The History of Siem Reap

At its height, Cambodia was one of the wealthiest and most sophisticated countries in the world, which is reflected in the magnificent temples that still stand today. Siem Reap province is found in the north-west of Cambodia and is most famous for the magnificent Angkor Wat Temple, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The name Siem Reap literally means Siam defeated and refers to the victory of Cambodia over the army of Thailand in the 17th century, when a bitter battle was fought.

At the beginning of the 10th century it is believed that the ancient town of Hariharalaya (now Roulos) was the capital of the Cambodian empire. It had a population of over 130,000 people and at its height, between the 10th-14th centuries, ruled much of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

As the number of citizens quickly grew, the capital was moved to what we now know as Angkor Thom. By the 14th century the area housed a staggering 1 million citizens. Bigger than New York, it was a bustling cosmopolitan city that was trading with other countries around the world.

The Khmer empire was sophisticated, progressive and rich - but the exact amount of wealth this country once held is unknown. However it is believed Cambodia (Kampuchea) traded with such prosperous countries as China, India and Indonesia by what archaeologists have been able to glean from evidence left behind, written on the sides of temples.

From inscriptions on the walls that still remain today, the fortune the shrines possessed included tons of gold and riches and records show that golden statues adorned the insides of these impressive structures.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the country's national religion changed from Hinduism to Buddhism, which is reflected in the architecture and carvings found on the temples - some believe that this caused the downfall of the mighty empire. The temples as they stand today show how advanced the Khmer empire was, from both an engineering and architectural perspective, creating some magnificent structures that would be hard to rival today.

Many suspect in the 14th century Cambodia was invaded by neighboring countries, but due to historical records being lost or destroyed over the years, we are not really sure what happened. However, much of the nation was left in tatters as the Khmer empire crumbled, while its riches were stolen and its culture was decimated.

Many people left the thriving city, while law and order began to disintegrate as this once great metropolis started to fall into decay.

In the 16th century the Portuguese arrived in Cambodia and were the first Europeans to explore the Valley of Tonle-Tom. Some of these adventurers decided to settle in the region and have families - to this day, descendants of the Portuguese can still be found in Siem Reap.

By this time, the once thriving capital had dwindled to little more than a village. Meanwhile French explorers began to explore further away from their own shores and some decided to settle in Siem Reap. It is said that a French missionary came across the city of Angkor Wat in the early 1860's while exploring the jungle - his writings and drawings drew much attention from the west.

It wasn't until the 1920's that serious attempts were made to clear and excavate the site. As the wild and dense foliage was stripped back, it began to reveal hidden mysteries and secrets of this once great civilization. Finding clues along the way, archaeologists began to unearth more grand temples lost within the clutches of the jungle and only then did the shrouds of the Khmer past begin to unfold.

The rediscovery of the ancient temples of Siem Reap became a draw card for many visitors from all over the world. News spread quickly of this ancient and wondrous city, which had been covered and lost for centuries within the wild jungles of Cambodia.

People suddenly became fascinated with these ancient monuments and hearing stories of their once great splendor in the Far East - they came from all parts of the world to Siem Reap. Famous celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin and Jacqueline Kennedy came to see the magnificent Angkor Wat.

As the full extent of the complex was discovered, this only added fuel to the origins of the mysterious temple and became a curiosity for visitors from all over the world. This would soon be interrupted by a massive blow, which would cut through the fabric of Cambodian society and bleed from the heart of this already shattered community.

Pol Pot was a dictator that would change the face of Cambodia forever. He single-handedly ordered the killing of an estimated three million Cambodian people (out of a population of eight million), that equates to over a third of the entire country. He was born in the year 1925 to a farming family that lived in central Cambodia - his birth name was Saloth Sar.

Pol Pot as a young boy had a curious mind and had studied as a Buddhist monk before becoming the leader of the Khmer Rouge in 1963. In 1969 Pol Pot's troops went into Phnom Penh with the warning that the Americans were coming to bomb the country. This was a secret bombing raid headed by Nixon without the approval of congresses or the US electorate. More bombs were dropped in Cambodia in this time than on the whole of Japan during WW2.

The Khmer Rouge told the occupants that they would only have to leave their houses for three days, so the frightened families packed up their most needed belongings and left the city in droves. The devastating bombings disrupted the delicate balance of Cambodia power and triggered a civil war that resulted in countless dead, while food and water quickly came into short supply. This gave the Khmer Rouge a foothold like never before as they seized power by force and drew up a new constitution for Cambodia following the blueprint of Chairman Mao.

Pol Pot targeted the likes of scholars, artists and progressive thinkers - or indeed anyone he thought may have the tenacity to form a resistance against his murderous blanket of power. Even people who wore glasses were targeted as they were thought of as being clever by the mainly uneducated renegades.

It is estimated that almost 90% of intellectuals and artists were systematically eliminated; and it is said that only nine Cambodian doctors survived this devastating war. This decimated both the thriving arts and academic communities as many of the free-thinkers were exterminated at the hands of a cold and bitter regime.

Over the years much of the information about Cambodia's history has been lost. Only the inscriptions carved on the side of temple walls, which still remain today, are a testament to what once laid within as both treasures and secrets.

Lost in these mysteries are questions we are unable to answer, such as where are the ashes from the burial jars at Srah Srang that could provide us with valuable DNA that would allow us to map the genetics of these people? Also, where are the missing plans on how to put Baphuon Temple back together once it was disassembled before the war and where is the Giant Buddha of Tep Pranam Temple?

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