History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s9: The King Builders.
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s9
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The King Builders.
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¹ Aymonier, ‘Le Cambodge,’ tome iii. p. 529.
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| | Approximate Dates. | | Approximate Dates. |
| Jayavarman II. | A.D. 802 | Jayavarman V. | A.D. 968 |
| Jayavarman III. | „ 869 | Sûryavarman I. | „ 1002 |
| Indravarman | „ 877 | Udayâdityavarman | „ 1049 |
| Yasovarman . | „ 889 | Harshavarman III. | (?) „ 1070 |
| Harshavarman I. | (?) „ 910 | Jayavarman VI. | (?) „ 1090 |
| Isânavarman | (?) „ 918 | Dharanîndravarman I. | (?) „ 1108 |
| Jayavarman IV. | „ 928 | Sûryavarman II. . | „ 1112 |
| Harshavarman II. | „ 942 | Dharanîndravarman II. | (?) „ 1152 |
| Râjendravarman | „ 944 | Jayavarman VII. | 1162-1201 |
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SINCE the exhumation of the buried cities of Assyria by Mons. Botta and Mr. Layard nothing has occurred so startling, or which has thrown so much light on Eastern art, as the discovery of the ruined cities of Cambodia. Historically, they are infinitely less important to us than the ruins of Nimrûd and Nineveh ; but, in an architectural point of view, they are more astonishing ; and, for the elucidation of certain Indian problems, it seems impossible to overrate their importance.
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The first European who visited these ruins in modern times was M. Mouhot, a French naturalist, who devoted the last four years of his life (1858-1861) to the exploration of the valleys of the Me-kong and Me-nam rivers. Though the primary object of his travels was to investigate the natural productions of the country, he seems to have been so struck with the ruins of Angkor Vât that he not only sketched and made plans of them, but wrote descriptions of all the principal buildings. Unfortunately for science and art he never returned to Europe, being struck down by fever while prosecuting his researches in the northern part of the country ; and, though his notes have been published both in this country² and in France, they were not prepared for publication by himself, and want the explanatory touches which only an author can give to his own work. Though his melancholy death prevented M. Mouhot from obtaining all the credit he was entitled to for his discovery, it has borne rich fruit as far as the public are concerned.
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² ‘Travels in Indo-China, Cambodia, and Laos,’ by Henri Mouhot. 2 vols. 8vo. Murray, 1864.
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The next person who visited these ruins was the very learned Dr. Adolph Bastian;¹ who wrote a most recondite but very unsatisfactory work on the Indo-Chinese nations, in five volumes.
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¹ ‘Die Völker der Oestlichen Asien,’ von Dr. A. Bastian. Leipzig, 1866. He also wrote an account of the ruins in the ‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society’ (vol. xxxv.), and four papers in the ‘Ausland’ (Nos. 47-50).
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The next visit was paid by Mr. J. Thomson, a professional photographer at Singapore, who at considerable expense and risk carried his photographic apparatus to the spot, and brought away a plan of the great temple at Angkor Vât, with some thirty photographs of it, besides views of other places in the neighbourhood.
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Since that time the French have sent a succession of well-equipped expeditions to the place; the first, under Captain Doudart de Lagrée in 1866 and a second in 1873. His unfortunate death on the frontiers of China prevented his ever working out his results to the extent he no doubt would have done had he lived to return home. They were, however, published as he left them by Lieutenant T. Garnier, the second in command, with notes and additions of his own.²
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² ‘Voyage d’Exploration en Indo-Chine,’ 2 vols. quarto and folio Atlas of plates. Paris, 1873; also ‘Explorations et Missions: Extraits de ses Manuscripts,’ par M. A. B. Villemereul. Paris 1883.
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As they, however, could not complete the investigation, a third expedition was fitted out under Captain L. Delaporte, who had taken part in the previous expeditions. He returned to France in 1874, bringing with him not only detailed plans of some of the temples, but copies of numerous inscriptions and a large collection of antiquities and casts. These were at first located in the Chateau of Compiègne, but were afterwards removed to Paris and arranged in the Trocadero Museum.
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Captain Delaporte’s work³ was published in 1880. He was followed by other travellers who shortly after their return brought out the results of their investigations, M. T. Moura,⁴ A. Tissandier,⁵ Fournereau,⁶ Captain E. Lunet de Lajonquière,⁷ and E. Aymonier,¹ all of whom were sent out by the Minister of Public Instruction and under the direction of the École Français de l'Extrême Orient. The latest writer on the subject is General L. de Beylié,² whose work includes a description with illustrations of the monuments of India, Burma, Cambodia, Siam, Jâva, and Ceylon.
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³ ‘Voyage au Cambodge, l’Architecture khmère.’ 4to. 1880.
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⁴ ‘Le Royaume de Cambodge.’ 2 vols. 8vo. 1883.
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⁵ ‘Cambodge et Java: Ruines khmères et javanaises, 1893-94.’ 4to. 1896.
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⁶ ‘Les Ruines d’Angkor.’ 4to. 1900.
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⁷ ‘Atlas Archéologique de l’Indo-Chine: Monuments du Champa et du Cambodge,’ fol. 1901; ‘Inventaire archéologique et descriptif des Monuments du Cambodge.’ 2 vols. Imp. 8vo. 1902-1907.
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¹ 'Le Cambodge.' 3 vols. Imp. 8vo. 1901-1907. The Sanskrit inscriptions were translated and commented by M. M. A. Barth and Abel Bergaigne, with atlas of phototypes of the estampages. Paris 1885 and 1893.
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² 'L'Architecture Hindoue en Extrême Orient.' 1907.
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In addition to these sources of information there is a most interesting account, written by a Chinese traveller, who spent two years in the country when the kingdom was in its most flourishing state between the years 1295-97. He was a Buddhist, and, like his predecessors in India, Fah Hian and Hiuen Tsiang, sees things a little too much through Buddhist spectacles; but, with this slight defect, nothing can be more graphic than his account of the country and the people.³
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³ The work is translated *in extenso* in Abel Remusat's 'Nouveaux Melanges Asiatiques,' vol. i. pp. 78 *et seqq.*
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One of the earliest traditions is that first put forward by Dr. Bastian⁴ relative to the migration of an Indian prince, and this is repeated by Tissandier,⁵ who states that in 443 B.C. Prea-thong, a Hindu prince, son of the King of Indraprastha, emigrated with a large number of his followers and settled at Choukan (north of Angkor). The new emigrants introduced the Brâhman rites which were engrafted on those of the Serpent worshippers of the country. Although at first they settled down amicably with the original inhabitants, in course of time troubles set in and the Indians, having vanquished their opponents, became masters of the country. In 125 B.C. the Chinese are said to have conquered the Cambodians and forced them to pay tribute. There is also a record that in the first centuries of our era emigrants from Madras made their way into Cambodia introducing the Brâhman faith, the Sanskrit alphabet, and Indian rites and customs.⁶ The Khmer and Sanskrit epigraphic texts give details of a dynasty of seven kings who reigned from 435-680 A.D., among whom a certain Bhavavarman seems to have been a great conqueror; the last of this dynasty was Jayavarman. From his death to the commencement of the 9th century there are no records, owing probably to internal dissensions, but in 802 a.d.¹ Jayavarman II., who may have been a descendant of the older dynasty, formed a new dynasty of eighteen sovereigns, a list of whom, with the dates of their accessions, are given at the head of this chapter. To this monarch is attributed the foundation of the Cambodian kingdom, whose capital was Angkor Thom, situated in the valley of the Me-kong about 14 miles north of the lake known as Tonlé Sap. Jayavarman II. settled at first at Prah-khan north of Angkor Vât, and in the tenth year of his reign is supposed to have laid the foundations of the great city of Angkor Thom, as also those of the Royal palace in its centre, the pyramid temples of Phimêanakas, the great temple of Bayon and other structures. To him, therefore, according to Aymonier,² must be ascribed the inauguration of those colossal constructions which were raised during the four centuries following and which constitute the great Cambodian style. There are some small earlier temples built towards the end of the 6th or the commencement of the 7th centuries, in which the origin of the style may be found, but they are of comparatively small importance. It is, however, interesting to note that according to Aymonier, Jayavarman may have come into the country from Jâva, and therefore brought over some acquaintance with the great temple of Boro-Budur of the 7th or 8th centuries, to which there is a striking resemblance, so much so that some of the sculptures of the latter have been assumed in error to be those of Angkor Vât.
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⁴ Bastian, *loc. cit.* vol. i. p. 393.
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⁵ Tissandier, *loc. cit.* p. 17.
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⁶ From ancient inscriptions we learn that the Eastern peninsula at an early date included six regions, states or kingdoms:— (1) Yavana-desa in the north-east, extending from the gulf of Tongkin westwards nearly to the 99th meridian, and including much of the Laos districts north of 17° 30′. Its capital was Chudhânagarî, now Luang Phrabang on the Me-kong. (2) Champâ-desa, corresponding to Annam *and* extending to about 160 miles westwards of the Me-kong. (3) Sayam-desa in the north-west, including Burma proper and the northern part of modern Siam east of the Salwîn, of which Haripunyapura, now Lamphun on the Me-ping, was—if not the capital—one of its notable cities, (4) Kambuja-desa included all Cambodia, Lower Cochin China and Siam as far north as Uttaradih (Lat. 17° 39′ N.). (5) Ramanya-desa, on the west, comprised Pegu and Tenasserim. And (6) The Malay peninsula was designated Malaya-desa. — Fournereau, ‘Le Siam Ancien,’ pt. i. pp. 50ff.
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¹ The dates are those taken from the Indian Saka, to which is added 78: thus 724 Saka is 802 a.d.
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² Aymonier, *loc. cit.* tome iii. p. 468.
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The third king, Indravarman, besides building the temples of Baku and Bakong, completed and consecrated the temple of Bayon in Angkor Thom, the *chef d’œuvre* of Cambodian architecture. The erection of the great capital, on account of its magnitude and the numerous temples and other structures it contained, would seem to have stretched over a long period, as it was not until the reign of Yasovarman, the fourth king, that the official capital was shifted about 900 a.d. from Hariharâlaya, which, since the death of the first king, had hitherto held that position, to Angkor Thom. To Yasovarman is attributed also the temple of Lolei and the pyramid temple of Phimêanakas in the centre of the Palace enclosure. He is said to have been a man of prodigious strength, but in about the nineteenth or twentieth year of his reign was afflicted with leprosy and retired to a forest in the north of the kingdom, leaving two sons to succeed him, the second of whom, Isânavarman, left Angkor Thom about 926 A.D. and settled at Chok Gargyar (Kohker¹), which became the capital during his reign and that of his son. The ninth king, Râjendravarman, returned to Angkor Thom in 942, and it was in his reign that Buddhism commenced to be favoured, one of the two great temples built by him, Ta-Prom being Brâhman, and the other, Bântèai Kedei, Buddhist. Under the reign of his successor many other temples were erected, of which the most important is the pyramid temple of Bapuon, immediately south of the Royal Palace in Angkor Thom. The eleventh king, Sûryavarman, reigned forty-eight years, and was a great builder, the temples of Phnom Chisor (Prov. Bâti), Vât Ek near Battambang, Phnom Bâset, Prah Vihear (Prov. Kukhan) and Prah-khan (Kompong Svay), being attributed to him. His successor continued his work and built the temples of Banteai Ta Kean (Prov. Siemreap), Phimai (Prov. Korat), Prê Rup, and probably the temple on Mount Bakhêng, south of Angkor Thom. The dates of the accessions of the three following kings are not known for certain, and with the exception of Vât Phu at Pursat, built about 1090-1100, restorations and additions only are recorded during the period of their reigns. We pass on, therefore, to Sûryavarman II., who is said to have extended to its normal condition the empire which had suffered many calamities under his predecessors. He would appear to have been not only a great warrior, but a remarkable scholar and writer of verses, and to him is attributed the erection of the temple of Angkor Vât, the foundation of which is said to have been laid by his predecessor, but which he continued and completed during the forty years of his reign, including the magnificent series of bas-reliefs which are carved on the walls representing battle scenes taken from the Râmâyana. During the reign of the last two sovereigns of the dynasty, commenced the wars with neighbouring nations, and no further temples were built, so that our architectural history is confined to the three and a half centuries which elapsed between 802 and 1152.
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¹ Lat. 13° 15′ N., long. 104° 31′ E.
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It was to these incessant wars that the decadence of Cambodia must be attributed; commencing with the Champâs (Cochin China), continued by the Peguans and subsequently with the Siamese, Cambodia was invaded and devastated, Angkor Thom being taken after a seven months' siege in 1375 and again in 1460, when the capital was changed successively to various other towns, the last settlement being at Phnom Penh¹ on the Me-kong, the present capital of what remains of the great Cambodian kingdom.
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¹ Lat. 11° 33′ N., long. 104° 57′ E.
Cites (1)
- Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit