Tambralinga

thumb|Political entities in Peninsula Siam in early first millennium. Tambralinga or Ho-ling was an Indianised kingdom located on the Malay Peninsula (primarily in modern-day Southern Thailand), existing at least from the 2nd to 13th centuries CE. The ethnicity of the kingdom is not known with any certainty, though it may have had Austronesian, Khmer, or Mon associations. It was possibly under the influence of Srivijaya for some time, but it later became independent from it or their relationship may have generally been that of allies rather than conqueror and vassal. The name had been forgotten until scholars recognized Tambralinga as Nakhon Si Thammarat (Nagara Sri Dharmaraja). In Sanskrit and Prakrit, tām(b)ra means "copper", "copper-coloured" or "red" and linga means "symbol" or "creation", typically representing the divine energy of Shiva.

Tambralinga first sent an embassy to China under the Song dynasty in 1001. In the 12th century it may or may not have been under the suzerainty of the Burmese Pagan Kingdom and a kingdom of Sri Lanka. At its height in the mid-13th century, under King Chandrabhanu, Tambralinga was independent, regrouping and consolidating its power and even invading Sri Lanka. By the end of the 13th century, Tambralinga was recorded in Siamese history as Nakhon Si Thammarat, under the suzerainty of the Tai Sukhothai Kingdom.