The
Khmer Empire, officially the
Angkor Empire, the predecessor state to modern
Cambodia ("Kampuchea" or "Srok Khmer" to the Khmer people), was a powerful
Hindu-Buddhist empire in
Southeast Asia. Its greatest legacy is
Angkor, which was the site of the capital city during the empire's zenith. The majestic monuments of Angkor—such as
Angkor Wat and
Bayon—bear testimony to the Khmer Empire's immense power and wealth, impressive art and culture, architectural technique and aesthetics achievements, as well as the variety of belief systems that it patronised over time.
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Bayon Temple |
Jayavarman II (802-835) is widely regarded as a king who set the foundations of the Angkor period in Cambodian history, beginning with a grandiose consecration ritual that he conducted in 802 on the sacred
Mount Mahendraparvata, now known as
Phnom Kulen, to celebrate the independence of
Kambuja from
Javanese dominion. In the following years he extended his territory and eventually, later in his reign, established his new capital of
Hariharalaya. He thereby laid the foundation of Angkor, which was to arise some 15 km to the northwest.
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Jayavarman II |
Jayavarman II died in the year 835 and he was succeeded by his son
Jayavarman III. Jayavarman III died in 877 and was succeeded by
Indravarman I(reigned 877 – 889)
. He 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. Indravarman I developed Hariharalaya further by constructing
Bakong c.881.
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Preah Ko Temple |
Indravarman I was followed by his son Yasovarman I (reigned 889 – 915), 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.
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Temple and mausoleum dedicated to King Yasovarman |
Under Yasovarman I the East Baray was also created, a massive water reservoir of 7.1 by 1.7 km.
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East Baray |
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, called
Lingapura. Only with
Rajendravarman II (reigned 944 – 968) was the royal palace returned to Yasodharapura. He took up again the extensive building schemes of the earlier kings and established a series of buildings in the Angkor area and several Buddhist temples, such as
Pre Rup, and monasteries..
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Pre Rup, Angkor |
The son of Rajendravarman II, Jayavarman V, reigned from 968 to 1001. 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 slightly west of his father's and named it Jayendranagari; its state temple, Ta Keo, was to the south. At the court of Jayavarman V lived philosophers, scholars, and artists. New temples were also established: the most important of these are Banteay Srei.
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Banteay Srei |
A decade of conflict followed the death of Jayavarman V. Three kings reigned simultaneously as antagonists until
Suryavarman I (reigned 1006 – 1050) gained the throne. Suryavarman I established diplomatic relations with the
Chola dynasty of
south India. Suryavarman I sent a chariot as a present to the
Chola Emperor Rajaraja Chola I. Suryavarman I's wife was
Viralakshmi, and following his death in 1050, he was succeeded by
Udayadityavarman II, who built the
Baphuon and
West Baray.
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Baphuon Temple |
Under
Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–1150) the kingdom united internally and the largest temple of Angkor was built in a period of 37 years:
Angkor Wat, dedicated to the god
Vishnu. It has the largest religious complex in the world. He sent a mission to the Chola dynasty of south India and presented a precious stone to the Chola Emperor
Kulothunga Chola I in 1114.
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Angkor Wat |
King
Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–1219) was generally considered as Cambodia's greatest king. He had already been a military leader as a prince under previous kings. 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(above), with towers bearing faces of the boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara, each several metres high, carved out of stone.
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Detail of Bayon Temple |
After the death of Jayavarman VII, his son
Indravarman II (reigned 1219–1243) ascended the throne. Like his father, he was a Buddhist, and he completed a series of temples begun under his father's rule. As a warrior he was less successful.
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Portrait statue of Jayavarman VII |
Indravarman II was succeeded by
Jayavarman VIII (reigned 1243–1295). In contrast to his predecessors, Jayavarman VIII was a devotee of the Hindu deity
Shiva and an aggressive opponent of Buddhism, destroying many Buddha statues in the empire and converting Buddhist temples to Hindu temples.
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Statue of Lord Shiva |
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 that had arrived in southeast Asia from
Sri Lanka and subsequently spread through most of the region.
By the 14th century, the Khmer empire suffered a long, arduous, and steady decline. Historians have proposed different causes for the decline: the religious conversion from Vishnuite-Shivaite Hinduism to Theravada Buddhism that affected social and political systems, incessant internal power struggles among Khmer princes, vassal revolt, foreign invasion, plague, and ecological breakdown.
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