The Best of Cambodia & Laos

Phnom Penh (see p. 83 for more on the
trials). It remains a controversial process,
since many see it as too little too late and as
a token and cosmetic attempt to address
only the superficial issues, while ignoring
the realities of ordinary people in living
with the Khmer Rouge legacy in the country
as a whole. Others see it entirely differently
as a process providing genuine justice
even if it is so many years on. The issues
remain fraught with controversy to this day.
EARLY YEARS
The history of what is now Cambodia is
largely about the roller-coaster sweep of
empire across the whole of the region
including Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.
They are all related.
The earliest recognizable national entity
in what is now Cambodia was the Indianized
kingdom of Funan. This trading
nation flourished from the 1st to the 6th
century a.d. and probably existed between
Prey Veng Province in Cambodia and
Kien Giang Province in Vietnam. As most
Khmers will tell you, they still regard
southern Vietnam, or “Kampuchea
Krom,” as rightfully Cambodian and historically
they have a pretty strong case.
Although Cambodia was at the time a
patchwork of small fiefdoms sometimes at
peace and sometimes at war with one
another, it was through its position as a
major seaport that Funan imported the
Indian religion and culture that would be
so important in shaping the future of the
region. At its height Funan and its related
states stretched across Vietnam, Laos, and
as far as the Malay Peninsula. The kingdom
is said to have employed Indians in
the administration of the state. Sanskrit
was the court language, and the Funanese
advocated initially Hindu and, after the
5th century, Buddhist religious practice.
Hindu deities Shiva and Vishnu were the
2 LOOKING BACK
Cambodia may be booming, vibrant,
and heading toward the future in one way.
It may remain vulnerable, troubled, and
traumatized in another. It is always complicated.
Sometimes it is infuriating, exhilarating,
and occasionally horrifying. One
thing that it never can be is boring.
Whichever side of it you may wish to
emphasize, Cambodia remains one of the
world’s most compelling destinations.
focus of worship and the Lingam (or
Indian phallic totem and temple focus)
seems to have played a central role in religious
practice.
By the 6th century, Funan was weakening
as trade diminished due to historical
shifts in faraway places. The population
largely shifted from the coastal areas
inland to the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers,
moving from oceangoing trade to wet
rice production. Power shifted from the
Kingdom of Funan to the more specifically
Khmer rebel entity of Chenla. Chenla
later divided into separate north and
south, referred to by contemporary Chinese
sources as “Chenla of the Land” and
“Chenla of the Sea,” respectively. What is
now Champasak in Laos was the center of
the north, while the lands around the
Mekong Delta and the coast belonged to
the south. By the 8th century, Chenla too
was weakening as various vassal states
broke away.
THE RISE OF ANGKOR
Jayavarman I was the first king of what
historians consider to have been the
Khmer empire. It emerged from the Kingdom
of Kambuja, after which Cambodia
is named. He ruled from approximately
657 to 681 but died without an heir. Over
the course of his reign, he consolidated
power over the lands around him. However,
Jayavarman left no male heirs, which
11
CAMBODIA IN DEPTH 2
LOOKING BACK