"Angkorian Warfare 1113-1220: The conflicts of the Khmer..." Topic

… Empire from Suryavarman II to Jayavarman VII.

"The Khmer Empire in what is today Cambodia came to rule almost all of Southeast Asia as one of the most powerful empires and warrior-monarchies of the 12th and 13th centuries. Even though the history of the period is elusive as there are few surviving written accounts, there are however several important historical military & warfare lessons which can drawn from the early Angkorian or Moha Nokor period. Historically it has been established that the Khmer Empire came to dominate great portions of the region between 1000-1432 AD, growing through conquest and the fostering of diplomacy to secure existing and acquire new tributary territories.

This Cambodian empire in Southeast Asia was predeceased by both the Funan and Chenla states which had been petty kingdoms exisiting before the 8th century, their power centering around the Mekong Delta. Dominated by three major ethnic groups, the Mon, the Cham and the Khmer peoples, the cultures of the region were most certainly warlike and by the 11-12th centuries the Khmer empire was on the move expanding north and south, east and west. As a result the Angkorian kings would be sporadically at war with other rival kingdoms throughout 1113-1229. Endemic warfare was waged on sea and land between the Khmer, Thai, Vietnamese, and the Cham kingdoms all vying for supremacy over Southeast Asia. China and later the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan (b. after 1155-d.1227) and his successors would also play a major part in the practice of warfare in this region.

Kings such as Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII commanded large mostly peasant armies and rode to war with mighty royal war elephants in their retinue. Their armies fought battles at sea in large fleets as well completing amphibious landings and carrying out raiding voyages for centuries on end. The Angkorian king's attempted to balance warfare and diplomacy equally paying tribute to the Song Dynasty (Chinese) monarchs whose armies were busy fighting the Mongols seemingly everywhere during the period whilst at the same time fighting many "foreign" wars throughout the region to build a great Cambodian empire…"

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Full article here
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Hope you enjoy!.

Amicalement
Armand

Work on 28mm Khmer and Cham galleys and canoes is underway….

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Mighty Khmers!!!

tagmata.it/khmer2.htm

@altfritz: have sent a pm through the LAF!

Great job Lorenzo!.

Amicalement
Armand