Champa Kingdom

Champa Kingdom

According to Chinese texts, in 192 c.e., Champa was formed during the aftermath of the breakup of the Han dynasty of China. The Champa kingdom was situated along the coastal plains of present-day central and southern Vietnam. The Chams shared many biological traits with the Malays and Polynesians.

After years of fighting with rival Chinese factions in Tonkin, the Chams came to be under Indian cultural influence. Elements of Indian culture formed a huge part of Cham culture, as a result. The Champa kingdom was divided into four regions with Hindu names—Amaravati, Vijaya, Kauthara, and Panduranga.

The four, which were already powerful, were reunited under King Bhadravarman in 400. Located between India and China, the Chams were in a strategic position to conduct trade between West and East Asia. The kingdom played a key role along this trade route, which became known as the Silk Route of the Sea. At the height of their success, they became a prosperous seafaring power that actively participated in commerce and piracy along the coastline.


Because of its strategic location, the Chams were constantly under threat of attack from their neighbors. Cham-Chinese rivalry persisted for centuries and featured prominently in Cham history. In order to stop repeated destructive Cham raids on their coasts, the Chinese invaded Champa territory in 446. Champa was made subservient to China but by the sixth century the Chams achieved independence from China rule.

Champa trade and culture flourished during this era. Champa success was however disrupted by Javanese invasions in the eighth century, which they managed to stave off. In the ninth century under King Indravarman II, the Chams relocated their capital farther north in Amaravati. During this period, the Chams built beautiful temples and palaces, many of which survive today.

By the 10th century the Champa kingdom faced another adversary from Hanoi in the form of the Dai Viet, who wanted the territories of Amaravati and a few decades later, Vijaya. Later the Cambodians launched attacks on their kingdom, along with the Vietnamese.

Even though the Cham king Harivarman managed to fend off attacks from these two invading forces in 1145, the Khmers returned under a new more aggressive king and managed to bring Champa under his leadership. But two years later, a new Cham leader successfully defeated the Khmers. In 1177 the next Cham king even invaded the Cambodian capital of Angkor.

This victorious period was extremely brief, as the Chams were once again subjected to Cambodian rule in 1190 until 1220. The Chams would never again experience a period of resurgence and instead suffered successive invasions by foreign forces. After 1220, Vietnamese kings, who were members of the Tran dynasty, attacked Champa.

The Champa kingdom was further weakened by the Mongol invasion in 1284. By the end of the 15th century very little of the Champa kingdom was left as their territories were being conquered by foreign invaders, who completed the conquest of Cham territory during the 17th century.

Burma

Burma

The classical civilization of Burma (Myanmar) is centered at Pagan. After the collapse of the Pyu state, the Mrammas (Sanskritized Brahma), or Burmans, founded their chief city, Pagan (Arimarddanapura or “City Where Enemies Were Exterminated”) around 849 c.e. The ethnic Chinese had pushed them back around the second millennium b.c.e. from Northwest China to eastern Tibet, after which they moved to Myanmar over several centuries.

The first Burman center developed in the rice-growing Kyawkse Plain at the confluence of the Irrawaddy and Chindwin Rivers. According to the local chronicles, Pagan began as a group of 19 villages, each having its nat, or local spirit, which were later fused into a cult of a common spirit. Burmese legends speak of intrigue and bloodshed in the early Pagan history until the emergence of King Anawratha, or Aniruddha (1044–77).

Aniruddha conquered the Mon country of Thaton in 1057 c.e., resulting in an infusion of Mon culture into Pagan. He maintained friendly contact with King Vijayabahu of Buddha, which was enshrined in the Shwezigon Pagoda. Pagan was brought into the maritime trading network linked to the eastern coast of India.


Along with the Mon monk and scholar Shin Arhan, Aniruddha was responsible for spreading Hinayana Buddhism among his people. This quickly spread all over Myanmar and eventually to mainland Southeast Asia. Aniruddha also is credited with constructing a large number of pagodas, including the Shwezigon Pagoda. He visited the Bengal region and married an Indian princess. Aniruddha developed the small principality of Pagan into an extensive kingdom, and a distinct Burmese civilization grew based on Mon literature, script, art, and architecture.

The second prominent king of Pagan was Thileuin Man (Kyanzittha), who ruled from 1084 to 1112. He crushed the Mon uprising that had claimed the life of the earlier king’s son and successor, Man Lulan, and made peace with the rival Thaton faction of the Mons through matrimonial alliances.

The Thervada monkhood flourished under his patronage. He even fed eight Indian monks daily for three months. Having heard about Buddhist monuments like the famous Ananta Temple in the Udayagiri hills of Orissa, he constructed the magnificent Ananda Temple in imitation. Kyanzittha also visited Bodhgaya and helped repair Buddhist shrines.

He tried to bring assimilation of different cultural traditions prevalent in Myanmar, and the Myazedi pillar of 1113 c.e. had identical inscriptions in four languages: Burmese, Pali, Pyu, and Mon. He sent a mission to China, which recognized the sovereignty of Pagan.

The transition from Mon to Burman culture occurred during the rule of the grandson of Kyanzittha, Alaungsithu (Cansu I), who had a long reign from 1112 to 1165. He undertook punitive expeditions to Arakan and Tenasserim. Relations with Sri Lanka deteriorated over interference with trade between Angkor and Sri Lanka. Alaungsithu nurtured Buddhism and completed the imposing Thatpinnyu Temple in 1144.

The last of the important kings of Myanmar was Narapatisithu (Cansu II, 1174–1211), who ended the Mon influence in the Pagan court. Relations with Sri Lanka improved, resulting in the end of the friendship of Burmans with Colas and a promise of noninterference by Pagan in Sri Lanka’s trade over the isthmus region. The king also introduced reforms in monkhood. However his successors were unsuccessful, and gradual deterioration started in the Pagan kingdom.

The shrinking of central authority resulted in Arakan and Pegu becoming independent. The Thai people known as Shans began to enter Pagan. There were also subsequent Mongol expeditions against the kingdom. The last king of the dynasty, Narasimhapati (Cansu IV), was a boastful ruler, and his subjects murdered him for his flight during a Mongol invasion.

Under the leadership of the Shans, the kings of Pagan were forced into a ceremonial role only. The masalah facing Myanmar had been to hold together different ethnic groups, and this was evident in the Toungoot (Tungut) dynasty of the 16th century and the Konbaung dynasty (1792–1885).

The prevalence of Sanskritized names and commercial relations point to the close link between India and Myanmar. The region was geographically nearest to India among Southeast Asian countries, and there were land and sea routes through which cultural relations developed.

From very early on Indians traveled these routes to Southeast Asia. Cultural intercourse between the two regions grew, probably through traders and Buddhist missionaries reaching lower Myanmar. Adopting Indian practices, women were given a higher place in society, and the caste system was rejected.

Though Buddhism dominated daily life, it was mingled with Brahmanism. At the site of King Kyanzittha’s palace, naga spirits were propitiated, and the services of Brahmans were required. The king was proclaimed an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu after his death. The name of one of the early cities of the Pyu people was Visnupura (modern Beikthano), and it was a center of Vishnuite influence.

Images of Brahmanical gods such as Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva are found throughout Myanmar. Compared to Brahmanism, the influence of Buddhism in Myanmar was greater. In the Buddhist Jatakas there are frequent references to the sea voyage to Suvarnabhumi, or the golden land, which has been identified with Myanmar. Kings like Aniruddha and Kyanzittha were patrons of Buddhism, and because of their endeavor, the religion took firm roots in Myanmar.

Mon

Mon kingdom

The Mon may have been the first human inhabitants of Myanmar, better known as Burma. The Mon are also known as the Taliang people. They migrated, perhaps pursued by enemies, to South Burma, where they lived near the Salween River, which empties into the Bay of Bengal, not far east of the border with Thailand. Their population spread into Thailand as well.

In 573 two Mon brothers named Prince Samala and Prince Wamala created the kingdom of Hongsavatoi, which is located near the modern city of Pegu. The Mon realm enjoyed independence for several centuries. However by the middle of the 11th century, the Mon peoples came under the influence of those we now call Burmese, who had formed the kingdom of Pagan.

A Buddhist monk of the Mon people converted the first king of Pagan, Anawratha (r. 1044–77), to Theravada Buddhism. This religion was common in Southeast Asia, so the Pagan takeover may have been less of a conquest, and more assimilation.


Both the Mon and the Burmese were under the strong influence of India and used Indian Sanskrit in some of their writings. The Pagan kingdom refused to pay tribute to the conquering Mongols, believing their distance from Mongol-controlled China would provide protection. In 1287 Kubilai Khan, the founder of China’s Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), sent an army south, which virtually destroyed Pagan in revenge.

At this time the Mon, with the reduction of Pagan, came under the rule of an adventurer from the Thai people, who established the Mon kingdom of Râmaññadesa, which was formed from the three provinces of Bassein, Pegu, and Martaban; the city of Pegu became the new kingdom’s first capital.

The Râmaññadesa kingdom was brutally attacked in 1540 by the Burmese from Taungu, who went on to virtually unite all of modern Burma. With this invasion, Mon political independence was extinguished, but their cultural and nationalist identity remained strong, as it has until today.

In the 18th century the Mon temporarily threw off Burmese rule, only to invite a brutal repression in return. At the same time as Robert Clive was expanding British rule in India, the Burmese ruler U Aungzeya began a genocidal invasion of the Mon heartland.

Mon costumes

As Dr. George Aaron Broadwell writes, the invasion “devastated the Mon kingdom, killing tens of thousands of Mon, including learned Mon priests, pregnant women, and children. Over 3,000 priests were massacred by the victorious Burmans in the capital city alone....

The surviving priests fled to Thailand, and Burman priests took over the monasteries. Most of the Mon literature, written on palm leaves, was destroyed by the Burmans. Use of the Mon language was forbidden, and Burman became the medium of instruction.

Mon people were persecuted, oppressed, and enslaved, and countless people were burned in holocausts, like the Jews before the Nazis. Mon properties and possessions were looted and burned throughout Burma. Mons fled further south into Burma’s Tenasserim Division and east into Thailand.”

Afterward the Mon remained firmly under Burmese control. The Alompra Burmese dynasty in the 18th and 19th centuries continued U Aungzeya’s policy with a policy of forcibly eradicating the Mon language and culture, attempting a compulsory assimilation into the Burmese majority. The Mon managed to preserve their culture, and records of the kingdom of Râmaññadesa were written and preserved in the Mon language.

The Burmese came under British rule in the 19th century, after the First Burma War (1824–26), Second Burma War (1852–53), and the Third Burma War (1885–87). The British ruled Burma, with a hiatus during World War II, until independence in 1948. After independence the Burmese continued their oppression of the Karen, Shan, and Mon peoples.

For her opposition to Burmese military rule, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Prize in peace in 1991. Mon people exiled from their native land have continued to battle for international recognition of their culture, language, and freedom.

Borobudur

Borobudur

Borobudur, the largest Buddhist monument in the world, is located in central Java. Surrounded by fertile rice fields and coconut plantations, the Buddhist stupa is located on a small hill above Kedu Plain.

It was built in 760 to resemble a mountain and was completed in 830. Borobudur is associated with two Buddhist powers—the Sanjaya rulers and the Sailendra dynasty—which displaced the Sanjayas in 780, though the latter regained power in 850. The monument is made from more than a million blocks of stone, each weighing about 100 kilograms. These stones were arduously carried up a hill from a nearby riverbed.

These blocks of stone were then cut and carved by skilled Javanese craftsmen to form rich artistic depictions of stories familiar to Buddhist pilgrims. These bas-relief panels relate ancient fables, fairytales, and the life of Gautama Buddha. The panel reliefs were based on earlier Tantric designs.


The complex meaning of Borobudur is found in deciphering the architecture and the reliefs carved into stone. Borobudur yields multiple layers of meaning rather than one single concept, although the skilful builders managed to combine different elements into a harmonious whole.

The impressive structure was built in the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism, which focuses on the personal, solitary, ascetic journey to achieve Nirvana. Ancient pilgrims made their way up the stupa to attain spiritual merit. Borobudur has a simple structure, consisting of a series of concentric terraces.

An aerial view reveals that the Borobudur temple is actually a large mandala, often employed to initiate Buddhists into higher levels of consciousness and spiritual power. As Buddhist pilgrims progress upwards, they are moving through increasingly higher planes of consciousness, with the aim of ultimately attaining Nirvana. In order to achieve enlightenment, pilgrims had to make 10 rounds in the monument.

Borobudur and the surrounding environtment

At the summit, there is a large stupa surrounded by 72 smaller stupas. Built to visually stimulate, Borobudur enables pilgrims to forget the outside world, as the visitor walks through enclosed galleries. On the round terraces the pilgrim witnesses a view of surrounding green fields, feeling a sense of elation symbolizing enlightenment, the ultimate aim of such a pilgrimage.

The awesome structure of Borobudur provides Buddhist pilgrims with physical space to achieve spiritual enlightenment as they pass through 10 stages of development. It was a place to achieve the practical end of becoming a bodhisattva, an exalted being who is actively seeking enlightenment.

Aerial view of Borobudur

Majapahit Kingdom

Majapahit Kingdom

After the decline of the Srivijayas, who were based in Palembang, Sumatra, the Singahsari dynasty tried to assert their authority in the Malay Archipelago. Unfortunately for them the powerful Mongol warrior Kubilai Khan interfered with their efforts by trying to subjugate them.

He initially sent peaceful missions to make the Singahsari ruler pay tribute to him. When the last Singahsari ruler, Kertanagara, refused, Kubilai Khan sent a military force to Java to subdue him forcefully. By the time the Mongols reached Java, the Singahsari ruler Kertanagara had been assassinated by the forces of his brother-in-law, Jayakatwang of Kediri, who coveted the throne.

In 1292 Nararya Sanggrama Wijaya, later known as Kertarajasa Jayawardhana, the son-in-law of Kertanegara, went on to establish his own line of dynasty, known as the Majapahit dynasty. He managed to do so through an early alliance with the Mongols, who had come to attack him. After defeating his uncle, Kertarajasa managed to expel the Mongols in 1293.


The Hindu-Javanese Majapahit dynasty reigned from about 1293 to 1500 from eastern Java. The name Majapahit is derived from a bitter fruit. Their empire included Borneo, Sumatra, Bali, and the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. It stretched from Irian Jaya in the east to Langkasuka in Malaya in the west.

Either a king or a queen was able to rule. The royal family consisted of the king’s parents, sisters, their husbands, aunts, and uncles, and their respective spouses shared in the administration of the kingdom. They formed the Royal Advisory council, and the Royal Privy councils were consulted by the king before he made any decision.

temple in Majapahit

The Majapahit kingdom achieved great prosperity especially in the 14th century. A key figure in the Majapahit kala is Gadjah Mada, who acted as regent and prime minister from 1331 to 1364. Queen Tribuana Tunggadewi, regent for her son Hayam Wuruk, appointed him prime minister.

Gadjah Mada was a skilful politician and was responsible for the glorious period of Majapahit rule. His famous oath, known as Sumpah Palapa, was recorded in the Pararaton or the Book of Kings. He swore to conquer the rest of the Malay Archipelago before indulging in the pleasures of life.

In fact, he named specific locations in his oath, such as Bali, Tumasik (present-day Singapore), Pahang, and Palembang. He succeeded in spreading Majapahit rule in the Malay Archipelago, beyond present-day Indonesia. His conquests even extended to the Muslim city-state of Palembang Sumatra, effectively ending Srivijaya rule. True to his word, he headed a military expedition that conquered Bali in 1343.

Gajah Mada

In 1350 Queen Tribuana Tunggadewi stepped down and Gadjah Mada served her son, Hayam Wuruk, who ruled until 1389. The young king, who was only 16 years old, gave free rein to his prime minister. Thus Gadjah Mada was free to conquer as many places in the archipelago as he wanted. During this time he succeeded in gaining the islands of the Indonesian Archipelago under Majapahit rule.

During the early 15th century Majapahit rule declined with the rise of the Malacca Sultanate, who were becoming increasingly powerful. Toward the end of their rule, many members of Majapahit aristocracy moved to Bali, where they lived in isolation till the island was colonized.

Le Dynasty of Annam

Le Loi - Le dynasty founder

At the same time that the Chinese Ming dynasty sent its vast fleets across the Indian Ocean to Africa, it also mounted an invasion of Annam, today part of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The sudden Ming incursion caused the native Vietnamese Ho dynasty to collapse.

The Ming attack had been precipitated by the coup of Le Qui Ly onto the throne of the Ho dynasty in 1400. He reorganized the kingdom and set about building an especially strong military system, something that the Ming emperor Jianwen (Chien-wen, r. 1399–1402) did not see in the interests of Chinese security.

The occupation of Annam continued until 1407, when Emperor Yongle (Yung-lo, r. 1403–24) brought back the Chinese troops, perhaps because the expense was taking money from his gigantic project of building a large, ocean-going fleet. The impetus for the withdrawal of the Chinese was the rise of Le Loi, who began a fierce resistance struggle against Chinese occupation, which Yongle did not want to see consume his imperial treasury.


Calling himself Prince of the Pacification, Le Loi established what became the Le dynasty in 1428. At that time, Le Loi took the royal title of Le Thai To. He renamed the country Dai Viet and began the process of rebuilding his country after the Ming occupation.

With the Chinese threat removed, he demobilized much of his army to free money for the reconstruction of the country’s infrastructure, which had virtually been destroyed by the Ming. However he followed the Chinese pattern in establishing the new administration for Vietnam. China was governed by the scholar class, recruited through extremely hard examinations.

Thus the emperor governed imperial China through an effective civil service. To reorganize Annam, Le Loi established the College of National Sons to train a civil administration for his kingdom. Entrance to the college was virtually free of influence of birth, thus opening a career of government service to large numbers who would otherwise have been denied entry.

On the death of Le Loi (Le Thai To) in 1443 the country suffered a period of disorder until his son, Le Thanh Tong, was able to assert his claim to his father’s throne. He ruled from 1460 to 1497. Le Thanh Tong built on the administrative foundations laid by his father. At the same time, he carried out the expansion of his kingdom.

Le Thanh Tong

To the south, he invaded the Champa kingdom. However Le Thanh To was careful about antagonizing China and was scrupulous about his payment of tribute to the Ming court. At the same time on his western frontier, he repelled raids from the Lao people, from whom modern Laos derives its name. It was clear in his conquest of Champa that he intended to colonize, not just raid.

Le Thanh established military colonies of Annamese veterans in the region to weld it to his kingdom. Moreover, the opening of Champa served as a “new frontier” for the Annamese people of Dai Viet, giving many peasants the opportunity to farm land there, which they did not have in their original homeland.

Upon Le Thanh’s death in 1497 the Le dynasty entered a period of fatal decline. In 1527 Mac Dang Dong, one of the administrative mandarins, seized the throne after having already been effective ruler for a decade. The Nguyen and Trinh families, loyal to the Le dynasty, rebelled against Mac Dang Dong. The realm of the old Le dynasty was destroyed from within.

Khmer Kingdom

Map of Khmer Kingdom

Until 802 the Khmers were organized into a number of warring independent kingdoms. They often fought among themselves and against foreign enemies such as the Chams located in present-day central Vietnam. King Jayavarman I, also named Parameshvara posthumously, united these disparate kingdoms. He first appeared in historical sources in 709. The Khmer empire was to span most of present-day Cambodia and had vassal states in parts of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

Jayavarman I, II, and III

According to text inscribed on a stela (stone or wooden slab) King Jayavarman I originated from Java, though the Malay Peninsula has also been suggested by scholars as a possible place of origin. From his initial base in Indrapura, most likely situated northeast of Phnom Penh, he launched attacks across the Mekong and on Sambhrapura, Wat Phu, and onward to Phnom Kulen, a sacred place for the Khmers, where he settled in 802.

At the time it was known as Mahendravaparta. It was here that the sacred rites were performed on Jayavarman by Brahmin priests of the Shivaite sect proclaiming him the universal monarch of the world, or chakaravartin, a rite based on Hindu tradition from India.


The system of dynastic succession within the Khmer kingdom was highly complex. Both men and women could become rulers. More importantly, kingship was passed through other family members of the same generation rather than to sons upon the death of a ruler, although there was often strong opposition to this.

The next king, Jayavarman II, was responsible for laying the spiritual foundations within the Khmer Empire. After the death of Jayavarman II in 834, Jayavarman III succeeded him. Harihalaya became his capital, southeast of Angkor. The civilization of Angkor was unique as it was a mixture of two influences—Indian and Javanese.

Indravarman I

The second king built many shrines, but the next ruler, Indravarman I, also called Isvaraloka, was credited for contributing the most to the religious environment within the Khmer empire. Indravarman laid the foundations for the now centralized Angkor state. Indravarman II ascended to the throne in 877 and ruled until 889. His period of rule was relatively peaceful, even though he succeeded in extending the borders of the Khmer Empire.

An ancestral temple, Preah Ko, was built in the imperial capital of Hariharalaya and was consecrated in 880. It was a shrine consisting of a set of six brick temples dedicated to his ancestors and past kings. The temple is considered a piece of art with beautiful male and female divine figures, structural elements such as colonnades, and other embellishments.

Another major building project was the state temple, south of the ancestral temple. This temple, known as Bakong, resembled a stepped pyramid and symbolically was regarded as a mountain. Hindu temples in the Khmer kingdom were often built as mountains as they were seen as earthly representations of the divine mountain, Mount Meru, home of the gods in Hindu mythology.

A precursor to the spectacular Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, the temple had a complex structure and was surrounded by a huge double moat, a feature of Angkor Wat as well. At the same time Indravarman set into place a system of irrigation for cultivated rice fields. Large agricultural projects were undertaken, such as building a huge reservoir.

Yashovarman and Suryavarman II

King Yashovarman, who ruled from 889 to 900, established the city of Yasodharapura (also known as Angkor) as the new capital. Between 900 and 1200 Angkor achieved great prominence because of the rise of impressive temples in Angkor, including the famous temple that became known as Angkor Wat. It was built in the 12th century during the reign of Suryavarman II. who ordered it to be built.

Suryavarman II, dubbed one of the greatest Khmer kings, was a warrior-king and launched many attacks on the Dai Viet, which was highly resilient and resisted subjugation. Suryavarman had gained the throne through the violent means of killing his great uncle, King Dharanindravarman.

Angkor Wat

The architecture of Angkor Wat is in classical Khmer style. It was also a temple-mountain surrounded by a wide moat, crossed by a causeway on the east side. The state temple was dedicated to Vishnu, whom Suryavarman II considered the Protector of the Khmer empire, a departure from earlier rulers, who regarded Shiva as the protector of their kingdom.

The 11th century witnessed a general rise in Vaisnavite thought in religious and philosophical life in India, and since travel between India and Southeast Asia was frequent, Angkor Wat could have been a reflection of the contemporary trends in Hindu philosophy. The external appearance resembles descriptions of Mount Vaikuntha, home of Vishnu.

Jayavarman VII

The city of Angkor Thom was built by another great king, Jayavarman VII, in 1181, after he defeated the Chams who had captured Angkor in 1177. Instead of reclaiming the old Khmer spirituality before the Cham defeat, Jayavarman pursued a course of reinvention. He enacted a major change in the Khmer Empire by replacing Hindu religion with Mahayana Buddhism as the official state religion.

The power of the Hindu aristocracy within the empire was seriously undermined. It is said that Jayavarman VII was following the example of Ashoka, the model for all Buddhist rulers. The imposition of Buddhist cosmology led to an extensive reworking of religious, political, and military organization within the Khmer kingdom.

Jayavarman VII was responsible for organizing the capital, Angkor Thom, into a mandala, which is a symbol of the universe and its energy. The construction of Angkor Thom, based on this highly regulated pattern, took about a decade. It was an awesome feat as the mandala was extremely difficult to replicate in the form of a city.

Bayon temple

The new capital city was known as Angkor Thom Mahanagara, or simply Angkor Thom. The site of the city coincided with that of an earlier city, Yasodharapura, built more than two centuries before. Right in the middle of the city is the Bayon, the state temple built by King Jayavarman VII, in the exact center of his capital of Angkor Thom. Every road from the city gates leads directly to the Bayon.

The Bayon, which was covered in gold and orientated toward the east, according to a Chinese account, was also known as the Assembly Hall of Gods. According to the concept of the mandala, the gods would gather there on certain days. Jayavarman VII was at the peak of his reign, and he assumed supreme rule.

Indravarman II and Jayavarman VIII

The decline of Angkor began soon after Jayavarman’s death. His son, Indravarman II, who ruled from 1219 to 1243, withdrew from many provinces previously conquered from the Champa kingdom. Their neighbouring rivals, the Thais, were also gaining more power, strengthened by the establishment of the kingdom of Sukhothai.

The Khmer once again lost their hold on Thai provinces. Soon, the Thais emerged as the chief rivals of the Khmers, replacing their former enemies, the Chams. The Mongols under the leadership of General Sagatu also presented a threat to the Khmers, but the Khmer rulers were careful not to go to war against such a powerful force.

Jayavarman VIII ascended to the Khmer throne in 1243. He was a Hindu rather than a Buddhist like his immediate predecessors. He was a violent anti-Buddhist and went on to destroy many Buddhist sculptures and converted the Bayon temple into a Hindu temple. His son-in-law, Srindravarman, who usurped his throne in 1295, was a Buddhist, though he was a follower of Theravada Buddhism. Later Khmer kings were adherents of this faith.

The Thai Ayuttaya kingdom replaced the Sukothai kingdom in 1350 and succeeded in diminishing Khmer power through several attacks. By 1431 the Thais had conquered Angkor. Despite being weakened, a line of kings managed to rule from Angkor and a separate line of Khmer kings continued to rule in Phnom Penh. The latter line achieved more prominence because of the rise of Mekong as an important trade center, leading to the fall of Angkor.

Ibn Batuta

Ibn Batuta

Ibn Batuta (also Ibn Battuta), Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd Alah, born in Tangier, Morocco, was one of the greatest Arab travelers in the 14th century. A descendant of a scholarly family that produced many judges, he was educated in Tangier. As other travelers from Morocco, he began his travels by undertaking a pilgrimage to Mecca and to centers of learning in Egypt and Syria. But he soon became restless and wished to explore other parts of the world.

For some 28 years Ibn Batuta traveled to many countries in the Islamic world, to Armenia, Georgia, the Volga region, Central Asia, Constantinople, India, the Maldives, Indonesia, parts of China, and East and West Africa. He performed his pilgrimage to Mecca four different times. It is from Ibn Batuta’s journals that we know so much of these lands in his time.

During his travels he became acquainted with sultans and rulers in many parts of the world. At times he held important positions in foreign lands and became an influential judge in Delhi during the rule of Muhammad Tughluq. He also played an important role in the Maldives. In 1353 he returned to Morocco.


At the request of the sultan he dictated his book Rihla to a writer by the name of Ibn Juzzay, who died in 1355 after having completed and edited the text. At the end of his life Ibn Batuta served as a judge in a Moroccan town and was buried in Tangier.

Since someone else wrote Ibn Batuta’s travel account, it is difficult to ascertain at times his own voice or character. It is likely that Ibn Juzzay was not altogether faithful to what he heard from his interlocutor; furthermore, one must be careful about the traveler’s memory in reconstructing past events, episodes, and dates. Ibn Batuta’s travel account is a major medieval document that sheds light on the historical, cultural, and social life in many parts of the world, particularly India, the Maldives, Asia Minor, and East and West Africa.