The Khmer Civilization got into existence in the period from
802 to 1431 A.D. and extended as long as the modern Thailand-Burma Border in
the West and Wat Phou of Laos
in the North while in its peak. The ancestors and forefathers of the Angkor
civilization are believed to have migrated into Cambodia
along the Mekong River Tonle Sap , but a genuinely
sophisticated and enormous irrigation system permitted the spread of the
civilization to the country side from the lake.
Its beginning is based on the truth that the old Khmer
rulers taken a proper political doctrine of their time, that enforce the unity
among people. Furthermore, they had established a smart irrigation system to
regulate the water of the great Mekong
River
No doubts, the ancient Khmers were great experts of stone
carving. As we can observe today the unarguable evidences of numerous Angkortemples laying in the wide plain of Siem Reap, or even beyond its present-day
border to the Preah Vihear at Dangrek Mountain, Phnom Rung and Phimai in
Thailand and Wat Phu in Laos. Each one of these was constructed and carefully
crafts by the ancient Khmers within successive centuries. This appears to
contradict with the regular and easy-going life of the local Khmer people and
villagers of their time. What push them to put these extraordinary endeavors.
The research of Khmer civilization in-depth is not simple
and pain-taking by the historians and archaeologists. Although these evidences
are essential for all of us to know the fundamental constituency of Khmer
culture and its chronology, they were mostly involved with religious rituals, King's
praise, and literature of Indian epics of "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata".
There are little points stating concerning the normal life of the local people.
Curiously, we find out about the daily lifestyle of the
ancient Khmers, not from the Khmer themselves, but from the Chinese annals. In
the midst of 13th century during Chinese Yuan Dynasty, a Chinese ambassador
named Zhou Daguan journeyed to Angkor, stayed with the local villagers, and
explored this empire for a year before his return. He wrote in his Chinese
chronicle relating to this awesome empire, and clarifies vividly how the people
live together with the obvious portrayal of the Khmer society during those
times.
The center of the Khmer Civilization was in the Angkor Wat
area that is located in the basic of present-day Siem Reap province north of
the Great Lake of Tonle Sap. During the path of Khmer history, the kingship was
often attained by violent means with bloodshed throne. There had been
successive capitals constructed by various kings in the area, some distance
from each others; these capitals are in area of Angkor Wat and Roluos with the
various names like Harihalara, Yasodharapura, Jayendanagari, Angkor Wat, Angkor
Thom and some other Khmer temples are surely the artifacts of heritage Khmer
Civilization.
During the classic period, the Khmer society was a
multicultural mixture of Pali and Sanskrit rituals resulting from a fusion of
Hindu and High Buddhist belief systems, most likely the results of Cambodia 's role within the substantial trade
system linking Rome , India
and China
throughout the last few centuries BC. This blend served as both the religious
core of the society and as the political and economic basis on which the empire
was built.
The Khmer society was led by a comprehensive court system
with both religious and secular nobles, artisans, fishermen and rice farmers, soldiers,
and elephant keepers: Angkor was defended by a
military using elephants. The elites gathered and redistributed taxes, and
temple inscriptions attest to a detailed barter system. A variety of products
were exchanged between Khmer cities and China, such as rare woods, elephant tusks,
cardamom as well as other spices, wax, gold, silver and silk.
Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) ceramic has been discovered at
Angkor: Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) white wares such as Qingai boxes have been
identified at several Angkor centers. The
Khmer recorded their religious and political tenets in Sanskrit inscribed on
stele and also on the temple walls throughout the empire.
Bas reliefs at Angkor Wat, Bayon and Banteay Chhmar describe
great army expeditions to neighboring polities using elephants and horses, chariots
and war canoes, although there does not seem to have been a standing military. The
end of Angkor came to the mid-14th century, and
was partly caused by a general change in religious belief in the community, from
Hinduism and High Buddhism to much more democratic Buddhist practices. At the
same, an environmental collapse is noted by some historians as having a role in
the disappearance of Angkor .
Road Systems among the Khmer
The tremendous Khmer empire was united by the number of
roads, consists of six main arteries stretching from Angkor
for a total of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). Supplementary roads and causeways
served local traffic in and around the Khmer cities. The streets that
interconnected Angkor and Phimai, Vat Phu, Preah Khan, Sambor Prei Kuk and Sdok
Kaka Thom (as plotted by the Living Angkor Road Project) were fairly straight, and
constructed of earth piled from each side of the route in long flat strips. The
street surfaces were up to 10 meters (33 feet) wide and in some areas were
raised up to 5-6 m (16-20 ft) above the ground.
