Khmer

Origins and formation

The Khmer Empire was centered on hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Its inhabitants knew it as Kambuja. It grew out of Chenla and lasted from 802 to 1431. Historians call this the Angkor period, after the best-known capital. The empire ruled or vassalized most of mainland Southeast Asia and reached southern China. The beginning is conventionally 802, when Jayavarman II declared himself chakravartin, a universal ruler, on Phnom Kulen. The end has traditionally been marked by the fall of Angkor to Ayutthaya. Jayavarman VII is not the founder of 802.¹

Defining periods

Jayavarman VII, known posthumously as Mahaparamasaugata, lived from 1122 to 1218 and was king of the empire. He was the son of Dharanindravarman II, who ruled from 1150 to 1160, and of Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He was the first Khmer king devoted to Buddhism. Only one other had been a Buddhist. He built the Bayon as a Buddhist monument. Historians generally consider him the most powerful Khmer monarch. His government built hospitals, highways, rest houses, and temples. In 1177 the Cham king Jaya Indravarman IV attacked the capital by sailing onto the Tonle Sap. The lead used here breaks off in that battle. This essay does not invent the rest of the campaign. The published Civilization VII Khmer essay is this empire, with its own account of Angkor’s water and towers.^{1 2}

Leaders

The hubs list a Khmer and Indonesia Civilization and Scenario Pack. That sentence names both civilizations and the pack. It does not name Jayavarman. The update notes use the ordinary name for the Khmer beside a war elephant and a balance block about water, a monastery, and a temple. They do not print him. The Chinese form of his name in this essay is the standard reading. His pack is the scenario pack, because the hub assigns the civilization there. Indonesia is the other civilization in the same pack and is not this essay.^{3 4 5}

Legacy and interpretation

The empire’s legacy in the lead is Angkor, from 802 to 1431. Jayavarman’s legacy is a 12th- and 13th-century reign, the Bayon, and a Buddhist welfare the lead describes as hospitals and roads. The Civ7 essay keeps the reservoirs and the temples from being one copied wonder. This page does not replace it. Reading him as Jayavarman II would move the reign back to 802.^{1 2}

A closer look

The update’s Khmer lines change food, faith, and housing around water and a temple. They are balance numbers. This essay does not copy them. A changed baray is not the Bayon and not 1177.⁵

In Civilization VI

The civilization is the scenario pack named on the hub, shared with Indonesia. Jayavarman’s Chinese name is a standard reading. The published Civilization VII essay is the counterpart. Keep 802, 1177, the life from 1122 to 1218, and 1431 apart.^{1 2 3}