Jayavarman IV.

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Jayavarman IV († 941 ) was King of the Khmer Empire from 928 to 941 . He did not reside in Hariharalaya (Roluos) or Yasodharapura (Angkor) like his predecessors, but about 120 km northeast of Angkor in Lingapura (today Koh Ker ), also called Chok Gargyar .

Origin and early years

Jayavarman IV had ruled Koh Ker for a number of years (at least since 921 AD) before he was proclaimed king of the entire Khmer Empire. It has often been claimed that Jayavarman IV was a usurper ; However, more recent findings suggest that he had a legitimate claim to the throne. On the one hand, he was a grandson of King Indravarman I (whose daughter Mahendradevi was his mother). Since there were no clear conditions for the succession to the throne, his claims over the maternal line can be considered legitimate. On the other hand, he also cemented his claim by marrying a younger half-sister of Yasovarman I (889–900), whose sons had died without descendants (Harshavarman I ruled from 900–922, Isanavarman II from 922 – approx. 925?) .

After taking power, Jayavarman IV raised Koh Ker to the capital of the Khmer Empire. An inscription from the year 921 says: "Jayavarman IV. Left the city of Yasodharapura to rule at Chok Gargyar [Koh Ker, the author], taking the Devaraja with him"

Succession

Jayavarman IV died in 941. His posthumous name is Paramashivapada . After Jayavarman IV's death, his designated successor did not become king. Another of his sons, Harshavarman II , usurped the rule. He also resided in Koh Ker, but only briefly (941 - 944). Whether Harshavarman II died of natural causes is questionable. His cousin Rajendravarman II succeeded him and moved the capital back to Angkor.

The new capital

Koh Ker temple
Inscription from Koh Ker

Koh Ker was first mentioned in an inscription in 919 AD and referred to as Pura (Sanskrit for city). Koh Ker is a modern name. During Jayavarman's reign the place was called Chok Gargyar (City of Shine ) or Lingapura (City of Lingas). After Jayavarman IV made Koh Ker the capital in 928, he demonstrated his power with an ambitious building program. The most important buildings by Jayavarman IV include the Baray Rahal (1,188 meters by 548 meters) and the double sanctuary Prasat Thom / Prang. The prang is a seven-tiered and 36-meter-high pyramid . On the top platform of the temple originally stood a shrine that housed a colossal linga that was more than four meters high and several tons in weight. Both the shrine and the linga have disappeared. The inscription K.187E names this linga as kamrateri jagat ta raajya , meaning "god-king". Jayavarman IV's inscriptions boast that his structures surpassed those of his predecessors. A large number of the most beautiful and largest sculptures of the entire Khmer period were carved during the reign of Jayavarman IV. B. the monumental Garuda statue from Prasat Thom, which is now in the entrance area of ​​the National Museum of Cambodia .

To date, 184 monuments have been discovered in the region of Koh Ker in an area of ​​81 square kilometers, but not all of them could have been created during the reign of Jayavarman IV. Numerous shrines were built before 921, others after 944. No temples can be ascribed to his successor Harshavarman II, who ruled for only three years (941-944). The last sanctuary, the Prasat Andong Kuk (Prasat Sralau) was built in Koh Ker at the beginning of the 13th century by order of Jayavarman VII. It is a complex in the style of the so-called hospital chapels.

Koh Ker was forgotten for centuries before the French Louis Delaporte and Étienne Aymonier visited the archaeological site in the second half of the 19th century . The two researchers were the first to recognize that Koh Ker was once located on a strategically important highway that led from Angkor via Beng Mealea to Prasat Prah Vihear and on to Phimai and Wat Phu. Around 1880 members of another French expedition came to Koh Ker, where they deliberately removed numerous sculptures and chopped off reliefs and shipped them to France. These works of art are now in the Musée Guimet in Paris.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Csaba Kàdas: Koh Ker, Shortguide , Hunincor 2010, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , pp. 8–9.
  2. ↑ Csaba Kàdas: Koh Ker, Shortguide , Hunincor 2010, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , p. 15.
  3. ^ Higham (2001), p. 70.
  4. ↑ Csaba Kàdas: Koh Ker, Shortguide , Hunincor 2010, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , p. 15.
  5. ^ Coedès (1968), p. 114.
  6. ↑ Csaba Kàdas: Koh Ker, Shortguide , Hunincor 2010, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , p. 15.
  7. ↑ Csaba Kàdas: Koh Ker, Shortguide , Hunincor 2010, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , p. 31.
  8. ↑ Helen Ibbitson Jessup: Art & Architecture of Cambodia , Thames & Hudson world of art, 2004, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , pp. 90-91.
  9. ↑ Csaba Kàdas: Koh Ker, Shortguide , Hunincor 2010, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , pp. 27-29.
  10. ↑ Ronney (2005), pp. 372-377.
  11. ↑ Chandler (1996), p. 40.
  12. ↑ Helen Ibbitson Jessup: Art & Architecture of Cambodia , Thames & Hudson world of art, 2004, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , pp. 89-96.
  13. ↑ Csaba Kàdas: Koh Ker, Shortguide , Hunincor 2010, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , p. 15.
  14. ↑ Csaba Kàdas: Koh Ker, Shortguide , Hunincor 2010, ISBN 978-963-08-0470-7 , pp. 13-15.
  15. ↑ Luned de Lajonquière: "Inventaire des monuments DESCRIPTIF Cambodge" , E. Leroux, 1907, p XXXIV, Ebook and Texts Archive> American Libraries.

literature

predecessor Office successor
Ishanavarman II. King of the Khmer
928 to 941 		Harshavarman II.
personal data
SURNAME Jayavarman IV.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of the Khmer Empire of Angkor
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century or 10th century
DATE OF DEATH 941