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When Jayavarman V passed away in 1000
A.D., the historical account of his royal family disappeared with the
emergence of the new king named Udayadityavarman I, who became the king
through violent conflict. He ruled only for a few years before being
ousted and killed in 1002. This was followed by the struggle of power
of the two princes, Jayaviravarman and Suryavarman I. The former prince
ascended the supreme throne in 1002, but his regime was consistently
challenged by his rival Suryavarman I, who successfully overthrew king
in 1010. During this decade of civil war, no significant monument was
built.
His reign was rather long but not very
smooth, and Suryavarman I spent much of his time and energy to defend
his kingship. He was the first king who built his palace surrounded by
the wall in order to fortify himself from being attacked and this
palace was situated in the vicinity of later Angkor Thom. Suryavarman I
proclaimed to be the descendant of Brahmin Kaundinya and princess Soma.
Later in 1022 A.D, Suryavarman I expanded his territory to the West up
to the Lopburi in modern Thailand. The major construction built by this
king was the Preah Vihear on the Dangrek Mountain and the Phimeanakas, a
modest temple with pyramidal style located near his palace.
Suryavarman I also started to build the second Angkor's reservoir, the
West Baray which is almost twice as large as the East Baray.
Mounting to the supreme throne after
the death of his predecessor, Udayadityavarman II ruled over the Angkor
Kingdom without peace. He was not the son of Suryavarman I, but a
descendant from the different lineage of Yasovarman I's spouse. The
stone inscription during his reign praised one of his faithful general
Sangrama who quell several major rebellions for the king.
Udayadityavarman II built the renowned Baphoun Temple devoted to god
Shiva, however, it appeared that some stone sculptures were also
dedicated to Lord Buddha. This king completed the construction of the
West Baray started since the time of his former king, and built the West
Mebon, a raise-earthen island, in the center of it. A temple dedicated
to god Vishnu was constructed on the island, but now had long been
vanished. The West Baray is still in use today.
Following the death of Udayadityavarman
II, the new king Harshavarman III who was the former king's older
brother, mounted the throne. No monument built by this king was known
and there was very few historical account referred to this king, who was
believed to die in a violent rebellion.
Ascending the throne in 1080 A.D.,
Jayavarman VI did not seem to have any direct connection with the royal
family of the preceding kings. Probably he was from the different
maternal sub-lineage, which was too far to entitle his right to the
crown. The center of his ancestors' power was more or less to the West
of the Angkor in the area of Phimai, now in Thailand. Jayavarman VI
claimed to be the descendents of legendary Kambu and Mera, which was
different from his immediate predecessors. This could imply that he
succeeded the throne through violent conflict.
During his reign, there was rarely any monument built, except the one at the center of his power - the Phimai temple.
Jayavarman VI died in 1107, and the
throne was followed by his elder brother Dharanindravarman I. This king
was less ambitious as well as less energetic. He was ousted and killed
in a civil war which lasted for only one day by his nephew who later
became one of the greatest king of the Angkor, Suryavarman II.
Upon rising to power, Suryavarman II
was a highly ambitious Khmer king. He was the great builder of the most
impressive temple of Khmer, the Angkor Wat which is one of the World's
Wonders with its magnificent architecture. Angkor Wat is a mountain
temple dedicated to god Vishnu with five towers linked by galleries to
signify the heavenly residence of Hindu gods. It is 65 meters high and
the outer rectangular enclosure mesuring 1.5 km by 1.3 km which is
surrounded by moat of 200 meters wide. In addition to its remarkable
size, Angkor Wat also houses thousands of sculptures and stone carvings
which amplify the delicacy of Khmer artworks. It took 37 years to
complete the construction of this temple with over 50,000 workforce.
Apart from being a great royal builder,
Suryavarman II was also a great warrior. He sacked several Champa
states to the east and even waged an unsuccessful war with the strong Ly
Dynasty of Vietnam. To the west, he conquered the Haripunjaya Kingdom,
one of the Mon tribal states in central Thailand, and extended his
power to as far north to the southern border of modern Laos and as far
south to the border of Grahi Kingdom in Malay Peninsula which was around
the present-day Nakorn Sithammarat, a southern province of modern
Thailand. His territory expanded up to the border of the Pagan kingdom
(ancient Burma) in the West.
Other monuments, in addition to Angkor
wat, built during the reign of Suryavarman II are Beng Melea, Banteay
Samre, Chey Say Tevoda, Thommanon.
Surprisingly the final destiny of this
great king still remains in mystery. The last inscription referring to
Suryavarman II was carved in 1145 A.D. with his preparation to invade
Vietnam and probably he died sometime between 1145 and 1150 in a
battlefield.
The death of Suryavarman II led to the
decline of the Angkor Empire for a short interval and the successive
kings were rather weak as well as tyrannical. The reign was followed by
Dharanindravarman II (1150 - 1160 A.D.), Yasovarman II (1160 - 1165
A.D.), and Tribhuvanadityavarman (1165 - 1181 A.D.), respectively.
Yasovarman II siezed the power from Dharanindravarman II, and in turn,
was ousted by Tribhuvanadityavarman.
In 1177, a Champa King, who was the
bitter enemy of the Khmer, attacked the Angkor by sailing his troops up
along the Mekong River. A fierce naval battle was fought on the Great
Lake of Tonle Sap and resulted in the painful defeat of the Angkor which
subsequently fell into the hand of the Champa. The current Khmer king
Tribhuvandityavarman was under the subjugation of the Champa until 1181.
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