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Jayavarman ll ruled from 802. He etablished four capitals for his kingdom. He moved his city/town to a site near Angkor and declares his indepedence and himself as a a 'God King' . He used wars, alliances and mariages to expand the area under his control.
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Yasovarman l ruled from 899-900 and constructed a new capital called Yasodharapura and a huge reservoir, which measured 7.5 kilometres by 1.8 kilometres in the Angkor area.
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Rajendravarman ll ruled from 944-968 and in 953, he built a series of temples at Angkor, and during his reign the Khmerrs had their first war with Champa.
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Jayavarman V ruled from 968-1001 and was the son of Rajendravaman ll (944-968). Under his consent, the Khmer court became a centre for scholars and artsits.
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Suryavaman ll ruled from 1113-1150. He extended the empire by conquering Haripunchai and south-western Thailand up to the border with Bagan. After his death the Cham invaded the khmer empire in 1177, rowing up the Mekong river and across Tonle Sap in war canoes, They sacked the Khmer capital and killed King Tribhuvanadityavarman.
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Jayavarman Vll ruled from 1181-1215. He was regarded the greatest of all khmer rulers. He waged war agaisnt Champa for twenty-two years and conquered much of its land. Varieties of buddism had long been practiced alongside Hinduism, however Jayavarman Vll was a follower of the mahayana buddism faith and he made this the new state religion. Under his ruling. the khmers built Angkor Thom, meaning great city, which included Bayon temple, along with many other temples.
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After Jayavarman Vll's death no other temples were built. The Khmers lost much of the land they had conquered in Champa to their east. In the west, several Thai nobles revolted, establishing the first Thai kingdom at Sukhothai in 1238. There was also religious conflict.
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Jayavarman Vll who ruled from 1243-1295. He wanted a return to hinduism. He converted Buddist temples to HIndu tempples and desmantled many thousands of Buddha images. During his ruling, the Khmer Empire was threatend by much more powerful empire to its north. This empire was known as the mighty mongol empire, which conquered China in 1260.
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In 1283 Jayarman Vlll paid tribute to the mongols to avoid war and conflict. For an amount of time this made the Khmer Empirea vasal state of the mongols: (Vassal state meaning any state that is subordinate to another)four years later it proved to be a good decision when the Mongols defeated and captured Bagan.
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Jayavarman Vlll was then overthrown by his son-in-law Srindravaman (1295-1309) who introduced the Therevada Buddism faith to the Khmer Empire. The end of the reign of his successor, Indrajayavarman, in 1327 is regarded as the end of the Khmer classical period. There were no more inscriptions telling of the accession of kings and no more temples, possibly because Therevada Buddism did not demand such buildings.
