It was during the reign of Jayavarman VIII that the Mongol forces under the command of Kublai Khan attacked the Angkor empire in 1283.
In 1281, Jayavarman VIII had imprisoned emissaries of the Mongol generalissimo in Champa.
[3] Chinese annals record that in 1291, "the king of Lohu" [Cambodia] sent a mission who presented “the usual tribute of gold, elephant ivory and other things”.
Many of the Buddhist images were destroyed by him, who re-established previously Hindu shrines that had been converted to Buddhism by his predecessor.
He also endowed a Hindu shrine Mangalartha in 1295, just before he was overthrown by his son-in-law Indravarman III (Srindravarman), a devout Buddhist and the kingdom reverted to Buddhism.