Indradevi (;

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1181) was a queen of the

Khmer Empire The Khmer Empire was an empire in Southeast Asia, centered on Hydraulic empire, hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as Kambuja (; ) by its inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilization of Chenla and lasted from 802 t ...

through her marriage to king

Jayavarman VII Jayavarman VII (), known posthumously as Mahaparamasaugata (, c. 1122–1218), was king of the Khmer Empire. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II (r. 1150–1160) and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He was the first king devoted to Buddhism, ...

(r. 1181–1219). Reportedly, she influenced affairs of state through her spouse, particularly in favor of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. She was also the first known female Cambodian poet, as well as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Life

She was the daughter of ‘

kshatriyas Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

, amongst the elite of the royal family’, and the elder sister of queen

Jayarajadevi Jayarajadevi (''fl.'' 1181), was the first queen consort of King Jayavarman VII of the Khmer Empire The Khmer Empire was an empire in Southeast Asia, centered on Hydraulic empire, hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as K ...

, the first queen of Jayavarman VII. She and her sister were well-educated Buddhists. Indrani later stated that their father was ‘Ja … ’, descended from ‘Rudravarman’ and a woman entitled ‘queen’, and their mother was a descendant of Rajendradevi. Before her brother-in-law became a king, he was often absent, and Indradevi, who was a Buddhist, comforted her sister with the teachings of Buddhism, and is said to have ‘initiated ayarajadeviinto the peace and tranquillity of the teachings of the Buddha, away from the fire of torment’. Jacobsen, Trudy, Lost goddesses: the denial of female power in Cambodian history, NIAS Press, Copenhagen, 2008 When Jayavarman VII succeeded to the throne, queen Jayarajadevi was praised for donating all her property to the poor. After her conversion, queen Jayarajadevi became a teacher herself and: :‘took for her own daughters members of a group of girls who had been abandoned by their mothers … ndentered them in the religious life with clothes and gifts, according to the prescribed rites’. She trained the students to perform scenes from the Jataka as a means of instruction to others. Jayarajadevi died early on in her husband's reign. After her death, the king married Indradevi, who became the next queen. Queen Indradevi also took over her sister's schools and was appointed professor or head of the three temple schools Nagendratunge, Tilakottare and Narendraśrama, the three ‘colleges’ Buddhist doctrine and other sciences, which appeared to have been particularly for women and girls, maybe primarily from elite families. She was praised for her knowledge in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

. Queen Indradevi was described as intelligent and cultivated, and her spouse apparently allowed her influence upon state affairs. Indradevi composed a number of poems, some of which were about the reign of Jayavarman VII. She is regarded as "the earliest known female poet in Cambodia".

References

History NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum Year 8 Stage 4

Studies In Sanskrit Inscriptions Of Ancient Cambodia
Cambodian queens 12th-century poets 13th-century poets 13th-century educators 12th-century educators 12th-century Cambodian women 12th-century Cambodian people Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism {{Cambodia-royal-stub