Cambodia  

According to legend Cambodia was created when a local princess encountered an Indian brahman called Kaundinya. The princess was daughter of a dragon king who governed a wet territory. When the Indian stranger sailed by the princess wanted to bring him honour. Kaundinya however shot a magic arrow in her boat. The anxious princess conceded in a marital arrangement. Her father was obliged to offer him a dowry. So he drank all the waters in his territory and gave it to Kaundinya.  Like many legends this story is not based on historical events. However it reflects the cultural developments leading to the rise of an early Cambodian empire. In particular this story sheds some light on the former relations with the old Indian subcontinent. The religious, royal and written traditions originated from India and merged into a cultural homogeneity between the first and fourth century A.D. 

The early Indianisation of Cambodia probably occurred via trading settlements in the first century A.D. along the coastline in the south. These settlements served as ports of call for boats following the trade route from the Bay of Bengal to the southern provinces of China. In this period Cambodia was a conglomerate of states all with their own social hierarchy. Sometimes these states were active in mutual battle and sometimes they negotiated a peace treaty because of strategic reasons. Often a prominent marriage was part of such a treaty. Funan was the largest of these states situated in modern southeast Cambodia and southern Vietnam. It was a trading port from which Indian culture spread to other parts of Cambodia. Most historical information about Funan comes from Chinese sources reporting that its inhabitants embraced the worship of the hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu from the first until the sixth century A.D. as well as Buddhism at the same time. It was reported that the people focused religious rituals at the linga which was a symbol of royal power. This kind of worship later reappeared in the cult of the god king during the Angkor period.  

From the second half of the sixth century A.D. the importance of Funan as a trading port declined. Cambodia's population gradually concentrated along the Mekong river and the Tonlé Sap rivers. This move was related to the development of wet-rice agriculture. Cambodia was until the ninth century A.D. a conglomerate of competing kingdoms. They were ruled by kings who legitmised their absolute power through hierarchical social concepts borrowed from India. Sometimes a king succeeded in uniting some of these states. This era is generally referred to as the Chenla period. According to unreliable Chinese sources the united kingdom of Chenla held sway over all Cambodia. One of the last rulers in this united kingdom was Isanavarman I (611-635). After his death the kingdom disintegrated despite a short period of reunification in the middle of the seventh century under Jayavarman I (657-674). It appears there was a water Chenla near present-day Takeo and a land Chenla in the upper reaches of the Mekong river and east of the Tonlé Sap lake. The fractured kingdoms of Cambodia would merge to become the greatest empire in Southeast Asia. 

At the beginning of the ninth century A.D. king Jayavarman II (802-850) enlarged his territory by conquests and treaties. He was the founder of a large Southeast Asian empire which lasted for many centuries and later came to be known as the Angkor empire. He participated in a ritual that proclaimed him a universal monarch or a devaraja (god king). This ritual focused on the linga which was the symbol of the hindu deity Shiva with whom the king was identified. His ascendants tried to enhance their status and to celebrate their divinity by building temples and irrigation works focused on the linga symbol. The history of the Angkor empire is one of periods of dislocation and turmoil followed by periods of reunification and expansion under a powerful king. In architecture these periods were the most productive: the new ruler tried to confirm his rule by large construction projects such as temples and irrigation works. After centuries the Angkor empire started to decline. There are indications that the irrigation system was exhausted and started to silt up due to massive deforestation in densely populated areas to the north and to the east of the city. Massive construction projects put an enormous strain on the royal treasury and on the common people who had to pay heavy taxes and deliver hard work. At the end the king in Angkor lost his grip on the peripheries of his empire. In the meanwhile the Thai kingdom of Ayuthaya increased in power and several times its armies invaded the Angkor empire sacking the capital in 1431.

At the beginning of the fifteenth century the Khmer elite began to migrate to the area around Phnom Penh in fear of the belligerent Thai and drawn by the opportunities for sea trade with China. After its invasion in 1431 the capital of Angkor was left to pilgrims and elements of nature. The next 150 years various royal  families struggled for power with each other and with their Thai rivals. Although the Khmer armies once pushed westward all the way to the Thai capital of Ayuthaya (only to find it occupied by the Burmese) their rivals recovered and dealt a crushing blow to the Khmers by taking their capital in 1594. Shortly before his defeat the Cambodian king Satha requested the assistance of the Spanish and the Portuguese who had recently become active in the region. In 1596 a Spanish expedition arrived in Cambodia to assist Satha only to find out that he had been deposed by an usurper Chung Prei. He was killed by the Spanish. The actions of the Spanish were resented by the Khmer court officials. Some years later the Spanish garrison at Phnom Penh was massacred. A brother of Satha ascended the throne with the help of the Thais. 

From about 1600 until the arrival of the French in 1863 Cambodia was ruled by a series of weak kings who were forced to seek the protection of either Thailand or Vietnam because of continuous struggles with dissident members in the royal family. The Cambodian kings payed a high price for their protection. In the seventeenth century the Nguyen lords in southern Vietnam gave their assistance on the condition that the Vietnamese were allowed to settle in the Mekong delta which was a part of Cambodia at the time. In the west the Thais established dominion over the provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap from 1794. By the end of the eighteenth century they had firm control over the Cambodian royal family. Indeed one king was crowned in Bangkok and placed on the throne with the help of the Thai army. Cambodia only survived as a distinct entity because its neighbours had other preoccupations: the Thais continuously struggled with the Burmese, while the Vietnamese were involved in interior rivalries. 

Thai and Vietnamese rule over Cambodia ended in 1864 when French gunboats forced king Norodom I (1860-1904) to sign a treaty which turned the country into a French protectorate. The French gained control over Cambodia to protect their colonial interests in Vietnam. At first they showed hardly any interference with internal affairs in Cambodia. Gradually the French gained direct control over the day-to-day administration of the country. At the same time they maintained Norodom's court in a splendour probably unequalled since the Angkor period, thereby reinforcing the ceremonial position of the Cambodian monarchy. The king's increased stature served to legitimise the existence of a monarchy and to prevent the rise of a nationalist rebellion. King Norodom I was succeeded by king Sisowath (1904-1927), who was then succeeded by king Monivong (1927-1941). Upon his death the French governor placed 19-year-old prince Norodom Sihanouk on the throne assuming he would prove pliable. This proved to be a major miscalculation.

After several conflicts at their border the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia at 25 December 1978. Two weeks later the Vietnamese deposed the Khmer Rouge regime and liberated Sihanouk from detention. They installed a new government led by several former Khmer Rouge officers who had defected to Vietnam. However the power of the Khmer Rouge was not broken. They started a guerilla warfare which lasted almost twenty years to demoralize their opponents. In 1996 troubles appeared within the Khmer Rouge leadership between Pol Pot en Ieng Sary. The latter led a mass defection of fighters and their dependants to the government forces. This effectively sealed the fate of the remaining Khmer Rouge who lost important revenues from the region which was controlled by Ieng Sary. In 1997 new cracks showed up in the Khmer Rouge leadership, this time between Pol Pot and Ta Mok who seized control of the movement. On 15 April 1998 Pol Pot died. In the following elections king Sihanouk offered to act as a mediator in the formation of a coalition. He was able to bring the squabbling leaders together at his residence and to form a coalition government which allowed the politicians to concentrate on bringing an end to the civil war. In December 1998 almost all the remaining Khmer Rouge guerillas turned themselves over to government forces in return for amnesty. The Khmer Rouge effectively ceased to exist as a miltary organisation and a new period of peace and tranquility dawned. 

Because of the recent civil war there are still more women than men in Cambodia. About half of the population is under the age of 15. According to official statistics almost all inhabitants are ethnic Khmers. Their culture and religion was influenced by contacts with early civilizations in India and Java. Over the centuries the Khmers have mixed with other groups residing in Cambodia including the Thais, the Vietnamese and the Chinese. A large majority of the Khmers are followers of buddhism. This religion flourished from the first to the fourteenth century together with hinduism. Later it became the prevailing religion. Still some elements of hinduism can be traced in modern rituals concerning birth, marriage and death. Both hinduism and buddhism were gradually absorbed from beyond the borders of Cambodia, fusing with animist beliefs already present among the Khmers before Indianisation. Local beliefs didn't simply fade away but were incorporated into the new religions. The concept of Neak Ta is unique to Cambodia and has its foundations in animist beliefs regarding sacred soil and the sacred spirit around us. It can be viewed as an energy force uniting a community with its earth and water. It is manifest in many forms from wood to termite hills, and symbolises both a link between the people and the fertility of their land, as well as a link to their ancestors before them. 

Apart from the Khmers several other ethnic groups with their own language live in Cambodia. These various Khmer Loeu (Upper Khmer) or chunchiet (minorities) live in the mountainous regions and number between 60.000 and 70.000 persons. The majority of these groups live in the northeast of Cambodia, in provinces like Ratanakiri. The largest group are the Tompuon who number around 15.000 persons. Other groups include the Pnong, Kreung, Kra Chok, Kavet, Brao and Jarai. The Khmer Loeu have long been isolated from the rest of society. They practise shifting cultivation, rarely staying in one place for more than four or five years. Finding a new location for a village requires a spiritual medium to mediate with the spirit world. Some of them have converted to buddhism, but most of them still worship the spirits of heaven and earth as well as the spirits of their ancestors. In times of trouble, such as disease and bad harvest, they pray for the spirits to end their punishment. They communicate with these spirits by drinking large quantities of rice wine causing a trance. Very few of the minorities wear traditional costumes. As a consequence of modern development their culture and traditions are in danger.  

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Legend has it that Phnom Penh was founded in 1372 when an old woman named Penh found four Buddha statues on the banks of the Mekong river. She housed them on a hill nearby. The town that emerged around the hill came to be known as Phnom Penh or Hill of Penh. This story does not tell why the old capital of Angkor was abandoned by 1432 and why Phnom Penh was chosen as the new capital of Cambodia. The site of Angkor was not favourable for trade and subject to hostile attacks from the Siamese kingdom of Ayuthaya. Phnom Penh however commanded a more central position in the Khmer empire and was perfectly located for riverine trade with Laos and China via the Mekong delta. The Tonlé Sap river provided access to the rich fishing grounds of the Tonlé Sap lake.

By the middle of the sixteenth century trade had turned Phnom Penh into a regional power. Indonesian and Chinese merchants visited the city in large numbers. A century later however Vietnamese incursions into Khmer territory robbed the city of access to the sea lanes. Chinese merchants dominated all trade south of China. The Cambodian kingdom was enclosed and increasingly isolated. It was a buffer between ascendant Thais and Vietnamese. In 1772 the Thais burnt Phnom Penh down to the ground. The city was rebuilt but it was still the stage of a struggle for hegemony between the Thai kingdom and the Vietnamese empire until the French took over in 1863. Its population during this period was approximately 25.000 inhabitants.

The French protectorate gave Phnom Penh its present layout. The city was divided into quarters and districts. By the time of their departure the French left many important landmarks like the Royal Palace, the National Museum, the New Market and many government buildings. In the post independence period the city grew fast during the peacetime years of Sihanouk's rule. When the Khmer Rouge took the city in 1975 the entire population was transported by force to the countryside as part of a programme for radical social reforms. Repopulation of the city began with the arrival of the Vietnamese in 1979, although at first it was strictly controlled by the new government. It was not until the nineties that Phnom Penh started to develop with international support of the United Nations. At present the city is still booming and has approximately one million inhabitants. The most important sites in the city are the old temples of Wat Phnom, Wat Ounaloum and Wat Botum. The Royal Palace dates from a later period. 

Wat Phnom is situated on top of a tree-covered hill 27 metres high. It is the only hill in town. According to legend the first pagoda on this site was erected in 1372 to house four statues of Buddha which were found by the old woman named Penh. The main entrance to Wat Phnom is a grand staircase in the east, which is guarded by lions and nagas or mythical serpent balustrades. Today many people come here to pray for good luck and success in school exams or business affairs. When a wish is granted the petitioner returns to make the promised offering like a garland or a bunch of bananas which the spirits seem to favour most. The viharn or temple sanctuary was rebuilt several times. West of the viharn is a huge stupa containing the ashes of king Ponhea Yat (1405-1467) who moved the capital from Angkor to Phnom Penh in 1432. In a pavilion on the southern side of the passage is the statue of a smiling and rather plump madame Penh. A bit to the north and below the viharn is a shrine dedicated to the genie Preah Chau who is especially revered by the Vietnamese. On either side of the entrance to the chamber containing a statue of Preah Chau are guardian spirits bearing iron bats. On the tiled table in front of the two guardian spirits are drawings of Confucius as well as two Chinese-style figures of wise men. To the left of the central altar is an eight-armed statue of Vishnu.