of the Chinese emperor.
During the brief reign of Dhammaraja, no records document military campaigns or invasions undertaken by Xiān against neighboring polities, and the period is characterized by the absence of expansionist activity in contrast to that of his predecessor. A contemporary record in the notes an attempted annexation of Xiān by the Yuan dynasty, which ultimately proved unsuccessful. His reign was contemporaneous with that of the Angkorian monarch Indravarman III, who deposed his father-in-law, Jayavarman VIII, and ruled Angkor from 1295 to 1308.
Dhammarāja died in 1310 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Baramaraja, who entered into marriage with Sunandhadevī, another daughter of Suvarnaraja, thereby continuing the dynastic connection. Another of his siblings, the youngest, Rajadhiraj II, remained at Si Satchanalai.