ABSTRACT
Cambodia is replete with female spirits, including malevolent brai, ghosts of dead virgins who roam in search of young men upon whom to wreak their revenge. Yet references to historical female figures who rebelled or otherwise displayed any sort of martial aspect are scarce; although certain royal women in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries commanded military forces and established breakaway courts in defiance of their husbands and brothers, their achievements are downplayed and referred to apologetically in the histories. Why has the popularity of the female warrior in the supernatural milieu endured while their mundane counterparts are ignored?
