What do you think?
Rate this book
Ancient Peoples and Places
Angkor and the Khmer Civilization
The ancient city of Angkor has fascinated Westerners since its rediscovery in the mid-nineteenth century. A great deal is now known about the brilliant Khmer civilization that flourished among the monsoon forests and rice paddies of mainland Southeast Asia, thanks to the pioneering work of French scholars and the application of modern archaeological techniques such as remote sensing from the space shuttle.
The classic-period Khmer kings ruled over their part-Hindu and part-Buddhist empire from AD 802 for more than five centuries. This period saw the construction of many architectural masterpieces, including the huge capital city of Angkor, with the awe-inspiring Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious structure. Numerous other provincial centers, bound together by an impressive imperial road system, were scattered across the Cambodian Plain, northeast Thailand, southern Laos, and the Delta of southern Vietnam. Khmer civilization by no means disappeared with the gradual abandonment of Angkor that began in the fourteenth century, and the book's final chapter describes the conversion of the Khmer to a different kind of Buddhism, the move of the capital downriver to the Phnom Penh area, and the reorientation of the Khmer state to maritime trade.
Angkor and the Khmer Civilization presents a concise but complete picture of Khmer cultural history from the Stone Age until the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1863, and is lavishly illustrated with maps, plans, drawings, and photographs. Drawing on the latest archaeological research, Michael D. Coe brings to life Angkor's extraordinary society and culture. 130 illustrations, 22 in color
The classic-period Khmer kings ruled over their part-Hindu and part-Buddhist empire from AD 802 for more than five centuries. This period saw the construction of many architectural masterpieces, including the huge capital city of Angkor, with the awe-inspiring Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious structure. Numerous other provincial centers, bound together by an impressive imperial road system, were scattered across the Cambodian Plain, northeast Thailand, southern Laos, and the Delta of southern Vietnam. Khmer civilization by no means disappeared with the gradual abandonment of Angkor that began in the fourteenth century, and the book's final chapter describes the conversion of the Khmer to a different kind of Buddhism, the move of the capital downriver to the Phnom Penh area, and the reorientation of the Khmer state to maritime trade.
Angkor and the Khmer Civilization presents a concise but complete picture of Khmer cultural history from the Stone Age until the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1863, and is lavishly illustrated with maps, plans, drawings, and photographs. Drawing on the latest archaeological research, Michael D. Coe brings to life Angkor's extraordinary society and culture. 130 illustrations, 22 in color
240 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2003
26 people are currently reading
545 people want to read
About the author
Michael D. Coe
59 books60 followersMichael Douglas Coe was an American archaeologist, anthropologist, epigrapher, and author. He is known for his research on pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, particularly the Maya, and was among the foremost Mayanists of the late twentieth century.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 23, 2024
A rather dry account by Michael Coe, but full of history and archeology if you can bear it. There are also scores of B&W photos. He was a foremost scholar, not only on Angkor but the Maya as well, areas he calls forest civilizations.
January 16, 2019
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
One of the complaints in reviews about this book seems to be that it reads like a textbook. It does: if you’re looking for something more casual, a tourist’s guide, then I’m sure there are books out there, but this isn’t it. It’s a scholarly consideration of the ruins of Angkor, the way the Khmer civilisation developed and the context in which it did so. It is illustrated with photographs and drawings, but it’s not a coffee table book for sure.
It can be a bit slow going, but there’s plenty of interest, to my mind. It’s better than the other book I read on Ankor, which was rather focused on this and that ruined building, and this and that inscription: there’s more of a sense of a people behind the monuments, in this book, which was welcome. It’s still slow going, but fascinating all the same for me.
One of the complaints in reviews about this book seems to be that it reads like a textbook. It does: if you’re looking for something more casual, a tourist’s guide, then I’m sure there are books out there, but this isn’t it. It’s a scholarly consideration of the ruins of Angkor, the way the Khmer civilisation developed and the context in which it did so. It is illustrated with photographs and drawings, but it’s not a coffee table book for sure.
It can be a bit slow going, but there’s plenty of interest, to my mind. It’s better than the other book I read on Ankor, which was rather focused on this and that ruined building, and this and that inscription: there’s more of a sense of a people behind the monuments, in this book, which was welcome. It’s still slow going, but fascinating all the same for me.
November 26, 2024
If you plan a visit to see the majestic Angkor Wat, this is a nice preparatory reading, although on the side of an overkill. You’ll get a very academic treatment of the history from before the classical period (e.g., modern human arrived 40-70k years ago in the region) all the way to post-classical period (e.g., the French didn’t invest as much as they did in Vietnam as they thought the Cambodians less diligent).
Concerning the classical or Angkor period (c. 800-1300), you’ll understand the language (e.g., very concrete, with 17 ways of saying “carry water”), the life and culture (e.g., society is hierarchical but consists mostly of rice farmers), the origin of their religion (first Hinduism/Brahmanism, then later Buddhist). There’re many small details that might fall into the funny to know category (e.g., unlike their Chinese counterparts, rice farmers in Angkor do not use manure for their rice paddies).
Concerning the classical or Angkor period (c. 800-1300), you’ll understand the language (e.g., very concrete, with 17 ways of saying “carry water”), the life and culture (e.g., society is hierarchical but consists mostly of rice farmers), the origin of their religion (first Hinduism/Brahmanism, then later Buddhist). There’re many small details that might fall into the funny to know category (e.g., unlike their Chinese counterparts, rice farmers in Angkor do not use manure for their rice paddies).
February 9, 2016
This is an excellent book. It provides a comprehensive description of what is known about Cambodian (Khmer) history and culture, from its inception to the restoration of the monarchy under Norodom Sihanouk after the Pol Pot Era.In doing so it also describes in conservable detail, with pictures & maps, the "Classic Era" monuments at Angkor, butting them in context, including other temples and palaces of the same era constructed in other parts of the Khmer kingdom. Dr. Michael Coe writes well, so one doesn't have to be a scholar to enjoy this book.
February 1, 2009
If you are going to Angkor (and God forbid you should be biking there) this a a fine DETAILED historical overview. Dry. You need to be a nutcase for trip preparation OR wild about Khmer civilization to get through it. Very good for what it is. This IS NOT a beach read.
March 25, 2025
Great overview of the Khmer Empire… highly recommended for anyone planning on a visit to Angkor Wat!
September 30, 2023
Notes
5 sources of Classical Khmer: Zhou Daguan, bas-reliefs at Angkor/Baphuon/BanteayChmar. Inscriptions. Remote-sensing research. French accounts on eve of Protectorate.
Each chakravartin built a public waterworks, an ancestral temple, and a state temple in that order.
Jayavarman II descends from mountains of Kulen to build Harihalayapura. One of GOATs is then not his son Jayavarma III but nephew of his queen, Indravarma and then his son Yashovarma (protected by glory) - who builds towards Angkor, starting with Preah Bakheng, the quincunx.
Barays placed under the protection of goddess Ganga. Managed by the abbots of 4 ashrams.
YV1 dies 900. Harshavarman I (protected by joy), and his brother Ishanavarman II. Built Baksei Chamrong, Prasat Kravan.
Jayavarman IV moves capital from Angkor to Koh Ker. Harshavarman II’s weak reign sees many kings breaking away from empire. Rajendravarman II returns to Angkor - not to Phnom Bakheng but Pre Rup: Shivaite quincunx state temple, and its twin East Mebon. RV2 is Mahayana Buddhist - Bat Chum but considers Baksei Chamrong his ancestral temple, places golden Shiva on its summit. Carvings invoking hermit Kambu, ancestor of the Kambuja.
Yajnavaraha, grandson of HV1 and tutor to prince, commissions Banteay Srei, Shiva temple approached from East through by a causeway and through a gopura.
Next, JV5, also Buddhist, constructs Ta Keo suffers inauspicious lightning strike during construction so never finished. JV5 dies 1000. Succession battle between Jayaviravarman at Angkor and Suryavarman in E.Cambodia. 9 years of war. 1011 he calls 4000 officials for a blood allegiance, breaking of which causes rebirth in 32nd hell, first record of the loyalty oath still used in 20th century. Builds Royal Palace like Palatine hill. The West Baray. Preah Vihear Shivaite.
Udayadityavarman II. puts down revolts. Builds Baphuon. Raising dikes of West Baray and building West Mebon. Bronze vishnu during creation of universe.
Harshavarman III, 14 years of disruption, but defeats old enemy Cham. Succeeded by Jayavarman VI who had revolted against him. Builds Phimai Temple. Phimai was so important to Empire it was connected by one of greatest roads of antiquity, 300km highway. Naga bridge and pineapple towers that will inspire AngkorWat and Thai Prangs. His elder brother Dharanindravarman I then violently overthrown by his great-nephew Suryavarman II who builds Angkor Wat. Reestablishes connection with China Middle Kingdom. Beng Melea near Kulen, prototype for Angkor Wat. Phnom Rung on top of extinct volcano. Banteay Samrei Vishnu temple near East Baray. Attacks Viet empire that lays foundation for collapse later.
Yashovarman II usurps SV2. Rebel bureaucracy then assassinates him. Cham usurper Jaya Indravarman invades by land/sea, down Viet coast, up Tonle Sap river, takes Angkor. Burns it to the ground.
Jayavarman VII, greatest Khmer king in self-exile in Cham, deeply influenced by mystical Mahayana buddhist wife Jayarajadevi. Decides to end the anarchy. Comes out of exile and bloody battles described in Bayon reliefs. Ends cult of devaraja/purohita. Angkor Thom. Jayataka reservoir.
After long Mahayana rule, JV dies. Cham breaks. Viet breaks. Thai invades from North. Every single buddha image vandalized, like great seated Buddha at center of Bayon. 45000 in total. Jayavarman VIII mostly blamed. Indravarman III, son-in-law forces king Jayavarman VIII to abdicate, was Theravada. Enter greatest source of info: Zhou Daguan chinese ambassador.
Classical period terminates in 1327. Beset by Thai, the Khmer is dead by now.
Mandarins - royally appointed bureaucrats from the great landholding families. Khlon. Varnas as aristocratic guild of specialists.
Sruk: the division of a territory where a temple is set up and a community grows. 3 types of villages: attached to temples by the king. Assigned to individuals by the king. Supplied particular commodities to the royal storehouse.
Ta Prohm received revenue of 3140 villages. Between central and local administration are the wandering royal inspectors, divided based on cardinal directions - called tamrvach. Finger on the country’s pulse. The 4000 who swore oath to SV1.
Vrah guru: educated the crown prince (11-16), sacrificed for ‘rain’, administration of temple land. Honorofic Sten an, for learned men.
Purohit - chaplain. Hotar - sacrificer. Acharya - spiritual guide. Pandita - versed in lore. Upadhyaya - preceptor of vedas.
Zhou Daguan mentions 3 religious specialists: pandits. Saffron-robed Buddhist monks. Taoists who were actually Shivaite priests in charge of the linga. Bearded rishis who lived apart from everyone.
SV1 palanquin gets 14 gold parasols. Next 4. Then 2. Then 1. Then silver.
Peripatetic judges. Zhou Daguan gives usual account of stoning justice, amputation, put hand in fire and let Agni decide innocence.
80% food producers just like developing country now. King and revenue agents: how to reduce number of producers needed to feed the country. Hydraulic city dependent on barays.
2 irrigations: excavations like moats; elevated earthen dikes like barays. Also needed for elephant that drinks 50 gallons a day.
Barter first with rice, cereal, Chinese objects. Then fabrics. Finally, gold and silver.
Men are mortal and will cease to exist, so must the materials used to build his structures. But the gods are different, so used laterite and sandstone.
Deflowering ceremony - some say the priest has intercourse but others deny this, as the Chinese are not allowed to witness thie proceedings the truth is hard to learn. The parents must then buy back the girl from the priest, otherwise she cannot marry.
Coming to a lonely place, they leave the cadaver. Seeing that the vultures, dogs come to devour it, they say the person has acquired merit and receiving the due reward. If the corpse is not eaten or half eaten, it is ascribed to some misdeed.
Sumptuary laws: nobles can wear fabrics with recurring flowers. Female commoners 2 groups of flowers. Only king can wear fabric with all-over patterns. Too hot to wear upper body garment.
Power served pomp, not pomp power. Zhou witnesses the procession of JV8 who leaves the palace, headed by soldiery. Flags. Banners. Music. 300-500 girls of the palace with tapers in hand. Then girls with gold silver vessels and ornaments. Still more girls. Bodyguards with shields and lances. Separately aligned. Chariots drawn by goats and horses. Ministers, princes on elephants with bearers of scarlet parasols. Royal wives, concubines in palanquins or mounted, with gold parasols. The king, standing on an elephant with sacred sword. Tusks sheathed in gold. 20 white parasols with golden shafts. Bodyguard of elephants. Music and dancers.
Diversions for commoners: cockfights. Boar fights. Wrestling. acrobatics/juggling. Polo matches. Gladiators. Chariot racing. Within royal palace: chess, checkers. Boating parties. Menagerie. Baths where all women show up now and then, nobles mingle with commoners. On these days the Chinese treat themselves to the spectacle.
Festival every month. Month 4 for ball games. 5 - bathing buddhas. 6 - ask pardon of earth and water for pollution: elaborate pagodas with candles/lanterns afloat on banana trunk rafts. 7 - newly harvested rice burned as sacrifice for buddha. 8 - month of dancing. Ambassadors called, and daily performances by actors, musicians, boar/elephant fights. 9 - census, all summoned to the palace.
Proceed around sacred space in pradakshina inward spiral. Near the sanctum, pass through the halls where the god is taken out for various excursions. Sanctum is dark and undecorated. Priest censes the image and gives offerings. Passes a lamp before it. Finally, hand raised and palm joined you make eye contact with the god and he may offer you darshan.
Impressive military march. Huge gong struck by dwarf, with long trumpets, bronze castanets, conch shells. Ark of Sacred Fire carried.
Great naval battles with identical ships (Cham and Khmer), garuda on prow and nagas on stern. 40-42 rowers + steersman. Zhou: generally speaking, these people have neither discipline nor strategy.
Temple priests also: teachers, librarians, astrologers, architects, calligraphers. Laws. Rituals. Writing. Accounting.
Ordinary Khmer not known by first name or surname but by day of week they were born.
Palm-leaf books, sastra, of fronds 50-60cm, incised by stylus, scratched lines filled with lampblack.
2 types of cities: heterogenetic - along coastlines, borders rather than centers, few public monuments, entrepreneurial, high population density like Malacca. Orthogenetic - inland, surplus staple crop, stability and ritual. Monuments and no money. All classical cities would be ortho - Angkor, and the Mayan Tikal, Copan, Palenque.
1327 last Sansrkit inscription. Post-classical period starting with Jayavarmadiparameshvara, all the way till French protectorate in 1863. King of Cambodia, not chakravartin. Pali not sanskrit. Theravada. Wooden viharas. Sangha dominance. Siamese influence in art, architecture.
Afer Thai invasion, capital moves from Angkor to Quarte Bras.
Population pressure, clear forests for cultivation, expose barays to siltation, erosion and flooding.
Yama - stach kanlok - lord of law/dharma. Transmuted to sdach ganlan: Leper King.
Indra forced by other devas to send human adopted son Ketumala back to Earth, so sends Viswakarma with him to build him a beautiful city mahanagar indraprasth - Angkor Wat. A sacred bull assigned to keeping the city, so built it a temple Preah Ko.
Thai mountain people from Yunnan expansionist. Ripple effect of Kublai. Ayutthaya established in mid 14th, becomes Theravada and uses Chao Phraya to access trade routes. Becomes largest empire and reduces Angkor to small state. 1569, Burmese take away all the treasures to Mandalay. 1767 they come back and finish the job. Center moved to Thon Buri and then BKK, with Rama 1 crowned in 1782.
Vietnamese (Annamese) conquered by Han dynasty but got independence in 939. Push south for lebensraum, hit the Cham, the old Indianized middle-vietnam kingdom that had now converted to Islam. Conquered by Viet who pushed on to important Khmer port of Prei Nokor and took it. Later renamed Saigon. Next 6 decades (1700s) entire delta removed from Cambodia.
Thai and Cambodian underlying sympathy because of shared religion, culture. Khmer Viet underlying hostility.
1431 Angkor abandoned after Ayutthaya attack series. Moves to Phnom Penh, where Tonle Sap and Mekong meet.
Europeans arrive. Catholic missionaries allowed to preach. Spaniards in Manila asked to help fight Thai. Thai capture Khmer capital of Lovek. How - Thais shoot silver into bamboo hedge defenses and leave. Khmer cuts down bamboo to get silver, no defenses when Thai return. Why - 2 statues Preah Ko and Prea Kaev (sacred precious stone) with golden books containing all the world’s knowledge.
Spanish adventurers show up with fire-arms, naval cannon. Cambodia becomes a maritime kingdom more dependent on foreign trade completely in hands of foreigners, than land revenue. Capital moves to Udong.
Khmer Richard III, Ramadhipati I takes muslim wife and converts. His principal wife becomes catholic. Princes revolt. Viet invades. He is assassinated. Cambodia caught in a vice between Thai and Viet. By 1738, VT has taken the Delta, isolating Cambodia.
Thai-Viet wars. Thai to protect Khmer Theravada. Viet to dump landless peasants. Khmer keeps switching allegiances. Annexed by Viet. nobles need to change names, wear Vt clothes,
1857 Napoleon III takes Vietnam. Henri Mouhot visits Khmer king at Komput (last remaining port on gulf of Thailand) and 2nd king in Udong.
1863 signs treaty to become French protectorate, prevented Cambodia from being eaten by 2 neighbors. Japanese occupy 1941-45. Khmer Rouge 1975. Viet Army deposes in 1978.
5 sources of Classical Khmer: Zhou Daguan, bas-reliefs at Angkor/Baphuon/BanteayChmar. Inscriptions. Remote-sensing research. French accounts on eve of Protectorate.
Each chakravartin built a public waterworks, an ancestral temple, and a state temple in that order.
Jayavarman II descends from mountains of Kulen to build Harihalayapura. One of GOATs is then not his son Jayavarma III but nephew of his queen, Indravarma and then his son Yashovarma (protected by glory) - who builds towards Angkor, starting with Preah Bakheng, the quincunx.
Barays placed under the protection of goddess Ganga. Managed by the abbots of 4 ashrams.
YV1 dies 900. Harshavarman I (protected by joy), and his brother Ishanavarman II. Built Baksei Chamrong, Prasat Kravan.
Jayavarman IV moves capital from Angkor to Koh Ker. Harshavarman II’s weak reign sees many kings breaking away from empire. Rajendravarman II returns to Angkor - not to Phnom Bakheng but Pre Rup: Shivaite quincunx state temple, and its twin East Mebon. RV2 is Mahayana Buddhist - Bat Chum but considers Baksei Chamrong his ancestral temple, places golden Shiva on its summit. Carvings invoking hermit Kambu, ancestor of the Kambuja.
Yajnavaraha, grandson of HV1 and tutor to prince, commissions Banteay Srei, Shiva temple approached from East through by a causeway and through a gopura.
Next, JV5, also Buddhist, constructs Ta Keo suffers inauspicious lightning strike during construction so never finished. JV5 dies 1000. Succession battle between Jayaviravarman at Angkor and Suryavarman in E.Cambodia. 9 years of war. 1011 he calls 4000 officials for a blood allegiance, breaking of which causes rebirth in 32nd hell, first record of the loyalty oath still used in 20th century. Builds Royal Palace like Palatine hill. The West Baray. Preah Vihear Shivaite.
Udayadityavarman II. puts down revolts. Builds Baphuon. Raising dikes of West Baray and building West Mebon. Bronze vishnu during creation of universe.
Harshavarman III, 14 years of disruption, but defeats old enemy Cham. Succeeded by Jayavarman VI who had revolted against him. Builds Phimai Temple. Phimai was so important to Empire it was connected by one of greatest roads of antiquity, 300km highway. Naga bridge and pineapple towers that will inspire AngkorWat and Thai Prangs. His elder brother Dharanindravarman I then violently overthrown by his great-nephew Suryavarman II who builds Angkor Wat. Reestablishes connection with China Middle Kingdom. Beng Melea near Kulen, prototype for Angkor Wat. Phnom Rung on top of extinct volcano. Banteay Samrei Vishnu temple near East Baray. Attacks Viet empire that lays foundation for collapse later.
Yashovarman II usurps SV2. Rebel bureaucracy then assassinates him. Cham usurper Jaya Indravarman invades by land/sea, down Viet coast, up Tonle Sap river, takes Angkor. Burns it to the ground.
Jayavarman VII, greatest Khmer king in self-exile in Cham, deeply influenced by mystical Mahayana buddhist wife Jayarajadevi. Decides to end the anarchy. Comes out of exile and bloody battles described in Bayon reliefs. Ends cult of devaraja/purohita. Angkor Thom. Jayataka reservoir.
After long Mahayana rule, JV dies. Cham breaks. Viet breaks. Thai invades from North. Every single buddha image vandalized, like great seated Buddha at center of Bayon. 45000 in total. Jayavarman VIII mostly blamed. Indravarman III, son-in-law forces king Jayavarman VIII to abdicate, was Theravada. Enter greatest source of info: Zhou Daguan chinese ambassador.
Classical period terminates in 1327. Beset by Thai, the Khmer is dead by now.
Mandarins - royally appointed bureaucrats from the great landholding families. Khlon. Varnas as aristocratic guild of specialists.
Sruk: the division of a territory where a temple is set up and a community grows. 3 types of villages: attached to temples by the king. Assigned to individuals by the king. Supplied particular commodities to the royal storehouse.
Ta Prohm received revenue of 3140 villages. Between central and local administration are the wandering royal inspectors, divided based on cardinal directions - called tamrvach. Finger on the country’s pulse. The 4000 who swore oath to SV1.
Vrah guru: educated the crown prince (11-16), sacrificed for ‘rain’, administration of temple land. Honorofic Sten an, for learned men.
Purohit - chaplain. Hotar - sacrificer. Acharya - spiritual guide. Pandita - versed in lore. Upadhyaya - preceptor of vedas.
Zhou Daguan mentions 3 religious specialists: pandits. Saffron-robed Buddhist monks. Taoists who were actually Shivaite priests in charge of the linga. Bearded rishis who lived apart from everyone.
SV1 palanquin gets 14 gold parasols. Next 4. Then 2. Then 1. Then silver.
Peripatetic judges. Zhou Daguan gives usual account of stoning justice, amputation, put hand in fire and let Agni decide innocence.
80% food producers just like developing country now. King and revenue agents: how to reduce number of producers needed to feed the country. Hydraulic city dependent on barays.
2 irrigations: excavations like moats; elevated earthen dikes like barays. Also needed for elephant that drinks 50 gallons a day.
Barter first with rice, cereal, Chinese objects. Then fabrics. Finally, gold and silver.
Men are mortal and will cease to exist, so must the materials used to build his structures. But the gods are different, so used laterite and sandstone.
Deflowering ceremony - some say the priest has intercourse but others deny this, as the Chinese are not allowed to witness thie proceedings the truth is hard to learn. The parents must then buy back the girl from the priest, otherwise she cannot marry.
Coming to a lonely place, they leave the cadaver. Seeing that the vultures, dogs come to devour it, they say the person has acquired merit and receiving the due reward. If the corpse is not eaten or half eaten, it is ascribed to some misdeed.
Sumptuary laws: nobles can wear fabrics with recurring flowers. Female commoners 2 groups of flowers. Only king can wear fabric with all-over patterns. Too hot to wear upper body garment.
Power served pomp, not pomp power. Zhou witnesses the procession of JV8 who leaves the palace, headed by soldiery. Flags. Banners. Music. 300-500 girls of the palace with tapers in hand. Then girls with gold silver vessels and ornaments. Still more girls. Bodyguards with shields and lances. Separately aligned. Chariots drawn by goats and horses. Ministers, princes on elephants with bearers of scarlet parasols. Royal wives, concubines in palanquins or mounted, with gold parasols. The king, standing on an elephant with sacred sword. Tusks sheathed in gold. 20 white parasols with golden shafts. Bodyguard of elephants. Music and dancers.
Diversions for commoners: cockfights. Boar fights. Wrestling. acrobatics/juggling. Polo matches. Gladiators. Chariot racing. Within royal palace: chess, checkers. Boating parties. Menagerie. Baths where all women show up now and then, nobles mingle with commoners. On these days the Chinese treat themselves to the spectacle.
Festival every month. Month 4 for ball games. 5 - bathing buddhas. 6 - ask pardon of earth and water for pollution: elaborate pagodas with candles/lanterns afloat on banana trunk rafts. 7 - newly harvested rice burned as sacrifice for buddha. 8 - month of dancing. Ambassadors called, and daily performances by actors, musicians, boar/elephant fights. 9 - census, all summoned to the palace.
Proceed around sacred space in pradakshina inward spiral. Near the sanctum, pass through the halls where the god is taken out for various excursions. Sanctum is dark and undecorated. Priest censes the image and gives offerings. Passes a lamp before it. Finally, hand raised and palm joined you make eye contact with the god and he may offer you darshan.
Impressive military march. Huge gong struck by dwarf, with long trumpets, bronze castanets, conch shells. Ark of Sacred Fire carried.
Great naval battles with identical ships (Cham and Khmer), garuda on prow and nagas on stern. 40-42 rowers + steersman. Zhou: generally speaking, these people have neither discipline nor strategy.
Temple priests also: teachers, librarians, astrologers, architects, calligraphers. Laws. Rituals. Writing. Accounting.
Ordinary Khmer not known by first name or surname but by day of week they were born.
Palm-leaf books, sastra, of fronds 50-60cm, incised by stylus, scratched lines filled with lampblack.
2 types of cities: heterogenetic - along coastlines, borders rather than centers, few public monuments, entrepreneurial, high population density like Malacca. Orthogenetic - inland, surplus staple crop, stability and ritual. Monuments and no money. All classical cities would be ortho - Angkor, and the Mayan Tikal, Copan, Palenque.
1327 last Sansrkit inscription. Post-classical period starting with Jayavarmadiparameshvara, all the way till French protectorate in 1863. King of Cambodia, not chakravartin. Pali not sanskrit. Theravada. Wooden viharas. Sangha dominance. Siamese influence in art, architecture.
Afer Thai invasion, capital moves from Angkor to Quarte Bras.
Population pressure, clear forests for cultivation, expose barays to siltation, erosion and flooding.
Yama - stach kanlok - lord of law/dharma. Transmuted to sdach ganlan: Leper King.
Indra forced by other devas to send human adopted son Ketumala back to Earth, so sends Viswakarma with him to build him a beautiful city mahanagar indraprasth - Angkor Wat. A sacred bull assigned to keeping the city, so built it a temple Preah Ko.
Thai mountain people from Yunnan expansionist. Ripple effect of Kublai. Ayutthaya established in mid 14th, becomes Theravada and uses Chao Phraya to access trade routes. Becomes largest empire and reduces Angkor to small state. 1569, Burmese take away all the treasures to Mandalay. 1767 they come back and finish the job. Center moved to Thon Buri and then BKK, with Rama 1 crowned in 1782.
Vietnamese (Annamese) conquered by Han dynasty but got independence in 939. Push south for lebensraum, hit the Cham, the old Indianized middle-vietnam kingdom that had now converted to Islam. Conquered by Viet who pushed on to important Khmer port of Prei Nokor and took it. Later renamed Saigon. Next 6 decades (1700s) entire delta removed from Cambodia.
Thai and Cambodian underlying sympathy because of shared religion, culture. Khmer Viet underlying hostility.
1431 Angkor abandoned after Ayutthaya attack series. Moves to Phnom Penh, where Tonle Sap and Mekong meet.
Europeans arrive. Catholic missionaries allowed to preach. Spaniards in Manila asked to help fight Thai. Thai capture Khmer capital of Lovek. How - Thais shoot silver into bamboo hedge defenses and leave. Khmer cuts down bamboo to get silver, no defenses when Thai return. Why - 2 statues Preah Ko and Prea Kaev (sacred precious stone) with golden books containing all the world’s knowledge.
Spanish adventurers show up with fire-arms, naval cannon. Cambodia becomes a maritime kingdom more dependent on foreign trade completely in hands of foreigners, than land revenue. Capital moves to Udong.
Khmer Richard III, Ramadhipati I takes muslim wife and converts. His principal wife becomes catholic. Princes revolt. Viet invades. He is assassinated. Cambodia caught in a vice between Thai and Viet. By 1738, VT has taken the Delta, isolating Cambodia.
Thai-Viet wars. Thai to protect Khmer Theravada. Viet to dump landless peasants. Khmer keeps switching allegiances. Annexed by Viet. nobles need to change names, wear Vt clothes,
1857 Napoleon III takes Vietnam. Henri Mouhot visits Khmer king at Komput (last remaining port on gulf of Thailand) and 2nd king in Udong.
1863 signs treaty to become French protectorate, prevented Cambodia from being eaten by 2 neighbors. Japanese occupy 1941-45. Khmer Rouge 1975. Viet Army deposes in 1978.
December 30, 2023
Coe’s and Evans's focus on Khmer and Angkor history is not a light read, but it’s a rewarding one for anyone wishing to consider, travel to, or reflect on their time in Cambodia with a richer understanding of the former empire and its remnants still revered by the Khmer people.
I started reading this one soon after I got back from our school’s service trip to Siem Reap in November, 2022. Half-way through and after a good year’s break, I started the second half soon after hearing the news that I’ll be traveling to Cambodia again, this time to Kampot on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand for another student trip in May of 2024.
I recognize that my appreciation for the well-documented and in-depth exploration of Cambodia’s past achieved here is limited by my not being a formal historian beyond a genuine interest inspired by my two visits to the Angkor complex in 2008 and 14 years later. I’ve never found sufficient words to describe the experience of standing in front of Angkor Wat as the sun rises, so I won’t try to do so here. I can only meekly and inadequately suggest that, especially for someone not from a Southeast Asian climate, the sensory experience of Angkor feels otherworldly and has the power to transport and transform.
Being transported and transformed is all fine and good, but if you are an English speaking traveler and want to be better informed of the history of the land, its religion, trade, culture, military and agricultural obstacles and evolution, the consensus opinion is that this is the book that will get you there. If ever Coe’s and Evans's exploration becomes too dense or your eyes glaze over with the minutiae of a particular point of focus, read on, and within a page or two you will find that the authors have brought you back with a unique fact or nuanced observation. If you have the time to devote, you will appreciate scholarly historicism of this manageable depth.
Coe and Evans are mainly concerned with providing an objective perspective on Angkor’s history. If it’s story you are looking for, this volume is content only with planting seeds. The book does reveal a key challenging truth: that nearly 500 years of Khmer history - from what is generally agreed upon as the fall of the “classic Angkor period” (roughly 800-1300 AD) to the pre French Protectorate period (1837-1836) - very little is known about Angkor society. As the authors relate, the methods through which the first modern Western view of Cambodia was established (largely the reportage of French explorer Henri Mohout in 1860) encouraged Westerners to see Angkor as a “lost city”, newly discovered by a more “civilized” people who could see the monuments for their true value and “protect” them. Coe and Evans make it clear though that a racially biased colonial perspective was not the only obstacle for the French. Other factors contributed to scholars not being able to see Angkor’s history with precision as a place (in both the classic period and in the reported-from present) where people actually lived. As the authors argue, “the key problem in understanding urbanism at Angkor has always been that the masonry structures were essentially reserved for the gods, and that everyone else - from the king down - inhabited dwellings of perishable material that were lost many centuries ago.”
Coe and Evans also discuss how much is still being learned through more modern applications including satellite imagery to uncover the scope of the Angkor complex in its height of power - now understood to have been an urban capital larger than modern day New York City. Much remains to be discovered - the possible causes of Angkor’s “collapse” are still only theories.
If it’s an entry-level story you’re looking for, this 52 minute podcast from Short History Of… is a rewarding, engaging and professionally produced exploration of the history of the temple complex in particular:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast...
For critical readers curious about an English translation of Chinese official Zhao Daguan’s 1296 journal notes from his one year visit to Angkor entitled Customs of Cambodia (the only surviving first-person written account of daily life in the classic Angkor period), or those willing to consider translations of Henri Mohout’s journals as the “discoverer of the lost city of Angkor”, both publications are less readily available in print but appear to be available through second hand markets.
A book like Angkor and the Khmer Civilization will obviously mean more to those who have already visited the site, so, for most, it may be one to purchase and read with some time and distance to reflect on a first encounter with the temple complex. There is a lot of information compiled here, followed by 17 pages of small font notes and a long list of suggestions for further reading. For myself, in addition to the two publications named above, I think it’s time to turn to story.
So much about Angkor - reasons for its time of thriving and its fall - is still in the early stages of being known and understood, but the process and possibilities of additional discovery are compelling. For readers willing to consider the applicable value of pursuing further truths about Angkor civilization, Coe and Evans offer the following thought: “Angkor in some ways is a kind of archetype for the sprawling, low-density cities that increasingly define the way we live today, which means that understanding what happened at Angkor may inform our understanding of how theses city regions grow - and ultimately fail.”
I started reading this one soon after I got back from our school’s service trip to Siem Reap in November, 2022. Half-way through and after a good year’s break, I started the second half soon after hearing the news that I’ll be traveling to Cambodia again, this time to Kampot on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand for another student trip in May of 2024.
I recognize that my appreciation for the well-documented and in-depth exploration of Cambodia’s past achieved here is limited by my not being a formal historian beyond a genuine interest inspired by my two visits to the Angkor complex in 2008 and 14 years later. I’ve never found sufficient words to describe the experience of standing in front of Angkor Wat as the sun rises, so I won’t try to do so here. I can only meekly and inadequately suggest that, especially for someone not from a Southeast Asian climate, the sensory experience of Angkor feels otherworldly and has the power to transport and transform.
Being transported and transformed is all fine and good, but if you are an English speaking traveler and want to be better informed of the history of the land, its religion, trade, culture, military and agricultural obstacles and evolution, the consensus opinion is that this is the book that will get you there. If ever Coe’s and Evans's exploration becomes too dense or your eyes glaze over with the minutiae of a particular point of focus, read on, and within a page or two you will find that the authors have brought you back with a unique fact or nuanced observation. If you have the time to devote, you will appreciate scholarly historicism of this manageable depth.
Coe and Evans are mainly concerned with providing an objective perspective on Angkor’s history. If it’s story you are looking for, this volume is content only with planting seeds. The book does reveal a key challenging truth: that nearly 500 years of Khmer history - from what is generally agreed upon as the fall of the “classic Angkor period” (roughly 800-1300 AD) to the pre French Protectorate period (1837-1836) - very little is known about Angkor society. As the authors relate, the methods through which the first modern Western view of Cambodia was established (largely the reportage of French explorer Henri Mohout in 1860) encouraged Westerners to see Angkor as a “lost city”, newly discovered by a more “civilized” people who could see the monuments for their true value and “protect” them. Coe and Evans make it clear though that a racially biased colonial perspective was not the only obstacle for the French. Other factors contributed to scholars not being able to see Angkor’s history with precision as a place (in both the classic period and in the reported-from present) where people actually lived. As the authors argue, “the key problem in understanding urbanism at Angkor has always been that the masonry structures were essentially reserved for the gods, and that everyone else - from the king down - inhabited dwellings of perishable material that were lost many centuries ago.”
Coe and Evans also discuss how much is still being learned through more modern applications including satellite imagery to uncover the scope of the Angkor complex in its height of power - now understood to have been an urban capital larger than modern day New York City. Much remains to be discovered - the possible causes of Angkor’s “collapse” are still only theories.
If it’s an entry-level story you’re looking for, this 52 minute podcast from Short History Of… is a rewarding, engaging and professionally produced exploration of the history of the temple complex in particular:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast...
For critical readers curious about an English translation of Chinese official Zhao Daguan’s 1296 journal notes from his one year visit to Angkor entitled Customs of Cambodia (the only surviving first-person written account of daily life in the classic Angkor period), or those willing to consider translations of Henri Mohout’s journals as the “discoverer of the lost city of Angkor”, both publications are less readily available in print but appear to be available through second hand markets.
A book like Angkor and the Khmer Civilization will obviously mean more to those who have already visited the site, so, for most, it may be one to purchase and read with some time and distance to reflect on a first encounter with the temple complex. There is a lot of information compiled here, followed by 17 pages of small font notes and a long list of suggestions for further reading. For myself, in addition to the two publications named above, I think it’s time to turn to story.
So much about Angkor - reasons for its time of thriving and its fall - is still in the early stages of being known and understood, but the process and possibilities of additional discovery are compelling. For readers willing to consider the applicable value of pursuing further truths about Angkor civilization, Coe and Evans offer the following thought: “Angkor in some ways is a kind of archetype for the sprawling, low-density cities that increasingly define the way we live today, which means that understanding what happened at Angkor may inform our understanding of how theses city regions grow - and ultimately fail.”
July 7, 2017
Very disappointed. It was not an easy read and I felt like I was reading a text book. As someone who has dyslexia having it in text book form didn't work for me and I was really looking forward to learning more about this wonderful temple and it's people. Well I will be looking for another book about this subject. I couldn't even finish the book. 😞
April 6, 2016
Basically a textbook, but an eminently readable one. Coe does a precise job in sharing all the pertinent facts of the Angkor kingdom and essentially primes the reader for a trip to Siem Reab.
May 7, 2021
If, like me, you're compelled by the monuments, contemplative traditions (Hinduism and Buddhism) and the symbolism of this region's so-called Classic period and, like me, you've struggled to find a significantly broad but also sufficiently substantive introductory text about the culture that created all of it, then this is it. In fact, after I'd begun reading it, I'd inquired with a professional cultural archaeologist about what to read on Angkor and she mentioned this book. You would assume there would be more detail at hand but apparently none of the Khmer texts, which scholars are convinced used to exist, survived the ravages of the environment. If there's a secret stash of documentation, it hasn't been found. Hence, all we have are the inscriptions in stone in the Sanskrit and Khmer languages and while precious, anyone interested in the whys and wherefores of, say, the mighty temple of Angkor Wat - exactly why and how was it constructed and used day-to-day - will have to satisfy themselves with educated guesses and knowledgeable speculation. Research is ongoing, so we'll see. Of note, this book provides an extensive "further reading" list.
January 2, 2025
A+ account of Khmer civilisation with focus on the pre-classic and classic era, and limitedly on post-classic (because of the scarcity of sources).
Beside the excellent style, the authors provide everything that is needed to the lay person. A most useful TIMELINE at the beginning (some history books lack such an important chart!), rich bibliography and references, and pictures in black and white and in colour which help greatly to have an idea of the narrative.
Also because the archaeological research of Khmer civilisation is not the most advanced, the authors can go in some details within the 300-or-so pages available.
Strongly recommended to have an overarching idea of such an important and yet understudied civilisation.
Beside the excellent style, the authors provide everything that is needed to the lay person. A most useful TIMELINE at the beginning (some history books lack such an important chart!), rich bibliography and references, and pictures in black and white and in colour which help greatly to have an idea of the narrative.
Also because the archaeological research of Khmer civilisation is not the most advanced, the authors can go in some details within the 300-or-so pages available.
Strongly recommended to have an overarching idea of such an important and yet understudied civilisation.
April 12, 2023
Michael Coe's book about Angkor Wat is much more than a travel guide. It's more than a history. Its overall goal is to explain what was so special about Classic Khmer civilization, and why the building of Angkor is the fulcrum on which one looks at the whole of Cambodian history.
I especially appreciated the good explanations about the shift from Hinduism to Buddhism, and then the organization of a Theravada Buddhist state. It was amazing to see how much one can learn about the religious history (and everything else) from the relief sculptures scattered around the ancient city. I can't wait to visit!
3.75 stars. Great pictures!
I especially appreciated the good explanations about the shift from Hinduism to Buddhism, and then the organization of a Theravada Buddhist state. It was amazing to see how much one can learn about the religious history (and everything else) from the relief sculptures scattered around the ancient city. I can't wait to visit!
3.75 stars. Great pictures!
February 7, 2025
Informative but very dry. This book is the most popular reference on the history of Cambodia and Angkor in particular. I read it in preparation for a tourist trip. And I was indeed well prepared. But way more historical detail than I was looking for, and without much effort to make for an entertaining read. Fair enough, it's a serious work of scholarship. Just not what I was up for.
The most interesting chapter is towards the end, "The Life and Culture of Classic Angkor". This is the cultural history that I was looking for, more interesting to me than the political history or archaeology. If you're impatient like me, maybe start with that chapter.
The most interesting chapter is towards the end, "The Life and Culture of Classic Angkor". This is the cultural history that I was looking for, more interesting to me than the political history or archaeology. If you're impatient like me, maybe start with that chapter.
January 27, 2019
Maybe it's just me. This is one of those times the rating tells you more about the reviewer than it does the book.
I just have a lot of trouble focusing when reading books written by anthropologists. The book's focus is off-kilter to me. It comes off as more concerned with the objects than the people who made it. The material I'm more interested in ends up in the background, and I'm informed about it off-hand and indirectly.
I just have a lot of trouble focusing when reading books written by anthropologists. The book's focus is off-kilter to me. It comes off as more concerned with the objects than the people who made it. The material I'm more interested in ends up in the background, and I'm informed about it off-hand and indirectly.
October 31, 2020
This books compiles what is know about the Khmer empire and Angkor. It tends towards being scholarly, and while the prose is clear and descriptive, the level of detail and depth may be too much for some, depending on your interest in history and the study of history. It's by no means a tourist guide, but I found that to read it beforehand my trip to Cambodia really enriched my experience there.
August 7, 2018
I love things about Cambodia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
November 12, 2021cuốn sách vô cùng bổ ích
Read
January 14, 2022nice book
November 25, 2023
Quite a long read but good review of the history and archaeology ahead of visiting. Rather doughy in places though!
October 7, 2024
Lots of good information. The book is 20+ years old at this point, I'd be interested to know what has been figured out since the book was written.
February 28, 2025
Heavy subject but very readable.
March 3, 2025
Excellent detail and rigour. I enjoyed the background parts on Khmer people and language. Rather heavy going and I found it best to dip into. Only 3 stars as the print quality was appalling.
Read
September 24, 2025It was great to read something about cambodia that wasn’t just about war.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews