These he won to his side by proving his abilities as a leader, and by granting some of them lands and administrative power. Chief among these was a (non-Indian) Brahman called Sivakaivalya, who became his chaplain and chief among his advisors. Together, this group soon raided first the towns along the lower Mekong, next the towns to the northwest of the Great Lake (Tonle Sap), and then just east of that point, near and to the east of Angkor.