Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c10.73

c10.73

Some Brāhmaṇas attained a very high distinction. The most interesting account of such a Brāhmanical family is supplied by the Sdok Kak Thom Inscription (No. 152) dated 1052 A.D. It is a long record of 340 lines of which 194 are in Sanskrit and 146 in Khmer. It relates how Jaya-varman II, king of Kambuja, invited a Brāhmaṇa named Hiraṇyadāma in order to perform some Tāntrik rites so that Kambuja might no longer be dependent on Java. This Brāhmaṇa, who came from Janapada, probably in India, established the worship of Devarāja which became the tutelary deity of Kambuja. The Tāntrik texts named in this connection are well-known in India. Hiraṇyadāma then initiated Śivakaivalya, the royal priest, into the mysteries of this worship, and the king gave a pledge that henceforth only the members of Śivakaivalya's family would function as priests. The record shows that this family supplied the royal priest in Kambuja from 802 to 1052 A.D. The record has preserved the names of all the priests, and gives a catalogue of the pious works and religious foundations of each of them, and a list of the various favours in the shape of honours, dignities, grant of lands etc. which each received from his royal patron. Such an interesting history of priestly Brāhmaṇa family, extending over 250 years, is without a parallel in the history of India and her colonies.