Southeast Asia (Khmer)

Question 1

Climate and Area

Answer 1

• 11 modern day countries divided between mainland and islands
• Khmer was mostly in modern day Cambodia
• Entirely within the tropical zone, meaning there were seasonal monsoons, and it was hot and humid
• Low central plain surrounded by low mountains
• This tropical climate causes issues when gathering archaeological evidence because it causes organic material to break down so quickly

Question 2

Khmer Empire Political Authority

Answer 2

• Large states began to form around the 1st millennium BC
• These states included centralized leadership, social hierarchy, and aristocratic classes
• Social feasting and ritual practices made Khmer a theater state. Power was tied into the performance of rituals
• Boundaries and authority were constantly shifting
• Kingdom of Kambuja was created through multiple military campaigns
• Divine kingship ad god-kings were present, associated with Shiva
• Society went through a gradual decline until eventually Angkor was sacked in 1431. After this the Khmer empire lived on but was never as influential as before
• Kings were no longer regarded as gods when the switch to Buddhism occurred

Question 3

Khmer Religion

Answer 3

• Adopted Hinduism from India and largely stuck with it for most of the empire’s existence
• The gods Vishnu and Shiva were most prominently worshipped
• Kings were considered to be the reincarnation of gods on Earth. Jayavarmin II associated himself with Shiva
• The permanence of the gods was represented through building temples out of stone rather than wood
• Eventually, Khmer transitioned to Buddhism
• With this transition, kings were no longer worshipped or associated with gods
• After Buddhism was adopted, values shifted away from hard labour for a king, causing a major cultural shift after cities were not kept up as thoroughly

Question 4

Jayavarman II

Answer 4

• Wanted more territory so he invaded neighbouring areas to create the kingdom of Kambuja
• Called himself god king and universal ruler and believed that he was Shiva’s carnation on Earth
• Built grand monuments for himself
• Created the capital city, Hiraharalaya
• Built baray

Question 5

Maritime Silk Road

Answer 5

• 2nd century BC to 15th century AD
• ## How iron was introduced to the area

Question 6

Connection Between Angkor kings and Religion

Answer 6

• Theater state
• Kings were gods
• Jayavarman VII brought Buddhism

Question 7

Angkor

Answer 7

• Built over generations through successive operation and construction
• Stone architecture traditions
• Capital of the Khmer empire
• Archaeologists originally thought there was limited urbanism with distinct separation from non urban areas
• 2012 LiDAR survey shows high degrees of urbanism, though people were not densely stacked on top of each other
• Known as the hydraulic city due to its extensive water management, engineering, and maintenance, including canals
• These water systems allowed for large scale crop growth that could sustain the city’s population

Question 8

Angkor Wat

Answer 8

• Wat means temple
• The temple complex in the middle of the city
• Built in the central baray at the heart of Angkor
• Portrays Hindu cosmology with the five central peaks representing the home of the gods
• Outer walls represent the mountains at the edge of the world
• Moat represents the oceans
• Towers are shaped like lotus flowers
  Temple was associated with Vishnu rather than Shiva
• May have been built as a funerary temple because it was oriented to the West

Question 9

Angkor Thom

Answer 9

• Translates to great city
• Two centers (one of them is the Wat)
• The second center is the Bayon temple complex built with Buddhist iconography and style
• The great towers of the Bayon depicted many faces, including that of Jayavarman VII. He is depicted as an enlightened being
  Many bas-reliefs showing political or elite events and scenes from Indian literature

Question 10

Bas-Relief

Answer 10

• Unintelligible when looked at straight on, but when viewed from an angle, they appear 3D

Question 11

Khmer Writing

Answer 11

• Sanskrit written on stone
• The last Sanskrit stone discussed the crowning of a new king who embraced Buddhism

Question 12

Khmer Architecture

Answer 12

• The end of stone architecture was originally interpreted as the end of the Khmer civilization, but it did not really die out
• After the shift to Buddhism, architecture, sculptures, and statues stopped being dedicated to kings
• They were instead made of wood and were more ephemeral, depicting nature. This was appealing to Buddhists because of their impermanence

Question 13

Khmer Collapse

Answer 13

• Gradual decline until Angkor was sacked in 1431
• After the sacking, a new capital city was built to the South, but it eventually broke down
• Angkor became a Buddhist temple and a place for religious pilgrimage
• Theories say that the shift to Buddhism and away from hard labour for kings caused the crumbling of infrastructure and that’s why the cities were abandoned
  Unstable kingship system with lots of contention and no clear line of succession also caused discord
• Neighbouring kingdoms may have also played a role with the Thai kingdom growing in power in the 14th century, and they may have been the ones who sacked Angkor after taking over multiple of Khmer’s satellite states
• Climate change is another theory, with a series of megadroughts followed by mega floods destroying the city and its hydraulic works