For centuries the dense jungles in Cambodia kept the secret cities of the legendary Khmer empire hidden. The local populace believed Angkor to be built by gods or giants, visiting foreigners attributed the temple complex of Angkor Wat to lost kings who built it for pleasure palaces, but Henri Mahout's visit in 1860 changed these legends into a factual empire and drew the fascination of the entire world. With the subsequent centuries the Sanskrit inscriptions have been translated and much has been deciphered and learned about the now extinct city. Today Angkor is a lost legacy of crumbling ruins and under constant threat from destruction by the encroaching jungle, damaging tourism, land mines left over from the Khmer Rouge's rampage and perhaps worst of all the illegal antiquities traders.

After the ice age (12,000 bc) this region was one of surrounding areas settled and known as the 'Indo Chinese'. Inhabited by Australoid peoples due to land bridges between Malaya, Indonesian Islands and Australia, after general migration patterns it was settled by the 'Mon Khmer' peoples. Bronze ceremonial objects, pottery and tools have been found in the fertile areas near the rivers, as have stone objects predating these. In ad 100 the kingdom of Funan developed, established by the Indian Brahman Kambu. Influence in Indian religion, language, sculpture and society gradually grew in Cambodia as Indian traders used the monsoons to their sailing advantage, becoming intertwined with the local populace. Our main source of knowledge of the Funan kingdom is from two Chinese ambassadors who visited in ad 245, they also lent the name Funan derived from the Khmer word Phnom or 'hill'.

The Funan kingdom continued to thrive and expand, becoming the chief power in the region by the 5th century as noted by Chinese historians. Through intermarriage between Funan's royal families and the neighboring Mon Khmer kingdom of Chenla, these kingdoms merged into the Chenla kingdom solely by about ad 580. Aside from a brief period of Java rule, the region was ruled by the Chenla and then the subsequent ruling kingdom of Kambuja, with the capital relocated to Angkor in early 10th century by Kambuja king Yasovarman I.

Angkor gradually developed into a thriving city and home of the royal families and palaces and it's importance as the capital city of the Khmer empire caused gradual immigration, building the population slowly while areas of the jungles outside the city proper (the district named here as Paraat Bayan out of convenience) were converted into expanding farmland to feed the region. During this era, Angkor's developing buildings and temples were constructed of brick including the eastern Baray, the royal pyramid temple, Prasat Khavan, Prasat Thom and various other temples.

The difficult terrain and volatile region affected Angkor's brick buildings almost as quickly as they could be constructed. By the mid 900's, King Rajendravarman II ascended the throne and restored Angkor's temples, pyramids and palaces after consolidating Khmer empire rule in surrounding areas. The next evolutionary step in the construction of Angkor was the use of sandstone to replace earlier brick, with the first completely sandstone temple built by King Jayavarman V around 1000 ad.

In 1006, King Suryavarman I ascended the throne, ruling for 50 years. Much of the present foundation of the city of Angkor was built during his reign, and his adopted religion of Devaraja (royal Hindu cult) was established as the main religion of Angkor itself. Cambodia was still a generally Buddhist one at this point, and the cultivation and spread of Mahayana Buddhism continues regardless. The 2nd of the two great reservoirs known as "barays" and also the connecting canals that can still be seen today were built by Suryavarman's successor, Udayadityavarman II. He also built a new city within Angkor and a great central temple known as the Baphuon Temple. His kingdom saw some expansion during this time, though quickly lost with successor Kambuja kings.

Over the next 100 years the kings of Kambuja (in an indirect succession line) and the Khmer empire gained and lost footing in surrounding areas in wars against the Cham and Annam. Jayavarman VII came to the throne in 1181 ad just after the Cham sack the city of Angkor, war between the two kingdoms followed. The city of Angkor Thom, home to the ruling family, seat of government and administration was built just following the sack by the Cham.

After the death of Jayavarman VII in 1220 building in Angkor ceased and the Khmer empire began it's decline. War with the neighboring Thai empire threatened an increasingly weak Angkor society until 1369, when the Thais conquered the city of Angkor on two separate occasions. In 1431, the Thai empire again struck at Angkor, and after a lengthy siege the city fell, was sacked and looted and the residents deserted the area moving the capital for the Khmer empire to Phnom Penh. The Khmer empire at this time was considerably weakened and shrunken, having lost all it's territories to the Thais and Vietnamese empires. There was a brief restoration to the Khmer between 1516 and 1576, and Angkor was again converted to the capital during one interlude.

By the late 16th century the entire of Angkor and it's cities and farmland were deserted except for the temple complex of Angkor Wat, which serves continually as a place of pilgrimage to Buddhist monks.

With the recent discovery of many temple complex areas and individual temples surrounding the heart of Angkor through satellite imagery, scientists are gaining a new perspective into why the residents of Angkor fled and perhaps the loss of the city/empire itself. The region Angkor is in is surrounded by a dense jungle environment, and a population exceeding 1 million would mean the landscape had to be altered greatly and an untold expanse of forests mown down to accommodate farming requirements. All this points to one hard truth - desolation from landslides, drought and fire. It is widely accepted now that this combined with war against neighboring empires foretold a certain death to the society and civilization of Angkor.

Today conservation efforts are under way to restore Angkor and it's temples, UNESCO has placed it as a world heritage site in 1992 and simultaneously placing it on the endangered heritage list. The incredible monuments are still under constant threat from black market antiquities dealers who hack away large portions of the magnificent sculptures and designs carved in sandstone to sell outside the country and the entire area was the stage for the worst atrocities Cambodia ever saw under the Khmer Rouge who's remnant army even used Angkor Wat as a defensive fortification.

Despite this rampant plundering and natural destruction from the jungle itself, Angkor is still seen as one of the greatest ancient legacies in existence and a great many efforts are being directed towards saving it for future generations by both UNESCO and Cambodia conservation societies.

Today visitors to Angkor meet with an equal measure of awe and heartbreak as the magnificent pyramidal temples ascend into the sky above land still rife with land mines in some parts and monuments to those murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime. It is in many ways a perfect example of the incredible desire of man to achieve, the Cambodian peoples fine tradition of art, and our inability as a society to maintain a way of life. Post your thoughts and ideas about this rich land in our boards below, soon you will be able to move into Angkor's districts and become one of it's citizens. Jungles, temples, fantastical sculptures of beautiful women, Buddhist and Hindu sacred images, a rich society of the ancient Khmer empire, all this awaits you here in Angkor.

www.angkorwat.org (timeline, history, travel info & photos)
Detailed site on Angkor including restoration info
Cambodia travel & tourism
Angkor at Wikipedia.org
Cambodia Yellow Pages - Angkor Temples 3D map
Google Maps focused on Angkor region
Cambodia Conservation: UNESCO portal
Angkor - Khmer rulers & monuments

The Orient wishes to thank Su Hue Luong for providing research and information, and it's citizens for their interest.