Historical figure
Ponhea Yat
Ponhea Yat was a 15th-century Khmer king who took the royal court south from Angkor and settled it at Phnom Penh. He was crowned under the name Paramaraja I (Paramarājā I), and the historian Nhim Sotheavin writes his name Bañā Yāt.[1]
Coming to the throne
The Cambodian royal chronicles tell his life with dates that differ by decades. The oldest complete one, the chronicle of Naṅ, was written in 1818. Nhim Sotheavin gives its dates: he drove the Siamese out of Angkor in 1373, had himself crowned in 1384, taking the name Paramaraja I, and stayed at Angkor until 1388. The later chronicle of Vāṃṅ Juon has him retake the city in 1417, at the age of 21. It gives 1397 as his birth year and names his father as Srī Sūriyovaṅs.[1]
A Chinese record names a king called Po-pi-ya at Angkor in 1404, and that name has been proposed as a form of his.[1]
Leaving Angkor
The chronicles give the reason for the move: Ayutthaya attacked Angkor again and again. He chose to move the capital to Basan, in Srei Santhor.[1] The chronicle of Vāṃṅ Juon adds that many Khmer people had been carried off to Ayutthaya and that Siam held important western provinces.[1]
The year most often given for the fall of Angkor and the move south is 1431.[1][2] Nhim Sotheavin points out that the Annals of Ayutthaya (the Hluong Prasoat) give 1431 as the year Angkor fell, and the Khmer chronicles do not. The same author judges that the 1431 in the chronicle of Vāṃṅ Juon probably came from foreign sources, since it was published under the French Protectorate.[1] A 2017 supplement of The Phnom Penh Post puts his departure from Angkor in 1434 and his move to Phnom Penh a year later.[3]
Phnom Penh
In the chronicle of Vāṃṅ Juon, the king spent about a year at Basan. Floods there led him to move to Catumukh (Chaktomuk), the site of Phnom Penh.[1] The Phnom Penh Post, in 2001, placed his Basan palace in Kampong Cham. It gave 1437 as the year he moved to the higher ground around the hill of Daun Penh, which he renamed Chatomuk Mongkul.[4] Other sources date his arrival, or the founding of the city in his reign, to 1434.[5][6]
He had the hill raised higher and a wooden temple built on its top. The pits left by the digging filled with water and became reservoirs. One of them, Boeng Decho, lay where the Central Market stands. He also had a dike built where the four rivers meet, against the yearly floods.[4] Cambodianess writes that his first palace stood by the Chaktomuk river, on the site of the present Royal Palace.[6]
Succession
Nhim Sotheavin's list of kings gives his reign as 1373 to 1433. In 1433 he abdicated in favor of Nārāy Rājā, who reigned until 1437. The chronicle of Vāṃṅ Juon instead dates his abdication to 1463.[1]
After him, the Khmer kings fought among themselves. His son Dhammarājā fought Srī Rājā and Srī Soriyodai for years, and the country ended up divided into three parts. In the chronicle of Naṅ, Dhammarājā held the throne at Phnom Penh until 1468.[1] Nhim Sotheavin notes that the court's time at Phnom Penh was short and that the city was not referred to as the Khmer capital until the 19th century.[1]
Stupa at Wat Phnom
A large stupa behind the sanctuary of Wat Phnom is said to hold his remains.[7][5] The Phnom Penh Post dated the stupa to the 19th century.[4] A statue of the king also stands at the site.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Institute of Asian Culture, Sophia University, Nhim Sotheavin, Factors that Led to the Change of the Khmer Capitals from the 15th to 17th century (undated)
- ↑ Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Chapter 2. Overview of the Site, Report on the Investigations of Royal Capital Sites in the Post-Angkor Period (undated)
- ↑ The Phnom Penh Post, Moeun Nhean, Phnom Penh the capital of the Kingdom (December 7, 2017)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Phnom Penh Post, Bou Saroeun, Wat Phnom, the capital's most important temple (December 7, 2001)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 IntoCambodia.org, Wat Phnom (undated)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cambodianess, How Did Phnom Penh Get its Name? (April 27, 2024)
- ↑ Tourism Cambodia, Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh: Visitor Guide (undated)