ANGKOR AND THE KHMER EMPIRE

(802 1327)





Contents:
Page:

Introduction

Religious Beliefs and Practices

Political System

Social Organisation

Daily Life

Economics, Trade and Agriculture

Temples and Infrastructure

Suryavarman II and Angkor Wat

Jayavarman VII

Glossary


Lesson
Number:
Lesson Content:
1 2 Introduction:
Geographical Setting Southeast Asia; Indochina;
Champa, Dai Viet, Pagan etc.
China and India
Pre-Angkor background Funan, Zhenla
Available sources.
3 5 Religious beliefs and Practices:
Hinduism
Buddhism
Epics and Myths Ramayana etc.
6 7 Political System:
Khmer Kingship Chakravartin - Jayavarman II
Khmer administration and bureaucracy
8 - 9 Social Organisation
Social Structure
Legal System
The Army
10 - 11 Daily Life
Family Life
Education
Food
Women
Housing
Fashion
12 13 Economics, Trade and Agriculture
14 17 Temples and Infrastructure
Water management: Canals, Barays
Temples & Monasteries, Hospitals, resthouses, roads.
18 19 Suryavarman II Virtual Site Study: Angkor Wat
20 22 Jayavarman VII
23 - 24 Decline and Legacy

Introduction
K. 323: 5456 (AD. 889)
The land that he protected was limited by the border with the Chinese and by the sea; as for his glory, like the
garland of his qualities, like his knowledge and his prosperity, it was unlimited.

History of the Southern Qi Dynasty (AD. 479 - 501)
Fanzhan, King of Funan despatched an embassy to China in (AD 243) to offer the gift of musicians and products
from his country The (Funan) market is the meeting place between east and west as Funan offers a place of
passage from one ocean to the other
Long ago in the time of Fanzhan there was a man from the country of Tanyang (Southern Afghanistan) whose
name was Jiaxiangli. He travelled in stages from his country in India, doing business along the way, until he
reached Funan. He told Fanzhan about the customs of India, the great riches, the fertile land, and said that
everything one could desire could be found there, and that great kingdoms had for generations respected this
kingdom. Fanzhan asked him: How far away is this place, how long does it take to get there? Jiaxiangli replied
India must be more that 30,0A00 li from here; to sail there and back would take a good three years, and it could
be even four years before reaching home; it lies at the centre of heaven and earth.
The people of Funan are malicious and cunning. They take by force the inhabitants of the neighbouring cities who
do not render them homage, and make them slaves. As merchandise, they have gold, silver, silks. The sons of the
well-to-do families wear sarongs of brocade. The poor wear a piece of cloth. The women pull a piece of cloth over
the head. The people of Funan make rings and bracelets of gold and vessels of silver. They cut down trees to build
their houses. The king lives in a multi-storey pavilion. They make their enclosures of wooden palisades. At the
seashore grows a great bamboo, whose leaves are eight or nine feet long. The leaves are tressed to cover houses.
The people also live in houses raised from the ground. They make boats 80 or 90 feet long and 6 or 7 feet wide.
The bow and stern are like the head and tail of a fish. When the King goes out, he rides on elephant-back. The
women also ride elephants. For amusement, the people have cock-fights and hog-fights... They have cane sugar,
pomegranates, oranges and much betel nuts.

History of the Liang Dynasty (AD. 502 556)
Where they live, they do not dig wells. By ten families, they have a basin in common where they get water. The
custom is to adore the spirits of the sky. Of these spirits, they make images in bronze; those which have two
faces, have four arms; those which have four faces, have eight arms. Each hand holds something a child, a bird,
or quadruped, the sun, the moon. The king, when he travels rides an elephant. So do his concubines, the people
of the palace. When the King sits down, he squats on one side, raising the right knee, letting the left knee touch
the earth. A piece of cotton is spread before him, on which are deposited the gold vases and incense burners.
In the case of mourning, the custom is to shave the beard and hair. For the dead, there are four kinds of disposal:
burial by water, which consists of throwing the body into the water; burial by earth, which consists of interring it
in a grave; burial by the birds, which consists of abandoning it in the fields; burial by fire, which consists of
reducing it to ashes.

History of the Sui Dynasty (AD. 581 618)
Every three days the king goes solemnly to the audience-hall and sits on a bed made of five pieces of sandalwood
and ornamented with seven kinds of precious stones. Above this bed is a pavilion of magnificent cloth, whose
columns are of inlaid wood. The walls are ivory, mixed with flowers of gold. The ensemble of this bed and the
pavilion form a sort of little palace, at the background of which is suspended... a disk with rays of gold in the form
of flames. A golden incense burner, which two men handle, is placed in front. The king wears a girdle of cotton,
drawn-red, which falls to his knees. He covers his head with a bonnet laden with gold and stones, with pendants
of pearl. On his feet are sandals of leather and sometimes of ivory; in his ears, pendants of gold. His robe is always
made of fine white cloth...There are five great ministers...there are many inferior officers.
Those who appear before the king touch the earth three times with their forehead, at the foot of the steps to the
throne. If the king calls them and orders them to show their degrees, then they kneel, holding their hands on their
shoulders...

Modern Sources
Anne-Valrie Schweyer:
Champa comprised of a group of small, fairly independent, maritime polities, which were occasionally unified
under a king of kings. Because of the Chams important position on the maritime trade route the first stop
after China their culture took foreign colouring a little ahead of that of the neighbouring Khmers: although both
cultures developed politico-religious systems that borrowed much from the Indic and Sinic models, but remained
loyal to a deep substratum of autochthonous beliefs and customs. The political models and religious and family
structures of the two countries were similar, generating commonalities which at times drove them apart and at
times pulled them together, even though the two people have different roots the land-based Khmers belong to
the Mon-Khmer/Austroasiatic linguistic group, while Chams are seafaring Austraonesians, recently (500 BC - AD)
arrived from Borneo.
Michael D. Coe:
According to linguist Franklin Huffman, all mainland Southeast Asian scripts are derived from some form or forms
of the ancient Brahmi script of South India. The earliest example of such writing in the region is a Sanskrit
inscription of the second or third century AD from Vo-canh, on the South Vietnamese coast. It is not until AD 611
that we have the first known inscription in the Khmer language, from Angkor Borei, which is located on the lower
Mekong at the head of the Delta, and which was clearly a key site for the early Khmer civilisation.
Although the Khmer writing system is basically phonetic, like all Indic scripts it is far more complex than a mere
alphabet would be. Quasi-syllabic would be a more accurate description. There are 33 consonants, some
aspirated and some not, and each with one or two inherent back vowels thus there are two consonant series. As
for the vowels themselves, there are 20 signs for these, consisting of pure vowels, diphthongs, and vowels
followed by m
Khmer is written right to left and top to bottom, with no breaks between words. There are now two forms: 1)
round script, virtually identical with the one finds on Classic Khmer inscriptions, and applied to religious texts,
newspaper headlines and formal texts like those inscribed on public buildings and monuments, and 2) oblique
script, derived from popular handwriting and used for all other printed works.
There are some 1200 surviving stone inscriptions from the Cambodian past, many of great calligraphic elegance;
these are usually incised on freestanding stelae or on the door-jambs of temples. The majority of them are in
Sanskrit (using a very similar script to Khmer), and consist of poetic invocations, dedications and the like involving
the Hindu deities and royal personages. The other corpus of texts is in Khmer, and while they also largely concern
religious foundations, they usually provide us with more mundane but critical information of great
anthropological and economic interest
What we do not have from the past are all the books that must have been in daily use everywhere. As a result of
their having been written of perishable material, the tropical climate, insects and constant wars have seen to their
total destruction; with only those records inscribed on stone, we are thus dealing with a very skewed and
fragmentary sample of indigenous texts from past eras. It is known that there were two kinds of books. One
consisted of long, narrow palm leaves incised with a stylus, and loosely strung along one long edge. The other was
a screenfold: paper from the inner bark of a tree was folded back and forth like an accordion, and then written on
with a pen. Unfortunately, we do not know whether the palm leaf books had different contents from the
screenfolds.
1


Thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of the traders in the Indian subcontinent, and to the boat-building and
navigational skills of seafarers from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia, over two millennia ago much of the Old
World was bound up in was virtually a single economic system. During the Pax Romana, established by Augustus
in 27BC, some Indian traders sailed to the mouth of the Red Sea, within the confines of the Roman Empire; about
the same time, others headed over the Indian Ocean to the Malayan Peninsula and the rest of Southeast Asia,
looking for the tin that they needed to make bronze coinage. Exotic luxury goods began to flow in both directions,
as well as to and from China across the Delta... Buddhism and Hinduism arrived together in mainland Southeast
Asia and Indonesia.
During this early epoch of trading contacts, the most powerful chiefs and embryo kings of the Delta, and probably
of inland regions as well, deliberately and willingly underwent a process of Indianisation to consolidate and
magnify their rule. The major source culture, as Monica Smith of the University of Pittsburgh has made clear, was
surely the powerful and prosperous Gupta state in northern and central India which flourished from about AD 320
to 455. After a period in which Buddhism had been virtually a state religion in India, the Guptas returned to a pre-
Buddhist Hindu tradition, while reviving the Sanskrit language as the principal one for monumental inscriptions,
land grants, seals and coins. Furthermore, the Guptas were great builders of temples and shrines...
The various elites in Southeast Asia could have chosen the Chinese model, for China also was a trading partner,
but did not do so. Why not? As the peoples of northern Vietnam later found out, China was an expansionist
nation (as the Indian principalities were not); an adoption of Chinese-style imperial bureaucracy would have
meant a burdensome and humiliating submission to the Middle Kingdom, and the lessening of their own powers.
With China, it was all or nothing. In contrast, the Hindu religion and its trappings offered the benefits of a royal
ideology tailor-made for nascent Southeast Asian kings, with no political strings attached.
Here is what Indianisation eventually brought to the region:
The rich and complex Hindu religion, its mythology, cosmology and rituals in particular Shiva and Vishnu
The Sanskrit language, the vehicle of Hinduism. The source of many loan words in Khmer.
The Indic writing system, stone inscriptions and palm-leaf books
The Hindu temple complex. A brick and stone architectural tradition, inspired by Gupta prototypes
Statuary representing gods, kings and Buddha
Cremation burial, at least of the upper stratum of society
Rectilinear town and city plans
Artificial water systems, including rectangular reservoirs and canals
Wheel-made pottery, which supplemented but did not supplant the local paddle-and-anvil ceramic tradition.
2




1
Coe, M.: Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004, p. 39-40.
2
Coe, M.: Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004, p. 62-3.
Religious Beliefs and Practices
K.235 Sdok Kak Thom stela (AD. 1052)
Homage to iva whose essence is highly proclaimed without words by the subtle iva, His form, who pervades
(everything) from within and who activates the senses of living beings... Then His Majesty Parameshvara
(Jayavarman) went to reign at Mahendraparavata
3
... Then a Brahmin priest named Hiranyadarma, wise in (siddhi)
magic power, came from Janapada, for His Majesty Parameshvara had invited him to conduct a ritual so that
Kambujadesa (Cambodia) would not be dependent any more on Java and that he would be a sovereign
chakravartin... After carefully extracting the meaning of the satras (sacred texts) by his experience and
understanding, this Brahmin (Hiranyadarma) established the magical rituals, called Devaraja
4
for the sake of
prosperity in the world... Then His Majesty Parameshvara returned to reign in the city of Hariharalaya, and the
kamraten an ta raja (the god who is king) went there also...
As a teacher zealously instructs his disciples or a father his children, so did he (Udayadityavarman II), for the sake
of his duty, zealously taught his subjects, rightfully securing them protection and nourishment... In battle he held
a sword which became red with the blood of the shattered enemy kings and spread on all sides its rising lustre, as
if it were a red lotus come out of its chalice [or a sword drawn out of its scabbard], which he had delightedly
seized from the Fortune of war...

Zhou Daguan
Ch. 13 Festivals
The first month of the year is always the tenth month of the Chinese calendar (October in the Gregorian
calendar). The month is called Jiade (K. Kaitek, S. Karttika, Hindu lunar month the festival of Divali row of lights
is celebrated on the 2
nd
day of Karttika). A large stage is set up in front of the royal palace. There is room on it for
a thousand or more people. It is hung everywhere with globe lanterns and flowers. Facing it on a bank between
60 - 95 metres away are some tall towers that are made of wood joined and bound together, like the scaffolding
used to make a pagoda. They must be well over 60 metres high. Every night they put up three to six of these and
set out fireworks and firecrackers on top of them. The various provincial officials and the great houses take care
of all the costs.
When night comes the king is invited to come out and watch. He lights the fireworks and firecrackers the
fireworks can all be seen 5 kilometres away. The firecrackers are as big as the rocks thrown by catapults and make
enough noise to shake the whole city. All the officials and members of the royal family give their share of huge
candles and betel nuts, and spend a great deal. The king also invites foreign envoys as spectators. Things go on in
this way for fifteen days before coming to an end.
Every month there is always an event. For example, in the fourth month there are ball games. In the ninth month
there is ya lie. Ya lie involves everyone in the country gathering together in the capital and being reviewed in
front of the palace. In the fifth month there is water to welcome the Buddha, when Buddhas throughout the
country, far and near, are all brought together and taken into the water, where they are bathed in the company
of the king. There is also dry land boating, which the king goes up a tower to watch.



3
The Mountain of Indra (the King of the Gods) Phnom Kulen.
4
The God of is King a controversial term often interpreted as the worship of a supreme God. The Devaraja was associated with the Chakravartin
(Supreme/Universal King/Overord). The Chakravartin ruled the earth, paralleling the rule of the Devaraja over Heavens, further adding to the gravitas of the
earthly ruler.
Modern Sources
Jacques and Lafond
In Cambodia and in ancient India there were two distinct types of deity: the autochthonous or home-grown gods
and those of Brahmanic or Buddhist origin The existence of these (home-grown) ancestor spirits, called Neak Ta
by the Khmers, and the worship they attracted is still widely attested up to the present day Their shrines are
usually humble and people typically make offerings of a little food, or sometimes a chicken and on special
occasions even a pig, together with a few flowers, cigarettes, and liquor, the meat and alcohol ensuring the
distinction between these gods and those of Indian origin They are the guardians of the earth, ensuring its rich
produce They are neither virtuous nor vicious, but they can be bad-tempered and inflict illness if they consider
they have not been properly treated.
There was naturally a hierarchy among the deities. The most important of them is the Devaraja the king of the
gods who reigns over all the kingdoms local divinities. At the same time as Jayavarman II had himself
consecrated emperor of the world in 802, he installed as his divine counterpart a kind of super devaraja,
without iconic features, to remain close to the king as his presence in the spirit world
The gods of Indian origin were also the guardians of the kingdoms prosperity, providing the king with essential
support in this regard. They were gods of the cosmos rather than of particular localities, so they were necessarily
on a different plane from the autochthonous deities, but they could on occasion bestow favours on individual
devotees. Three faiths were practiced in ancient Cambodia, although they can be viewed as varieties of a single
creed, as each derives from the same primordial principles. They were Hinduism, which manifested itself in the
cults of Shiva and Vishnu, and Buddhism which it seems, in the earliest period followed the Mahayana or greater
vehicle path. Theravada the lesser vehicle branch of Buddhism is attested by a few inscriptions but although
there must have been monuments, none have survived
5

Once a year the solemn feast of the god was celebrated with great ceremony. It was that he came forth from his
shrine to visit his people (not the statue itself which would have been inextricable without demolishing the shrine,
but a bronze replica), and was carried around the outer wall of the temple atop a chariot, probably hauled by
men, as is still the custom in India. To mark the occasion, other gods from nearby temples were invited to join the
procession
A special case was that of the temple mountains where the central shrine was erected at the top of a pyramid.
Except for the small temple of Baksei Chamkrong, they were State temples which housed the empires most
important gods, such as the Baphoun and Bayon.
6

Jayavarman II was consecrated as Maharajadhiraja (the great king of kings). The kings exerted considerable
power in theory, but despite the laudatory inscriptions it was rarely (perhaps never) the case that any of them
was truly the sole ruler of all the Khmers. The Kings main duties were to ensure the prosperity of his kingdom and
the reign of Dharma, the rules which ordain world order and the harmony of all beings. His life was marked by
two great ceremonies: 1. his Consecration as king, confirmed him as the supreme protector of his subjects in this
world and 2. his Cremation extended his role as protector into the next world.
King and Kingship were indissolubly linked, the king being, in Indian ideology, a prajapati a master of creatures
and the master of life. The stelae of Jayavarman VIIs hospitals express the bodily ills of his subjects become his
spiritual sufferings.
The Khmer empire is said to have been strongly centralised, but it is clear that powerful nobles also existed, and
although they were the kings vassals they were undoubtedly the lords of their own domains. The texts, albeit
mostly in discreet terms, allude to various uprisings, the implications being that the monarchs supreme power
also had its limits.
7



5
Lafond, P., Jacques, C.: The Khmer Empire Cities and Sanctuaries from the 5
th
to the 13
th
Centuries, River Books, Bangkok, 2007, p. 34-7.
6
Lafond, P., Jacques, C.: The Khmer Empire Cities and Sanctuaries from the 5
th
to the 13
th
Centuries, River Books, Bangkok, 2007, pp. 19-21.
7
Lafond, P., Jacques, C.: The Khmer Empire Cities and Sanctuaries from the 5
th
to the 13
th
Centuries, River Books, Bangkok, 2007, p. 24.
Political System
K. 323: 5456 (AD. 889) (Yasovarman I)
The land that he protected was limited by the border with the Chinese and by the sea; as for his glory, like the
garland of his qualities, like his knowledge and his prosperity, it was unlimited.
K. 286 (AD. 947) Baksei Chamkrong (Rajendravarman II)
His Majesty surpassed other kings by his royal power... His beauty, naturally charming, giving joy to thousands of
eyes, much surpassed the beauty of Smara (goddess of Love), which excited the great anger of Siva...
K. 528 (AD. 952) Mebon (Rajendravarman II)
XVIII. From his infancy, His Majesty was complete in talents... XXIV. Like the grace of spring in the gardens, like
the fullness of the moon, so arose, ravishing, splendid, the beauty of fresh youth... XXXV. This servant,
Kavindrarimathana, was charged by the king to build a rock and other edifices in the middle of the pond of
Yasodhara (The Mebon in the East Baray)... IC. Always in movement, attractive, omnipresent, strong, large,
bringing order to the turbulent world, his glory seemed made of elements. C. Eloquence, valour, beauty, grace,
sweetness, goodness, these virtues and still others, he was the sole depository of them; and by the Creator he
was created still superior in energy and intelligence... CXLVI. The city of the King of Champa, having the sea for its
moat, was reduced to ashes by his warriors, obedient to his orders... CXLIX. Having obtained his throne and
disperse his enemies... the earth up to the ocean was so completely rid of his enemies by him, that still today his
glory, going alone on all sides, does not falter... CLXXII. Nothing was comparable to the amplitude of his virtues.
Having studied the teachings of the Buddha, he had no false ideas, even under the influence of other masters...
CLXXXVIII. Shining resplendent, his toe-nails reflected the rays thrown by the crowns of the stubborn enemy kings
who now lay prostrate before him. CIC. A mango tree, sterile since its birth, obeyed his order to produce fruits...
K. 266 (AD. 960) Bat Chum (Rajendravarman II)
XIII. He restored the holy city of Yasodharapura (Angkor), long deserted, and rendered it superb and charming by
erecting there houses of ornamented with shining gold, palaces glittering with precious stones, recreating the
palace of Mahendra (Indras heavenly palace) on earth... XXIV. Early on his reign, he instructed his minister,
Kavindrarimathana, to build him a palace. This minister, dear to the gods, who knew the arts like Visvaharman
(Khmer god of Architecture), was charged by his king to make at Yasodhara a charming palace.
K. 806 (AD. 961) Pre Rup (Rajendravarman II)
XXIII. It was play for him to break into three a large bar of iron, by striking it lightly with a single stroke of his
sword, as if he had struck a banana stalk. There is no need to talk about his bodily strength and the stroke of his
sword made into the flesh of his enemy... LXXVI. Despite having the skill of the great Kshatriya and born from the
arm of Brahma, his enemies disputed his authority and challenged him on the field of battle, but his victory was
able to prove that he truly held the arm of Brahma.
K. 292 (AD. 1011) (Suryavarman I)
933 aka (AD. 1011), the 9
th
day of the crescent moon of Bhadrapada, Sunday. Here is (our) oath: We all who
belong to the division of the tamrvc
8
of the 1
st
(2
nd
, 3
rd
, 4
th
) category, swear, cutting our hands and offering our
lives and our devotion gratefully and unerringly, to His Majesty Sryavarman, who has enjoyed the legitimate
monarchy since 924 aka (AD 1002), in the presence of the Sacred Fire, of the Holy Jewel of the Brahmins and the
cryas. We will not revere any other sovereign; we will not be hostile to him, we will not comply with his
enemies; we will not commit any act which might do him harm. All these acts which are the fruit of our grateful
devotion towards His Majesty Sryavarman, we will endeavour to accomplish. In case of war we will strive to fight
with all our hearts, not to bind ourselves to life; by devotion (to the king) we will not run away from combat. If, in
times of no war, we die of disease, may we obtain the reward of people devoted to their master. If we remain in
the service of the king, when the time to die (in service) arrives, we will do it in devotion...

8
Centrally appointed agents for the government in the provinces. Lustig argues that this comprised of 4000 members, from 200 different sruk.
K. 230 (AD. 1026) (Suryavarman I)
Lo ri Barddha presented a request (to the king) asking him to accept these servants, rice fields and gardens in
royal favour and to offer them to the divinity he had erected, and to offer (these to the king) in the name of a
royal foundation, and asking if His Majesty Sri Sryavarman could erect a stele proclaiming protection for this
royal foundation.

Zhou Daguan
Ch. 4 Officials
As in China, the country has officials with a rank of chief minister, commander-in-chief of the army, astronomer,
and so. Below them are various kinds of junior officials, but they are not called by the same titles as ours. In
general, those who take on these positions are the kings relatives. If they are not, they give him a daughter as a
concubine as well.
In going out and about, the insignia and retinue of these officials vary by rank. The most senior are those with a
palanquin with gold poles and four parasols with gold handles. Next in rank are those that have a palanquin with
gold poles and two gold-handled parasols. Next down are those with a palanquin with gold poles and one gold-
handled parasol; and next again those with just one gold-handled parasol. At the lowest level are those who just
have a parasol with a silver handle and nothing else. There are also those who have a palanquin with silver poles.
The senior officials with gold-handled parasols are all called bading or anding. Those with silver-handled parasols
are called siladi. The parasols are all made of a strong, thin red Chinese silk, with fringes that hang down and trail
on the ground except for oiled parasols, which are made of the same silk, but are green and have short fringes.


Modern Sources
Charles Higham:
In about AD 800, a king named Jayavarman II laid the foundations of a state and a dynasty that endured for two
centuries. From this period on, the state was called Kambujadesa, or Cambodia. He ruled from the land between
the northern shore of the Great Lake and the Kulen uplands. The lake supplied limitless fish while regular flooding
encouraged the cultivation of rice. In many respects, the founding king and members of this new dynasty
achieved the objectives of his predecessor, Jayavarman I. They presented an image of a united kingdom, which
encompassed the rich lowlands flanking the Mekong River to the delta, the Great Lake and the fine agricultural
land of Battambang to the west. Successive court centres were located beyond the flood zone of the Great Lake.
They incorporated increasingly large and impressive temples dedicated to the sovereign and his ancestors, and
barays fed by the rivers issuing from the sacred Kulen upland. There were palaces and secular buildings, although
being made of wood, they have not survived.
Jayavarman II set a precedent to be followed by his successors, by having himself consecrated king of kings in a
highly charged ritual ceremony. He surrounded himself with court officials whose ceremonial duties, such as
bearing the royal fan or fly whisk, were to be jealously guarded by their dependents. The court was projected as
the centre of the kingdom and a representative of heaven, but was sustained by the agricultural surpluses.
9

The origins and achievements of Jayavarman II remain shrouded in a mist that only intensive archaeological
research and the fortuitous discovery of further inscriptions can disperse. Two inscriptions find him, during the
last two decades of the eighth century, on the east bank of the Mekong some distance from the old Royal centre
of Ishanapura. Of aristocratic origin, he probably began his career at or near Vyadhapura, Banteay Prei Nokor...
10

For further information of Jayavarman II, we must turn to an inscription found at Sdok Kak Thom in eastern
Thailand and dated 260 years later than the events described. It was put in place by Sadisiva, a member of an
aristocratic priestly family who traced his ancestors back to the time of Jayavarman II. It describes how
Jayavarman II returned from Java to rule in the holy city of Indrapura. The term Java has led to a wild-goose chase
involving was between the Khmer and Javanese, but the truth is probably less dramatic. Vickery has noted that
the Khmer described their close neighbours, the Chams as the Chvea. Banteay Prei Nokor lies on the eastern
marches of Cambodia, and a skirmish with the Chams is a more likely interpretation of this statement than a long
sojourn in distant Java.
Shivakaivalya, the ancestor of the family described in the text, was a royal chaplain who had been in charge of a
linga at Bhadrayogi in the district of Indrapura. The king ordered Shivakaivalya to move himself, his family and
presumably their retainers to Purvadisa, where they were granted land and established a settlement called Kuti.
Its location is unknown, but it was a considerable distance from Vyadhapura.
This move was not without incident. According to an inscription from Palhal in Battambang Province, dating to AD
1069, Jayavarmans early years involved much conflict. He ordered the mratan Prithivinarendra to pacify all
districts. Accompanied by two other leaders, he extinguished resistance in Malyang, modern Battambang.
Jayavarman rewarded his generals with fine estates and the two other leaders who accompanied Prithivinarendra
settled there with their families... In the meantime, Jayavarman established himself at Hariharalaya on the
northern margins of the Great Lake, an area noted for the potential of flood retreat agriculture.
11

The trend towards centralised authority, identified in the administration of Jayavarman I of Chenla, was greatly
strengthened by Jayavarman II and his successors. The central court was the heart of the social system. At least
from the reign of Indravarman I and probably from that of Jayavarman II, this comprised a temple dedicated to
the king and his ancestors, combined with Shiva. There would be a royal palace and, except (during weak) reigns,
a reservoir. The central temple would be enclosed by walls and often a moat. As the palaces were built of wood,
their layout is unknown, and extensive excavations are necessary to illuminate the urban landscape.

9
Higham, C.: The Civilization of Angkor, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 2001, p. 53.
10
Higham, C.: The Civilization of Angkor, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 2001, p. 54.
11
Higham, C.: The Civilization of Angkor, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 2001, pp. 56-7.
Representations of wooden palaces on temple walls, however, reveal the rich secular architectural tradition that
has not survived.
Successive rulers established their own court centres. During the reign of Jayavarman II, courts were established
at... Hariharalaya and Mahedraparvata. Indravarman I ruled at Hariharalaya...Jayavarman IV at Lingapura (Koh
Ker), Rajendravarman at old Yashodharapura...
The administrative apparatus to control the kingdom involved a central bureaucracy and a corps of loyal regional
officials. The former called upon members of the elite aristocratic families, many of whom traced their ancestry to
the followers of Jayavarman II and were often related to the royal line by family ties.
There was an administrative hierarchy, identified through titles, grades and insignia, which over time evolved in
complexity and in the range of duties. A high official named Sri Nivasakavi served as the hotar to Jayavarman III
and Indravarman I. An inscription from the Bakong temple at Hariharalaya praises his many virtues, knowledge
and religious dedication. A text from Prasat Kandol Dom, adjacent to Preah Ko, describes a second official,
Shivasoma, as the kings guru...
...Two senior figures subsequently occupied positions of the highest authority under the king, the
rajakulamahamantri and the vrah guru. The former appears first in a text dating to the reign of Harshavarman I.
Several inscriptions show the persons responsibility for issuing tax immunity for religious institutions and
permission for the joining of foundations. We also see him exercising his authority in the sacred court, with
powers to punish those who transgressed a royal edict. The vrah guru discharged both ritual and civil duties. We
find him, for example, fulfilling rituals to ensure wet season rains, transmitting royal edicts to various foundations
and playing a role in the foundation of two religious corporations.
The number of officials increased markedly during the reign of Rajendravarman and again during the reign of
Jayavarman V. The central court included functionaries of various degrees of rank, charged with authority over
royal warehouses, or the proper surveying of boundaries. Courtiers also served the king personally, as fan-
bearers, holders of fly-whisks, pages of the bed-chamber and doctors.
12

(The Khlon visayas) duties included the definition of land boundaries and doubtless the maintenance of records
of ownership. They witnessed land transactions, placed boundary markers and, on occasion, made meritorious
donations to religious foundations. The latter institutions, and those identified for specific payments in kind to the
central authority, fell outside their jurisdiction.
We also encounter the tamrvac, who appear to have been centrally appointed agents for the government in the
provinces, essential intermediaries for overseeing royal edicts. It is possible that some villages within a visaya
(district) were grouped for administrative purposes in a unit intermediate in size between a community and a
province, but the village itself, then as now, was the heart of the agricultural system. We read of a khlon sruk as
being an individual responsible for village matters... Taxation centred upon surplus product. The state of Angkor
never employed a monetary system although measures of gold and silver are commonly used in trade
transactions.
13

Michael D. Coe
Given the army of bureaucrats, servants, slaves, guards, religious specialists and others in attendance upon the
ruler and his family including a sizable corps of pages the royal compound may have resembled a small city in
its own right. Membership in the huge royal family was recognised only out to the fifth degree of relationship,
and except for those genealogically closest to the king, these persons had little authority except that conferred by
the monarch. There was no hereditary, ranked nobility in Cambodia... (but) there was a sizable group of... royally
appointed bureaucrats (Khlon) who administered Angkor and its empire, most of them chosen from members of
the great landholding families.
Classic Angkor was the centre of an empire, the huge territory of which was divided into provinces. Although Zhou
claims that there more than 90 of these, most scholars consider this doubtful. Among his many other

12
Higham, C.: The Civilization of Angkor, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 2001, pp. 85-6.
13
Higham, C.: The Civilization of Angkor, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 2001, pp. 86-7.
benefactions, Jayavarman VII distributed 23 images of the Mahayanist deity Jayabuddhamahanatha throughout
his empire, and these must more accurately represent the number of such divisions at the end of the 12
th

Century, when the Khmer Empire had reached its apogee. There are two words for province: praman an visaya,
probably both synonymous. Each of these was in turn divided into villages (sruk or grama). At every level there
were mandarin bureaucrats (khlon, chiefs) representing the central administration, and who ensured that
revenues (rice, goods, corve labour, and the like) flowed smoothly upwards through the system. Most or all of
these were appointed by the king, not elected: Angkor was no republic or democracy.
The khlon visaya was the provincial chief, overseeing the fiscal officers responsible for tax collections, as well as
property transactions and the fixing of boundaries. Each village had its own headman (khlon sruk), in reality a
royal agent; the actual representatives of the Cambodian village were the gramavrddha, the village elders, who
acted as link between the local and central administrations.
According to historian Sachchidanand Sahai, there were three kinds of villages:
Those attached to temples by the king or by individuals;
Those assigned to individuals by the king;
Those that supplied particular commodities to the royal storehouse.
An ambitious individual from a prominent family could buy a tract of unoccupied land or obtain it from the king,
then found a sruk with royal approval. Large proprietors possessed many villages, but the number held by some
great religious establishments staggers the imagination the vast 12
th
Century Ta Prohm monastery within
Angkor received the revenue of 3,140 villages.
Lesser functionaries were such officers as the khlon vala, the leader of corve-men, or soldiers; the khlon vnam,
the superintendent of a temple; and the khlon sru, chief of the rice-fields. Within the village were local judicial
courts (vrah sabha), and there was always a keeper of records an office that continued down to the 19
th

Century.
Between the central and local administrations was the institution known as tamvrach. This was a corps of
peripatetic royal inspectors, divided into four categories first, second, third and fourth tamvrach, possibly each
in a different cardinal direction. Such roving agents undoubtedly allowed the king to keep his finger on the
countrys pulse and to be given ample warning about any troubles or even rebellion that might be brewing
outside the capital. It is no accident that the 4,000 men who swore a loyalty oath in 1011 to Suryavarman I were
all tamvrach.
Because almost all the Classic inscriptions deal with matters that are fundamentally religious in nature, such as
the endowment of temples and foundations, we have much information on the central religious hierarchy, but
little about the secular one. The picture is also somewhat clouded by the situation that certain religious officers
also played important civil roles: the vrah guru, for instance, not only educated the crown prince and sacrificed
for rain, but he also controlled the administration of some temple lands.
14



14
Coe, M.: Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004, p. 141-2.





Chakravartin/Maharajadiraja
Senapati
Rajakulamahamantri
Mratan Kurun
Mratan Klon Tamvrac
Khlon
Khlon visaya Khlon Karya Khlon Sruk
Courtiers
Vrah Guru Purohita
Kamraten
Kamsten
Chakravartin
Royal Family
Khlon (Bureaucrats)
Professionals - architects, artisans
Peasants
Khnyum (Slaves)
The Kings of Angkor
Reign Dates King Buildings of Notes/Significant Events Europe
802 835 Jayavarman II Phnom Kulen
Founded the Khmer Empire capital: Hariharalaya
Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman
Emperor, 25.12.800
835 877 Jayavarman III Prasat Sak. Alfred the Great 871 899.
Iceland colonised, c.870
877 889 Indravarman I Preah Ko (880), Bakong (881), Indratataka baray.
889 c. 910 Yasovarman I Lo Lei (893) Phnom Bakheng (907), Phnom Bok, East
Baray
Magyars invade central Europe (889)
c. 910 923 Harshavarman I Baksei Chamkrong, Prasat Kravan (921) Cluny Abbey founded (910)
923 928 Ishanavarman II
928 941 Jayavarman IV Koh Ker
Moved capital to Koh Ker

941 944 Harshavarman II
944 968 Rajendravarman II Pre Rup (961), East Mebon, Banteay Srei (967)
Moved capital back to Angkor region. Raided Champa,
Dvaravati and Sukhothai regions.

968 c.1000 Jayavarman V Ta Keo (1000)
Consolidated Rajendravarmans conquests.
Viking exploration of Greenland &
Canada
1001 1002 Udayadityavarman I
1002 - 1010 Jayaviravarman North Khleang
Civil War Suryavarman I eventually victorious

1002 1049 Suryavarman I South Khleang, Preah Vihear, Wat Phu, Phimeanakas
& Royal Palaces, West Baray.
Expanded Khmer control over central & southwest
Thailand and established Khmer centre at Lopburi.

1050 1066 Udayadityavarman II Bapoun (1060), West Mebon Westminster Abbey started (1052),
St Marks Venice started (1063),
Norman Conquest of England (1066)
1066 1080 Harshavarman III Battle of Manzikert (1071)
1080 1107 Jayavarman VI Phimai (Thailand)
Founds the Mahidharapura Dynasty.
1
st
Crusade (1096-1104)
1107 1113 Dharanindravarman
1113 c.1150 Suryavarman II Angkor Wat, Phnom Rung (Thailand), Beng Mealea,
Banteay Samre
Re-established relations with China; fought the Dai
Viet & Chams. Cham polities made vassals of Angkor.
Paris University founded (1150)
1150 c.1165 Yasovarman II Notre Dame de Paris started (1163)
c.1165 - 1177 Tribhuvanadityavarman Cham invasion King killed, Angkor sacked?
1177 1181 INTERREGNUM Cham domination Murder of St Thomas Becket (1170),
1181 c.1220 Jayavarman VII Ta Prohm (1186), Preah Khan (1191), Neak Pean,
Angkor Thom, Srah Srang, Bayon, Hospital Chapels
Conquers the Cham expanding Empire to greatest size.
3
rd
Crusade (1189-1192), Crusaders seize
Constantinople (1204) foundation of the
Franciscans (1209) Magna Carta (1215)
c.1220 1243 Indravarman II Banteay Kdei, Suor Prat Towers
1243 1295 Jayavarman VIII Mangalartha (1295), Terrace of the Leper King last
known royally endowed temples. King abdicated.
English conquest of Wales (1283)
c.1295 1307 Indravarman III Preah Pithu, Preah Palilay
Theravada Buddhism became the state religion.
Battles of Sterling & Falkirk (1297-8)
1307 1327 Srindrajayavarman King abdicated. Avignon Papacy (1309-1377)
1327 - ? Jayavarmadiparameshvara Hundred Years Wars (1337 1453)
Black Death (1347-1350)



Social Organisation
K. 105 (AD. 987)
In 908 aka (AD. 987), on the 14
th
day of the crescent moon of Bhdrapada, a Sunday, there was an order from His
Majesty to Vp Hrdayaiva, pamcm pratyaya of the fourth category, stipulating that he go and give a rice field,
because he had borrowed with interest a pair of buffaloes, in order to buy the laterite, in view of building a holy
pyramid.
K. 380E (AD. 1049)
His Majesty ordered this decision to be engraved on a pillar of stone at Sri Sikharsvara, and ordered it to be
engraved on another pillar of stone to be placed in the land of Vibheda, granted graciously by His Majesty ri
Suryavarman to Sri Sukarma Kamsten and the family of Sri Sukarma Kamsten, installed in the land of Vibheda,
which henceforth carries the name Kuruksetra.
K. 835 (AD. 1061)
By order of His Majesty Udayadityavarman, he (Gunapativarman, architect) was promoted to the dignity of
Vishvakarman, chief of the artists... On the occasion of the completion of these works at the Eastern Baray and
the Baphuon, the king gave him land from his own domain, exempt in the future from all disputes... Having
assembled Brahmin priests and princes as witnesses, the king ordered the chief of the Court to set out five
boundary-markers of this terrain... In consideration of the virtues of this Vishvakarman, the king had this domain
with the family inscribed in the varna (celebrated caste) of the People in Charge of the Golden Cups.
K. 254 (AD. 1129)
I have offered these slaves and these lands to supply provisions in favour of the sanctuaries. I have erected
roadways, constructed bridges to enable the paths to pass. I offer the fruit (of my acquired merits) to the king...
and I desire only the fruit of my devotion to my master.
Zhou Daguan
Ch. 9 Slaves
Family slaves are all savages purchased to work as servants. Most families have a hundred or more of them; a few
have ten or twenty; only the very poorest have none at all. The savages are people from the mountains. They
have their own way of categorising themselves, but are commonly called thieving Zhuang...
A strong young slave is worth perhaps a hundred pieces of cloth; a weak old one can only fetch thirty or forty.
They are only allowed to sit and sleep under the house. If they are carrying out their tasks then they can come up
into the house, but they must kneel, join their hands in greeting, and bow down to the floor before they can
venture forward. They address their master as batuo and their mistress as mi. Batuo is father, and mi is mother.
If they do something wrong they are beaten and take their caning with their heads bowed, not venturing to move
even a little... Sometimes slaves run away. Those that are caught and taken back must carry a dark blue tattoo on
their face, and sometimes an iron shackle around their neck or between their arms and legs.
Ch. 14 Settling Disputes
...If two have a dispute to resolve and cannot agree on the right and wrong, there are twelve small stone towers
(Prasat Suor Prat/Kleangs) on a bank opposite the palace, and the people concerned are sent to sit in two of
them. Outside, members of each family keep guard against the other. They may sit in the towers for a day or two,
or for three or four days. Then for sure the one who is in the wrong becomes visibly ill, and leaves. The one who is
in the right is absolutely fine> Thus right and wrong are assessed and decided on, in what is known as the
judgment of heaven. Such is the spiritual power of the local gods.

Modern Sources
Claude Jacques & Philippe Lafond:
The Army was mainly made up of local or foreign mercenaries, but when the need arose the king could resort to
recruiting local conscripts, if necessary by force. Naturally the majority of the troops were infantry, under the
command of officers on horseback. It is doubtful whether there was a proper cavalry corps because horses were
still a relative rarity as they had to be imported, mostly from China The king and the senior commanders rode to
battle on elephant backSuryavarman II formed his own praetorian guard called the anak sanjak.
The best impressions of what battle might have looked like appear on the reliefs at Bayon, Banteay Chmar and
Angkor Wat. The troops on both sides wield the same kinds of weapons, whether fighting on foot, on horseback
or on elephant back. There are spears, bows, sabres, swords and daggers. The most formidable weapon is the
phkeak, a sort of axe hafted onto a curving handle From the late 12
th
century, a more complex engine of war
begins to appear: a sort of military catapult (ballista) consisting of a pair of bows mounted on the pack saddles of
elephants or on two-wheeled carriages. For protection the adversaries had two types of shield, a small round one,
and a long one high enough to shield its wearer The Sacred Fire also accompanied the army, carried on a
palanquin and accompanied by a chaplain.
There was also a navy which played an important role, to judge from later chronicles. The ships were apparently
single-decked and from 17 - 25 metres long by 1.5 - 1.8 metres broad. They had between 12 and 25 oarsmen,
often sheltered behind sheaths of woven rattan and coaxed by pilots who sat or stood at the stern. In the middle
stood the combat troops. The boats were the shaped like the mythical naga, with a pair of fierce eyes at the prow
and a tail at the stern. A special boat, more elaborately decorated transported the admiral or king.
15

Michael D. Coe
(Hinduism) divided society into four major castes (varna): the priestly Brahmins, the Kshatriya warriors, the
merchant Vaishyas, and the lowly, labouring Shudras. But the caste system in the Indian sense never really took
hold in Cambodia. There were always Brahmins. And these were probably the dominant element in the religious
bureaucracy, especially in the royal court, but intermarriage of Brahmins with Kshatriya members of the royal
family was not uncommon. The king, in fact, seems to have combined the secular, military role of a Kshatriya with
the religious functions of a Brahmin. It is generally agreed that among the Khmer, the varna were not castes but
something like aristocratic guilds of specialists within the Royal Palace; occupational titles may been entirely
honorific and theoretical... Thus, we have a varna of the fly whisk bearers, who seem to have been military
officers and generals. In all cases, membership in a varna was something that could be bestowed by a king in
recognition of outstanding service of one sort or another.
The majority of the population apparently consisted of peasant rice farmers, subject to regular corve labour and
the occasional military service, and obligated to provide goods and services to the religious foundations, to
landlords, to the bureaucracy & to the king... The inscriptions describe three kinds of slave(khnyum): 1. Slaves
legally acquired, 2. Slaves who are inherited, and 3. vrah khnyum- so-called religious slaves, but more likely
slaves of the gods, not of humans: villagers who provided fortnightly service to a temple.
16



15
Lafond, P., Jacques, C.: The Khmer Empire Cities and Sanctuaries from the 5
th
to the 13
th
Centuries, River Books, Bangkok, 2007, p. 34-7.
16
Coe, M.: Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004, p. 133-5.
Daily Life
Zhou Daguan
Ch. 3 Dress
From the King down, the men and women all wear hair wound up in a knot, and go naked to the waist, wrapped
only in a cloth. When they are not out and about, they wind a larger piece of cloth over the small one. There are
very many different grades of cloth. The materials the king wears include some that are extremely elegant and
beautiful, and worth three or four ounces of gold a piece. Although cloth is woven domestically, it also comes
from Siam (Thailand) and Champa (southern Vietnam). Cloth from the Western Seas is often regarded as the best
because it is so well-made and refined.
Only the king can wear material with a full pattern of flowers on it. On his head he wears a gold crown, like the
crown worn by the Holder of the Diamond. Sometimes he goes without a crown, and simply wears a chain of
fragrant flowers such as jasmine wound round the braids of hair. Around his neck he wears a large pearl weighing
about four pounds. On his wrists and ankles and all his fingers and toes he wears gold bracelets and rings, all of
them inlaid with cats-eye gemstones...
Senior officials and relatives of the king can wear cloth with a scattered floral design, while junior officials and no
others can wear cloth with a two-flower design. Among the ordinary people, only women can wear cloth with this
design. However if a newly arrived Chinese wears it, people do not make so bold as to take offence, on the
grounds that he is anding basha, meaning that he does not understand what is right and proper.
Ch. 12 Writing
Everyday writing and official documents are all done on deer skin that is dyed black. Depending on whether it is
big or small, broad or narrow, the skin is cut in whatever way is desired. People use a kind of powder like Chinese
chalk, which is rolled into a little stick called suo and held between forefinger and thumb, to draw shapes on the
parchment and make words. These fast forever. When they have finished with the chalk they stick it behind their
ear. From the form of the words people can also make out whose handwriting it is. It can only be erased by being
wiped with something wet... For the most part the shape of the words is just like the shape of words written in
Uighur. The writing is always from left to right, not from top to bottom.



Economics, Trade and Agriculture
K. 842 (AD. 968)
Of all the merit of these foundations, the king should receive either one quarter or one sixth; the king, who will
protect them, should receive half the merit; the favourite of the king, who will protect them, should receive one
quarter of the merit. If ill fortune comes to the temple, the ivaite master who is the Superior, the Chief Minister
of the royal family and the good people who will inform the king seven times, should still receive half the merit.
K. 158 (AD. 1003)
[Vap Vp respectfully informed the king] that the rice fields Stuk Sno, Pak Rvt, Travn Krast and Chok Rhvit had
been sold by Vp Yo Rlan Pajal to Me Neu, grandmother of Vp Sah, guardian of the holy registers, for 1
elephant, 1 silver bowl (weighing) 5 li, 1 vaudi (weighing) 6 jyay, 1 copper basket (weighing) 7 jyay, 1 yo and (1)
vlah of jaira; but concerning the ownership of these rice fields, when Vp Yo Rlan Pajal was dead, his
descendants Vp Sat, Vp Hi, Vp An and Vp Isi contested this and claimed new goods; and that Vp Sah and his
family had given 200 (measures) of paddy and 5 spittoons to these people and brought a Ravn to trample the
ground, to plant the markers there and give the ownership of it back to Vp Sah and his family.
Diogo Do Couto (c. 1543 1616).
44. It is certain that this kingdom formerly belonged to the Chinese, and the Cambodians still retain today their
laws and customs: the governors are called mandarins; the money is in taels and maces, as in China, and the
weights are the same. 45. Later the kingdom was subject to the king of Siam, who gave it to one of his vassals,
named Dobetele, who peopled and enlarged it. 46. Its lands are so fertile... 47. It has many cattle, buffaloes, and
so many deer that their skins are loaded onto vessels going to China, and it is by far the most important
merchandise. 48. In the forests there are many goats, boars, gazelles, and so many elephants that it is held that
the king has forty thousand. 49. These are hunted in the following manner: a corral of thick wood is built, that can
be entered by only one door which is closed by solid portcullises. 50. Then, in places where male elephants are
accustomed to feed, they send in some females who are trained and taught. 51. As soon as they see the
elephants they run off to the corral, and the elephants, seeing them, follow then and enter through the doorway.
52. Then the hunters, who are above the doorway, drop the portcullis. 53, The elephants are enclosed in a narrow
corral where they are tamed by the effects of hunger and thirst. 54. When they are ready to be trained, they are
taken from there, placed between two domesticated elephants, and taken to the stables where they are kept...
Modern Sources
Miriam Stark: Michael D. Coe
The Khmer Empire depended on an infrastructure of wet-rice agriculture, fishing, trade, tribute, taxation and
corve labour. Since most archaeological work in the Angkor region has concentrated on historic preservation and
restoration rather than on research, little is yet known about the pattern of land use beyond the temple
complexes. What seems clear, however, is that agricultural surpluses, gleaned from efficient rice farming,
underwrote the Angkor economy. Chou Ta-Kuan reported that farmers could harvest up to four crops a year, but
this is unlikely to be from the same fields but rather from cultivation of successive fields behind the receding flood
from the Tonl Sap. Remote sensing techniques have identified ancient field systems throughout portions of the
Angkor region today, and van Liere estimated that more than 50 million bunded fields were cultivated between
the ninth and fifteenth centuries, using a combination of floating rice and flood recession techniques.
The Classic Khmer state was an immense revenue-gathering machine, and every individual in Cambodia except
religious functionaries, priests, monks and slaves was subject to taxation, which was paid in kind, since there was
no system of coinage. The king was the supreme receiver of taxes there was a Khmer formula that went svey
vrah rajya, - he eats the kingdom, meaning that he enjoys the fruits of his realm, but officials on every level
participated in the system. The storehouses of the Royal Treasury were in the charge of high-ranking officers and
are known to have contained, in addition to gold and precious jewels, such products of the land as rice, honey and
beeswax, clarified butter, sugar, spices, camphor and cloth. The king also benefited by revenues from the
immense landholdings, as well as from at least part of the booty from military victories.
There seems to have been taxes on everything on land, on rice, salt, wax and honey, and so forth. Land taxes
were based on paddy size and productive capacity (i.e. whether the fields were low-lying, river-side, or dry-
season). There was even a market tax, but it is not known whether this was based on goods sold, on vendors
themselves, or on the stalls that they rented.


Temples and Infrastructure
K. 273 (AD. 1186)
The Ta Prohm inscription, K. 273, states that 18 hotar, 2,740 kamsten, 2,202 assistants and 615 dancers, along
with an unspecified number of monks, commoners and khnyum, were maintained at the monastery. The treasury
contained 500kg of gold dishes; 500kg of silver dishes; 35 diamonds; 40,260 pearls; 4,540 gemstones; 523
parasols; 512 sets of silk bedding; & 876 Chinese veils (mosquito nets?)
17

Diogo Do Couto (c. 1543 1616).
7. This town was square in plan and each side was a league in length. 8. It possessed four principal gateways and
another which led to the royal palaces. 9. On each side of the square is a superb bastion built like the wall about
which we shall soon speak. 10. The town was surrounded by a moat with the width of a blunderbuss shot and
containing water three spans deep, without it ever having less. 11. Above the moat, there are five bridges
corresponding to the five gateways previously mentioned; each of these is twelve feet wide; they are entirely
built of arches of dressed stone of surpassing grandeur, and have on both sides parapets in perforated stone
similar to marble, with above a fine rope very regularly constructed on which there are seated astride at regular
intervals giants in a similar stone, quite remarkably carved with their hands on the said ropes; all have very long
pierced ears, like those of the Canaras,
18
whose work this may be. 12. The walls of the town are entirely built with
hewn stone, so perfect and so well arranged that they seem to constitute just one stone which is, as I have said,
almost like marble for there are no joins for the assembly of the stones, which are very big, nor an indication of
how they were assembled. 13. The wall is of good height... and astride each stone there is a splendid giant, his
back to the wall, brandishing in his hands fine clubs, held in the air which seems to be there to strike anyone
desirous of climbing up. 14. The doors of each of the entrance pavilions are splendidly carved entirely in the same
stone, so perfectly and so deliberately that Fr. Antonio da Madanela
19
of the Capuchin order, who was in this
town, told me he had taken in his hands several times the arms of these giants, which are carved from a single
stone, to see if they were carved in the round. 15. What is most remarkable in this construction is that this stone
is not found for twenty leagues around there, from which one can imagine the cost, the labour, the organisation
and the manufacture which went into it. 16. Similarly, on a stone found above the entrance to a temple which we
shall about later there were a few lines of the Badaga language which is that of the Canara saying that this
town, these temples and other things about which we shall speak, were built on the orders of 20 (successive)
kings and took 700 years to build.
17. On one of the sides of this town there were incomplete monuments which seem to have been the palaces of
kings, because the workmanship, sumptuousness and grandeur immediately strike the eye; they are truly royal in
their numerous cornices, leaf decoration, the figures and other ornamentation which delight the eye and bear
witness to the skill of their sculptors. 18. In the centre of the town one saw the most extraordinary and still
incomplete temple. 19. From each of the town gates to this temple is a highway s wide as on the outside bridges,
with parapets built of the same dressed stone and in the same magnificence as those on the outside. 20. On each
side of the highway stretch very fine canals, full to the brim with water which comes from the great moat
surrounding the town, which enters through two sluices on the north and east sides, and then returns to the
same moat to the south and west, so that the water in the moat never diminishes, and however much water
enters the two sluices, returns again through the other two. 21. As for the great moat, it is always full, for
important and abundant streams flow into it, and even because of an excess of water it is necessary to draw off
some at some points so it does not overflow. 22. In this way the streets leading from the entrance gates is flanked
by two others of water, through which numerous boats enter coming from the interior of the country along rivers
outside the town full of provisions, firewood & other necessities, which are delivered to the very doors of the
inhabitants, who all have access to the canal and river.

17
Coe, M.: Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004, p. 150.
18
Indian kingdom of Vijayanagar
19
A Portuguese Capuchin (Franciscan) monk. He arrived in Malacca in October 1584. He met with Diogo do Couto sometime in 1588 and passed on his
observations.
24. A half-league from this town is a temple called Angar, built on a very fine flat piece of open land. 25. This
temple is one 160 paces long, and of such a strange construction that one cannot describe it with ones pen, nor
can it be compared to any other building in the world. 26. The central body comprises four naves, and the roof of
their vaults, highly decorated, rises up to a very high pointed dome, built on numerous columns, carved with all
the refinements that human genius can conceive. 27. The temple was built on a superb foundation of very large
paving stones of the same stone as the rest of the structure, up which one climbs using very well carved and
remarkable steps, which go all around it. 28. At each corner of this great main structure of the temple are found
others, smaller, in a similar style as the main structure, and all of which terminate in very pointed domes, so that
they can be seen from more than four leagues off, entirely gilded at their summits, with their globes and their
banners. 29. The temple is surrounded by a moat a musket-shot in width and seven spans in depth, above which
is a bridge which corresponds to the only entrance that the central court has; at the entrance to the bridge are
found two stone tigers, one on each side, so lifelike in size and so fearsome that they strike those who enter there
with terror. 30. All the bridge is covered with the most delicately carved arches, in dressed stone, a very worthy
thing to see. 31. This temple is surrounded by numerous handsome outbuildings, and the pillars of the galleries,
like the balusters of the windows are of the same stone, so well polished that they seem to have been machine-
made...
44. It is certain that this kingdom formerly belonged to the Chinese, and the Cambodians still retain today their
laws and customs: the governors are called mandarins; the money is in taels and maces, as in China, and the
weights are the same. 45. Later the kingdom was subject to the king of Siam, who gave it to one of his vassals,
named Dobetele, who peopled and enlarged it. 46. Its lands are so fertile... 47. It has many cattle, buffaloes, and
so many deer that their skins are loaded onto vessels going to China, and it is by far the most important
merchandise. 48. In the forests there are many goats, boars, gazelles, and so many elephants that it is held that
the king has forty thousand. 49. These are hunted in the following manner: a corral of thick wood is built, that can
be entered by only one door which is closed by solid portcullises. 50. Then, in places where male elephants are
accustomed to feed, they send in some females who are trained and taught. 51. As soon as they see the
elephants they run off to the corral, and the elephants, seeing them, follow then and enter through the doorway.
52. Then the hunters, who are above the doorway, drop the portcullis. 53, The elephants are enclosed in a narrow
corral where they are tamed by the effects of hunger and thirst. 54. When they are ready to be trained, they are
taken from there, placed between two domesticated elephants, and taken to the stables where they are kept...

Modern Sources
Miriam Stark: Miriam Stark
Integral to this economy were the water control systems that facilitated settlement and farming throughout the
Angkor region. The Khmers were consummate hydraulic engineers: they cut canals, dredged and straightened
rivers, built dikes into floodplain to deflect and hold back floodwaters, dug moats around their temples and some
residential areas, and built countless some reservoirs to tap the high water-table found in the region. The precise
role of water control systems in the historical trajectory of the Khmer Empire and its agrarian systems, however,
remains unclear. Several prominent Khmer kings also engaged in large-scale public works projects to build
enormous baray, so large that they are visible from space by Satellite. The Indratataka (or Lolei baray), built
between c. AD 877-890, was 3 kilometres long while the Yasodharatataka, or East Baray, constructed during the
reign of Yasovarman, was 7 kilometres long.
The role of these giant reservoirs for subsistence continues to be a source of debate, and the issue is sometimes
glossed as the hydraulic paradigm. For a long time it was held that the agrarian economy of Angkor rested on
irrigation. This has been challenged through analysis of aerial and satellite imagery. Work by van Liere and Acker
suggests that the total irrigable land available was far smaller than Groslier calculated. And they argued that the
ancient Khmers relied on the traditional rain-fed techniques of floating-rice and recession agriculture that are still
in use in the region today, rather than on irrigation. Khmer-built dams may have functioned as flood retardation
devices rather than for irrigation and the ponded water was primarily intended for the temples.
No evidence has yet been found for a centralised system of water control and it is possible that water control for
farming was organised at the local level administered by the temples. Documentary evidence suggests that the
temple functioned as a centre for administration and for the collection of tributes and gifts for redistribution, and
this pattern may have begun during the pre-Angkorean period. Careful records were maintained of gifts to the
temple, both in terms of human labour commonly through gifts of slaves and goods. Business transactions
that occurred at the temple were also recorded, and the temple served as a type of bank for the harvest and
seed stores of commoners.
20

Claude Jacques and Philippe Lafond
Temples of Indian type, such as those of the Khmers, are quite different from western places of worship whether
Christian, Jewish or Muslim. They were never designed as meeting-places, but as dwellings for the gods. In
contrast with India where domestic architecture used various types of material depending on the wealth of the
owner, Khmer houses were made of wood. As a rule, the abode of the gods was built in durable materials, for
example: brick, sandstone, or laterite
Large halls were not required, since space was needed only to house the deity. The schema simply required a
sanctuary, however small. Indeed the central sanctuary of Angkor Wat, one of the largest, is only 5 metres square,
and the sheer size of the temples of the 12
th
and 13
th
centuries can be ascribed to the need to accommodate huge
numbers of gods. In the case of the simplest temples the sanctuary was surrounded by an enclosure wall
bordered on the outside by a moat. This ground plan has been interpreted as an image of the world, hemmed in
by mountain ranges, which in turn are lapped by the great mythical ocean of chaos. The larger temples have two
concentric enclosures. They open onto one or two or all four sides, through more or less elaborate pavilions
which are themselves shrines and which are termed gopura, after the corresponding structures in South India.
Within the enclosure, there is often a Sacred Fire Temple. Just as was the custom in India, Fire had to be ritually
re-kindled each morning before the ceremonial worship of the shrines main deity. There must have been
kitchens close by to cook the gods food, but as they would certainly have been temporary shacks made of
perishable materials, no trace of them has survived. The gods in their shrines were treated as royalty by their
servants, the priests. They awakened them daily, washed, dressed and fed them. The food was symbolically
consumed by the gods and then distributed to the priests or others who happened to be present.
Michael D. Coe
The religious authorities and functionaries in the royal court were certainly almost entirely of the Brahmin caste,
although some of the priests in the provinces and villages may not have been so. Most of them may have received
the honorific Khmer title of sten an, reserved for learned men In peninsular India, the purohita indicated a
family priest or chaplain; in Classic Angkor, this important individual was the chaplain and the chief priest of the
king and, at least according to the self-serving Sdok Kak Thom stela, was a hereditary officer charged with
maintaining the cult of the devaraja. The Sanskrit title hotar or sacrificer occurs frequently in the texts; this is
also supposed to indicate royal chaplain but the exact scope of the term is unclear since while the royal
purohita of the devaraja was a hotar, there were other hotars. Most of these may have had important
administrative roles.
There were many religious functionaries who received the Sanskrit title of acharya, a learned priest who acted as
teacher and spiritual guide; or of pandita, someone versed in sacred lore; or of upadhyaya, a teacher and
preceptor learned in the Vedas. As with many Classic Khmer titles, there is little information on whether these
were or were not interchangeable.
21





20
Stark, M: Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian Cambodia Southeast Asia From prehistory to history, Routledge, Oxford, 2004, pp. 107-8.
21
Coe, M.: Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004, p. 142-3.

Suryavarman II and Angkor Wat
K. 292 (AD. 1011)
933 aka (AD. 1011), the 9
th
day of the crescent moon of Bhadrapada, Sunday. Here is (our) oath: We all who
belong to the division of the tamrvc
22
of the 1
st
(2
nd
, 3
rd
, 4
th
) category, swear, cutting our hands and offering our
lives and our devotion gratefully and unerringly, to His Majesty Sryavarman, who has enjoyed the legitimate
monarchy since 924 aka (AD 1002), in the presence of the Sacred Fire, of the Holy Jewel of the Brahmins and the
cryas. We will not revere any other sovereign; we will not be hostile to him, we will not comply with his
enemies; we will not commit any act which might do him harm. All these acts which are the fruit of our grateful
devotion towards His Majesty Sryavarman, we will endeavour to accomplish. In case of war we will strive to fight
with all our hearts, not to bind ourselves to life; by devotion (to the king) we will not run away from combat. If, in
times of no war, we die of disease, may we obtain the reward of people devoted to their master. If we remain in
the service of the king, when the time to die (in service) arrives, we will do it in devotion...
K. 357 (AD. 1113)
1035 saka (AD 1113), Mis Majesty Suryavarman... grandnephew on the maternal side of Their Majesties
Jayavarman & Dharanindravarman, ascended to the throne and invited the vrah guru to proceed with the royal
appointment. The king then performed the sacrifices, starting with the sacred mysteries, had the solemn rites
accomplished... and gave rich presents such as palanquins, fans, fly-whisks, crowns, buckles, pendants, bracelets
and rings... Still young, at the end of his religious studies, he commanded armies as vast as the ocean in a terrible
battle. Bounding on the head of the elephant of the enemy king he killed him, as Garuda on the edge of a
mountain would kill a serpent.

Modern Sources
Michael Vickery:
Warfare began, presumably in the reign of the Cambodian King Suryavarman II (1112 1150) who pursued a
policy of eastward expansion, apparently to bring Cambodia into the developing international maritime network
initiated by the new policy of the Southern Sung Dynasty in China. For this Cambodia required seaports. Failing in
their attacks on Vietnam, they focused on Vijaya (a Cham city) either because it was already developing as an
important port, or because it was not yet a strong Champa centre and thus seen as an easy conquest.
23






22
Centrally appointed agents for the government in the provinces. Lustig argues that this comprised of 4000 members, from 200 different sruk.
23
Vickery, M: Short History of Champa Champa and the Archaeology of My Son (Vietnam), National University of Singapore, 2009; pp. 53 55.
Jayavarman VII
K. 908 (AD. 1191) Jayavarman VIIs foundation Inscription at Preah Khan.
CXXII. On the roads from Yaodharapura to the capital of Champ (he constructed) 57 inns of fire. CXXIII. From
the capital of the town of Vimy (there are) 17 inns of fire. CXXIV. From the capital to Jayavat, from this town to
Jayasihavat, from there to Jayavravati, from this town to Jayarjagiri, from Jayarjagiri to ri Suvrapura
[illegible] from this town to Yaodharapura (along this road) there are 14 inns with fire. CXXV. There is one at ri
Sryaparvata, one at ri Vijaydityapura, one at Kalyasiddhika. CXXVI. In total 121 inns. CXXVII. The total of the
divinities in gold, silver, bronze, stone, including Yama and Kla, spread among all the provinces, amounts to
20,400.
K. 273 (AD. 1186) (abbreviated)
The Ta Prohm inscription, K. 273, states that 18 hotar, 2,740 kamsten, 2,202 assistants and 615 dancers, along
with an unspecified number of monks, commoners and khnyum, were maintained at the monastery. The treasury
contained 500kg of gold dishes; 500kg of silver dishes; 35 diamonds; 40,260 pearls; 4,540 gemstones; 523
parasols; 512 sets of silk bedding; & 876 Chinese veils (mosquito nets?)
24

K. 485 (AD.1220) Phimeanekas Poem/Inscription, by Queen Indradevi, wife of Jayavarman VII.
25

LXV. (King) Yasovarman having been (overthrown) by a retainer seeking to obtain royal power, (Jayavarman)
returned promptly from Vijaya to rescue this sovereign. LXVI. But Sri Yasovarman, having already been robbed of
his kingdom and of his life by this (usurper), he (Jayavarman) stayed, waiting for the best moment to save the
earth heavy with crime... LXVIII. Sri Jaya Indravarman, king of Champa, arrogant as Ravana... having an army led
by Chariots, went to the country of Kambu equal to the heavens in order to fight. LXIX ... made harsh by Yama
who resides in the Southern Region, and weakened by the Sun, in order to capture in battle... he killed that king
26

who suffered the consequences (of his previous acts). LXX. Having by his patience in misfortune defeated in
combat this (king of Champa) who had a boundless ocean of warriors, after having received the royal
consecration, he (Jayavarman VII) enjoyed, by conquest of Vijaya and other countries, the purified earth, which
could be called his home.
C. 92 (AD. 1203) Myson VII
In 1104 saka (1182), prince Sri Vidyanandana native of Vijaya (Champa) went to Cambodia. The King (Jayavarman
VII) of Cambodia seeing that he possessed all the 33 marks of the Buddha received him favourably and taught him
like a prince all the varied branches of military science. During his stay in Cambodia, a dependent town called
Malyang, inhabited by a multitude of bad men, revolted against the king of Cambodia. The King, seeing the prince
well versed in arms, ordered him to lead the troops of Cambodia and to take the town of Malyang. He did all the
king desired and the king pleased with his valour, conferred on him the dignity of Yuvaraja and gave him all the
pleasures and the good things which could be found in the kingdom of Cambodia.
In 1112 saka (1190), King Sri Jaya Indravarman made war against the King of Cambodia. The latter sent his prince,
Vidayanandana, at the head of the troops of Cambodia to take Vijaya and defeat the local king. He captured the
king and had him conducted to Cambodia by the Khmer troops. He proclaimed Prince Suryajayavarmadeva,
brother-in-law of the King of Cambodia, as the king of the city of Vijaya.
In the same year, the king of Cambodia sent Jaya Indravarman IV to help prince Vidyananda to reconquer
Champa. They met at Rajapura, took Vijaya, defeated and killed Jaya Indravarman V and rulled over Vijaya. Then
Jaya Indravarman IV fled from the Cambodians and went to Amaravati where he raised a revolt and invaded
Vijaya; but prince Vidyananda defeated him and put him to death. Henceforth, the prince ruled without
opposition.

24
Coe, M.: Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004, p. 150.
25
We cannot deplore enough the loss of stanzas XXXVI-XXXIX concerning the Chams and which may have given the reasons for Jayavarmans departure for
Champa, more specifically for his journey to Vijaya, from which place stanza LXV will soon inform us he returns to come to the rescue of King Yasovarman II
G. Coeds Inscriptions du Cambodge II, Ecole Franaise dExtreme-Orient, 1942; p. 162 (translated from French by J. St. Julian)
26
The usurper king, Tribhuvanadityavarman, mentioned in LXV-LXVI.

Ma Duan-Lin: Ethnography of Foreign Peoples.
27

Under the Sung Dynasty, at the twelfth moon of the sixteenth year ching-ho (AD 1116), the king of Cambodia sent
as ambassadors, to great dignitaries of the kingdom... They came as a group of 14... The following year, these
foreigners returned to Cambodia. New envoys of the same country arrived again (1120). Their king received
investiture with honours equal to those given to the king of Champa. Then (in 1128), the Emperor gave higher
honours on the king of Cambodia... being recognised as a great vassal of China.
In 1171 there was a Chinese mandarin shipwrecked on the coast of Champa...(Both the Chams and Khmers) used
elephants for fighting, without great advantage. The mandarin advised the king of Champa to use horsemen
armed with crossbows, to whom he taught the art of using their bows on horseback... the success of the
innovation was enormous; victory declared itself for Champa... (Then in 1177, King Jaya Indravarman, with the
help of a shipwrecked Chinese sailor as navigator, the Cham king launched a sea-based attack). The king of
Champa suddenly overwhelmed the capital of Cambodia with a powerful fleet, pillaged it and put the king
(Tribhuvanadityavarman) to death, without listening to any proposal of peace.
Modern Sources
Michael Vickery:
The Cambodians were successful in Champa for a short period of time in the 1140s, and subdued Vijaya, but were
then defeated. Cambodian expansion began again under Jayavarman VII (1181 1220?) who, according to his
own inscriptions, was in Vijaya, apparently in the 1160s-70s, and must have been involved in the local conflicts
within Champa, forming his own Cham alliances and incurring enmity among other Cham.
During this time Champa inscriptions imply a series of raids or brief incursions into Cambodia, and Chinese
sources report the most serious in the 1170s (1170 and 1177). Attempts at the synthesis of these sources
Cambodian inscriptions, Champa inscriptions, and Chinese records have produced much confusion, and it is still
impossible to say that the best conclusion has been reached. At least, the conventional story of a grand conquest
of Angkor in 1177 by the Cham and their subsequent occupation of the city for several years does not stand up to
careful examination.
First, this is the period in which Champa inscriptions are at their best for historical detail, and they do not at all
claim an overwhelming victory and occupation of Angkor, contrary to the Cham habit in earlier times to boast of
great victories, such as in 813-817 (inscriptions C19, 37, 31 in Panduranga), 1056 (C95, My Son), and 1080-1081
(C90A, My Son). Secondly, the Chinese reports, which have been given too much faith, are patently wrong in
claiming that the Cham required the services of shipwrecked Chinese sailors to guide them upriver to Angkor.
After several centuries of close relationships, both amicable and bellicose, neither the Cambodians nor the Cham
required external guides into the territories of their neighbours, and this imaginative detail in the Chinese
accounts casts doubts on other details in these records which were compiled long afterward by scribes without
direct knowledge of the circumstances.
Moreover, a famous inscription of Jayavarman VII which recognises a Champa victory (presumably because they
had become his associates during his sojourn in Vijaya), and led troops in his campaign to unify the country.
Afterwards, still in the service of Jayavarman VII, they returned to Champa to maintain Cambodian authority in
Vijaya.
The details from the Champa inscriptions imply that Champa, or at least the centre (Vijaya) and the south (Nha
Trang and Phan Rang), but perhaps not the Thu Bon area (Amaravati) were subordinate to Cambodia since
sometime before 1190, and that the victories of Jayavarman VII, both at home and in Champa, had depended to a
large extent on Cham supporters, but that once given authority in their homeland they were unreliable.

27
Ma Touan-Lin, Ethnographie des peoples trangres la chinois meridionaux ouvrage compose du XIII sicle de notre re, parMa Touan-Lin (French
translation by le Maquis dHervey de Saint Denys, 1883) (English translation by J. St. Julian 2011)
There is then a long break in the epigraphy until in the 1220s, three in Phan Rang (C4/1220, 1227), Nha Trang
(C30B4/1226) and My Son (C86/1230, 1234), show quite a different attitude toward Cambodia and its relations
with Champa, and refer retrospectively to a 32-year war with Cambodia. The new inscriptions ignore the earlier
Champa allies of Jayavarman VII, and say that he conquered the earth in 1190, or came, appointed by Yuvaraja in
1201, then left, and that there was war until 1220 when the Cambodians left Champa. They do not support the
interpretation that the Cambodia of Jayavarman VII had secured full domination over Champa. In one of them a
King Jaya Paramesvaravarmadeva, enthroned in 1226, claims to have been sole ruler of Champa during that time,
thus contradicting the stories inscribed in the 1190s. He was certainly an important ruler, leaving ten inscriptions,
six dated between 1220 and 1244, eight of them in Nha Trang and Phan Rang and one each in My Son and Binh
Dinh. It is clear that the South of Champa was again growing in importance.
Close attention to the evidence in the Champa inscriptions suggests that the traditional academic history of the
time needs revision. There is no good evidence of a great Cham conquest of Angkor in 1177, certainly not with the
detail supplied by the Chinese. During the time when Cambodia was in turmoil in the 1160s and1170s, there may
have been more or less successful raids from Champa, while the future Jayavarman VII was in Vijaya, and, we may
assume, was part of the Champa political scene. The evidence suggests further that the real conquest of Angkor
was by Jayavarman VII and his Cham allies, probably in the 1170s, at least before 1182, and that the
subordination of central and southern Champa to him dated from that time, but was never secure.
28

Miriam Stark
Jayavarman VII (AD 1181 1218) gave the Khmer Empire its last burst of glory. He conquered the Chams,
extended Khmer dominion from Thailand into Laos, south throughout much of the Mekong Basin and west to the
borders of Burma with the uncompleted city Prasat Muang Singh near Katchanaburi on the Kwae Noi River. For
Jayavarman VII, imperial expansion meant monumental construction: great stone temples and their barays,
resthouses, hospitals, and raised roadways and stone bridges to link the provinces to the capital. Portions of the
road between Angkor and Phimai, which stretched at least 225 kilometres, are visible by remote sensing today;
other roads radiated west, east and southeast. Jayavarman VII also made his mark in the capital with the 3 square
kilometres walled city of Angkore Thom and its dominating Buddhist shrine, the Bayon, and two temple
monasteries dedicated to his parents: Ta Prohm (to his mother) and Preah Khan (to his father). He celebrated
both Hindu and Buddhist ideologies, and the four-faced towers that epitomise the Bayon are said to reflect the
Buddhist incarnation of the Boddhisattva known as Avalokitesvara.
29

Anne-Valrie Schweyer:
The history of the Chams and the Khmer ran on parallel lines for centuries, separated by a mountainous border,
until the lines suddenly converged in the 12
th
century, in the lifetime o king Jayavarman VII... This Cambodian king,
exceptionally, was personally deeply engaged in both cultures. When he took power in Angkor, he provoked a
collision of the two cultures, in an apparent attempt to straddle them. Champa formed a major part of
Jayavarmans personal history, and as soon as he secured his position as king in Angkor using Cham allies in key
roles he turned to fusing Champa with Cambodia within his expanding empire somewhat as Champa was later
absorbed by Vietnam. He showed how close Champa was to his heart when he positioned 57 out of 121 national
staging posts along the highway between Angkor and Champa. Although the Khmers pulled their army out of
Champa as soon as Jayavarman died, the evidence suggests he had intended the territories to remain united
forever... We cannot understand Jayavarman VII of Cambodia unless we understand his relations with the Cham.
It also raises the question of whether Jayavarmans drive to bring the Chams into his reinvigorated Khmer world,
did not in the end, fatally weaken both cultures, sowing the seeds of Cambodias ultimate decline as well as
Champas eventual disappearance.
30



28
Vickery, M: Short History of Champa Champa and the Archaeology of My Son (Vietnam), National University of Singapore, 2009; pp. 53 55.
29
Stark, M: Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian Cambodia Southeast Asia From prehistory to history, Routledge, Oxford, 2004, pp. 109-110.
30
Schweyer, A.-V.The Confrontation of the Khmers and the Chams in the Bayon Period Bayon: New Perspectives, River Books, Bangkok, 2007, p. 52.
Michael D. Coe
The famous Chinese curse, may you live in interesting times, was only too true of the three decades of turmoil
and trouble that ensued on the death of Suryavarman II. The next universal monarch on the Angkor throne was
Yasovarman II, but he may have been an usurper, as was the rebel bureaucrat who assassinated him in 1165.
In 1177, the Cham king Jaya Indravarman (himself an usurper to the throne of Champa), taking advantage of the
confused situation, decided to invade the Khmer Empire by land and by sea. Guided along the Vietnamese coast
by a shipwrecked Chinese sailor, his fleet navigated the difficult Delta waterways and proceeded up the Tonl Sap
River into the Great Lake. After the capital, Yashodharapura (Angkor), had been taken, and its ruler slain, it was
thoroughly sacked of its treasures, and many of its wood-built structures burned to the ground. In fact, the
unpublished excavations by B.-P. Groslier in the Royal Palace compound found huge, charred, structural timbers
buried under later layers.
31






31
Coe, M.: Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004, p. 122.
Glossary
Acarya (Sanskrit) A spiritual guide or teacher, instructor of religious mysteries.
Anak sanjak (khmer) Also pronounced neak the general Khmer word for a human being. They also appear to have been
members of an equivalent praetorian guard.
Angkor (Khmer, from Sanscrit nagara) town, or more strictly capital. Variant: nokor.
Apsaras (Sanskrit) Heavenly nymphs, the wives of the gandhavra (heavenly musicians). Often shown dancing.
Asura (Sanskrit) A class of demons and the heavenly princes (gods) foremost enemies.
Avalokiteshvara (Sanskrit) The Lord who looks down - best known of the bodhisattva of Buddha. Variant: Lokeshvara.
Avatar (Sanskrit) Usually used to refer to one of the various incarnations of a god.
Banteay (Khmer) Fortress/precinct/enclosure.
Baray (Khmer) A reservoir made with dikes, rather than being excavated.
Bodhisattva (Sanskrit) According to Mahayana Buddhism, someone who has attained enlightenment, but has postponed
their entry into Nirvana to help others gain enlightenment also.
Brahma (Sanskrit) The creator god. He was born from a lotus growing out of Vishnus navel and is depicted with four
faces looking towards the 4 cardinal points. Part of the Hindu Trinity (Trimurti).
Chakravartin (Sanskrit) Universal monarch a title used for the kings of Angkor.
Cham A people who inhabited the coastal regions of southern Vietnam. The arch nemesis of the Khmer
during the time of Angkor.
Churning of the Sea of Milk Desiring immortality, the gods churned the Ocean of Milk to generate amrita the elixir of eternal life. The
snake Vasuki was used as a churning device. Vishnu, incarnate as the turtle Kurma, formed the pivot
for the churning. frequently represented in Khmer art.
Corve (French) Mandatory work required of peasants for a period of time, similar to feudal obligations.
Deva (Sanskrit) Heavenly Princes (minor gods).
Devaraja (Sanskrit) King of the gods or god who is king Khmer translation: kamraten an ta raja
Dharma (Sanskrit) The Hindu doctrine of moral duty or good order.
Dharmasala (Sanskrit) A shelter for the free use of travellers still a feature of Khmer villages.
Dhuli jen vrah kamraten an (Khmer) The highest title a Khmer king could bestow (Dhuli jen literally dust of the feet)
Dvarapala (Sanskrit) Temple door guardian.
Ganesha (Sanskrit) Shivas son the elephant headed god. The Lord of Obstacles and the god of intelligence.
Garuda (Sanskrit) A mythical being, half-man, half-bird. The natural enemies of nagas.
Guru (Sanskrit) Master or Spiritual Guide
Hanuman (Sanskrit) General of the monkey army who fought for Ram in the Ramayana.
Hotar (Sanskrit) A priest.
Indra (Sanskrit) The Hindu god of War and tempests.
Kamraten (Khmer) A high religious title, more exalted than a kamsten.
Kamsten (Khmer) A religious title.
Khlon (Khmer) Officials: Khlon Glan chief of the storehouse; Khlon karya chief of corve labour; Khlon visaya
chief of boundaries, land distribution & ownership; Khlon sruk village administrator.
Khnyum (Khmer) Slave, especially slaves of the gods when in temple service.
Linga (Sanskrit) An icon in the shape of a phallus, representing Shiva.
Mahabharata (Sanskrit) Great Indian epic, primarily concerned with the power struggle between the 5 Pandava brothers and
their cousins the Kaurava. Often depicted in Khmer art.
Maharajadhiraja (Sanskrit)Supreme King of Kings the title first adopted by King Jayavarman II in AD 802 and used by subsequent Khmer
kings.
Mahayana (Sanskrit) The Great Path a later development of Buddhism. The Buddha and Bodhisattvas are worshipped
with rituals similar to Hinduism. Now dominant in China and Vietnam, but no longer adhered to in
Cambodia.
Meru (Sanskrit) Cosmic mountain of Hindu mythology, home of the gods and the axis of the world. Its summit has 5
peaks. Khmer temples often replicate this with 5 main towers.
Mratan (Khmer) An official appointed by the king in central and regional administration. Mratan Klon an official
appointed to govern a region. Mratan Kurun Higher in status to a Mratan Klon.
Naga (Sanskrit) Mythical serpent-guardians of the underworld. Seen as the origin and protector of Angkor.
Nirvana (Sanskrit) The state of bliss/enlightenment attained by the Buddha and Arhants (enlightened beings).
Pali Indian language used in Theravada Buddhist scriptures.
Phnom (Khmer) Mountain/ hill.
Prasat (Sanskrit) Shrine, usually topped by a tower.
- pura (Sanskrit) A suffix meaning town.
Purohita (Sanskrit) Superintendent the kings close assistant, the Brahmin priest in charge of royal ritual.
Rajakulamahamantri A title meaning great advisor.
Rama (Sanskrit) The 7
th
and best known avatar of the god Vishnu.
Ramayana (Sanskrit) Great Indian epic poem. It narrates the adventures of Rama and his spouse Sita, whose kidnapping by
the demon Ravana and imprisonment in (Sri) Lanka sparks a ferocious war with Rama and his monkey
army commanded by its semi-divine general Hanuman. Often depicted in Khmer art and dance.
Ravana (Sanskrit) A powerful demon-king, depicted with 6, 8 or 10 heads and 12, 16 or 20 arms.
Sanskrit Indian language in which all the Hindu scriptures and epics are written. The Khmer used it in
preference to their own native language when writing temple inscriptions.
Senapati (Sanskrit) General
Shiva (Sanskrit) The Hindu god of Creation and Destruction. Angkors most popular Hindu god and part of the Hindu
Trinity.
Sruk (Khmer) A territorial division, possibly the size of a village.
Stela/Stelae (Latin) A free-standing stone, often with an inscription.
Stupa (Sanskrit) Buddhist relic shrine in the shape of an upturned begging bowl.
Tamrvac (Khmer) Centrally appointed agents for the government in the provinces.
Theravada (Sanskrit) The teaching of the ancients Older form of Buddhism, according to Buddhas original teachings.
Thom (Khmer) Great, big.
Vahana (Sanskrit) Vehicle term for the animal which a god rides - Shiva & Nandi (bull), Vishnu & Garuda.
Vap (Khmer) An honorific title meaning father.
-varman (Sanskrit) Protection, breast-plate a suffix for the royal names of almost all the Khmer kings: Jaya-varman
means Protected by Victory & Indra-varman means Protected by (the god) Indra.
Vishnu (Sanskrit) Hinduisms supreme god, but less widely worshipped the Shiva by the Khmer. He is the divine
preserver of the earth and the heavens. Through his avatars, he intervenes to restore order when
there is chaos. In Khmer art, he is shown with 4 arms, holding a conch shell, discus, orb (representing
the earth) and club.
Wat (Khmer, from Pali) Theravada monastery consisting of the religious buildings and the monks cells. Angkor Wat, once
dedicated to Vishnu, has since become known as the city which is a (Buddhist) monastery.
Yuvaraja (Sanskrit) Crown Prince.