Indradevi ( km, ឥន្ទ្រទេវី; fl. 1181) was a queen of the Khmer Empire through her marriage to king

Jayavarman VII Jayavarman VII, posthumous name of Mahaparamasaugata ( km, ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧, c. 1122–1218), was king of the Khmer Empire. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II (r. 1150–1160) and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He w ...

(r. 1181-1219). Reportedly, she influenced affairs of state through her spouse, particularly in favor of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

. She was also active as a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, and as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

Life

She was the daughter of ‘kshatriyas, amongst the elite of the royal family’, and the elder sister of queen Jayarajadevi, the first queen of Jayavarman VII. She and her sister were well-educated Buddhists. Indrani later stated that their father was ‘Ja … ’, descended from ‘Rudravarman’ and a woman entitled ‘queen’, and their mother was a descendant of Rajendradevi. Before her brother-in-law became a king, he was often absent, and Indradevi, who was a Buddhist, comforted her sister with the teachings of Buddhism and are said to have ‘initiated ayarajadeviinto the peace and tranquillity of the teachings of the Buddha, away from the fire of torment’. Jacobsen, Trudy, Lost goddesses: the denial of female power in Cambodian history, NIAS Press, Copenhagen, 2008 When Jayavarman VII succeeded to the throne, queen Jayarajadevi was praised for donating all her property to the poor. After her conversion, queen Jayarajadevi became a teacher herself and: :‘took for her own daughters members of a group of girls who had been abandoned by their mothers … ndentered them in the religious life with clothes and gifts, according to the prescribed rites’. She trained the students to perform scenes from the Jataka as a means of instruction to others. Jayarajadevi died early on in her husband's reign. After her death, the king married Indradevi, who became the next queen. Queen Indradevi also took over her sister's schools and was appointed professor or head of the three temple schools Nagendratunge, Tilakottare and Narendraśrama, the three ‘colleges’ Buddhist doctrine and other sciences, which appeared to have been particularly for women and girls, maybe primarily from elite families. She was praised for her knowledge in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. Queen Indradevi was described as intelligent and cultivated, and her spouse apparently allowed her influence upon state affairs. Indradevi composed poems about the reign of Jayavarman VII.

References

History NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum Year 8 Stage 4

Studies In Sanskrit Inscriptions Of Ancient Cambodia
Cambodian queens 12th-century poets 13th-century poets 13th-century educators 12th-century educators 12th-century Cambodian women {{Cambodia-royal-stub