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MindMap
As seen in the mindmap above, we will start off with the background of Khmer Empire.
After which we will look at factors associating with the success of Khmer Empire.
1) Ruler, War and Conquer
2) Water System and Management
3) Culture and religion
4) Art, Architecture and religion
5) Angkor Wat
Even with such a strong and influential empire, it did collapse later on.
Why did it collapse?
What influences if any did this powerful empire had on Cambodia and its neighbouring countries?
These questions will also be briefly covered in the website.
Navigations will be at the right hand side of the web.
Cambodian music and plenty of pictures are available for an enriching experience of the KHMER EMPIRE!
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Background on the Khmer empire and Angkor
Khmer Empire
Khmer; another name for Cambodia!
The Khmer empire is a well-known ancient empire in Southeast Asia, which is based on present Cambodia. It was known to exist from the 8th century to 1431 A.D. The Khmer empire was believed to have emerged due to the rulers adopting a set of effective political beliefs and principles, which then united the population.
It was one of the few civilizations that managed to thrive and prosper in a tropical environment. There were extreme manipulation and engineering of the environment, as living in the tropical settings does have its limitations and problems. Furthermore, the large extent and scale of the empire was unparalleled to other nations. Research has shown that the gigantic capacity the empire had was comparable or even larger to present large cities.
In addition, the Khmer empire was largely influenced by the Indian culture and both Buddhism and Hinduism flourished under the leadership of the rulers.
Angkor Period (between 9th century and 14th century)
Angkor, derived from Sanskrit, is the name of the capital at the Khmer empire’s golden period and greatest peak. It flourished extensively in the large land that the empire secured and dominated through military programs. Angkor, undoubtedly, was the witness to the enormous affluence and power, and strong religion beliefs that the empire held.
Angkor is an exemplary example of how the civilizations in tropical settings can be deciphered. It was possibly the largest city during the pre-industrial period, with a well-developed and comprehensive system of network, rare at that time. The city was intensively altered to function effectively. The way and extent of how Khmer civilisation could modify their environment facilitated the population’s communication and transportation was remarkable.
Much architecture that was remained in mainland Southeast Asia from the Angkor period reminded present people of the splendour of the Khmer’s arts and culture. The empire’s strong effects still stayed in the heart of Cambodia, and have greatly impacted the neighbouring countries.
During the period, the magnificent Khmer empire attracted many scholars, artists and teachers, and literature and arts were widespread. The architectures and sculptures were one of their greatest achievements. Extensive beautiful sculptures in the temples not only depict the history and lives of the empire, but also the well detailed and exquisite flourishing arts culture in that era. The construction of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom were probably the most famous art evidence that were created at that time, relaying the rich nature of details and vitality of the Khmer society.
Angkor was the central settlement at that era. Thus, the history of Angkor was also the history of the Khmer empire. There were no historical records, and thus the sculptures and stone inscriptions were the only possible source of information of the empire. Therefore most of the history of the Khmer civilisation is derived primarily from archaeological references, inscriptions and reports from other sources relevant to the period.
Angkor region
Ruler, War and Conquer
The success of an empire depends very much on its ruler. The ruler determines the direction and characteristics of its empire. By looking at some rulers’ profile, we are able to determine aspects that caused Khmer empire to be so successful and powerful.
In AD 802, Jayavarman II was the founder of the Khmer empire when he asserted the notion of independence and defied the Javanese. He proclaimed himself as a “god-king” or deva-raja and worshipped God Shiva, typically known as a god of restorer. This resulted in a psychologically impact towards the people on his divine rule of total sovereignty and authority over the empire. This is an ideal strategy as he was able to mobilized huge manpower for military to defend the nation. One reason why he could have adopted this concept was that it had been proven successful in past Indian civilization.
Jayavarman II also chooses a strategic location for its capital in terms of military. His capital, Hariharala was situated in Roluos which was fortified from the world by a dense forest. The only entrance to the capital was along the Tonle Sap Lake. Since it was built at the north of the lake and upstream, it was an added advantage for them. The empire only lost one major naval battle to Champa on Tonle Sap Lake.
Once the capital was established, he expanded his territory by actively waging wars around Cambodia. With Jayavarman II as the founder, Khmer empire had a strong foundation for greater success and achievements.
Indravarman I was the next ruler to have a great impact on Khmer empire. Succeeding the throne in AD 877, he brought unity and peace to the kingdom, and had a reputation of being a strong king in Southeast Asia. He started off the huge irrigation system, by building lakes, reservoirs and dams around the kingdom. Due to its geographical location, the empire is threatened with draughts and monsoons. The extensive irrigation system solves this problem and also provided the empire with consistent harvest of food. This resulted in stronger economy and higher productivity of the Khmer empire.
Later in AD 890, the reigning ruler, Yasovarman I moved the capital from Roluos to Angkor. Evidence has shown that there were tolerance towards the occasional blending of local cults of animists, such as respecting ancestral spirits of the soil and the Hindu and Buddhist sect. Notably, Khmer empire was unparallel to medieval Europe due to its absolutism of its kings and the tolerance in religion.
Lastly, the kings will not have been successful without his faithful subjects and advsiors around him. They were Khmer Brahmins, learned influential men whose vast knowledge was acquired from their own family. By helping the king managed the country efficiently, the empire grew stronger.
preparation for battles
Jayavarman II
Water System and Management
Water System and Management
Situated in a tropical Monsoon region, the empire’s climate is heavily affected by the monsoon seasons and this had an impact on the agricultural system. There were often floods in the silted tributaries as the water flows from the river to its tributaries. In addition, the huge Khmer population posed a pressure on the water system and supply.
The Khmer engineers built an extensive and complex water system to prevent damages on their staple food and trade. This also facilitated water irrigation from rivers to the rice fields during dry seasons and managed floods during wet seasons. The drainage system was largely built with compressed earth and stone structures. The flooded water was then stored in two reservoirs built. This resulted in higher crop productivity and vast improvements to the economy, which brought the empire to prosperity.
With the wealth accumulated, the empire had the ability to deploy people to build temples and recruit manpower for military. The military army plays a major role for invasions and expanding their territory.
The control over water management allowed the Khmer empire to sustain itself and developed into a strong civilization.
The engineering of water system built is extremely intelligent and sophisticated and part of the system is still in use now. The idea of moving large stones and earth to construct the water system not only requires extraordinary skills, but also the technological know-how and huge involvement of labour. The modified landscape was unmatchable.
It was no doubt one of the factors that led to the rise of the empire and amaze the future generations of the possible advanced ideas that could arise in the ancient period.
Causeway
Culture and Religion
One factor that enabled the success of the empire was its warriors. Khmer empire has its own unique set of martial art that allowed them to have a comparative advantage against the enemy.
Bokator, a martial art that was born in the Angkorean era, was one factor that made the empire so powerful. Shown on bas relief in Angkor Wat, the ancient Angkorian army used Bokator, a close quarter combat system. It is a type of warrior’s art, containing different styles that are related to animals, elements and was designed to be applied in wars. This art is unique and deadly as “every part of the body can be used as a weapon”. It reflects how fierce and deadly a Khmer soldier can be. With competitive advantage, they were more able to conquer surrounding kingdoms.
There are essences of Brahmanism and Buddhism religion found in Bokator shows the influence of religion in martial arts.
Another kind of martial art that enabled the Khmer empire to become a dominant force was Pradal Serey, a type of traditional Khmer boxing. This is a more specific but freestyle fighting compared to Bokator.
Bayon bas relief on ancient temples showcased images of Khmer military preparing for wars by using Pradal Serey and elephants. This evidence confirmed the existence of this art in the 9th century. It enabled the warriors to stay very strong since the empire had dominated a large part of mainland Southeast Asia at that era.
Art, Architecture and Religion
One characteristic of ancient Khmer empire is every capital city has its own mountain temple. Roluos had Bakong, Angkor Thom had Baphuon and Angkor wat had Phnom Bakheng.
The architectures built showcases how ingenious the Khmer empire people were. With their abstract thinking, they discovered a technique of grinding stones against one another to create a perfect fit between each stones. With the stones perfectly matched, they were able to treat it as a perfect piece of large rock. This enabled the sculptors to carve big sculptures at ease without having fear of chipping the sides of the stone.
The development in architecture provides insights to the different stages and beliefs in the Khmer empire. Each different period of the empire was distinguished with distinct structural styles and features.
To ensure harmony and order, early temples built contained five towers, one in the centre and 4 surrounding it, and a moat. This represents the land of the Gods in Hinduism where the middle tower symbolises Mount Meru and the moat symbolises the cosmic ocean.
It was vital to ensure that there is enough food to sustain the huge Khmer population. Therefore huge construction of dams and reservoirs were built, with advanced ideas, to distribute water across the land. It was used extensively for agriculture to ensure abundant food supplies throughout the 4 seasons.
Khmer empire was famous for its rich and delicate stone sculptures. The sculptures were meticulously made, creating impeccable and exquisite pieces of art. These can be seen on temples in Angkor like Angkor Wat, or at Cambodia’s border on Wat Phu in Laos, Phnomrung in Thailand. A special Khmer style of sculpturing merges the Indian religions of Buddhism and Hinduism with its indigenous animist beliefs.
The sculptures portray religion practices, mythology, events such as wars and the civilization lifestyle of the empire. Since they record events and practices across time, architectures and historians were able to deduce the explicit details throughout the whole period of Khmer empire. For example, through the sculptures we can find out the different types of religion that was practiced during the Khmer empire. When Buddhism was later introduced into the empire, the sculptures were more concentrated on Lord Buddha and its teachings.
In each sculpture, it also showcases the different imaginations that the sculptors had on different mythologies. Each sculpture was uniquely produced with different postures and decorations.
Sculptures were not limited to stone temple carving, they can also be found on river beds, and reservoirs. These sculptures were believed to be able to irrigate the rice fields for better harvest.
hell
Sculptures
Bayon
Kbal Spean
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is one of the largest religious buildings in the world, covering a massive area of 200 acres with a huge moat surrounding it. It is known to be a master piece of Khmer architecture. Angkor Wat was built when Suryavarman II was in reign in 1113-1150. The structure was built as a mausoleum for the ruler. Unlike past rulers, the temple was dedicated to the deity in Hinduism, Vishnu “the Preserver” instead of Siva “the Destroyer” which the king had identified himself with.
Khmer’s architectures are very closely related with religion. Angkor Wat was built based on Hinduism. Its central 5 towers were believed to symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru. The mountain illustrates the home of Gods which lies in the centre of the Hindu universe
The aspect of fertility was held in high importance, especially for child birth and abundant harvest. Heading towards the entrance of the temple, giant serpents shaped balustrades can be seen. These were believed to be symbols of cosmic fertility.
Angkor Wat also depicts the Hindu cosmology. The most extraordinary feature is the sculptural ornaments covering the temple. It contains the longest and continuous bas-relief that can be found in the world. The sculptures showcase the Hindu mythology, especially those that were linked with God Visnu and the life of the imperial court. Through these sculptures, historians were able to uncover and understand events happening at that time.
In 12th century, Theravada Buddhism became popular and the new ruler Jayavarman VII converted into a Buddhist. Soon Angkor Wat was turned into a Buddhist temple with retained features of Hinduism. This shows how the power of the Khmer ruler in influencing the empire’s religion. Today, most of the people’s religion in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia is still Theravada Buddhism.
With the downfall of the empire in 14th century, Angkor Wat became lost in the thick jungles. It was rediscovered by Western scholars in 1860. Today, Angkor Wat is featured in Cambodia’s national flag, symbolizing Khmer people’s soul, connection and importance of their past. Also, it has been classified as UNESCO “World Heritage”, showing its importance. Angkor Wat is carefully preserved today, for its history, the respect for ancestors and for the benefit of the world community.
Vishu
Decline and end of empire
The magnificent temple structures, comprehensive water and transport systems and inscriptions showing a secured empire gave a deception of the strong stability of the empire. However, inscriptions further showed the empire’s suffering from foreign invasions and rebellions.
There were no clear and full explanations for the decline of the empire. The decline and the end of an empire are not simply caused by a factor alone. In the case of the Khmer empire, a possible mixture of several factors causes great damage and surprisingly, some factors that aid the empire to its peak were the ones that brought to its downfall too.
External threat: Thailand
The civilization was declining during the 13th and 14th centuries. Furthermore, the Khmer empire’s domination decline as they fought series of repeated wars with their neighours and subsequent invasions from rising Thailand.
Abandonment of the Angkor is widely believed to be due to Thai invasions. During the ongoing war, the whole population had to participate, resulting in poor maintenance of water system and leaving the nation severely destroyed. After the successful Thai invasion, many people and institutions moved over to Thailand and some proceeded to Phnom Penh, the newly emerged capital.
Water system and its maintenance
The Khmer empire had built a thorough and extensive water drainage system that was used for irrigation, trade and travel. Most of the water canals were used for the harvesting of rice, a primary staple food and an important trade commodity for the empire. With increasing population growth, the strain on the water system got heavier hence resulted in flooding and water shortage. To solve the problem, deforestation was used to acquire more land for rice fields. However, this created a massive problem of rapid sediment runoff to the canal during rain and unsteady water flow and thus, dire impacts on the population.
Furthermore, the government was largely weakened due to wars and religious issues. They were unable to maintain and further constructions of water canals that were vital to the irrigation for the labour-intensive rice field. This lack of water source led to decreased economic activity and the population to disintegrate.
Heavy dependence on the system created more problems in order to maintain. Furthermore, the competitive water use made maintenance tough and maintenance projects were costly, draining off the empire’s wealth. The great control allowed the Khmer to have a political advantage, but it also weakened the empire greatly.
Erosion of the state religion
It was believed that the conversion of religion to Theravada Buddhism resulted in the decline of the power of the idea of kingship in Hinduism and reduced the strength of the society’s hierarchical structure, challenging the supreme power of Angkorian monarchy.
Natural disaster
It was hypothesized that the quick weakening and fall of Angkor could be due to natural disasters that cause massive destruction and shortage of water.
Therefore, as you can see, the final fall of Angkor would be due to the combination of the several destructive factors; the move of economic and political significance to Phnom Penh as an important trade centre, the possibility of natural disasters and change of religion. Costly and decreasing construction projects and fight for power in the royal family cause the demise of the Khmer empire.
An interesting discovery was that despite the fall of the Khmer empire, there was further evidence that a king temporarily won back Angkor. Evidence also proved the existence of Japanese settlements with the remaining Khmer before the total collapse of the empire.
Restoration and Preservation of Angkor
The Angkor city and temples were buried in the jungle before they were rediscovered in late 19th century by French archaeologists. Since then, it has become the focus of interest for study and thereafter attracted several interested groups to aid in its restoration and preservation.
During 1992, Angkor was announced as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Significant international tourism to Angkor had been a source of financial assistance to restoration.
Many structures at Angkor remained in rubbles in the jungle and many of them were inaccessible due to unexploded land mines that were left from the wars.
countryside
Influences
Language
One of the major influences that the Khmer empire had on present Cambodia is language.
The old Khmer language is one of the oldest languages and distinctive in Southeast Asia. During earlier era of Angkor, Sanskrit and old Khmer were predominantly used. After the Angkor period, more of the language adapted was from Pali and Middle Khmer languages.
The modern Khmer language is derived from Old Khmer. Through cultural and linguistic interaction, the language now used in Cambodia was adapted from Thai and Vietnam where they all share the same religion, Theravada Buddhism and also the French colony.
Localization of Khmer in neighbouring countries
The countries, Thailand and Laos, which were once conquered by Khmer, had been heavily influenced during the invasion through arts and culture. However, they did not fully adapt the whole of Khmer’s culture. Traces of Khmer’s localization can be seen from different aspects such as architecture, as these countries do share similar features with present Cambodia as well.
Architecture
In Laos, there are many temples with Khmer and Siamese influence together with Laos’s unique elements. This is mainly due to the influence left behind by the Khmers when they conquered part of Laos.
Culture
The Khmer classical dance, Robam Tep Apsara, was primarily performed only for the royalty. The dance has similar features with the Thai classical dance. It could be due to cultural exchange during the post-Angkor period. The public was exposed to the dance in the 20th century. Now, it remained as celebrated representation to the Khmer civilization, often performed for events and tourism.
national museum
houses a wide collection of Khmer religious, archaeological and artistic artefacts
