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Home , Ang Eng, Bhavavarman I, Chenla, Diogo Veloso, Indravarman I, Indravarman II

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. General Information The kingdom of , which is also known as Kampuchea, is located on the mainland tropical region of in the Lower region with 13° 00’ N of latitude and 105° 00’ E of longitude. It covers a total area of 181,035 sq km. The country’s maximum extent is about 580 kilometres east to west and 450 kilometres north to south. The country shares land borders with in the west and north, with in the northeast, with in the east and southeast and with the in the southwest. The Dangrek Mountain Range in the north and Cardamom Mountains in the southwest form the natural boundaries. The physical landscape is dominated by the lowland plains around the Mekong River and the Lake, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. Of the total land, approximately 49% of land remains covered by forest. The country is divided into 20 provinces and 4 municipalities. is the capital and is the largest city. The population of Cambodia was 13 million in 2005 A.D. The majority of Cambodian population is Buddhist forming 97%. The remaining are Muslim (2%), Christian (0.2%) and others (Samsopheap, 2005:59). The official language of Cambodia is Khmer, an Austro- Asiatic language which is spoken by the majority of the population. French was formerly an important second language, but its use has been discouraged since independence. Western Cham, an Austronesian language, is the mother tongue for around 220,000 people living near major cities. Sixteen other Austro-Asiatic languages are spoken, including Tampuan, Central Mnong, and Kuy. English is becoming increasingly popular as a second language. The politics of Cambodia is the democracy under the constitutional monarchy. The Royal Government of Cambodia was established on 24th September 1993 on the basis of an internationally recognised free and fair election. The executive branch comprises the King, who is head of state; an appointed Prime Minister; eight deputy prime ministers, 14 senior ministers, 28 ministers, 135 secretaries of state and 146 undersecretaries of state. The bicameral legislature consists of a 123-member elected National Assembly and a 61-member Senate. The judiciary includes a Supreme Court, lower courts, and an international court with jurisdiction over the serious massacre of the . The major political parties are Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), 2

FUNCINPEC, and Sam Rangsei Party (Lum, 2007:1). Historically, the present Cambodia is considered to be the successor state of the once powerful which ruled almost all of the Indochinese Peninsula between the 1st - 14th Centuries A.D.

1.2. Historians have generally divided the fascinating history of Cambodia into four main phases, namely: Pre-Angkorian Period the 1st Century A.D. - 802 A.D. Angkorian Period 802 A.D. - 1432 A.D. Post-Angkorian Period 1432 A.D. - 1864 A.D. Modern Period 1859 A.D. - Present. The point of reference to this division is the ‘Angkorian Period’ which is considered as the zenith of Khmer civilization. The first phase of history known as the ‘Pre-Angkorian Period’, can be dated from the arrival of Indian culture pre-dating and Kingdoms to the invasion of Javanese. The period from the ascension of King Jayavarman II to the throne, which marks the beginning of the Empire, to the collapse of Angkor in 1432 A.D. is known as the ‘Angkorian Period’. This period is followed by the ‘Post-Angkorian Period’ which saw a quick decline of the Angkor Empire following the invasion of Siamese army. The final stage, known as the ‘Modern Period’, starts with the coming of French, until date. This period marks the impact of the Western culture when Cambodia was annexed as a French Protectorate.

1.2.1. Pre-Angkorian Period (the 1st Century A.D. - 802 A.D.) The Pre-Angkorian Period can be divided into two small time-frames: namely Funan and Chenla. The accounts of the Funan Period cannot be considered to be a part of authentic Cambodian history because most of the information and data available are from Chinese records which are repeated over and over again hence distorting and manipulating the facts. Contrary to Funan, the Chenla Period has much larger available data. The inscriptions are the main sources of its information.

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1.2.1.1. Funan (the 1st Century A.D. - ca. 550) Cambodia received heavy cultural influence from India since the starting point of civilization in the 1st Century A.D. Researchers would prefer to call this confluence of cultural exchange as ‘Indianization’. The first kingdom of Cambodia, which the Chinese referred to as ‘Funan’, was established during this period of time. The word ‘Funan’ is the Chinese pronunciation for the word ‘bnam’ (vnumá) or ‘phnom’ (phnumá) in modern Khmer, which means ‘mountain’ (Cœdès, 1969:57; Briggs, 1951: 12). Funan was the dominating power for around five centuries. The kingdom was probably founded sometime during the 1st Century A.D., because historical accounts of Funan were firstly mentioned in the History of the Tsin which covers the period from 265 to 419 A.D. (Majumdar, 1944:36). The most outstanding figure in the history of Funan was a military leader named ‘Fan Man’ or ‘Fan Shih-man’ who ascended the throne by popular acclaim. The text says “He took the title of the Great King of Funan. He had great ships built, and after crossing the wide seas, he attacked more than ten kingdoms…” (Cœdès, 1969:57-62). His suzerainty may have extended eastwards as far as the region of Nha-Trang, where the stele of Vo Canh was erected by one of his descendants, upon which his form of name ‘§riÆmaÆra’ is mentioned and his successor, Fan Chan entered into relations with India and China with commercial considerations (Cœdès, 1969:57-62). The exact location of the kingdom and its size is unclear, but it presumably occupied a large area in the mainland of Southeast Asia, stretching across Central Vietnam, Cambodia and Central Thailand. Not much is known about Cambodia prior to the 1st Century A.D. or about Funan. Apart from the few inscriptions, the main source of Funan’s history is from Chinese imperial records. The Chinese records tell the story of the origin of the Funan Kingdom that the land of Funan was previously governed by a female ruler named ‘Liu-Yeh’. Once it so happened that a Brahmin named ‘Hun Tien’ got divine inspiration from his dream and was advised by the god to set off for a voyage. He was blessed with a divine bow. He set out for the mission and his ship reached the port of Funan. When his ship reached shore, the armies of Liu-Yeh attacked his boat. Hun Tien used his divine bow to retaliate the empress’s armies which resulted in their surrender. After this incident Hun Tien became the first king of Funan (Majumdar, 1944:26; Briggs, 1951:17; Cœdès, 1968:37). The name ‘Hun Tien’ as it appeared in this text is considered as a 4 transcription of the name ‘Kaunádáinya’, the great Brahmin who received a spear from AßvatthaÆman, son of Dronáa (Cœdès, 1969:57). And the name ‘Liu -Yeh’ may be a graphic alteration of ‘Ye-Ye’ which means ‘coconut leaf’ (Briggs, 1951:17). The Funanese were prosperous traders. Funan occupied a key position with regard to the maritime trade routes and may even have been a terminus of voyages from the Eastern Mediterranean as Ptolemy mentioned that Kattigara was situated on the Western coast of Indochina on the Gulf of Thailand, and, wherefore, it unquestionably traded with Rome, India, and China. Even the important cities of Funan were seaports such as Oc- Eo (Southern Vietnam) and possibly the monarchs did not control much inland territory, since usually Southeast Asia states were based on sea trade between India and China (Vickery, 2002:7). An ambassador of Funan was sent to China in 243 A.D. and presented the emperor with some musicians. In return, Funan was visited by Kang Tai and Zhu Ying, envoys of the Wu emperor of Liang Dynasty of China between 245 A.D. and 250 A.D. The envoys found Fan Hsun on the throne. This first Chinese mission recorded an interesting account of Funan that it had walled cities, palaces and dwelling-houses. The people were ugly, black, and frizzy-haired and went about naked and barefoot. The taxes were paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes. They had books and depositories of archives; the writing being like that of the Hu. The word ‘Hu’ is the Chinese term for the people of Central Asia, who used Indian script. It means that the Kingdom of Funan used the Indian script at least in the 3rd Century A.D. Three more ambassadors went from Funan to China during 285 - 287 A.D. The last trade missions were reported during the Tang Dynasty. In the middle of the 4th Century A.D., the Chinese sources record that in 357 A.D. Funan was ruled by an Indian whose name was ‘Chandan’. After the year 357 A.D. there is no further mention of Funan until the beginning of the 5th Century A.D. This was a period marked by the revival of Indian influence throughout Southeast Asia. The Chinese historians refer to the second Kaunádáinya, who is said to have come from India via the Malay Peninsula and renewed Indian traditions in Funan. His successors maintained good relationship with China. Then Kaunádáinya Jayavarman, who died in 514 A.D., was highly honoured by the Court of China with the title of ‘General of the Pacified South, King of Funan’. Funan was centred on the lower course and the delta region of the Mekong River. Its capital, VyaÆdhapura, which means ‘the city of the hunter’, is believed to be situated near the hill called BaÆ Phnom, 5 which means the ‘mountain of ancestor’. The Chinese records say that the capital lay at a distance of 500 Li or around 250 kilometres from the sea (Majumdar, 1944:19). This is approximately the distance between BaÆ Phnom and the site of Oc-Eo, the centre for foreign merchants, which is in southern Vietnam nowadays. The remains of an ancient seaport have been found there revealing Roman medals with the effigies of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, a cabochon with a Sassanid effigy, rings with inscriptions in Indian script of the 2nd - 5th Centuries A.D., and intaglios engraved with motifs inspired by Hellenistic art. The Chinese sources noted that the people of Funan had a custom of worshipping the deities of the sky. They make bronze images of these deities. Those with two faces have four arms, those with four faces have eight arms; each hand holds something, sometimes a child, sometimes a bird or a four-footed animal, or else the sun or the moon. There is evidence that all the various Indian cults existed in Funan, either simultaneously or in succession. During the reign of Jayavarman, ‘it was the custom to worship the god Maheßvara (§iva), who ceaselessly descends upon Mount Mo-tan’. This refers to the sacred mountain as the place where heaven and earth were in communication. No doubt the god was materialized in the form of a linæga, the phallic emblem of §iva Girißa, §iva ‘residing upon the mountain’, mentioned in the inscriptions. The Vaisánáavite cult is shown by the inscriptions of Prince Gunáavarman (a son of Jayavarman) and of Queen KuluprabhaÆvatiÆ. Lastly, with its Sanskrit Canon is attested in the inscription of . By the end of the 6th Century A.D., Funan disappeared and Chenla emerged into history. According to the Chinese historical records, this new kingdom sent an ambassador to the Chinese imperial court in 616 A.D. The record also mentioned that Chenla was originally a vassal of Funan….. Citrasena attacked Funan and subdued it (Briggs, 1951: 37).

1.2.1.2. Chenla (circa 550-802 A.D.) After the fall of Funan, the glory of civilization was continued by Chenla in the 6th Century A.D. The Kingdom of Chenla flourished for around 200 years. When the power of Chenla was decreasing, the kingdom divided into two parts: Land Chenla and Water Chenla. By the 8th Century A.D. with the invasion of JavaÆ, the Chenla Kingdom came to an end. The inscriptions carved on steles or on the 6 doorframes, either in Sanskrit and Khmer languages, are the main source of information about the history and institutions of the Chenla Kingdom. No explanation has yet been found for the name Chenla, but the Chinese had always used it to refer to Cambodia, the country of the Khmers, since 616 A.D. until the end of the 13th Century A.D. According to the Inscription, K.806, dated 961 A.D., the kings of ‘Kambuja’ claimed to be descendents of a mythical eponymous ancestor, the sage Kambu, and the nymph MeraÆ. Cœdès believed that ‘K’ from ‘Kambu’ and ‘mer’ from ‘MeraÆ’ (nymph) produced the ethnic term ‘Khmer’ (Cœdès, 1969: 89). The early kings of Chenla as known to modern historians are §rutavarman and §resátáhavarman of the 5th Century A.D., who were vassals of the Funan Kingdom. From the similarity in the names it may be presumed that it was §resátáhavarman who founded the city of §resátáhapura on the site near Vat Phu, Champasak of Laos. On the summit of this hill there is a huge natural linæga in the form of monolith which matches with the Sanskrit name ‘Linægaparvata’ which means ‘the mountain of linæga’. The inscriptions show that the cult of the linæga, which was called Bhadreßvara, continued for many centuries. A Chinese text of the 6th Century A.D. provides more detail that near the capital of Chenla there was a mountain called ‘Ling-chia-po-po’ (Linægaparvata) and on the top of the mountain there is a temple guarded by a thousand soldiers. In the temple there was a spirit named ‘Po-to-li’ (Bhadreßvara), to whom human sacrifices were made. Every year the king went to this temple and offered a human sacrifice during the night. The name Bhadreßvara, which was the name of the royal linæga founded by the Cham King Bhadravarman I during the 4th Century A.D. in the main sanctuary of My-son in Vietnam, may have been chosen by §resátáhavarman to mark his victory over the of Champasak (Cœdès, 1969:89). The Inscription (K.273) narrates that a princess belonging to the maternal line of §resátáhavarman, whose name ‘KambujaÆraÆjalaksámiÆ’, transmitted the heritage of §resátáhavarman to her spouse, . The only date known during the reign of Bhavavarman I is the year 598 A.D. In the inscriptions of his brother, Citrasena, Bhavavarman I is described as being the son of ViÆravarman and the grandson of the universal (§riÆsarvabhauma), which refers to the king of Funan, the only monarch reigning in the peninsula at that time. Around the second half of the 6th Century A.D., Bhavavarman I with the help of his brother Citrasena, extended his territory in the Mekong Valley as far as the 7 mouth of the Mun River to the north, and southwards to the Korat Plateau, where the inscriptions commemorating their conquests have survived. The Chinese historians attribute this conquest to Citrasena or ‘Chi-to-ssu-na’ as it appeared in Chinese text, but Citrasena may only have been in command of the military operations. In the end of the A.D. the Chinese pilgrim, I-ching recorded that formerly in Funan the law of the Buddha prospered and spread, but now a wicked king has destroyed it completely and there are no more bronzes. It clearly shows that the Buddhism which flourished in Funan during the 5th and 6th Centuries A.D. had declined after the conquest of Citrasena and of his successors who were exclusively §aivite. This tempts one to identify the ‘wicked king’ mentioned by I-ching with Bhavavarman I or Citrasena. Bhavavarman I had been reigning at least until 598 A.D. Then his brother Citrasena succeeded at some unknown date, taking the coronation name . Mahendravarman reigned until around 615 A.D., and pursued a policy of friendship towards CampaÆ by sending the ambassador which have been received by King §ambhuvarman of CampaÆ. Mahendravarman was succeeded by his son IÆßaÆnavarman I, who conquered over Funan completely. IÆßaÆnavarman I gradually extended the territory more or less coextensive with that of present Cambodia, except the northwestern provinces. The remains of his capital ‘IÆßaÆnapura’ occupy the site of in northern . He continued to follow the policy of friendship towards CampaÆ initiated by his father and sealed the alliance by giving one of his daughters, Princess §arvaÆnáiÆ, in marriage to a Cham prince Jagaddharma, who was an exile in Cambodia (Cham Inscription C.96). The offspring of this marriage, Prince Prakasáadharma, became the king of CampaÆ in 653 A.D. taking the name VikraÆntavarman. These three kings of Chenla progressively conquered the Kingdom of Funan, while the western part was taken by other people, in particular the Mons of DvaÆravatiÆ Kingdom of Thailand. Under the reign of IÆßaÆnavarman I’s son, Bhavavarman II, who took the throne in 628 A.D, the empire disintegrated back into small states until 654 A.D. Then King , a grandson of IÆßaÆnavarman I, extended more territory. There is evidence that he ruled from Aninditapura, the area near Angkor region (Freeman & Jacques, 2003:8-9). Jayavarman I left no male heir to succeed him and this is probably one of the reasons accounting for the partition of Chenla in the beginning of the 8th Century A.D. and returned to anarchic conditions. From the 8

Inscription K.904, dated 713 A.D., it appears that at that time the kingdom was ruled by Queen JayadeviÆ, who in the inscription laments the ‘misfortunes of the times’. Then, since 717 A.D. onwards until the end of the 8th Century A.D. the Chinese records refer to ‘Land Chenla’, located in the middle Mekong Valley to the north of the Dongreak Mountain Range, and ‘Water Chenla’ in the lower parts of the . Water Chenla was divided into several kingdoms and , but the most important was §ambhupura (Sambor on the Mekong River), ruled in 716 A.D. by King PusákaraÆksáa, whose seizure of power perhaps marks the beginning of the partition of Chenla (Chakravarti, 1982:33). During the 8th Century A.D. and the beginning of the 9th Century A.D. the kingdom on JavaÆ Island became prosperous and dominant rapidly with the power to control the trade between the China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Then Javanese Kingdom tried to extend its control by attacking the nearby kingdoms, including CampaÆ and Chenla. There were Javanese raids on the eastern coast of Indochina between 767 A.D. and 787 A.D. Subsequently, JavaÆ had acquired an opportunity to overcome Chenla during the period of partition in the 8th Century A.D. Then in 802 A.D. the founder of the Angkor Empire inaugurated his reign by performing a ceremony designed to free the country from Javanese suzerainty.

1.2.2. Angkorian Period (802 A.D. - 1430 A.D.) The Angkorian Period in ancient Khmer history started from the reign of King Jayavarman II, who declared independence from the governance of the Javanese Empire. Regarding the great independent affirmation, he had performed a Royal ceremony in 802 A.D. on the top of or Mountain. The story of the founding of the Angkor Empire has been narrated on a four-sided inscription which situated at Sdok Kak Thom Temple. This inscription, numbered as K.235, was certainly composed in 1052 A.D. by the Brahmin SadaÆßiva of the §ivakaivalya family. This family had proclaimed themselves as the Royal chaplains for about 250 years. The inscription relates that “The monarch Jayavarman, who had fixed his residence on the summit of Mount Mahendra, had a sage whose feet were saluted by the noblest heads, and who was called §ivakaivalya as master”. During his time, Jayavarman II had established and re-located his capital several times. The first capital was , the second was known as HariharaÆlaya. Then the king moved 9 his capital to Amrendrapura, and finally to Mahendraparvata or Phnom Kulen, about 39 kilometres northeast of Angkor, where he claimed independence from JavaÆ on the top of Capital Mountain. It took many years before his power was strong enough to shift the capital back to HariharaÆlaya, where he passed away in 835 A.D. (Freeman & Jacques, 2003:9). After his death, the throne was succeeded by his son, Jayavarman III, who was an expert in elephant hunting. Later on, the reign of King , who is supposed to be a remote kinsman of Jayavaman II, came to the throne at HariharaÆlaya. During this period, according to the king orders, many magnificent works had been officially constructed. One of his grand constructions was IndratatáaÆka, the huge reservoir to the north of the capital. In 879 A.D., he had firstly introduced the innovative royal traditions like the construction of a temple dedicated to royal ancestors and of stone monument in pyramid pattern for being the state temple. King Indravarman I dedicated six brick monuments at Prah Ko Temple for containing the funerary statues of Jayavarman II and his ancestors. Then in 881 A.D. King Indravarman I had contributed the stone pyramid temple of as the principle temple for the capital HariharaÆlaya. Especially, on the top storey of the temple, he erected the Royal Linæga with the name Indreßvara, in order to combine his soul with the god §iva. After Indravarman I, the throne was succeeded by Prince Yaßovardhana, who was known as Yaßovarman I after his coronation in 889 A.D. His earliest work was the construction of a hundred hermitages with devoted inscriptions revealing their distribution throughout the empire, from the northwest at Phnom Rung in Nakorn Rajasima (northeast of Thailand) to the northeast at Vat Phu in Southern Laos. In his grand project, Yaßovarman I selected the hill of Bakheng as the centre of his new capital, Yaßodharapura, and on its top established the state temple. The earth banks of the city surrounding the hill were 4 kilometres on each side, as the traces remain today on the south and west sides (Freeman & Jacques, 2003:10). In 893 A.D., Yaßovarman I had Temple built on the island in the middle of IndratáataÆka. Yaßovarman I, in addition, built YaßodharatáataÆka or the East BaraÆy, the great reservoir more than 7 kilometres long and almost 2 kilometres wide. Yaßovarman I died in 910 A.D. and was succeeded by both of his sons, i.e. Harsáavarman I and IÆßaÆnavarman II. These two kings were greatly praised in the inscriptions for continuing the father’s religious works. But in 921 A.D. one of their maternal uncles, Jayavarman IV had himself crowned as king and decided to establish the second 10 capital at Chok Gargyar (Koh Ker), some 100 kilometres to the northeast of Angkor. At the new capital Jayavarman IV erected many buildings which were larger than any that had been constructed by previous kings. Jayavarman IV had ordered to dig a reservoir to provide irrigation system for the people of his capital. After his death in 941 A.D. followed the three or four-year imperial disintegration in the short reign of his son Harsáavarman II which ended in 944 A.D. During this period the important monuments had not been constructed at the site of Angkor and the old buildings were neglected. The Angkor Empire was reconstructed under the reign of King Rajendravarman II, a cousin of the former king and the king of Bhavapura who succeeded the throne in 944 A.D. Rajendravarman II had, in fact, helped Harsáavarman II in his struggle for power. After the latter’s death, Rajendravarman II decided to seize power for himself (Freeman & Jacques, 2003:11). He brought the breakaway provinces back to his control. He also established administrative foundation in Yaßodharapura, not about the old focus of Phnom Bakheng, but rather to the south of YaßodharatatáaÆka (East Baray) instead. He had contributed his first temple, the East Mebon, on the island at the centre of YaßodhratatáaÆka in 945 A.D. for the Royal Linæga Rajendreßvara along with statues of his parents. Then Rajendravarman II dedicated the Pre Rup Temple as state temple in 961 A.D. to the south of the reservoir, where the Linæga Rajendrabhadreßvara and various images were worshipped. These temples were supervised by his chief architect, KaviÆndraÆrimathana, who built the Buddhist temple, Bat Cum, for himself. The old Paksei Chamkrong Temple was clearly regarded by Rajendravarman II as his ancestral temple, for he completely rebuilt it and placed a golden statue of §iva in the shrine at its top storey. At this time his priest, YajñavaraÆha, had built the exquisite small temple of , 15 kilometres northeast of Phnom Bakheng which was dedicated in the last year of Rajendravarman II’s life. His son, ascended the throne in 968 A.D. Jayavarman V was noted for the construction of the Temple as the state temple near the western bank of the East Baray. On his death in 1000 A.D. and that of his successor, UdayaÆdityavarman I in 1001 A.D., there was a period of acute violence and fierce struggle for the imperial throne. The principal challengers were two rival princes, JayaviÆravarman and SuÆryavarman I. Surprisingly, both were claiming to have been consecrated in the same year, 1002 A.D. After nine years of bloody internal warfare, 11

SuÆryavarman I was declared as the victor. King SuÆryavarman I built the Royal Palace at Angkor and probably a new reservoir, the measuring 8 kilometres in length and 2 kilometres in width. This reservoir is still in use even in the present time. SuÆryavarman I, moreover, was credited to the completion of the Prah Vihar Temple which is located on the escarpment of the Dangrek Range, and many temples outside the Angkor region. His successor, UdayaÆdityavarman II, again had to deal with territorial revolts before assuming supreme lordship. One of Angkor’s most impressive pyramid-temples, Baphuon Temple, was constructed to the south of the Royal Palace enclosure in his reign. His other project was the building of an island temple, West Mebon, in the centre of West Baray. When the power passed to his younger brother, Harsáavarman III, in 1066 A.D, the Angkor Empire once again entered into a state of serious internal disruption and was subjected to military defeat at the hands of CampaÆ in 1074 and 1080 A.D. This situation provided sufficient reason for the displacement of administrative power by Jayavarman VI. He was a vassal-prince native of the Mun Valley of the Khorat Plateau in Thailand. He throughout his reign probably stayed outside the Angkor region. Upon the death of Jayavarman VI in 1107 A.D, his elder brother, DharanáiÆndravarman I, was crowned king of Angkor. But only five years later his grandnephew seized the throne and was consecrated as the king in 1113 A.D. under the name SuÆryavarman II. In spite of his lack of legitimacy, SuÆryavarman II became undoubtedly one of the greatest rulers of Angkor. In 1116 A.D. SuÆryavarman II re-established relations with the Chinese Empire, and in 1128 A.D. he was appointed by Chinese emperor as a ‘Great vassal of the Empire’ (Cœdès, 1969:101). The major achievement of SuÆryavarman II, however, was at Angkor where he constructed the magnificent Vaisánáavite temple of Angkor Vat in the south-eastern corner of Yaßovarman I’s city. After the death of SuÆryavarman II, probably after 1150 A.D., the throne was succeeded by his cousin DharanáiÆndravarman II, who openly embraced Mahayana Buddhism. His successor was Yaßovarman II, who around 1165 A.D. lost his throne to a usurper, TribhuvanaÆdityavarman. In 1177 A.D. the Cham king invaded the Angkor Empire by the sea with huge navy troops and took Yaßodharapura along with the death of TribhuvanaÆdityavarman. It might have been the end of Angkor Empire, if there had not been the return of a Khmer prince, who was later crowned as king under the name Jayavarman VII. After four years in fighting rivals, Jayavarman VII was 12 successful in driving out Cham troop, and began his reign in 1181 A.D. He was considered as the last great king of Angkor and a keen Buddhist by managing the largest building programme for about 30 years of his reign. His new capital is the surviving , centred on the Temple. Jayavarman VII not only re- established the Angkor Empire, but also extended the boundaries to unprecedented areas, in Thailand and Laos. The old Royal Palace compound was restored and the Elephant Terrace was built to the east. Like his predecessors, Jayavarman VII constructed JayatatáaÆka (reservoir) in the northeast of his new capital. As a Buddhist monarch, Jayavarman VII was a major patron of the Sanægha (Buddhist Order) and donated two temples for the merit of his parents. These are Ta Prohm Temple, where 12,640 people were employed within the wall supported by 79,365 villagers, and Prah Khan Temple which was larger with 15,000 residents supported by 97,840 villagers. His construction programme, however, was not confined to the capital. There was also the temple of Banteay Chmar in the border area between Thailand and Cambodia. Jayavarman VII, in addition, was responsible for other buildings across the empire including the 102 hospitals and 121 roadhouses, or Vahnigráha described in the Ta Prohm Inscription (Cœdès, 1968: 176; Kacchima, 2009: 13). Jayavarman VII was succeeded by Indravarman II, of whom the only date known is that of his death in 1243 A.D. It was during his reign that the whole empire began to disintegrate. His heir Jayavarman VIII had quite a long reign. When the Mongol military was invading Cambodia via CampaÆ in 1283 A.D., Jayavarman VIII decided to send tribute to Emperor in order to acknowledge his vassalage in 1285 A.D. He abdicated in favour of his son-in-law, §riÆndravarman, in 1295 A.D. During this time the Angkor Court received the visit of a Chinese envoy led by Chou Ta-kuan. Chou Ta-kuan visited Angkor in 1296 - 1297 A.D., and left an important account of the people and customs of Angkor at the time. Although threatened from all sides, the Angkor Empire was, according to Chou Ta-kuan’s report, still powerful and prosperous. King §riÆndravarman, who was undoubtedly a Buddhist, abdicated the throne in 1307 A.D. in favour of his brother-in-law and became a Buddhist monk as mentioned in the first Pali Inscription, K.754, composed in 1309 A.D. His successor was §riÆndrajayavarman, who was obviously a Buddhist (Vickery, 2002: 113), had a credit of building the last stone temple of the Angkorian Period, ManægalaÆrtha Temple in honour of Brahmin JayamanægalaÆrtha II, who died at the age of 13

104. The throne was succeeded in 1327 A.D. by JayavarmaÆdiparameßvara who is known in connection with the last Sanskrit Inscription (K.300) from a site named Kapilapura, in the northeast of Angkor Vat (Cœdès, 1969:195). It shows that the Sanskrit inscription was still in use to glorify the rulers’ achievements in spite of the emergence of the Pali language. Nothing else has survived at the Angkor region from later than the early 13th Century A.D., partly for the reason that many of the structures were perishable. After the rise of Theravada Buddhism only wooden temples were made and thus it is difficult to evaluate the wealth of Angkor at that time. After that time there was increasing warfare with the newly established kingdom of Siam. However, there might have been other more important factors in the decline of the Angkor Empire. One of which might have been the importance of trade from the point of which Phnom Penh was better situated. In the 15th Century A.D. the Khmer rulers moved the administrative power to the region of Catumukha, where the modern Phnom Penh is located.

1.2.3. Post-Angkorian Period (1430 - 1859 A.D.) The main sources of Cambodia’s situations after the collapse of the Angkor Empire are chronicles, all of which were apparently compiled in the 19th Century A.D. (Vickery, 2002: 117). Thus, it is not surprising that no relationship has been found between JayavarmaÆdiparameßvara and the first king mentioned in the Cambodian chronicles. The chronicles begin with the mention of presumably the posthumous name of a certain king, NirvaÆnapada, or Nippeanaboat in Khmer pronunciation, dating around 1340 A.D. The Chinese records unfortunately refer to the Cambodian kings in this period by their general titles, Somdech or Chao Poyea, but never by their personal or posthumous names, so that it is difficult to identify them with the kings in the chronicles (Cœdès, 1969:196). The incidents in the beginning of the Post-Angkorian Period are very obscure for around fifty years because each chronicle narrates the stories in different ways. The chronicles become creditable from the reign of King Thommesokareach (DhammaßokaraÆja), who came under attack from Siam. This incident resulted in the capture of Angkor in 1430 A.D. The Khmer king was executed and his son, Poyea Yat, succeeded him and regained the sovereignty by driving the enemy out from the country. The new king immediately decided to abandon Angkor as being too difficult 14 to defend. After a short sojourn at Basan (Srei Santhor) the court was shifted again in 1434 A.D. to Phnom Penh. Poyea Yat was crowned in 1441 A.D. under the glorious name Soriyopear (SuÆryavarman). In 1463 A.D. he abdicated the throne to his eldest son, and then to the second son, Srey Reachea (§riÆraÆjaÆ). In 1484 A.D. the later king was taken by the Siamese during a campaign. After three years of the warfare, the third son of King Poyea Yat drove the Siamese out of the country. He was then crowned under the name Thommoreachea I (DhammaraÆjaÆ). He passed away in 1504 A.D. His son, Sukuantheabot (Sugandhapada) succeeded the throne until 1512 A.D, and then lost his life and throne to the usurper, Sdech Kon. (Trueng, 2003:138-141). Ang Chan I or Canta Reachea (CandraraÆjaÆ), a nephew of the former king, after conquering the usurper, established the new capital at Lovek, half-way between Phnom Penh and the Great Lake. King Ang Chan I ordered to construct the royal palace in the new capital where he was crowned in 1553 A.D. Two years later he withstood the attack of Siam at Pursat, which the peace was maintained until the end of his reign in 1566 A.D. The throne was succeeded by his son, Boromreachea IV (ParamaraÆjaÆ) and then transferred to Satha I (Kacchima, 2009:16). In 1590 A.D. the Siamese King Naresuan (Nareßvara) succeeded the throne of Ayutthaya and put the fight against the Burmese invader in 1592 A.D. In the next year he returned to the war against Cambodia and marched to Lovek with an immense army. King Satha I lost in war and took refuge in Laos with his two elder sons, and died there. This situation gave the chance to the intervention of two Europeans, i.e. the Portuguese Diogo Veloso and the Spaniard de Herman Gonzalez. They respectively placed a son of Satha I named Poyea Tan on the throne twice in 1596 and 1598 A.D. In 1599 A.D. Poyea Tan met his end through assassination at the hands of the Cham rebels, who had previously killed the Spaniards and Portuguese in Tbong Khmum Province, near Phnom Penh (Kacchima, 2009:16). The throne was succeeded by his uncle, Poyea An, who also had been killed in the rebellion, after reigning only one year. The high dignitaries of the kingdom then obtained the approval from Siam for releasing the Prince Soriyopear, who had been in custody since the capture of Lovek, and they proclaimed him as king in 1603 A.D. In the interim Poyea Yom, the third son of King Satha I, had acted as regent. In 1618 A.D. King Soriyopear abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Chai Chettha II (Jayajetátháa), who built himself a palace at , which is located between Lovek and Phnom Penh. He married a 15

Vietnamese princess in 1620 A.D., which made the Vietnamese get more control over the Southern provinces of Cambodia. He died in 1628 A.D. (Cœdès, 1969:196). After several intervening reigns of Poyea Tou, Poyea Nu and Ang Non I, there was a palace revolt in 1642 A.D, and the Prince Chan, a son of Chai Chettha II, proclaimed himself as a king under the name Reameathipdei (RaÆmaÆdhipati) (Trueng, 2003; Kacchima, 2009). After a short time he was converted to Islam by the marriage with a Cham princess. But the Buddhist Cambodians, who were opposed to the apostate king, had formed a group and sought support from Vietnam. Then in 1658 A.D. the Vietnamese army was sent to dethrone the apostate king and replaced him with Poyea Sou whose mother was Vietnamese (Cœdès, 1969:198). Poyea Sou was in power during 1659 - 1672 A.D. and upon his death, a struggle for succession ensued between Ang Ton, the viceroy and a son of Poyea Sou. The former was supported by the Vietnamese, but was finally defeated and died in 1691 A.D. The later was crowned king under the name Chai Chettha III and reigned for five times during 1672 - 1706 A.D. with interference of many princes of previous kings. The fratricidal fight resulted into series of civil wars for the throne of these kings, i.e. Ang Im, Thommareachea III, Sattha II, Ang Snguan, Ang Thong, Ang Ton and Ang Non. Each one of them had many reigns of short duration (Trueng, 2003). Finally the civil wars came to an end when the Prince became the king in 1779 A.D. He had previously taken refuge in Siam and was crowned with the support of the Siamese army. King Ang Eng died in 1796 A.D. and was succeeded by his son, Ang Chan II, who was crowned at Bangkok in 1806 A.D. After ruling for five years Ang Chan II felt uncomfortable with Siamese court’s intervention, so sought Vietnamese support to fight against Siam. He lost the campaign and had to take refuge in Saigon, Vietnam twice. He returned to Oudong City in 1833 A.D. and died in the next year. Upon his death the controversy on the throne reappeared when the Vietnamese Emperor managed to prevent both his brothers, who were vassals of Siam, from coming to power, and placed Princess Ang Mei on the throne as nominal ruler under the suzerainty of Vietnam. Her reign lasted only six years from 1835 to 1841 A.D. (Cœdès, 1969: 200; Kacchima, 2009: 20). At this time the Siamese army from Bangkok had brought , the youngest son of King Ang Eng to power, and arranged his coronation in 1848 A.D. After only six years on the throne under the support of Siam, King Ang Duong began to seek the new refuge to balance power 16 between Siam and Vietnam. So, in 1854 A.D. he decided to send emissary to the French consul in Singapore requesting for the aid. The French government sent a mission in the next year, but it failed due to mismanagement. In the next year King Ang Duong asked the Siam Court at Bangkok to send back his eldest son to succeed the throne and passed away in 1859 A.D. (Trueng, 2003: 247 - 252). The two main features of the Post-Angkorian Period, also called Middle Age of Cambodia, were the shift of the capital from the agricultural area at Angkor to Phnom Penh or nearby cities for better location for international trade and the increasing intervention for internal affairs. International trade made the country prosperous and wealthy, but the controversy about the throne which resulted the civil wars, had decreased its capacity to tackle the intervention of the neighbouring countries. Due to the aggression of imperialism, Cambodia lost her independence and became a French protectorate.

1.2.4. Modern Period (1859 A.D. - Present) The modern period of Cambodia, which started around 150 years ago with the colonial era, can be considered as two small phases, i.e. the French protectorate and the independent Cambodia. However, from the perspective of civilization there is no need for the division as the Khmer society was customized by Westernization and was shaped into the present Cambodia. As the wish of King Ang Duong, the throne was ascended by his eldest son, Ang Vadei who was proclaimed as uncrowned king under the name Norodom in 1859 A.D. His brother, Si Vattha, disagreed with it. Si Vattha soon raised a revolt and drove him out of Cambodia in 1861 A.D. Norodom fled to Bangkok and took refuge there for several years, and finally put down the revolt with the help of his second brother, Sisowath and Siamese troops. Although Norodom had been chosen to be the ruler, he was not crowned as a king. According to Khmer tradition, he was considered only as a viceroy. This matter annoyed him, thus he sent the request to the Siamese court for arranging the coronation ceremony and asked to give back the Khmer crown and insignias which were kept in Bangkok. After defeating Vietnam, the French claimed the rights to crown the Cambodia king because Vietnam had controlled some parts of Cambodia before. The French persuaded Norodom to sign a treaty to become a protectorate. The French protectorate was seriously proclaimed in 1864 A.D. and 17 immediately put in force (Vickery, 2002:166). Norodom was crowned two months later in the presence of representatives of France and Siam. Siam, however, only recognized the French protectorate over Cambodia three years later. In the next year, due to instruction of the France Commissioner, King Norodom shifted the Royal Court from Oudong to Phnom Penh. In June 1884 A.D., King Norodom was forced by France to accept administrative, judicial, finance and commercial reform, and directed political control of the kingdom from France. The French agent in Cambodia, called ‘the Resident Superieur’, had absolute power to control the country. Meanwhile, the king had the right to manage only the unimportant activities. King Norodom died in 1904 A.D. His younger brother, Prince Sisowath, was selected by the Council of Regent and the Resident Superieur to succeed the throne (Vickery, 2002:168). After visiting Paris, Prince Sisowath was crowned as the king of Cambodia in 1906 A.D. In the next year, French troops invaded Siamese territory and capture Chanthaburi Province. At last, the Siamese court gave , , and Sisophon provinces to Cambodia in order to get rid of the French army from Chanthaburi. In Sisowath’s reign the French authority provided many projects on education, such as Pali school, School of Administration and the museum. King Sisowath passed away in 1927 A.D. Prince , the elder son who attended a French military academy and was given the charge as a lieutenant in the , was elected to succeed him (Kacchima, 2009:21). When the Word War II started, the Thai (former Siam) army had attacked the French Legion in Cambodia. The French troops were defeated during that battle in 1939 A.D. Due to that incident France was forced to return the provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap, and Sisophon to Thailand. King Sisowath Monivong was very angry with the treaty which was imposed by French authority, then became unwell and died in 1941 A.D. (Trueng, 2003:274). The throne did not belong to his son but transferred to his 18-year-old grandson, Prince by the French commission’s decision. His coronation was held in April, 1941 A.D. under the royal name Norodom Sihanouk Varman (Narottama Sihanu Varman) in order to remind to the brilliance of the Angkor Empire. During World War II, in 1945 A.D. the Japanese army went through Indochina and overcame the French troops there. Soon the Japanese authority asked the rulers of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to proclaim independence. Along with independence the first constitution of Cambodia was promulgated by King Norodom Sihanouk to change the 18 country to a democracy. Subsequently the first election was held according to the new constitution. But the first independence did not last long. After lost in World War II, France returned to power in Indochina. This situation caused the Thai government to return the three provinces to Cambodia in 1946 A.D. By force from the French commission, King Norodom Sihanouk had to sign the treaty on the topic of giving the area of Kampochia Krom (Southern Vietnam) to Vietnam in 1949 A.D. (Kacchima, 2009:21). The complete independence from French authority came to Cambodia 1953 A.D. through serious effort called Royal Crusade for Independence of King Norodom Sihanouk who was later called ‘Father of National Independence’. Then in 1955 A.D. King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated the throne in favour of his father, Prince Norodom Suramarit, and became a prince in order to freely participate in the political activities. Prince Norodom Sihanouk formed his own political movement called Sangkum Reastr Niyum (Popular Socialist Community) and became a prime minister in the same year (Chandler, 2008:231). King Norodom Suramarit was the grandson of King Norodom. His coronation was held on 5th March 1955 A.D. King Norodom Suramarit complained that the troops of South Vietnam had crossed the boundary and took many villages situated inside Cambodia. Be angry with this allegation, the bomb assassination was arranged to harm the Cambodian Royal House. Fortunately the king and queen who were residing with the Prime Minister in the neighbouring room were uninjured. Prince Norodom Sihanouk blamed the Vietnamese government for the attack because the bomb was sent from the American military base in South Vietnam. The death of King Norodom Suramarit in 1960 A.D., resulted in the crisis over the constitutional arrangement about the successor of the throne. To solve this problem the Council of Nation agreed to appoint Prince Norodom Sihanouk to be the chief of state (Chandler, 2008:235). In 1970 A.D. General Lon Nol accompanied Prince Sisowath Sirimatak by the support of US army made the coup against Norodom Sihanouk while he was in Beijing, China. After changing the country to a Republic, in the next year Lon Nol was offered the position of Marshal and elected as the Prime Minister. Moreover, after President Chen Heng announced his resignation, Lon Nol became the President of the Republic of Cambodia. The nightmare haunted Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge, Cambodian communists, captured the capital of Phnom Penh in 1974 A.D. and pushed the country into the communist atrocity. The Khmer Rouge leaders 19 renamed the country to the , and then subjected Cambodia to a radical social reform procedure for creating a purely agriculture-based communist society. The city-dwellers were forced to shift to the countryside, where they were subjected to labour. About two million Cambodian out of eight million at that time died in genocide and overwork (Lum, 2007:2). Four years later, the Khmer Rouge lost power to the Vietnamese military in 1978 A.D., but continued controlling some regions. At last, in 1998 A.D., their final stronghold fell to the government army. For a decade, the Vietnamese military dominated Cambodian government and was maintained there with the pretence of political protection. In 1989 A.D, due to pressure from international organizations, the Vietnamese army withdrew the last troops from Cambodia’s borders. Then the government renamed the country to the State of Cambodia. Due to the civil war between the government and opponents, the Cambodian government ruled fragmentarily until the Paris Peace Agreements in 1991 A.D. which affected the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). Supported by the troops from the United Nations, the UNTAC took charge of the free election held in May 1993 A.D. The new constitution was adopted and King Norodom Sihanouk assumed the throne once again after 52 years since he had been initially crowned as king (Samsopheap, 2005:59). King Sihanouk remained as the symbol of the nation until 2004 A.D. then abdicated the throne in favour of his son, Prince Norodom SiÆhamuniÆ. The Prince holds the royal name ‘Somdej BaromanaÆth SiÆhamuniÆ’ and reigns until now.

1.3. Religions in Ancient Cambodia The religious history of ancient Cambodia is founded on the compromise of the followers. From the time of the Funan Kingdom in the beginning of the Christian era to the 14th Century A.D., and Buddhism were the two great Indian religions which played very important roles in Khmer society. Both religions were introduced to Indochina through traders from the Indian subcontinent. Their influence can be seen in the sacred monuments and epigraphs of Cambodia. Generally, the Khmer rulers always showed their great tolerance to religious beliefs and provided support to both Hinduism and Buddhism. The oldest archaeological evidence from the time of Funan is Buddhist, telling that Buddhism probably preceded Hinduism 20

(Glaize, 1997:13). The oldest epigraphic evidence is the Vo-Canh Inscription found in Nha-Trang, Southern Vietnam. The text of the inscription, however, is very obscure. Some scholars assumed it as a Buddhist record, but it was rejected by Bhattacharya (1961:11). During the period from the end of the 5th Century A.D. to the middle of the 6th Century A.D. three inscriptions were found which indicate the prevalence of Hinduism and Buddhism. Two Vaisánáavite inscriptions were found in the southern Cambodia and most south of Vietnam. Both are associated with King Jayavarman of Funan (also known as Kaunádáinya Jayavarman) who died in 514 A.D. The first Inscription, K.875, was written by his queen, KulaprabhaÆvatiÆ, telling the installation of a Visánáu image. Another Inscription, K.5, of his son Prince Gunáavarman records the consecration of a footprint of Visánáu called CakratiÆrthasvaÆmiÆ. The text also mentions the existence of Hindu priests of the Bhagavata Sect for the first time (Bhattacharya, 1961:12). The third inscription, K.40, of King Rudravarman, who ascended the throne after King Jayavarman of Funan, is clearly a Buddhist record. The inscription begins with an invocation to the Buddha then mentions the holy relics and the Buddhist triple gems (Harris, 2005:3). It is difficult to conclude whether it belongs to Mahayana or Theravada Sect, because even though it was written in Sanskrit, there is no reference to any Bodhisattva. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to say that King Rudravarman was a Buddhist, as two later Inscriptions, i.e. K.44 and K.540, referred to the kings named Raudravarman and Rodravarman respectively engaged in the establishment of §iva and Visánáu images. Scholars identify both names as a variation of Rudravarman, and the name itself reflects the cult of the god Rudra. Hinduism became prominent with the support of Chenla kings and spread widely along with the expanding territories of the royal court as confirmed by the prevalence of Hindu god images such as §iva, Visánáu and Harihara from that time. The early Chenla kings who conquered Funan, Bhavavarman I and Mahendravarman, were obviously §aivite. King Bhavavarman I expressed his sovereignty by the erection of a linæga named Tryambakeßvara as mentioned in K.213, from Phnom Banday Nang. He is said in later inscriptions to be a devotee of §iva, especially GambiÆreßvara, and he constructed one temple dedicated to that god. The Paßupati School of §aivism got special support from the aristocrats, as K.733 mentions the donation made by a high official named VidyaÆpusápa who was head of Paßupatas. It is, however, recognised the continuation of Vaisánáavism. Inscription K.359 records that a 21 sister of Bhavavarman I married to a Brahmin named Somaßarman and they donated the texts of MahaÆbhaÆrata, RaÆmaÆyanáa and PuraÆnáas to the temple. Prince Citrasena, who assumed the name Mahendravarman after ascending the throne, installed many linægas under the name GiriÆßa, and images of Nandi, the sacred cow, in various places to commemorate his victories, probably over Funan. The next King IÆßaÆnavarman I, after completely conquering Funan, established the new capital of IÆßaÆnapura. Many inscriptions shows the dominance of §aivism and the significance of §iva Prahasiteßvara. His reign witnessed an arrival of the Harihara Cult, the united form of §iva and Visánáu. In India the Harihara Cult appeared for the first time around 450 A.D. in Badami and Mahaballipura (Sharan, 1974: 234). K.60, dated 626 A.D., refers to King IÆßaÆnavarman I and records the installation of an image of Harihara by the vassal chief of TaÆmrapura (Majumdar, 1953: 29-30). Even though Hinduism was apparently supported by the royal court of Chenla, Buddhism was continuously active in the society and the king was also involved in some Buddhist activities. K.49, the Vat Prei Val Inscription, narrates that in the year 665 A.D. King Jayavarman I appointed §ubhakiÆrti, son of the niece of two Buddhist monks, namely RatnabhaÆnu and Ratnasinæha, to look after the temple’s property of those monks. The significant evidence of the prevalence of Theravada Buddhism in the Chenla Period is K.820, the portion of Pali text engraved on the back of the 7th Century A.D. Buddha image from Toul Prah That, Prei Veng Province. Pali, in fact, is the canonical language of Theravada School. The epigraphs show that Buddhism could get more support in the region of nowadays eastern and north-eastern parts of Thailand. K.505, the Khau Rang Inscription, dated 639 A.D., from Prachinburi, Thailand enumerates the gifts of monastic slaves, plantations and treasures by Sihnav to VihaÆra. An inscription from Neon Sra Bua dated 761 A.D. is written in Pali and Khmer. It contains three Pali stanzas from the TelakatáaÆha GaÆthaÆ to pay homage to the Buddhist triple gems. Since the TelakatáaÆha GaÆthaÆ was composed in Sri Lanka, this inscription testifies the strong influence of the Theravada Sect from Sir Lanka before the 13th Century A.D. Additional evidence from North-eastern Thailand is K.388 and K.389, which were written in both Sanskrit and Khmer. The inscriptions mention the donation of ten VihaÆras, four boundary stones (SiÆmaÆ) and some Caitayas dedicated to the Buddha by RaÆjabhiksáu, the royal monk. The contemporary inscription, K.163, from Prasad Ampil Rolum, Kampong Thom narrates that Poñ Prajñacandra made donation to the trinity 22 of Buddhist deities, i.e. Vrahá Kamratenæ Añ SaÆstaÆ (Buddha), Vrahá Kamratenæ Añ Maitreya and Vrahá Kamratenæ Añ Avalokiteßvara (Harris, 2005:10). However, Cœdès (1968:94) has chosen the Inscription K.244 as the earliest Mahayana inscription with the date 791 A.D. This inscription is from Ta Kom Temple, Siem Reap and records the erection of an image of Lokeßvara consecrated with the name Jagadißvara. But the Inscription K.132 describes the installation of an image of VidyaÆdharanáiÆ in 693 A.D. by a physician. Harris (2005:11) identified that image with the goddess PajñaÆpaÆramitaÆ. This inscription probably is the true earliest dated Mahayana record. The earliest sign of the syncretism of Hinduism and Buddhism is reflected in the Inscription K.604 from Sambor Prei Kuk, dated 627 A.D., which mentions that the teacher of the §aiva Paßupata Sect, VidyaÆvißesáa by name, also studied Buddhism. At the beginning of the Angkor Empire, King Jayavarman II, who came from JavaÆ, after ascending the throne in 802 A.D., introduced the institution of a new cult of §aivism, DevaraÆja, which was constantly practiced until the decline of the Khmer Empire (Glaize, 1997:13-15). The Sdok Kak Thom Inscription, K.235, gives information regarding the privilege of family of §ivakaivalya, who was in charge of maintaining the adoration of DevaraÆja for 250 years. Moreover, there was the tradition of apotheosis that could benefit particularly the king via the posthumous names indicating the celestial abode of the departed monarch. Many Angkorian inscriptions, from the beginning of the 9th Century A.D., mention the §aivaÆgamas. It makes clear that the priests conducting such rites must draw from the Brahmanical families of North Indian origin. Indeed, the Phum Ta Tru Inscription, K.538, dated 978 A.D., states that the royal chaplain named DivaÆkarabhatátáa came from the banks of Yamuna River in Northern India. K.300, the last Sanskrit inscription from the late 13th Century A.D., mentions that the priest Sarvajñamuni came from AÆryadeßa, i.e. Northern India. The next king, Jayavarman III, is considered as the first Vaisánáavite king, from the posthumous name Visánáuloka. King Indravarman I had a chaplain or Purohita, named §ivasoma who was not only from the royal family, but also learnt from the feet of §anækaraÆcaÆrya, the great Indian founder of Advaita Vedanta School of Philosophy. Like Jayavarman II, Indravarman I was apparently a §aivite devotee. Inscriptional evidence from his reign, however, shows that Buddhism had not entirely disappeared. A Sanskrit Inscription, K.295, from the Mun Valley of Thailand dated 886 A.D. describes that in the reign of Indravarman I, SomaÆditya made donations of fields, 23 gardens, animals dedicating merit to his father. The text also notes the installation of the stone image of TrailokyanaÆtha, the master of all MuniÆs. Majumdar (1953:74) identified the image with the Buddha. King Yaßovarman I is known for patronising all the prevailing cults and sects. He established 108 YaßodharaÆßramas throughout the empire in honour of various gods such as the god Pañcalingeßvara, Ganeßa, KaÆrttikeya, NaÆraÆyanáa, BrahmaraÆksáasa, and the goddess NidraÆ and RudraÆnáiÆ. Additionally, he ordered AÆßramas dedicated to particular religious followers built, i.e. BrahmanáaÆßrama to §aivite, VaisánáavaÆßrama to Vaisánáavite and Saugataßrama to Buddhist. King Jayavarman IV, after shifting the capital to Chok Gargyar, showed his dominant sovereignty by establishing the huge 35-meter-high royal Linæga Tribhuvaneßvara at the centre of the capital. The inscriptions also designate this linæga by the name ‘Kamratenæ Jagat ta Rajya’ which means the god who is the royalty (Cœdès, 1968:14-15). In the 10th Century A.D. King Rajendravarman II was a constant §aivite. After re-establishing Yaßodharapura, he constructed numerous temples dedicated to the god §iva. He enjoyed consecrating various linægas corresponding to his name, such as Rajendreßvara and Rajendrabhadreßvara. In his reign the longest Sanskrit inscription of Cambodia, K.806, containing 298 §lokas from Prasad Pre Rup, was composed in 961 A.D. Bhattacharya noticed that the author of the inscription was probably the most erudite figure of Cambodia (Harris, 2005:15). The inscription provides information showing his great tolerance of all religions and that besides the Vedas and Vedanægas, RaÆjendravarman II also studied the Buddhist scriptures. One of his important officers, KaviÆndraÆrimathana, was named as the architect in the construction of the East Mebon, a §aivite temple. KaviÆndraÆrimathana was clearly a devout Buddhist. He also constructed Bat Cum Temple to house the images of the Buddha, VajrapaÆnái and PrajñaÆpaÆramitaÆ. Furthermore, the Inscription K.157 from Prasad Kdei Car dated 973 A.D. informs that VihaÆra was constructed to enshrine the bronze images of Lokeßvara and DeviÆ (PrajñaÆpaÆramitaÆ) by RaÆjendravarman II himself. In the reign of the next King Jayavarman V, §aivism was still flourishing. Buddhism was however supported, as attested by K.111 of Vat Sithor dated 968 A.D. which indicated the extent of Mahayanist philosophy. The author of the text, KiÆrtipanádáita, was a servant of the king. He started his passage with an invocation to the Buddha, Dharma and Bodhisattvas, then the adoration for TrikaÆya, the triple body of the 24

Buddha, and emphasised the importance of the NairaÆtmaya (Emptiness) and CittamaÆtra (Subjectivity) like the sun brings back the day. The specific mention of commentaries of the Tattvasamágraha and Madhyantavibhanæga in the inscription obviously shows the existence of the YogaÆcara School of Mahayana Buddhism at that time. K.214, from Phnom Banday Nang and dated 928 A.D., is also connected with Jayavarman V’s reign. In Sanskrit part, the author Tribhuvanavajra praised the Buddha’s triple body (TrikaÆya) then prayed to the Lokeßvara and PrajñaÆpaÆramitaÆ who is the mother of all Buddhas. The Khmer part mentions that he made many donations to the goddess TrilokyavijayaÆgiÆßvariÆ, i.e. PrajñaÆpaÆramitaÆ. Another Buddhist inscription is K.225 from Thmar Pouk, dated seven years later. The inscription records the complex set of Buddhist deities consisting of the Buddha, PajñaÆpaÆramitaÆ, Lokeßvara, Maitreya, Vajrin (VajrapaÆnáiÆ) and Indra which were enshrined by Padmavairocana. In this period the synchronism of Hinduism and Buddhism is revealed. K.173 from Phnom Kulen, or the ancient Mahendraparvata, mentions the establishment of these images, namely TathaÆgata and Maheßvara, in 947 A.D. King SuÆryavarman I ended the civil war between himself and JayaviÆravarman in the early A.D. as the conqueror. He is considered the first Buddhist king as his the posthumous name ‘NirvaÆnapada’ denotes. One of his inscriptions, K.410, found at Lopburi, central Thailand states that Mahayanist and SthaviÆra monks lived along with Brahmanical ascetics peacefully in his empire. They were ordered to transfer merit from their austerities to the king and anyone who disturbed their holy retreats was expelled and heavily punished. The practice of synchronistic idea of both religions was sustained and generally accepted. K.161, dated 1002 A.D., starts with an invocation to §iva NaÆtáaraÆja and then the Buddha. Similarly, K.953 from Phimay, dated 1041 A.D., contains a prayer to §iva on one side and to the Buddha on another side. The religious combination produced the new idea of the supreme god which adapted from the basic of TrimuÆrti called CuturmuÆrti. This unique belief, which was never found in India, is shown in K.237 from Prasad Prah Khset of King UdayaÆrkavarman (another name of UdayaÆdityavarman II) dated in §aka Era 989 equal to 1067 A.D. There is a reference about the installation of gods called CaturmuÆrti consisting of a phallus of §iva, statue of BrahmaÆ, Visánáu and Buddha by Samákarsáa. The probable explanation is that it is related to the growth of Tantric principles in the Angkor Empire. The clear evidence of Buddhist tantric concept is K.1158 dated 1066 25

A.D. The Sanskrit part of the text refers to the five Buddhas (Pañcasaugata) together with the Vajrasattva as their Purohita or chaplain. The Khmer part provides valuable information that nine images of the Buddha and Lokeßvara were installed on the top of a mountain in a ceremony to be free from JavaÆ (Prabhanvidya, 1990:12). Since the announcement of independence from JavaÆ occurred in the time of Jayavarman II, thus according to this text the tantric Buddhism can be traced back to the 9th Century A.D. King SuÆryavarman I also engaged in many Hindu activities. In the A.D. after ascending the throne SuÆryavarman II, the second Vaisánáavite king, constructed the gigantic temple Angkor Vat dedicated to his beloved god Visánáu. He was given the posthumous name ‘Paramavisánáuloka’ which indicates that Vaisánáavism enjoyed high position at the royal court. Cœdès (1968:162) noticed that the movement of Vaisánáavism of Angkor was synchronous with religious movement in India inspired by RaÆmaÆnuja, the founder of modern Vaisánáavism. The last great king of Angkor, Jayavarman VII, is clearly Buddhist, same as his father, DharanáiÆndravarman II. He also married two Buddhist princesses, i.e. JayadeviÆ and IndradeviÆ. The latter, who was a great follower of Mahayana and Sanskrit scholar, composed the most beautiful Sanskrit inscription of Phimanakas, K.485. During the reign of Jayavarman VII, Mahayana Buddhism got the stronghold for the state religion as reflected in Buddhist temples throughout his vast empire. In 1186 A.D. the king constructed RaÆjavihaÆra Temple to enshrine an image of his mother JayaraÆjacuÆdáaÆmanái in the form of PrajñaÆpaÆramitaÆ. Five years later Jayavarman VII dedicated the JayaßriÆ Temple to his father, King DharanáiÆndravarman II deified in the form of Lokeßvara Bodhisattva under the name Jayavarmeßvara. Jayavarman VII, in addition, replaced the DevaraÆja Cult of the preceding reigns with BuddharaÆja, which represented with the Buddha images and the faces of Bodhisattva Lokeßvara Samantamukha in the upper part of all sanctuaries (Cœdès, 1968:175). Jayavarman VII ordered construction of 102 hospitals throughout the empire which were placed under the protection of the healer Buddha, Bhaisáajyaguru VaiduÆryaprabhaÆ. However, the promotion of Mahayana Buddhism was not to last, due to the return of §aivism in the late 13th Century A.D. §aivism is latter replaced by Theravada Buddhism which Cambodians have remained faithful until the present.

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1.4. The Inscriptions of Cambodia Dr. D.C. Sircar wrote that Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions, and ‘inscriptions’ literally means any writing engraved on some objects (Sircar, 1965:1). In India, inscriptions were incised on various kinds of materials which can be divided into three main categories, i.e. stone, metal and clay. But sometimes miscellaneous materials like crystal, ivory, conch-shells, tortoise shells and wooden boards engraved with inscriptions are also found (Diskalkar, 1979). The great importance of inscriptions lies in the fact that they offer valuable information about personages and events of history and are considered as primary sources. Some inscriptions provide exact dates of historical events. Among the merits of epigraphic records as sources to study society, economy, politics and the history of people in that country, the foremost is the fact that their authors were contemporary to those events. The inscriptions which have been found in Cambodia are considered as the largest number that has been discovered among the Southeast Asian countries. The first scholar who had shown interest in the inscriptions of Cambodia was Heinrich Kern. He published some inscriptions in 1873 A.D. Since then Auguste Bath, Abel Bergaigne, M. Aymonier and Lunet de Lajonquiere, with the support of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient translated from Sanskrit to French and published almost all of the inscriptions. Geoges Cœdès is the most eminent scholar who devoted his life to throw light on Cambodian inscriptions. He gradually collected many inscriptions as possible during his life time and published them in eight volumes containing the inscriptions dated from the 5th - 14th Centuries A.D. His work comprises of 1,005 inscriptions covering the whole territory of Cambodia and some parts of Thailand and Laos. Most of the Cambodian inscriptions are §aivite, some are Vaisánáavite and a few of them are Buddhist records. The epigraphic evidence illustrates the existence of different sects, such as PañcaraÆtra, Paßupata, Bhagavata, YogacaÆra and Tantra. These inscriptions also give information of religious condition during that time such as the compromise of those religions. The gods §iva, Visánáu and the Buddha were worshipped side by side, sometimes by the members of the same family. The worship of footprints not only of Visánáu, but also of §iva was a distinctive custom. The dominance of Brahmins who were well versed the in Vedas, Vedanægas and PuraÆnáas as 27 shown in some inscriptions is good evidence of the partial adoption of the caste system. 1.4.1. Languages of Inscriptions The content of the Cambodian inscriptions was written in both Sanskrit and Khmer. The Sanskrit inscriptions dating from the 5th - 14th Centuries A.D. and found all over Cambodia, display a very flourishing situation of Sanskrit learning. The number of such inscriptions written in ornate KaÆvya style is larger in Cambodia than any other land of Southeast Asia, and many of them are fairly long. According to Philip Jenner, the Sanskrit inscriptions are 503 in numbers (Indana, 2003). The Sanskrit inscriptions generally start with a eulogy to the gods, and then give the genealogy of the king at that time and his brilliant activities. Some inscriptions give the details of some incidents by praising the king who conquered his enemies. The Sanskrit language which appeared in Cambodian inscriptions illustrates the height level of skill of the authors. However, the orthographic features of the Sanskrit inscriptions of Cambodia are slightly different from the prototype as Majumdar has noticed. The Sanskrit epigraphs of Cambodia regularly exhibit the substitution of ‘dá’ for ‘d’ and ‘ná’ for ‘n’ and vice versa. The use of ‘næ’ for AnusvaÆra, the change of Visarga before a sibilant to the same sibilant, the occasional reduplication of a consonant before and after ‘r’ as well as ‘y’, the use of ‘tv’ for ‘ttv’ and of JihvaÆmuÆliÆya and UpadhmaÆniÆya for Visarga before the guttural and labial surds, the occasional use of Candrabindu for AnusvaÆra and the frequency of ‘v’ in the place of ‘b’ already have noticed (Majumdar, 1953: xv-xvi). The earliest Sanskrit inscription of Cambodia is Vo-Canh Inscription found in Nha-Trang District, Southern Vietnam which is the oldest in and can be dated back to the 2nd or the 3rd Century A.D. (Kulke, 1991:5). The inscription refers to the descendant of a ruler named §riÆ MaÆra. Cœdès (1968: 40) assumed an identity of §riÆ MaÆra with Fan man or Fan Shi-man, the great king of Funan in the 3rd Century A.D. But Jean Filliozat (1969) argued for the Panádáya King of Southern India through the Tamil royal title §ri MaÆran. is used in the early inscriptions to describe details of the donations such as the lists of servants and offerings in the AÆßrama, or temple. The Khmer language gradually developed in style, telling more details of historical events. The Khmer inscriptions especially in the Angkorian Period can be considered as the 28 literature of Ancient Khmer. The inscriptions, which have been found so far, are 619 in numbers. Among those, there are 164 inscriptions belonging to the Pre-Angkorian Period and 455 to the Angkorian Period (Long, 2000:6A). The oldest inscription written in Khmer is K.600, found at Angkor Borei with the §aka Era equal to 611 A.D. Besides this inscription, there are many inscriptions from Angkor Borei, such as the Vat Thleang Inscription (K.1), the Vat Po Vong Le Inscription (K.11), the Angkor Borei Inscription (K.25), the Prah Vihar Inscription (K.520) and others which were not dated, but the character of the scripts matched with K.600. According to Jacob (1979:406-407), the Khmer inscriptions were intended to record for the benefit of the public giving the details of the religious foundations to which they were related. The content of a Khmer inscription given in maximum usually appears as follows: (i) The date or name of the reigning king; (ii) The title and names of donors; (iii) The name of the god; (iv) The names of the people from whom the donor obtained land to offer to the foundation; (v) Details of the price paid to those who relinquished land for the foundation; (vi) The extent, location and capacity of the donated rice-fields; (vii) The names of the donated slaves with an indication of their duties; (viii) Details of the subsistence to be given to the religious personnel; (ix) Details of other land given to the foundation: orchards, market gardens, etc.; (x) List of precious objects given to the foundation; (xi) The statement that the revenues are to be combined with those of another foundation; (xii) Warning of punishment for anyone using or abusing the belongings of the foundation. Most of the inscriptions do not have even half of these sections. 1.4.2. Scripts of Inscriptions The scripts employed in the Cambodian inscriptions can be categorised into several stages of development. The earliest evidence of script in Cambodia can be traced to the Vo-Canh Inscription. The script used in this inscription is very similar to the script engraved in the Girnar Inscription of RudradaÆman around 150 A.D. Some of 29 the minor differences, however, show similarity with the scripts of Southern India particularly in the area under control of IÆksávaÆku Dynasty in Andra Pradesh around the 3rd Century A.D. (Filliozat, 1969; de Casparis, 1979). But it is the only example of this kind of script. Apart from the Vo-Canh Inscription, the script which epigraphists believe to be the prototype of all scripts of Southeast Asia called Pallava script or Southern BrahmiÆ script emerged around the 5th Century A.D. Many inscriptions from the early time of the Chenla Kingdom show much similarity with the script used in the Southern India, particularly in the Pallava Empire of KaÆñcipuram. The view of using the name ‘Pallava scripts’ to denote the scripts in Southeast Asian inscriptions was generally accepted since Vogel’s masterly study of the Kutai Inscriptions in 1918 A.D., and was strengthened by the work of B. Ch. Chhabra (de Casparis, 1979:382). However, this idea was denied by Sircar. He pointed out that the alphabet used in Pallava inscriptions during the 4th - 6th Centuries A.D. is really the Late BraÆhmiÆ, of the same type as used in other parts of India. Furthermore, the §aka Era which was frequently used in Cambodian inscriptions never appeared in Pallava inscriptions, and the features of Cambodian inscriptions tend to demonstrate influence from the western part of India, particularly the Kannada-speaking region (Sircar, 1996:202- 203). After using the Indian scripts for centuries in the 8th Century A.D. the people of Chenla developed the script into an individual style by changing some elaborate lines to simple ones. This type of script is called ‘Post-Pallava’ on account of its unique distinction from the pattern of the Pallava script. This change also occurred in other indigenous kingdoms in Southeast Asia, i.e. DvaraÆvatiÆ of Mon, CampaÆ and §riÆvijaya. By the beginning of the Angkorian Period in the 9th Century A.D. the script became typically Khmer and acquired the distinct form. The people of the Angkor Empire held this type as their own script as attested by inscription at Lolei Temple stating that the content was written with KambujaÆksáara, the alphabet of KambujaÆ. After this time, the style changed very little, although all carvers did not write in the same way. The unique development in the Angkorian Period is the upper part of the alphabet called ‘Sak’ (hair) which was elaborated in various styles. In some cases it can be assumed the time of script by considering its Sak. After that during the reign of King Jayavarman VII in the 12th Century A.D., the Khmer script was improved to a 30 unique style. Its appearance was in squared figure (Freeman & Jacques, 2003:38) and the ‘Sak’ was elaborately designed in beautiful style similar to the quotation mark. After the end of Jayavarman VII’s reign came the Post-Angkorian Period or Middle Age of Cambodia. Due to many wars and internal conflicts for the throne of Cambodia, the Khmer script seems to have declined from the elaborate to simple style as if the scribes wanted to carve the letter in limited time. The inscriptions during this phase immensely decreased in number, and all were written in Khmer. No Sanskrit inscription of this period has been found so far. From the 19th Century A.D. the script continued to evolve into the modern script which is used today. The modern Khmer script has two forms of writing, namely Mul (Curly or Round) and Chrieng (Oblique or Italic). The Mul form obviously developed from the Middle Age script by modifying the stroke into straight and zigzag lines and the shape of script is quite round as its name denotes. The Mul form is used to write Pali texts, and titles or headings of the books or newspapers. The Chrieng form simplified the zigzag stroke of the Mul form to the easier lines and the stroke of writing is oblique as its name signifies. The Chrieng script is used to write the common texts.