Vasubandhu introduced Buddhism into the country of Koki (Indo-China)
but his authority does not count for much in such a matter. The
statement of I-Ching however has considerable weight, especially as
the earliest inscription found in Champa (that of Vocan) appears to be
inspired by Buddhism.

2

It may be well to state briefly the chief facts of Cambojan
history[264] before considering the phases through which religion
passed. Until the thirteenth century our chief authorities are the
Sanskrit and Khmer inscriptions, supplemented by notices in the
Chinese annals. The Khmer inscriptions are often only a translation or
paraphrase of Sanskrit texts found in the same locality and, as a
rule, are more popular, having little literary pretension. They
frequently contain lists of donations or of articles to be supplied by
the population for the upkeep of pious foundations. After the
fourteenth century we have Cambojan annals of dubious value and we
also find inscriptions in Pali or in modern Cambojan. The earliest
Sanskrit inscriptions date from the beginning of the seventh century
and mention works undertaken in 604 and 624.

The first important king is Bhavavarman (c. 500 A.D.), a conqueror
and probably a usurper, who extended his kingdom considerably towards
the west. His career of conquest was continued by Mahavarman (also
called Citrasena), by Isanavarman and by Jayavarman.[265] This last
prince was on the throne in 667, but his reign is followed by a lacuna
of more than a century. Notices in the Chinese annals, confirmed by
the double genealogies given for this period in later inscriptions,
indicate that Camboja was divided for some time into two states, one
littoral and the other inland.

Clear history begins again with the reign of Jayavarman II (802-869).
Later sovereigns evidently regard him as the great national hero and
he lives in popular legend as the builder of a magnificent palace,
Beng Mealea, whose ruins still exist[266] and as the recipient of the
sacred sword of Indra which is preserved at Phnom-penh to this day. We
are told that he "came from Java," which is more likely to be some
locality in the Malay Peninsula or Laos than the island of that name.
It is possible that Jayavarman was carried away captive to this region
but returned to found a dynasty independent of it.[267]

The ancient city of Angkor has probably done more to make Camboja
known in Europe than any recent achievements of the Khmer r