Research+Summary+of+Khmer-Empire

media type="custom" key="3785819" (Canesso, Claudia. __Places and Peoples of the World: Cambodia__. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989.) (Perkes, Dave. "Tonle Sap Lake". Peace of Angkor. May 09, 2009 .) media type="custom" key="3785827" **Founding of Khmer Empire **  **Reign of King Indravarman I **  **Reign of King Yasovarman I **   **Bakheng ** **Temple **** Built **     **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of King Jayavarman IV ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of King Rajendravarman II ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of King Jayavarman V ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">      <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">      **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of Udayadityavarman I **  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of Suryavarman I **  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">    **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of Udayadityavarman II ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of Harshavarman III ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jayavarman VI ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of Dharanindravarman I ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reign of the greatest king, Suryavarman II ** (Hayes, Holly. "Angkor Timeline". Sacred Destination. May 09, 2009 <http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cambodia/angkor-timeline.htm>) (Canesso, Claudia. __Places and Peoples of the World: Cambodia__. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989) (Dagens, Bruno. __Angkor: Hearth of an Asian Empire__. New York: Harry N. Abrams, INC., Publishers, 1995) media type="custom" key="3785855" (Canesso, Claudia. __Places and Peoples of the World: Cambodia__. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989) media type="custom" key="3785847" (Canesso, Claudia. __Places and Peoples of the World: Cambodia__. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989) (Dagens, Bruno. __Angkor: Hearth of an Asian Empire__. New York: Harry N. Abrams, INC., Publishers, 1995) media type="custom" key="3785895" > ( Boisselier, Jean. __Trends In Khmer Art__. Ithaca: Southeast Asia Program, 1989. ) media type="custom" key="3785905" ( Jacq-Hergoualc'h, Michel. __The Armies of Angkor: Military Structure and Weaponry of the Khmers__. Bangcok: Orchid Press, 2008.) ( Coe, Michael. __Angkor And The Khmer Civilization__. London: Thames And Hudson, 2005.)
 * Cambodia is located in between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer, therefore making it the most northern tropical zone on the Earth.
 * Cambodia has a monsoonal climate, which means that the weather heavily depends on the frequency of monsoons.
 * Monsoons create 2 different seasons in the year, one season being the dry season (November-April) and the wet season (May-October).
 * In the dry season, mild speed winds come from the north east, rain is very rare.[[image:327787-Angkor-Monsoon-0.jpg align="right" caption="Angkor Wat in Monsoon"]]
 * During the wet season, monsoons enter from the southwest and bring large quantities of precipitation along with them.
 * Annual precipitation varies from 5080 milimeters(on the Cardamom and Elephant ranges) to 1400 milimeters (in the lowland)
 * Camboida recieves 75% - 80% of its precipitation during the wet season.
 * It is always hot, even on the highest mountains because they are not elevated enough to be snow covered or even cold.
 * April, the warmest month, averages daytime temperatures of about 35°C and snow or frost areunheard of, even at night in Janurary.
 * Bordered by Thailand on the west and northwest, Vietnam on east and southeast and Laos on the north and northeast.
 * Center of the land is the most fertile and flatest, consisting of a moist lowland plain.
 * The central lowlands are also surrounded by savanahs which are more elevated and drier.
 * The savanahs are then surrounded by dense hills with tropical forrests in the north, east and west.
 * Tonle Sap is a very narrow and long lake in the western/central part of the land and is not deeper than 2m in the dry season. In the wet season, it raises to a staggering 10.5 meters and grows over three times in size. This flooding creates a mud that is ideal for rice growing.
 * Many different varieties of fish live in the Tonle Sap including; eels, carp, reil, lake chub and others.
 * Tonle Sap is very rich with fish, having 26 tons of fish per square mile, making it one of the richest lakes in the world.
 * Mekong river is one of the longest rivers in all of Asia. It begins in the Himilayas, through Laos and Thailand, into Cambodia, where it runs for 494 kilometers, then into southern Vietnam, where it then empties into the South Chiese Sea.
 * The river is added on to by melting snow in the Himilayan Mountains and is fastest in August.
 * Mekong river is joint with the Tonle Sap lake by a small river called Tonle Sab and below the junction, a smaller river called the Bassac flows to Vietnam.
 * This "X" shaped junction occurs in Phnom Penh.
 * In the north, the Dang Raek mountain range runs along the Thailand border and are 322 kilometers long and make a cliff that rises from the plains toan elevation of up to 550 meters and form a natural sandstone border between Cambodia an[[image:040305012fishtrap.jpg width="276" height="196" align="right" caption="Fish Trapping on the Tonle Sap Lake"]]d Thailand.
 * Another, higher rang of mountains is the Cardamom Mountain range which rises south of the cities Pailin and Battambang.
 * The highest point in Cambodia happens to be at the Cardamom Mountain range and is called Phnum Aoral and is 1813 meters high.
 * The last mountain range, the Elephant mountain range runs along the south.
 * King Jayavarman II becomes the founder of the Khmer Empire.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He used the old kingdom of Chenla to expand and form the Khmer Empire.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He founded several capitals, first at Indrapura, then, toward the north, at Hariharalaya, and then at Mahendraparvata, north of the Tonle Sap.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indravarman I builds the first Angkor reservoirs at Hariharalaya and the first temple at Bakong.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reservoir was built to maintain and control the river system of the region and to increase rice production that would have otherwise been slow.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This system made it possible for the Khmers at Angkor to maintain a high population at a small amount of land and later made it possible to feed the large amount of workers needed to build the temples at Angkor.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Roluos, Indravarman I built Bakong, which was the first Khmer temple, it was created mainly of stone and served as a model for later temples.
 * King Yasovarman I completed his establishment of the capital and court of Angkor, this becomes the center of Khmer worship, scholarship and government.
 * King Yasovarman I also builds Lolei and Phnom Bakheng temples.
 * King Yasovarman I built the Bakheng temple had an enormous amount of 108 tower shrines ordered on the terraces around the pyramid.
 * It was intended to create a mystical conception of the cosmos.
 * Isanavarman II died in 928, putting Jayavarman IV at the throne and he then moved the capital to his town of Koh Ker which was north of Angkor.
 * He constructed Rahal Baray temple in Koh Ker which was dificult to engineer, Sandstone was first used for Khmer structures at this time.
 * Koh Ker remained as the capital for a short period of about 15 years.
 * When Harshavarman II died, his cousin Rajendravarman II took over as king.[[image:vii_faces.JPG width="404" height="304" align="left" caption="Faces of King Jayavarman VII at the Bayon temple" link="http://malaysiantraveller.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/faces.JPG"]]
 * He made Angkor capital once again, and began to build the temple of Pre Rup (built from 947-965).
 * Rajendravarman II had many rivals and rebellions against him due to the unrighteous way he rose to king.
 * To get more loyal followers, he divided the kingdom into provinces.
 * He also began to build the Kleang temple (965-1010) and the Banteay Srei (967-1000) temple.
 * King Jayavarman V was the son of Rajendravarman II.
 * Jayavarman V fought with other princes to maintain his position.
 * He built Jayendranagari near Angkor, and made it capital.
 * He oversaw the building of the Banteay Srei and Takeo temples.
 * Udayadityavarman I became king through violent murders and he eventually was murdered in 1002.
 * No significant Khmer structure was built due to the power struggle of the two princes, Jayaviravarman and Suryavarman I.
 * Jayaviravarman became throne in 1002, but was overthrown in 1010 by Suryavarman I.
 * Suryavarman spent all 40 years of his reign defending his throne, he was the first king to build a walled pallace.
 * He further expanded the territory to the West to Thailand and the biggest construction for him was the temple Phimeanakas and the Preah Vihear on the mountain Dangrek.
 * He also began to build the second of Angkors reservoirs, the West Baray which is twice as large as its predecessor.
 * Udayadityavarman II was a descendant from Yasovarman Is spouse and ruled fiercely.
 * He built the renowned Baphoun Temple (1010-1080) to god Shiva, also, some stone scriptures appaeard to be directed toward Buddha.
 * He also built the West Mebon, a raise-earthen island, in the middle of the West Baray and with this, he constructed a temple to god Vishnu, but has eroded since.
 * Not much is known about Harshavarman III, because he did not build any known structures.
 * He was Udayadityavarman II's older brother and was beleived to have been killed in a violent dispute.
 * Jayavarman VI did not have any ties to any of his predecessors.
 * He claimed to be the descendent of legendary Mera and Kambu.
 * This is why it is beleived he became king through violence.
 * He build very little known monuments other than the Phimai temple.
 * Dharanindravarman I was Jayavarman VI's older brother and he was overthrown and killed by his nephew in a civil war.
 * This nephew was Suryavarman II, who became the most powerful and greatest kings of the Khmer Empire.
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suryavarman II built the most impressive  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">temple of Khmer, Angkor Wat which is one of the few World's Wonders with its extraordinary archetectural features.   **
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He also built Chey Say Tevoda, Banteay Samre, Beng Melea, and Thommanon.  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   **
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Angkor Wat  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is a mountain temple created towards god Vishnu, its highst point is at 65 meters and surrounded  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by a wall measuring 1.5 km by 1.3 km which is surrounded  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by moat of 200 meters wide, the structure also contains many important sculptures  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and pieces of art.   **
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">37 long and tedious years were needed to build the temple with over 50 000 workers.   **
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was also a brave warrior and robbed east Champa provinces and he even began war with the strong Vietnamese  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ly Dynasty.   **
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He also extended his reign as far south to the border of Grahi Kingdom and as far north as the border of modern Laos.   **
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With this he conquered the Haripunjaya Kingdom in Thailand and expanded up to the border of the Pagan kingdom.   **
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last documentation of Suryavarman II's existance was carved in 1145 and it inolved his preparation to invade Vietnam, therefore he most likely died sometime between 1145 and 1150 in a battlefield.   **
 * ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After this period, Angkor fell into a decline with several kings leading, but all were weak.   **
 * Each region of Cambodia has its own types of vegetation and animal life.
 * The central lowland was (and still is) used for cropland. Rice was grown inflooded fields, tobacco, corn and other crops were grown on dry fields.
 * Wet, moist marches around the Tonle Sap are covered with lotuses and reeds (water flowers).[[image:palm-tree.jpg width="238" height="351" align="right" caption=""Thnoat"(sugar palm) tree in Cambodia"]]
 * Savanahs are covered with grass that can grow in excess up to 1.5 meters in height in well watered areas.
 * Both lowlands and savanahs are booming with different flowers and fruits, wild and cultivated.
 * The forests of the north and east have large quantites of bamboo, vines, palm trees and ratan.
 * Huge forrests of teak, greenheart, mahogany and other trees rise up from the ground up to 30 meters.
 * All these woods were used to build houses, boats along with intruments and tools among other things.
 * On the coastal regions, where monsoons hit with most ferocity, trees grow up to 45 meters.
 * Coastal trees include mangrove and evrgreen trees.
 * The people of Khmer hunted oxen and boar as a primary source of mamal food. Though the Khmer people ate primary fish.
 * Flooding of the Tonle Sap creates a mud that is ideal for rice growing.
 * The Khmer people fished/trapped many different species of fish and crustacians including; eels, carp, reil, lake chub and others.
 * Tonle Sap is very rich with fish, having 26 tons of fish per square mile, making it one of the richest lakes in the world
 * Animals included tigers, spotted leopards, black tigers and countless species of monkies.
 * Asian elephants are found along the borders of Cambodia and they can be domesticated and trained, unlike African Elephants.
 * Primary usages for domesticated Asian Eleptants were to pull heavy loads and stones, including the stones needed to build temples such as Angkor Wat.
 * Dogs were also eaten, but were more common in vietnam.
 * Birds inhabit the vast areas of Cambodia including pheasants, peacocks, and wild ducks.
 * The Tonle Sap lake and Mekong river are known for their water birds such as pelicans, egrets and cormorants.
 * The Khmer people also ate snakes, althogh very rarely which included, the cobra, king cobra and the banded krait are found there.
 * The Khmer people didn't affect the ecosystem during the times of the Khmer Empire at all, due to the fact that tropical areas at that time before deforstation and over fishing were booming with wildlife.
 * Music was the most common form of art in the general population.
 * Traditional music included the use of flutes, drums, tros (one stringed violins) and gongs.
 * Dance was also very common, particularly the "lamthon" dance which is still practiced by village girls even today.
 * Scriptures at temples are proof of the ancient dancs origins because they have drawings showing some of the numerous moves and poses of the dance.[[image:9322_angkor_wat_dancers1.jpg width="260" height="195" align="right" caption="Apsara Dancers carved onto the Angkor Wat temple"]]
 * The Khmer people also had a vast quantity of plays involving Hindu gods and other myths.
 * Plays also involve comical situations with princesses, merchants, etc.
 * Jewlery was also very common for kings and other wealthy families.
 * Other crafts include wood and stone carvings and panels of wood on which scenes of Ramayana (a religous hindu epic) are drawn.
 * Khmer temples were known for their extreme attention to detail with every milimeter of stone having its own part in a pattern or grander architetural design.
 * The Khmer people were also known for their stone sculptures of their leaders and major events such as enormus feasts and such.
 * Sandstone was the main matrial used for stone sculptures
 * Main types of stone used for <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; line-height: normal; white-space: pre; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">architecture and sculptures were sandstone and laterite which were formed into bricks.
 * Bricks were sealed toegther by a compund of vegetable oils and skins and were carved by sharp tools.[[image:Angkor-Wat-Cambodia-Siem-Reap-Hrtfried-Schmid-best-picture-gallery.jpg width="399" height="266" align="right" caption="Architecture of Angkor Wat" link="http://www.bestpicturegallery.com/Angkor-Wat-Cambodia-Siem-Reap-Hrtfried-Schmid-best-picture-gallery.jpg"]]
 * Laterite was most useful beccause it was a soft, iron rich clay that hardend when exposed to sunlight and air.
 * Wood such as timber was also very common in houses, palaces and other living quarters.
 * Every city was very strategicaly planned and positioned, and eventually executed the building to perfection with thousands of builders and craftsman.
 * These cities were added upon for many years until the collapse of the Khmer Empire.
 * The Kulen style of art was the first known art style of the Angkorian Period.
 * This style involved sculpting the body in a straigh flexed position, with Khmer facial features of round faces.
 * The Koh Ker style shows the inclusion of animals into sculptures such as monkies wrestling and such.
 * The Bahupon style was the most graceful and elegant style, that portrayed the sculptures in corresponding fashion.
 * The Angkor style showed strong musucular sculptures, wearing jewels and pearls.
 * [[image:boxkator-heng-chivoan.jpg align="left" caption="Bokator Fighters in a Competition" link="http://angkorianwarrior.com/myPictures/boxkator-heng-chivoan.jpg"]]Khmer martial arts such as Bokator were taught to warriors and other men.
 * Bokator martial arts are known world wide to fighters and these martial arts served as templates for l ater martial arts such as Muay Thai and <span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">traditional kickboxing.
 * <span style="line-height: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kickboxing is restricted to attacks such as; punching, kicking, elbowing, kneeing, and head grapples, whereas, Bokator includes ground combat, weapons, joint locks, throws,animal styles and manipulations.
 * Jaw and even the shoulder muscles are used as weapons and Bokator is fought sitting, kneeling, laying down, standing up and in many more positions.
 * When a Bokator master was asked if one of his students was to fight in a kickboxing competetion if he would win. The master replied by saying that his students would never be allowed to fight in a ring because they are trained to kill.
 * Finger stabbing, throat hitting and pressure points are all part of Bokator but Khmer Soldiers used traditional Khmer weapons in the battle field as opposed to Bokator martial arts.
 * Khmer warriors used weapons such as; Lompang (spears), Tnoo (bows and arrows), Dao (swords) and Phkap (scythe-like weapon)
 * The Khmer empire was the most formidable fighting force in south Asi<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a during the golden years/prime.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The primary source of general transportation was by water.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Mekong, Bassac and Tonle Sab rivers and Tonle Sap lake were all used for smeba (boats) and kun (large rafts) were constucted to move large objects over water.
 * Asain elephants were used for hauling large objects such as building supplies and materials because they were strong and relatively easy to domesticate and train.