The History Book

108

I

n the early 12th century, much

of mainland Southeast Asia,

including Cambodia, and parts

of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, was

controlled by the Khmer Empire from

its capital at Angkor (in the northeast

of present-day Cambodia)—an

impressive urban complex with

residential areas, temples, and a

network of water reservoirs, built by a

succession of god-kings who ruled as

the earthly representatives of the

Hindu god Shiva.

Around 1120, the Khmer king

Suryavarman II commissioned an

ambitious new construction

project—a 200-hectare (500-acre)

temple complex dedicated to the

Hindu god Vishnu that would also

record the king’s achievements. His

spectacular Angkor Wat, completed

37 years later, was enclosed by a

huge moat, adorned with lotus-

shaped towers, and decorated with

an 2,600ft-long (800m) gallery of

fine bas-reliefs depicting scenes

from Hindu mythology and the king

as the embodiment of Vishnu.

Angkor Wat is a testament to

the remarkable productivity and

creativity of one of the greatest

powers in Southeast Asia’s history,

yet its construction also marked

the onset of its decline, as later

kings faced foreign invasions,

shifts in trade, and wars with rival

kingdoms that shrunk its territory.

The empire’s fortunes were revived

under Jayavarman VII, who made

Mahyanana Buddhism the state

religion, and initiated a building

spree at Angkor, but his death in

1218 left it fatally weakened.

Outside influences

The Khmer Empire was preeminent

among the powerful states that had

emerged in present-day Cambodia,

Myanmar, and the islands of Java

and Sumatra in Indonesia toward

the end of the first millennium ce.

During the states’ formation, their

societies had been profoundly

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Medieval Southeast Asia

BEFORE

c.700 The city-state of

Srivijaya extends over most

of Sumatra, western Java,

and the Malay Peninsula.

802 The Khmer state is

founded by Jayavarman II.

AFTER

1177 Champa invades and

destroys Angkor.

1181–1220 Jayavarman VII

repels Champa and restores

the Khmer Empire to glory.

c.1250 The first united Thai

state is established, with its

capital at Sukhothai.

1293 The Mongols are

defeated by the Singasari ruler

of Java, ending their bid to

expand into Southeast Asia.

c.1440 The city of Angkor is

abandoned, although Angkor

Wat remains a place of worship

for Buddhist pilgrims.

Buddhas decorate all the

immense columns and lintels.

Zhou Daguan

Chinese diplomat

THE WORK

OF GIANTS

THE CONSTRUCTION OF

ANGKOR WAT (c.112 0)

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109

After its rediscovery by Europeans

in the late 19th century, Angkor Wat

suffered decades of looting and

unregulated tourism; it was made a

UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

See also: Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■

Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–127 ■ The Gulf of Tonkin Incident 312–313

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD

affected by contact with India and

China, made via the major trade

route that ran through the Bay of

Bengal, then overland across the

Malay Peninsula before resuming

through the Gulf of Thailand and

on to the south of China. As well as

enabling the exchange of Southeast

Asian commodities such as rare

woods, ivory, and gold, this network

introduced Indian and Chinese

ideas, concepts, and practices—

including Hinduism and Buddhism—

to the region’s civilizations, which

adapted them to create original,

indigenous varations, particularly in

architecture and the arts.

Maritime empires

While the Khmer Empire held sway

in mainland Southeast Asia, in

the Indonesian archipelago, the

empire of Srivijaya, with its base at

Palembang in Sumatra, dominated

commerce by controlling the two

passages between India and

China—the straits of Malacca and

Sunda. Over time, it had grown rich

from its trade in the spices, especially

nutmeg, that Europe, India, and

China craved, but by the end of the

12th century it had been reduced to a

small kingdom, and was later

eclipsed by the Majapahit in Java.

In the late 13th century, Mongol

forces under the Chinese emperor

Kublai Khan invaded Vietnam, Java,

and Myanmar, and although these

campaigns failed, in their wake,

the Khmer lost control of eastern

Thailand. In the early 1400s, the

empire contracted further as armies

from Champa (now in Vietnam)

and Ayutthaya (now in Thailand)—

seized more of its land. In 1431,

the latter took Angkor, and the

capital was later relocated to the

coast, leaving Suryavarman’s

spiritual masterpiece to be

reclaimed by the jungle. ■

Suryavarman II One of the Khmer Empire’s

greatest kings, Suryavarman II

ascended to the throne in 1113,

after killing his rival, and reunited

Cambodia after decades of unrest.

He quickly resumed diplomatic

relations with China, and in 1128

his kingdom was recognized as

a Chinese vassal, which helped

deter neighboring states from

attacking it. Suryavarman was a

warlike leader, waging campaigns

in what is now Vietnam against

the Dai-Viet between 1123 and

1136, and against the Khmer’s

traditional enemy to the east,

Champa, in 1145. He also pushed

the empire’s boundaries deep

into Thailand and made

advances against the Pagan

kingdom of Myanmar.

As well as the awe-inspiring

Angkor Wat, which remains the

largest religious structure in

the world, the king also built

other temples in the same style

at the capital. His political and

military achievements were

less enduring, however—when

he died in 1150, in the middle

of a campaign against Champa,

the empire was convulsed by

civil war and pushed to the

brink of destruction.

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