Historical figure
Mahendravarman
Mahendravarman, born Chitrasena, was a king of Chenla who came to the throne in about 590 or about 600.[1][2] His inscriptions near Wat Phu, in southern Laos, suggest that the region may well have been the birthplace of his dynasty.[1]
Rise to the throne
Chenla had once been a northern vassal of Funan.[2] In the latter half of the 6th century the prince Bhavavarman and his cousin Chitrasena attacked Funan.[2] Accounts of how Chitrasena became king differ.[2][1] Haksrea Kuoch, in a 1976 survey of the southern provinces, has him succeed his cousin Bhavavarman.[2] Marielle Santoni and her colleagues of the French archaeological mission at Wat Phu present him as the founder of his dynasty.[1] Both say he took the royal name Mahendravarman on becoming king.[2][1] His name also appears as Citrasena.[1]
The date of his accession also differs. Santoni and her colleagues give about 590.[1] Kuoch's survey gives about 600.[2]
Reign
Mahendravarman left a number of inscriptions in the area of the Dangrek Mountains.[2] Kuoch wrote that they suggest he kept up his predecessor's policy of pushing Chenla's lands to the south.[2] His son was Isanavarman.[2] Kuoch wrote that the old lands of Funan came fully under Chenla's control only in Isanavarman's reign.[2]
Inscriptions at Wat Phu
Two sandstone pedestals carry inscriptions in his name.[1] They held statues of Nandin, the bull that carries the god Shiva.[1] The pedestals come from the pre-Angkorian city that lies on the plain 5 kilometers (3 miles) east of the temple, on the banks of the Mekong in Champasak Province.[1] He had them inscribed in about 590, when he became king.[1] The inscriptions dedicate the two statues to his father, Vīravarman, and to his father's brother, Kṛtāntapāśa.[1]
The pedestals seem to belong with a brick monument at the Houay Sa Houa 2 site in the city.[1] The monument may already have stood when the inscriptions were placed before it.[1] It could date from the start of the Khmer period, perhaps even from the end of Funan in the late 5th or early 6th century.[1]
Santoni and her colleagues wrote that the inscriptions show Mahendravarman, whom they call "the first known king of the first Khmer dynasty", in the lands of his father and family.[1] In their view the region was very possibly the dynasty's birthplace, rather than lands further south.[1] They also wrote that the city may have been Chenla's first capital, and the home of the dynasty that Mahendravarman founded at the end of the 6th century.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 Vat Phou Champassak, Marielle Santoni, Christine Hawixbrock and Viengkeo Souksavatdy, The French archaeological mission and Vat Phou: Research on an exceptional historic site in Laos (2008; English version July 12, 2017)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Angkor Database, Haksrea Kuoch, Survey of the Southern Provinces of Cambodia in the Pre-Angkor Era (1976)