The country's most important geographical features are the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap, or Great Lake, which drains into the Mekong at Phnom Penh. The central lowlands support rice cultivation while the southern coastline is heavily forested and separated from the rest of the country by the Cardamom and Elephant mountain ranges. Temperatures range from 10°C/50°F to 38°C/100°F. The tropical monsoon season runs from May to October, with the heaviest rains falling in the last two months of the cycle. The dry season lasts from November to March.

The language of Cambodia is Khmer, which has a written tradition going back at least 1400 years, though there are isolated words appearing in older Sanskrit inscriptions. The written script is thought to have descended from the southern Indian Brahmi. The name of the country is derived from Kambuja, the name of the ancient Khmer kingdom, which itself came from the Sanskrit. The formal name of Cambodia is Prâteh Kampuchea, or the Country of Cambodia, while the informal name most used by modern Cambodians is Srok Khmae, the Khmer Land.







Prehistory
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Mekong delta region has been inhabited since at least 4000 BCE. The earliest migrations of the proto-Malays were followed by people from southwest China and northeast India. From 1000 BCE, groups organized themselves into villages which often had a circular layout and were fortified. The houses of this period are thought to have been constructed on stilts and reached by ladders. The people had domesticated pigs and water buffaloes, and grew rice and root crops.


Funan (1st to 6th century CE)
Map of Funan

The sea trading kingdom of Funan encompassed most of Cambodia from the first to the sixth centuries. During the first or second century, India began to trade with the inhabitants of Southeast Asia. According to Chinese sources, Funan was founded as the result of a marriage between an Indian, Kaundinya, and a local princess, Soma. Funan's location on the Mekong delta gave the kingdom control over the sea routes from China and India, as well as river traffic on the Mekong. There is archaeological evidence that Funan traded with the Near East, and even with the Romans. Funan's major port was at Oc Eo, in what is now Viet Nam.

Chinese sources describe the walled towns and palaces of Funan, and houses which continued to be built on pilings to avoid the annual flooding. There was a system of taxation on the trade of gold, silver, perfumes, and pearls. The judicial system relied on trials by ordeal. Most of the inhabitants were farmers, and there is evidence of extensive irrigation systems dating from this period. The Chinese made note of the skill of the engravers and metalworkers of the region. Funan posessed books and kept records written in Sanskrit after about the fifth century.

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of brick temples and brick vaults containing cremated human remains. Gold jewelry has been found which was decorated with precious stones and glass, many with symbols of Hindu deities or the local flora and fauna. Discoveries also include evidence of metal casting, as well as seals with Bhrahmi script from India.

Angkor Borei was a city of about 750 acres located just above the Mekong delta which may have been the capital of Funan at one time, though the site was in use as far back as the fourth century BCE. During the Funan period, the settlement was protected by a brick wall and a moat, and was linked to other settlements by canals. Remains of brick temple foundations, ponds and reservoirs have been documented, and a distinctive thin orange pottery that dates from the Funan period has been found in great quantities. A statue of Vishnu from the seventh century was uncovered during the excavation of one of the temple mounds.

The maritime trade which aided Funan's rise eventually caused its decline as sea trading patterns changed toward the end of the fifth century. In the early sixth century, the vassal state of Chenla gained independence from Funan and over the next sixty years became dominant over its predecessor, absorbing both Funan's people and its Indian traditions.


Chenla (550 BCE-8th century)
Map of Chenla

The first capital of Chenla was at Sambor Prei Kuk, where today there are the remains of over one hundred pre-Angkorian temples. Later records mention another capital at Bhavapura. By the eighth century, political contentions with in the court resulted in Chenla dividing into two states, Land Chenla in the upland north and Water Chenla in the maritime south. There is evidence that this southern state may have occupied Funan's old capital of Angkor Borei during this period. In the late eighth century, Chenla was conquered by the Java Empire, the location of which is debated between today's Indonesian Java Island, or the Malay Peninsula.

During the Chenla period, there were numerous vassal kings and government officials, as the state government became increasingly centralized. Chinese sources say that the king held an audience every three days while seated on a throne in a finely decorated hall and protected by many guards. He wore gold ear pendants and his crown was of gold and precious stones. Before speaking, courtiers and officials had to touch the ground three times with their head below the steps leading to the throne, and at the end of the audience all the members of the court prostrated themselves. While the elites adopted Indian customs, the main populace continued the indigenous Khmer traditions.

The economy was mainly agrarian and centered around the temples, which played a major part in the management and distribution of agricultural surpluses. Men of high status with the title of pon often acted as managers of these temples and would donate land and organize their extended families to farm it, thus building up a store of wealth in the form of rice, cloth and land connected to a temple. The temples housed ancestral spirits, so the more wealth they had, the better were the patron's chances at a "harmonious reincarnation". Stored assets were also traded, not only for needed goods, but for gold and silver. Land could be mortgaged to a temple for gold or silver, with the produce of the land serving as the interest payments.

Occupations listed in inscriptions from this period include weavers, spinners, potters, leaf sewers, basket makers, smiths, cooks, salt producers, perfume grinders, priests, musicians, singers, dancers, record keepers, rice growers, and herdsmen.


Angkor Period (834-1431)







The Khmer Empire was founded by Jayavarman II in the early ninth century. The capital was established at Angkor during the 11th century. The Khmers were able to build Cambodia into a prosperous land which at its height supported over one million inhabitants. This prosperity created a manpower resource which was tapped to build the elaborate temples for which Cambodia has become known. The power of the Khmer empire waned during the 13th century and for the next four hundred years, the Khmer kings concentrated on holding back incursions from both Thailand and Viet Nam. In 1887 Cambodia became a French colony.







The Khmer empire is noted for its art and architecture. Khmer sculptors were masters of stone carving and bronze casting. Take a virtual tour of an exhibition of ancient Cambodian sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.


Cambodian family names here in the Ancient Worlds Orient are Kaundinya and Sitrasena.




Sources:

Higham, Charles F.W. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2004.
wikipedia: Cambodia
Cambodia Cultural Profile
Cambodia
Khmer Civilization
Chronology of Cambodian History

Photos by:
- David and Magalie (1st and 3rd)
- Cayce (2nd)
All under the Creative Commons license.

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