Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/447

 CHAP. II. CAMBODIA. 375 the nineteenth or twentieth year of his reign was afflicted with leprosy and retired to a forest in the north of the kingdom, leaving two sons to succeed him, the second of whom, I^ana- varman, left Angkor Thorn about 926 A.D. and settled at Chok Gargyar (Kohker J ), which became the capital during his reign and that of his son. The ninth king, Rajendravarman, returned to Angkor Thorn in 942, and it was in his reign that Buddhism commenced to be favoured, one of the two great temples built by him, Ta-Prom being Brahman, and the other, Banteai Kedei, Buddhist. Under the reign of his successor many other temples were erected, of which the most important is the pyramid temple of Bapuon, immediately south of the Royal Palace in Angkor Thorn. The eleventh king, Suryavarman, reigned forty-eight years, and was a great builder, the temples of Phnom Chisor (Prov. Bati), Vat Ek near Battambang, Phnom Baset, Prah Vihear (Prov. Kukhan) and Prah-khan (Kompong Svay), being attributed to him. His successor continued his work and built the temples of Banteai Ta Kean (Prov. Siemreap), Phimai (Prov. Korat), Pre Rup, and probably the temple on Mount Bakheng, south of Angkor Thorn. The dates of the accessions of the three following kings are not known for certain, and with the exception of Vat Phu at Pursat, built about 1090-1100, restorations and additions only are recorded during the period of their reigns. We pass on, therefore, to Suryavarman II., who is said to have extended to its normal condition the empire which had suffered many calamities under his predecessors. He would appear to have been not only a great warrior, but a remarkable scholar and writer of verses, and to him is attributed the erection of the temple of Angkor Vat, the foundation of which is said to have been laid by his predecessor, but which he continued and com- pleted during the forty years of his reign, including the magni- ficent series of bas - reliefs which are carved on the walls representing battle scenes taken from the Ramayana. During the reign of the last two sovereigns of the dynasty, commenced the wars with neighbouring nations, and no further temples were built, so that our architectural history is confined to the three and a half centuries which elapsed between 802 and 1152. It was to these incessant wars that the decadence of Cambodia must be attributed ; commencing with the Champas (Cochin China), continued by the Peguans and subsequently with the Siamese, Cambodia was invaded and devastated, Angkor Thorn being taken after a seven months' siege in 1375 and again in 1460, when the capital was changed successively to various other towns, the last settlement being 1 Lat, 13 15' N., long, 104 31' E,