Inscriptions of Kambuja

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The inscriptions of Cambodia (ancient Kambuja), like epigraphic rewards in India, constitute the most valuable source of information regarding the history of this ancient colony of the Indians. But, apart from this, they possess the unique interest of being the only positive evidence left of the flourishing state of Sanskrit language and literature in that far-off country during more than eight hundred years Unlike Java, Cambodia does not possess any manuscript collection of texts, written either in Sanskrit or the local language, which owed their origin to a close and intimate acquaintance with the vast Sanskrit literature of India. So far as our knowledge goes, nothing like the Indo-Javanese literature ever flourished in Cambodia. Yet, it cannot be doubted for a moment. that a high erudition in Sanskrit, comparable to that of Java, marked the culture of Cambodia for many centuries. This is amply proved by the Sanskrit inscriptions which have been found in large numbers all over Cambodia, extending from the 5th to 14th century AD:

Although many of these inscriptions were published in a collected form as far back as 1885, and many more have been brought to the notice of the learned world, particularly since the foundation of the "Ecole Francaise d' Extreme Orient" in 1900, they have hardly evoked any interest among the votaries of Sanskrit, even in India. It is not difficult to account for this strange apathy or indifference to the rich store of Sanskrit learning which Kambuja inscriptions offer to us. The study of ancient Indian culture in South-east Asia is still in its infancy in India, mainly because the relevant literature is written mostly in foreign languages like French and Dutch, which are little cultivated in this country. In order to remove this difficulty, and to arouse interest in these studies among educated Indians, I planned, more than twenty-five years ago, a series of books on this subject under the general title "Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East". Two of these, in three volumes, which have already been published, deal respectively with Agnam and Indonesia (including Malay Peninsula). The next volume, dealing with Kambuja, has been long delayed on account of my various preoccupations. As a preliminary or substitute for this, I have already published a small volume on Kambuja, which is really a collection of the lectures I delivered in the University of Madras under Sir William Meyer Foundation. But this gives only a brief sketch of the history and culture of Kambuja.

Kambuja was the old name of the country which comprised - Cambodia, Cochin-China and parts of Laos and Thailand (Siam) of modern times. Right across this region, from north to south. flows the mighty river Mekong. Issuing from the hills of China, it runs along the eastern border of Burma and Thailand, and then cuts its way through Luang Prabang range into the table-land of Laus proper. Running along the western border of Laos, and separating it from Thailand, the mighty river passes over the Dangrek Mountains and enters Cambodia proper near Khong. From this point the bed of the Mekong is enlarged to nearly double its breadth, and covers almost the whole of Cambodia by its ramifications. Just below the modern capital city of Pnom-Penh, the Mekong branches off into two wide streams, connected by numerous cross canals, till they both fall into the China Sea forming the rich delta of Cochin-China.

The Mekong is to Cambodia what the Nile is to Egypt and the Ganga to Northern India. It has been suggested that the name Mekong is derived from Ma-Ganga (Mother Ganga). To the west of it is the Great Lake Tonle Sap-with which it is connected by a wide sheet of water. To the north of the Lake lay the Angkor region which formed the centre of Kambuja civilization from 9th to 14th century A.D., and still contains numerous monuments of its past greatness, the most famous being the walled city of Angkor Thom and, just outside it, the massive temple called Angkor Vat. It is included in the Province of Siem Reap (or Siem Rap) which extends from the Lake to the Dangrek mountains. It is unnecessary to describe at length the other physical features of the country or its present administrative divisions. These have been shown in the map. at the end of this book, so far as it is necessary to study the inscriptions. An alphabetical list of the findspots of these inscriptions. together with reference, by means of squares, to their position in the map is given at the end to enable the readers to find out their approximate position. Slight differences will be occasionally noticed in the spelling of geographical names, as different forms of the same name have been adopted in different texts where the inscriptions were published or noticed. It may be added here that words like Phnom, Vat, or Prasat, added to geographical names, denote respectively hill, temple, and pagoda (big temple).