This might have been the end of the city, had it not been for the return of a prince, later crowned as Jayavarman VII. After four years of fighting, he succeeded in driving out the Chams, beginning his reign in 1181 as the last great king of Angkor. A fervent Buddhist, unlike his predecessors who worshipped Hindu gods, Jayavarman VII crammed into his 30-year rule the largest building program ever undertaken. His new city is the surviving Angkor Thom, centred on the Bayon. He was also responsible for Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei and Preah Khan, among others, not to mention hundreds of temples, hospitals and other buildings across the empire. This hurried, almost frenzied, building activity is generally considered as the last; but it is difficult to evaluate the part played by Indravarman II in the program. Moreover, Jayavarman VIII, responsible for the destruction of so much Buddhist imagery, tried to restore and improve some important Hindu temples - Angkor Wat, Bapuon and the central plaza of Angkor Thom. Nothing else has survived at Angkor from later than the early 13th century, partly of course because many of the structures were perishable. After the rise of Theravada Buddhism only wooden temples were made and thus it is difficult to evaluate the wealth of Angkor at this time. The empire continued to prosper - a Chinese emissary, Zhou Daguan, left an intriguing account of the city and its riches in the years 1296-7. After this time, there was increased fighting with the newly-emerged Siamese kingdom. However, other factors may have been more important in its decline. One was the importance of trade for which Phnom Penh and Ayutthaya, the capital of the Siamese state, were much better suited. In the fifteenth century, new rulers emerged on the Mekong River, where modern Phnom Penh now stands. Nevertheless, the kingdom at Angkor endured until the end of the sixteenth century.
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