Latest / The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History / Yasovarman I: The King Who Built Angkor’s First Baray and Moved a Capital
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- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the big names — Jayavarman II founding the empire, Suryavarman II building Angkor Wat, Jayavarman VII building Angkor Thom. But there's this other king who arguably set the whole thing in motion, and he doesn't get nearly the attention he deserves. Luna: Who's that? Lucas: Yasovarman I. He ruled from about 889 to 910 CE, and he's the one who moved the capital from the Roluos area — where Indravarman I had built the Bakong and Preah Ko — to the site we now call Angkor. He made Angkor the center of the Khmer world, and he built the first massive baray, the Eastern Baray. Luna: Wait — so the Eastern Baray predates Angkor Wat? Lucas: By about three hundred years. Yeah, it's easy to think of that whole area as being a single phase, but the barays were built over centuries. Yasovarman's Eastern Baray was about eight kilometers long and two kilometers wide, holding around fifty million cubic meters of water. It was an engineering marvel for the ninth century. And he built it not just for irrigation but as a symbolic sea around his new capital, which he centered on a hill called Phnom Bok. Luna: Phnom Bok — that's one of the 'temple-mountains' around Angkor, right? Lucas: Exactly. He built a temple on top of it, dedicated to Shiva, and he declared that hill to be the new Mount Meru — the cosmic axis of the Khmer universe. This was a deliberate move to legitimize his rule. The old capital at Roluos had been associated with his predecessor, Indravarman I, and his father, Jayavarman II. By moving to a new site, Yasovarman was essentially resetting the cosmic order under his own authority. Luna: But how did he justify moving the capital? Wasn't the old one still the sacred center? Lucas: That's the clever part. He didn't abandon Roluos entirely — he built a new temple there called Lolei, which was actually an island temple in the middle of the Indravarman's baray. So he honored the old site while shifting the focus. And he tied his legitimacy to a new foundation myth: he claimed descent from a legendary sage, and he used the devaraja cult — the god-king concept — to cement his authority. The Sdok Kak Thom inscription, which we've mentioned before, actually describes how his ancestor Jayavarman II established the devaraja ritual, and Yasovarman presented himself as continuing that line. Luna: But I recall there's some controversy about his parentage. Wasn't he accused of usurping the throne? Lucas: Yes, that's one of the more interesting debates. Some inscriptions suggest that he wasn't the rightful heir — that the throne should have gone to his older brother, or maybe a cousin. There's a story, possibly legendary, that he killed his brother to seize power. But the evidence is murky. What we do know is that he faced a major rebellion early in his reign, in a region that's now part of Laos. He crushed it brutally, and that seems to have solidified his control. After that, he embarked on an ambitious building program. Luna: So he was a warrior king as well as a builder. Lucas: Absolutely. And he didn't just build temples and barays. He also built a network of roads and rest houses for travelers, and he established over a hundred hermitages for wandering ascetics — a kind of state-sponsored religious infrastructure. He was a patron of both Shaivism and Buddhism, which was rare at that time. The Chinese records mention that he sent an embassy to the Tang court in 904, and they describe him as a devout Buddhist. Yet his own temple on Phnom Bok is dedicated to Shiva. So he seems to have balanced both traditions. Luna: That's surprising for the ninth century, given what we know about the later Hindu-Buddhist conflicts. Lucas: Right, the later purges under Jayavarman VIII. But Yasovarman was more syncretic. The Eastern Baray itself was part of this grand vision: it wasn't just a reservoir, it was a sacred ocean. In Hindu cosmology, the world is surrounded by an ocean, and the temple-mountain sits at the center. By building the baray and the hill temple, Yasovarman was recreating the universe. And he named his new capital 'Yasodharapura' — 'the city of Yasovarman.' That name stuck for centuries. Luna: Yasodharapura — that's the original name of Angkor Thom, isn't it? Lucas: Close. Angkor Thom was built later by Jayavarman VII, but it was built on the same site as Yasovarman's original capital. So the foundation of what we now call Angkor is really Yasovarman's doing. Without him, there might never have been an Angkor Wat. But here's a question that puzzles historians: the Eastern Baray today is dry. It silted up over time and was eventually abandoned. Why build such a massive reservoir if it wouldn't last? Luna: Maybe the climate changed? Or the river shifted? Lucas: Both. The Greater Angkor Project has shown that the water management system was incredibly complex and that it eventually failed due to deforestation and erosion. But Yasovarman's baray was a marvel for its time. It was fed by the Siem Reap River, and it regulated water flow for agriculture. It also served as a symbol of royal power — only a king with immense resources could command such a project. Luna: It's like the pyramids in Egypt — a statement of absolute authority. Lucas: Exactly. And speaking of statements of authority — here's a quick honest thing. We're able to make these deep dives because a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's literally what funds this show — no ads, no sponsors. Just people who like history and want to keep these conversations going. If you've been coming along with us through these episodes on Cambodia and Southeast Asia, and you've gotten something out of it, that's the way to keep it ad-free. Luna: Yeah, and it makes a real difference — we can spend time digging into inscriptions and archaeology because of that support. Lucas: So back to Yasovarman. One of the most intriguing artifacts associated with him is the so-called 'Leper King' statue. We talked about that in a previous episode, but the connection to Yasovarman is often overlooked. Some scholars think the statue, which sits on the Terrace of the Leper King in Angkor Thom, might actually represent Yasovarman himself, not a later king. The statue has a very distinctive, almost emaciated face, and there's a legend that a king contracted leprosy because of a curse. But there's no evidence Yasovarman had leprosy. Still, the statue's style is consistent with the late 9th century. Luna: So we might be looking at a portrait of Yasovarman every time we see that statue? Lucas: It's possible. The original statue is now in the National Museum in Phnom Penh, and the one on the terrace is a replica. But the iconography is strange — it's naked, with a beard and mustache, which is unusual for Khmer art. Some say it's Yama, the god of death, or Dharmaraja, the judge of the dead. But if it is Yasovarman, it would be a remarkably personal depiction of a king who otherwise left us only grand temples. We know from inscriptions that he was a complex figure — ruthless but also deeply religious, a builder and a destroyer. Luna: He sounds a bit like a Khmer version of Ashoka — but without the pacifism. Lucas: There is a parallel. Both were empire-builders who adopted a syncretic religious policy. But Yasovarman was more of a warrior. He extended Khmer control into what is now Thailand, Laos, and southern Vietnam. The Chinese record mentions that in 903, he sent a mission to the court of the Tang emperor, and the gift list includes elephants, rhinoceros horns, and slaves. So he was plugged into the larger trade networks of Asia. But his biggest legacy is the shift of the capital, which set the stage for the classical Angkor period. Luna: I'm still amazed that a king this influential isn't more famous. I mean, everyone knows Angkor Wat, but who built the first Angkor? Lucas: That's why we're covering him. Yasovarman I is the forgotten founder. Interestingly, his death is also a bit of a mystery. He seems to have died around 910, but we don't know exactly how. After him, his sons fought over the throne, and the empire went through a period of instability. But the capital remained at Yasodharapura, and the baray continued to function. It was only later, under Rajendravarman II in the 10th century, that the center shifted again slightly, but always within the same region. Luna: So the lineage from Yasovarman to the later great kings is unbroken? Lucas: More or less. There was a usurper in the 10th century, but the concept of the capital as the center of the universe persisted. And that's Yasovarman's gift — he gave the Khmer Empire a symbolic and physical center that lasted for 500 years.