Dharmasetu was an 8th century maharaja

Maharaja

Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

 of Srivijaya

Srivijaya

Srivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...

. Under his reign, he successfully incorporated Pan Pan

Pan Pan

Pan Pan is a lost small Hindu Kingdom believed to have existed around 3rd-7th Century CE., somewhere in Kelantan or Terengganu, Malaysia. Little is known about this kingdom. The kingdom was later conquered by Srivijaya under the leadership of Dharmasetu before 775 CE...

, a kingdom located in the north of the Malay Peninsula

Malay Peninsula

The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...

 into Srivijayan sphere of influence before 775 AD.

At an old monastery of Nakhon Si Thammarat

Nakhon Si Thammarat

Nakhon Si Thammarat is a town in southern Thailand, capital of the Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and the Nakhon Si Thammarat district. It is about south of Bangkok, on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. The city was the administrative center of southern Thailand during most of its history. ...

 in modern day Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, there is a stele

Stele

A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 indicating that Dharmasetu order the construction of three sanctuaries dedicated to Bodhisattvas Padmapani, Vajrapani

Vajrapani

' is one of the earliest bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism. He is the protector and guide of the Buddha, and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power. Vajrapani was used extensively in Buddhist iconography as one of the three protective deities surrounding the Buddha...

 and Buddha

Buddha

In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

 in Ligor.

The inscription further stated that the Dharmasetu was the head of the Sailendra of Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

. This is the first instance of relationship known existed between Srivijaya and the Sailendra

Sailendra

Sailendra is the name of an influential Indonesian dynasty that emerged in 8th century Java.The Sailendras were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism and covered the Kedu Plain of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, including the world famous Borobudur.The Sailendras are considered to be a...

. Yet, he was the son of Jayanasa of Srivijaya and a princess from Tarumanagara

Tarumanagara

Tarumanagara or Taruma Kingdom or just Taruma is an early Sundanese Indianized kingdom, whose fifth-century ruler, Purnavarman, produced the earliest known inscriptions on Java island...

. Dewi Tara, the daughter of Dharmasetu later married a member of the Sailendra family by the name of Samaratunga whom later would assumed throne of Srivijaya around 792. The relationship between Srivijaya and the Sailendra became intimately close afterwards.

He was succeeded by his son in law Sangramadhananjaya, known also as Vishnu around 782.