Angkor Blog

Battle between the Khmer and the Cham.  In the 12th century A.D., the Khmer fought a succession of wars with the Cham, an Indic civilization centered in what is now southern Vietnam.  A stone mural at the temple of Bayon depicts a battle from which the Khmer emerged victorious.

In all, the Khmer had mixed success against the Cham.  In 1177, the Cham sacked but did not obliterate the Angkorian capital, after launching a surprise attack from lake Tonle Sap.  Thereafter, the great king Jayavarman VII, the eventual builder of temples of Bayon, Preah Khan, and Ta Prohm, assumed the Khmer throne.  In 1181, Jayavarman VII defeated the Cham in battle.  The bas relief at Bayon is probably a depiction of this victory.  Jayavarman went on to sack the capital of Champa in 1190 and to bring large portions of southeast Asia under Khmer hegemony.

The bas relief show the Khmer and Cham forces coverging.  Both armies consist mainly of foot soldiers wielding weapons such as clubs and spears.  Each side is supported by elephants, and the Khmer army includes Thai auxiliaries.  The bas relief shows the Khmer and Thai routing the Cham after a rather one-sided battle.

Related pages of this site: 3 Preah Khan and 4 Ta Prohm (other temples built by Jayavarman VII); 11 Faces of Bayon (gigantic stone representations of King Jayavarman as the boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara); 18 Art of Champa (exhibit at the Fine Arts Museum, Saigon).

The Khmer forces advance, supported by an elephant.  The Khmer are portrayed as wearing jackets but no headgear, and as having long earlobes presumably lengthened by the use of earrings.

From the othe side advance the Cham, their upper bodies covered by tunics, wearing distinctive headgear consisting in helmets and scarves, and carrying small shields in addition to their weapons.

The Khmer forces are supported by Thai auxiliaries, also accompanied by war elephants.  The Thai have distinctive impractical looking headgear that serves to differentiate them from the Cham.

(closeup of the previous picture) Thai auxiliaries fighting on the side of the Khmer attack the Cham.  In the center, a Thai warrior bearing a spear and shield overpowers his hapless adversary.

The Khmer, too, get the better of their opponents.  In the center, a beefy Khmer strongman holds a cringing Cham soldier in a headlock while preparing to administer the coup de grace.

(closeup of the previous picture)  The weapon wielded by this Khmer champion appears to be either a thin club or a short speer. His clothing consists in only a loincloth, a necklace, and some kind of harness.