ABSTRACT
The beginning of the Late Classic period coincides with the last flourish of Angkor civilization. Jayavarman VII may have ruled until about 1219, but the practice of recording events on stone in Angkor was
declining and we have no written proof of this. After Jayavarman VII, Angkor’s empire began to shrink.
No more major temple complexes were built. Brahmanism may have temporarily returned to royal favour, but by the end of the Late Classic the country’s population was solidly Buddhist of a form which paid relatively little attention to esoteric practices. A similar fate befell Bagan in Myanmar; although Buddhism remained strong, the habit of building hundreds of brick structures sank into oblivion.
