Naval Battle

South outer gallery, east wing
Bayon, Angkor Thom

During the late 1170's through 1181, king Jayavarman VII fought a series of land and sea battles which, eventually, succeeded in expelling the Chams (a South Vietnamese kingdom) from Cambodia. This scene from one such naval battle - which one, specifically, is not known - shows Champa soldiers standing in their boat. They are defending against an incursion from a Khmer boat; the leader of the Khmer boarding party can be seen at the extreme photo left.

The Cham boat is manned by seated oarsmen, whose heads are just visible above the gunwale, while a steersman directs the vessel from his seat in the stern (photo right). Below, drowned victims are entangled in the oars; below that, a jungle scene with animals and hunters, including one hunter who has been treed by his quarry (bottom of photo, to the photo right of the archer). The reliefs are outstanding for their inclusion of so many lively and interesting details like this.

According to the conventions of Cambodian art, the jungle below the boat is understood to be surrounding the lake or river on which the ship is floating; "below" in this case means "in front of".