This translation is based on the the 1964 third edition of Coedès’ monumental work, twenty years after the first edition. The author’s ambitious project was to define similar patterns of ‘Indianization’, state development and religious beliefs across various ‘charter States’ of mainland and maritime Southeast Asia. In his Editor’s note, Walter F. Vella stressed the core research at the stem of this historical synthetis, the Khmer civilization:
Coedès’ primary interest has been in the history of the Khmer Empire. His contribution here has been to supply a reliable historical chronology and an incisive delineation of the nature of Khmer kingship and other traditional Khmer institutions. What we know of ancient Cambodia stems predominantly from the work of Coedès. In other areas of Southeast Asia, Coedès is most famous for his pioneer depiction of the origin of Sukhothai, the first historical kingdom of Thailand, and his dramatic identification, in 1918, of the name, geographical scope, and importance of the ancient Indonesian empire of Srivijaya. His discovery of Srivijaya has been called, by Paul Wheatley, “possibly the most significant contribution ever made to the progress of Southeast Asian history.” Coedès’ major work of synthesis is his study Les Etats hindouises d’lndochine et d’lndonesie, here translated, that covers the period from approximately A.D. 1 to A.D. 1500. [p i]
Modern scholars, in particular Michael Vickery, have blamed Coedès’ work for its reliance on ‘old-school’ history heavy on kings’ chronologies and textual interpretations of inscriptions but lacking of insights on local traditions and material culture. Yet very few attempts of a general picture of Ancient Southeast Asia, even nowadays, omit to refer to this book, from which we are highligting here some important apportations.
A definition of ‘Indianization’ and its origin
Indianization must be understood essentially as the expansion of an organized culture that was founded upon the Indian conception of royalty, was characterized by Hinduist or Buddhist 16 The Indianized States of Southeast Asia cults, the mythology of the Puränas, and the observance of the Dharmasästras, and expressed itself in the Sanskrit language. It is for this reason that we sometimes speak of “ Sanskritization” instead of ”Indianization.“ This Sanskrit or Indian civilization, transplanted into Southeast Asia and called, according to the country, “Indo-Khmer,” “Indo-Javanese,” etc., is the one we are able to recognize in the epigraphical or archaeological documents. Perhaps the only difference between it and the “ Sanskrit civilization“ of Bengal and the Dravidian countries is the fact that it was spread by sea while the other was spread by land and, in a sense, by “ osmosis.“ The Indian civilization of Southeast Asia was the civilization of an elite and not that of the whole population, whose beliefs and way of life are still very insufficiently known. [pp 5 – 6]
The author defines two phases of Indianization, the first one from the origins to the 4th century, the second from the middle of the 4th to the 6th century. As for the origins of the expansion, he gives a rather bleak assessment of Indian historiography:
Whence came the Indians who emigrated to Farther India, and where did they embark? Much research has been done on this subject. Unfortunately, those who are most involved in this research, the Indian historians, have not always approached it with the desired objectivity: if they were natives of Madras, they attributed the honor of having colonized “ Greater India” to the Tamil lands; if they were from Calcutta, to Bengal. Apart from a Tamil inscription in Sumatra and two on the Malay Peninsula — which allow the Madras school to score a point, although none of these inscriptions date back to the beginning of Indianization — the colonists did not leave vernacular documents abroad that could inform us of their place of origin. Our sources of information on this point are the texts of geographers and of European and Chinese travelers, Indian texts alluding to navigation, and finally the place names, traditions, scripts, and plastic arts of Farther India. [p 29]
On the matter of from where in India the movement to the east (and ‘Farther India’, as he often calls the geographical expansion of that expansion), he notes:
From this brief and incomplete review of our sources of information on the origins of Indian expansion toward the east, we derive an impression that can be stated by summarizing with slight modifications the formula of La Vallee-Poussin [1] already cited: all regions of India contributed something to this expansion, and it was the south that played the greatest role. We have perhaps had a tendency to magnify the role of southern India by attributing an exaggerated influence to the Pallavas. Except in Funan, the appearance of the first epigraphic texts and the most ancient archaeological remains coincides with the ascension of the Pallava dynasty; this is probably a coincidence, but it has been transformed into a cause-and-effect relationship. We will see in the following chapter that, at least for Funan, there may be reason to take into account influences from Northwest India, scarcely considered up to now. Nevertheless, the influence of southern India, on the whole, was preponderant and that of Ceylon was far from negligible. [p32]
[1] The author quoted in several instances Louis de La Vallee-Poussin, Dynasties et histoire de l’Inde depuis Kanishka jusqu’aux invasions musulmanes (Paris, 1935).
Funan in the context of early Southeast Asia
If there are many notations on the polity (or kingdom, or even empire) of Funan in this work, we quote here the part that reflected more strikingky the author’s attempt at a transcultural, transethnic history of mainland Southeast Asia [Chapter IV, section 7, “The Oldest Evidence of the Pyus of the Irrawaddy and the Mons of the Menam”]:
Finally, we must say a few words about the Indianized states of the western part of the Indochinese Peninsula. Because of their geographical position it would seem that they ought to have been penetrated by Indian culture earlier and more profoundly than Funan, Champa, and the other kingdoms of Farther India; they offer, however, only rare and quite late archaeological and epigraphical remains for the period before the middle of the sixth century. It would be imprudent to conclude from this negative argument that they were Indianized later, for various circumstances may have caused the disappearance or delayed the discovery of older remains. The almost total silence of Chinese sources for the period in question is due to the fact that the envoys from China to the kingdoms of the south at that time used the sea route and the countries situated farthest from China for the seamen were the last to establish relations with her.
It seems, however, that by the third century the Chinese had entered into contact via Yunnan with the kingdom of P’iao, which corresponded roughly with the Irrawaddy Basin. The name of this kingdom is the Chinese transcription of the word Pyu. The Pyu tribe, which constituted the vanguard of the Tibeto-Burman migration and called itself Tirchul, occupied the region around Prome. The ancient sites surrounding this town have yielded fragments of texts extracted from the Pali canon written in a script that goes back to around the year 500. These documents prove the existence of a Buddhist colony of southern originin a region which the Chinese pilgrims of the seventh century called Srikshetra and in which a dynasty of kings bearing Sanskrit names reigned in the eighth century. The Pyus had for neighbors the Burmese to the north and the Mons to the south. Local chronicles trace the history of these peoples back to the time of the Buddha, who, according to the chronicles, himself came to the region. They give a long list of kings which cannot be verified at all. The example of the Cambodian chronicle, which bears no relation to the reality revealed by epigraphy for the pre-Angkorian epoch, scarcely encourages us to consider the Burmese lists reliable. Moreover, the dates given in the Burmese lists differ extraordinarily from one text to another.
For the period before the sixth century, all we can really learn from the local chronicles is that there existed in the north, in the rich rice-producing plain of Kyaukse and in the region of Pagan, clusters of Pyus who had received Buddhism from northern India and that in Lower Burma there were colonies of Indians who had come from Orissa. Of these colonies the principal one was Sudhammavati (or Sudhammapura) — that is, Thaton — at the mouth of the Sittang, where a local legend has it that Buddhaghosa, the celebrated monk of the Singhalese church of the fifth century, was born and died.
In the Menam Basin, the only sites that are earlier than the middle of the sixth century are those already mentioned: Si Thep, Phra Pathom, and Phong Tuk. We are almost completely ignorant of the kingdoms that have left these remains: we know neither their names nor the names of their sovereigns. All we can say is that they must have recognized the more or less effective sovereignty of Funan. The Buddhist sites of Phra Pathom and Phong Tuk from the seventh century on were part of the Mon kingdom of Dväravati, which may or may not have existed already in the fifth or sixth century. As for Si Thep, where the images of Vishnu are preponderant, it was part of the Khmer territory — perhaps as early as the end of the sixth century, but in any case during the period when the Angkor kings extended their domination to the west.
In summary, in the first period of the history of Farther India, which came to an end around 550, we witness the birth of a series of Indian or Indianized kingdoms in regions like the Irrawaddy Basin, the valley of the lower Mekong, and the plains of central Vietnam, which were to remain seats of powerful states through the centuries, and, inevitably, in sites such as Kedah, Palembang, and the western extremity of Java, whose contemporary history has confirmed their privileged economic, commercial, or strategic position.
In most cases, Buddhism seems to have opened the way for the cultural penetration of India: the statues of the Buddha found in Siam (Phong Tuk and Khorat), in Vietnam (Döng-duong), in Sumatra (Palembang), in Java, and in the Celebes mark, right from the start, the extreme limits of the domain reached by Indianization. State Sivaism with its cult of the royal linga is not witnessed until a little later. As for Vishnuism, it did not appear before thefifth century.
Too often we know nothing about these kingdoms other than their names, recorded by Chinese historians on the occasion of the sending of embassies. Only Funan and Champa, which entered into relations with China at an early date, have a fairly continuous history. Even before their constitution into an organized state at the end of the second century, the populations of Indonesian language who formed the nucleus of the Cham people were seeking to expand to the north, into the Vietnamese provinces of the Middle Kingdom. This was the first act of a dramatic conflict between the pioneers of Indian culture and the representatives of Chinese culture, a conflict that lasted fifteen centuries.
As for Funan, which at times played the role of a true empire, the civilization that it developed in the valley of the Mekong prepared the soil for the efflorescence of Khmer civilization, one of the most beautiful flowers that Indian influence has produced in India beyond the Ganges. [pp 62 – 4]
The foundation of the Angkor Kingdom and the Indapura puzzle
The liberation of Cambodia from the suzerainty of Java was the work of Jayavarman II, founder of the kingdom of Angkor. He was only distantly related to the ancient dynasties of pre-Angkorian Cambodia: he was the great-grandnephew through the female line of Pushkaräksha, the prince of Aninditapura who became king of $ambhupura (Sambor), and also the nephew of a King Jayendradhipativarman about whom we know nothing. An inscription from the beginning of the tenth century, speaking of Jayavarman II’s advent to the throne, says: “For the prosperity of the people, in this perfectly pure race of kings, great lotus which no longer has a stem, he rises as a new flower.” Official genealogists used metaphors of this sort to veil the occasional disruptions of the regular succession in the dynastic order. Jayavarman II is almost unique among the kings of Cambodia in that he did not leave a single inscription; at least, none has been found. Fortunately, the principal episodes of his reign are related in some detail in an inscription of the eleventh century on the stele of Sdok Kak Thom. “His majesty,” the text tells us, “came from Java to reign in the city of Indrapura.” The family of Jayavarman II, which was linked with the dynasties of the eighth century, no doubt took refuge in Java during the disturbances over the succession — unless it had been taken there by force following one of the maritime raids discussed in the preceding chapter.
Jayavarman ll’s return from Java, perhaps motivated by the weakening of the Sailendras on the island, took place around 800, for we have abundant evidence that the effective beginning of the reign was 802. The country was in a state of almost complete anarchy, apparently without a king or divided among many rival principalities, and before he could obtain respect for his rights or his pretensions to the throne of Cambodia, the young prince had to conquer at least part of the kingdom.
He began by establishing himself in the city of Indrapura. Various epigraphical fragments make it possible to locate a city of this name in the province of Thbong Khmum, to the east of Kompong Cham, where he perhaps had familial ties. The site may possibly have been Banteay Prei Nokor, the name of which (“Citadel of the Royal City”) proves that there was an ancient capital there; its monuments of pre-Angkorian art manifest the style of the ninth century in certain details. But the remains along the western bank of the Western Baray (to be discussed in a moment) are not excluded as a possible site of Indrapura. It was at Indrapura, it seems, that the young king took into his services as royal chaplain a Brahman scholar, Sivakaivalya, who was to follow him in all his changes of residence and to become the first chief priest of a new cult, that of the Devaräja, or “God-King.”
After remaining some time in Indrapura, Jayavarman II left this residence, accompanied by Sivakaivalya and his family, and made his way to a region north of the Tonle Sap, or Great Lake, that regulator of irrigation and inexhaustible fish pond. This region, where the first city of Angkor would be erected a century later, had constituted the fief of Bhavapura, as we have seen before. “When they arrived at the eastern district,” says the stele of Sdok Kak Thom, “the king bestowed an estate and a village called Kuti upon the family of the royal chaplain.” The “eastern district“ refers to the region to the east of Angkor. The name Kuti survives in the name of Banteay Kdei, a late monument which was built near a much earlier one. [pp 97 – 8]
Two maps of the ‘Indochinese Peninsula’, second one with ancient place names and archaeological sites.
About Zhou Daguan’s account
We reproduce here in extenso the part (Chapter XII, section11) titled ‘Cambodia at the End of the Thirteenth Century: Account of Chou Ta-kuan (1296)’.
“We have seen that, shortly before the Chinese envoy Chou Ta-kuan came to Cambodia in 1296, a disastrous war with the Thai of Sukhothai had ravaged the country. King Jayavarman VIII was elderly at the time of these events: “A land ruled by an old king,” says an inscription, “clearly demonstrates the inconvenience of having a superabundance of brambles [enemies].”
According to two inscriptions of the following century,132 he abdicated in 1295 and had the crown bestowed on Prince Srindravarman, who had married his eldest daughter Srindrabhüpesvarachüdä. But, according to the evidence of Chou Ta-kuan, who arrived in Cambodia the following year, the change of reign was more dramatic. “The new prince,” says Chou Ta-kuan, “is the son-in-law of the former; he had pursued a military career. The father-in-law loved his daughter; the daughter stole the golden sword from him and took it to her husband. But then the son deprived of succession plotted to raise troops. The new prince learned of this, cut off the son’s toes, and shut him up in a dungeon.” An inscription of Srindravarman seems in fact to make a discreet allusion to the rivalries that preceded his accession. “The land, once sheltered at the same time and in all parts under a multitude of white parasols of kings, suffered the burning of the sun; now, in the shade of a single white parasol [of the new king] it no longer eels it.”
The scanty facts we have concerning the successors of Jayavarman VII have been extracted from epigraphic sources. These inscriptions emanate from Brahman scholars who seem to have wanted to renew the tradition of the great priestly families of preceding centuries, a tradition interrupted by the Buddhist fervor of Dharapindravarman II, Jayavarman VII, and their wives. This temporary restoration of Sivaite orthodoxy was undoubtedly responsible both for the iconoclastic violence that was directed toward the monuments of Jayavarman Vll’s era and resulted in the effacement of innumerable bas-relief images of the Buddha that had decorated the walls and pillars of the temples and for the replacement of these images by lingas or images of ascetics in prayer.
The little that the inscriptions tell us of the reign of Jayavarman VIII, or of him under his posthumous name Paramesvarapada, seems to permit us to impute to him part of the responsibility for these acts of vandalism. One of his wives, Queen Chakravartiräjadevi, was the daughter of the Brahman who had come from Burma at the time of Jayavarman VII and had received the title Jayamahäpradhäna. A sister-in-law of this Brahman married a scholar-professor, Jayamangalärtha, by whom she had a son who was awarded the same title. Jayavarman VIII held this son, who was a cousin of the queen, in such favor that in 1295, the same year as his voluntary or forced abdication, he had a temple erected in the capital in which to place a statue of him. (Incidentally, this second Jayamangalärtha must have been over a hundred years old when he died during the reign of the second successor of Jayavarman VIII.) In addition, the last Sanskrit inscription from Cambodia, that is, the one from Angkor Wat, informs us of another Brahman scholar named Vidyes’avid, a descendant of the Brahman Sarvajnamuni who was “born in Äryades’a [i.e., India] and came through piety to the country of Kambu.” It was this Brahman who, at the request of Jayavarman VIII, whose royal chaplain (hotar) he was, crowned Jayavarman VIII’s son-in-law Srindravarman king.
But Singhalese Buddhism, which, as we recall, one of the sons of Jayavarman VII went to study in Ceylon, already had its followers and monks at the time of Chou Ta-kuan’s visit. Chou accompanied the ambassador sent to Cambodia in 1295 in order to try to obtain tribute. He left Wen-chou (Che-chiang) on the twentieth day of the second month of the year 1296 and returned on the twelfth day of the eighth month of the year 1297.143 “The embassy, according to him, was very successful, and homage was rendered; but perhaps he was too interested in the affair for us to accord full credence to what he says. As a matter of fact, there is no trace of regular officical relations following the mission of 1296.”
More important for the historian than the obtaining of tribute, the principal result of the voyage of Chou Ta-kuan was the composition of his famous memoirs on the customs of Cambodia, translated as early as 1819 by J. P. Abel Remusat, and again by Paul Pelliot in 1902.
After giving the geographic position of the country of Chenla or Chanla, also called Kan-pu-che or Kan-p’u-che (Kambuja), Chou Ta-kuan briefly describes his itinerary: from China to the mouths of the Mekong, then the way up the river and the arm of the Great Lake via Ch’anan (Kompong Ch’nang), Fo-ts’un (Pursat), and Kan-p’ang (Kompong), the port of the capital, to the capital itself.
He describes a city that corresponds exactly to the city of Jayavarman VII, present-day Angkor Thom, with its walls and moats, its five gates preceded by bridges with balustrades of nägas, the gold tower (the Bayon) in the center of the city, the copper tower (the Baphuon) one li to the north, the Royal Palace another li farther north. Outside the city he mentions: to the south, the tower of Lu Pan (Phnom Bakheng) and the tomb of Lu Pan (Angkor Wat); to the east, the eastern lake (Eastern Baray); to the north, the northern lake (Veal Reachdak, or the Baray of Preah Khan) with the temple of Neak Peän in the middle.
Chou Ta-kuan then describes the various kinds of dwellings, beginning with the Royal Palace in which “there is a gold tower [the Phimeanakas] at the top of which the king sleeps. All the natives claim that there is a spirit in the tower, a serpent with nine heads, which is the master of the soil of the whole kingdom. It appears every night in the form of a woman. It is with this spirit that the king first sleeps and unites himself.”
With regard to dress, he notes the fashion for Western materials, and describes the royal costume in this manner: “Only the prince is allowed to wear closely woven floral materials. He wears a gold diadem, similar to those that are on the head of the Vajradharas. When he does not wear the diadem, he simply winds a garland of fragrant flowers into his chignon. The flowers remind one of jasmine. Around his neck he has nearly three pounds of large pearls. On his wrists, ankles, and fingers, he wears bracelets and gold rings set with cat’s-eyes. He goes barefoot, and the soles of his feet and the palms of his hands are tinted red with a red dye. When he goes out, he holds a gold sword in his hand.”
With regard to the officials, “ministers, generals, astronomers,” and lesser employees, Chou Ta-kuan notes very accurately the character of the aristocratic oligarchy that was Cambodian administration. “Most of the time, those chosen for offices are princes; if they are not, they offer their daughters as royal concubines.” He confirms the evidence of epigraphy on the insignia of office: palanquins with shafts of gold or silver, parasols with gold or silver handles. “Officials having the right of a gold parasol are called pa-ting or an-ting (mrateng, amteng); those that have silver parasols are called ssu-la-ti (Sresthin).”
The Chinese visitor recognized the existence of three religious sects: the Pan-k’i (pandita), that is, the Brahmans, “whom we see dressed like other men, except for a strand of white thread that they wear around the neck and that is the distinctive mark of the educated”; the Chu-ku (Siamese chao ku, “lord,” term of address for Buddhist monks), who “shave their heads, wear yellow garments, uncover the right shoulder, fasten a skirt of material around the lower part of the body, go barefoot,” worship an image “altogether similar to Buddha Säkyamuni, and which they call Polai [Preah],” take only one meal a day, and recite numerous texts written on palm leaves; the Pa-ssu-wei ([ta]pasvin, ascetics), worshippers of the linga, “a block of stone very similar to the stone of the altar of the god of the soil in China.”
Chou Ta-kuan professed some scorn for the morals of the “large and very black” inhabitants, but he saw women of the aristocracy “white as jade.” According to him, “the sovereign has five wives, one of the private apartment properly speaking, and four of the four cardinal points,” not to mention thousands of concubines. In a long paragraph based on information whose accuracy he does not guarantee (“as Chinese are not allowed to witness these things, we cannot know the exact truth”), he describes under the obscure name chen-t’an a rite of defloration of nubile girls. Slaves appear to have been recruited almost exclusively among savages, “men of mountain solitudes,” who understood the common language; other savages, “who do not submit to civilization, wander in the mountains.”
Chou Ta-kuan very exactly characterizes the Khmer language, in comparison with Chinese, by the order of words in a phrase, the modifier following the word modified in reverse of Chinese. The words Chou Ta-kuan cites, numerals and kinship terms, are easily recognizable. No specimens have come down to us of the writings in chalk on blackened skin mentioned by Chou Ta-kuan, but undoubtedly the krang on black paper are modern counterparts. The festivals of the twelve months are the subject of an interesting chapter in which there seems to be some confusion between the numbers of the Chinese months and the Cambodian months. Among these festivals, Chou Ta-kuan mentions a feast [festival?] of lights, which must have been connected with the feast of the dead; a “throwing of the ball,” which in modern times accompanies the alternate chants of boys and girls at the time of the new year; the washing of Buddha images, which also took place at new year’s; the survey of the population, a sort of census that was also at one time conducted in Siam; and the burning of rice, an agricultural celebration marking the end of the harvest.
As far as justice was concerned, Chou Ta-kuan notes that “disputes of the people, however insignificant, always go to the sovereign.” Beyond this, he speaks only of tortures and ordeals. Among the illnesses, he cites leprosy, “a malady caused by the climatic conditions of the country. There was a sovereign who contracted this malady; perhaps that is why the people do not consider it with scorn.” On the matter of funeral rites, he mentions hardly anything but the exposure of the body to wild animals. “Now, there are also a few people who burn their dead; these are for the most part descendants of the Chinese…The sovereign is interred in a tower, but I do not know if his body is buried or only his bones.”
Chou Ta-kuan then speaks of agriculture, mentioning in this regard floating rice; he then describes the physical configuration of the country, its products, the commerce that took place there,the Chinese goods in demand there, the plants and animals. He describes the furniture and tableware of the Cambodians, which have always been and still are rudimentary, the vehicles and palanquins, and the boats (junks and canoes). Among the ninety provinces, he names Chen-p’u, Ch’a-nan, Pa-chien, Mu-liang, Pa-hsie, P’u-mai, Che-kun, Mu-tsin-po, Lai Kan-k’eng, and Pa-ssu-li, very few of which it is possible to identify. “Each village has a temple or a stupa. Even villages with very few inhabitants have a police officer called mai-tsieh (me srok?). On the major roads there are rest houses comparable to our post houses; they are called senmu (samnak).”
After some details on the collection of human bile (which was still practiced at the time when the French protectorate was established), on baths, and on armaments, Chou Ta-kuan concludes his account with a description of an outing of the king that is worth citing in its entirety:
I have spent more than a year in the country, and I have seen him go out four or five times. When the prince goes out, troops head the escort; then come the standards, the pennants, and the music. Young girls of the palace, three to five hundred in number, who wear floral materials and flowers in their hair and hold candles in their hands, form one troop; even in broad daylight their candles are lit. Then come girls of the palace carrying gold and silver royal utensils and a whole series of ornaments, all of a very peculiar shape and the uses of which are unknown to me. Then there are the girls of the palace carrying lances and shields, who comprise the private guard of the prince; they also form a troop. Following are goat-carts and horse-carts, all decorated with gold. The ministers and princes are mounted on elephants; in front of them one can see from afar their red parasols, which are innumerable. After them come the wives and concubines of the king, in palanquins, in carts, on horses and elephants. They have, certainly, more than a hundred parasols flecked with gold. After them is the sovereign, standing on an elephant and holding the precious sword in his hand. The tusks of the elephant are also sheathed in gold. There are more than twenty white parasols flecked with gold, with handles of gold. Numerous elephants crowd around him, and there are more troops to protect him. If the king goes to a nearby place, he uses only gold palanquins carried by ten girls of the palace. Most frequently the king, on his outings, goes to see a small gold tower in front of which is a gold Buddha. Those who see the king must prostrate themselves and touch the ground in front of them. This is what is called san-pa (sampeah). If they do not, they are seized by those in charge of the ceremonies, who do not let them go until they have paid for their transgression. Twice each day the king holds audience for the affairs of government. There is no fixed agenda. Those officials or commoners who wish to see the sovereign, sit on the ground to wait for him. After some time, one hears distant music in the palace, and, outside, conches are blown in welcome to the king. I have heard it said that he uses only a gold palanquin. He does not have to go far. An instant later you see two girls of the palace raise the curtain with their tiny fingers, and the king, holding the sword in his hand, appears at the golden window. Ministers and common people clasp their hands and strike the ground in front of them; when the sound of the conches stops, they can raise their heads again. Immediately thereafter the king sits down. In the place where he sits there is a lion skin, which is a hereditary royal treasure. When business is concluded, the prince returns; the two girls let the curtain fall, and everyone rises. We see from this that, even though this is a barbarous kingdom, these people know what a prince is.
[pp ‑211 – 7]
ADB Input: Since Zhou Daguan’s account is the only written testimony on Angkor, we thought useful to compare Coedès’ version of the Chinese traveler’s ending lines in its English translation with Peter Harris’ on, in his A Record of Cambodia, its Land and its People. Note the translating choice of “women” instead of “girls”, and the very last remark, “they know at first hand they have a supreme ruler” instead of “they know what a prince is”:
“I stayed for a year or so, and saw him come out four or five times. Each time he came out all his soldiers were gathered in front of him, with people bearing banners, musicians, and drummers following behind him. One contingent was made up of three to five hundred women of the palace. They wore clothes with a floral design and flowers in their coiled-up hair, and carried huge candles, alight even though it was daylight. There were also women of the palace carrying gold and silver utensils from the palace and finely decorated instruments made in exotic and unusual styles, for what purpose I do not know. Palace women carrying lances and shields made up another contingent as the palace guard. Then there were carts drawn by goats, deer, and horses, all of them decorated with gold. All the ministers, officials, and relatives of the king were in front, riding elephants. Their red parasols, too many to number, were visible in the distance. Next came the king’s wives and concubines and their servants, some in palanquins and carts, others on horses or elephants, with well over a hundred gold filigree parasols. Last came the king, standing on an elephant, the gold sword in his hand and the tusks of his elephant encased in gold. He had more than twenty white parasols decorated with gold filigree, their handles all made of gold. Surrounding him on all four sides were elephants in very large numbers, with soldiers to protect him as well. Twice a day the king sat in his outer palace and dealt with matters of government, and did so without anything fixed in writing. All the ministers and ordinary people that wanted to see him sat in a row on the ground and waited for him. After a while you heard the muffled sound of music from the inner palace, while outside a conch shell blew to welcome him. In a moment you saw the delicate hands of two palace women rolling up a curtain to reveal the king, sword in hand, standing framed in a golden window. Ministers, officials, and people of lower rank all put their hands together in greeting and bowed to the ground. They were only allowed to lift their head when the sound of the conch stopped. The king then proceeded to sit down. I heard that where he sat there was a lion skin, a national treasure he had inherited. When he had finished speaking about official matters, the king at once turned away. Two palace women lowered the curtain again, and everyone rose. We can see from this that although this is a country of barbarians, they all know at first hand that they have a supreme ruler.”
G. Coedès’ Chronological Chart of the Kings of Cambodia.
Edited by Walter F. Vella. Translated from French by Susan Brown Cowing [also mentioned as Sue Brown Cowing in different publications, as the wife of Cedric Breslyn Cowing (29 July 1926 ‑16 Jan. 2018)].
George Cœdès (to be pronounced Zsedes) (10 Aug 1886, Paris, France – 2 Oct 1969, Paris) was a leading archeologist, linguist and historian in the field of Khmer studies.
He was still a high-school student at Paris Lycée Carnot when he learnt Sanskrit and Khmer, publishing in 1904, one year after the baccalaureate, his very first article in the Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient: “Inscription de Bhavavarman II roi du Cambodge (561 çaka)”. A frequent visitor to Musée Guimet library, he completed his studies in German language and literature while focusing on Sanskrit and “Oriental” studies under Albert Foucher, Louis Finot, and Sylvain Lévi. He moved to Hanoi in January 1912, and to Phnom Penh in March that same year, joining EFEO in 1913 and becoming a leading epigraphist of Cambodian inscriptions, a philologisit and art historian in Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Malay, Javanese and Annamese cultures.
Coedès visited Angkor for the first time in May 1912, with then-conservator Jean Commaille. At that time, he married a young Cambodian woman, Neang Yap, introduced to him by then-Minister of War, Education and Public Works, Pich Ponn. After returning briefly to Hanoi, he came back to Cambodia in 1914, contributing to the creation of the School of Pali in Phnom Penh. He then moved to Bangkok with his wife, and the couple had five daughters born there (Jeanne in 1917, Yvonne in 1918, Lucie in 1919, Suzanne in 1921 and Simone in 1922) [1]– Prince Damrong, whom he accompanied in his first visit to Angkor in 1919, noted in his travelogue that “Prof. Coedès’ young wife, Asarai [?], took her children” with them for the trip.
Director of the National Library of Siam from 1918 to 1928, he became director of EFEO in 1929, until 1946. In Bangkok, he had been appointed secretary of the Institute of Literature, Archaeology and Fine Arts founded by Prince Damrong in April 1926. Representing the Institute during a visit to Batavia in 1928, Coedès learnt about the ‘anastylosis’ restoration technique from Dutch archaeologist Pieter Van Stein Callenfels, and invited Henri Marchal to apply it to Khmer monuments two years later, when he headed EFEO.
A specialist in the history of Indo-Chinese ´Indianized kingdoms´, he wrote The Indianized States of Southeast Asia (1968, 1975, first published in 1948 in French as Les états hindouisés d’Indochine et d’Indonésie) and The Making of South East Asia (1966). He was also a leading researcher in Sanskrit and Old Khmer inscriptions from Cambodia.
Professor George Cœdès is also credited with rediscovering the former kingdom of Srivijaya (modern Palembang), which was influent from Sumatra to the Malay Peninsula and Java. The matter remains controversed until today.
[1] Yap and George’s two sons, Pierre and Louis, were to come back to Cambodia in the 1950s, Pierre Coedès as Director of the Cambodian Merchant Navy — at the suggestion of King Norodom Suramarit himself –, Louis to launch a private bank in Phnom Penh.
Prof. Coedès in his office, National Library of Siam, circa 1919.
Publications
George Coedès was a prolific author. The most exhaustive attempts to a complete bibliography was presented by A. Zigmund-Cerby and J. Boisselier in “Travaux de M. George Coedès. Essai de Bibliographie”, Artibus Asiae, 1961, vol. 24−3÷4, pp.155 – 186, and by Jean Filliozat (“Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. George Coedès, BEFEO1970, Vol. 57 (1970), pp. 1 – 24). Here is the latter’s bibliography, more up-to-date and excluding the numerous recensions by Coedès:
Inscription de Bhavavarman II roi du Cambodge (561 çaka). BEFEO, IV, 1904, p. 691 – 697.
Note sur une inscription récemment découverte au Cambodge . BEFEO, V, 1905, p. 419.
La stèle de Ta Prohm . BEFEO, VI, 1906, p. 44 – 81. Inventaire des inscriptions du Champa et du Cambodge. BEFEO, 1908, p. 37 – 92.
La stèle de Tép Pranam (Cambodge). Journal Asiatique, 1908, I, p. 203 – 225.
Note additionnelle sur l’inscription de Tép Pranam. JA, 1908, II, Les inscriptions de Bât Čum (Cambodge). JA, Sept.-oct., 1908, p. 213 – 252.
Note additionnelle sur les inscriptions de Bât Čum. JA, 1909, I, 511.
L’inscription de Bàksëi ČámkrÓň. JA, 1909, I, p. 467 – 510. [with a note by A. Barth]
Bibliographie raisonnée des travaux relatifs à l’archéologie du Cambodge et du Champa. Bulletin de la Commission archéologique de l’Indochine (BCAI), 1909, lre livraison, p. 9 – 51.
Catalogue des pièces originales de sculpture khmère conservées au Indochinois du Trocadéro et au Musée Guimet. BCAI, 1910, p. 19 – 62.
Textes ď auteurs grecs et latins relatifs à V Extrême-Orient depuis le IVe siècle av. J.-C. jusqu’au XIVe siècle. Paris, Ernest Leroux, 1910. T 1, XXXI, 187 p. [first published book]
Note sur l’apothéose au Cambodge. BCAI, 1911, p. 38 – 49.
Index alphabétique pour « Le Cambodge» de M. Aymonier. BCAI, 1911, p. 85 – 169.
Les bas-reliefs d’Angkor Vat. BCAI, 1911, p. 170 – 220.
Les deux inscriptions de Vàt Thipděi , province de Siem Rãp. Mélanges Sylvain Lévi, Paris, 1911, 213 – 229.
The Great Temple of Angkor Wat. Buddhist Review, III, 1911, 3 (juil.-sept.).
Études cambodgiennes:
I. La légende de la Nāgī. BEFEO , XI, 1911, p. 391 – 393.
II. Une inscription du vie siècle çaka. BEFEO, XI, 1911, p. 393 – 396.
III. Une nouvelle inscription du Phnom Bàkhèn. BEFEO, XI, 1911, p. 396 – 398.
IV. La grotte de Potò Práh Thvãr (Phnom Kulên). BEFEO , XI, 1911, p. 398 – 400.
V. Une inscription d’Udayâdityavarman Ier. BEFEO, XI, 1911, p. 400 – 404.
VI. Des édicules appelés «Bibliothèques». BEFEO, XI, 1911, p. 405 – 406.
VII. Seconde étude sur les bas-reliefs d’Ankor Vât. BEFEO, XIII, 6, 1913, p. 1 – 5.
VIII. La fondation de Phnom Péñ au xve siècle, d’après la Chronique cambodgienne. BEFEO, XIII, 6, 1913, p. 6 – 11.
IX. Le serment des fonctionnaires de Süryavarman Ier. BEFEO, XIII, 6, 1913, p. 11 – 17.
X. Inscription de Pràsàt Pràm (province de Promtép). BEFEO, XIII, 6, 1913, p. 17 – 26.
XI. La stèle de Pàlhàl (province de Môn Rirsëi). BEFEO , XIII, 6, 1913, p. 27 – 36.
XII. Le site primitif du Tchen-la. BEFEO, XVIII, 9, 1918, p. 1 – 3.
XIII. Notes sur Tcheou Ta-kouan. BEFEO, XVIII, 9, 1918, p. 4 – 9.
XIV. Une nouvelle inscription du Phïmânàkàs. BEFEO, XVIII, 9, 1918, p. 9 – 12.
XV. Inscription du Phnom Dei. BEFEO, XVIII, 9, 1918, p. 13 – 14.
XVI. Essai de classification des documents historiques cambodgiens conservés à la Bibliothèque de l’EFEO, XVIII, 9, 1918, p. 15 – 28.
XVII. L’épigraphie du temple de Phimai. BEFEO, XXIV, 1925, p. 345 – 352.
XVIII. L’extension du Cambodge vers le Sud-Ouest au VIIe siècle (Nouvelles inscriptions de Chantaboun). BEFEO, XXIV, 1925, p. 352 – 358.
XIX. La date du Bàyon. BEFEO, XXVIII, 1929, p. 81 – 112.
XX. Les capitales de Jayavarman II. BEFEO, XXVIII, 1929, p. 113 – 123.
XXI. La tradition généalogique des premiers rois d’Aôkor d’après les inscriptions de Yaçovarman et de Rājendravarman. BEFEO , XXVIII, 1929, p. 124 – 144.
XXII. La date d’avènement de Jayavarmaparameshvara, BEFEOXXVIII, 1929, p. 145 – 146.
XXIII. La date du temple de Bantãy Srëi. BEFEOXXIX, 1930, p. 289 – 296.
XXIV. Nouvelles données chronologiques et généalogiques sur la dynastie de Mahîdharapura. BEFEO, XXIX, 1930, p. 297 – 330.
XXV. Deux inscriptions sanskrites du Fou-nan. BEFEO, XXXI, 1932, p. 1 – 12.
XXVI. La date de Kôh Ker. BEFEO, XXXI, 1932, p. 12 – 18.
XXVII. La date du Bàphuon. BEFEO, XXXI, 1932, p. 18 – 23.
XXVIII. Quelques suggestions sur la méthode à suivre pour interpréter les bas-reliefs de Bantãy Čhmár et de la galerie extérieure du Bàyon. BEFEO, XXXII, 1933, p. 71 – 81.
XXIX. Un nouveau tympan de Bantãy Srëi. BEFEO, XXXII, 1933, p. 81 – 84.
XXX. À la recherché du Yaçodharâçrama. BEFEO, XXXII, 1933, p. 84 – 112.
XXXI. A propos du Tchen-la d’eau : trois inscriptions de Cochinchine. BEFEO, XXXVI, 1937, p. 1 – 13.
XXXII. La plus ancienne inscription en pāli du Cambodge. BEFEO, XXXVI, 1937, p. 14 – 21.
XXXIII. La destination funéraire des grands monuments khmèrs (traduction en siamois : n° siamois du Journal of the Thailand Research Soc. II, 1942). BEFEO, XL, 1941, p. 315 – 343.
XXXIV. Les hôpitaux de Jayavarman VII. BEFEO, XL, 1941, p. 344 – 347.
XXXV. Les gîtes d’étape à la fin du XIIe siècle. BEFEO, XL, 1941, p. 347 – 349.
XXXVI. Quelques précisions sur la fin du Fou-nan. BEFEO, XLIII, 1943 – 1946, p. 1 – 8.
XXXVII. Le site de Janapada d’après une inscription de Pràsàt Khnà. BEFEO, XLIII, 1943 – 1946, p. 8 – 11.
XXXVIII. Nouvelles précisions sur les dates d’avènement de quelques rois des dynasties angkoriennes. BEFEO, XLIII, 1943 – 1946, p. 12 – 16.
XXXIX. L’épigraphie des monuments de Jayavarman VII. BEFEO, XLIV, 1951, p. 97 – 119.
XL. Nouvelles données sur les origines du royaume khmèr. La stèle du Vãt Luong Kãn près de Vät Ph’u (cf. CR23e Congrès des Orientalistes, Cambridge, 1954, 256). BEFEO, XLVIII, 1956, p. 209 – 220.
Note sur deux inscriptions du Champa. BEFEO, XII, 8, 1912.
Note sur l’iconographie de Ben Mãlã. BEFEO, XIII, 2, 1913, p.
Les inscriptions du Bàyon. BCAI, 1913, p. 81 – 91.
Trois piédroits ďAňkor Vàt. BCAI, 1913, p. 105 – 109.
Une recension pâlie des Annales ďAyuthya. BEFEO, XIV, 3, p. 1 – 31.
Note sur les ouvrages pâlis composés en pays Thai. BEFEO, XV, 3, 1915, p. 39 – 46.
A propos d’une stèle sculptée ď Angkor Vat. Mémoires concernant l’Asie orientale pub. par l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, vol. II (1916), p. 117 – 122.
Documents sur la dynastie de Sukhodaya. BEFEO, XVII, 2, 1917.
Le royaume de Çrîvijaya. BEFEO, XVIII, 1918, 6, p. 1 – 36.
A propos des anciens noms de Luang Prabang. BEFEO, XVIII, 10, 1918, p. 9 – 11.
L’assistance médicale au XIIIe siècle d’après des inscriptions sanskrites trouvées au Siam et au Cambodge. Journal of the Siamese medical Association, 1er avril 1918.
Notes critiques sur l’inscription de Rāma Khamheng. JSS, XII, 1918, 6, p. 1 – 27. L’inscription de Nagara Jum. JSS, XIII, 1919, III, p. 3 – 43.
A propos de la date d’édification d’ Angkor Vat . JA, janv.-mars, 1920, p. 96 – 99.
Les origines de la dynastie de Sukhodaya. JA, 1920, I, p. 233 – 245 (J. Crosby’s English translation in Journal of Siam Studies (JSS), XIV, 1921, I, 1).
Note sur une statuette cambodgienne de la Prajnâpâramitâ. BEFEO, XX, 1920, 4, p. 7 – 8.
A propos des meules de pierre appelées Rasuň batau. BEFEO, XX, 1920, 4, p. 8 – 11.
Siamese documents of the seventeenth century. JSS, XIV, 1921, II, p. 7 – 39.
Note sur une statue de princesse siamoise de l’époque d’Ayudhya. JSS, XVI, 1922, I, p. 36 – 38.
Bronzes khmèrs. Étude basée sur des documents recueillis par M. P. Lefèvre-Pontalis dans les collections publiques et privées de Bangkok et sur les pièces conservées au Palais Royal de Phnom Penh, au Musée du Cambodge et au Musée de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient. Paris et Bruxelles, G. van Oest, 1923 (Ars Asiatica, V).
Listes générales des inscriptions et des monuments du Champa et du Cambodge par G. Coedès et H. Parmentier. Hanoi, IDEO, 1923.
Nouvelles notes critiques sur l’inscription de Rāma Khamheng. JSS, XVII, 1923, III, p. 113 sqq.
The temples of Siam. Inter-Ocean, IV, 1923, p. 539.
[Traduction des documents relatifs au Cambodge et au Siam] in “Essai sur les relations du Japon et de l’Indochine aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles par Noël Peri”. BEFEO, XXIII, 1924, p. 127 – 132).
The Vajiranāņa.National Library Press, 1924.
Recueil des inscriptions du Siam. — I. Inscriptions de Sukhodaya, Bangkok, 1924, 167 + 177 p., texte siamois réimprimé en 1934 et 1957. — II. Inscriptions de Dvāravatī, de Çrîvijaya et de Lavo, Bangkok, 1929, 52+54 p. 2e éd. revue et mise à jour, 1961, 66+40 p.
Documents sur l’histoire politique et religieuse du Laos Occidental. BEFEO, XXV, 1926, p. 1 – 200.
Tablettes votives bouddhiques du Siam. Études asiatiques, pub. EFEO, XX, 1925, I, p. 145 – 167 (English translation by W. A. Graham in JSS, XX, 1926, I, 1. Traductions en siamois, Bangkok, 1926, 1928, 1959).
L’art de la laque dorée au Siam. Revue des Arts Asiatiques (RAA), II, sept. 1925, p. 3 – 8.
Rapport sur les travaux du Service Archéologique pour l’année 2467. JSS, XIX, 1925, I, p. 29 – 41.
Une exposition de sculptures khmères et siamoises au Musée Cernuschi. Artibus Asiae, n° III, 1926, p. 190 – 202.
History of the Thai Writing. Bangkok, 1926 (deux éditions en siamois).
Notes ďétymologie tai par J. Rurnay et G. Coedès. JSS, XX, 1926, I, p. 49 – 52.
A propos de la chute du royaume de Çrîvijaya. Bij dr., 83, 1927, p. 459 – 472.
English correspondence of King Mongkut. JSS, XXI, 1927, I, p. 2 – 35 ; II, p. 127 – 177 ; XXII, 1928, I, p. 1 – 18.
Note sur notre transcription des parlers tai par J. Rurnay et G. Coedès. JSS, XXI, 1927, II, p. 83 – 86. The origins of the Sukhodaya script par J. Rurnay et G. Coedès. JSS, XXI, 1927, II, p. 87 – 102.
Note sur les tons des initiales de vieux siamois à l’époque de Sukhodaya par J. Rurnay et G. Coedès. JSS, XXI, 1927, II, p. 103 – 117. et leur origine par J. Rurnay et G. Coedès. JSS, XXI, 1927, II, p. 119 – 126.
Le Musée National de Bangkok. Extrême-Asie, 17, nov. 1927, p. 171.
Recent archaeological progress in Siam. IAL, N. S. I, 1927, p. 57 – 72. Les collections archéologiques du Musée National de Bangkok. Paris et Bruxelles, G. van Oest, 1928 (Ars Asiatica, XII) (édition siamoise, Bangkok 1929).
The excavations at P’ong Tuk and their importance for the ancient history of Siam. JSS, XXII, 1928, III, p. 195 – 209.
New archaeological discoveries in Siam. IAL, N. S. II, 1928, p. 9 – 20. Note sur une statuette bouddhique de style indojavanais provenant du Siam Oriental. Festbundel (150e anniversaire de la Batav. Gen.), 1929, p: 53 – 56.
Indian influence upon Siamese art. IAL, N. S. IV, 1930, I, p. 18 – 41. (reproduit dans MÄRG, Bombay, IX, 4, 1956, p. 30 sqq.).
Verzameling boeddhistische beeldhouwwerken van J. C. M. Krook. Indie oud & nieuw, XIV, 9, janvier 1930, p. 259 – 292.
Religions indiennes du Cambodge et du Laos dans L’Indochine, publié G. Maspero, 1929, I, p. 257 – 273.
Excavations at P’ong Tuk in Siam. Annual Bibliography of Indian Archaeology (ABIA) 1927, Leyden 1929, p. 16 – 20.
Les inscriptions malaises de Çrîvijaya. BEFEO, XXX, 1931.
Le piédestal de Trà-kiêu. BEFEO, XXXI, 1932, p. 201 – 212.
Notre transcription du siamois . BEFEO, XXXI, 1932, p. 335.
A propos de l’origine des chiffres arabes. Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies (BSOS), VI (Mélanges Rapson), p. 323 – 328.
Les littératures de l’Indochine. Littérature cambodgienne in Indochine, ed. Sylvain Lévi, 1931, I, p. 180 – 191.
L’École française ď Extrême-Orient. Indian Art & Letters (IAL), N. S. V, 1931, 136.
Préface à Pierre Foulon, Angkor dans la forêt. Hanoi, IDEO, 1931.
Préface à Georges Groslier , Les collections khmères du Musée Alberl Sarraut à Phnom Penh. Paris, 1931 (Ars Asiatica, XVI), p. 5 – 6.
Indische Kunst in Siam. Ned. Indie oud & nieuw, XVII, I, mai 1932, p. 12 – 31.
Note sur quelques sculptures provenant de S’rīdeb (Siam). Mélanges Linossier, Paris, 1932, I, p. 159 – 164.
Le temple ď Angkor Vat. Troisième partie : La galerie des bas-reliefs , Introduction. Mémoires archéologiques EFEO, II. Paris, 1932, 3e partie, p. 5 – 10.
Discovery of a pre-Angkor monument in the group of Angkor. ABIA1930, Leyden 1932, p. 14 – 16.
Nouvelles notes sur Tcheou Ta-kouan. T’oung Pao (TP), XXX, 1933, n° 35, 224 – 230.
Ankor Vàt , temple ou tombeau? BEFEO, XXXIII, 1934, p. 303 – 308.
Les récents progrès de l’archéologie en Indochine. 7e Congrès Oostersch Genootschap in Nederland, 13 – 15 sept. 1933, p. 7 – 12.
Archaeological research in Indochina, a) Prehistoric remains ; b) Chinese monuments in Annam ; c) The site of Yas’odharapura ; d) Reconstruction of ancient monuments. ABIA, 1932, Leyden 1934, p. 35 – 41.
Archaeology in Indochina. The recent work of the EFEO. IAL, N. S. VIII, 1934, I, p. 22 – 35.
The central image of the Bayon of Angkor Thom. JISOA, II, 1934, p. 8 – 10.
On the origin of the S’ailendras of Indonesia. JGIS, I, 1934, n° 2, 61 sqq.
La date du Tà Kèv par G. de Coral-Rémusat , V. Goloubew et G. Coedès. BEFEO, XXXIV, 1935, p. 417 – 427.
Préface à Paul Mus , Barabudur. Hanoi, IDEO, 1935.
L’origine du cycle des douze animaux au Cambodge. TP, XXXI, 1935, 3 – 5, p. 315 – 329.
Un grand roi du Cambodge: Jayavarman VII. Phnom Penh, Bibliotheque royale, 1935. (Khmer translation by Choum-Mau, ibid.).
Lettre-Préface à: V. Goloubew, Louis Finot et L’EFEO, Cahiers EFEO, 3, 1935.
Une scène du Mahâbhârata sur un fronton de Bantay Srei, RAA, IX, 1935, p 225 – 227.
A date of Is’ānavarman II: the inscription of Tuol Kul (province of Mông, Cambodia). JGIS, III, 1, 1936, p. 65 sqq.
L’École française d’Extrême-Orient. Bull. Office intern. des Instituts d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’art, II, 1936, n° 6.
Récents progrès de l’archéologie au Cambodge. Le Mois, 1er juillet-1er août 1936.
A propos d’une nouvelle théorie sur le site de S’rîvijaya. JMBRAS, XIV, 1936, III, p. 1 – 9.
In Memoriam. Louis Finot , Sylvain Lévi et l’ Indochine par G. Coedès & V. Goloubew. BEFEO, XXXV, 1936, p. 507 – 515.
Avant-propos à: V. Goloubew , L’archéologie du Tonkin et les fouilles de Dông-son. Hanoi, IDEO, 1937.
La science archéologique et l’Indochine (Discours prononcé à la distribution des prix aux élèves du Lycée de Dalai). Bull. du Tourisme indo-chinois, I, 1937, n° 4, p. 15.
Inscriptions du Cambodge. Tome VI. Planches CCXLIV à CCLXXXVII. Hanoi, IDEO, 1937.
Inscriptions du Cambodge éditées et traduites par G. Coedès (EFEO. Collection de textes et documents sur l’Indochine, III). — I, Hanoi, IDEO, 1937, 323 p. — II, Hanoi, IDEO, 1943, 235 p. — III, Paris, de Boccard, 1951, 253 p. — IV, Paris, de Boccard, 1952, 269 p. — V, Paris, de Boccard, 1953, 332 p. — VI, Paris, de Boccard, 1954, 337 p. — VII, Paris, EFEO, 1964, 204 p. — VIII, Paris, EFEO, 1966, 256 p.
Discovery of the sacred deposit of Angkor Vat. ABIA1935, X, Leyden 1937, 43.
A new inscription from Fu-nan. JGIS, IV, 2, 1937, 177 sqq.
Note on the pillar at Sarnath. JISOA (Coomaraswamy volume), 1937, p. 40 – 41.
Les inscriptions du Pràsàt Kôk Pô par G. Coedès et P. Dupont. BEFEO, XXXVII, 1938, p. 379 – 413.
The Causeway of Giants at Angkor Thom. IHQ, XIV, 1938, p. 607 – 612.
Les civilisations de l’Indochine française. Indochine française, recueil de notices rédigées à l’occasion du Xe Congrès de la Far Eastern Association of Tropical Medicine, Hanoi, Taupin, 1938, p. 39 – 75. (réimprimé dans Revue des Troupes coloniales, n° 287, avril 1947. Traduction vietnamienne de Nguyên-van Tô, Tri Tân, juin- juillet 1943).
Littérature cambodgienne. Ibid., p. 113 – 121.
Préface à Guy Porée et Eveline Maspéro , Moeurs et Coutumes des Cambodgiens. Paris, Payot, 1938.
La plus ancienne inscription en langue cham. New lndian Antiquary (Mélanges F. W. Thomas), 1939, p. 46 – 49.
Indochina. Pacific cultures, ch. IISE Asia (Catalogue de l’exposition de San Francisco, 1939).
Excavations at the Bayon of Angkor Thom. ABIA1937, XII, Leyden 1939, p. 42 – 50. Les institutions scientifiques d’outré-mer: L’École française d’Extrême-Orient. L’information d’Outré-mer, 1, 1939, no 5, p. 166.
Une statue de Çiva récemment découverte à Bàkon (Cambodge). BEFEO, XXXIX, 1940, p. 221.
Les statuettes décapitées de Savank’alok. IIEH, t. II (1939), p. 189.
La date de l’inscription sanskrite de Vo-canh. IHQ (Mél. de La Vallée Poussin), 1940.
Préface à G. de Coral-Rémusat, L’art khmèr. Paris, éd. d’art et d’histoire, 1940 (28 éd., 1951).
Reconstruction work in the group of Angkor. ABIA1938, XIII, Leyden 1940, p. 17 – 26.
Angkor. Les travaux de l’EFEO. Indochine 4, 3−10−40, p. 1 sq. Reprint in Cahiers de l’EFEO, 24 (1940), p. 13 – 16.
L’ EFEO: méthodes modernes et orientation nouvelle. Indochine, p. 38, 22−5−41, p. 2.
Relations culturelles. Indochine, 52, 28−8−41, p. 1 sq.
Talânai. JGIS, VIII, 1941, p. 61 – 62.
Mots portugais en cambodgien. IIEH, 3, 1940, 1, p. 67 – 68.
L’assistance médicale au Cambodge à la fin du XIIe siècle. Revue médicale française d’E‑O, mars-avril 1941, p. 405 sqq.
Le pavillon de l’EFEO à la foire-exposition de Hanoi. Cahiers EFEO, 29, 1941, p. 18.
L’empire des Mers du Sud, aspect ancien d’une question actuelle. Indochine, n° 81, 19−3−42, p. 5 – 8 (traduction japonaise par N. Matsumoto, Kokusai Bunka, n° 21 ).
L’expansion de la culture hindoue en Extrême-Orient. Indochine, n° 104, 27−8−42, p. 8 – 11 (traduction japonaise par N. Matsumoto, Tokyo Shimbun, 1943).
La visite du Gouverneur Général à Angkor. Indochine, n° 107, 17 – 9‑1942, p. I‑IV.
Un document capital sur le bouddhisme en Indochine: la stèle de Vat Sithor. Studies on buddhism in Japan, IV, 1942, p. 110 sqq.
L’École française d’Extrême-Orient. Saigon, Foire-Exposition 1942 – 1943, p. 76.
La stèle du Prah Khan d’Ankor. BEFEO, XLI, 1942, p. 255 – 301.
Pour mieux comprendre Angkor. Hanoi, JDEO, 1943. 28 édition, Paris, Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1947 (Musée Guimet, Bibl. de diffusion). English translation: Angkor: an introduction, Hongkong, 1963.
Madeleine Colani. Indochine, n° 146, 17−6−43.
The Empire of the South Seas: S’rïvijaya from the VIIth to the XIIth centuries, transi. by H. H. Prince Dhani Nival. JSS, XXXV, 1944, 1, p. 1 – 15 (traduction siamoise, Bangkok, B. E. 2493, 2504, 2506, 2507).
Une nouvelle inscription d’Ayuthya. JSS, XXXV, 1944, 1, p. 73 – 76.
Précisions sur le nouvel an cambodgien, 13 avril. Indochine, n° 190, 20−4−44, p. 3 – 4.
Les récents progrès des recherches archéologiques au Cambodge. Indochine, no 205, 3−8−44, p. 27 – 28.
Histoire ancienne des États hindouisés d’Extrême-Orient. Hanoi, IDEO, 1944. 2e édition, Paris, de Boccard, 1948 sous le titre : Les États hindouisés d’Indochine et d’Indonésie (Histoire du Monde sous la direction d’E. Cavaignac, VIII, 2). — 3e édition revue et mise à jour, 1964. English translation: 1968 (cf below), XI-468 p.
La romanisation des langues indochinoises. Indochine, n° 212, 21 – 9‑1944, p. 21 – 22.
Sanskrit — Pali — Khmèr, position respective de ces trois langues. Indochine, no 216, 19−10−44.
L’École française d’Extrême-Orient. France-Asie, 3, 15−6−46 ; 4, 15−7−46.
L’École française d’ Exlrême-Orienl de 1940 à 1945. Saigon, SILI, 1946.
Les recherches archéologiques en Indochine pendant la guerre 1940 – 1945. Monde Colonial Illustré, mars 1947, 62 (reproduit dans Pages Françaises, 24, 123).
L’année du Lièvre 1219 A. D. lndia Antiqua (Mélanges Vogel), 1947, p. 83 – 88.
Les Religions d’Extrême-Orient. Tropiques, janvier 1948, p. 45 sqq.
Fouilles en Cochinchine. Le sile de Go Oc Eo, ancien port du royaume de Fou-nan. Artibus Asiae, X, 1947, III, p. 190 – 199.
Le Siamois à l’École Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes. Cent cinquantenaire de l’ENLOV, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1948, p. 245 – 248.
Une nouvelle interprétation de l’inscription de Ligor. Actes du 21e Congrès Intern. des Orientalistes, Paris, 1948, p. 248.
L’Indochinois. La Qualité Française, no 10, 1948, p. 51 sqq.
La science historique française el la conscience nationale khmère. Chemins du Monde, V, 1948, p. 117 sqq.
Discours de réception à l’Académie des Sciences Coloniales. CR des séances, VIII1948 (ter octobre) p. 595 sqq. (reprint in France-Asie, 66 – 67, nov.-déc. 1951, p. 596 – 607).
Les langues de l’Indochine. Conférences de l’Institut de Linguistique de l’Université de Paris (1940−1948), p. 63 – 81.
Les langues de l’Indochine française. Tropiques, mai 1949, p. 6 sqq.
La voix du Cambodge. France-Asie, 43, oct. 1949, p. 239 sqq.
Un chef‑d’ oeuvre de la sculpture khmère au Musée d’art asiatique d’Amsterdam. Phoenix, IV, no II, nov. 1949, p. 286 – 291.
The activities of the Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient in 1940 – 47. ABIA1940 – 1947, XLVI-LV, Leyden.
Le Çailendra “Tueur des héros ennemis”. Bingkisan Budi (Mélanges van Ronkel), Leyden 1950, p. 58 – 70.
Les civilisations indochinoises. Résonnances, 4, 1950, p. 21 – 26.
Promenade archéologique aux anciennes capitales du Siam. Sud-Est asiatique, n° 22, mars 1951, p. 50 – 56.
L’École française d’Extrême-Orient (conclusion par L. Malleret). Cahiers français d’information, 178, 15 avril 1951.
Les règles de la succession royale dans l’ancien Cambodge. BSEI, N. S. XXVI, II, 1951, p. 97 – 120.
La divinisation de la royauté dans l’ancien royaume khmèr à l’époque d’Angkor. Proc. 7th Congress History of Religions, Amsterdam, 1951, p. 141 – 142.
Nouvelles données sur la dynastie Çailendra de Java et ses origines. Actes du 22e Congrès international des Orientalistes, Istanbul, 1951 (paru en 1957), p. 317.
Angkor. Encyclopédie coloniale et maritime, août 1951, p. 226 sqq.
Le culte de la royauté divinisée, source d’inspiration des grands monuments du Cambodge ancien. Conferenze (ISMEO), 1, 1951. English: The cult of deified royalty, source of inspiration of the great monuments of Angkor. Arts and Letters, XXVI, 1, 1952, p. 51 – 53.
L’Indochine el son destin. La Revue française, n° 34, janvier 1952, p. 35.
Les civilisations indochinoises. Tropiques, mai 1952, p. 19 sqq. (reprint in Sud-Est Illustration, no 3, sept.-oct. 1952).
Le nouvel an cambodgien. France-Asie, 71, avril 1952, p. 31 – 34 (English translation in Asia, 8 mars 1953, p. 662 sqq.).
Études indochinoises. BSEI, N. S. XXVI, 1951, p. 437 – 462.
Connaissance d’Angkor par l’épigraphie. BSEI, N. S. XXVII, 1952, 2, p. 137 – 149.
René Grousset. CR. Acad. Sc. Col., 17 octobre 1952, p. 467 – 476.
Histoire des États associés d’Indochine. Écrits de Paris, novembre 1952, p. 11 sqq.
Les arts anciens de l’Indochine française. Revue maritime, Noël 1952, p. 1539 sqq.
A propos de deux fragments d’inscription récemment découverts à P’ra Pathom (Thaïlande). CR. Acad. Inscr. B.-L., 1952, p. 146 – 150.
L’École française d’Extreme-Orient et la connaissance de l’Indochine. CR. séances IFA, ve fasc., nos 72 – 99, 1951.
Libre Laos. Mise au point. France-Indochine, n° 98, juin 1953 (cf. CR. Acad. Sc. Col., 22 mai 1953).
In memoriam. Madeleine Colani (1866−1943). France-Asie, 85 – 86, juin-juillet 1953, p. 561.
Un yantra récemment découvert à Angkor. JA, CCXL, 1952, 4, p. 465 – 477.
Die Ausbreitung der indischen Kultur nach Südostasien. Saeculum, IV, 4, 1953, p. 347 – 369.
Le substrat autochtone et la superstructure indienne au Cambodge el à Java. Cahiers d’histoire mondiale, 1, 2, octobre 1953, p. 368 sqq.
Laos. France-Indochine, 107, avril 1954, 107, France-Asie, 118 – 119, 1956. (Présence du Laos et Journal d’Extrême-Orient, 14 mai 1956).
L’osmose indienne en Indochine et en Indonésie. Cahiers d’histoire mondiale, 1, 4, avril 1954, p. 827 sqq.
A propos de Dien-Bien-Phu. CR. Acad. Sc. Col., 7 mai 1954, p. 221 sqq.
Le XXIIIe Congrès international des Orientalistes. France-Asie, 100, sept. 1954, p. 1159.
La stèle de Tûol Rolom Tim. Essai d’interprétation par la langue bahnar d’un texte juridique khmèr du Xe siècle. JA, CCXLII, 1, 1954, p. 49 – 67.
A propos du site de Dien-Bien-Phu. Tropiques, février 1955, p. 13 sqq.
L’Indochine, confluent culturel. La Revue française, 67, avril 1955, p. 55.
Angkor. Die Hauplsladl des allen Kambodscha, ein Abbild des Kosmos. Saeculum, VI, 2, 1955, p. 154.
L’art siamois de l’époque de Sukhodaya (XIIIe-XIVe siècles). Circonstances de son éclosion. Arts asiatiques, 14, 1954, p. 281 – 302. Trad. siamoise de M. C. Subhadradis Diskul, Bangkok, 250 p.
L’épigraphie cambodgienne. France-Asie, 114 – 115, nov.-déc. 1955, p. 483.
Léopold Cadière. France-Outré-Mer, 315, février 1956, p. 10 sqq.
Introduction à l’histoire du Laos. France-Asie, 118 – 120 (Présence du royaume Lao), mars-avril 1956, 711 – 715.
Présentation d’une tablette divinatoire en usage chez les Taï du NordVietnam. CR. Séances IF A, 17 mars 1954, fasc. 8, p. 11.
Pierre Dupont. In memoriam (Inst. de civil. indienne, 17 déc. 1955) et BEFEO, XLIX, fasc. 2, 1959, p. 637 – 642.
Le 2500e anniversaire du Bouddha. Diogène, 15 juillet 1956, 115; et Diogenes, 15, 1956, p. 111. Art and Letters, XXX, 2, 1956 p. 77 – 87.
Le Père Cadière. Hommage au Père Cadière, Bull. Missions étrangères, 956, p. 17 sqq; Cahiers Ch. de Foucauld, 2e sér., 43, 3e trim. 1956, p. 256 sqq.
Indocina, Birmania, Thailandia, Cambogia, Laos e Viêt-nam fino a XX secolo. Le Civiltà dell’Oriente, I Storia, 1956, p. 759 sqq.
The Trai bhiimikathii, Buddhist Cosmology and Treaty on Ethics. East and West (ISMEO}, VII, 4, janvier 1957, p. 349 – 352.
Préface à: A. B. Griswold, Dated Buddha images of Narthex in Siam. Artibus Asiae, Suppl. XVI, Ascona, 1957.
Les premières capitales du Siam aux XIIIe-XIVe siècles. Arts asiatiques, III (1956}, 41, p. 243 – 267. Trad. siamoise de M. C. Subhadradis Diskul, Bangkok, 250 p.
Une roué de la Loi avec inscription en pali provenant du site de P’ra Pathom. Artibus Asiae, XIX, 3 – 4, 1956, p. 221 – 226.
Letteratura del Cambogia, della Thailandia, del Laos e del Viêt-nam. Le Civiltà dell’Oriente, II, Letteratura (1957), 4, p. 801 sqq.
Jean-Philippe Vogel. JA, CCXLV, 1957, 4, p. 395 – 397.
Nouvelles données épigraphiques sur l’histoire de l’Indochine centrale. JA, CCXLVI, 1958, 125 – 142.
Religioni dell’ Indocina, Birmania, Thailandia, Cambogia, Laos e Viêtnam. Le Civiltà dell’Oriente, III. Religione, Filosofie, Scienze, 1958, p. 883 – 899.
Rapport sur les travaux de l’ EFEO en 1957. CR. Acad. Inscr. et B.-L., 1958, 251 – 258.
L’inscription de la stèle de Ligor: état présent de son interprétation (Cf. Actes Congrès Oriental. d’Istanbul, 1951, p. 317). Oriens Extremus, VI, 1, 1959 (Mél. Aichele}, p. 42 – 48.
Une période critique dans l’Asie du Sud-Est: le XIIIe siècle. BSEI, N.S. XXXIII (1958}, 4, p. 387 – 400.
L’École française d’Extrême-Orient: passé, présent, avenir. Communautés et Continents, 2, avril-juin 1959, 2, p. 41 sqq.
L’assistance médicale au Cambodge au XIIe siècle. France-Asie, fév-juin 1959 (Présence du bouddhisme}, p. 493 – 496.
Les statues du roi khmèr Jayavarman V Il. CR. Acad. Inscr. B.-L., 1958, p. 218 – 226.
Note sur une stèle indienne d’époque Pala découverte à Ayudhya (Siam). Artibus Asiae, XXII, 1959, 1 – 2, p. 9 – 14.
Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes. CR. Acad. lnscr. B.-L., 1959, p. 47 sqq.
Birmania, centri e tradizioni. Enciclopedia universale dell’arte, II, p. 602 – 615. | Birmania. Ibid., II, p. 614 – 623. | Cambogia. Ibid., 1960, III, p. 70. | Cham Scuola. Ibid., 1960, Ill, p. 446. | Devozione. Ibid., IV, p. 298. | Didattica. Ibid., IV, p. 320. | Esotismo. Ibid., V, p. 34. | Khmer, centri e tradizioni. Ibid., VIII, p. 454. | Laos. Ibid., VIII, p. 533. | Laos Scuola. Ibid. VIII, p. 536. | Suppelletile. Ibid., XIII, p. 448 – 449.
L’avenir des éludes khmères. CR. Acad. Inscr. et B.-L., 1960, p. 367 – 374 (reproduit dans BSEI, N.S., XL, 3, 3e trim., 1965, p. 208 – 213).
Discours de réception d’André Masson à l’Académie des Sciences d’Outré-Mer. CR. Académie, 16 décembre 1960.
Le portrait dans l’art khmèr. Arts asiatiques, VII, 1960, p. 179 – 198.
Les expressions vrah kamraten an et kamraten jagat en vieux-khmèr. The Adyar Library Bulletin, vol. XXV, 1 – 4, 1961, p. 447 – 460.
Les peuples de la péninsule indochinoise: histoire, civilisations. Paris, Dunod, 1962 (Collection Sigma, 2), 228 p. English translation: 1969 (cf. below).
Découvertes récentes à Ayudhya, l’ancienne capitale du Siam. Arts asiatiques, VIII, 1961, fasc. 2, p. 145 – 151. Arte dell’ lndocina (Birmania, Thailandia, Cambogia, Laos e Viêt-nam). La Civiltà dell’Oriente, IV, Arte, 1962, p. 926 – 974.
Le XIe siècle dans la Péninsule indochinoise. France-Asie, N.S. vol. XVIII, n° 173, mai-juin 1962, p. 247 – 253.
Les temples de Thaïlande et leur histoire. La Revue française, n° 151, avril 1963, p. 39 – 45.
L’Inde et l’Asie du Sud-Est dans L’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 1663 – 1963. Exposition organisée à l’occasion de son tricentenaire, 1963. Chap. IV, p. 99 – 106.
CR. Paul Wheathy. The Golden Khersonese, Kuala Lumpur, 1961. T’oung Pao, vol. XLIX, 4 – 5, 1962, p. 433 – 439.
La date d’exécution des deux bas-reliefs tardifs d’Angkor Vat. J A, 1962, p. 235 – 243. Trad. siamoise par S. Diskul dans Çilpakare, VIII, 1, mai 1964, p. 39 – 56.
Origine et évolution des diverses formes du théâtre traditionnel en Thaïlande. BSEI, N.S., XXXVIII, 1963, p. 491 – 506.
Rapport sur les travaux de l’EFEO en 1959 – 1962. CR. Académie Inscr. et B.-L., 1962, p. 249 – 257.
(L’Indonésie). Un pays de peuplement très ancien dont l’histoire prend une consistance réelle à la fin du VIIe siècle. Le Monde diplomatique, mai 1964, p. 20.
Les arts de Thaïlande. Trésors d’art de Thailande, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, 21 mai-13 juillet 1964. Trad. italienne : Arte Thailandes, Firenze 15−12−64, 31−1−65. Trad. siamoise, Çilpakare, VIII, 3, sept. 2507, 29 – 32.
The thirtheenth century in South-East Asia. Proceedings of the ninth Pacific Science Congress 1957, volume 9, Anthropology of Social Sciences, 1963, p. 38 – 39. 1 st Bull. of the Society for the preservation of Thaï cultural properties.
Les recherches de Bosch sur l’époque des Sailendra: Le problème de l’expansion indienne dans l’Archipel. Hiranyagarbha. A series of articles on the archaeological works and studies of Dr. F. D. K. Bosch, La Haye, 1964, p. 42 – 47.
A possible interpretation of the inscription at Kedukan Bukit (Palembang). Malayan and Indonesian studies, essays presented to Sir Richard Winstedt on his 85th birthday 1964, p. 24 – 32.
À la recherché du royaume de Dvaravati. Archeologia, I, nov.-déc. 1964, p. 58 – 63.
Some problems in the ancient his tory of the Hinduized states of South East Asia. Journal of Southeast Asian history, vol. 5, n° 2, sept. 1964, p. 1 – 14.
Découverte numismatique au Siam intéressant le royaume de Dvaravati. CR. Acad. Inscr. et B.-L., 1963, p. 285 – 291.
Le rôle de la pyramide de Koh Ker dans l’évolution du temple-montagne khmèr. Paranavitana Felicitation Vol., Colombo, 1965, p. 61 – 66.
Musée d’Ennery in Le Trésor des Musées de Paris, présenté par René Clermont. Paris, 1965, p. 29 – 30.
CR. F. D. R. Bosch, Selected Studies in Indonesian archaeology (Kon. Instit. v. Taal‑, Land- en Volkenkunde. Translation series, 5). Journal Asiatique, CCLII, 1964, fasc. 3, p. 413 – 414.
Documents épigraphiques provenant de Tenasserim. Felicitation volumes of Southeast-Asian studies presented to H. H. Prince Dhaninivat on the occasion of his eightiest birthday, Siam Society, Bangkok, 7 nov. 1965, B.E. 2508, p. 203 – 209.
CR Phung van Dan. La formation territoriale du Viet-Nam. CR. Acad. des Sciences d’Outré-Mer, XXV, séance du 8 octobre 1965, p. 371.
Inscription du roi Rama Gamhèn de Sukhodaya (1292 A. D.), éditée traduite par George Coedès d’après le Recueil des Inscriptions du Siam, première partie. Inscription de Sukhodaya, Bangkok 1924, p. 39 – 48. — Stone inscription of Sukhothai, translation by H. R. H. Prince Wan Waithayakon, 12 pp. Bangkok, Siam Society, november 1965, B.E. 2508.
Catalogue des manuscrits en pali, laotien et siamois provenant de la Thaïlande. Bibliothèque Royale de Copenhague 1966 (Catalogue of Oriental manuscripts, xylographs, etc., in Danish collections founded by Kaare Gronbech t, vol. 2, part. 2, The Royal Library, Copenhagen 1966), in‑4°, X, 116 p.
Les Môns de Dvaravati.- Essays offered to G. H. Luce by his colleagues and friends in honour of his 75th birthday. Vol. 1, p. 112 – 116.
CR. Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland. (Bd. IX, 1, Klaus Wenk) Thai-Handschriften. — (Supplement band III). Thailandischen Miniaturmalereien. Nach einer Handschrift der lndischen Kunstabteilung der Staatlichen Museen Berlin. Erasmus, vol. 18 — N. 19 – 20, 25-X-1966, p. 587. Nécrologie : Jacques Bacol (1877−1965). — J.A. 1965, p. 411 – 413.
Une vie indochinoise du Buddha: la Pathamasambodhi. Mélanges d’indianisme à la mémoire de Louis Renou. 40e anniversaire de la fondation de l’Institut de civilisation indienne de l’Université de Paris 1967. Paris, 1968, p. 217 – 227.
The indianized States of Southeast Asia. An English translation of Les États hindouisés d’Indochine et d’Indonésie. Edited by Walter F. Vella, translated by Susan Brown Cowing. East-West Center Press. Honolulu, 1968, xx-403 p., 8 maps.
The Making of South East Asia. English translation of les Peuples de la péninsule indochinoise by H. M. Wright. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, 1966, 288 p. Published in Great Britain by Routledge of Kegan Paul et al. 3e edition. University of California Press 1969.
Articles sur le pays khmer [collection of past publications], ed. Claude Jacques, Paris, EFEO, 1989, vol 1: 380 p, vol 2: 378 p, ISBN2−85539−546−1.
