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| Kambuj
Desh |
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Kambuj
was the ancient name of the country which comprised the whole of Cambodia
and at different times, parts of Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar
of modern times. The Khmers of ancient Kambuj now live in Cambodia,
also known as Kampuchea, which is the same word Kambuj but pronounced
differently. In French, the name of the country is Cambodge, which
is again derived from Kambuj. |
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South
East Asia |
| Angkor |
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The
centre of the great Angkorean civilisation which flourished between
the 9th and the 13th centuries was located in Siem Reap province in
the north-west part of Cambodia. The word ‘Angkor’ is
derived from the Sanskrit word ‘nagar’, usually meaning
the capital town. Since the capital of the Khmer Empire was generally
located in this region, the ‘nagar’ word was used for
it. However, sometime later, the pronunciation of the word changed
from ‘nagar’ to nokor and ‘Angkor’. Today,
the word ‘Angkor’ represents the glorious Khmer civilisation
that flourished in Kambuj between the 9th and the 13th centuries and
also the whole site in Siem Reap Province where the main temples built
by this civilisation are located. |
Cambodia
- The Ancient
Kambuj |
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| History
of Kambuj |
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The
contact of Southeast Asia with India started somewhere in the pre-historic
times when the sea trade relations between the two regions were established.
Around the first century A.D. many parts of Southeast Asia had started
undergoing a process whereby Indian culture was assimilated by the
local people. This process of cultural assimilation and development
continued for centuries and through peaceful cultural processes, the
civilisation in this region continued to evolve further. |
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Location
of Angkor Temples |
| Funan |
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The
first Indianised state in the region accounted in the Chinese chronicles
was known as Funan. Indian ideas were assimilated and absorbed by
the people of Funan in the early centuries of the Christian Era. The
Sanskrit language, script, traditions, customs, beliefs, religions,
art, architecture, legal and administrative systems from India were
adopted with suitable adaptations. In the early 7th century, the state
of Funan was conquered by Kambuj known as Chenla in the Chinese chronicles.
Rudravarman was the last known king of Funan. |
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Ancient
temple, Sambor Prei Kuk |
| Khmers |
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The
inhabitants of Kambuj were from the ethnic Mon-Khmer group and were
known as Khmers. Originally, Kambuj was a small vassal state of Funan
and was situated in the north-east of Cambodia. The name of Kambuj
meaning born of Kambu, according to the local traditions, was drawn
from Kambu Svayambhuva. The Sanskrit inscription of King of Kambuj,
Rajendravarman II, at Baksei Chamkrong temple near Phnom Bakheng in
Siem Reap, in its verses, mentions Rishi Kambu Svayambhuva and Mera
from whom the Khmers descended. It also mentions the Kaundinya Brahman
who married Soma to establish the first Indianised state of Funan. |
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Baksei
Chamkrong temple |
| Rise
of Kambuj |
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The
inscription also mentions the names of Shrutavarman and his son Shreshthavarman,
the two historical kings, from whom the subsequent kings of Kambuj
traced their descent. Shreshthapur, the capital of the kingdom was
in the neighbourhood of Wat Phu near Bassac in present day Laos. The
dynasty of Shrutavarman was followed by Bhavavarman who flourished
around the middle of the 6th century and founded a new capital at
Bhavapur. The kings of this dynasty considerably expanded the kingdom
of Kambuj and one of its renowned kings, Ishanvarman established his
capital at Sambor Prei Kuk, one of the major sites of pre-Angkorean
temples. Henceforth, Kambuj was the leading state and comprised the
whole of Cambodia proper. Jayavarman I is the last known king of this
family who supposedly ruled in the second half of the 7th century.
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Sanskrit
Inscription, AD 947
Baksei Chamkrong temple |
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| Dark
Period |
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The
century following the death of Jayavarman I is a dark period in the
history of Kambuj. According to the Chinese accounts, in the 8th century,
the country of Chenla was divided in to land and water Chenlas. The
obscurity prevails thereafter. The history, however, is traced again
with the accession of Jayavarman II who founded the Angkor dynasty
in 802 A.D. Jayavarman II established his capital first at Mahendra
Parvat now known as Phnom Kulen. Later, he establsihed his capitals
at Amerndrapur and Indrapur also but finally settled at Hariharalaya,
the present site of Roluos group of temples. During his reign from
802 A.D. to 835 A.D., King Jayavarman II consolidated Kambuj and it
became the centre of power and culture. |
Bakong
temple, AD 889 |
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| Rise
of Glorious Angkor Civilisation |
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Thereafter,
Kambuj Desh evolved in to a powerful state from the 9th century onwards
and the Khmers became one of the highly evolved societies in the world.
The creative genius and the innate devotional nature of the Khmers
combined with the basic principles of Indian civilisation in the fields
of religion, culture, art and architecture, created the most beautiful
temples in the world between the 9th and the 13th centuries including
‘Angkor Wat’. Built by the great King Suravarman II in
the 12th century, Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the world and
a rare creative work of human civilisation. |
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Angkor
Wat temple |
| End
of Angkor Civilisation |
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The
history of Kambuj subsequent to the 14th century is known only from
Khmer chronicles. During this period, the kingdom of Kambuj was gradually
losing its glory and power to its two immediate neighbours, Thais
and Champa. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, due to frequent
external aggressions, Siem Reap was abandoned as the capital and a
dark era dawned on the one-time great empire with one of the richest
cultural histories in the world. The continuity of Khmer history was
thus broken in the fifteenth century and the temples which were the
concrete manifestations of the devoltion, spirituality and inner beauty
of the ancient Khmers were lost to civilisation for over five hundred
years. |
Angkor
Wat temple at Dawn |
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| Angkor
Temples ( Pre- Angkor Wat ) >> |
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