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WHO WHERE WHAT of JAYAVARMAN II

Dr Uday Dokras Ph D Sweden

From 802 CE to 1431 CE; The Khmer empire was a powerful state in South East
Asia, formed by people of the same name, lasting from 802 CE to 1431 CE. At its
peak, the empire covered much of what today is Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and
southern Vietnam. There were two predecessors to the Khemer empire-Funan and
Chenla. Jayavarman II is said to have come from Chenla. Where he had his
antecedents either as son of some warlord or from marriage to one of the princesses as
was the practice there-inter-royalty marriages. But about his youth etc nothing is
known.

Chenla Kingdom was a Khmer civilzation considered to a predecessor of the Khmer

empire at Angkor. The Chenla state emerged around the 550A.D, at first as a
subordinate of the Funan Kingdom. However, in a period of 60 yeras, Chenla gained
independence and conquered the whole Funan, adhiering to the kingdom and
absorving its people and its culture. One of the reasons put forward to explain the
decline if the Funan civilization is the collapse of the Roman empire that brought the
deterioration of the trade routes between the Meditarranean and China.

The peak of the Chenla kingdom was reached under King Ishavarman's reign, who
conquered Funan during 612 and 628 and funded the capital called Ishanapura. After
the death of king Jayavarman I in 681A.D the kingdom was shaked by internal unrest
and in the 8th century rivalry split the kingdom in two parts: Upper Chenla, which
consisted of souther Laos and the northern territories bordering Tonle Sap, and Lower
Chenla (water Chenla) which consisted of the eastern territories of Tonle Sap and the
coastal territores. Khmer people were one of the first inhabitants of Southeast Asia.
The oldest vestiges of Pre Historic Cambodia (stone made tools) were found in the cave
of Laan Spean in Battambang and evidence that the cave was inhabited 6,000 years
ago. Little is known about this period although it is commonly accepted that
prehistoric men lived in caves, had basic skills such as the cultivation of rice or the
domestication of animals and practised animism, worshipping both the spirits of the
land and their ancestors. Other pre-historic sites have been found in Cambodia, such
as Samrong Sen in central cambodia which was occupied in the 1500 B.C or Bas-
Plateaux in Kompong Chang, occupied in the 2nd century BC.
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This archaeological evidence shows that a Neolothic culture inhabited parts of

Cambodia in the 1st and 2nd millenia B.C, although scholars disagree as to whether
they migrated from souther China or from India. By the first century C.E there were
relatively stable, organized societies along the coast and Mekong river delta, and they
were far superior than the primitive societies. They worked metals such as iron and
bronze and possesed navigation knowledge.

The Funan Kingdom was a pre-angkorian civilization located in the Mekong delta
of south Cambodia and south Vietnam. The development of new trade routes
between China and Indian on the first century AD encouraged the appearence of
settlers in the area and according to Chinese records, one of the first settlements was
Funan. archaeological evidence found at Oc-Eo (in Vietnam) such as roman coins,
indian jewelry and Buddhist religious objects, shows that the Kingdom of Funan was a
powerful trading state.Other archaeological discoveries such as a large canal system
linking various settlelments within the Kingdom reveals a highly organized society
with a high population density and advanced technology.

The origins of the inhabitants of the Funan Kingdom are much disputed. The most
accepted theory relates that they were a tribe that spoke a tongue of the Mon Khmer
family languages, thus creating a linguistic link with the Cambodians. Also, Chinese
records relate the origin of the Funan people using the same origin myth that has been
used in Khmer folklore to explain the origins of the Khmers: A foreign indian prince
arrives by sea to an island where the Naga Kings live and meets the daughter of the
naga king. He marries her with the blessing of her father, who drinks the sea around
the island and builds a capital for them.
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Map of the Funan Kingdom in 200 A.D.

The Funan Kingdom was strongly influenced by Indian culture and had adopted
many elements of the Indian tradition such as the use of the sanscrit language in the
high courts, the Buddhist and Hindu religions, astronomy, legal system and literature.
The Kingdom reached its power peak under the reign of King Fan Shih-man in the
early third century, occupying present Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanamar and part
of Malaysia. However, by the 6th century A.D the stability of Funan was put in
jeopardy by civil wars and the Kingdom of Chenla gained control ofver Funan, starting
another phase of Cambodian history. Considering the knowledge of the Jayavarman II
and his associates about Hinduism one can safely say that there was some Funan
connection- even intellectual for the sake of argument.

In Sanskrit language there is a saying that:

“When there Is a Void, one can fill it with anything”

Chronology of Angkor

 802 AD Founding of the Khmer empire by Jayavarman II

 802-50 Reign of Jayavarman II, founder of Khemer dynasties.
 877-89 Reign of Indravarman I, moves capital to Roluos
 889-910 Reign of Yasovarman I, moves capital to Angkor
 928-42 Reign of Jayavarman IV, usurper that moves capital to Koh Ker
 944-68 Reign of Rajendravarman II (builds Pre Rup)
 968-1000 Reign of Jayavarman V (construction of Banteay Srei / Ta Keo)
 1110-50 Reign of Suryavarman I (builds Baphuon)
 1150-66 Reign of Udayadityavarman II (construction of West Baray)
 1112-52 Reign of Suryavarman II (builds Angkor Wat/Beng Mealea/Banteay Samre)
 1117 The Chams sack Angkor
 1160-65 Reing of Yasovarman II
 1177-1230 Contruction of Bayon temple
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 1181-1219 Reign of Jayavarman VII. Defeats Chams. (Construction of Angkor

Thom/Preah Khan/Ta Prohm) posthumous name of Mahaparamasaugata (Khmer:
ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧)
 1351 Empire weakened and Thais sack Angkor
 1431 Thais sack Angkor again. Angkor is abandoned

The beginning of the Khemer period was started by Jayavarman II in 802AD and
lasted until the 15th century leaving a legacy of architectural masterpieces in the
world, the temples of Angkor. The capital of the Khmer empire, Angkor, was the
largest urban aglomeration in history prior to the industrial revolution and supported
up to one million inhabitants. This was possible thanks to complex systems of
infrastructure, irrigation and agriculture.

Modern History of Cambodia

In 802 AD Jayavarman II returned to its home at Chenla Kingdom, and after few
military campaigns he declared himself universal monarch in the Mount Kulen,
commencing thus the Khmer empire. His successors gradually annexed territories and
as the empire gathered wealth the architectural manifestations became more
magnificent. The building projects commenced with :

1. King Indravarman I (877 - 899AD), who built Bakong, Preah Koh and the
eastern Baray.
2. His son, Yasovarman I (889 - 915AD) established the first capital of Angkor,
Yasodharapura.
3. At the beginning of the 10th century the empire was divided when the allegedly
usurper Jayavarman IV established a new capital at Koh Ker.
4. His nephew, King Rajendravarman II (944 - 968 AD) restored the capital at
Yasodharapura and built East Mebon and Pre Rup temples.
5. After his death his son Javayarman V accessed the throne and under his rule
new temples such as Banteay Srei and Ta Keo were built. The period that
follows is a succession of short reigns and internal struggles for power untii
6. King Suryavarman I (1010 - 1050AD) gained the throne. Under this monarch
the Khmer empire reached its greatest territorial expansion.
7. The next king that provided stability for the kingdom was Suryavarman II,
famous for building Angkor Wat and for his successful incursions against the
Chams.
8. The last great king of Angkor, Jayavarman VII (1181 - 1220AD) defeated the
Chams and undertook the largest construction project, building not only
Angkor Thom, but roads, bridges, resthouses and monuments.
9. After his death the empire began to decline and was severely undermined by
Thai invasions in the 14th century. Battles continued for another century until
the final siege in 1431 that brought the abandonment of Angkor and the end of
the Angkor civilization.

Posthumous Titles: One can note that a number of Khemer Kings took upon
themselves certain honorific titles and after their deaths, some more titles were given
to them by either their Sons or some admiring war-lords either to refresh the memory
in the minds of the populous who admired that King and thus form a link with him
posthumously for political gain. Orvfrom genuine admiration or filian association of
emothin or both.
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1. Thus Jayavarman II became Devaraja ( honoured by himself) and later

Chakravartin. Though some say he was also Parameshwara.

2. Jayavarman VI-. posthumously named of Mahaparamasaugata (Khmer:

ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧)

The kingdom of Chenla on the other hand was shaked by internal unrest and in the
8th century rivalry split the kingdom in two parts: Upper Chenla, which consisted of
souther Laos and the northern territories bordering Tonle Sap, and Lower Chenla
(water Chenla) which consisted of the eastern territories of Tonle Sap and the coastal
territores. Post Angkor history is also known as the dark ages of
Cambodian history due to the lack of historical evidence. After the Thais violently
sacked Angkor in 1431, the Khmers retreated and shifted the capital to Phnom Penh.
Little is known about the reasons for this retreat, although the continuous Thai
offensives, the lack of human manpower to sustaing the complex irrigation system and
weakening of central control, leading to the independece of some bordering
principalities, have been mentioned by scholars. The temples however, were never
completely abandoned and some of them were maintained by Buddhist monks, and a
Cambodian court briefly returned in the 16th century. Meanwhile, King Ang Chan
moved the capital to Lover and encouraged sea trade thus attracting foreing trading
communities in the 16th century. It is at this time also that Spanish and Portuguese
missionaires arrived from Malacca and they have left written accounts of Angkor Wat
and other temples.

In 1594 the Thais invaded Lovek, asserting a fatal blow to the Khmer kingdom. As
opposed to Cambodia, its neighbours Vietnam and Thai grew stronger and started
annexing Cambodian territories. By the 17th century Vietnam had cut Cambodia's
access to the sea. Over the next century Cambodia became a puppet in the hands of
Siam and Vietnam, whose struggles for controling the Khmer Kingdom stopped only
for brief periods due to internal or external threats to their own stability. In order to
avoid being absorved by its neighbours and persuaded by the French, who believed
Cambodia to be a wealthy land, King Norodom signed an agreement in 1863 to obtain
French protection in exchange of rights to exploit Cambodia's natural resources. This
treaty marked the beginning of Cambodia as a French colony and soon it became part
of the French Indochina.

NOW WHO WAS JAYAVARMAN II

His short history runs thus: In 802 AD Jayavarman II returned to its home at Chenla
Kingdom, and after few military campaigns he declared himself universal monarch in
the Mount Kulen, commencing thus the Khmer empire.
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Angkor Wat in 1866

Chinese records and Khemer Inscriptions their say on Jayavarman II :

Chronologically speaking it was Īśānavarman I who managed to absorb the ancient
territories of Fúnán which led the New Book of Tang compiled by Ouyang
Xiu and Song Qi in 1060 to attribute the effective conquest of the country to him. The
earliest known date of the reign of Īśānavarman, a date that must not have been long
after his accession, is that of his first embassy to the court of Suí China in 616–17.
This king is also known from his own inscriptions, one incised at Īśānapura, dated 13
September 627 AD (K. 604), the other one at Khău Nôy (Thailand), dated 7 May 637
(K. 506).
After Īśānavarman, who ceased to reign around 637, the inscriptions tell us of a king
named Bhavavarman (II). The only dated inscriptions we have from him, are that of Tà
Kev (K. 79), dated 5 January 644 and of Poñā Hòr south of Tà Kev (K. 21). dated
Wednesday, 25 March 655. Then seemingly follows a certain king Candravarman,
known from the undated inscription K. 1142 of unknown origin who hailed from the
family of Īśānavarman. The son of Candravarman was the famous king Jayavarman I
whose earliest inscriptions are from Tûol Kôk Práḥ, province Prei Vêṅ (K. 493) and
from Bàsêt, province Bằttaṃbaṅ (K. 447), both dated 14 June 657.
Some 19 or 20 inscriptions dating from his reign have been found in an area extending
from Vat Phu'u in the north to the Gulf of Siam in the south. According to the Xīn
Táng shū the kingdom of Zhēnlà had conquered different principalities in
Northwestern Cambodia after the end of the Chinese era name yǒnghuī ( 永 徽 ) (i. e.
after 31 January 656), which previously (in 638/39) paid tribute to China. The reign of
Jayavarman I lasted about thirty years and ended perhaps after 690. It seems that
after the death of Jayavarman I (his last known inscription K. 561 is dated 681/82),
turmoil came upon the kingdom and at the start of the 8th century, the kingdom
broke up into many principalities.
The region of Angkor was ruled by Jayavarman I ’s daughter, Queen Jayadevī who
complained in her Western Bàrày inscription K. 904, dated Wednesday, 5 April 713, of
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"bad times". The Táng histories tell us that after the end of the shénlóng ( 神 龍 ) era
(after 6 February 707) Zhēnlà came to be divided in two realms, Lùzhēnlà ( 陸 真 臘 )
("Land Zhēnlà", also called Wèndān ( 文 單 ) or Pólòu ( 婆 鏤 )) and Shuīzhēnlà ( 水 真 臘 )
("Water Zhēnlà")and returned to the anarchic state that had existed before it was
unified under the kings of Fúnán and the first kings of Zhēnlà.
Kings like Śrutavarman and Śreṣṭhavarman or Puṣkarākṣa are only attested very
much later in Angkorian inscriptions; their historicity is doubtful. Land Zhēnlà sent
an embassy to China in 717, aided Mai Thúc Loan's rebellion against the Chinese
(722–723). Another embassy visiting China in 750 came probably from Water Zhēnlà.
According to the Chinese Annals a son of the king of Wèndān had visited Chinas in
753 and joined a Chinese army during a campaign against Nanzhao (Chinese: 南
詔; pinyin: Nánzhāo) in the following year.
After the Wèndān embassy in the year 771 the heir-apparent Pómí (Chinese: 婆 彌 )
came to the imperial court and, on 13 December 771, he received there the title
"Palace Opener who enjoys the same honours as the three higher officers" (Chinese: 開
府 儀 同 三 司 ; pinyin: Kāifǔ Yítóng Sānsī). In 799 an envoy from Wèndān called Lītóují
(Chinese: 李頭及) received a Chinese title, too. As rulers of Śambhupura are attested by
the inscription K. 124, dated 803/04 a king Indraloka and three successive
queens, Nṛpatendradevī, Jayendrabhā and Jyeṣṭhāryā. Two inscriptions refer to a ruler
named Jayavarman: the first one, K. 103, hails from Práḥ Thãt Práḥ Srĕi south of
Kompoṅ Čàṃ, dated 20 April 770, the second one from Lobŏ'k Srót in the vicinity of
Kračèḥ near Śambhupura (K. 134), dated 781.

Cœdès called him Jayavarman Ibis, referring to the biblical term of a wise bird, but
probably he is identical with Jayavarman II, the founding father of the Angkorian
kingdom, as Vickery has pointed out: "Not only was Jayavarman II from the South;
more than any other known king, he had particularly close links with Vyādhapura.
This place is recorded in only one pre-Angkor inscription, K. 109/655 [exactly: 10th
February 656], but in 16 Angkor-period texts, the last dated 1069 [K. 449 from Pàlhàl,
dated Sunday, 3rd May 1069]. Two of them, K. 425/968 and K. 449/1069, are explicit
records of Jayavarman II taking people from Vyādhapura to settle in Battambang."
According to Vickery, Michael (1998). Society, economics, and politics in pre-Angkor
Cambodia: the 7th-8th centuries. Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies for Unesco, The
Toyo Bunko. ISBN 978-4-89656-110-4.

Order CHENLA Kings Reign

1 Bhavavarman I around 550–c598

2 Mahendravarman around 600–616

3 Isanavarman I 616–635
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4 Bhavavarman II before639–before657

5 Candravarman? ?

6 Jayavarman I around 657–681

7 Queen Jayadevi c. 681–713

8 Sambhuvarman 713–716

9 Pushkaraksha 716–c730

10 Sambhuvarman around 730–760

11 Rajendravarman I around 760–780

12 Mahipativarman around 780–788

Khmer Empire Classic Period (AD 802-1327)

KHEMER KINGS PERIOD OF Location of Capital at…

RULE
 Jayavarman II AD 802-869 Vyadharapura and Mount
Kulen

 Jayavarman III 869-877 Hariharalaya

 Indravarman II 877-889 Mount Kulen

 Yashovarman I 889-900, Angkor

 Harshavarman I 900-~923, Angkor

 Isanavarman II 923-928 Angkor

 Jayavarman IV 928-942 Angkor and Koh Ker

 Harshavarman I 942-944 Koh Ker

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 Rajendravarman II 944-968 Koh Ker and Angkor

 Jayavarman V 968-1000 Angkor

 Udayadityavarman I 1001-1002 Angkor

 Suryavarman I 1002-1049 Angkor

 Udayadityavarman II 1050-1065 Angkor

 Harshavarman III 1066-1080 Angkor

 Jayavarman VI and Dharanindravarman I 1080-? Angkor

 Suryavarman II 1113-1150 Angkor

 Dharanindravarman 1150-1160 Angkor

 Yasovarman II 1160-~1166 Angkor

 Jayavarman VII 1182-1218 Angkor

 Indravarman II, 1218-1243 Angkor

 Jayavarman VIII 1270-1295 Angkor

 Indravarman III 1295-1308 Angkor

 Jayavarman VII Paramesvara 1327 Angkor

 Ang Jaya I or Trosak Ph'aem ?

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Jayavarman

Two of the most important rulers were both named Jayavarman - Jayavarman II and
Jajavarman VII. The numbers after their names were assigned to them by modern
scholars of the Angkor society, rather than by the rulers themselves.

Jayavarman II (ruled 802-835) founded the Saiva dynasty in Angkor, and

united the region through a series of conquests and battles. He established
relative calm in the region, and Saiavism remained the unifying power in
Angkor for 250 years.I nteresting to note from the Chenla Chronology above
that after Mahipativarman who it is claimed ruled from 780-788 there is no
King? Then we have Jayavarman II as ruer of both Angkor and Chenla region.
So, what was the connection between Mahipativarman and Jayavarman II?
Possibly Jayavarman II was backed by Mahipativarman due to some filial
alliance that translated in some exchange of favours between them- we shall
never know. But according to Archeologists combing the jungles of Southeast Asia
found an inscriptions on temple doors and walls that mentioned a warrior-priest
monarch, Jayavarman II, whose Kingdom had a splendid hilltop capital called
Mahendraparvata (the mountain of the great Indra, king of the gods).This inscription
( K. 235) is a 340-line composition, in both Sanskrit and ancient Khmer, carved on a
gray sandstone stele 1.51 meters high that stood in the northeast corner of the
temple's court. Dating to 8 February 1053, talks about a Brahmin Family whose
family members served the Kings for over 250 years and were Head Priests to the King.
In the form of poetry it says:

Northeastern library. Photo c. 1980

"Homage to Śiva whose essence is highly proclaimed without words by the subtle Śiva,
His form, who pervades (everything) from within and who activates the senses of living
beings." It provides an account of twelve Khmer kings who ruled over the course of the
two and a half centuries. The earliest king mentioned is Jayavarman II, The text
includes the oft-cited detail that he came from a country named Java which
meanwhile by most scholars, such as Charles Higham, was seen as a foreign people
living in the east whose name is derived probably from Sanskrit yavana (wise),
perhaps referring to the kingdom of Champa. The Khmer portion of the text goes on to
say: “A Brahman named Hiraṇyadāman, skilled in magic and science," was invited by
the king "to perform a ceremony that would make it impossible for this country of
the Kambuja to pay any allegiance to Java and that there should be, in this country,
5
one sole sovereign.”

Neither being (sat) nor non-being was as Sdok Kak Thom inscription, written in
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yet. What was concealed? 1052.AD( PIc Below LEFT)

And where? And in whose protection?…
Who really knows? "Then a brahman named Hiranyadama,
Who can declare it? Whence was it born, skilled in magic science, came from
and whence came this creation? Janapada, because H. M. Paramesvara
The devas (gods) were born later than this (King Jayavarman II) had invited him to
world's creation, perform a ceremony that would make it
so who knows from where it came into impossible for this country of Kambuja to
existence? None can know from where pay any allegiance to Java and that there
creation has arisen, and whether he has should be, in this country, one sole
or has not produced it. sovereign, who should be cakravartin."
He who surveys it in the highest heavens,
He alone knows or perhaps He does not "Then H. M. Paramesvara came from Java
know." to be Kurung in the holy city of
— Rig Veda 10. 129 Indrapura. The steng an Sivakaivalya,
wise ancestor, was the guru, was the
rajapurohita of His Majesty Paramesvara"

"Then His Majesty was Kurung on the site

of the royal city of Hariharalaya. The
steng an Sivakaivalya resided also in this
city. As for his family, they were made
pages of the King"

The inscription documents nine generations of the temple's priestly family, starting
with Śivakaivalya, Jayavarman II's chaplain. However scholars have paid special
attention to the inscription's account of the cult of the devarāja, a key part of the
Khmer court's religious ritual. “Hiraṇyadāma(n), the best of brahmins, with superior
intelligence like Brahmā, came, moved with compassion.

To the king Jayavarman II he carefully revealed a magic which had not been obtained
by other people,” the text reads. The king was instructed in four holy treatises. “After
carefully extracting the quintessence of the treatises by his experience and
understanding of the mysteries, this brahmin contrived the magic rites bearing the
name of Devarāja, for increasing the prosperity of the world.”

Devaraja means "king of the gods," in the sense that one god, generally Śiva, was
recognized as higher than others in the Hindu pantheon and through his authority
brought order to heaven.Depending on their favourites many Kings made this God the
Head Honcho over that and so on. That is why Vaisnavism and Shaivism existed in
Hindu lands of India Court religious ritual, as described repeatedly in the inscription,
focused on maintaining a linga, or holy shaft, in which Śiva's essence was believed to
reside.

The inscription is also key to understanding important events in Khmer history, such
as the late 9th Century relocation of the capital from the area around the present-day
village of Roluos. “Again, the skillful Vāmaśiva was the preceptor of Śrī Yaśovardhana,
bearing as king the name Śrī Yaśovarman,” the Sanskrit text states. “Invited by the
king, he erected a liṅga Mount Yaśodhara, which was like the king of mountains
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(Meru) in beauty.” French scholars initially believed that Śrī Yaśodharagiri was the
mountain-like Bayon temple. But it is now established that the Bayon was built
almost three centuries later than the event described in the inscription and that the
linga was in fact placed in the newly constructed Phnom Bakheng temple, which
stands about two kilometers south of the Bayon atop a hill.

TIME LINE
1. Jayavarman II’s capital was Mount Kulen in north-western Cambodia
2. soon after Jayavarman II’s death, the Cambodian capital shifted to the northern
shores of the Tonle Sap, near present-day Phumĭ Rôluŏs. Jayavarman II ’s son
was Jayavarman III
3. Jayavarman III succeeded by his cousin Indravarman .(877–c. 890) who
constructed Bakong—the first Cambodian temple to be built of stone rather than
brick.
4. Indravarman moved the capital to Yasodharapura
5. The architectural centerpiece of a the capital, Yasodharapura, that Yasovarman
was Phnom Bakheng around 200 years before Angkor Wat.
6. It was the principal temple of the Angkor region, It was when he moved the court
from the capital Hariharalaya in the Roluos area located to the southeast.
7. soon after Jayavarman II’s death, the Cambodian capital shifted to the northern
shores of the Tonle Sap, near present-day Phumĭ Rôluŏs.
8. Indravarman I (ruled 877–c. 890) constructed a large reservoir and several
temples there, including a pyramidical structure called the Bakong—the first
Cambodian temple to be built primarily of stone rather than brick.
9. The Nagarakretagama - an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk,
a Javanese king of the Majapahit Empire. It was written on lontar as
a kakawin by Mpu Prapanca in 1365 contains detailed descriptions of the
Majapahit Empire during its greatest extent. The poem affirms the importance
of Hindu–Buddhism in the Majapahit empire by describing temples and palaces
and several ceremonial observances.
10.Indravarman’s son and successor, Yaśovarman I (ruled c. 890–c. 910), moved the
capital again, now closer to Siĕmréab, to a location that subsequently
became Angkor.
11.Yaśovarman founded the city of Yaśodharapura, which remained Cambodia’s
capital till 16th century.
12.Phnom Bakheng Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu and Buddhist temple in the form
of a temple mountain dedicated to Shiva, was built by him at the end of the 9th
century atop a hill.
13.Rajendravarman II (ruled 944–968) restored the capital and set in motion a period
of peace and prosperity that lasted nearly a century.
14..Succeeded by Jayavarman V (968–c. 1000), the builder of Banteai Srei.
15. Jayavarman V also started work on temple mountain Ta Keo.
16. Suryavarman I (ruled c. 1004–c. 1050) completed this temple.
17. Suryavarman extended the Khmer empire westward into present-day Thailand,
where he constructed the large mountaintop temple known as Preah Vihear
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Conquests: But once on the throne he began a series of conquests which included the
land CHENLA and Water Chenla. If at all he was a puppet of Mahipativarman he was
an unwilling one for the defied asserting Khmer independence in 802, when he
declared himself Devaraja . That he declared himself as cakravartin, or universal ruler
on Phnom Kulen is perhaps incorrect since that was done posthumously. More about
that in my paper

Since arriving from Java, Jayavarman II established a series of capitals, first at

Indrapura, on the lower Mekong River east of Kompong Cham; then, moving
northwards, at Hariharalaya, southeast of present-day Siem Reap; and then at
Mahendraparvata, in the region just north of the Tonle Sap (Great Lake), not far from
Angkor, the next seat of the Khmer Empire, which remained its capital for 600 years.

During his reign, Jayavarman built some monuments on Phnom Kulen: Prasat Khting
Slap dedicated to Siva; Prasat Bos Nek, Chrei, Nak Ta, and Anlong Tom, all were
dedicated to Vishnu; Prasat Kraham I, one of the best-known sanctuaries of Phnom
Kulen, dedicated to the linga.

Jayavarman II died in 850 AD; he received a posthumous name Paramesvara

(Supreme Lord). He was succeeded by his son Jayavarman III.

[Some inscription referring to King Jayavarman II]

"Then a brahman named Hiranyadama, skilled in magic science, came from Janapada,
because H. M. Paramesvara had invited him to perform a ceremony that would make it
impossible for this country of Kambuja to pay any allegiance to Java and that there
should be, in this country, one sole sovereign, who should be cakravartin."

"Then H. M. Paramesvara came from Java to be Kurung in the holy city of Indrapura.
The steng an Sivakaivalya, wise ancestor, was the guru, was the rajapurohita of His
Majesty Paramesvara"

"Then His Majesty was Kurung on the site of the royal city of Hariharalaya. The steng
an Sivakaivalya resided also in this city. As for his family, they were made pages of the
King"

The history of Angkor on Jayavarman II : Angkor as the central area of settlement of

the historical kingdom of Kambujadesa is also the history of the Khmer kingdom from
the 9th to the 13th centuries.
 14

From Kambuja itself—and so also from the Angkor region—no written records have
survived other than stone inscriptions. Therefore, the current knowledge of the
historical Khmer civilisation is derived primarily from:

 Archaeological excavation, reconstruction and investigation

 Stone inscriptions (the most important of which are foundation steles of temples),
which report on the political and religious deeds of the kings
 Reliefs in a series of temple walls with depictions of military marches, life in the
palace, market scenes, and the daily life of the population
 Reports and chronicles of Chinese diplomats, traders and travellers.
Jayavarman VII (ruled 1182-1218) took power of the regime after a period of unrest,
when Angkor was split into competing factions and suffered an incursion from Cham
polity forces. He promulgated an ambitious building program, that doubled Angkor's
temple population within a generation. Jayavarman VII erected more sandstone
buildings than all his predecessors combined, at the same time turning the royal
sculpting workshops into a strategic asset. Among his temples are Angkor Thom, Prah
Kha JAYAVARMAN II

Accomplishments: Among Jayavarman II's accomplishments were the deification of

the Cambodian monarchy, the establishment of the devaraja cult as the official state
religion, and the reunification of the old kingdom of Chenla, which he expanded and
formed into the Khmer Empire. There are some inscriptions, far too little that
“document” his existence and relate some bits and pieces of his story. Since these
were made some centuries after Jayavarman’s death, and they sometimes contradict
each other. By subjugating and forming alliances with the various war lords,
Jayavarman succeeded in unifying and expanding the area by outward conquests
making the Khmer Empire a formidable entity on the Southeast Asian mainland.His
successors too followed his warlike footsteps.

Inscriptions of Jayavarman’s Life : There is a void in the knowledge about this great
leader . In fact he crowned himself DEVARAJA and that act is codified into not too
many inscriptions. The First of these, and the most important is the Sdok Kak Thom
inscription, written in 1052 AD it is not at all a n biographical profile rather a
circumstantial description of events into which Jayavarman II plays a role. Moreover,
two inscriptions from the late 8th century AD are said to shed light on the
Jayavarman’s early activities as a ruler, prior to his founding of the Khmer Empire.

According to Codes the establishment of Devaraja was in fact a personal cult which
denoted Angkorean Kingship making the King the great God of the area he ruled. Side
by side, the event of self proclaimation could have been used as a symbolic
justification of independence from Java for his own subjects as well as other war-
lords and domain kings of surrounding area.333

Location of Java
According to the ‘standard biography’ of Jayavarman’s life, the founder of the Khmer
Empire was originally from a place called ‘Java’. Although he is said to have likely
been of Khmer descent, Jayavarman is thought to have been in ‘Java’ as a captive or
an exile. The location of this ‘Java’ is a subject of debate, and it is commonly thought
 15

to be a reference to the island in modern day Indonesia. Nevertheless, there are some
questions with this interpretation. For example, stories of Indonesian / Javanese
conquest in the region of modern Cambodia during the 8th century AD are said to be
non-existent in the Indonesian / Javanese historical records. One possible explanation
for the appearance of ‘Java’ in the inscription is that it was a legend created during the
10th and 11th centuries AD, a period which saw the rise of important new trade
centers in East Java.

Proclamation as Deva-raja (God-King)

1. The ‘standard biography’ then claims that Jayavarman returned to Cambodia,

perhaps as a vassal of the Javanese. Jayavarman is said to have begun to gather
support in the central part of the country before moving on to the area known
today as Roluos, which is 20 km (12.42 miles) to the southwest of what is now
known as Angkor, and establishing his capital there. Whilst one source states that
the date to Jayavarman’s return is unrecorded, another claims that it took place
around 790 AD. Jayavarman was not exactly a subservient vassal of the Javanese,
and in 802 AD (or later), he defied his overlords, declared independence, and was
proclaimed deva-raja.

2. The two inscriptions dating to the late 8th century AD provide an alternative
version of event. The name ‘Jayavarman’ can be found on these inscriptions. It is
likely that this Jayavarman is the same person as the man who founded the
Khmer Empire. According to these sources, the future god-king started his
military activities in the southeastern part of Cambodia, before moving north to
Kratie, and then setting up his capital in Roluos. This is the version favored by
scholars, who suggest that Jayavarman was not a vassal king sent from a
distant land, but a local ruler who had been living in Cambodia prior to his rise
to power.

According to tradition, it was in 802 AD that Jayavarman was proclaimed deva-

raja on Phnom Kulen. This was a religious ceremony borrowed from Hinduism.
By transforming into Shiva the King of Hindu Gods9 erronously translated as
god-king) , Jayavarman asserted his divine kingship, and claimed absolute
authority over his people and his realm.

3. Not Devaraja but kamrateng jagat ta raja’: Alternatively, the more precise
Khmer name of his new title was ‘kamrateng jagat ta raja’, which may be
translated as ‘lord of the world the king’, ‘lord of the world of the king’ or ‘lord of
the world of the realm’. It has also been stated that the ritual invoked not a god
of Hinduism, but one from the traditional Khmer pantheon.
Practice and Belief in Ancient Cambodia: Claude Jacques' Angkor and the
Devarāja Question also Angkor: Cities and Temples by Claude Jacques, Michael
Freeman, Michael White.

Devarāja is the cult that spread in the Khmer Empire , today's Cambodia , according
to which the ruler represents a divine manifestation. It was introduced at the
beginning of the 9th century by Jayavarman II , founder of the empire in the
 16

year 802 , and was the religious basis on which the authority of the Khmer monarchy
was consolidated.
The cult, born from the Hindu tradition and local beliefs as practiced in Cambodia of
those days and most probably having antecedents to the tribal practices and
OOUNTAIN GODS , taught to worship the sovereign as a universal divine ruler, a
manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva symbolized by the linga , a phallic idol preserved
in a special temple-mountain.
The term devaraja derives from the Sanskrit words deva (देव; literally: he who
emanates light), a masculine noun attributed to the deities, and raja (राजा,
transcription rājā ), which means king. There are different interpretations on the
correct translation of the binomial, according to some it must be translated "god who
is king", according to others "divine king". Historians have long thought that the
sovereign was proclaimed as such by virtue of his presumed divine essence. More
recent opinions hold that the devaraja consisted of proclaiming a cakravartin ,
universal ruler, asking for the protection of the deity.

History-India
Probably the first devaraja cult was the one that developed in the city
of Kanchipuram , a notable center between the seventh and eighth centuries of Tantric
Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism in southern India . For a long time it was the
medium for the consecration and legitimation of the kings of
the Chola and Pallava dynasties. Several currents of Shaivism developed in southern
India and some of the members of these currents moved or traveled to Java.

Java
It has been hypothesized that the devaraja cult was present in Java before its
appearance among the Khmer, and that it arrived there in 732 from South India. In
the 8th century, the Sailendra dynasty ruled in Java, Sumatra, the Malay
peninsula and towards the end of the century had subdued the southern part of
the Kingdom of Chenla , from whose ashes the Khmer Empire would be formed. Both
in the time of the Sailendra and in the previous Tarumanagara Kingdom , rulers were
revered as incarnations of god on earth. The cult of the god-king in Java was probably
the result of the fusion of Hinduismand ancestor worship .

A 5th-century inscription in Tarumanagara describes King Purnawarman as an

incarnation of Vishnu . The inscription Kebon Kopi I reports that the two elephant
footprints present in the inscription are from Airavata , the mythical mount of the
god Indra , thus associating the local ruler with Indra himself. The ancient Javanese
kingdom of Medang (732-1006) honored deceased rulers by building a new temple,
inside which images of the late king portrayed in divine form were placed. Some
archaeologists have argued that the Shiva statue found in the main temple
of Prambanan had the features of King Balitung, and was placed in the temple to
honor the memory of the deified king. The tradition of worshiping the god-king in Java
would continue until the 15th century.

In the period of the Majapahit Kingdom (1293-1527), the ceremonies related to

the devaraja took different forms. Other religions had also been introduced into the
kingdom, and a more discreet form of celebration was opted for with many of the
ceremonies held privately. With the consequent advent on the island of Islam , the
 17

concept of believing a human being divine was eliminated, but some devaraja rituals ,
in particular those that required divine protection for the safety and well-being of the
state, were practiced in the island on the orders of Muslim governors until the
twentieth century.

Cambodia
The phrase used in the Khmer language to express the worship of the god-king was
actually kamrateng jagat ta raja , which means "Lord of the universe who is king". The
Sanskrit expression devaraja was apparently less used and is found in the Angkorian
epigraphy only in the important inscription K.235 by Sdok Kok Thom , written in
Sanskrit and ancient Khmer and dating back to 1052. The text reports the history
of Jayavarman's family II , founder of the Khmer Empire, who moved his people and
the court from the area where Banteay Prey Nokor is today to that north of Tonle
Sap Lake , where the various cities of Angkor.

According to the K.235 inscription, which is one of the main sources on which Khmer
historiography is based, the kamrateng jagat ta raja was an image that represented
the patron deity of the empire and its possession was the exclusive prerogative of the
sovereign who passed on to his successor. It was then carefully preserved and
transported to the new site when the capital was changed. The veneration of
the kamrateng jagat ta raja began with the royal investiture of Jayavarman II which
took place on the Mahindraparvata massif near Angkor called today Phnom Kulen .
Before becoming king, the young prince learned about the devaraja cult during the
captivity aJava , where he was a prisoner of the Sailendra. When he returned to his
homeland he had himself proclaimed cakravartin , organizing a ceremony similar to
those he had witnessed in Java and asking the god Shiva to protect him in the
struggle for independence from the Sailendra.

The hypothesis that the title of devaraja was extended from the sovereign itself is
based on a further sign that revealed how he had been given
King Indrajayavarman (reign 1307-1327) the title Yasodharamaulidebaraja ,
translated as " devaraja during maximum splendor of Yasodharapura ". The title
of devaraja has a strong relationship with that of cakravartin (universal ruler),
assigned to Jayavarman II at the time of investiture. Over the centuries,
the devaraja rite took on different forms among the Khmer rulers, mainly in function
of religious changes. The kingSuryavarman II , who reigned from 1113 to 1150, was
particularly devoted to the god Vishnu , to whom he dedicated the majestic Angkor
Wat that he himself had built.

Other rulers imposed the cult of Mahāyāna Buddhism while, with the adoption
of Theravada Buddhism in the last heyday of Angkor , the devaraja cult took on more
discreet ceremonials. After the fall of Angkor at the hands of the Siamese of Ayutthaya,
the dark period of Cambodia began, which became a buffer state between the warring
Siamese and Vietnamese kingdoms. The Khmer rulers then became vassals alternately
of Ayutthaya and Vietnam until the French colonization and therefore had relative
control over the country until the independence obtained after the end of the Second
World War. He is considered the last of the devarajaCambodian Sihanouk , who
ascended the throne in 1941 and in 1993 and abdicated in 1955 and 2004. With great
personality was able to maintain its influence on the country passing through
 18

dramatic experiences like the Vietnam War , the government of the Khmer Rouge and
the ' Vietnamese invasion of 1978-'79 .

Thailand
The first great kingdom of the Thais was that of Sukhothai (1238-1448), where the
kings reigned according to the Buddhist philosophy of dharmaraja . It consisted in the
paternalistic relationship with which the subjects were treated by the monarch, who
endeavored to govern with justice according to the laws of the Buddhist dharma .
The Kingdom of Ayutthaya (1350-1767) was the second great Thai state, and subdued
both Sukhothai and the Khmer Empire. The rulers of Ayutthaya assimilated the Hindu
concept of devaraja from the Khmer and, despite being Buddhists, called Brahmins to
courtto preside over royal Hindu ceremonies. They were therefore seen by their
subjects as a distant and inaccessible entity more than they were in reality, and were
shrouded in a halo of transcendental mystery.

The Chakri dynasty , still at the head of the country, has partially recovered the
paternalistic aspect of the dharmaraja of the Kingdom of Sukhothai, especially
with Rama IX , head of state since 1946. Although the monarchy has lost much of its
power to advantage of the military after the so-called Siamese revolution of 1932 ,
which forced Rama VII to grant the constitutional monarchy , and despite the fact that
Rama IX brought the monarchy itself closer to the Thai citizens, in the imagination of
the population the sovereign continues to have an ascendancy comparable to that of
a devaraja combined with the paternalistic benevolence ofdharmaraja . Despite the
law promulgated by King Rama V (reign from 1868 to 1910) which abolished the
obligation to prostrate without raising one's head at the passage of the sovereign, still
today many Thai subjects prostrate themselves and use similar attention in the
presence of the king.

REFERENCES

 The Devarāja Cult and Khmer Kingship at Angkor, Nidhi Aeusrivongsepp. 107-148 (42 pages), a
Chapter from the book- Explorations in Early Southeast Asian History: The Origins of Southeast
Asian Statecraft, authors Kenneth R. Hall and John K. Whitmore,University of Michigan
Press, University of Michigan Center for South East Asian
Studies,/www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.19404.10

 Wolters, O. (1973). Writes in Jayavarman II's Military Power: The Territorial Foundation of the
Angkor Empire. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (1), 21-30.
Retrieved July 28, 2021, from Http://www.jstor.org/stable/25203407
 Explorations in Early Southeast Asian History: The Origins of Southeast Asian StatecraftKenneth
R. Hall,John K. Whitmore,University of Michigan Press, University of Michigan Center for South
East Asian Studies

 Honorific Epithet of SE Asian Kings, Dr Uday Dokras, PhD Stockholm SWEDEN, Indo Nordic
Author’s Collective, 2021
 On the numerical values on the Ta Prohm inscription of Jayavarman VII Y.
Iwamoto,1985
 Puri, B. THE CULT OF DEVARAJA IN KAMBUJA AND IN INDIA. Proceedings of the Indian
History Congress, 18, 114-120. Retrieved July 24, 2021, from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44137364
 19

 OVERALL SEE See Jacques, “La carrière de Jayavarman II”, pp. 205–220 for Jayavarman II and III