Far East Kingdoms

Khmer Empire
AD 802 - 1432

Cambodia All Modern States China Japan Korea Laos Vietnam

The capital of the empire was at Angkor, which was founded in 889 by Jayavarman II and finally abandoned in 1432. At its height the kingdom extended even farther than its predecessor, taking in more territory to the north and reaching far down into the Thai peninsula. The numbering of kings continued from that of Chen-La.

The empire absorbed this kingdom and its many city-state principalities in what seems to have been a very brief period of time. Many of those city states are barely known by history, such as Ampil Rolum, Aninditapura, Canasapura (perhaps a little later than the 802-809 period in which the Khmer empire was founded), and Vyadhapura.

It was customary for a Khmer emperor to build one or more grand temples during his reign in honour of his ancestors. It was Suryavarman II who decided to build a temple which was greater than any that had gone before - the great temple of Ankor Wat.

(Additional information by Ben Lawrie, and from the two-part BBC documentary series, Jungle Atlantis, first screened on 25 September 2014.)

802 - 850

Founder. Numbering continued from Chen-La.

802

Jayavarman II is a vassal of the Sumatran state of Sri Vijaya. Now he asserts his independence, unites Upper Chen-La and Lower Chen-La and other rival fiefdoms and, on the plain near the site of the future Angkor, he builds his capital of Harlharalaya.

He is declared the universal monarch, chakravartin ('supreme king of kings') on the Kulen Hills. He brings under his rule much of what is now Cambodia, southern Thailand, southern Laos, and much of south-western Vietnam. Chen-La, however, appears to survive as a separate entity until at least 809.

Between about 802-809 Jayavarman II of Lower Chen-La unified the region, shrugged off his overlords on Sumatra, and established his capital at Harlharalaya (shown here) to found the beginnings of the Khmer empire

850 - 877

Brother to Jyestha of Chen-La.

c.850 - 870

Chen-La has retained its identity, seemingly for some decades as a vassal state of the Khmer empire. It has been governed from Isanapura in Upper Chen-La by Jyestha, daughter of Jayavarman II and Jayendrabha. Upon her death in this period, Chen-La is merged fully into the holdings of her brother, Jayavarman III.

877 - 889

Great-grandson of Indrani of Chen-La.

889 - 900

Son of Indradevi. Descendant of Pushkara  of Aninditapura.

900 - c.922

c.922 - 928

928 - 942

942 - 944

944 - 968

968 - 1001

1001 - 1002

1002 - c.1011

1002 - 1050

1050 - 1066

1066 - 1090

1075 - 1076

The Northern Sung have introduced revolutionary and very fair-minded economic reforms. Nevertheless, these have incensed opponents who would rather retain the old tithe and tribute practices. Lý Nhân Tông of Dai Viet and his regent mother see an opportunity to interfere militarily, sparking the Sino–Vietnamese War of 1075-1076.

The Viet besiege Yongzhou but suffer high casualties due to resistance from inside the city walls. When they finally break through those walls they slaughter close to sixty thousand people.

The Sung response is delivered in 1076 in the form of an invasion of Dai Viet. Sung vassal states - Khmer and Champa - support them. Fortunes swing and both sides win a major battle, but casualties are tremendously high. Both sides are happy to sue for peace and the Sung withdraw, gradually.

1090 - 1107

1107 - 1113

Ineffectual ruler. Killed.

1113

Suryavarman kills Dharanindravarman in battle, seizing his throne at the tender age of seventeen. The empire is still in a state of civil war.

1113 - 1150

Built temple & mausoleum of Angkor Wat.

1120 - 1150

Work is started on the great temple of Suryavarman II, digging out the foundations in the middle of the jungle.

Construction of the temple and mausoleum of Angkor Wat is completed in 1150. By the end of the century, Angkor is a bustling metropolis covering a thousand square kilometres of territory.

Records concerning the death of Suryavarman and of the immediate events afterwards have not survived. The empire seems to fall into a state of chaos.

1150 - 1160

1160 - 1166

Dethroned and killed.

1166 - 1177

Usurper. Executed by Champa.

1177 - 1181

Jaya Indravarman IV of Champa is guided by a Chinese castaway when he attacks the Khmer capital without warning and with a powerful fleet. He pillages the city and puts to death Tribhuvanadityavarman without listening to a single peace proposal.

This event produces a great deal of hatred for Champa. The rightful Khmer king, Jayavarman VII, wages a series of battles against the Cham invaders. Especially noteworthy is a naval battle which finally rids the state of its oppressors. Angkor Thom is strengthened and fortified in its final format.

1181 - c.1219

Son of Dharanindravarman. Conquered Champa.

1190 - 1191

Jayavarman VII turns the tables by conquering Panduranga in 1190, and then taking Vijaya. Champa's King Jaya Indravarman IV is captured by the Khmer general and Cham prince, Vidyanandana, and is taken away as a prisoner.

1203 - 1220

The throne is again vacant. The end of the medieval period also sees dramatic shifts in climate across South-East Asia. Tree ring samples record sudden fluctuations between extreme dry and wet conditions, and a modern (2014) lidar map of Angkor Wat reveals catastrophic flood damage to the city's vital water network. With this lifeline in tatters, Angkor enters a spiral of decline from which it never recovers.

c.1219 - 1243

1243 - 1295

1295 - 1308

1308 - 1327

1327 - 1353

1353 - 1362

The throne is again vacant. The end of the medieval period also sees dramatic shifts in climate across South-East Asia. Tree ring samples record sudden fluctuations between extreme dry and wet conditions, and a modern (2014) lidar map of Angkor Wat reveals catastrophic flood damage to the city's vital water network. With this lifeline in tatters, Angkor enters a spiral of decline from which it never recovers.

1362 - 1369

1369 - 1375

The Khmer are controlled by Lan Na. As a result they lose much of their power for the next century, while they are embroiled in conflicts with the Thais.

1371 - ?

Ruled from Basan.

14th cent.

Recovered Angkor Wat.

14th cent.

? - 1389

The Khmer again fall under the control of the Thai kingdom of Lan Na.

1389 - 1404

1404 - 1429

1429 - 1444

1431 - 1432

The Khmer are defeated by Lan Na in 1431. The following year the capital is moved southwards to Phnom Penh. Angkor Wat is abandoned to the jungle and the seeds of modern Cambodia are sown.

1444 - 1486

1486 - 1512

1512 - 1516

1516 - 1566

1566 - 1576

1576 - 1594

1594

Phnom Penh is captured by Lan Na.

1594 - 1596

1596 - 1599

1599 - 1600

1600 - 1603

1603 - 1618

1618 - 1622

1622 - 1628

Interregnum.

1628

1628 - 1642

1630 - 1642

1640 - 1642

1642 - 1659

1659 - 1672

1672 - 1673

1673 - 1674

1674 - 1675

1675 - 1695

1695 - 1699

1699 - 1701

1701 - 1702

Restored?

1702 - 1703

1703 - 1706

Restored? d.c.1725.

1706 - 1710

Restored?

1710 - 1722

Restored? d.1730.

1722 - 1738

1738 - 1747

Restored?

1747

1747 - 1749

1749 - 1755

1755 - 1758

1758 - 1775

1775 - 1796

1796 - 1806

Interregnum.

1806 - 1837

Recaptured throne in 1812. A Vietnamese puppet in later years.

1831 - 1834

The Siamese-Vietnamese War has the alternate title of the Siamese-Cambodian War. Following Ang Chan's recapture of the Cambodian throne in 1812, the Siamese have been moving into northern Cambodia and then advancing towards the south in support of their own claimant. The Cambodians are routed at the Battle of Kompong Chang in 1832, and Ang Chan is forced to flee to Vietnam. Siam is soon distracted by a revolt by the Cambodians at the same time as the Vietnamese-controlled Laos revolt. A Vietnamese army of 15,000 advances towards the Siamese in 1833, forcing the latter to withdraw. Ang Chan is restored, albeit as a Vietnamese puppet.

1837 - 1841

Queen. Installed by Vietnam. Overthrown.

1841 - 1845

The 'Siamese-Vietnamese War in Cambodia', as it is known, has seen increasing Vietnamese influence in Cambodia during the reign of Queen Ang Mey. The Cambodians rebel in 1841, overthrowing the pro-Vietnamese elements and appealing to Siam.

Their chosen candidate is Prince Ang Duong, and he is duly installed by force in 1842. Viet Nam and Siam now face strike and counter-strike by their respective armies while the Cambodians rebel against the same Siamese heavy-handedness which had started the war in the first place.

On 13 September 1845, the Vietnamese take Phnom Penh and Siam is forced to withdraw. During the subsequent peace negotiations, Cambodia is placed under joint Siamese-Vietnamese protection.

1841 - 1859

Installed by Siam.

1858 - 1863

In April 1858 a young French explorer, Henri Mouhot, sails from London to South-East Asia. For the next three years he travels widely, discovering exotic jungle insects that still bear his name. Today he would be all but forgotten were it not for his journal, published in 1863, two years after he dies of fever in Laos, aged just 35.

Readers are gripped by his vivid descriptions of vast temples consumed by the jungle: Mouhot introduces the world to the lost medieval city of Angkor and its romantic, awe-inspiring splendour. 'One of these temples, a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo, may take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome,' he writes. The largest of these buildings is Angkor Wat, constructed around 1150, which remains the biggest religious complex on Earth, covering an area four times larger than Vatican City.

1859 - 1904

Vassal of Siam.

1863

Norodom requests that France establish a protectorate over Cambodia, ending joint Siamese-Vietnamese protection. Siam voluntarily relinquishes its role and recognises the French protectorate of Cambodia. Viet Nam has its own problems, with creeping French colonial activities taking place within its borders.

1887 - 1888

Now firmly in control of the imperial throne, the French unite Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina, and Cambodia into the 'Union of Indochina', otherwise known as French Indochina. In 1888, the French capture the Viet rebel emperor, Ham Nghi, and exile him to Algeria.

1893

France creates Laos out of the kingdom of Luang Prabang and the province of Xieng Khouang and added Laos to French Indochina.

1904 - 1927

1927 - 1941

1941 - 1955

1940 - 1941

From about October 1940 onwards, Thailand under the military domination of Lord Plaek Phibul Songkhram begins attacking the eastern banks of the Mekong between Vientiane and Champassak province, intent on creating a pan-Thai empire.

This erupts into a full Thai invasion of Laos in January 1941, but initial victories soon give way to a stalemate when the French colonial authorities of French Indochina win a great naval victory at Ko Chang.

Their Japanese overlords mediate a ceasefire, compelling the French colonial government to cede Champasak and Xaignabouli province in Laos and Battambang province in Cambodia to Thailand. This ends the war.

1941 - 1945

Japanese occupation.

1955 - 1960

1960 - 1970

Prince & Head of State.