Harshavarman I

Harshavarman I
Successor	Ishanavarman II
Spouse(s)	Unknown woman
Issue At least one child
Father	Yasovarman I
Mother	Sister of Jayavarman IV

Baksei Chamkrong, temple of Harshavarman

Harshavarman I (Khmer: ហស៌វរ្ម័នទី១; or Rudraloka, died in 923) was an Angkorian king who reigned in 910–923 CE. He is mentioned by David P. Chandler, who is one of the foremost western scholars of Cambodia's modern history.^[1][2]

Family

Harshavarman was a son of King Yasovarman I and his Queen, who was a sister of Jayavarman IV.^[3]

Grandparents of Harshavarman were King Indravarman I and his wife Indradevi.^[4][5][6]

Harshavarman had a younger brother, Ishanavarman II.

His queen was Kambujarajalakshmi. They were the maternal grandparents of Jayavarman VII.^[7]

His grandson was Yajnavaraha. He was a knowledgeable teacher.^[8]

Biography

Following his death, Yasovarman was succeeded by Harshavarman.

The reigns of Harshavarman and his younger brother marked a period of instability for the Khmer Empire. Both brothers were involved in a power struggle with their maternal uncle, Jayavarman IV, a conflict that lasted for Harshavarman’s entire reign. Jayavarman was eventually driven out of Angkor to set up his own capital about 100 km away during the reign of Ishanavarman.^[9]

Nothing else is known about Harshavarman other than that he constructed the small temple-mountain of Baksei Chamkrong at the foot of Phnom Bakheng which he dedicated to his parents,^{[10][11]:359,362[12]:114}

He died in 923 and was succeeded by Ishanavarman.^[13]

Notes

1. "Book Review: Voices from S-21". The American Historical Review (October 2002).
2. SBS French program. Special Broadcasting Service (December 10, 2007).
3. Higham, 2001: p.70
4. Bhattacharya, Kamaleswar (2009). A Selection of Sanskrit Inscriptions from Cambodia. In collaboration with Karl-Heinz Golzio. Center for Khmer Studies.
5. Some Aspects of Asian History and Culture by Upendra Thakur. Page 37.
6. Saveros, Pou (2002). Nouvelles inscriptions du Cambodge (in French). Tome II et III. Paris: EFEO. ISBN 2-85539-617-4.
7. Claude Jacques, “'Funan', 'Zhenla'. The reality concealed by these Chinese views of Indochina”, in R. B. Smith and W. Watson (eds.), Early South East Asia: Essays in Archaeology, History, and Historical Geography, New York, Oxford University Press, 1979, pp.371–9, pp.373, 375.
8. Briggs, The Ancient Khmer Empire, p. 134.
9. Briggs, The Ancient Khmer Empire, page 115.
10. "The temple complex of Angkor Baksei Chamkrong". CambodianOnline.Net. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
11. Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., ISBN 9786167339443
12. Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella, ed. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.
13. The Khmers, Ian Mabbet and David P. Chandler, Silkworm Books, 1995, page 262.

References

• Briggs, Lawrence Palmer. The Ancient Khmer Empire. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 1951.