T​ambralinga is mentioned in Indian literature as early as in the 2nd century. Scholars recognize Tambralinga as a kingdom that was centered around present-day Nakhon Si Thammarat. The name Tambralinga is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Tam’ (Pali ‘Tamp’), meaning copper, and ‘lingga’, a form that represents the Hindu deity Lord Shiva that symbolizes universal power. 

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​Located in what is now Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand, the kingdom had deep and sustained connections to Indian culture, particularly through Hinduism, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Sanskrit language, and Indian political-religious ideologies. It was one of the most Indianized early kingdoms in Southeast Asia, serving as a cultural bridge between India and lands in present day Malaysia and Indonesia.

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In 927, Tambralinga’s king captured the kingdom of Lavo in central Thailand, and appointed his son Kampoch as Lavo’s ruler. Kampoch took the ex-Lavo queen as his consort and thereafter also married a Khmer princess, that bonded relationship with the Khmer empire.

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​The heyday of the Tambralinga Kingdom was from the 13th to the early 14th century.  Its territory spread from present-day Chumphon province to a significant part of present-day Malaysia. In 1247, King Chandrabanu launched an attack to conquer Sri Lanka. Though unsuccessful, he was able to establish an independent regime in Jaffna, at the northern part of the island. However, in 1258, he lost control of Jaffna to the Pandyan Kingdom from south India.  He again tried to retake the island in 1262, but was defeated and killed by the combined forces of the Pandya and Sri Lanka. 

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This failed military campaigns greatly weakened Tambralinga, with the state also having to pay sizeable compensation to the victors. Nevertheless, the legacy of Tambralinga was its exceptional impact on regional history as it marked the only time that a Southeast Asian power launched an overseas military expedition beyond the region.

 

Weakened, the kingdom came to an end in 1277, and subsequently became known as the Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom, and functioned as a tributary state under the Sukhothai Kingdom. After the Ayutthaya Kingdom became the dominant power, Nakhon Si Thammarat became one of its provincial cities.