History
Jayavarman II - the founder of Angkor
The first data on Jayavarman
II came from K.235 stone inscription on a stele in Sdok Kok
Thom temple, Isan
region. Dating 1053 AD. it recounts two and a half centuries of service
that members of the temple's founding family provided to the Khmer
court, mainly as chief chaplains of shivaite (Hindu) cult.[5]
According to an elder interpretation, Jayavarman II was supposed to
be a prince who lived at the court of Sailendra
in Java
(today's Indonesia) and brought back to his home the art
and culture of Javanese Sailendran court to Cambodia.[6]
This classical theory was revisited by modern scholars, such as Claude
Jacques[7]
and Michael Vickery, who noted that Khmer called chvea the Chams,
their close neighbours.[8]
Moreover Jayavarman's political career began at Vyadhapura
(probably Banteay Prei Nokor) in eastern Cambodia,
which make more probable long time contacts with them (even skirmishes,
as the inscription suggests) than a long stay in distant Java.[9]
Finally, many elder temples on Phnom Kulen shows both Cham (e.g. Prasat
Damrei Krap) and Javanese influences (e.g. the primitive "temple-mountain"
of Aram Rong Cen and Prasat Thmar Dap), even if their asymmetric
distribution seems typically khmer.[10]
After he eventually returned to his home, the former kingdom of Chenla, he
quickly built up his influence, conquered a series of competing kings,
and in 790 AD became king of a kingdom called "Kambuja" by the Khmer. In
the following years he extended his territory and eventually
established his new capital of Hariharalaya
near the modern Cambodian town of Roluos. He thereby laid the
foundation of Angkor, which was to arise some 15 km to the northwest. In
802 he declared himself Chakravartin, in a ritual taken from the
Indian-Hindu tradition. Thereby he not only became the divinely
appointed and therefore uncontested ruler, but also simultaneously
declared the independence of his kingdom from Java.
Jayavarman II died in the year 834 C.E. and he was succeeded by his son Jayavarman III.[11]
Jayavarman III died in 877 C.E. and was succeeded by Indravarman I.
Yasodharapura - the first city of Angkor
Jayavarman II's successors continually extended the territory of
Kambuja. Indravarman I (reigned 877 - 889 AD) managed
to expand the kingdom without wars, and he began extensive building
projects, thanks to the wealth gained through trade and agriculture.
Foremost were the temple of Preah Ko
and irrigation works. He was followed by his son Yasovarman I (reigned 889 - 915 AD), who
established a new capital, Yasodharapura
- the first city of Angkor
The city's central temple was built on Phnom
Bakheng, a hill which rises around 60 m above the plain on which
Angkor sits. Under Yasovarman I the East
Baray was also created, a massive water reservoir of 7.5 by 1.8 km.
At the beginning of the 10th century the kingdom split. Jayavarman IV
established a new capital at Koh Ker,
some 100 km northeast of Angkor. Only with Rajendravarman II (reigned 944 - 968 AD)
was the royal palace returned to Yasodharapura. He took up again the
extensive building schemes of the earlier kings and established a series
of temples in the Angkor area; not the least being the East
Mebon, on an island in the middle of the East Baray, and several
Buddhist temples and monasteries. In 950 AD, the first war took place
between Kambuja and the kingdom of Champa to
the east (in the modern central Vietnam).
From 968 to 1001 AD. reigned the son of Rajendravarman II, Jayavarman
V. After he had established himself as the new king over the other
princes, his rule was a largely peaceful period, marked by prosperity
and a cultural flowering. He established a new capital near
Yashodharapura, Jayenanagari. At the court of Jayavarman V lived
philosophers, scholars and artists. New temples were also established:
the most important of these are Banteay
Srei, considered one of the most beautiful and artistic of Angkor,
and Ta Keo,
the first temple of Angkor built completely of sandstone.
After the death of Jayavarman V a decade of conflict followed. Kings
reigned only for a few years, and were successively violently replaced
by their successors until eventually Suryavarman
I (reigned 1010 - 1050 AD) gained the throne. His rule was marked
by repeated attempts by his opponents to overthrow him and by military
conquests. In the west he extended the kingdom to the modern Lopburi
in Thailand,
in the south to the Kra Isthmus. At Angkor, construction of the West
Baray began under Suryavarman I, the second and even larger (8 by
2.2 km) water reservoir after the Eastern Baray.No one knows if he had
children or wives
Suryavarman II - Angkor Wat
The 11th century was a time of conflict and brutal power struggles.
Only with Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–1150) was the
kingdom united internally and extended externally. Under his rule, the
largest temple of Angkor was built in a period of 37 years: Angkor
Wat, dedicated to the god Vishnu.
Suryavarman II conquered the Mon
kingdom of Haripunjaya to the west (in
today's central Thailand), and the area further west to the border with
the kingdom of Bagan (modern Burma), in
the south further parts of the Malay peninsula down to the kingdom
of Grahi
(corresponding roughly to the modern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat), in the east several provinces of Champa
and the countries in the north as far as the southern border of modern Laos.
Suryavarman II's end is unclear. The last inscription, which mentions
his name in connection with a planned invasion of Vietnam,
is from the year 1145. He died during a failed military expedition in Đại Việt territory around 1145 and 1150.
There followed another period in which kings reigned briefly and were
violently overthrown by their successors. Finally in 1177 Kambuja was
defeated in a naval battle on the Tonlé Sap lake by the army of the
Chams, and was incorporated as a province of Champa.
Jayavarman VII - Angkor Thom
The future king Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–1219) was
already a military leader as prince under previous kings. After the Cham
had conquered Angkor, he gathered an army and regained the capital,
Yasodharapura. In 1181 he ascended the throne and continued the war
against the neighbouring eastern kingdom for a further 22 years, until
the Khmer defeated Champa in 1203 and conquered large parts of its
territory.
Jayavarman VII stands as the last of the great kings of Angkor, not
only because of the successful war against the Cham, but also because he
was no tyrannical ruler in the manner of his immediate predecessors,
because he unified the empire, and above all because of the building
projects carried out under his rule. The new capital now called Angkor
Thom (literally: "Great City") was built. In the centre, the king
(himself a follower of Mahayana Buddhism) had constructed as
the state temple the Bayon, with its towers bearing faces of the boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara, each
several metres high, carved out of stone. Further important temples
built under Jayavarman VII were Ta Prohm,
Banteay Kdei and Neak
Pean, as well as the reservoir of Srah
Srang. Alongside, an extensive network of streets was laid down,
which connected every town of the empire. Beside these streets 121
rest-houses were built for traders, officials and travellers. Not least
of all, he established 102 hospitals.
Zhou Daguan - the last blooming
After the death of Jayavarman VII, his son Indravarman II (reigned 1219–1243) ascended the throne. Like his
father, he was a Buddhist, and completed a series of temples begun
under his father's rule. As a warrior he was less successful. In the
year 1220, under mounting pressure from increasingly powerful Đại Việt, and its Cham alliance, the Khmer withdrew
from many of the provinces previously conquered from Champa. In
the west, his Thai subjects rebelled, established the first
Thai kingdom at Sukhothai and pushed
back the Khmer. In the following 200 years, the Thais would become the
chief rivals of Kambuja. Indravarman II was succeeded by Jayavarman VIII (reigned 1243–1295). In contrast to his
predecessors, he was a Hindu and an aggressive opponent of Buddhism[citation needed]. He
destroyed most of the Buddha statues in the empire (archaeologists
estimate the number at over 10,000, of which few traces remain) and
converted Buddhist temples to Hindu temples.[citation needed] From
the outside, the empire was threatened in 1283 by the Mongols under Kublai
Khan's general Sagatu. The king
avoided war with his powerful opponent, who at this time ruled over all
China, by paying annual tribute to him. Jayavarman VIII's rule ended in
1295 when he was deposed by his son-in-law Srindravarman
(reigned 1295–1309). The new king was a follower of Theravada Buddhism, a school of
Buddhism which had arrived in southeast Asia from Sri
Lanka and subsequently spread through most of the region.
In August 1296, the Chinese diplomat Zhou
Daguan arrived at Angkor, and remained at the court of king Srindravarman
until July 1297. He was neither the first nor the last Chinese
representative to visit Kambuja. However, his stay is notable because
Zhou Daguan later wrote a detailed report on life in Angkor. His
portrayal is today one of the most important sources of understanding of
historical Angkor. Alongside descriptions of several great temples (the
Bayon,
the Baphuon,
Angkor
Wat, for which we have him to thank for the knowledge that the
towers of the Bayon were once covered in gold), the
text also offers valuable information on the everyday life and the
habits of the inhabitants of Angkor.
Angkorian Temples Gallery
Thommanon Temple
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Prasat Takeo
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Prasat Kravan
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Baksei Chamkrong
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Face at Ta Prohm
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Decline and the end of Angkor
Jayavarman VII compared to the rest of the
world at the time.
There are few historical records from the time following
Srindravarman's reign. The last known inscription on a pillar is from
the year 1327. No further large temples were established. Historians
suspect a connection with the kings' adoption of Theravada Buddhism: they were
therefore no longer considered "devarajas", and there was no need to
erect huge temples to them, or rather to the gods under whose protection
they stood. The retreat from the concept of the devaraja may also have
led to a loss of royal authority and thereby to a lack of workers. The water-management
apparatus also degenerated, meaning that harvests were reduced by
floods or drought. While previously three rice harvests per years were
possible — a substantial contribution to the prosperity and power of
Kambuja - the declining harvests further weakened the empire.
Its western neighbour, the first Thai kingdom of Sukhothai, after repelling Angkorian
hegemony, was conquered by another stronger Thai kingdom in the lower Chao Phraya Basin, Ayutthaya, in 1350. From the fourteenth
century, Ayutthaya became Angkor's rival. According to its accounts,
Ayutthaya launched several attacks. Eventually it was said, Angkor was
subjugated. Siamese army drew back, leaving Angkor ruled by local
nobles, loyal to Ayutthaya. The story of Angkor faded from historical
accounts from then on.
There is evidence that the "Black
Death" had an impact on the situation described above, as the
plague first appeared in China around 1330 and reached Europe around
1345. Most seaports along the line of travel from China to Europe felt
the impact of the disease, which had a severe impact on life throughout
South East Asia.
The new centre of the Khmer kingdom was in the southwest, at Oudong
(named for the first King of Ayutthaya), in the region of today's Phnom
Penh. However, there are indications that Angkor was not completely
abandoned. One line of Khmer kings could have remained there, while a
second moved to Phnom Penh to establish a parallel kingdom. The final
fall of Angkor would then be due to the transfer of economic - and
therewith political - significance, as Phnom Penh became an important
trade centre on the Mekong. Costly construction projects and conflicts
over power between the royal family sealed the end of the Khmer empire.
Ecological failure and infrastructural breakdown is a new alternative
answer to the end of the Khmer Empire. The Great Angkor Project believe
that the Khmers had an elaborate system of reservoirs and canals used
for trade, travel and irrigation. The canals were used for the
harvesting of rice. As the population grew there was more strain on the
water system. Failures include water shortage and flooding. To adapt to
the growing population, trees were cut down from the Kulen hills and
cleared out for more rice fields. That created rain runoff carrying
sediment to the canal network. Any damage to the water system would
leave an enormous amount of consequences.1
In any event, there is evidence for a further period of use for
Angkor. Under the rule of king Barom Reachea
I (reigned 1566–1576), who temporarily succeeded in driving back
the Thai, the royal court was briefly returned to Angkor. From the 17th
century there are inscriptions which testify to Japanese settlements
alongside those of the remaining Khmer. The best-known tells of Ukondafu
Kazufusa, who celebrated the Khmer New Year there in 1632.
Angkorian Temples in Thailand
Prasat Phnom Rung
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Wat Phimai
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Prang Sam Yot
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Prasat Sikhoraphum
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