Book Title: Jaina Archaeology Outside India
Author(s): Jineshwardas Jain
Publisher: Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha

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Page 35
________________ Fall of Khmer Civilization: In 1431 with its numerous gods and their statues and images, its vast temples and untold works of art- lay paralyzed under the threat of Siamese invasion. Siam had been the old rival and enemy of Cambodia, and it was not for the first time that the two countries stood face to face for a showdown. Yet at the testing time when the capital itself was invaded, the behavior of the Cambodians was strange and abnormal. They seemed to sulk and freeze; they quickly evacuated; and left the capital as though it were a worn-out shell. Not a hand was lifted to save the city. In the dedicatory inscription, reference is made to the images of deities, 20,400 in number made of gold silver, bronze and stone; 208,532 slaves, and a quantity of precious metals and 514 separate temples and 2,066 minor or accessory constructions. The king proceeds to list the total endowments made for the upkeep of this vast temple,- 13,500 villages; 306,372 male and female slaves brought from Champa, Yava, Pagan (in Burma) and Rvan (Mon country); and 400,126 Kharis of rice [ibid p.477] The kings successors are exhorted to maintain this gigantic foundation During the classic period of Angkor, there were two serious and revolts Suryavarnman 11 (1113-1150), builder of Angkor Wat, had so impoverished the people by his stupendous constructional activities that a period (1150-1181 AD) ensued when no temples were built nor inscription written. It was also period if internal troubles. A 'peasant's revolt led by Tribhuanaditya, killed Yashovarman and occupied the throne for some time. Discontent, borne of social injustice went on breeding at the bottom. There were ominous spells of inaction and violent outbreaks in the state and no broad-based stability was achieved for the body politic. The fortune of rulers waxed and waned with respect to territorial control. To the north of Sukhodaya was the kingdom of Lan na; farther to the north-west was Pagan; in the south was Ayutthya, to the west Lan Chang, and farther in the south-east Angkor. The interstitial provinces under governors and principalities under petty rulers were always disputed. Proposed Videha Region: The Jaina tradition reports that Rishabha went to Ashtapada, signifying a cluster of eighjt mountains (29 B], Such a cluster of 8 mountains, with Mt. Meru of Sumeru in the center, is known to the Jains, thd Uddhists and the Brahamana scriptures pertaining to ancient cultural geography; to the east of which was situated Purva-videha, tomthe west the Aparagodana; to the north the Uttarakuru and to the south Jambnudvipa continents. The people coming 35

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