Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
By 1066, Angkor was again riven by conflict, becoming the focus of rival bids for
power. It was not until the accession of Suryavarman II (r 1112-52) that the kingdom was
again unified. Suryavarman II embarked on another phase of expansion, waging costly
wars in Vietnam and the region of central Vietnam known as Champa. Suryavarman II is
immortalised as the king who, in his devotion to the Hindu deity Vishnu, commissioned
the majestic temple of Angkor Wat. For an insight into events in this epoch, see the bas-
reliefs on the southwest corridor of Angkor Wat, which depict the reign of Suryavarman
II.
Suryavarman II had brought Champa to heel and reduced it to vassal status, but the
Chams struck back in 1177 with a naval expedition up the Mekong and into Tonlé Sap
lake. They took the city of Angkor by surprise and put King Dharanindravarman II to
death. The following year a cousin of Suryavarman II rallied the Khmer troops and de-
feated the Chams in another naval battle. The new leader was crowned Jayavarman VII in
1181.
THE LEGEND OF KAUNDINYA & THE NAGA PRINCESS
Cambodia came into being, so the legend says, through the union of a princess and a foreigner. The
foreigner was an Indian Brahman named Kaundinya and the princess was the daughter of a naga
(mythical serpent-being) king who ruled over a watery land. One day, as Kaundinya sailed by, the
princess paddled out in a boat to greet him. Kaundinya shot an arrow from his magic bow into her
boat, causing the fearful princess to agree to marriage. In need of a dowry, her father drank up the wa-
ters of his land and presented them to Kaundinya to rule over. The new kingdom was named Kambuja.
