Kālidāsa’s Kingship among the Khmers

Calligraphic stone epigraphs in Sanskrit and Khmer are the sole locally written sources for the earliest Khmer history. Dominic Goodall’s lecture is structured around quotations from Kālidāsa’s Raghuvaṃśa, an influential idealisation of classical Indian kingship, juxtaposed with Cambodian inscriptions that echo its ideals, but often in a way that rings false, belying Khmer realities. The themes explored include patrilines, military conquest as the dharma of kings, the symbiosis of Kṣatriyas and brahmins, and the protection of the ideal social order (varṇāśramadharma).