Khmer seat, a garrison-temple city.
A walled temple city of Jayavarman VII's reign in dry forest a long way from anywhere, Buddhist and Bayon in style, with face towers and a gallery carved with chariots, horses, elephants and foot soldiers (English Wikipedia: it 'flourished between the 12th and 13th centuries' and was 'periodically inhabited'). The inscription (K. 227) names the king's son Srindrakumara and four officers who died defending him, in a war against Champa; see the king's sons' record.
It faces the north-west, the empire's shield on the side the Tai will eventually come from. Banteay Torp, the citadel of the army, lies a few kilometres south. The gazetteer's own Banteay Chhmar point is a district centre about 11 km off; the temple is at 14.0711, 103.0997.
Who holds it
- Name
- One of the king's sons (Srindrakumara is named in the stele; his survival or death in 1200 is not known)
- Title
- Commander of the north-west march (not named)
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Banteay Chhmar), French Wikipedia (Banteay Chhmar), the king's sons' record in this file.
Lord in 1200
One of the king's sons (Srindrakumara is named in the stele; his survival or death in 1200 is not known)
How things stand that morning
In use as a temple city and base; no event recorded.
Military
Garrison temple; no numbers.
Walls and castle
Enclosure wall and moat with face towers; a garrison-temple.
Places of note
- Banteay Torp: The citadel of the army, a few kilometres south (placement approximate).
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry banteay-chhmar (14.039, 103.065) lies about 5 km from the temple (14.0711, 103.0997 on English Wikipedia).
- The gazetteer's Banteay Chhmar point (14.131, 103.010) is a district centre about 11 km north-west of the temple; do not use it.
Evidence: Monument and stele firm; the 1200 garrison is not documented.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Seeds round the temple city and Thma Puok.
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
Sources and studies
- English Wikipedia, Banteay Chhmar
- French Wikipedia, Banteay Chhmar
- 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.