The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China and Taiwan, east of India and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic and volcanic activity, based in what is now Cambodia The Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea (/kæmpuːˈtʃiːə/, ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា Preăh Réachéa Nachâk Kâmpŭchea, derived from Sanskrit Kambujadesa), is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh and flourishing from the 9th The 9th century is the period from 801 to 900 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era to the 15th century As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was the century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. The empire, which grew out of former kingdom of Chenla At first a vassal state to Funan , over the next 60 years it achieved its independence and eventually conquered all of Funan, absorbing its people and culture. The weakening of the Funan state at this time can largely be explained by distant events: the collapse of the Roman Empire and subsequently trade routes between the Mediterranean and China, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos Laos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. Laos traces its history to the Kingdom of Lan Xang or Land of a Million Elephants, which existed from the 13th to, Thailand Thailand (pronounced /ˈtaɪlænd/ or /ˈtaɪlənd/; Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย Ratcha Anachak Thai, IPA: [râːtɕʰa ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k tʰɑj]) is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of, Vietnam Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea, referred to as East Sea (Vietnamese: Biển Đô, Myanmar Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia or Indochina. The country is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest with the Andaman Sea defining its southern, and Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia consisting of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of 329,845 square kilometres (127,354 sq mi). The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million. The country is separated by the South China Sea.[1] Its greatest legacy is Angkor Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer empire, which flourished from approximately the ninth century to the thirteenth century. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara (नगर), meaning "city". The Angkorian period began in AD 802, when the Khmer Hindu monarch Jayavarman II declared himself a &, the site of capitals cities during the empire's zenith. Angkor bears testimony to the Khmer empire's immense power and wealth, as well as the variety of belief systems that it patronised over time. The empire's official religions included Hinduism Hinduism is the predominant religious tradition of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as in Vaishnavism. Hinduism also includes yogic traditions and and Mahayana Buddhism Mahayana is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. It was founded in India. The name Mahayana is used in three main senses:, until Theravada Buddhism Theravada (Pāli: थेरवाद theravāda ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India. It is relatively conservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka ( prevailed, even among plain folks, after its introduction from Sri Lanka Sri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (pronounced /ˌɕriːˈlaŋkaː/, Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා, Tamil: இலங்கை; known as Ceylon (/sɪˈlɒn/) before 1972 and as Taprobane (/təˈprɒbəniː/) in ancient times, is an island country in South Asia, located about 31 kilometres (19.3 mi) off the as of the 13th century.[2] Modern researches by satellites have revealed Angkor to be the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world.[3]
The history of Angkor as the central area of settlement of the historical kingdom of Kambujadesa is also the history of the Khmer from the 9th to the 15th centuries.[4]
From Kambuja itself - and so also from the Angkor region - no written records have survived other than stone inscriptions. Therefore the current knowledge of the historical Khmer civilization is derived primarily from:
- archaeological excavation, reconstruction and investigation
- stone inscriptions (most important are foundation steles of temples), which report on the political and religious deeds of the kings
- reliefs in a series of temple walls with depictions of military marches, life in the palace, market scenes and also the everyday lives of the population
- reports and chronicles of Chinese diplomats, traders and travellers.
The beginning of the era of the Khmer kingdom is conventionally dated to 802 AD. In this year, king Jayavarman II had himself declared chakravartin A Chakravartin ( चक्रवर्तिन् cakra-vartin, a Sanskrit bahuvrīhi, literally "whose wheels are moving", in the sense of "whose chariot is rolling everywhere without obstruction". It can also be analyzed as an 'instrumental bahuvrīhi: "through whom the wheel is moving", in the meaning of " ("king of the world", or "king of kings") on Phnom Kulen Phnom Kulen is a small isolated mountain massif in Siem Reap Province, Northern Cambodia. Its highest point is 487 m.
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Rudscyber
Mon, 18 May 2009 09:52:00 GM
Phimai must have been an important city in the . Khmer empire. . Most buildings are from the late 11th to the late 12th century, built in the Baphuon, Bayon and Angkor Wat style. However, even though the . Khmer. at that time were Hindu, ...
