The Role of Astronomy in Determining the Locations of Geographical Features During the Eleventh to Seventeenth Centuries

A Case Study From the Thai–malay Peninsula

Bibliographic Data

ID11870409
AuthorsPeeravit Koad (0000-0001-7667-2573, corresponding author), Thatdao Rakmak (0000-0002-5847-4335)
Year2022
Volume25
Issue4
Pages760-772
Publication date2022-12-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Astronomical History and Heritage (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1440-2807
PublisherNational Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (PUBLISHER • TH)
DOI10.3724/sp.j.1440-2807.2022.04.06
OpenAlexW4319015182
LanguageEN
Citations received2

The Thai–Malay Peninsula is a multicultural region in Southeast Asia with a long history spanning at least 2,300 years. However, its sparse historical evidence makes its history discontinuous both in temporal and spatial regimes. This study utilized a multidisciplinary approach by combining astronomy, geography, and linguistics to geolocate maritime cities and geographical features in the Thai–Malay Peninsula from the eleventh to the seventeenth centuries CE. Astronomical computation results suggest that Arab sailors used two different systems to measure the angle of the Pole Star: one along the coastline of the Andaman Sea and Malacca Strait, and another for the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. Etymological analysis results indicate that most native toponyms were transcribed into different languages. Some of them can be combined to reconstruct their continuation. This knowledge also solves some longstanding issues of the Thai–Malay Peninsula’s history and anthropology

Ancient history · Archaeology · Eleventh · Geography · Linguistics · Malay · Malay peninsula · Peninsula · Physics · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Historical Astronomy and Related Studies · History · Philosophy

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