Khmer History part 1 Khmer Empire People have been living within the area covered by the present-day country of Cambodia at least since the 5th millennium BC.[1] The ancient Kingdom of Funan occupied a wider area, and it was during that period that the culture became heavily influenced by Hinduism. The state of Chenla then arose. The Khmer Empire had its golden age in the 9th to the 13th centuries, when huge temple complexes were built, most notably Angkor Wat. Spanish and Portuguese missionaries visited from the 16th century, and Cambodia became a protectorate of France in the 19th century, being ruled as part of French Indochina. Cambodia became an independent kingdom in 1953 under Norodom Sihanouk. The Vietnam War extended into Cambodia, giving rise to the Khmer Rouge, which took Phnom Penh in 1975 and carried out a campaign of mass killing. Following an invasion by Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge were deposed and the People's Republic of Kampuchea was established. After years of isolation, the war-ravaged nation was reunited under the monarchy in 1993 and has seen rapid economic progress while rebuilding from decades of civil war. The Funanese Empire rose to eminence from its affluent and powerful home city of Óc Eo (in present-day Vietnam), known in the Roman Empire as Kattigara, meaning the Renowned City. Contacts with the distant Roman Empire are evidenced by the fact that Roman coins have been found at archeological sites dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries.[4] However, most of the foreign trade of the Funan Empire was carried on much closer to home with India, especially the Bengal area of India. Trade with India commenced well before 500 BC (before the widespread use of Sanskrit as a language in India).[5] Trade with China began after the southward expansion of the Han Dynasty around the 2nd century BC. Remnants of Chinese influence can be seen in axes excavated in Cambodia, which display Han-style elements.[6] With the Indian trade came the Indianization of the culture of Funan and the religion of Hinduism. Hinduism produced a syncretism phenomenon with other previous religions and beliefs already present in the Khmer culture. Funan and its succeeding societies which occupied this section of Southeast Asia would remain mainly Hindu in religion for about 900 years. Some cultural features and customs of Hinduism continue to exist within the current society. The empire reached its greatest extent under the rule of Fan Shih-man in the early 3rd century, extending as far south as Malaysia and as far west as Burma. The Funanese established a strong system of mercantilism and commercial monopolies that would become a pattern for empires in the region. Exports from the Funan Empire were largely forest products and precious metals—including accessories such as gold elephants, ivory, rhinoceros horn, kingfisher feathers, wild spices like cardamom, lacquer hides and aromatic wood.[4] Fan Shih-man expanded the fleet and improved the Funanese bureaucracy, creating a quasi-feudal pattern that left local customs and identities largely intact, particularly in the empire's farther reaches. The Khmers, vassals of Funan, reached the Mekong river from the northern Menam River via the Mun River Valley. Chenla, their first independent state developed out of Funanese influence. After the death of Jayavarman I in 681, turmoil came upon the kingdom and at the start of the 8th century, the kingdom broke up into many principalities. Pushkaraksha, the ruler of Shambhupura announced himself as king of the entire Kambuja. Chinese chronicles proclaim that, in the 8th century, Chenla was split into land Chenla and water Chenla. During this time, Shambhuvarman son of Pushkaraksha controlled most of water Chenla until the 8th century which the Malayans and Javanese dominated over many Khmer principalities. by:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cambodia please kindly watch my other video and subscribe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX-UZ3pyJu4

• published: 02 Feb 2015
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