ABSTRACT

The kingdom of Cambodia, called the Khmer Empire, not only occupied the same territory as Fu-nan had occupied, but was to some extent its successor State. In the second half of the sixth century the country was attacked from the north by a kingdom to which the Chinese gave the name of Chen-la. According to Cambodian inscriptions of the tenth century, the kings of 'Kambuja' claimed to be descended from a mythical eponymous ancestor, the wise hermit Kambu, and the celestial nymph Mera, whose name may derive from the ethnic term 'Khmer'. A Chinese text referring to the reign of Ishanavarman throws light on the material culture of the country during the seventh century. The inscriptions are mainly concerned with Court circles and the world of the high officials and superior clergy, and at the present stage of research we only catch a glimpse of the civilization of Angkor through this distorting mirror.