Cambodia: A timeline

Major events and eras in the history of what is now Cambodia from the beginning of the Common Era to the present.

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• Where do I begin?: Picking a good beginning helps you to focus your story on just one main event. In this lesson students will learn how to pick a good beginning for their personal narratives.

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• Learn more about Angkor, Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat, Banteay Srei, Cambodia, Hinduism, Kampuchea, Khmer, Khmer Empire, Khmer Republic, Pol Pot, Theravada, and timelines.

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ca. 1–500s CE

Lower Mekong River society called Funan is mentioned in Chinese records. (Funan may be transcription of Khmer word phnom, meaning “hill.”)

ca. 500s–700s CE

Hindu Mekong kingdom of Khmers called Zhenla (or Chenla) by the Chinese supercedes Funan.

ca. 770–834 CE

Jayavarman II unifies Khmers in Angkor region, freeing them from rule of “Java” (exact location of “Java” not certain).

802

Jayavarman II enthroned under Hindu rites as devaraja, or “god-king”; establishes Khmer empire.

944–968

Rajendravarman builds Banteay Srei Temple.

1002–1049

Suryavarman I reigns.

1113–ca. 1145

Suryavarman II reigns and builds Angkor Wat dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu.

1177–1178

Hindu Chams invade and pillage Angkor kingdom.

1181–1219

Jayavarman VII, who defeats Chams, ascends to throne; Khmer empire at greatest extent, incorporating regions of present-day Laos, Burma, and Thailand; king follows Mahayana Buddhism, begins building city of Angkor Thom with Bayon Temple.

1243–1295

Jayavarman VIII enthroned; returns to Hinduism; many Buddha statues destroyed.

1300s

Under influence from kingdoms to the west, Theravada Buddhism wins royal and popular allegiance. Pali replaces Sanskrit as sacred language; wood replaces brick and stone as building medium.

1431

Thais sack kingdom at Angkor.

1440s

Khmer rulers move capital southeast near present capital, Phnom Penh.

1593

Siam king attacks, and Khmer become vassal kingdom to Siam.

1700s

Viets conquer Mekong Delta; weaker Khmer kingdom assumes roughly modern borders of Cambodia.

1834–1841

Viets attack and share increasing control over Khmers with Siam kingdom.

1863–1940

French intervene militarily and Cambodia becomes French protectorate. The region becomes part of French Indochina along with Vietnam and Laos. French colonial capital located at Phnom Penh.

1940–1945

World War II; Japanese fight Allies for control over Southeast Asia and Pacific.

1954–1970

Independence from French; Kingdom of Cambodia under Prince Norodom Sihanouk who abdicates throne to become elected President.

1970

Coup against Sihanouk establishes General Lon Nol as President of a U.S.-backed regime called the Khmer Republic.

1970–1975

Khmer Republic under Lon Nol allows U.S. bombing inside Cambodian borders to fight Vietcong; Sihanouk, in exile in China, joins forces with North Vietnamese as well as ascending Cambodian communists called Khmer Rouge.

1975

Khmer Rouge forces led by Pol Pot capture capital of Phnom Penh.

1975–1979

Khmer Rouge rule what they call Democratic Kampuchea. Intellectuals and those who worked for prior government are killed. All Phnom Penh residents are deported to countryside for slave labor; massive death toll from murder and starvation occurs in northwest Cambodia; bloody purges attempt to eliminate all dissidents. Nearly two million citizens die. Khmer Rouge attacks over Vietnamese borders lead to a military invasion from now unified and well-armed Communist Vietnam.

1979

Vietnamese troops invade and overthrow Pol Pot’s regime.

1979–

People’s Republic of Kampuchea; fragmented coalition government is formed where Vietnamese puppets compete for power with former Khmer Rouge officers and Sihanouk supporters. Cambodia begins long recovery process for former refugees who fled to Thailand and other traumatized citizens.

1989

Vietnam officially withdraws from Cambodia.

1994

Khmer Rouge outlawed by Cambodian National Assembly

1998

Pol Pot, former leader of Khmer Rouge, dies in forest hideout, never brought to trial.

2004

Elderly King Sihanouk turns monarchy over to son, King Sihamoni, but real political power is held by elected President Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge officer.