Cambodia

Abstract

History.—The recorded history of Cambodia starts at the beginning of the Christian era with the Kingdom of Fou-Nan, whose territories at one time included parts of Thailand, Malaya, Cochin-China and Laos. The religious, cultural and administrative inspiration of this state came from India. The Kingdom was absorbed at the end of the 6th century by the Khmers, under whose monarchs was built, between the 9th and 14th centuries, the splendid complex of shrines and temples at Angkor. Attacked on either side by the Vietnamese and the Thai during subsequent centuries, the Khmer Empire was only saved from annihilation by the establishment of a French protectorate in 1863. The government of Thailand recognized the protectorate in exchange for Cambodia’s north-western provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap, which were however returned under a Franco-Thai treaty of 1907.