Analogous Toponyms between India and Cambodia

The same Indian Sanskrit toponyms in ancient Cambodia were one among many Indian cultural traits that were adapted by Khmer people ever since Indian culture was introduced directly into the country, from around 3^rd century. There were some well-known place names such as Kuruksetra, Janapada, Aryadeça and Madhyadeça that were found in several edited inscriptions. The first two names were identified as well as referring to toponyms in Cambodia; but no evidence of the existence of Madhyadeça was found to correspondent to any place during Coedès’s scholarly life. So whenever we saw an information that described a person as originating from Madhyadeça, it was always assumed that he had come from India. Recently, I have observed that one newly discovered inscription proved the existence of a Madhyadeça toponym in ancient Cambodia. Therefore, we cannot assume any longer that all persons who have their home land at Madhyadeça must have come from India.

This paper will present to a workshop on Southeast Asian Epigraphy that will be organized by EFEO in Kuala Lupur, at Midah Hotel on November 8th-9th, 2011. I'm invited to participate this scholarly event by EFEO correspondents in Cambodia.

Indian Saptaprakriti and Sattarattana Concepts in Ancient Cambodia

            The Indian concepts of Saptaprakriti of Rastra or seven elements of a State and Sattarattana of Cakravartina or seven precious elements of a Universal Monarch were found out their existences in Cambodia since at least during sixth century according to inscription evidences and Chinese records. These concepts were very important for model formation of a government body and uniform elements of a universal ruler. Angkor and Post-Angkor inscriptions provide these terms clearly but the detail scriptures about these concepts have not been found. So there is still some doubt whether these concepts were realized in political domain of ancient Cambodia or not. However, I have recently discovered a manuscript on the concept of Saptaprakriti in a Royal Scientific Code or Rajanitisastra. This paper intends to discuss the continuity of these conceptual realizations in Cambodia before the administrative reformation of French power. 

This paper will present to the conference on Asian Encounters: Network of Cultural Interaction that will be held at the University of New Delhi on November 1st-4th, 2011. I have been invited to the conference by the organizers through Indian Embassy in Cambodia