Takkola
111 CE – 13th century
Political entities in theChao Phraya River Basin and theKra Isthmus in the 6th–7th century
Capital	Talaittakkolam
Religion	Shaivism[1]: 36  Buddhism[1]: 49
Historical era	Post-classical era
• Established	2nd century
• First mentioned in Chinese source	111
• Part ofPagan/Tambralinga	11th century
• Raided byChola	1030
• Vassals ofPagan/Sukhothai	13th century
Preceded by Succeeded by Tun Sun Tambralinga Pagan
Today part of	Thailand Myanmar

Takkola was an ancientemporium^[2]: 87 and political entity located in the present-dayTanintharyi Region ofMyanmar and the western coast ofsouthern Thailand,^[3]: 22 It existed from the 1st to 13th centuries CE,^[4] centered in the presentTakua Pa district,^{[1]: 30 [5]: 80–1} and was said to control a vital branch of long-distance maritime trade between theIndia Ocean and theSouth China Sea.^{[6]: 79 [5]: 80} It was one of the earliest kingdoms in the peninsula Thailand; the others includedKamalanka andTambralinga.^[4]

Takkola bagen declined around the 10th–11th centuries when the region was invaded by thePagan Kingdom from the north and was constantly raided by theChola during theSouth-East Asia campaign of Rajendra I from 1025 to 1068.^[7]: 766 Later, the region became part of the Thai kingdoms ofSukhothai andAyutthaya, with some period returned to thePagan.^[4][6]: 88

Some Thai scholars proposed that the chief center of Takkola was probably situated around the Khao Phra Narai Historical Site (แหล่งโบราณคดีเขาพระนารายณ์) in theKapong district as this location is more conducive to substantial habitation, whilst the sites atTakua Pa served as a maritime port and gold mines. The state may have been a vassal of the more dominant polity to the south,Tambralinga.^[1]: 38

Takkola was anticipated to be the northernmost region of the mythicalSuvarnabhumi, which extended from present-dayTakua Pa inThailand toKedah inMalaysia.^[3]: 22 Some believeGola-mattikanagaram, mentioned in theKalyani Inscriptions of Pegu dated 1476, is Takkola.^[4] It was also proposed to be one of the five kingdoms inTun Sun by Roland Braddell.^[8]: 7

Takōla first appeared in theGeōgraphikē Hyphēgēsis ofPtolemy around the 2nd century^{[9]: 138, 181, 269} and was calledDōulú inHan Chinese in 111 CE, then its was recorded asDōukūn in the post Han Chinese from the mid-3rd century onwards.^[7]: 766 It was also mentioned in the Buddhist texts,Mahāniddesa andMilinda Panha, in the 3rd–4th centuries.^[7]: 766 In this Greek record,Takōla is listed as the first polity in theChrysē Chersonēsos, following “promontory beyondBērabai (Dawei),” the final polity in the land of theBēsyngitai.^{[10]: 196–7} Thus, several scolars placedTakōla at the present-dayTakua Pa, which was probably occupied by settlers from theTakkolam of theTamil country,^[11]: 46 and theDravidians fromKalinga.^[4] Other proposed locations are the present-dayTrang province^{[2]: 86, 88 [1]: 35–6} and theSuk Samran archaeological complex inRanong province.^{[3]: 22 [7]: 767}

The area became the trading port between China and the western part, i.e., India, Persia, Europe, etc., in the last centuries BCE, following the political unifications ofMauryan India (321–265 BCE) andHan China (206 BCE–220 CE), which made it an avenue for economic and cultural integration, resulting in the development of political and socio-cultural configurations.^[12]: 69 However, these transpeninsular trade routes were used even before the Mauryan and Han unifications took place. Archaeological sites indicate that the communities developed to theMetal Age around the 5th century BCE,^[12]: 70 and developed the exchange-based, complex polities at the end of the first millennium BCE,^[12]: 71 some consisted of the cosmopolitan port.^[13]: 306 However, due to its submergence coast that limits the coastal plains to a thin strip of earth, it was very sparsely populated, and the trade was not as prosperous as other polities on the eastern coast, which are more conducive to large-scale settlements.^{[6]: 83–4}

In the coastline of theSuk Samran district ofRanong down south to theTakua Pa district ofPhang Nga, several historical sites of theearly history era dating the 1st century CE were discovered. The primary sites included the earliest complex of Bang Kluai Nok in the same-named village and Phu Khao Thong, dating the 3rd–1st centuries BCE,^{[12]: 79–81 [13]: 293} where Southeast Asia's earliest Tamil inscription was found.^[12]: 81 and the twin sites of Ban Thung Tuek Ancient City (เมืองโบราณบ้านทุ่งตึก), situated on the Takua Pa Archipelago, and the Khao Phra Noe Historical site (แหล่งโบราณคดีเขาพระเหนอ), located on the riverside opposite the Thung Tuek site.^[14] The later complex was on the ancient trade route between Takua Pa on the west coast and theBandon Bay sites of thePan Pan Kingdom to the east coast. The route gained prominence during theSrivijaya period between the 7th and the 12th centuries.^[3]: 24

According to the Chinese and Arab records,Takkola orTakōla territory once extended along theAndaman Sea coast from the northernmost island of Mali (မလိကျွန်း; Mali Kyun) in theMergui Archipelago in Myanmar toCape Promthep [th] onPhuket in Thailand.^[3]: 22

The 10th century was marked by the decline in trading activities.^[6]: 88 In theSouth-East Asia campaign of Rajendra I againstSrivijaya andTambralinga in 1030, according to theTanjore inscription, a polity namedTalaittakkōlam in Tamil, which is identified withTakkola, was one of the cities on theMalay Peninsula raided by theChola navy.^{[7]: 766 [15]: 268–72 [1]: 33} The spatiotemporal analysis and the unearthed archaeological evidence indicate thatTakkola’s commercial center migrated southward over time.^[3]: 22 This is possibly due to the emergence of other more powerful states to the south, such asPan Pan andSrivijaya, which forced transpeninsula routes to shift southward or even to be abandoned because of the increase in circum-peninsula traffic.^[3]: 23

The kingdom was overthrown by theBurmese fromPagan in 1050-1057 and then became the Pagan's dependency. Since Burmese domination on the west coast of theMalay Peninsula did not at the period in question extend any further south thanTenasserim, it is possible that the ruler ofLigor (Tambralinga) on the other side of the peninsula took this advantage to annexJunk Ceylon (Phuket) and the neighbouring districts on the mainland. Burmese chronicles describe the fall ofThaton in 1057 but mention no conquest farther south. Nevertheless, some archaeological remains do give the impression that the Burmese armies conquered territories much farther to the south, probably attracted by the reputation for wealth of the entrepot port of Mergui-Tenasserim region.^[6]: 88 The invasion of Pagan on theKra Isthmus resulting in the wars between Pagan and theChola, who controlled trading routes on the peninsula at the time mentioned.^{[6]: 89–90}

The inscription dated 1196–98 gives the border of Pagan south toDawei and further down to the south ofJunk Ceylon (Phuket). However, this claim remains disputed asMichel Jacq-Hergoualc'h [fr] speculated that the polities in the Mergui-Tenasserim region most probably enjoyed the status of chiefdom during the period under consideration.^{[6]: 90–2} In 1269, the Mergui Tenasserim portion was the vassal of Pagan,^[6]: 90 while the remaining south was ofTambralinga, which itself later became part ofSiam.

In the 13th century, Malay people referred to the coastline area fromPhang Nga toPhuket asUjong Salang.^[7]: 768

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