Yasovarman I () was an Angkorian king who reigned in 889–910 CE. He was called " Leper King".

Early years

Yasovarman was a son of King

Indravarman I Indravarman I () was a ruler of Khmer Empire who reigned from Hariharalaya between 877/78 and 889/890 CE. Indravarman's ancestors According to the inscriptions of the Práḥ Kô temple, consecrated on Monday, 25 January 880 AD (Foundation ste ...

and his wife Indradevi. Yasovarman was said to be a wrestler. Inscriptions say he was capable of wrestling with elephants. The inscriptions also say he was capable of slaying tigers with his bare hands. His teacher was the ''

purohit Purohita (), in the Hindu context, means ''chaplain'' or ''family priest'' within the Vedic priesthood. In Thailand and Cambodia, it refers to the royal chaplains. A ''tīrthapurohit'' is a priest/ritual performer (''purohit'') at a sacred site ...

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...

Vamasiva, part of the

Devaraja Devaraja () was a religious order of the "god-king," or Divinity, deified monarch in medieval Southeast Asia. The devarāja order grew out of both Hinduism and separate local traditions depending on the area. It taught that the monarch, king w ...

cult priesthood. Vamasiva's guru, Sivasoma, was connected to the Hindu philosopher

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (, ), was an Indian Vedanga, Vedic scholar, Hindu philosophy, philosopher and teacher (''acharya'') of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and h ...

. After the death of Indravarman, a succession war was fought by his two sons, Yasovarman and his brother, a case of

sibling rivalry Sibling rivalry is a type of competition or animosity among siblings, whether blood-related or not. In childhood, siblings generally spend more time together than they do with parents. Sibling bonds are influenced by factors such as parental ...

. It is believed that the war was fought on land and on sea by the

Tonlé Sap Tonlé Sap (; , ; or commonly translated as 'Great Lake') is a lake in the northwest of Cambodia. Belonging to the Mekong, Mekong River system, Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and one of the most diverse and prod ...

. In the end Yasovarman prevailed. Because of his father had sought to deny his accession, according to inscriptions cited by L.P. Briggs, "Yasovarman I ignored his claim to the throne through his father,

, or through

Jayavarman II Jayavarman II (; – 850, reigned –850) was a Khmer prince who founded and became the ruler of the Khmer Empire (Cambodia) after unifying the Khmer civilization. The Khmer Empire was the dominant civilization in mainland Southeast Asia from t ...

, the founder of

Angkor Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...

dynasty, and built up an elaborate

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...

, connecting himself through his mother by

matrilineal succession Matrilineal succession is a form of hereditary succession or other inheritance through which the subject's female relatives are traced back in a matrilineal line. Systems *Matrileneal system is found in the Nayar community who ruled present Ke ...

with ancient kings of

Funan Funan (; , ; , Chữ Hán: ; ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Khmer-Mon Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''( Mandala)''—located in Mainland Southeast Asia covering ...

and

Chenla Chenla or Zhenla ( zh, t=真臘, s=, 真腊, p=Zhēnlà, w=Chen-la; , ; ) is the Chinese designation for the vassal of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late 6th to the early 9th century in Indochina. ...

." Yasovarman I claims to be a descendant of the ruling clans of Sambhupura, Aniditapura,

Vyadhapura Vyadhapura (, Sanskrit: व्याधपूर ''Vyādhapūra'') was an ancient city of the Funan civilization, likely in what is now Ba Phnum District in the province of Prey Veng, Cambodia. History Vyadhapura, the city of the hunter king, ...

. This was found on 12 different stone inscriptions located in different parts of the country. Yasovarman I led a failed invasion of

Champa Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...

, as documented at

Banteay Chmar Banteay Chhmar ( , ) is a commune (khum) in Thma Puok District in Banteay Meanchey province in far northwest Cambodia. It is located 63 km north of provincial capital Sisophon and about 20 km east of the Thai border. The commune of Bant ...

.Maspero, G., 2002, The Champa Kingdom, Bangkok: White Lotus Co., Ltd.,

Yasovarman I's achievements

During the first year of his reign, he built about 100

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

(''ashrams'') throughout his kingdom. Each ''ashram'' was used as a resting place for the

ascetic Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...

and the king during his trips. In 893, he began to construct the Indratataka Baray (

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

) that was started by his father. In the middle of this

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

( now dry), he built the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Lolei Lolei () is the northernmost temple of the Roluos group of three late 9th century Hindu temples at Angkor, Cambodia, the others members of which are Preah Ko and the Bakong. Lolei was the last of the three temples to be built as part of the c ...

. Yasovarman was one of the great Angkorian kings. His greatest achievement was to move the capital from

Hariharalaya Hariharalaya (, Hariharalaya) was an ancient city and capital of the Khmer Empire, Khmer empire located near Siem Reap, Cambodia in an area now called Roluos (temples), Roluos (Khmer language, Khmer: រលួស). Today, all that remains of the ...

to Yashodharapura where it remained there for 600 years. It was at this new capital where all of the great and famous religious

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

s were built, e.g. the

Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; , "City/Capital of Wat, Temples") is a Buddhism and Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia. Located on a site measuring within the ancient Khmer Empire, Khmer capital city of Angkor, it was originally constructed ...

. There were many reasons for the move. The old capital was crowded with temples built by the previous kings. Thus, the decision was

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

: In order for a new king to prosper, he must build his own temple and when he died it must become his

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

. Second, the new capital was closer to the

Siem Reap River The Siem Reap River (Steung Siem Reap; ) is a river flowing through Siem Reap Province, in north-west Cambodia. The Siem Reap River was originally an offtake channel constructed during the Angkor period, used to divert water from the Puok River ...

and is halfway between the Kulen hills and the

. By moving the capital closer to the sources of water the king could reap many benefits provided by both rivers. Yashodharapura was built on a low hill called

Bakheng Phnom Bakheng ( ) is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889–910). Located atop a hill, it is ...

, and connected to Hariharalaya by a causeway. Simultaneously, he started to dig a huge reservoir at his new capital. This new artificial lake, the Yashodharatataka, or the

East Baray The East Baray (), or Yashodharatataka, is a now-dry baray, or artificial body of water, at Angkor, Cambodia, oriented east–west and located just east of the walled city Angkor Thom. It was built around the year 900 AD during the reign of King Y ...

, with 7.5 by 1.8 km long dykes.Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, The

Phnom Bakheng Phnom Bakheng ( ) is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889–910). Located atop a hill, it is ...

, and the

are monuments to this ruler,Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., all located near

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

's national treasure, a later construction,

. Phnom Bakheng was one of three hilltop temples created in the

Khmer Empire The Khmer Empire was an empire in Southeast Asia, centered on Hydraulic empire, hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as Kambuja (; ) by its inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilization of Chenla and lasted from 802 t ...

’s

capital region during Yasovarman’s reign, the other two being

Phnom Krom Phnom Krom (, lit. "downstream hill") is a 140 m high hill close to Siem Reap city, Cambodia. There is a temple on the top which derived its name from the hill, Prasat Phnom Krom (). Location Phnom Krom is about 12 kilometers southwest of Siem ...

and

Phnom Bok Phnom Bok () is a hill in the northeast of Eastern Baray in Cambodia, with a prasat (temple) () of the same name built on it. It is one of the "trilogies of mountains", each of which has a temple with similar layout. The creation of the temple ...

Posthumous name

Yasovarman died in 910 and received the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

of Paramashivaloka. He had

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

Family

Wife of Yasovarman was a sister of

Jayavarman IV Jeyavarman IV () was an Angkorian king who ruled from 928 to 941 CE. Many early historians thought that he was a usurper. However, recent evidence shows that he had a legitimate claim to the throne. During his reign, the nation had 12 cities or p ...

. She born two sons to Yasovarman –

Ishanavarman II Ishanavarman II () was an Angkorian king who is believed to have ruled from 923 to 928. His empire may have been confined to Angkor and the area around Battambang to the west. Family Ishanavarman was a son of King Yasovarman and his wife, wh ...

and

Harshavarman I Harshavarman I (; 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.Higham, Charles. ''The Civilization of Angkor''. University of California Press 2001. *Briggs, Lawrence Palmer. ''The Ancient Khmer Empire''. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 1951. {{Monarchs of Cambodia 9th-century Cambodian monarchs Hindu monarchs Cambodian Hindus Khmer kings Deaths from leprosy 910 deaths Infectious disease deaths in Cambodia Year of birth unknown 10th-century Cambodian monarchs City founders