Champa's Sack of Angkor

Timeline

1. 1177Mekong–Tonlé Sap waterway · ChenlaJayavarman IV abandoned the old approach of a frontal assault on Angkor's land walls, instead sending his fleet from the coast into the Mekong and then via the Tonlé Sap toward the capital. The Khmer heartland long depended on river and lake transport and was poorly prepared for a large fleet coming from downstream.
2. 1177Yasodharapura · AngkorChampa forces entered the Khmer capital; Tribhuvanadityavarman was killed amid the fighting, and palaces and some temples were burned and looted. The fall of the capital interrupted a kingship already shaken since the time of Suryavarman II, and the Khmer political center was temporarily paralyzed.
3. 1177–1181Angkor region · ChenlaChampa established a military occupation at Angkor but struggled to absorb the vast hydraulic network and local lords. Surviving Khmer royals and generals organized resistance in the countryside, and the war turned into a stalemate, creating conditions for Jayavarman VII to gather his forces.
4. c. 1181Angkor · AngkorJayavarman VII expelled the Champa garrison and was crowned, then rebuilt the capital along Mahayana Buddhist lines, constructing Angkor Thom, the Bayon, and a network of roads and hospitals. The 1177 sack thus became the most galvanizing turning point in Khmer history rather than the end of the civilization.