The forested hills where the road from Angkor to Vijaya leaves the Mekong at Stung Treng and climbs the Se San and the Se Kong to the crest of the Annamite chain.
The war with Champa is ten years old: the Khmer took Vijaya in 1190 and the Cham prince they had raised at Angkor, Vidyanandana (Suryavarmadeva in the Cham stelae), turned on them and now rules in his own name. English Wikipedia (Champa) dates Khmer attacks 1190, 1192, 1194-1195 and 1198-1203; the campaign board has 1193 and 1194. Armies came this way in the campaign years, so something must have been kept open; the stele of 1191 counts 57 houses with fire on the roads to Champa.
Nothing is placed on this ground on 1 January 1200, no raid and no army, and no truce is known either. The belt is drawn because nobody farms or holds it: it is forest, fever and hill villages that pay whoever's army is nearest. The coast and the valleys beyond the crest are the Vietnam and Champa researcher's.
How things stand that morning
A war zone by road and rumour: no army, camp or battle is placed here on the morning of 1 January 1200.
Who raids here
No raid is recorded. The Khmer send expeditions up this road in the dry season; the hill peoples raid or withhold guides (the campaign board's claim); the Cham of Vidyanandana hold the valleys east of the crest.
Anchor castles
- Khmer
- Stung Treng (the four rivers, no fortress)
- Attapeu and the Se Kong approach (no fort attested)
- Preah Khan of Kompong Svay (the forward base, 13.77 N)
- Cham
- Vijaya (Cha Ban) on the coast and the highland valleys behind it (the Vietnam and Champa researcher's)
Last campaign
Khmer campaigns dated 1190, 1192, 1194-1195 and 1198-1203 (English Wikipedia, Champa); none is placed on 1 January 1200. The yuvaraja On Dhanapatigrama's taking of Vijaya is 1203 (later).
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.
- 1203A Khmer army takes Vijaya.Depends on: The war continuing, the old king's authority, and a dry-season army on this road. Stopped by: A truce, a Cham victory, or Khmer collapse.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry attapeu-se-kong-approach, se-san-crossing, the-annamite-crossing: 'contested'. The roads are certain from the campaigns; which route is not known, because no Khmer source describes the march. The belt is a reconstruction.
Evidence: Campaign years from a Wikipedia summary; the road from the stele count; no source places a force or a raid on the ground.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: A block along the likely road; the exact passes are not known.
Sources and studies
- English Wikipedia, Champa
- English Wikipedia, Phimai Historical Park
- English Wikipedia, Jayavarman VII
- OMNIA board notes for the Khmer and Lao area (a lead, not a source)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.