History of Cambodia

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Part of a series on the

History of Cambodia

Early history

 Funan
 Chenla
 Khmer Empire 
o Angkor
o Khmer–Cham wars
o Đại Việt–Khmer War

Post-Angkor Period
 Chaktomuk era
 Longvek era
 Siamese-Cambodian War
 Cambodian–Spanish War
 Cambodian–Dutch War
 Oudong era
 Loss of Mekong Delta
 Nguyễn Kingdom's invasion

Colonial period
 French protectorate
o French Indochina
 Japanese occupation (Cambodia in 1945)

Independence and conflict

 Post-independence 
o US bombing
o Sihanouk Trail
 o Cambodian campaign
o 1970 coup
 Khmer Republic 
o US bombing
 Cambodian Civil War 
o fall of Phnom Penh
 Democratic Kampuchea 
o Mayaguez incident
o Cambodian genocide
 Cambodian–Vietnamese War
 People's Republic of Kampuchea 
o exiled coalition government
o K5 Plan

Peace process
 1991 Paris Peace Agreements
 United Nations Transitional
Authority (UNTAC, 1992–93)
 1993 election

Modern Cambodia
 Economy
 1997 coup
 Khmer Rouge Tribunal
 2003 Phnom Penh riots
 Cambodian–Thai border dispute
 2013–2014 protests
 COVID-19 pandemic

By topic
 Buddhism
 Economic history
 Humanitarian crisis
 Military history
 Monarchy
 Names
 Heads of state

 Timeline

 Cambodia portal
  v
 t
 e

The history of Cambodia, a country in mainland Southeast Asia, can be traced back to

Indian civilization.[1][2] Detailed records of a political structure on the territory of what is
now Cambodia first appear in Chinese annals in reference to Funan, a polity that
encompassed the southernmost part of the Indochinese peninsula during the 1st to 6th
centuries. Centered at the lower Mekong,[3] Funan is noted as the oldest
regional Hindu culture, which suggests prolonged socio-economic interaction with
maritime trading partners of the Indosphere in the west.[4] By the 6th century a
civilization, called Chenla or Zhenla in Chinese annals, firmly replaced Funan, as it
controlled larger, more undulating areas of Indochina and maintained more than a
singular centre of power.[5][6]
The Khmer Empire was established by the early 9th century. Sources refer here to a
mythical initiation and consecration ceremony to claim political legitimacy by
founder Jayavarman II at Mount Kulen (Mount Mahendra) in 802 CE.[7] A succession of
powerful sovereigns, continuing the Hindu devaraja cult tradition, reigned over the
classical era of Khmer civilization until the 11th century. A new dynasty of provincial
origin introduced Buddhism, which according to some scholars resulted in royal
religious discontinuities and general decline. [8] The royal chronology ends in the 14th
century. Great achievements
in administration, agriculture, architecture, hydrology, logistics, urban planning and the
arts are testimony to a creative and progressive civilisation - in its complexity a
cornerstone of Southeast Asian cultural legacy. [9]
The decline continued through a transitional period of approximately 100 years followed
by the Middle Period of Cambodian history, also called the Post-Angkor Period,
beginning in the mid 15th century. Although the Hindu cults had by then been all but
replaced, the monument sites at the old capital remained an important spiritual centre.
[10]
 Yet since the mid 15th century the core population steadily moved to the east and –
with brief exceptions – settled at the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers
at Chaktomuk, Longvek and Oudong.[11][12]
Maritime trade was the basis for a very prosperous 16th century. But, as a result
foreigners – Muslim Malays and Cham, Christian European
adventurers and missionaries – increasingly disturbed and influenced government
affairs. Ambiguous fortunes, a robust economy on the one hand and a disturbed culture
and compromised royalty on the other were constant features of the Longvek era. [13][14]
By the 15th century, the Khmers' traditional neighbours, the Mon people in the west and
the Cham people in the east had gradually been pushed aside or replaced by the
resilient Siamese/Thai and Annamese/Vietnamese, respectively.[15] These powers had
perceived, understood and increasingly followed the imperative of controlling the lower
Mekong basin as the key to control all Indochina. A weak Khmer kingdom only
encouraged the strategists in Ayutthaya (later in Bangkok) and in Huế. Attacks on and
conquests of Khmer royal residences left sovereigns without a ceremonial and
 legitimate power base.[16][17] Interference in succession and marriage policies added to the
decay of royal prestige. Oudong was established in 1601 as the last royal residence of
the Middle Period.[18]
The 19th-century arrival of then technologically more advanced and
ambitious European colonial powers with concrete policies of global control put an end
to regional feuds and as Siam/Thailand, although humiliated and on the retreat,
escaped colonisation as a buffer state, Vietnam was to be the focal point of French
colonial ambition.[19] [20] Cambodia, although largely neglected,[21] had entered
the Indochinese Union as a perceived entity and was capable to carry and reclaim its
identity and integrity into modernity.[22][23]
After 80 years of colonial hibernation, the brief episode of Japanese
occupation during World War II, that coincided with the investiture of king Sihanouk was
the opening act[24] for the irreversible process towards re-emancipation and modern
Cambodian history. The Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–70), independent since 1953,
struggled to remain neutral in a world shaped by polarisation of the nuclear powers USA
and Soviet Union.[25] As the Indochinese war escalates, Cambodia becomes increasingly
involved,[26] the Khmer Republic is one of the results in 1970, another is civil war. 1975,
abandoned and in the hands of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia endures its darkest hour
– Democratic Kampuchea[15] and its long aftermath of Vietnamese occupation,
the People's Republic of Kampuchea and the UN Mandate towards Modern
Cambodia since 1993.[27]

Contents

 1Prehistory and early history

 2Funan Kingdom (1st century – 550/627)
 3Chenla Kingdom (6th century – 802)
 4Khmer Empire (802–1431)
 5Post-Angkor Period of Cambodia (1431–1863)
o 5.1Vietnamese occupations (1811–1845)
 6French colonial period (1863–1953)
 7Administration of Sihanouk (1953–70)
 8Khmer Republic and the War (1970–75)
o 8.1Foreign involvement in the rise of the Khmer Rouge
 9Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge era) (1975–79)
o 9.1Destruction and deaths caused by the regime
 10Vietnamese occupation and the PRK (1979–93)
 11Modern Cambodia (1993–present)
 12See also
 13References
 14Further reading
 15External links

Prehistory and early history[edit]

Main article: Early history of Cambodia
Radiocarbon dating of a cave at Laang Spean in Battambang Province,
northwest Cambodia confirmed the presence of Hoabinhian stone tools from 6000–
7000 BCE and pottery from 4200 BCE.[28][29] Starting in 2009 archaeological research of
the Franco-Cambodian Prehistoric Mission has documented a complete cultural
sequence from 71.000 years BP to the Neolithic period in the cave.[30] Finds since 2012
lead to the common interpretation, that the cave contains the archaeological remains of
a first occupation by hunter and gatherer groups, followed by Neolithic people with
highly developed hunting strategies and stone tool making techniques, as well as highly
artistic pottery making and design, and with elaborate social, cultural, symbolic and
exequial practices.[31] Cambodia participated in the Maritime Jade Road, which was in
place in the region for 3,000 years, beginning in 2000 BCE to 1000 CE. [32][33][34][35]
Skulls and human bones found at Samrong Sen in Kampong Chhnang Province date
from 1500 BCE. Heng Sophady (2007) has drawn comparisons between Samrong Sen
and the circular earthwork sites of eastern Cambodia. These people may have migrated
from South-eastern China to the Indochinese Peninsula. Scholars trace the first
cultivation of rice and the first bronze making in Southeast Asia to these people. [36]
2010 Examination of skeletal material from graves at Phum Snay in north-west
Cambodia revealed an exceptionally high number of injuries, especially to the head,
likely to have been caused by interpersonal violence. The graves also contain a quantity
of swords and other offensive weapons used in conflict. [37]
The Iron Age period of Southeast Asia begins around 500 BCE and lasts until the end of
the Funan era - around 500 A.D. as it provides the first concrete evidence for sustained
maritime trade and socio-political interaction with India and South Asia. By the 1st
century settlers have developed complex, organised societies and a varied religious
cosmology, that required advanced spoken languages very much related to those of the
present day. The most advanced groups lived along the coast and in the lower Mekong
River valley and the delta regions in houses on stilts where they cultivated rice, fished
and kept domesticated animals.[3][38][39][40]

Funan Kingdom (1st century – 550/627)[edit]

Main article: Kingdom of Funan

Map of Funan at around the 3rd century.

Chinese annals[41] contain detailed records of the first known organised polity,
the Kingdom of Funan, on Cambodian and Vietnamese territory characterised by "high
population and urban centers, the production of surplus food...socio-political
stratification [and] legitimized by Indian religious ideologies". [42][43] Centered around the
lower Mekong and Bassac rivers from the first to sixth century CE with "walled and
moated cities"[44] such as Angkor Borei in Takeo Province and Óc Eo in modern An
Giang Province, Vietnam.
Early Funan was composed of loose communities, each with its own ruler, linked by a
common culture and a shared economy of rice farming people in the hinterland and
traders in the coastal towns, who were economically interdependent, as surplus rice
production found its way to the ports.[45]
By the second century CE Funan controlled the strategic coastline of Indochina and the
maritime trade routes. Cultural and religious ideas reached Funan via the Indian Ocean
trade route. Trade with India had commenced well before 500 BCE as Sanskrit hadn't
yet replaced Pali.[4] Funan's language has been determined as to have been an early
form of Khmer and its written form was Sanskrit.[46]
Main article: Chenla Kingdom

The territories of Eastern Wu (in green), 262 CE

Roman trade with India according to the Periplus Maris Erythraei, 1st century CE.

In the period 245–250 CE dignitaries of the Chinese Kingdom of Wu visited the Funan

city Vyadharapura.[47][48] Envoys Kang Tai and Zhu Ying defined Funan as to be a
distinct Hindu culture.[49] Trade with China had begun after the southward expansion of
the Han Dynasty, around the 2nd century BCE Effectively Funan "controlled strategic
land routes in addition to coastal areas" [50] and occupied a prominent position as an
"economic and administrative hub"[51][52] between The Indian Ocean trade network and
China, collectively known as the Maritime Silk Road. Trade routes, that eventually
ended in distant Rome are corroborated by Roman and Persian coins and artefacts,
unearthed at archaeological sites of 2nd and 3rd century settlements. [3][53]
This stele found at Tháp Mười in Đồng Tháp Province, Vietnam. The text is in Sanskrit, written in Grantha
alphabet of the Pallava dynasty, dated to the mid-5th century AD, and tells of a donation in honour of Vishnu by
a Prince Gunavarman of the Kaundinya lineage.

Statue of Bodhisattva Lokeshvara excavated in My Tho, Tien Giang province, Vietnam. Style of Phnom Da
(Funan). 7th century AD. Guimet Museum, Paris.

Funan is associated with myths, such as the Kattigara legend and the Khmer founding
legend in which an Indian Brahman or prince named Preah Thaong in Khmer,
Kaundinya in Sanskrit and Hun-t’ien in Chinese records marries the local ruler, a
princess named Nagi Soma (Lieu-Ye in Chinese records), thus establishing the
first Cambodian royal dynasty.[54]
Scholars debate as to how deep the narrative is rooted in actual events and on
Kaundinya's origin and status.[55][56] A Chinese document, that underwent 4
alterations[57] and a 3rd-century epigraphic inscription of Champa are the contemporary
sources.[58] Some scholars consider the story to be simply an allegory for the diffusion of
Indic Hindu and Buddhist beliefs into ancient local cosmology and culture [59] whereas
some historians dismiss it chronologically.[60]
Chinese annals report that Funan reached its territorial climax in the early 3rd century
under the rule of king Fan Shih-man, extending as far south as Malaysia and as far west
as Burma. A system of mercantilism in commercial monopolies was established.
Exports ranged from forest products to precious metals and commodities such as gold,
elephants, ivory, rhinoceros horn, kingfisher feathers, wild spices like cardamom,
lacquer, hides and aromatic wood. Under Fan Shih-man Funan maintained a formidable
fleet and was administered by an advanced bureaucracy, based on a "tribute-based
economy, that produced a surplus which was used to support foreign traders along its
coasts and ostensibly to launch expansionist missions to the west and south". [3]
Historians maintain contradicting ideas about Funan's political status and integrity.
[61]
 Miriam T. Stark calls it simply Funan: [The]"notion of Fu Nan as an early "state"...has
been built largely by historians using documentary and historical evidence" and Michael
Vickery remarks: "Nevertheless, it is...unlikely that the several ports constituted a unified
state, much less an 'empire'".[62] Other sources though, imply imperial status: "Vassal
kingdoms spread to southern Vietnam in the east and to the Malay peninsula in the
west"[63] and "Here we will look at two empires of this period...Funan and Srivijaya". [64]
The question of how Funan came to an end is in the face of almost universal scholarly
conflict impossible to pin down. Chenla is the name of Funan's successor in Chinese
annals, first appearing in 616/617 CE
...the fall of Funan was not the result of the shifting of maritime trade route from the
Malay Peninsula route to the Strait of Malacca starting from the 5th century CE; rather,
it suggests that the conquest of Funan by Zhenla was the exact reason for the shifting
of maritime trade route in the 7th century CE.... [65]
"As Funan was indeed in decline caused by shifts in Southeast Asian maritime trade
routes, rulers had to seek new sources of wealth inland." [66]
"By the end of the fifth century, international trade through southeast Asia was almost
entirely directed through the Strait of Malacca. Funan, from the point of view of this
trade, had outlived its usefulness."[67]
"Nothing in the epigraphical record authorizes such interpretations; and the inscriptions
which retrospectively bridge the so- called Funan-Chenla transition do not indicate a
political break at all."
[68]

The archaeological approach to and interpretation of the entire early historic period is
considered to be a decisive supplement for future research. [69] The "Lower Mekong
Archaeological Project" focuses on the development of political complexity in this region
during the early historic period. LOMAP survey results of 2003 to 2005, for example,
have helped to determine that "...the region's importance continued unabated
throughout the pre-Angkorian period...and that at least three [surveyed areas] bear
Angkorian-period dates and suggest the continued importance of the delta." [3]

Chenla Kingdom (6th century – 802)