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The Cham Invasion That Shattered Angkor
Season 1
Episode 31
Published 3 months ago
Description
In 1177, a Cham fleet sailed up the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, caught the Khmer off guard, and sacked Angkor. This episode focuses on the invasion itself: how the Cham king Jaya Indravarman IV assembled a fleet, navigated the Tonle Sap's seasonal reversal, and caught the Khmer off guard under Tribhuvanadityavarman. We explore the Cham-Khmer rivalry, the naval logistics, the brutal sack, and the aftermath that led to Jayavarman VII's rise—and how this trauma shaped Angkor's later militant Buddhism. Drawing on Cham inscriptions, Chinese accounts, and the archaeology of the Tonle Sap floodplain, we piece together the forgotten battle that nearly ended the Khmer Empire before its final golden age.