History of Siem Reap
The history of Siem Reap revolves around two significant periods of Cambodian history: the ancient Khmer Empire and modern-day Cambodia under the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The name Siem Reap itself is Khmer which literally means the “Flat Defeat of Siam” or “Siam Defeated”. Siam, of course, refers to ancient Thailand where Khmer rule had its grip after King Ang Chan took advantage of the internal squabbles in the Siamese kingdom in Ayudhaya where King Prajai was poisoned by his Queen, Sri Sudachan to live with a commoner named Woravongsa. Prince Tienraja, a monk, then became the new king of Siam, named Maha Chakrapat.
King Ang Chan dispatched a blitzkrieg of troops to capture Ayudhaya where Prince Ong, the leader of the expedition sent by Maha Chakrapat against the marauding forces of Ang Chan was shot on the back of an elephant. This signaled the defeat of the Siamese and the Khmer forces were able to capture around 10,000 troops from Siam. Sealing their victory with the surrender of Ayudhaya, King Ang Chan designated the battlefield as ‘Siem Reap‘.
Several waves of migration and traders influenced the Khmer culture and way of life, with Indian, Chinese and Funanese cultures mixing together to form as base of the commencing Khmer Empire. From the capital site in today’s Roulos group of temples to Angkor Thom, the Angkorian kingdom progressed from Hinduism to Mahayana Buddhism and back to Hinduism. Modern-day Cambodia, in contrast, subscribes to Theravada Buddhism.
‘Angkor’ actually means ‘holy city’ or ‘capital city’, and the whole complex of Angkor is said to be the capital city of the Khmer Empire that flourished in Cambodia and the surrounding nations of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam from the 9th to 12th centuries AD. With the exception of the invasion of the Cham people of central and southern Vietnam in the 12th century, the Khmer Empire dominated the whole Southeast Asian region with its mighty army and well-equipped navy. After a defeat of the four-year rule of the Cham, King Jayavarman VII began a frenetic period of monument and temple building in Angkor over a span of just 40 years. In such a short period, hundreds of buildings were erected including the mammoth Angkor Thom and the temples of Banteay Kdei, Ta Prohm and Preah Khan.
The rise of the Siamese and the transfer of the capital from Angkor to Phnom Penh contributed to the demise of the once mighty Khmer Empire. The whole complex north of Siem Reap at its height had one million inhabitants was swallowed back by the jungles until Western explorers, École Française d’Extrême Orient (EFEO), rediscovered and restored the area in the early 1900s. The town is actually a conglomeration of villages and served as the jump off point for the rediscovery of Angkor. Soon enough, luminaries began to troop to the area including Charlie Chaplin and Jacqueline Kennedy, with tourists flocking to the city until the 1960s.
Just like the rest of the country, Siem Reap was engulfed in the horrors of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in the 1970s under the rule of Pol Pot. Purging of the country’s educated and middle class led to the disarray of the whole country, with forced labor and genocide rampant all over. After the death of Pol Pot in 1998, today’s Siem Reap mainly looks to the future with tourism centering on the Angkor Archaeological Park. Temples and monuments are being restored while hotels and restaurants mushroom around the city center.
