Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c9.41

c9.41

If we remember this fact we can easily assert that the power of the Śailendras was not confined to the Malay Peninsula and Malay Archipelago but was also felt in the mainland *viz.* Kambuja and Champā. As regards Kambuja, an Arab account, probably written by Sulaymān, preserves a long story describing how the Mahārāja of Zābag invaded the Khmer country and killed its ruler. The story undoubtedly belongs to the domain of folklore, but seems to have been based on a real struggle between Java and Cambodia. For we learn from a Cambodian inscription that Jaya-varman, who came from Java and became king of Kambuja in A.D. 802, performed a religious ceremony to ensure that Kambuja might not again be dependent on Java. This undoubtedly shows that Cambodia acknowledged the suzerainty of Java about the close of the eighth century A.D. As this was precisely the time when the Śailendras are known to have ruled in Java, we may conclude that it was under this royal dynasty that Java felt powerful enough to extend her domination over the mainland.