People fortunate enough to travel usually see their fair share of impressive sights. I’ve certainly seen a few. But for me, Angkor Wat stands out. Seeing Angkor Wat makes you think.
Angkor Wat and the other Khmer sites nearby are unlike anything the average person might experience. They’re exotic and mysterious. And in the case of Angkor Wat, it’s massive. It’s the largest religious structure in the world.
Who WERE these People?
Who could visit Angkor Wat and not wonder, “Who WERE these people who lived here and built these things?”
The Khmer civilization began in the 9th century and existed for 600 years. They did more than exist. They were the Big Dog on the block in Southeast Asia for centuries. Consider this: in the 13th century, when the Khmer civilization was in its prime, these European cities had the populations noted below.
Paris – 200,00
Milan – 100,000
London – 80,000
Rome – 30,000. (OK. Rome had seen better days).
Constantinople – 70,000. (Constantinople had seen better days, too).
New York – uh… approximately 0?
13th-century Angkor, the Khmer capital city, is believed to have a population between 700,000 to 900,000 people – more than 3 times the size of Paris, France at the time.
Southeast Asia Back in the Day
13th-century Southeast Asia was dominated by the Khmer Empire, but the Khmers were’t the only ones there. The country that would become Thailand bordered the Khmer empire on the west. The two neighbors traded, but they fought, too. Seems like they fought all the time.
Khmer neighbors to the east were Dai Viet, (Vietnam), and the Champa Kingdoms. In those days, Dai Viet was a small player. But Champa Kingdoms spread far and wide in Southeast Asia. Champas traded with Khmers, but they also fought each other. Of course they did.
To the north, Mongol hordes had taken over China, and were clearly in charge. Kublai Khan didn’t want to overrun the Khmers, but he thought they should pay tribute for the Mongols to leave them alone. Dai Viet paid tribute. So should the Khmers. Kublai Khan sent emissaries south to Angkor to give the bad news to the Khmer king.
If I had been one of the Khmer king’s advisors, I might have presented him with a list of kingdoms toppled by ferocious Mongol hordes. Maybe point out what happens to the losers after a Mongol onslaught. I probably would have suggested that life in Angkor was pretty sweet, (at least if you were in the royal court).
The King Didn’t Listen
If the Khmer king did have advisors that reminded him of those things, he didn’t listen. Not only did he say no, he locked up the emissaries, threw away the key, and prepared for battle.
There were battles on the border, but that’s as far as it went. The two civilizations existed more or less in harmony. “Harmony” might be stretching things a bit, but they managed to co-exist.
Khmers didn’t keep written records. Khmer history is intricately carved into the walls of still-existing Khmer monuments. But much of what we know about how they lived is thanks to an observant Chinese traveler named Zhou Daguan.
He didn’t write a travel blog, but he spent a year in Angkor. He observed Khmer culture and kept copious notes. The Khmers didn’t survive, but Zhou Daguan’s notes did.
To be continued…
