Mahendravarman (Chitresena) and Bhavavarman, the two brothers of Chenla (Chandra)
According to the Khmer source, Prah Thong had to fight off the control of the Cham Kings to establish the Khmer Empire. His exploit was possible in part due to the new consortium with the Sri Vijaya that was strengthening through his marriage with the Nagi Princess. Nevertheless, his leaning toward the Sri-vijaya had also led to the political spin-off from the Khmer court left under the control of Gunavarman (Nokor Khmer: The three dynasties). As his descendants split into three factions and each one fought for its own account, the Khmer Empire fell into anarchy. The Chenla Kings (as referred in Chinese sources), in particular, were the most invigorated of all the contenders. This was due to the fact that after Kaundinya ousted the Cham king from Prey-Nokor, many of the latter's family's members were still left to rule their own localities as vassals to the Khmer Empire (Champapura: The Indian arrival: The left-over Cham legacies). As tributary to the Kaundinya court, they were quick to amass back theirs fortune and took no time to built-up theirs power. After his departure from Angkorborey, Kaundinya Jayavarman left the Khmer throne of Prey Nokor under the spell of the Cham's retaliation. The usurpation of Rudravarman gave them the opportunity to get back into the political limelight by aligning themselves with the Chenla princes. In an effort to revive back the Cham past legacies of Kaundinya1 and the Nagi soma , they launched a campaign to subdue the whole of the Kambujan Empire. The history of the Sui was the earliest source, so far available about the attack on Funan and the subsequent formation of the Chenla powerhouse.
“The Chenla is at the southwest of Lin-Yi (Prey-Nokor) . it was originally a kingdom vassal of Funan. The family name was Cha-Li; his personal name was She-To-Ssu-Na; his ancestors had gradually increased the power of the country. She-To-Ssu-Na seized Funan and subdued it. “
It mentions the emergence of the Chenla/Chandra clan exactly at Ba-Phnom, the place where once the Cham communities flourished during the rise of the Funan Empire. As we had seen, the Cham aristocrats of king Ajiraja lineage were taking part of the Funan court. That might be the reason that the Chinese source took the Cham kingdom as Chenla to be actually a vassal of Funan. Now that Kamboja became the country of the Khmer Empire under Jayavarman Kaundinya, the Cham communities of Ba-Phnom became parts area of the Khmer Empire. Formed from the court of Viravarman at Prey Nokor, the Chenla consortium strengthened the Kaundinya's lineage of mix Kamara stocks with the support of the surviving Cham aristocrats to rise up challenging the Funan court. About its leader, the Chinese source hints that his ancestors were working on building theirs power-base under the control of the Funan Empire. The family name "Cha-Li" could be a reference to the god Hari or Vishnu of the Hindu Culture as had always been the legacy of the Kamboja Kings of The Nagi soma (The Fall of Nokor Thom: Notes: The Use of Bile in the Kamboja Court). It could be also a reference to the Kamara royal house of Sip-Song-Pannas, known as the city of Tchou-Li that stayed until modern days. This connection explains later the close tie of the Chenla family with the northern, actual Siam countries (Lanna: Notes: Lanna). The personal name "She-To-Ssu-Na" of the Chenla King is on the other hand easier to identify to be the exact transcription of Chitrasena. Inscriptions reveal that Chitrasena was a son of king Viravarman who also descended from the Kaundinya1 family (Nokor Khmer: The Three Dynasties: Viravarman and the Chenla dynasty). Apparently the Hari's connection was established through his Cham mother side and according to matrimonial rule, Chitrasena was a legitimate heir of the Prey Nokor court by his lineage of the Nagi soma . Being long under the control of the Funan court, the Cham aristocrats took the opportunity of the internal crisis (during the usurpation of Rudravarman) to rally behind the Chenla Kings. Theirs first mission was to oust Rudravarman from the Khmer throne of Ba-Phnom. Under the protection of the Sui Dynasty (581-618), Rudravarman had to move his court to Prey-Nokor at Dong-Duong. We shall see later that Citrasena was not acting alone and that the Chenla attack did not only subdue the court of Prey Nokor but the whole of the Funan Empire. As a consequence, its controlled territory was subjected to the political standing of China, India and lastly the Khmer Empire. It is important to note that during the rise of the latter, there were also the northern Mon communities under the control of Budhusinhanati Nagara located at Xiang-Sean. Subdued by Prah Thong, the Budhusinhanati's court was destroyed and the Mon aristocrats were scattered in disarray along the northern Khorat plateau countries .
Chenla's Pact:
In the history of the Sui, Citrasena was mentioned to be the sole leader of the Chenla's pact, but many Khmer inscriptions prove otherwise that he was not alone in the fight against Funan. As a matter of fact, it was his elder brother who was the first to ascend the Funan (Prey-Nokor) and Kambujan throne under the name of Bhavavarman. The inscription of Ang Chumnik confirms that he was the first Chenla king to reign after Rudravarman was assumably driven out of the Khmer throne of Prey Nokor (JAISC: Inscription of Ang Chumnik). The same inscription also indicates that he was the actual driver of the Chenla attack and after having taken the power by storm, took reward of the exploit for himself.
“The king Sri Bhavavarman, having taking the power energetically, received Gambhisvara as the fruit of his desire for the kingdom. (JAISC: Inscription of Ang Chumnik: Line 5)”
Nevertheless, the Kambujan or Khmer Empire was so vast that a change of strategy had to be taken by the Chenla pact. After driving out Rudravarman to Prey-Nokor, evidences show that the two Chenla brothers split their campaign to be carried on in two fronts. Leaving the Prey-Nokor court of king Rudravarman to his brother Citrasena to finish off, Bhavavarman turned to the rest of the Kambujan and Khmer courts in the Menam valley. Of different backgrounds, the two brothers were conducting theirs own fights against Funan. Of his northern Cham affiliation with the court of Bandhusinhanati, Citrasena apparently stayed focus on Prey-Nokor and the Khmer Empire. On the other hand, evidences show that Bhavavarman was conducting a bigger campaign to establish himself as a cakravatin monarch on the ream of the Ocean Naga King. The Han-Chey inscription indicated that his first campaign was to drive the "King of Mountain" out of Mahidhara.
“Jetu parvatabhubal a Mahidharamastakat setu pravrshi yasyasid dhastineshv api varishu. (JAISC: Inscription of Han-Chey: Section B: line 5: p, 223)”
The King of Mountain of the passage could be identified to be as no other than the Ocean Naga King of the Sri Vijaya area , father-in-law of Kaundinya. According to Chinese source, the attack drove the Funan court from To-Mou to Na-fu-na. Scholars agreed that To-Mou was a Chinese reference to the Funan capital, but differed in identifying the exact location that it was at the time. We had seen that Vyadhapura, identified as Angkorpuri, was the late capital of the Naga King before it was handed over to kaundinya. We had also argued that Angkorpuri was no longer of importance to the Khmer Court since Kaundinya had moved his capital to Lavo (Nokor Khmer: Mahidhara as the seat of Sri Dharmaraja: The formation of Lavo). As the inscription stated it, it was Mahidhara of the Malay Archipelago that Bhavavarman had subdued during the first stage of the Chenla uprising. Of his special commemoration of the inscription, he referred himself as the king of Malayu (Notes: The Commemoration of Bhavavarman). The Chinese reference of "To-Mou" moreover appears to be the same as To-Mou-Chang (To-Mou-Xiang) which is in high probability a reference to the Khedah Mountain where seated the Sri Vijayan court. The reference of "To-Mou" might have been a Chinese transcription of "To Meru" or "To Raja", meaning the Lion King as has always been representing the Simha identity of the Sri Vijaya. Exerting full control of the southern Sea route, the Sri Vijaya became naturally the first target of the Chenla take-over. On the other hand, we could identify Na-fu-na, the place that the Kambujan kings taking refuge as no other than the small island Na-Tu-Na at the northern shore of Borneo. If this was the case, Na-fu-na was actually no more than a quick stop as evidences show that the family members of the Naga King were pushed further or moved themselves into south India where the Pallava court was seen next established at Kanchipura (Dvaravati: The Last of the fallen Funan' s Court: The Birth of the Pallavas). Some of them were also seen moved all the way to Ceylon where they formed next the Buddhist community of Sri Langka. This war time development was not a surprise, since we know that prior to the Chenla uprising, the Kambujan court already established their strongholds along the Malakka straight line to take control of the southern sea trade (Nokor Khmer: The Impact on Krakatoa: The Sea Trade Route). This finding leads us to believe that the Kedah Mountain was already ruled by a faction of the Kaundinya1 court, as part of the Khmer Empire. Later in the history of Angkor, we know that Khedah was ruled under the "king of the mountain", a title that scholars attributed later to the Khmer kings of the Sailendra dynasty. It was due to this past connection that many aspects of the Pallava's culture resemble that of the Khmer court. Vestiges left behind at Kanchipura show strong legacies of the bull Nanda, a traditional representation of Kaundinya1.
It is notable that : The Commemoration of Bhavavarman
The Commemoration of Bhavavarman in the Han-Chey inscription (JAISC: Inscription du Han-Chey: Face A: p. 208) was so elaborate and informative that we decide to review the stanza all over again. To start, we came up with the following correction in reading the title "malamalum ivamalam raja" from the text that should be " mala malayu iva malayam raja" instead. The mistake was due to the omission of the letter "ya" (in abreviation) in two locations underneath the letter "la" of he words "malum" and "malam". The proper reading of the commemoration should be:
Jitam induvatansena murdhana Gagam babhara yah umabrubhan (ga)chihoormmim malamalayu iva malyamraja cri Bhavavarmmeti patir asin mahipbhrtam
Etymologogically, the Sanskrit word Induvatansena (Indu-vata-anga-sena) appears to make a reference to the Hindu court of the Sena (Mahendravarman aka chitresena) Naga dynasty. That explains the connection between the Soma's lineage (Chenla/Chandra) to the south Indian lineage of the Sena (Mahendravarman) court and the recovery of the Cholan Empire on the South Indian Territory. The word Murudhana was actually a synonymous of the Chinese word Chenla (Chandra) and the combined word "Murudhana Gangam" is meant to be "Water Chenla". The title "Malamalayu ivamalyam" was a connection to the Malay court (Malayang) and must to receive after the subjection of the Mahidhara court of Khedah. On the other hand, the word "rasin mahibrtam" is a faulty of "tasin mahibrtam", in reference to Ta-Tsin of Mahodhara ream of Malayu. The whole commemoration should then be translated as followed:
Victory to the "Induvatansena", the Water-Chenla king Bering the rank of "umabhubhangujihmormmim", the Mala king of Malayu Sri Bhavavarman became the ruler of Ta Tsin Mahodhara like the sublime "Mahasatva" Meru (Lunar) himself
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