#barom reachea i

[autodidact-adventures]

Cambodian History (Part 15): Khmers vs. the Siamese

In 1431, the Siamese sacked and occupied Angkor.  But the Khmers fought back fiercely.  The Siamese King Paramajara put his son, Indrapath, on the Khmer throne - but the people assassinated him.

In 1432, King Ponhea Yat (Khmer) moved the capital to Srei Santhor, and then to Phnom Penh.  There are various possible reasons: Srei Santhor may have been less accessible to Siamese raiders; better trade with China; the ecological degradation of Angkor.  The decision may have been made regardless of the Siamese, or they may have sped it up.

The wars continued.  By the early 1500′s, the Khmers had thrown the Siamese out from much of the Khmer heartlands occupied around 1430.  Sometime around 1510, King Ang Chan regained control of the Angkor province.

Another period of attacks & counter-attacks followed.  In 1559-64, the Khmers attacked Siam from Angkor, under the reign of King Barom Reachea I.

Gabriel de Quiroga (an Iberian friar) visited Angkor in 1570, and found it to be still densely populated.  In 1576, King Satha I partially rebuilt the capital.