You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
12<br />
CAMBODIA IN DEPTH<br />
2<br />
LOOKING BACK<br />
led to a return to the chaotic conditions<br />
that previously held sway.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se events preceded the rise <strong>of</strong> the<br />
mightiest empire in all <strong>of</strong> Southeast Asia.<br />
It was Jayavarman II, the “god-king” or<br />
devaraja, who set <strong>of</strong>f the train <strong>of</strong> events<br />
that would lead to Khmer rule encompassing<br />
all <strong>of</strong> what is now <strong>Cambodia</strong>, most <strong>of</strong><br />
what now makes up Thailand and <strong>Laos</strong>,<br />
and large parts <strong>of</strong> present-day Vietnam.<br />
<strong>The</strong> physical remains <strong>of</strong> this empire are<br />
dotted around the region as far west as<br />
Kanchanaburi and as far north as Sukhothai<br />
in Thailand, and as far east as the<br />
South China Sea. Most historians concur<br />
that Jayavarman II rose to power in about<br />
a.d. 802. Inscribed on the sacred temple<br />
<strong>of</strong> Sdok Kak Thom on Phnom Kulen<br />
Mountain north <strong>of</strong> Angkor is an account<br />
<strong>of</strong> how Jayavarman had himself made<br />
“chakravartin” or universal monarch. It<br />
was this dawn <strong>of</strong> the age <strong>of</strong> god-kings that<br />
saw the creation <strong>of</strong> Angkor.<br />
Although Hinduism had arrived, original<br />
feudal and animist practices survived.<br />
One such belief was the blurring <strong>of</strong> definition<br />
between God and feudal lords. This<br />
feudal reverence is imbued in the Khmer<br />
psyche and in mutated forms continues to<br />
this day. Through alliance and conquest,<br />
Jayavarman first subjugated nearby Khmer<br />
local warlords. He then turned his attention<br />
further afield. Not much is actually<br />
known about Jayavarman II except the fact<br />
that he consolidated the lands that are<br />
now <strong>Cambodia</strong> and laid the groundwork<br />
for the empire that was to follow.<br />
Angkor is the surviving representation<br />
<strong>of</strong> hugely ambitious construction. Indravarman<br />
I (a.d. 877–89) initiated incredible<br />
irrigation projects (an obsession with<br />
irrigation was revisited under Pol Pot’s<br />
Khmer Rouge centuries later, inspired by<br />
Angkorian supremacy). <strong>The</strong>se projects<br />
were vastly complex and allowed the production<br />
<strong>of</strong> up to three rice harvests a year.<br />
Angkor was a power built on water and<br />
rice. Indravarman also presided over a<br />
flowering <strong>of</strong> the arts.<br />
THE DECLINE OF<br />
ANGKOR & BATTLES<br />
WITH SIAM<br />
By the end <strong>of</strong> the 10th century, the empire<br />
was in trouble. A usurper, Suryavarman,<br />
pushed the boundaries <strong>of</strong> empire further<br />
by annexing Lopburi in what is now central<br />
Thailand. <strong>The</strong> town is still home to<br />
some impressive Khmer ruins (largely<br />
inhabited by monkeys). <strong>The</strong> rise and fall<br />
<strong>of</strong> Angkor was not one unified process. It<br />
ebbed and flowed with periods <strong>of</strong> near collapse<br />
followed by triumphal renewal, with<br />
new additions as a symbol <strong>of</strong> triumph.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> these periods <strong>of</strong> renewal was<br />
under the reign <strong>of</strong> Suryavarman II (1112–<br />
77), ending a period <strong>of</strong> disunity marking<br />
military victory against the Kingdom <strong>of</strong><br />
Champa in what is now Vietnam. Above<br />
all, Suryavarman will be remembered as<br />
the man who initially commissioned the<br />
building <strong>of</strong> Angkor Wat itself as a devotion<br />
to the god Vishnu. He was killed in a<br />
retaliatory strike by the maritime forces <strong>of</strong><br />
Champa, who fought their way up the<br />
Mekong and the Tonle Sap Lake and took<br />
the Khmers by surprise.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir triumph was not to last long.<br />
Suryavarman’s cousin Jayavarman VII was<br />
crowned in 1181 and defeated the Chams<br />
decisively. This king was a Buddhist and it<br />
was under his rule that much <strong>of</strong> what one<br />
now sees at Angkor was constructed. It is<br />
likely his face that you see serenely staring<br />
out <strong>of</strong> the walls <strong>of</strong> the Bayon on such an<br />
amazingly impressive scale. <strong>The</strong> bas-reliefs<br />
around Angkor show a Buddhist king<br />
immersed in Buddhist practices. Other<br />
sculptures display an image <strong>of</strong> warlike<br />
ferocity and relentless and brutal killing.<br />
This undertaking probably involved a<br />
huge amount <strong>of</strong> suffering for the laborers.<br />
His motivation was partly political in an<br />
insecure world <strong>of</strong> war and dispute. It was<br />
also partly evangelical. His was the desire<br />
to spread the word <strong>of</strong> Buddhism in a predominantly<br />
Hindu world (although he