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Introduction

The ancient history of Cambodia contains significant periods from which minimal concrete fact or physical evidence survived. The prehistoric period left little in the way of archaeological remains and the rulers of the great Angkor civilization did not produce written documents. To an extent, historians have been left to guess at the origins, structure and scope of that vast civilization. Yet one thing is clear: few countries over the past millennium can match the heights to which Cambodian culture aspired and rose, or the depths to which its humanity later sank. Cambodia remains a place of extremes. There follows a brief account of the ancient history of this remarkable country.

Prehistory

Southeast Asia was populated from the Neolithic period onwards and there is evidence that the area covered by modern-day Cambodia was no exception. There is speculation that the ethnic groups populating Cambodia at this time originated in China. This theory remains to be substantiated and physical artifacts from the Neolithic period are scarce. However, an organised society based on agriculture and fishing certainly evolved and existed along the banks of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers prior to the Indianisation of Southeast Asia. The process of Indianisation affected many parts of the region, including Cambodia and southern Vietnam, and continued unabated from the 1st Century A.D. to beyond the rise of the states of Fou-Nan and Tchen-La in the period between the 1st and 9th Centuries A.D.

The Pre-Angkorian Period: Indianisation, Fou-Nan and Tchen-La

Indianisation is often understated or ignored when reference is made to the temples of Angkor, yet the temples were initially Hindu in design and their decoration reflected this. Sanskrit, the ancient and sacred language of India was widely used at the Angkor complex. However, it appears that Indian influences were not so much adopted by the ancient Khmer as co-opted and used to supplement extant beliefs and religious practices. If the influence of India had been overwhelming it is arguable that other traditions such as the ‘caste system’ would also have been incorporated into Khmer society. They were not.

It is likely that the influence of India and Sri Lanka were first felt in Cambodia when the region became part of a trade route linking the two colossal civilizations of the time, India and China. By the time the Chinese emissaries Kang Tai and Zhu Ying were chronicling the State of Fou-Nan in the 3rd Century A.D.; the linguistic, philosophical and cultural influences of India were probably well rooted. It is possible that the proselytising efforts of Brahman monks influenced the gravitation towards Indian rather than Chinese culture but it is difficult to be precise about this period because so little concrete evidence remains. What is certain is that by the 3rd Century A.D. the State of Fou-Nan was in existence and had become part of a wider trading network that extended from China in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Oc Eo, the chief port of Fou-Nan, was situated in modern-day Vietnam and has since yielded archaeological remains of Greco-Roman origin.

The State of Fou-Nan occupied the southern half of modern Cambodia and a corresponding area of southern Vietnam. It was pre-eminent in the region until the rise of its northern neighbour Tchen-La in the 6th Century A.D. As Fou-Nan waned in power and influence, Tchen-La expanded and eventually absorbed Fou-Nan. These became part of Tchen-La, a principality that stretched from the Mekong Delta in the south to beyond the Dangrek Mountains on the modern Thai border. Tchen-La’s new found influence was given a center for its power when King Isanavarman founded a new capital at Isanpura in 644 A.D. This was probably Sambor Prei Kuk, not far from latter-day Kampong Thom. Tchen-La later fragmented into two States, Lower and Upper Tchen-La. Dynastic wrangling between the two States left them destabilised and weakened. An incursion by the Javanese Sailendras in the 7th Century A.D. put an end to them and a lengthy period of Javanese occupation followed. Unity was eventually restored by Jayavarman II at the beginning of the 9th Century A.D. He created the Kingdom of Kambuja at this time, heralding the dawn of the extraordinary Angkorian Period.

The Reigns of the Devarajas (God Kings) of Angkor

To put Jayavarman II’s accession into a European context, his consecration took place in 802 A.D., two years after the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and seventy years before Alfred the Great became king of England. Jayavarman II moved his court several times before settling in the area north of the Great Lake, the Tonle Sap. It is possible he reigned from Banteay Prei Nokor, east of the Mekong, before moving first to Hariharalaya (Roluos) and then to the Kulen Hills. His coronation ritual took place in the Kulen Hills and the new Kingdom was ruled from the area between the Kulen Hills and the northern end of the Great Lake.

As part of his coronation ritual Jayavarman II declared independence from ‘Java’. This declaration later led to speculation and controversy among historians. The Javanese Sailendra Dynasty had occupied Tchen-La and abducted its king. Jayavarman II may even have come from Java, bringing with him the Javanese devaraja model of monarchy. However, an alternative theory is suggested by the historian Michael Vickery. He notes that the Khmer people referred to the Chams, their eastern neighbours and enemies, as the chvea. It is possible that Jayavarman II’s declaration of independence was an attempt to distance himself from the Chams and that his alleged reference to the Javanese was misinterpreted.

Jayavarman II established a linga-worshipping cult. Lingas are a male fertility totem, one of the many incarnations of the Hindu god Shiva. The ‘Rivers of 1000 Lingas’ in the Kulen Hills used these phallic symbols to bless the waters flowing out of the highlands and into the rich, agricultural land below. The linga cult survived the reign of Jayavarman II, who died in around 835 A.D.

Jayavarman II’s legacy was the foundation of the Angkorian Period and the creation of a dynasty that lasted for 200 years. He also centralised power within the royal court and presided over a system of provincial administration and taxation. Taxes were probably paid ‘in kind’ because there was no national currency in use at this time.

Central to the governance and subjugation of the rural areas of the country was the notion that the King was a God (devaraja). The alignment and symbolism in royal temples made the King’s divine right to rule perfectly clear to the masses, and provincial foundations reinforced the point. Civil order in areas of high rice production was crucial: rice was the driving force of the economy and the bedrock on which the period’s vast building projects and military campaigns were based.

Indravarman I

Jayavarman III succeeded his father, Jayavarman II. Little is known about Jayavarman III, save that he was in turn succeeded in 877 A.D. by Indravarman I. Indravarman I created the earliest of the great temples for which the Angkorian period is famed.

Indravarman I’s contribution to the wealth of Khmer architecture was the construction of the Preah Ko and the Bakong, along with a vast baray measuring 3.8km by 800m called the Indratataka. These structures were all erected at Hariharalaya, the area known today as Lolei or the Roluos Group. They were brick-built, in contrast to the volcanic laterite stone used in the construction of later temples.

The construction of the vast reservoirs, or barays, is still the subject of a debate that falls roughly into two camps. The first asserts that the barays were used primarily for rice production and to control irrigation. The barays retained vast cubic meters of water that may well have been used to water crops and it is easy to see the merits of the first theory. The equally persuasive argument of the second camp maintains that the barays served a purely symbolic purpose by mirroring the oceans surrounding the fabled home of the Hindu gods, Mt. Meru. Neither theory has been conclusively proven.

The Rolous Group of temples is easily accessible from Siem Reap and is often overlooked by visitors. However, these early attempts at temple building reveal many of the characteristics of the later temples such as the use of Hindu mythology and architectural form. They also provide a point from which to view the development of the civilization.

Yasovarman I

In 899 A.D. Yasovarman I succeeded his father Indravarman I. Yasovarman I far surpassed his father in terms of the building projects he sponsored. He completed the work at Lolei, including the construction of the Indratataka baray, then focused his attention on creating a new capital, approximately 15km to the northwest of Roluos. He named the city Yashodharapura and its epicenter was the hill top temple known as The Bakheng. The Bakheng was Yasovarman’s state temple and from it a road ran 5km eastwards across the Siem Reap River then southeast for 10km to Hariharalaya. These achievements set Yasovarman I high among the great Angkorian builders but his reign also saw the construction of East Baray, Prasat Bei, Phnom Krom and Tep Pranam. It is also likely that Yasovarman I began the earliest building work at Preah Vihear.

The Latter Years of the Dynasty of Jayavarman II

The dynasty begun by Jayavarman II lasted until the turn of the First Millennium A.D. After the death of Yasovarman I there was a protracted fight for accession. Yasovarman’s sons Harshavarman I and Ishanavarman II ruled from Yashodharapura but it was the son of Indravarman I’s daughter who was to rise and take the throne, albeit from a remote region to the north-east of the main capital.

Jayavarman IV had a good claim to the throne, being a blood-relative of Indravarman I. Yet rather than risk open conflict with the sons of Yasovarman I he simply created his own capital and state temple at Lingapura. Tourists know this city by its current appellation Koh Ker. As a tourist destination Koh Ker is almost inaccessible in the rainy season. A sturdy dirt bike or jeep can make the trip but anyone wishing to visit Koh Ker should probably arrange an excursion through a specialist tour company. Visits in the dry season are significantly easier.

The enigmatic step-pyramid that formed the centerpiece of Jayavarman IV’s new city is worth the trip. Set in still, humid jungle the pyramid closely resembles similar structures in the Yucatan peninsula. There are also numerous Prasats surrounding the site. The Koh Ker temples cover an area of over 30 square kilometers.

Jayavarman IV only ruled at Koh Ker for around two decades. The building work must have been accomplished with incredible speed and organisation. The move to the remoter jungle areas was short-lived and Jayavarman IV’s son Harshavarman II returned power to Yashodharapura after his accession.

Harshavarman II was succeeded by Rajendravarman and their combined reigns saw the construction of Preah Rup, Bat Chum and East Mebon. The last great builder of the dynasty was Jayavarman V. He became king as a child and it is likely that other court officials ruled in his stead until he was old enough to take control of the Kingdom. The legacy of Jayavarman V’s rule was a temple built by his childhood mentor Yajinyavaraha, a wealthy minister and descendent of Harshavarman II. The temple is known today as Banteay Srei and it is arguably the finest piece of workmanship to survive from the Angkorian period.

Banteay Srei is a jewel of Khmer temple building. Though it lacks the sheer scale of Angkor Wat or the ambience of the Bayon its exquisite carvings continue to attract many visitors. Every inch of the sandstone edifice is richly carved. The temple stands as a lasting testament to the skill and artistry of the ancient masons who conceived it. Its location, 25km or so north of Angkor Thom, entails a journey through a quintessential Cambodian landscape replete with rice paddies, palm trees and small settlements.

Jayavarman V seems to have centered his capital in the area west of the East Mebon. His state temple Ta Keo was never completed, possibly because of a lightning strike that was deemed a bad portent. The reign of Jayavarman V also saw the construction of Phimeanakas and the Kleangs. He died around the turn of the First Millennium, bringing to an end the 200 year-old dynasty of Jayavarman II. The Angkorian Period had already produced some staggering feats of artistic and civil engineering endeavour, but the stage was set for the accession in 1113 A.D. of one of the greatest Angkorian kings. That king was Suryavarman II and among the extraordinary list of temples he produced was Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument ever built.

The Years of Glory: 1000 A.D. – 1177 A.D.

The Khmer Empire was approaching its zenith and the vast reach of its power and influence was at its greatest in the years 1000-1177 A.D. There was a brief and bloody civil war following the death of Jayavarman V. Suryavarman I emerged as the victor and the dynasty he founded proved to be the high water mark of the Khmer civilization. Suryavarman I commissioned the West Baray, the most breathtaking of all Khmer civil engineering feats. This man-made reservoir covers an area measuring 8km by 2.2km. Today it is a popular picnic site for locals but its original purpose remains a matter of conjecture.

Suryavarman I was also responsible for expanding a temple begun during the reign of Yasovarman I and situated in the Dangrek mountain range. Preah Vihear is a fabulous achievement. It is located close to the present-day Thai border and overlooks a sweeping vista of northern Cambodia. The provenance of Preah Vihear has been contested. The Thais long claimed that it is one of their own temples but its style and date clearly mark it as one of the great Angkorian monuments. At this point in the history of the Khmer civilization the empire covered much of southern Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

Suryavarman I died around 1050 A.D. and was succeeded by the kings Udayadityavarman II (1050 A.D.) and Harshavarman III, both of whom presided over a period of unrest and rebellion. The in-fighting continued through the reigns of Jayavarman VI (1080-circa 1108 A.D.) and Dharantndravarman I (1108-1114 A.D.). In 1114 A.D. Dharantndravarman I was allegedly slain in battle by his successor, Suryavarman II and the Khmer Empire came under the control of its greatest ruler.

Suryavarman II and the Construction of Angkor Wat

Having deposed Dharantndravarman I in battle, Suryavarman II went on to pacify the other turbulent elements in the empire and to achieve an unassailable position as its ruler. With the Kingdom once more in a state of equilibrium, Suryavarman II embarked on the most ambitious series of building projects to date, culminating in his state temple Angkor Wat.

So much has been written so expertly about Angkor Wat that it is a spurious exercise to attempt to add to the wealth of information about this incredible temple. It is justly held by many to be the largest and most exquisitely executed religious building ever conceived. Its vast moats; bas-relief galleries and exterior carvings make it almost unique amid mankind’s endeavours.

Angkor Wat’s purpose and symbolism are likely to be the subject of debate for many years to come. To modern Khmers it is the emblem of their culture and in recognition of this it is depicted on the state flag. Members of the Brahman faith revere the site for the symbolism; numerology and sacred secrets they believe its layout and carvings to contain. Despite the destruction of Buddhist shrines and the murders of countless monks and teachers, Pol Pot understood the importance of Angkor Wat as a totem and never allowed the temple to be desecrated or destroyed. His cadres, in the bitterest of ironies, drove the country’s starving citizens to aspire towards a new ‘Angkorian Age’. There was fierce fighting in the area around Angkor Wat during the war that brought Pol Pot to power, and following the Vietnamese invasion of 1979 which deposed him. Yet Angkor Wat received minimal damage in the decades of violence that blighted Cambodia’s modern history. Angkor Wat, it seems, will always be sacrosanct to the Khmer people.

Suryavarman II’s artisans and labourers took a mere 40 years to complete the holy city. If Angkor Wat had been Suryavarman II’s only legacy it would still have set him alongside Ramases II of Egypt or any number of the Caesars in terms of adding to the world’s architectural inheritance. The marvel of Suryavarman II’s kingship is that it left behind many of the finest examples of Khmer architecture. A glance at the temples created during his tenure reads like a roll call of all that was excellent about the Angkorian Civilization: Angkor Wat, Beng Melea, Chau Say Tevoda, Thomannon, Banteay Samre, Wat Athvea and Preah Pithu.

Beng Melea was virtually as ambitious in its conception as Angkor Wat and its current condition only adds to speculation about what it must have looked like in its prime. It is one of the least visited of the Angkorian remains but its dryad beauty and jungle setting make for an enchanting and adventurous trip. The workmanship of old is strewn across the surrounding forest floor and a preponderance of green lichen in the rainy season gives the site an otherworldly appearance.

Thomannon is truly underrated. The proportions of its buildings and the richness of its carvings make this temple something of a gem. Its near neighbour, Chau Say Tevoda, is an almost perfect mirror but unfortunately it has not survived in the same condition. The two temples were built several decades apart.

Northeast of Angkor Wat another of Suryavarman II’s projects has survived the intervening years. Banteay Samre lies at the foot of the Kulen Hills, some 10km from Angkor Wat. It is one of the more complete temples from the period and originally had a water-filled interior moat that gave the impression that the temple was floating. No doubt, given the Hindu symbolism that suffused all of the temples of Suryavarman II’s reign, the moat at Banteay Samre was intended to represent the seas around Mt. Meru in a similar way to the moats at Angkor Wat. The central tower of Banteay Samre contains the pedestal for a linga stand, forming a quincunx with four smaller stands surrounding the central pedestal. An eerie sense of ritual still pervades the tower.

Suryavarman II will be remembered for Angkor Wat but there are other aspects of his reign that are worthy of note. He continued a long-held tradition of rewarding merit with extraordinarily generous patronage. The Angkorian kings presided over one of the greatest meritocracies of all time and ministers, artisans and courtiers who excelled at their work could expect to acquire both status and riches.

Suryavarman II’s foreign policy, such as it was, appears to have been double-edged. He restored and encouraged a healthy relationship with the Chinese but goaded the Chams. Several large-scale military incursions into Cham territory ended in failure and significantly weakened the military might of the Empire. Suryavarman II’s building projects required enormous human resources and organization and would have been a drain on the exchequer. These factors may explain the unrest in the Kingdom in the years between the death of Suryavarman II in 1150 A.D. and the accession of Jayavarman VII in 1181 A.D. A triumvirate of short-term kings presided over a destabilised Empire that was wide open to the Cham assault of 1177 A.D. In that year the reining king Tribhuvanadityavarman was killed; Angkor Wat burnt and the Kingdom decimated.

It is incredible that the Cham occupation only lasted four years. The Empire’s saviour Jayavarman VII was in Champa at the time, engaged in a military campaign, and he sped to Cambodia’s aid. In decisive battles on the Tonle Sap and at Angkor Wat he ousted the Chams and set himself up as the latest God-King in 1181 A.D.

The Reign of Jayavarman VII

In Jayavarman VII the Empire found its last great ruler and by far the most prolific of its builders. The breadth of Jayavarman VII’s construction projects defies belief. He began by dedicating a new city, Angkor Thom. The city’s bounds encompassed the earlier temples of Baphuon and Phimeanakas and its outer walls were 3km in length and orientated to the cardinal compass points. A series of moats ran around the exterior walls. At the central point of each wall a causeway crossed the moats and entered the city via one of four triumphal arches. The causeways were lined with rows of deities and demons pulling on a naga. The archways were over 20 metres in height and the apex of each one was crowned with a huge stone head. In the eastern wall a fifth ‘Victory Gate’ led directly to the royal compound.

Angkor Thom is a city befitting a God-King. Its Royal Palace sat atop two massive terraces, one supported by near life-sized elephants and the other sporting scenes from the Hindu pantheon. Yet Angkor Thom is only one of the construction projects undertaken by Jayavarman VII. At the center of Angkor Thom is a temple as enigmatic as the stone heads on Easter Island. Its name is The Bayon and it has become one of the nation’s great tourist attractions, and a source of lengthy academic debate.

The Bayon’s aura comes from a series of towers on its third level. The towers support four huge heads apiece, over fifty in total. The heads may be representations of Jayavarman VII himself, or the Buddha, or the benign and compassionate spirits of Mahayana Buddhism known as Bodhisattvas. The heads may just as easily be composites of all three. Jayavarman VII appears to have been a devout Buddhist and Buddhism’s influence can be seen in the structures of this period and in the generosity and humanity displayed by Jayavarman VII towards his subjects. What is certain is that The Bayon now stands as one of the landmark creations of the Angkorian Age. The Bayon’s bas-reliefs are a repository of information about aspects of the daily life of the Khmer. Scenes of cooking and recreation sit alongside sweeping military tableaux that give a rare glimpse of the armour and battle techniques of the period.

At Ta Prohm and Preah Khan Jayavarman VII dedicated two immense sanctuaries to his mother and father. The scale and influence of just one temple, Ta Prohm, gives an idea of the absolute wealth and power of the god-kings. Ta Prohm was dedicated to Jayavarman VII’s mother and was built outside the newly erected walls of Angkor Thom. It was little short of a being a self-contained town. Ta Prohm boasted a population of over 12,000 supported by an army of slaves and villagers totaling nearly 80,000. The residents included 18 High Priests, 2740 administrative officials and over 600 female dancers. It also hoarded a fabulous wealth of precious stones and metals of every kind. Inscriptions found at the temple record that over 40,000 pearls were stored in Ta Prohm’s treasuries. The temple and its administrators controlled the activities of the thousands of villages that donated provisions. Preah Khan was similar in the number of people it employed in order to function and in its extraordinary wealth.

Ta Prohm has become one of the premier tourist sites on account of its condition. Thoughtful restoration and forest clearance have left the visitor with an impression of what the early western explorers must have encountered as they shouldered their way through the jungle to see the ruins of Angkor. Ta Prohm is being steadily split apart by the action of plants and trees. Unlike The Bayon, which is overrun with tourists and is fast losing its ambience, Ta Prohm has somehow managed to retain the sense that it was discovered yesterday.

As stated above, Jayavarman VII was the most prolific of all the Angkorian god-kings in terms of building. Here is a list of his architectural achievements: Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Neak Pean, Banteay Chmar, Srah Srang, the Elephant and Leper King Terraces, Preah Palilay, Banteay Kdei, Prasat Prei, Banteay Prei, Ta Nei, Ta Som, Krol Ko, the Bayon, Preah Khan, Ta Prohm Kel and the Chapel Hospitals.

Jayavarman VII created numerous Chapel Hospitals throughout his realm in which the poor could seek treatment when they were sick. He produced rest houses for travellers and invested huge human and monetary resources in improving the Kingdom’s infrastructure. Some staggering examples of bridge and road building exist to this day. South-east of Siem Reap is a bridge over the Chi Kreng River that until recently supported modern vehicular traffic. The bridge is now to the left of National Road No. 6 as you head towards Phnom Penh and is visible through the trees. It is both a civil engineering marvel and a thing of beauty. The bridge has its own drainage system and the balustrades flanking either side of the bridge are fashioned into nagas, the multi-headed cobra and protector of the Kingdom. Many previous tourists journeying to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap missed this wonder and crossed the Chi Kreng River unaware that they had just traversed a thousand-year old structure.

The End of the Empire

Jayavarman VII probably died around the year 1220 A.D. He was followed by Indravarman II (1220–1243 A.D.) and Jayavarman VIII (1243–1295 A.D). Jayavarman VIII was a follower of Shiva and took ill the fact that the temples of Angkor Thom were replete with images of the Buddha. He set about removing and destroying them, a scorched-earth policy that erased virtually all references to the Buddha at Angkor and led to the defacing of statues that would be priceless today.

Jayavarman VIII was toppled around the year 1295 A.D. by Indravarman III. The empire was in eclipse, building work on earlier scales had all but ceased and the name Indravarman III may well have been forgotten had it not been for the visit of a Chinese embassy in the early years of his reign. The embassy led to the year-long sojourn in Angkor Thom of one of the Chinese diplomats: Zhou Daguan.

A Diplomat Calls: The Visit of Zhou Daguan

Zhou Daguan fortuitously kept a journal while he lodged in Angkor Thom; a journal that survived in Chinese archives until it was found, translated into French and published under the title ‘The Customs of Cambodia’. Through Zhou Daguan a unique account of the splendour of the Khmer Empire, and the customs and lives of its citizens, was preserved for future generations. Zhou Daguan’s description of Angkor Thom provides a series of reference points that put the modern reader in recognisable locations within the city. His words make it possible to picture the parades in front of the Royal Palace and bring to life the friezes in Angkor Wat. Daguan’s descriptions of Khmer cooking still ring true. He writes about the clay stove supported on three stones that remains a mainstay of rural cooking. He also describes the ceremonial preparation of rice, as it is still prepared for the Bon Om Touk festival, and how rice husks are removed by pounding the rice with a stone pestle.

Zhou Daguan also gives the modern visitor tantalising images of the temples: The Bayon and Phimeanakas layered in gold leaf and the lofty Baphuon temple covered in bronze. Even in its twilight years the Angkorian Empire could still display a power, wealth and social structure to rival any ancient civilization.

Zhou Daguan’s account is supported by emerging archaeological evidence: what survives at Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom is a fraction of what was extant in the years of their glory. Current theories speculate on a metropolis three times the size of London during the same period and crisscrossed by inter-linking roads and waterways. Water levels within the city were artificially balanced to a staggering degree. No doubt further evidence and theories will emerge as Angkor yields up more of its secrets. There are still significant areas of jungle to excavate; areas that have only recently been made accessible through the efforts of de-mining organisations.

The Khmer God-kings continued to rule Angkor after Indravarman III. The period of Khmer hegemony in the region was eventually brought to a close by the Thai invasion of 1431. Whether the invasion or other economic, environmental or political factors led to the virtual abandonment of Angkor is not known. The capital relocated to several places in the area around Phnom Penh before Phnom Penh itself was eventually chosen as the modern seat of government. The four centuries between the abandonment of Angkor and the beginning of the Colonial Period in 1863 are referred to as Cambodia’s ‘Dark Age’.

1431-1863: Cambodia’s Dark Age

After Angkor

It is a misnomer that the Khmer people sank into deep decline after the fall of Angkor in 1431. Though the region to the north of the Tonle Sap never recovered its former status and glory, there is some evidence that Angkor remained sparsely populated for several centuries after the Thai invasion. The capital was moved to the confluence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers and the choice of the new the location proved sound. This area provided tactical control over the lower Mekong as well as a trade route to the South China Sea and beyond.

There was literally a sea-change in the Kingdom. Cambodia became more and more dependent on seafaring and maritime trade and this led to Khmer merchants trading further afield, particularly with China. Khmer entrepreneurs became fabulously wealthy as Chinese and Indian produce flowed though Cambodia’s ports. The Chinese Ming Dynasty of 1368 – 1644 proved a lucrative source of trade and the 1500s saw European produce and European adventurers arriving in Asia.

The post-Angkorian period also produced a shrewd and wealthy monarch in the form of Ang Chan. He reigned from 1515 – 1566 and moved his capital northward from Phnom Penh to Lonvek. Lonvek was situated close to modern-day Uduong, in Kampong Chnam Province, and the Europeans who bartered there brought home tales of the extraordinary personal wealth of Lonvek’s merchants. Among the sumptuous range of trade items available at Lonvek were precious metals and stones; cotton; richly coloured silks; lacquer-ware and ceramics from China; incense; spices; and elephant and rhino horn. Europeans visiting the city found its markets afforded the chance to rub shoulders with merchants from China, Malaysia, India and the Middle East.

Dark Age Visitors to Angkor

Around 1586 Antonio da Magdalena became one of the first westerners to visit Angkor Thom. His description of the city is sometimes attributed to the Portuguese historian Diego da Couto. Da Magdalena was lost at sea in 1589 and his account of the Angkorian ruins was recorded and saved by da Couto.

Marcello de Ribadeneyra, another Portuguese visitor, produced a further description of the city in 1601. In 1604 Gabriel de San Antonio recalled not only his own memories of Angkor Thom but the fact that two other missionaries, Father Antonio Dorta and Father Luys de Fonseca, had lived there. In addition to the early western missionaries, Japanese traders and adventurers certainly visited Angkor because Japanese inscriptions were found in the ruins during the modern era.

Two themes seem to run through the accounts of these visitors. The first is the utter wonder experienced by each visitor when confronted by the Angkorian ruins and the second is disbelief that Cambodians could have created the temples. Common, erroneous, guesses attributed the ruins to European figures like Trajan and Alexander.

The best known of all foreigners to visit Cambodia was the French botanist Henri Mouhot. His claim of ‘discovering’ the abandoned city of Angkor in 1860 is debatable because of the number of other visitors who preceded him. That is not to debase Mouhot’s adventurous spirit or the fact that he rekindled modern European interest in Angkor.

The Sack of Lonvek (1594)

In 1594 the Thais overran Lonvek. It proved as cataclysmic an event for Cambodia as the sacking of Angkor a hundred and sixty years earlier. The body-blow came from the abduction of Cambodia’s leading intellectuals, clerics and artisans. This pernicious form of conquest and domination was popular at the time and in Cambodia’s case it proved impossible to recover from. An entire generation of scholars and highly skilled workers were removed from the Kingdom and used to further the grandeur of the Thai capital, Ayutthaya. In Cambodia the knowledge, vision and artistry that conceived the temples of Angkor were lost forever.