Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Rise of Chenla
From the 6th century the Funan kingdom's importance as a port of call declined, and Cam-
bodia's population gradually settled along the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers, where the ma-
jority remains today.
Chinese records refer to the rise of the Chenla empire, divided into 'water Chenla'
(lower) and 'land Chenla' (upper). Water Chenla was located around Angkor Borei and the
temple mount of Phnom Da; and land Chenla in the upper reaches of the Mekong River and
east of Tonlé Sap lake, around Sambor Prei Kuk, one of the first great temple cities of the
Mekong region.
What is certain is that the people of the lower Mekong were well known to the Chinese,
and the region was becoming gradually more cohesive. Before long the fractured kingdoms
of Chenla would merge to become the greatest empire in Southeast Asia.
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