Althouse: "Legend has it that in 802 CE, Jayavarman II, king of the Khmers, first came to the Kuhlen hills, the future site of Angkor Wat."

January 31, 2013

"Legend has it that in 802 CE, Jayavarman II, king of the Khmers, first came to the Kuhlen hills, the future site of Angkor Wat."

"Later, under Jayavarman VII (1181–ca. 1218), Khmer reached its zenith of political power and cultural creativity. Jayavarman VII gained power and territory in a series of successful wars. Khmer conquests were almost unstoppable as they raided home cities of powerful seafaring Chams.... Following Jayavarman VII's death, Khmer experienced a gradual decline.... The Angkorian monarchy survived until 1431...."

In Cambodia, today's "History of" country.

13 comments:

edutcher said...: I always liked Jackie Mason's explanation of Cambodia's origin.

"Think about all the new countries they got nowadays.

Anybody ever hear of Cambodia?

Me, neither.

The way I figure, guy got off the boat, looked around, liked what he saw. Nobody owned the place, so he says, 'I'll take it'. His name was Sam Cambodia, so they called it Cambodia"; 1/31/13, 9:09 PM
bagoh20 said...: I wonder if there is a more war loving species than us? Did it really take until the 1960's for someone to say "Make Love - Not War"? A good sit-in in say 3968 BC might have saved a lot of lives by now.; 1/31/13, 9:22 PM
chickelit said...: Now you can go where people are one
Now you can go where they get things done
What you need, my son.

Is a holiday in Cambodia
Where people dress in black
A holiday in Cambodia
Where you'll kiss ass or crack

Pol Pot, Pol Pot, Pol Pot, Pol Pot,...

And it's a holiday in Cambodia
Where you'll do what you're told
A holiday in Cambodia
Where the slums got so much soul; 1/31/13, 9:32 PM
YoungHegelian said...: If you ever get a chance to see an exhibit of Cambodian sculpture from the Khmer Empire, do so. It'll knock your socks off!

And do you know what happened to that sculpture between the end of the empire and when the French came upon Angkor Wat? Nothing. It sat out there in the jungle, until the natives told the French about these old temples. The French said "Well, let's go have a look at them." They were absolutely astounded by what they found. It was like finding the Acropolis lost in the outback.; 1/31/13, 9:45 PM
Known Unknown said...: Chick bringing the DKs. Nice.

I always feel compelled to apologize to any Cambodians I come across in this a country for abandoning them to a mad man.

The Killing Fields should be required viewing in every high school.; 1/31/13, 9:57 PM
Anonymous said...: Now that we're onto the C's, time for more snowfall reports.

Snow has never fallen in Cambodia. It lies entirely south of the Tropic of Cancer and the lowest temperature ever recorded is 46 degrees F. The highest elevation, Mount Aural, is under 6,000 feet and therefore not high enough for mountaintop snow.

Peter; 1/31/13, 10:01 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Snow has never fallen in Cambodia."

John Kerry remembers Christmas in Cambodia when he was listening to President Nixon on the internet and throwing snowballs; 1/31/13, 10:17 PM
KLDAVIS said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/31/13, 10:39 PM
KLDAVIS said...: "YoungHegelian said...

It was like finding the Acropolis lost in the outback."

As recently as 2009, some of the outlying temples had underwent little to no restoration. We spent several hours crawling over Beng Mealea. A local guide was sitting near entrance when we approached, but otherwise we did not see another person the entire time.

The road that passes near the temple had only been recently completed, and demining activity was still taking place nearby.

It was the highlight of our trip...like something out of Indiana Jones, and a completely different experience than seeing Angkor Wat with the hoards off the tour buses.; 1/31/13, 10:41 PM
Dante said...: My addition to this post:

The Khmer Rouge, (Khmer: ខ្មែរក្រហម Khmer Krahom) literally translated as Red Khmers, was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. It was formed in 1968 as an offshoot of the Vietnam People's Army from North Vietnam. It was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu Samphan. Democratic Kampuchea was the name of the state as controlled by the government of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979.
Pol Pot.

This organization is remembered primarily for its policy of social engineering, which resulted in genocide.[1] Its attempts at agricultural reform led to widespread famine, while its insistence on absolute self-sufficiency, even in the supply of medicine, led to the deaths of thousands from treatable diseases such as malaria. Arbitrary executions and torture carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements, or during purges of its own ranks between 1975 and 1978, are considered to have constituted genocide.[2]

Wikipedia.; 2/1/13, 3:08 AM
pm317 said...: YoungHegelian said...
-----------
Absolutely right.

edutcher is showing off his ignorance. This was a thriving metropolis at one time with very prosperous civilization all around. Read about Angkor Wat. Not everything is now, white, rich, and western.; 2/1/13, 6:30 AM
Clyde said...: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!; 2/1/13, 8:10 AM
Mitch H. said...: edutcher is showing off his ignorance.

Or prodding the humorless to have conniption, right on schedule.

The Khmer seem to be a rare example of an actual, living, breathing autochthonous culture, in place since paleolithic times. And they had a long run of it until the barbarian hillbilly Thai and Lao came roaring down out of the hills like thunder. What happened between the fall of the Khmer Empire and French colonial conquest? Apparently centuries of Thai and Lao domination.; 2/1/13, 10:22 AM