CHANDLER “Chandler’s fourth edition of A History of Cambodia makes significant improvements to a book already recognized as the standard work in the field, particularly for university studies. Carefully researched and deftly written, the book is also top choice for the general reader interested in Khmer anthropology, culture, and politics as well as history. Chandler uses fresh scholarship in Khmer studies to enhance his chapters on early Cambodian history, and his expanded final chapter on Cambodia since 1979 is especially welcome. This book adds yet another triumph to David Chandler’s extraordinary career as one of the world’s leading chroniclers of Khmer A HISTORY OF CAMBODIA civilization.” —Frederick Z. Brown, Johns Hopkins University “Chandler’s work, updated with new sections on developments in the first decade of the 21st century, remains essential reading for anyone interested in Cambodia, its people and history. This is a wonderful, nuanced and highly readable volume with much new material on Cambodia’s fascinating and tumultuous past.” —William R. Chapman, University of Hawaii at Manoa In this clear and concise volume, author David Chandler provides a timely overview of Cambodia, a small but increasingly visible Southeast Asian nation. Hailed by the Journal of Asian Studies as an “original contribution, superior to any other existing work,” this acclaimed text has now been completely revised and updated to include material examining the early history of Cambodia, whose FOURTH EDITION famous Angkorean ruins now attract more than one million tourists each year, the death of Pol Pot, and the revolution and final collapse of the Khmer Rouge. With new material covering the challenges facing today’s Cambodia, the fourth edition reflects recent research by major scholars as well as Chandler’s long immersion in the subject. This comprehensive overview will illuminate—for undergraduate students as well as general readers—the history and contemporary politics of a country long misunderstood. DAVID CHANDLER is emeritus professor of history at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where he has lived and worked since 1972. Edition Fourth ISBN-13: 978-0-8133-4363-1 COVER DESIGN BY WENDY HALITZER ISBNISBN-10: 978-0-8133-4363-1 0-8133-4363-1 PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR 9 0 0 0 0 WESTVIEW PRESS WESTVIEW A MEMBER OF THE PERSEUS BOOKS GROUP 9 7 8 0 8 1 3 3 4 3 6 3 1 WWW.WESTVIEWPRESS.COM 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page i A HISTORY OF CAMBODIA 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page ii 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page iii A HISTORY of CAMBODIA Fourth Edition DAVID CHANDLER Monash University A Member of the Perseus Books Group 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page iv Copyright © 2008 by Westview Press Published by Westview Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Westview Press, 2465 Central Avenue, Suite 200, Boulder, Colorado 80301. Find us on the World Wide Web at www.westviewpress.com. Westview Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 255-1514, or e-mail [email protected]. Designed by Timm Bryson Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chandler, David. A history of Cambodia / David Chandler. — 4th ed. p. cm. Previously published: 3rd ed. 2000. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8133-4363-1 ISBN-10: 0-8133-4363-1 1. Cambodia--History. I. Title. DS554.5.C46 2007 959.6--dc22 2007009971 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page v For Liz, Maggie and Tom 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page vi 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page vii CONTENTS List of Illustrations xi Preface to the Fourth Edition xiii 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 THE BEGINNINGS OF CAMBODIAN HISTORY 13 Indianization, 15 Funan, 18 Government and Society in Early Cambodia, 27 3 KINGSHIP AND SOCIETY AT ANGKOR 35 Sources for Angkorean History, 36 Jayavarman II and the Founding of Angkor, 39 Yasovarman and His Successors, 42 Angkorean Kingship, 53 Angkor Wat, 56 vii 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page viii viii CONTENTS 4 JAYAVARMAN VII AND THE CRISIS OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 65 Jayavarman VII and Buddhist Kingship, 66 The Temples of Jayavarman VII, 73 Theravada Buddhism and the Crisis of the Thirteenth Century, 80 Zhou Daguan’s Account of Angkor, 1296–97, 83 5 CAMBODIA AFTER ANGKOR 91 The Shift from Angkor to Phnom Penh, 92 Cambodia in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, 96 Values in Seventeenth-Century Cambodia, 106 Vietnamese and Thai Activities in Cambodia, 112 Conclusions, 115 6 STATE, SOCIETY, AND FOREIGN RELATIONS, 1794–1848 119 Society and Economy, 120 Patronage and Government, 125 The Okya, 130 Cambodia’s Relations with Vietnam and Siam, 136 7 THE CRISIS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 141 The Imposition of Vietnamese Control, 142 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page ix CONTENTS ix The Vietnamization of Cambodia, 1835–40, 149 Siam and the Restoration of Cambodian Independence, 161 8 THE EARLY STAGES OF THE FRENCH PROTECTORATE 167 The Establishment of the French Protectorate, 171 The Tightening of French Control, 174 Sisowath’s Early Years, 180 9 CAMBODIA’S RESPONSE TO FRANCE, 1916–45 187 The 1916 Affair, 187 The Assassination of Résident Bardez, 191 The Beginnings of Nationalism, 194 The Impact of World War II, 201 The Growth of Nationalism and the Return of the French, 207 10 GAINING INDEPENDENCE 211 The Development of Political Parties, 212 The Growth of the Left, 218 Sihanouk and the Achievement of Independence, 224 11 FROM INDEPENDENCE TO CIVIL WAR 233 The Assembly Election, 233 Sihanouk’s Policies, 238 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page x x CONTENTS Opposition to Sihanouk, 240 Sihanouk’s Rule: A Balance Sheet, 242 Sihanouk’s Decline, 244 The Coup of 1970, 249 The Khmer Republic’s Slow Collapse, 251 12 REVOLUTION IN CAMBODIA 255 DK Takes Power, 1975–76, 258 The Four-Year Plan, 262 A Crisis in the Party, 265 Conflict with Vietnam, 269 DK Closes Down, 272 13 CAMBODIA SINCE 1979 277 The PRK: Early Phases, 277 Opposition to the PRK, 280 The CGDK, 282 The Vietnamese Withdrawal, 284 The UNTAC Period and After, 286 The End of the Khmer Rouge, 289 The Coup de Force of 1997, 290 Twenty-First-Century Cambodia, 293 Conclusion, 296 Notes 301 Bibliographic Essay 339 Index 351 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page xi ILLUSTRATIONS Cambodia (map) xvii A ninth-century statue buried in the forest near Kompong Cham 31 Ninth-century statues abandoned in the forest near Kompong Cham 32 A Cambodian inscription, ninth century CE 38 Guardian spirit, Preah Ko, ninth century 52 A heavenly angel (thevoda) from an eleventh-century temple, Thommanon 59 Angkor Wat, twelfth-century temple dedicated to Vishnu. The largest religious building in the world, its image has appeared on five successive Cambodian flags since 1953 62 A tower at the Bayon, Jayavarman VII’s temple- mountain, twelfth century CE 67 A twelfth-century bas-relief at the Bayon depicting warfare between Chams and Khmer 75 Reenactment of the Ramayana, Battambang, 1966 109 A rice-growing village in Kompong Speu, 1961 123 xi 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page xii xii ILLUSTRATIONS Casting a net on the Mekong, 1988, a technique that has remained unchanged for several hundred years 129 Cambodian landscape, 2006 147 Prince Sisowath and his entourage, 1866 169 Entrance to the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh 184 Phnom Penh, aerial view, 1970 202 Cambodian classical dancer, Phnom Penh, 2003 217 Sihanouk dismissed from office; graffito in Phnom Penh, 1970 250 Young girls in revolutionary costume, 1972 253 Zones and administrative divisions of Democratic Kampuchea (map) 259 Democratic Kampuchean cadre, Thai-Cambodian border, 1979 267 Democratic Kampuchean killing ground near Phnom Penh, exhumed in 1979 275 Cambodian woman and Vietnamese soldier, 1980 285 Monks, Siem Reap, 2003 292 Boys on a bridge, Phnom Penh, 2003 299 0813343631-Chandler 1 5/25/07 12:26 PM Page xiii PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION I’m grateful to Steve Catalano of Westview Press for encouraging me to prepare this edition of a book that was first published in 1983. Mr. Catalano is the latest in a series of talented and helpful editors at West- view who have worked with me on this book. I’m also grateful to Kay Mareia, the project editor, and to Tom Lacey for his assiduous and help- ful copyediting. Like the previous editions, this one is dedicated to my children. The structure and the general approach of the book remain un- changed, but I have revised Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 to reflect the valu- able research that has been published since the 3rd edition appeared in 2000. I refer especially to the pioneering work of the Greater Angkor Project, Claude Jacques, Christophe Pottier, Ashley Thompson, and Michael Vickery. In the rest of the book I have tried to keep abreast of significant new scholarship. The closing pages, which deal with events since 2000, benefit from several visits to Cambodia and from discus- sions with many people including Erik Davis, Youk Chhang, Penny Ed- wards, Kate Frieson, Steve Heder, Don Jameson, John Marston, Un Kheang, and Kim Sedara.