The Sangha

Who holds it

Title

Heads of the king's Mahayana foundations; the Theravada prince's circle (none named for 1200)

Since

not known

Born

not known

Family

not known

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia (Buddhism in Cambodia): the main Buddhism of Angkor times was Mahayana with strong Tantric tendencies; Jayavarman VII is the most significant Khmer Buddhist king, a bodhisattva-king; before 1200 temple art mostly showed Hindu scenes; Sinhalese-based Theravada was first propagated in Southeast Asia by Taling (Mon) monks in the 11th century; the Khmer prince Tamalinda studied the Pali canon in Sri Lanka from 1180 to 1190 and returned in 1190 with Sinhala-doctrine adherents at his court. The identification of this prince and his dates are argued; we did not re-read the Burmese tradition.

Overlord

Jayavarman VII, as founder and patron of the Mahayana houses.

What it holds

• The monks and estates of the king's foundations (see the temple records)
• The prince's Pali circle (not located)

How things stand that morning

Mahayana in power; Theravada newly at court on one reading; no event.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1296 to 1297A Chinese mission under Zhou Daguan (Chou Ta-kuan) reports Pali Theravada monks in the Khmer capital (English Wikipedia, Buddhism in Cambodia).Depends on: The Sinhalese order spreading over the century. Stopped by: A king who suppresses the order, which we found nowhere.

Where the sources disagree

• The Tamalinda dates (study 1180 to 1190, return 1190) are one English Wikipedia page's reading of a tradition known mainly from Burma; we do not treat them as fixed. The brief gives no date.

Evidence: One English Wikipedia summary for the Theravada dates; the Burmese tradition not re-read.

On the map: No outline; the Sangha is a body of persons, not of ground.

Primary sources for Khmer empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Abridged History of Viet, Anonymous (attributed by some to Su Hy Nhan) (about 1377, probably as an abridgement of Le Van Huu's lost history of 1272). The oldest surviving Vietnamese history, a century older than the Complete Annals and in places fuller for the Ly dynasty, which fills its second and third books.
• The Complete Annals of Dai Viet, Ngo Si Lien, drawing on Le Van Huu's Dai Viet su ky (1272) and Phan Phu Tien; continued by Pham Cong Tru and Le Hi (1479; printed 1697 in the standard Chinh Hoa edition). The main narrative source for Dai Viet in 1200, compiled in 1479 from Le Van Huu's lost history of 1272. Read online
• The later Tai, Lao and Mon chronicles of the north, Ratanapanna (Jinakalamali); Bodhiramsi (Chamadevivamsa); anonymous monks and court scribes (the Chamadevivamsa about 1410; the Jinakalamali 1516 to 1528; the Chiang Mai Chronicle in its surviving form 1827; the Nithan Khun Borom 16th to 17th century). There is no text of 1200 for the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya, the Tai muang of Ngoenyang (Chiang Saen), Chiang Rung, the Yom and Nan valleys, or the Lao middle Mekong.
• History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
• History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
• Corpus of the Inscriptions of Campa (EFEO and ISAW), Various (the Cham kings and their officers), edited by Arlo Griffiths, Amandine Lepoutre, William Southworth and Thanh Phan (inscriptions of the 4th to 15th centuries; the online corpus from 2012). The online edition of the Cham inscriptions, with photographs, texts and translations, keyed to the C. numbers. Read online
• The Inscriptions of Cambodia, Various (the Khmer kings and their officers), edited by George Coedes (inscriptions of the 6th to 14th centuries; edited 1937 to 1966). The Khmer empire of 1200 is known almost entirely from the great foundation stelae of Jayavarman VII (reigning from 1181), which Coedes edited: the Ta Prohm stele of 1186 (K. Read online
• The Sanskrit inscriptions of Cambodia and Champa (ISCC), Various (Khmer and Cham kings), edited by Auguste Barth and Abel Bergaigne (inscriptions of the 7th to 12th centuries; edited 1885 to 1893). The founding edition of Khmer and Cham Sanskrit epigraphy, public domain and online, which Coedes's later corpus supersedes but does not replace. Read online

5 more in the sources library for Mainland Southeast Asia.