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1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. General Information the Kingdom Of 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. General Information The kingdom of Cambodia, which is also known as Kampuchea, is located on the mainland tropical region of Southeast Asia in the Lower Mekong region with 13° 00’ N of latitude and 105° 00’ E of longitude. It covers a total area of 181,035 sq km. The country’s maximum extent is about 580 kilometres east to west and 450 kilometres north to south. The country shares land borders with Thailand in the west and north, with Laos in the northeast, with Vietnam in the east and southeast and with the Gulf of Thailand in the southwest. The Dangrek Mountain Range in the north and Cardamom Mountains in the southwest form the natural boundaries. The physical landscape is dominated by the lowland plains around the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap Lake, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. Of the total land, approximately 49% of land remains covered by forest. The country is divided into 20 provinces and 4 municipalities. Phnom Penh is the capital and is the largest city. The population of Cambodia was 13 million in 2005 A.D. The majority of Cambodian population is Buddhist forming 97%. The remaining are Muslim (2%), Christian (0.2%) and others (Samsopheap, 2005:59). The official language of Cambodia is Khmer, an Austro- Asiatic language which is spoken by the majority of the population. French was formerly an important second language, but its use has been discouraged since independence. Western Cham, an Austronesian language, is the mother tongue for around 220,000 people living near major cities. Sixteen other Austro-Asiatic languages are spoken, including Tampuan, Central Mnong, and Kuy. English is becoming increasingly popular as a second language. The politics of Cambodia is the democracy under the constitutional monarchy. The Royal Government of Cambodia was established on 24th September 1993 on the basis of an internationally recognised free and fair election. The executive branch comprises the King, who is head of state; an appointed Prime Minister; eight deputy prime ministers, 14 senior ministers, 28 ministers, 135 secretaries of state and 146 undersecretaries of state. The bicameral legislature consists of a 123-member elected National Assembly and a 61-member Senate. The judiciary includes a Supreme Court, lower courts, and an international court with jurisdiction over the serious massacre of the Khmer Rouge. The major political parties are Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), 2 FUNCINPEC, and Sam Rangsei Party (Lum, 2007:1). Historically, the present Cambodia is considered to be the successor state of the once powerful Khmer Empire which ruled almost all of the Indochinese Peninsula between the 1st - 14th Centuries A.D. 1.2. History of Cambodia Historians have generally divided the fascinating history of Cambodia into four main phases, namely: Pre-Angkorian Period the 1st Century A.D. - 802 A.D. Angkorian Period 802 A.D. - 1432 A.D. Post-Angkorian Period 1432 A.D. - 1864 A.D. Modern Period 1859 A.D. - Present. The point of reference to this division is the ‘Angkorian Period’ which is considered as the zenith of Khmer civilization. The first phase of history known as the ‘Pre-Angkorian Period’, can be dated from the arrival of Indian culture pre-dating Funan and Chenla Kingdoms to the invasion of Javanese. The period from the ascension of King Jayavarman II to the throne, which marks the beginning of the Angkor Empire, to the collapse of Angkor in 1432 A.D. is known as the ‘Angkorian Period’. This period is followed by the ‘Post-Angkorian Period’ which saw a quick decline of the Angkor Empire following the invasion of Siamese army. The final stage, known as the ‘Modern Period’, starts with the coming of French, until date. This period marks the impact of the Western culture when Cambodia was annexed as a French Protectorate. 1.2.1. Pre-Angkorian Period (the 1st Century A.D. - 802 A.D.) The Pre-Angkorian Period can be divided into two small time-frames: namely Funan and Chenla. The accounts of the Funan Period cannot be considered to be a part of authentic Cambodian history because most of the information and data available are from Chinese records which are repeated over and over again hence distorting and manipulating the facts. Contrary to Funan, the Chenla Period has much larger available data. The inscriptions are the main sources of its information. 3 1.2.1.1. Funan (the 1st Century A.D. - ca. 550) Cambodia received heavy cultural influence from India since the starting point of civilization in the 1st Century A.D. Researchers would prefer to call this confluence of cultural exchange as ‘Indianization’. The first kingdom of Cambodia, which the Chinese referred to as ‘Funan’, was established during this period of time. The word ‘Funan’ is the Chinese pronunciation for the word ‘bnam’ (vnumá) or ‘phnom’ (phnumá) in modern Khmer, which means ‘mountain’ (Cœdès, 1969:57; Briggs, 1951: 12). Funan was the dominating power for around five centuries. The kingdom was probably founded sometime during the 1st Century A.D., because historical accounts of Funan were firstly mentioned in the History of the Tsin Dynasty which covers the period from 265 to 419 A.D. (Majumdar, 1944:36). The most outstanding figure in the history of Funan was a military leader named ‘Fan Man’ or ‘Fan Shih-man’ who ascended the throne by popular acclaim. The text says “He took the title of the Great King of Funan. He had great ships built, and after crossing the wide seas, he attacked more than ten kingdoms…” (Cœdès, 1969:57-62). His suzerainty may have extended eastwards as far as the region of Nha-Trang, where the stele of Vo Canh was erected by one of his descendants, upon which his Sanskrit form of name ‘§riÆmaÆra’ is mentioned and his successor, Fan Chan entered into relations with India and China with commercial considerations (Cœdès, 1969:57-62). The exact location of the kingdom and its size is unclear, but it presumably occupied a large area in the mainland of Southeast Asia, stretching across Central Vietnam, Cambodia and Central Thailand. Not much is known about Cambodia prior to the 1st Century A.D. or about Funan. Apart from the few inscriptions, the main source of Funan’s history is from Chinese imperial records. The Chinese records tell the story of the origin of the Funan Kingdom that the land of Funan was previously governed by a female ruler named ‘Liu-Yeh’. Once it so happened that a Brahmin named ‘Hun Tien’ got divine inspiration from his dream and was advised by the god to set off for a voyage. He was blessed with a divine bow. He set out for the mission and his ship reached the port of Funan. When his ship reached shore, the armies of Liu-Yeh attacked his boat. Hun Tien used his divine bow to retaliate the empress’s armies which resulted in their surrender. After this incident Hun Tien became the first king of Funan (Majumdar, 1944:26; Briggs, 1951:17; Cœdès, 1968:37). The name ‘Hun Tien’ as it appeared in this text is considered as a 4 transcription of the name ‘Kaunádáinya’, the great Brahmin who received a spear from AßvatthaÆman, son of Dronáa (Cœdès, 1969:57). And the name ‘Liu -Yeh’ may be a graphic alteration of ‘Ye-Ye’ which means ‘coconut leaf’ (Briggs, 1951:17). The Funanese were prosperous traders. Funan occupied a key position with regard to the maritime trade routes and may even have been a terminus of voyages from the Eastern Mediterranean as Ptolemy mentioned that Kattigara was situated on the Western coast of Indochina on the Gulf of Thailand, and, wherefore, it unquestionably traded with Rome, India, and China. Even the important cities of Funan were seaports such as Oc- Eo (Southern Vietnam) and possibly the monarchs did not control much inland territory, since usually Southeast Asia states were based on sea trade between India and China (Vickery, 2002:7). An ambassador of Funan was sent to China in 243 A.D. and presented the emperor with some musicians. In return, Funan was visited by Kang Tai and Zhu Ying, envoys of the Wu emperor of Liang Dynasty of China between 245 A.D. and 250 A.D. The envoys found Fan Hsun on the throne. This first Chinese mission recorded an interesting account of Funan that it had walled cities, palaces and dwelling-houses. The people were ugly, black, and frizzy-haired and went about naked and barefoot. The taxes were paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes. They had books and depositories of archives; the writing being like that of the Hu. The word ‘Hu’ is the Chinese term for the people of Central Asia, who used Indian script. It means that the Kingdom of Funan used the Indian script at least in the 3rd Century A.D. Three more ambassadors went from Funan to China during 285 - 287 A.D. The last trade missions were reported during the Tang Dynasty. In the middle of the 4th Century A.D., the Chinese sources record that in 357 A.D. Funan was ruled by an Indian whose name was ‘Chandan’. After the year 357 A.D. there is no further mention of Funan until the beginning of the 5th Century A.D. This was a period marked by the revival of Indian influence throughout Southeast Asia. The Chinese historians refer to the second Kaunádáinya, who is said to have come from India via the Malay Peninsula and renewed Indian traditions in Funan. His successors maintained good relationship with China.
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