It is clear that during the period of the inscriptions the religion of Camboja was a mixture of Brahmanism and Buddhism, the only change noticeable being the preponderance of one or other element in different centuries.  But it would be interesting to know the value of I-Ching’s statement that Buddhism flourished in Fu-nan in early times and was then subverted by a wicked king, by whom Bhavavarman[262] may be meant. Prima facie the statement is not improbable, for there is no reason why the first immigrants should not have been Buddhists, but the traditions connecting these countries with early Hinayanist missionaries are vague.  Taranatha[263] states that the disciples of 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]