Xiū Luó Fēn

Xiū Luó Fēn Kingdom
? – 8th century
Proposed locations of ancient polities in the Menam and Mekong Valleys in the 7th century based on the details provided in the Chinese leishu, Cefu Yuangui, and others.
Religion	Buddhism
Government	Kingdom
• 7th century	Shidama Deva
Historical era	Post-classical era
Preceded by Succeeded by Chin Lin Tun Sun Kamalanka Dvaravati
Today part of	Thailand

Xiū Luó Fēn (Chinese: 修罗分) was an ancient Tai kingdom mentioned in the New Book of Tang. and the Chinese leishu, Cefu Yuangui, compiled during the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE). It was located on the coast of the South Sea, with wooden fences as its city walls. It extends eastward to the Kingdom of Zhenla and southward to the sea. Its king is called Shidama Deva (Shī Dá Mó Típó; 尸达摩提婆; ศิทามะเทวา), and he has a large number of troops with over 30,000 elite soldiers. The suffix "Fēn" seems to correspond to the variants of Sanskrit term "pūra", meaning town or city, while the prefix Xiū Luó 修罗 is a simplified form of 阿修罗, meaning shura or asura. However, the character Luó 罗 is probably identical to the term dvara, as 落 or 儸 the other two luo character in the Chinese names of Dvaravati.

修罗分国，居于南海之北，以木栅为城。东至真腊国，南至海。其王名尸达摩提婆，精兵三万余人。

During the Tang dynasty, the three brothers city-states of Xiū Luó Fēn, Gē Luó Shě Fēn (哥罗舍分), which Thai scholar Piriya Krairiksh places at the ancient Nakhon Pathom, the center of Kamalanka, and Gān Bì (甘毕), visit the Chinese court to pay tributes. Their customs were roughly similar, with rulers and fortifications. Gē luó shě fēn also has a large number of troops, with 20,000 elite soldiers, while Gān Bì has only 5,000.

Xiū Luó Fēn's two neighbors: Gē luó shě fēn bordered Duò Hé Luó (堕和罗; Dvaravati) to the east, while Gān Bì was said to be to the west of Huán Wáng (環王國; predecessor of Champa). King of Gān Bì was named Chandavema (旃陀越摩). Although the identification of Xiū Luó Fēn remain ambiguous, Gē luó shě fēn has been identified with the ancient Nakhon Pathom, and Gān Bì is supposed to be an early city-state of Tai-speaking people in the Savannakhet–Mukdahan area along the central Mekong plain.

Japanese scholar Tatsuo Hoshino says Xiū Luó Fēn was potentially an early Tai city-state that had strong ties with other petty kingdoms along the trans-Mekong trade route, including Gān Bì, Zhān Bó, Wen Dan, Qiān Zhī Fú and Cān Bàn. All of these kingdoms were populated by numbers of Tai people since the 7th–8th century. They met another group of the Tai from Chiang Saen who began to migrate south to the Menam Valley around the same period.