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The Angkorian period lasted from the early ninth
century to the early fifteenth century and is considered the golden age of
Khmer civilisation.
Angkorian society was very hierarchical although the
Indian caste system never took hold.
- The king was regarded as a personification of a
Hindu deity. He was the sole owner the land and of his subjects.
- Immediately below the king and the royal
family came the Brahman priesthood and a small class of
officials.
- Next were the ordinary people who were burdened
with heavy labour duties.
- There was also a large number of slaves who were
forced to build the enduring monuments and infrastructure.
The kingdom was founded by Jayavarman II (802-850).
From the early ninth to the mid-fifteenth centuries it was known as
Kambuja, which was originally the name of an early north Indian state.
Jayavarman II moved his government around in the area northern region of
the Tonle Sab.
It was only under Indravarman I (877-889)
that the Angkorian complexes were built. He is credited for the
construction of a large reservoir north of Angkor to provide irrigation
for rice cultivation. He extended the kingdom's territory as far west as
the Korat Plateau in Siam.
His son, Yasovarman I (889-900), built the
Eastern Baray (baray means reservoir or tank), evidence of which you can
witness in the present time. Its dikes, which may be visited today and are
more than 6 kilometres long and 1.6 kilometres wide.
The elaborate system of canals and reservoirs were
built under Indravarman I and his successors and brought Cambodia
prosperity during some 5 centuries. By freeing rice harvest from
dependence on unreliable seasonal monsoons, they made 2 or 3 crops per
year possible which provided the country with large rice surpluses.
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Suryavarman II (1113-50) was one of the
greatest Angkorian kings. He expanded the kingdom in a series of
successful wars against the kingdom of Champa in what is now central
Vietnam, the kingdom of Nam Viet in northern Vietnam and the small Mon
polities in the west. He submitted the Siamese peoples who had migrated
into Southeast Asia from the Yunnan region of south China into vassalage .
His greatest achievement was the construction of
the temple city complex
of Angkor Watt.
Angkor Watt is the largest religious edifice in the
world. Suryavarman II's reign was followed by thirty years of dynastic
rivalry. An invasion by rebellious Cham from southern Vietnam destroyed the city of Angkor in 1177.
Order was restored and the Cham ultimately were driven out by Jayavarman
VII. He drove the Cham out of Kambudja and his army sacked the Cham
capital of Vijaya to avenge the looting of Angkor. His reign (1181-ca. 1218) marked the decline of Cambodia's
power. Jayavarman VII broke with the tradition of his predecessors, who
had adopted the cult of the Hindu god-king, He was a fervent patron of
Mahayana Buddhism.
After Jayavarman VII's death, Cambodia entered a
long period of decline that led to its near total disintegration. The
Siamese were a growing menace on the kingdom's western borders. The spread
of Theravada Buddhism, which came to Cambodia from Sri Lanka through the
Mon kingdoms, were a challenge to the royal Hindu and Mahayana Buddhist
cults. With this new religion, Cambodians had become part of the same
religious and cultural cosmos as the Siamese.
Slavery, necessary for the upkeep of the
infrastructure and wars against invaders was not acceptable in the
Theravada Buddhist belief.
Cambodia's decline during the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries probably was contributed to by the deterioration of
the irrigation system. Attacks by Siamese and other peoples and an
internal conflicts caused by dynastic rivalries may have hastened the
process by diverting work force needed for the upkeep of the system.
Gradually Cambodia disintegrated... |
