Jayavarman VI

Angkor

1. Funanto about 550
2. Chenla6th to 8th century
3. Angkor802 to 1431
4. After Angkor1431 to 1794
5. Modern kingdomfrom 1794

BeforeHarshavarman III1066 to 1080 (Glaize 1944)

This reignJayavarman VI1080 to 1107 (Glaize 1944)

AfterDharanindravarman I1107 to 1112 (Glaize 1944)

All Khmer monarchs

Jayavarman VI (ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៦) was a Khmer king who reigned from about 1080 to 1107 and founded the Mahidharapura (មហិធរៈបុរៈ) line of kings. His family came from Mahidharapura, and his line included Suryavarman II (សូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី២), who built Angkor Wat, and Jayavarman VII (ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧). The great temple of his reign was Phimai (ភិម៉ៃ), on the Khorat Plateau in present-day Thailand.

The main sanctuary at Phimai, built during the reign of Jayavarman VI, 2006. Photo: Philip Nalangan, CC BY 4.0

Historical figure details
Khmer name	ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៦
Roles	Khmer king
Period	About 1080 to 1107
Country	Khmer Empire
Subjects	History & Remembrance

Origins

The site of Mahidharapura is not certain. It was probably in the northwest of the plain of the upper Mun River (ទន្លេមូន), in present-day Thailand, or in the Khorat region. Charles Higham places the family's home in the upper Mun valley of northeast Thailand. Jayavarman VI may have come from a family of local chiefs there. Lawrence Palmer Briggs wrote that the dynasty was apparently spawned by Suryavarman I (សូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី១).

Reign

Jayavarman VI rose in revolt late in the reign of Harshavarman III (ហស៌វរ្ម័នទី៣), who ruled from 1066 to 1080 and was the brother of Udayadityavarman II (ឧទ័យាទិត្យាវរ្ម័នទី២). Maurice Glaize's list of kings names him a usurper. His reign began in 1080 or 1082, and Briggs dated the new dynasty's rise to the throne to 1090.

Accounts of where he ruled differ. Pia Conti writes that he was crowned in Angkor (អង្គរ) but built no state temple there. The stele of Preah Khan, set up under Jayavarman VII, says that he overcame his enemies, took power in Yasodharapura (Angkor) and set up pillars of fame on every side, reaching to the sea. Thomas S. Maxwell writes that no trace of these pillars had been found. Chun Chanboth's history for Radio Free Asia tells it another way. In his account, Jayavarman VI declared himself king in 1082 with Mahidharapura as his capital, while Nripatindravarman (នឫទិន្ទ្រវរ្ម័ន), the lawful successor of Harshavarman III, was crowned at Angkor. Jayavarman VI fought him for the throne and failed. Chun Chanboth writes that he held the provinces of the north and east, while Angkor and the provinces west and south of the Tonle Sap (ទន្លេសាប) lake stayed loyal to the king at Angkor.

The Brahmin priest Divakarapandita (ទិវាករបណ្ឌិត) had served Harshavarman III as royal priest. He left Angkor and crowned Jayavarman VI. A stele at Preah Vihear (ភ្នំព្រះវិហារ, Phnom Preah Vihear), written in Sanskrit and Khmer probably between 1119 and 1121 at Suryavarman II's order, tells the priest's life. It names five kings he served, Jayavarman VI among them.

Temples

Chun Chanboth writes that Jayavarman VI built temples to the Buddha and to Shiva and carried on building at Phnom Sandak (ភ្នំសណ្ដក), Preah Vihear, Wat Phu (វត្តភូ) and Phimai. Phimai, the ancient Vimayapura, was one of the largest Angkorian centers. The temple that stands there went up between 1080 and 1108, in his reign. Conti calls it the earliest tantric Buddhist sanctuary of royal size in the Khmer Empire, and the only major Khmer temple carved with tantric Buddhist images before the time of Jayavarman VII. The site was in use under Jayavarman VI and Suryavarman II, and it became a major temple under Jayavarman VII. Jayavarman VII later added two side shrines inside Phimai's first enclosure; Conti reads them as a tribute to the temple and to his ancestor Jayavarman VI.

Charles Higham writes that the push up the Mun River into central Thailand, already seen in the inscriptions of Suryavarman I's dynasty, seems to have gathered pace with the Mahidharapura dynasty.

Family and successors

Jayavarman VI died in 1107 and received the posthumous name Paramakaivalyapada (បរមកៃវល្យបទ). His brother Dharanindravarman I (ធរណិន្ទ្រវរ្ម័នទី១) followed him on the throne, from 1107 to 1112. Jayavarman VI's nephew Mahidharaditya was the brother of Suryavarman II's mother and the grandfather of Jayavarman VII on his father's side, which made Jayavarman VI a great-granduncle of Jayavarman VII. The Preah Khan stele begins its list of Jayavarman VII's father's ancestors with him. Suryavarman II became king in 1113.

References