Jayavarman II

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Jayavarman II (Khmer: ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី២; c. 770 – 850)^[2] (reigned c. 802–850) 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 the 9th century until the mid-15th century. Jayavarman II was a powerful Khmer king who declared independence from a polity inscriptions named "Java", which most probably refers to the island of Java in the Indonesian archipelago.^[3] Jayavarman II founded many capitals such as Mahendraparvata, Indrapura, Amarendrapura, and Hariharalaya. Before Jayavarman II came to power, there was much fighting among local overlords who ruled different parts of Cambodia. The most well known opposition were the Shailendra Kings.^[4] In 781, Jayavarman II took action by claiming independence on the land of Chenla.^[5] By starting off with small weak kingdoms, he built himself up from there eventually leading to the Khmer Empire. No inscriptions by Jayavarman II have been found. Future kings of the Khmer Empire described him as a warrior and the most powerful king from that time frame that they could recall.^[6] Historians formerly dated his reign as running from 802 AD to 835 AD.^[7]