Heritage site
Srei Santhor
Srei Santhor is an area on the Mekong that served as a Cambodian royal capital after the court left Angkor in the 15th century.[1][2] The historian Nhim Sotheavin places it along the Mekong, which local people call the Tonle Thom (great river), and the Tonle Toch (small river), in land that lies within the present-day provinces of Kampong Cham, Kandal, Tboung Khmum and Prey Veng.[2]
Capital after Angkor
After an Ayutthayan invasion of Angkor, King Ponhea Yat moved the capital to Basan (also written Bassan), in Srei Santhor, in 1431, following Takako Kitagawa's study of the royal chronicles as summarized in a report by Japan's Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.[1] The same report notes that the Chinese annals known as the Da Ming Shi Lu record a "King Bassan" of Chenla visiting China in 1372 and 1373, so some power may have been based at Basan before the end of the Angkor period.[1] Ponhea Yat later moved the court on to Phnom Penh.[1][2]
Sdech Kan
In the early 16th century Sdech Kan (also written Sdech Kon), who held Basan, fought the royal line for the throne.[1] In the chronicle Nhim Sotheavin follows, Sdech Kan had the king Srei Sokunthabat assassinated; the king's brother Ang Chan, who had fled to Siam, returned in 1516.[2] Nhim Sotheavin describes Sdech Kan as born to a pagoda servant, with no royal blood; the chronicles call him a usurper, while in Srei Santhor his name is well known and he is regarded as a local hero.[2] Ang Chan defeated him in 1525 and built a new capital at Longvek.[1][2]
After Longvek
When the army of Ayutthaya took Longvek in 1594, King Satha left for Srei Santhor before taking refuge in Laos, Nhim Sotheavin writes.[2] The court was based at Srei Santhor again for a time, until King Chey Chetta united the kingdom in 1620 and moved the capital to Oudong.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Chapter 2. Overview of the Site, in Report on the Investigations of Royal Capital Sites in the Post-Angkor Period (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Yosothor, UDAYA, Journal of Khmer Studies No. 15, Nhim Sotheavin, Considerations Regarding the Fall of Longvek (2020)