Historical figure
Harshavarman II
Harshavarman II was a king of the Khmer Empire who reigned from 942 to 944.[1][2] He was the son of Jayavarman IV and followed him on the throne.[1][2] His posthumous name was Brahmaloka.[1]
Maurice Glaize's list of kings prints his name as Harshavarman III, and Michael Vickery's text calls him Harshavarman II in one passage and Harshavarman III in another.[1][2] Glaize's list also gives the name Harshavarman III to a later king, who reigned from 1066 to 1080.[1]
Reign
Vickery, who calls him Harshavarman III in this passage, wrote that he and two sons of Yasovarman, Harshavarman I and Isanavarman II, would have been the most "illegitimate" of the kings of Angkor before the 11th century. He added that all three had only brief reigns.[2] In Vickery's view, Jayavarman IV, like Yasovarman before him, tried to secure the succession for his son, instead of letting the throne pass to a brother, cousin or nephew.[2]
Rajendravarman, Jayavarman IV's son-in-law, followed Harshavarman II and reigned from 944 to 968.[1]
At Pre Rup
The inscription of Pre Rup, the temple that Rajendravarman founded in 961, names the statues in its corner towers. Glaize's summary of it lists, among them, statues identified with Rajendravarman's maternal aunt (Uma) and with her son, the king's half brother King Harshavarman (Shiva). Glaize gives no numeral for this Harshavarman.[1]