Suryavarman I

Suryavarman I (; posthumously Nirvanapada) was king of the Khmer Empire from 1006 to 1050. Suryavarman usurped King Udayadityavarman I, defeating his armies in approximately 1002. After a protracted war with Udayadityavarman's would-be successor, Jayaviravarman (who was of Malay origin from the Old Malay Kingdom, currently Malaysia), Suryavarman I claimed the throne in 1010. Suryavarman was the son of the king of Tambralinga, a minor Buddhist kingdom on the Malay peninsula (present-day Thailand) that was a dependent of Angkor's rival Srivijaya. Suryavarman held claim to the Khmer throne through his Khmer mother who was a member of the royal family. While the Khmer Empire predominantly practiced Vaishnava Hinduism, Devaraja, Suryavarman was a Mahayana Buddhist who was also tolerant of the growing Theravada Buddhist presence in the Khmer kingdom.