The Few and the Many by Eric Carlton

Author:Eric Carlton [Carlton, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General
ISBN: 9781351889780
Google: zj0rDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-07-05T04:57:41+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Elitism by Conquest: The Tragedy of Cambodia

Relative to its size (about the same as England and Wales) and population, Cambodia (Kampuchea) must be the most devastated state in modern history. Not that it had ever been the ‘smiling, gentle land that foreigners liked to see’ (Shawcross: 1980, p.37). Formerly it was divided, the southern state being known to the Chinese – from whom we derive our early records – as Funan, and the northern Khmer state as Chenla. A third century bc Chinese envoy testified to its prosperity, and reported that the people ‘lived in walled cities, palaces and houses … [devoted] themselves to agriculture ….’ and paid their taxes ‘in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes’ and that they had ‘books and depositions of archives’ (quoted by Ablin and Hood: 1987, p.xvii). It was occupied by a number of tribal groups, and especially influenced by Indian culture from the second century onwards. After some conflict, the north took over the south, and this uncertain amalgamation became roughly what we know as Cambodia. There were countless disputes and civil wars, and it wasn’t until the eighth century AD that anything like unity was achieved in the remarkable – and in some ways quite unique – civilization of Angkor which was not re-discovered until the second half of the nineteenth century (Pym: 1968).

The religious ideology of Angkor, which until the twelfth century was strongly Hindu, later became a subtle amalgam of Hinduism and Buddhism (which is really a refined offshoot of Hinduism). This supplied the philosophical underpinning for a state system based on divine-kingship. In its pre-Buddhist phase, the autocracy was near enough absolute, and the kings were able to mobilize enormous numbers of their subjects (whether as slaves or by corvee, is not absolutely certain) to work on their architectural projects. As with other notable divine-king systems such as ancient Egypt and Inca Peru, power was largely maintained by control of the water supplies. This was done by the construction of a vast complex of dams and resevoirs that was all part of an intricate pattern of irrigation canals by which the state was able to produce three harvests a year. The state was rich and expansionistic, and expended much of its considerable wealth on creating temple and palace structures which once housed thousands of officials and servants.Although now largely in ruins, they still excite the attention of historians and archaeologists.

Angkor was not able to sustain the momentum, and as its power declined, so there were encroachments from Siam (Thailand) which eventually resulted in the complete breakdown of Khmer society. The Siamese sacked the capital in 1431, stripped the temples and palaces of their riches, deported huge numbers of Khmers as slaves, and destroyed the canal system. Subsequently, the Khmers unsuccessfully attempted to re-establish their one-time supremacy, and in the sixteenth century, the Siamese set up a puppet government under a compliant Khmer prince. Thus began the humiliating practice of having rulers enthroned by foreign powers.

With the passing of the

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