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| Kambu Swayambhu (Kaundinya) |
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Kambu Swayambhuva (or
Kaundinya) was a
Hindu sage prince of
Kamboja lineage who
finds mention along
with sage Agastya,
Kaundinya
Swayambhuva, king
Rajendra Chola, king
Ashoka Maurya and
king Pushyamitra
Shunga in Shloka-22
in Ekamata Stotra.
The legend holds
that Kambu
Swayambhuva was a
learned prince who
had initially been
an Indian king. He
had ventured into
the Far East and
entered an area
having jungles that
was being ruled by a
king of Naga
lineage. Defeating
the Naga king,
prince Kambu married
his daughter Mera
and developed the
land into a fertile
and flourishing
country. The
combination of Kambu
and Mera names is
said to have given
rise to the name
Khmer (Kambu + Mera
=Khmer) according to
George Coedes [1].
Sage-prince Kambu of
the Cambodian
legends, to all
probability,
belonged to the
Kamboja lineage[2]
and appears to have
sailed from Indian
subcontinent,
probably from
Saurashtra/Gujarat
on the west coast of
India and
established a small
Kamboja kingdom in
Bassac around Vat-Ph'u
hill in Mekong
Basin. In ancient
Chinese accounts,
this kingdom is
known as Chenla. The
time frame for this
event could be the
later half of 4th c
AD. Sage prince
Kambu was succeeded
by his little son
Shrutavarma Kambuja
who ruled in 5th
century AD.
Shrutavarma was
succeeded by his son
Shreshthavarma
Kambuja who was
followed by king
Viravarma Kambuja.
Princess
Kambujarajalakshmi
(fortune of the
kings of the
Kambujas), the queen
of prince
Bhavavarman I, was
from the line of
Kambu Swayambhuva
and it was through
her that Bhavavarman
I inherited the
royal lineage and
became king of
Kambuja. The Kamboja
power established by
sage prince Kambu in
Indo-China, however,
did see many ups and
downs in the
succeeding centuries
before culminating
into Angkorean fame.
Around 8th century
A.D, the kings of
Shailendra dynasty
seized control of
Chenla (i.e. Kambuja)
but at the start of
9th century, the
Kambuja family
reasserted itself
under a capable
Kamboja prince
Jayavarman II, shook
off the foreign
yoke, unified the
Land Chenla and
Water Chenla and
renamed the unified
country as Kambuja
after his family's
lineage. Thus began
the long line of
Kambuja princes and
also the famed
Angkorean period in
Cambodian history
which was to reach
to very splendorous
and glorious heights
in the succeeding
centuries.Prince Swayambhuva Kambu is claimed to be the eponymous ancestor of the Kambujas i.e. the royal family of Cambodia with celestial nymph Mera given to him by god Siva [3]. Princes of Kambodia expressly state themselves as Kambujas and to have descended from the lineage of Kambu. As is otherwise also obvious, the name Kambu is stated to be a corruption of the standard Sanskrit term Kamboja |
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