Jayavarman VII defeats the Cham at Angkor

1178

After Cham naval raiders had sailed up the Tonle Sap and sacked Angkor itself in a humiliating surprise attack the previous year, the aging prince Jayavarman VII rallied the scattered Khmer forces and drove the invaders from Cambodian soil in a decisive naval battle. His subsequent reign would produce Angkor Thom, the Bayon, and the most ambitious building program Southeast Asia had ever witnessed.