The eastern command

Who he is

Title

Commander of the eastern provinces and of the road to Champa

Since

not known

Born

not known

Family

not known

Confidence

low

No source names the Khmer generals of the Cham war of 1190-1203 in what we could read, apart from Prince Vidyanandana who served Jayavarman VII in 1190-1191 (Coedes p. 170, via English Wikipedia) and then turned. The Banteay Chhmar stele (K. 227) names four companions of Prince Srindrakumara in a campaign against Champa but not here.

What it holds

• Preah Khan of Kompong Svay (a walled enclosure of about 20 square km, Jacques and Lafond), the forward base
• Beng Mealea and the east road with its bridges (Spean Praptos, Spean Ta Ong)
• The iron of Phnom Dek
• The landings at Stung Treng and Kratie and the Sambor rapids portage

How things stand that morning

At war with Champa since 1190, no battle dated to the winter. The commander and the army are not placed.

Military

The road, the rest houses and the bases; no numbers.

Threats

• Suryavarmadeva's forces in the Cham highlands
• Jarai and Bunong raiding or withholding guides

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. 1203A Khmer army takes Vijaya.Depends on: The war continuing. Stopped by: Truce or Cham victory.

Places of note

• Bakan (Preah Khan of Kompong Svay): Forward base.
• Beng Mealea: Hinge of the eastern road.
• Stung Treng: Gate to the east.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry preah-khan-kampong-svay places the site at 13.408, 104.748; the temple stands about 40 km further north-east (we use 13.77, 104.85 from memory, not re-checked this session).

Evidence: The road, the base and the dated campaign years are firm; the command is inferred.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: The road and base are real; the line between 'command' and 'ordinary province' is a reading.

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.