Khmer Empire (The rise and fall of the one of the most distinguished empires in history)
By MAHONOM15
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Evidence of Trade between India and Khmer people. From this, many new ideas were learnt and adopted by the Khmers. Mainly Hindu and Buddhist religions.
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Jayavarman II is recognised as the founder of the Khmer empire, because he made the Khmer empire more than just Cambodia. There are no written records of what exactly he did to expand the empire, but it is known that after his reign, the empire had expanded a lot.
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King Jayavarman V commenced construction of Angkor Wat. A temple which is recognised as the largest religious monument in the world, measuring in at around 162.6 hectares.
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The Cham kingdom invades the Khmer Empire. They push back the Khmers and they gain control of a large part of the east Khmer Empire.
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The Cham kingdom invades the Khmer Empire again but this time King Jayavarman VII defeats them and gained control of the Mekong Valley. Jayavarman VII expanded the Khmer empire to it’s greatest extent. He takes control of modern day Laos, Thailand and Burma.
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Jayavarman VIII is king. He denounces Buddhism and says that all buddhist temples and pictures must be destroyed. He makes Hinduism the main religion.
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Jayavarman VIII is king. He denounces Buddhism and says that all buddhist temples and pictures must be destroyed. He makes Hinduism the main religion.
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Buddhism starts to rise in popularity and importance. It becomes the main religion of many citizens and the main religion all of the Khmer kings. However many people started to question the god-kings because Buddhism didn’t recognise that anyone had “divine right” to rule.
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The Thai army attacks Angkor and the last king to use Angkor as the capital abandoned it. The capital of the Khmer Empire was moved to Phnom Penh.
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The Thais attack the Khmer and they won, making the Khmer empire a vassal state to the Thais. This means that the Khmer was less important than the Thais and that they had control of it. The Thais looted the towns and stole jewels and images of Buddha.
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The Khmers are repeatedly attacked by the Vietnamese army. The vietnamese win and take land from the Khmer. The remaining land forms modern day Cambodia.
