The inscriptions on the ruins of temples have been invaluable in telling us about the lives of the kings and the kingdoms they ruled in early Cambodia. Nevertheless, these inscriptions can also be misleading. For many years, scholars believed that Yasovarman I was one of the most important kings of the Khmer Empire. The inscriptions painted a picture of a unique king, excelling in learning, sports, the arts and kingship.
We do know that he was responsible for the building of a city named Yasodharapura, which covered an area of about 10 square miles and where the Bakheng was the main temple. He also had the course of the Siem Reap river altered where he constructed a reservoir known as the east baray. His 10-year rule was an important and productive time in the history of the Khmer Empire, but he was not responsible for many of the greatest buildings of Angkor, which have since been accredited to kings who lived 200 years later.
Inscriptions could therefore be both a help and a hindrance to historians. Often they are amusing to readers more than 1,000 years later. For example, one of Yasovarman's sons was recorded as "surpassing Kama in his beauty, dissipating the fogs, possessing all the talents, he was a moon among kings."
