Jayavarman II
| Jayavarman II | |
|---|---|
| 'King the Khmer Empire' | |
| Reign | 802 – 835 |
| Successor | Jayavarman III |
| Born | ca. 770 |
| Died | 835 (aged 64–65) Angkor, Khmer Empire |
| Dynasty | Khmer Empire |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Jayavarman II (Khmer: ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី២) (c. 770–835) was a 9th-century king of Cambodia, widely recognized as the founder of the Khmer Empire, the dominant civilisation on the Southeast Asian mainland until the mid 15th century. Historians formerly dated his reign as running from 802 AD to 835 AD. Before Jayavarman II came to power, there was much fighting among local overlords who ruled different parts of Cambodia. The country was not unified under one ruler.
Jayavarman II is widely regarded as the king that set the foundation of the Angkor period in Cambodian history, beginning with the gradise consecration ritual conducted by Jayavarman II (reign 790-850) in 802 on sacred Mount Mahendraparvata, now known as Phnom Kulen, to celebrate the independence of Kambuja from Javanese dominion (presumably the "neighboring Chams", or chvea). At that ceremony Prince Jayavarman II was proclaimed a universal monarch (Kamraten jagad ta Raja in Cambodian) or God King (Deva Raja in Sanskrit). According to some sources, Jayavarman II had resided for some time in Java during the reign of Sailendras, or "The Lords of Mountains", hence the concept of Devaraja or God King was ostensibly imported from Java. At that time, Sailendras allegedly ruled over Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Cambodia. An inscription from the Sdok Kak Thom temple recounts that at Mahendraparvata, Jayavarman II took part in a ritual by the Brahman Hiranyadama, and his chief priest Lord Sivakaivalya, known as devaraja (Khmer: ទេវរាជា) which placed him as a chakravartin, Lord of the Universe.
The foundation of Hariharalaya near present-day Roluos was the first settlement in what would later become the empire of Angkor. Despite this key role in Khmer history, few firm facts survive about Jayavarman. No inscriptions authored by him have been found, but he is mentioned in numerous others, some of them written long after his death. He appears to have been of aristocratic birth, beginning his career of conquest in the southeast of present-day Cambodia. He may have been known as Jayavarman Ibis at that time. “For the prosperity of the people in this perfectly pure royal race, great lotus which no longer has a stalk, he rose like a new flower,” declares one inscription. Various other details are recounted in inscriptions: he married a woman named Hyang Amrita; and he dedicated a foundation at Lobok Srot, in the southeast.
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