The Great Khmer Empire

[Michael]

TheKhmer Empire was a powerful state in South East Asia, formed by people of the same name, lasting from 802 CE to 1431 CE. At its peak, the empire covered much of what today is Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and southern Vietnam.

By the 7th century CE, Khmer people inhabited territories along the Mekong river -the world's seventh longest river - from the delta to roughly the modern Cambodia-Laos border, plus the region between that river and the great Tonle Sap lake to the west and the area running along the Tonle Sap river (which runs from the lake to the sea, joining the Mekong in the delta). There were several kingdoms at constant war against each other, with art and culture heavily influenced by India due to long established sea trade routes with that subcontinent.

Using the city of Angkor as capital, for the next centuries the Khmer empire expanded its territorial base, mostly to the north (entering the Khorat plateau) and the west, to the Chao Phraya basin and beyond. To the east outcomes were different: several times the Khmer fought wars against two neighboring peoples with powerful kingdoms, the Cham (in today's central Vietnam) and the Vietnamese (in today's northern Vietnam). Despite some victories, as in 1145 CE, when Cham's capital Vijaya was taken, the empire was never able to annex those lands. Conversely, Chams and Vietnamese enjoyed some victories of their own, the most spectacular of which was Cham's humiliating revenge, looting Angkor (1177 CE) and pushing the empire to the edge of destruction.

Throughout the empire's history, Khmer's court was repeatedly concerned with putting down rebellions initiated by ambitious nobles trying to achieve independence, or fighting conspiracies against the king. This was particularly true each time a king died, as successions were usually contested.

The Khmer were great builders, filling the landscape with monumental temples, huge reservoirs (called baray) and canals, and laying an extensive road network with all sorts of bridges -the main highways are 800 km long. The most stunning temple, Angkor Wat, is a microcosm of the Hindu universe and defies imagination as the world's largest religious complex - covering 200 hectares; nowadays it is crowded with tourists amazed with ruins that until recently were covered by the jungle. Its construction took some 30 years and was started by one of the greatest kings, Suryavarman II, around 1122 CE.

The empire's greatest king was Jayavarman VII (r. 1181 CE - 1215 CE). He expelled the Chams who took Angkor, restoring the realm from anarchy, and then invaded Champa (Cham's kingdom). The scale of his construction programme was unprecedented: he built temples, monuments, highways, a hundred hospitals, and the spectacular Angkor Thom complex - a city within a city in Angkor. Jayavarman also expanded the empire's territorial control to its zenith.

The Khmer were festive people, with many celebrations all the year round. Wrestling, horse races, cock fights, fireworks, music and dances were an integral part of their culture. Most of the realm's commerce was apparently in the hands of women.The king and the elite were transported on palanquins, and used umbrellas to cover from the sun. There were several religious beliefs present, with Hinduism being favoured (yet not exclusively) by the the kings at first, and Buddhism later. The state was divided into approximately 23 provinces, with a sophisticated administration and extensive personnel going down even to the village level. Censuses were carried out periodically. Although key to the empire's prosperity, the high officers of this bureaucracy were also part of the plots that plagued the court's history.

The empire's decline and final collapse is deeply connected with the great Thai migration of the 12th-14th centuries CE. They inhabitated an area to the north of the empire, roughly where China ends and Southeast Asia begins; the Yunnan. It is a mountainous, harsh land, where a Thai kingdom called Nanchao existed. For unknown reasons, Thai populations started migrating south, in small groups at first. Thais first appear in records as as hired mercenaries for the empire, and their numbers rose as they began to establish themselves as settlers in marginal areas. The migration intensified when Mongol campaigns shook China, and when the Mongols took Yunnan in 1253 CE, further pressure for Thai migration ensued. Eventually the Thai created their own small kingdoms, the most important of them in the western side of the empire. As these kingdoms grew in power, they started to attack and annex imperial territories. The empire's economy by this time may also have been deteriorated by increased silting of the massive water works that the Khmer core area depended on. The Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya took Angkor in 1431 CE, which constitutes the end of the Khmer empire.

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The Khmer Empire was a Hindu-Buddhist empire in Southeast Asia, centered around hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as Kambuja by its inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilisation of Chenla and lasted from 802 to 1431. Historians call this period of Cambodian history the Angkor period, after the empire's most well-known capital, Angkor. The Khmer Empire ruled or vassalised most of mainland Southeast Asia[3] and stretched as far north as southern China.[4][5] At its peak, the Empire was larger than the Byzantine Empire, which existed around the same time.[6]

The site of Angkor is perhaps the empire's most notable legacy, as it was the capital during the empire's zenith. The majestic monuments of Angkor, such as Angkor Wat and the Bayon, bear testimony to the Khmer Empire's immense power and wealth, impressive art and culture, architectural technique, aesthetic achievements, and variety of belief systems that it patronised over time. Satellite imaging has revealed that Angkor, during its peak in the 11th to the 13th centuries, was the most extensive pre-industrial urban complex in the world.[9][10] Researchers have also concluded that the Khmer Empire invented the world's first healthcare system, which included 102 hospitals.[11]

Jayavarman's political career began in Vyadhapura (likely the modern-day ruins of Banteay Prey Nokor) in eastern Cambodia. Moreover, many early temples on Phnom Kulen show Cham (e.g. Prasat Damrei Krap) as well as Javanese influences (e.g. the primitive "temple-mountain" of Aram Rong Cen and Prasat Thmar Dap), even if their asymmetric distribution seems typically Khmer.[21]

By the 14th century, Kambuja had suffered a long, arduous, and steady decline. Historians have proposed different causes for the decline: the religious conversion from Vishnuite-Shivaite Hinduism to Theravada Buddhism that affected social and political systems, incessant internal power struggles among Khmer princes, vassal revolt, foreign invasion, plague, and ecological breakdown.

Looking at the archaeological record, however, archaeologists noticed that not only were the structures ceasing to be built, but the Khmer's historical inscription was also lacking from the 14th to 17th centuries. With this lack of historical content, there is very limited archaeological evidence to work with. However, archaeologists have been able to determine that the sites were abandoned and then reoccupied later by different people.[38]

Ecological failure and infrastructural breakdown is an alternative theory regarding the end of Kambuja. Scientists working on the Greater Angkor Project believe that the Khmers had an elaborate system of reservoirs and canals used for trade, transportation, and irrigation. The canals were used for harvesting rice. As the population grew there was more strain on the water system. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, there were also severe climatic changes impacting the water management system.[40]

Periods of drought led to decreases in agricultural productivity, and violent floods due to monsoons damaged the infrastructure during this vulnerable time.[40] To adapt to the growing population, trees were cut down from the Kulen hills and cleared out for more rice fields. That created rain runoff carrying sediment to the canal network. Any damage to the water system would have enormous consequences.[42]

The plague theory, which suggests a severe epidemic outbreak may have hit the heavily populated Angkor and contributed to the fall of the empire, has been reconsidered.[43] By the 14th century, the Black Death had affected Asia, as the plague first appeared in China around 1330 and reached Europe around 1345. Most seaports along the line of travel from China to Europe felt the impact of the disease, which might have had a severe impact on life throughout Southeast Asia. Possible diseases include bubonic plague, smallpox and malaria.

Much of what is known about Kambuja comes from the bas-reliefs of Angkor's temples and the first-hand accounts of Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan (The Customs of Cambodia), which provide information on 13th-century Cambodia and earlier. The bas-reliefs, such as those in the Bayon, describe everyday life in the ancient Khmer kingdom, including scenes of palace life, naval battles on the river and lakes, and common scenes of the marketplace.

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