Updated February 22, 2023
ancient timesBuenam Kingdom
According to Chinese texts, around the 1st century, there was a kingdom called Funan in the area stretching roughly from present-day southern Cambodia to the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam.
The person who founded Bunan was Kaung Din Ya, a foreigner who some say came from India to Cambodia and founded Bunan, and others say was a Brahmin monk from India who came to Cambodia via the Malay Peninsula and became king.。
French archaeologist in 1942Louis MalletThe excavation of the site of Ba Te Mountain and the nearby port city of O Keo in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam, by the
The hinterland of this site has been inhabited since the Late Neolithic period.
Earthenware and relics of the Pre-Okeo culture have been found at the Ngo Kai Tung site in An Giang Province and other sites near Long An Province, where people lived and traveled as far west as the plains of Cambodia.
Although the land remained uncultivated until the 3rd century, its location at a strategic point on a waterway halfway between India and China allowed foreign cultures to flow in and the country prospered as a commercial nation.
Rice cultivation was well developed.
ancient timesKingdom of Greece
In the 6th century, the country considered to be the origin of the Cambodian state, or Shinro (Chenla) by the northern Khmers as referred to in Chinese historical sources, rose.
This country was a vassal state of Bu-nan, but in the 7th century, Bu-nan was destroyed, and furthermore, King ShinroeIshanavarman I(611-635), the affected areas became independent from the kingdom of Dvaravati, and the kingdom of Lavo was created in Lopburi.
The Maro Kingdom is...Jayavarman I(657 - 681), and reached its maximum during the reign of
Sanskrit script was used under the influence of Indian culture, but Khmer script began to be used as well.
It is speculated that the Shinro had territory in what is now Cambodia and southern Laos, i.e., the Mekong River basin.
Shailendra Dynasty (of India, 1336-1641 CE)
After the death of Jayavarman I, ancient Cambodia was divided and weakened into the Riku-Maros (present-day Champasak Province, Laos) in the north and the Sui-Maros in the south as seen in Chinese records, and in the 8th century Sui-Maros came under the rule of the Javanese kingdom of the Shailendra dynasty.
Shailendra, by its meaning ("royal house of the mountains"), is related to the Phnom (mountain) of Bunan, and some believe that the Shailendra dynasty and the Shree Vijaya kingdom may in some sense be the successors of Bunan.
Middle Ages Khmer Empire
Ta Prohm.
Independence from the Shailendra dynasty is,Jayavarman II(802 - 854).
Jayavarman II ascends the throne atop the Phnom Kulen Hilland proclaimed its liberation from the Shailendra dynasty.
This was the beginning of the Angkor dynasty (Khmer dynasty).
At the end of the 9th century, Yashovarman I (c. 889 - 910) built a new capital city at Angkor, "Yashodharapura."(889-1190) was established. At this time, his sphere of influence extended to the present-day Northeastern Thailand region.
Several kings followed, but none of the dynasties lasted long due to power struggles and deaths.
In 1113, Suryavarman II ascended to the throne and united the country by fighting hostile forces throughout the country. Outside the country, he fought against the Siamese and Mon people of the Chao Phraya River delta to the west and invaded the neighboring Champa Kingdom to the south and the Yi Dynasty to the east.
His kingdom extended over central Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, and southern Vietnam, and he was also an avid temple builder, and his works included Angkor Wat, a masterpiece of Khmer art and his own tomb, as well as the temples of Tomanon, Banteay Samre (Banteay Samréand other Hindu temples were constructed.
The reign of this king was not without peace and security, and he died around 1150.
After the death of Suryavarman II, a struggle continued over the throne.
Furthermore, in 1177, a large army of the Champa Kingdom destroyed Yashodarapura, which was the capital.
In 1181, Jayavarman VII, who had been on an expedition to Champa, returned to Cambodia and ascended the throne.
He persevered in his nation-building efforts, and in 1190 surrendered his sworn enemy, Champa.
He also built Angkor Thom (1190-1431), a "shining new capital city" with solid walls eight meters high, as his capital.
This was the heyday of the Angkor dynasty.
An ardent follower of Mahayana Buddhism, the king built a bayon in the center of the capital, the Banteay Kdei (Banteay Kdei), Ta Prohm (monastery) in 1186, Priya Khan in 1191, and other Buddhist temples.
Jayavarman VII also focused on the lives of the common people by building 102 hospitals and inns on major roads in the country.
However, it is believed that the country's power declined after his death (1220) due to the construction of large temples and expeditions to acquire territory.
He was succeeded by Indravarman II and Jayavarman VIII (1243-1295).
In 1283, the armies of Kublai's Mongol Empire invaded Angkor Thom.
Jayavarman VIII paid tribute to the Yuan Dynasty in 1285 and 1292.
During this reign, the Buddha was re-carved with Hindu-derived subject matter after the Buddha Abolition Incident occurred.
In 1295, a BuddhistIndravarman IIIkilled Jayavarman VIII and took the throne.
In the 13th century, the Yuan invasion began, followed by the Siamese (Ayutthaya dynasty) invasion in the latter half of the century.
Cambodia's Dark Ages Year)
In 1431, the repeated invasions of Siam led to the fall of the capital Angkor and the end of a glorious era.
Ponya Yat, the king of the time, was a great king from Angkor Thom to Kompong Cham Province.Srey Santo.and abandoned the northern part of Tonle Sap Lake, including Angkor, near Siam (present-day Thailand).
Thereafter, the capital was moved from one place to another.
Cambodia's Dark Ages Phnom Penh (? (? - 1553)
Srei Santo had to relocate the capital to Phnom Penh because the river flooded too often.
As for Western sources, Phnom Penh is the first record of Cambodia, as recorded in a Portuguese journal of 1511.
It is noted that trade with the Japanese had already begun.
Cambodia's Dark Ages Longvek (1553 - 1618).
Located halfway between Phnom Penh and the Tonle Sap Lake.Longvek.(1553 - 1618), the capital was moved to
In 1593, King Sattha (1576-94) asked the Spanish governor of the Philippines (Viceroyalty of the Philippines) to become a protectorate.
120 soldiers were sent from the Philippines, but they had been occupied by Siam the year before they arrived.
In 1597, Spanish soldiers were able to place King Sattha's son on the throne, but two years later the Spanish soldiers were murdered by Malay mercenaries.
Around 1607, Lu Sung Sukezaemon initiated trade.
Cambodia's Dark AgesUdon, 1618-1866.
The capital was moved to Oudong (1618 - 1866), about 5 km south of Longvek.
From the 17th to the 19th century, the country was in turmoil due to continuous invasions and interference by neighboring Siam and Vietnam.
The Reich dynasty in the 16th century.Vijaya Dynasty (of India, 1336-1649 CE)(one of the former Champa kingdoms) and annexed the former territory of Champa, large numbers of Cham people became refugees and flowed out into the Khmer Empire territory.
1623,Chey Chetta II(reigned 1618-1628), was a preynocole (English: ) for refugees who fled Ruan Guangnan during the Zheng Ruan War, in which the Dutch East India Company intervened. Prey Nokor(now Ho Chi Minh City), which allowed Vietnam to move south.
The Dutch subsequently withdrew from Cambodia after the massacre of the Dutch during the Cambodian-Dutch War of 1643.
Ruan Fu淍 (Ming King) of Guangnan Province in 1693.Panduranga Dynasty (of India, 1336-1649 CE)At the end of the 17th century, Vietnam occupied the Khmer inhabited areas from the upper Mekong Delta to around the opposite side of Phu Quoc Island.
Cambodia's access to the sea was cut off, and maritime trade required Vietnamese permission.
The Qing-Burma and Thai-Burma Wars broke out between 1765 and 1769, and Ayutthaya was occupied by the Khonbaung dynasty in 1767, but it was Thailand that became the most powerful after the war.
From 1788 to 1789, the Qing-Yue War broke out, in which the Xishan dynasty repulsed the Qing intervention and the Li dynasty fell.
However, the Xishan dynasty fell within a few years, and the remnants of the Guangnan state founded the Ruan dynasty.
In 1831, Thailand initiated an attempt to take control of Cambodia.First Sino-Taiwan War (1937-1945)In the following section, Thailand invaded northern Cambodia, then turned south and overran Chau Doc and Vinh Long in further southern Vietnam.
When Vietnam (Ruan Dynasty) launched a counterattack, Thailand withdrew before the battle could be fought, and Vietnam took control of all of Cambodia.
When Cambodia was weakened by the war with Thailand, Prey Nokor gradually became Vietnameseized, and its name was changed to Kading and later to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).
In 1841, Thailand again raised the issue of Cambodia's control overSecond Tai-Vietnam War (1937-1945)resulted in the signing of a peace treaty under which the two countries of Thailand and Vietnam shared Cambodia.
King An Duong ascended to the throne in 1848 and secretly requested assistance from Napoleon III through the French consul in Singapore, but this failed because the information was leaked to Siam beforehand.
Modern (colonial)
French colonization of the Indochina Peninsula (Indochina) began in the mid-19th century.
On August 11, 1863, France concluded the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Protection of the French State with the Kingdom of Cambodia.
King Norodom of Cambodia recognized France's protectorate over the kingdom.
This protectorate status was requested by France at the request of Cambodia, which could not bear the pressure from neighboring Thailand and Vietnam.。
Phnom Penh
In 1866, the capital was moved from Oudong to Chadmok in Phnom Penh.
On July 15, 1867, the State of Siam (Siam = present-day Thailand), historically the suzerain state of Cambodia, recognized France's right of protection over Cambodia.
("Treaty between the Kingdom of Cambodia and France to Determine the Status of the Kingdom of Cambodia") In 1887, Cambodia was incorporated into French Indochina.
On March 23, 1907, France acquired all of Cambodia through a treaty with Silla, exchanging Battambang, Siem Reap, and Sisopon for islands in the Krat Port area.
In 1916, as many as 40,000 farmers from the provinces gathered in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh to appeal directly to King Sisowat.
In 1925, peasants in the province of Kompong Tunan assassinated Pardes, a board member who was collecting taxes.
The incident shook the French people.
After the Nazi invasion of France in May-June 1940 and the transition to the Vichy regime in July, France concluded a "Politico-military and Economic Agreement" (Matsuoka-Henri Agreement) with Japan on August 30, allowing Japanese troops to enter French Indochina from September.
On November 23, the Thai-French Indochina conflict erupts over the territory of Cambodia and Laos.
The conflict continued to escalate, but on May 9, 1941, a peace treaty (the Tokyo Treaty) was signed between Thailand and France under the mediation of Japan in residence, and part of Cambodia, Champasak and Battambang provinces, and part of Laos and Siem Reap province were ceded to Thailand.
In November 1941, Norodom Sihanouk, 18, ascended the throne.
On March 12, 1945, King Norodom Sihanouk (Sihanouk) proclaimed Cambodia's independence in response to the Japanese military's Operation Minggo.
However, when Japan surrendered to the Allies, the country returned to French protection in 1946, and its independence disappeared.
Sihanouk persevered in his campaign for independence, promulgating a constitution in 1947 and gaining independence within the French Union in 1949.
In 1953, Sihanouk regained police and military authority, and in November of the same year, he achieved full independence after traveling to France, the U.S., and Thailand to appeal to world public opinion.
ModernKingdom of Cambodia(1953 - 1970)
In 1955, at the Asian-African Conference (Bandung Conference, Bandung, Indonesia), Sihanouk announced a policy of non-aligned and neutral foreign policy.
He abdicated the throne to his father, Norodom Sulamarit, and organized the Sangkum Riaha Niyom (People's Socialist Community, Sangkum).
Sihanouk, who gained popularity among the people as the "father of independence," became prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the same year's elections.
In 1956, it refused to join the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization.
When the king, Sulamarit, died in 1960, Sihanouk created and assumed the new position of head of state, leaving the throne vacant.
In May 1965, Sihanouk declared diplomatic relations with the United States, which was bombing North Vietnam.
Although the Vietnam War caused instability in the country, bombings and civil war had not yet intensified during the Sihanouk administration, and food was plentiful and not dependent on imports, and there were no large numbers of internally displaced persons.
In April 1967, clashes broke out between farmers and the local government in Samlaut, Battambang Province, in opposition to the government's forced purchase of surplus rice.。
At least a quarter or so of Cambodia's rice surplus had been purchased by North Vietnam and the Vietcong since about 1965, but the government's purchase price was lower than this, and local communist forces spread anti-U.S. anti-government leaflets and incited riots.。
The suppression operation around Samrout continued for several months, and the clashes between the right and left factions intensified.
Khmer Republic(1970 - 1975)
On March 17, 1970, pro-U.S. Ron Noll staged a coup d'etat during Sihanouk's foreign trip and ousted Sihanouk's faction,Khmer Republic(October 9), declaring the establishment of the
Once in power, Lon Nol conducted a fierce anti-Vietnam campaign, persecuting and massacring Vietnamese residents living in Cambodia who were suspected of supporting the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam.
This led to the mass return of 200,000 of the 500,000 Vietnamese residents of the Sihanouk era to Vietnam in 1970.
Ron Nol then had American and South Vietnamese troops invade his country in April 1970 to crush the Ho Chi Minh route (Operation Cambodia).
Furthermore, the U.S. military expanded its aerial bombardment of Cambodia, which had been conducted locally since 1968, to cover all of Cambodia, including densely populated areas.
This killed hundreds of thousands of peasants and created two million internal refugees just a year and a half after the bombing.。
Especially in the eastern part of Cambodia, where the population is concentrated, the cities were heavily bombed.。
The Ron Nol government became unpopular with the people, and anti-government activities intensified.
After the coup, Sihanouk escaped to China (Beijing) and formed the Kampuchea National Unity Front, calling for a joint struggle among the anti-Long Nor factions.
It was the Khmer Rouge, a communist force commanded by Pol Pot, Kew Samphan, and Yen Sari, who were fascinated by Maoism, who helped him and returned with him to Cambodia.
In October, Pol Pot had a civil war with the Lon Nol regime with Sihanouk (Cambodian Civil War).
In January 1971, the U.S. invaded Cambodia with part of its South Vietnamese contingent to support the Lon Nol regime.
In October, Lon Nol declared a military dictatorship and promulgated a new constitution in March 1972.
However, on March 29, 1973, the U.S. withdrew completely from Vietnam, and Lon Nol lost his strong backing.
In addition, the bombings had destroyed rural infrastructure, and Cambodia's agricultural production had been severely damaged.
In 1969, Cambodia had 2.49 million hectares under cultivation and exported 230,000 tons of rice, but by 1974, the cultivated area had plummeted to 50,000 hectares and the country imported 282,000 tons of rice.。
1971 U.S. General Accounting Office inspection team reports severe food shortages in Cambodia。
Under these circumstances, urban areas were able to survive on food aid from the U.S., but in rural areas where aid was not available, a massive hunger crisis was developing.
Democratic Kampuchea (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (1976 - 1979)
On April 1, 1975, Neak Leung, the last town on the Mekong River defended by the Khmer Republic, fell, and Lon Nol fled the country that day.He eventually defected to Hawaii.
On April 12 of the same year, the U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, J. Gunther Dean, closed the U.S. Embassy and escaped by helicopter to Thailand.。
At 9:30 a.m. on April 17 of the same year, the Khmer Republic surrendered and the Khmer Rouge entered the capital city of Phnom Penh.。
After entering Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge forced urban residents to leave Phnom Penh with the intention of forcing them to move to rural areas, citing the demagogue "to avoid bombing by B-52s.
There were no exceptions to the evictions from Phnom Penh, and seriously ill and pregnant women were also forcibly evicted.
Residents were forced to walk for days under the scorching sun without being told where to go, causing many to fall ill and many to die.
In January 1976, the "Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Cambodia" was promulgated, naming the countryDemocratic Kampuchea (Democratic Republic of the Congo)(in Japanese history)Democratic KampucheaThe name was changed to
The Khmer Rouge implemented an extreme policy of returning to a primitive communist society, including the abolition of the monetary system, rural settlement of urban residents, and forced labor.
Former regime officials, the city's wealthy and intelligentsia, foreign students, and pro-Vietnam groups within the Khmer Rouge were massacred.
Those suspected of rebellion were detained in political prison camp S21 (now the Toul Sleng Massacre Museum) and other places and massacred (Cambodian genocide).
During the four years of the Pol Pot era (1975-1979), the country adopted an extreme agrarian policy in the vein of China's Maoism, but inefficient practices led to a drought, an abnormally low birth rate, starvation, genocide, and the spread of malaria, which caused a massive death toll estimated at over 1 million people.
In 1975, the food situation in Cambodia was critical.
In April of the same year, USAID reported that "175,000 to 250,000 tons of rice is needed to avert a food crisis in Cambodia.The U.S. State Department predicted that "Communist Cambodia will no longer receive food aid from foreign countries, and one million people will go hungry in the future.I was.
The Khmer Rouge's policies of forced migration and heavy agriculture may have been intended to increase food production under these circumstances, but the unscientific and unrealistic policies resulted in further increasing and worsening the food crisis.
In May of this year, the Khmer Rouge attacked the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc.
In January 1978, the Khmer Rouge attacked Vietnamese territory and Pol Pot broke with Vietnam.
At this time, Vietnam was strengthening its relations with the Soviet Union,Sino-Soviet rivalryThe composition of the two countries brought them into conflict with the Pol Pot regime, which has close ties to the People's Republic of China.
In April and May, the village of Ba Chuc in Vietnam's An Giang Province was attacked and its villagers massacred (Ba Chuc Massacre).
In May, the Khmer Rouge attacked the Eastern Military District (the east has a large Vietnamese-Cambodian population) in a suspected rebellion against Pol Pot in the center, resulting in the execution of a large number of Khmer Rouge generals in the eastern districts.
This led to an influx of more than 100,000 displaced Eastern Zone military personnel into Vietnam (Cambodia-Vietnam War).
Samrin government (1979 - 1991)
On December 25, 1978, the Vietnamese People's Army organized the Kampuchea Salvation National Unity Front from exiled Cambodian refugees and invaded Cambodia with Heng Samrin, a former Khmer Rouge officer who had defected to Vietnam, to overthrow Pol Pot.
On January 6, 1979, the Vietnamese army captured Phnom Penh, Sihanouk, who was nearly imprisoned, fled again to Beijing, and the Khmer Rouge were driven back to near the Thai border.
January 10, pro-Vietnam.People's Republic of Kampuchea(People's Republic of Kampuchea) is established.
However, the regime by Heng Samrin's Cambodian People's Party failed to win the approval of countries around the world as a puppet government of Vietnam.
In February of the same year, the Chinese People's Liberation Army attacked Vietnam in retaliation for the invasion of Cambodia (Sino-Vietnamese War).
However, the Chinese forces were completely defeated by the experienced Vietnamese forces in actual combat and withdrew from the area in March.
In June 1981, Samrin adopted a new constitution and Hun Sen was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Deputy Prime Minister).
In February 1982, the three anti-Vietnam factions (Pol Pot, Sihanouk, and Son Sang) held talks in Beijing, and in July 1982, the three factions formed The Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK), The country entered a state of civil war with the Samrin regime.
A summit meeting of the three Indochina countries in February 1983 resolved to partially withdraw Vietnamese troops, but in March, Vietnamese troops attacked Pol Pot faction strongholds.
At a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in July 1984, they adopted a joint declaration condemning Vietnam for its continued presence in the region.
However, Vietnamese forces continued to intervene in the civil war, capturing the Democratic Kampuchea Coalition Government stronghold in January 1985 and overrunning the Sihanoukite stronghold in March.
After the sudden death of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Hung in March 1988 and the political upheaval that ensued, Vietnam began withdrawing its troops in June and completed the withdrawal in September 1989.
As a result, Hun Sen, who had been promoted to prime minister at the time, was weakened by the loss of support from the Vietnamese military, further bogging down the civil war.
On June 4 and 5, 1990, the Tokyo Conference on Cambodia was held in Tokyo as a forum for direct dialogue toward peace with the participation of all factions in Cambodia.
The following day, October 23, 1991, the Paris Agreement on Peace in Cambodia was held, resulting in the signing by 19 countries of the final agreed text (establishment of the "United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)," disarmament and end of the civil war, return of refugees, and the holding of constitutional assembly elections, etc.).
Here, the 20-year-long Cambodian civil war came to an end.
ModernKingdom of Cambodia
Cambodia Peace Paris Agreement by the four factions of the Hun Sen government and the Democratic Kampuchea Coalition government combined.Supreme National Council of Cambodia (SNC)was formed.
The following year, in March 1992, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC; Secretary-General is Yasushi Akashi) began its work to maintain peace.
In May 1993, general elections to the National Assembly were held and a constitutional monarchy was adopted.
The election results showed that of the total 120 seats, 58 were held by the Hun Sing Pek Party, 51 by the Cambodian People's Party, 10 by Son Sang's Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party, and 1 by others.
This resulted in a "two prime minister system," with Ranarit, the leader of the Hun Sing Peck Party and Sihanouk's second son, elected as the first prime minister and Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party as the second.
On September 23 of the same year, the Constituent Assembly issued a new constitution.
On September 24, Sihanouk is re-installed as king,Kingdom of Cambodiawas created as the first unified government in almost 23 years.
UNTAC's provisional administration ended in September 1993 after witnessing free and fair elections and the promulgation of a constitution and establishment of a government by an elected parliament.
In July 1997, clashes occurred in Phnom Penh between troops of the Hun Sing Pek Party and the Cambodian People's Party.
Ranarit, the first prime minister, fled to Paris and returned to Cambodia about six months later, in March 1998, under King Sihanouk's pardon, and became speaker of the National Assembly in September.
In the general election of July of the same year, this time the Cambodian People's Party became the leading party, and Hun Sen became the first prime minister.
Cambodia's membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was postponed until April 1999.
Pol Pot died in the mountains in April 1998, and Pol Pot's senior leaders apologized to the public in December.
In January 2001, a deal was reached with the United Nations to establish a special Cambodian tribunal to try Pol Pot regime officials.
On October 14, 2004, Sihanouk abdicated and his son Norodom Sihamoni acceded to the throne.
On October 18, 2006, the Hunsin Peck Party removed Ranarit as party leader and elected Keo Put Rasmei, ambassador to Germany; Lou Raislen was elected as first deputy party leader and Sisowat Sriwood (from the Sisowat royal family) as second deputy party leader.
On November 16, 2006, Ranariddh founded The Norodom Ranariddh Party.
On March 13, 2007, Ranalit was sentenced to one year and six months in prison for breach of trust while in Manila, Philippines.
It was also announced that Ranarit had been accused of adultery in January on the accusation of his wife, ahead of the local elections in April.
Ranarit's movements while abroad have attracted attention because, according to Cambodian law, those sentenced to imprisonment cannot run in the 2008 general elections until they have served two-thirds of their sentences.
To learn more, please refer to the following
authorityHistory of CambodiaWikipedia.