Muang Chakangrao
| Native Name | เมืองชากังราว, មឿងចាកាងរៅ |
|---|---|
| Alternative name | Mueang Chakangrao |
| BA# | T62002 |
| CISARK# | 4234 |
| Condition | Ruin |
| Type | Ancient City |
| Location | |
| Commune | Nai Muang |
| District | Muang Kamphaeng Phet |
| Province | Kamphaeng Phet |
| Country | Thailand |
| Coordinates | 16.48879, 99.52047 |
| History | |
| UNESCO Inscription | 1991 |
Muang Chakangrao (เมืองชากังราว - Pronounced: Moo-wung Cha-kan-graow)
Muang Chakangrao, on the left bank of the Ping River within the central part of the modern provincial town, is one of 3 ancient settlements grouped together as Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park and catalogued by UNESCO as part of the Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns listing. The other 2 sites being Muang Nakhon Chum on the opposite bank and Muang Trai Treung situated some 15kms to the south.
Another large cluster of ancient temple sites lies north of the Chakangrao moat and walls and includes several laterite structures and vestiges such as Wat Rim Tang.
All sites are likely to have begun life as Dvaravati settlements before coming under Lopburi control in the 11th-12th-centuries followed by Sukhothai administration from the mid-13th-century up until the Ayuthaya period. The quasi-totality of monuments seen today date from the latter 2 eras and any Dvaravati or Lopburi structures are undoubtedly long lost amid the foundations.
Muang Chakangrao forms a roughly rectangular shape, surrounded by ramparts and a moat and extends some 2kms northwest-southeast while varying in width from 200m in the northwest to 600m in the southeast. Such an irregular, topographically defined, area is more typical of Dvaravati sites than Khmer, or to a lesser extent Sukhothai, although the southeastern section features a 600m square area with a central causeway on the southwestern side and may conceivably have once been a separate construction. (Note that, despite appearances, the Shiva shrine and linga on a laterite base seen on the northern edge of this square actually date to the 16th century and Ayuthaya period.)
The extent of direct Khmer control during the late 12th and early 13th centuries is unknown. While the city formed an important, strategic, defensive site against Burmese during later times this was not so much an issue during the Lopburi era when the settlement probably performed more of a transportation and trading point. The fertile Ping Valley certainly offered agricultural potential while the extensive mountains to the west could have provided valuable forest products. The river itself, as well as ancient land routes, formed important transport links between Tak (see Ban Tak) and the regional centres of Lopburi and Suphanburi (Lavo and Suvarnapura - possibly U Thong) to the south as well as Sukhothai (Sukhodaya} to the east, since the early Dvaravati period.
In terms of standing monuments today Muang Nakhon Chum on the west bank is considered to house earlier sites although, as mentioned, this refers to Sukhothai and Ayuthaya period temples.
While no existing vestiges can be claimed to date definitively to the Lopburi/Khmer era, the site was clearly occupied throughout this timeframe, period artefacts are on show in the Kamphaeng Phet National Museum and CISARK archaeologists have identified one or 2, as yet unresearched, potential ancient tuol sites.
Map Location
Image Gallery
City walls - probably 14th-century
Northeast corner of the moat
Eeastern moat
Map of Muang Nakhon Chum and Muang Chakangrao. (TFAD)
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Historic Archive
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Nearby Sites
External Links
Links to additional resources such as articles, websites, videos etc.UNESCO Listing
References