Capitals of the Post-Angkor Period Longvêk and Oudong

Abstract

This paper sets out to investigate the transfer of the royal palace's location in the post-Angkor period, and will at the same time consider the change of character of the Longvêk—Oudong dynasty.Since the French Protectorate era, a considerable number of studies have been made on Angkor period. However, little attention has been given to the post-Angkor period. Reasons were that it was deemed a “Dark-Age” and an iota of historical materials. As such, we attempted a research on the Longvêk—Oudong region, about 30km north of Phnom-Penh. We had examined some aerial photographs, measured the royal palace's sites, made maps, picked up fragments of pottery, and lastly compiled information relating to the beginnings of villages and temples.There was a saying that in the post-Angkor period, the capial of Cambodia was transferred from Angkor to Basan (Kampong-Cham Province)—Phnom-Penh—Lonvêk (Kampong-Chhnang Province)—Oudong (Kampong-Spu Province). The first capital, Basan, occupied a key point on the Mekong River. The third and the fourth, Lonvêk and Oudong, were in close proximity. They held a strategic point on the west bank of the Tonle-Sap River. The second and the present capital, Phnom-Pemh is situated on the confluence of the Mekong River and the Tonle-Sap River. Based on the royal chronicle of Cambodia and some foreign sources, we knew that Basan and Longvêk-Oudong were rivals.The following resulted from our research:1) From the central temple in the Fortress of Lonvêk to the Sacred Mountain of Oudong, we found the ruins of shrines belonging to the Angkor period.2) There is a square site surrounded by walls which we had determined to be Lonvêk, the capital in the 16th century.3) We found that the royal palace of Oudong in the 17th century was on the first height next to the west bank of the Tonle-Sap River.4) There are two remains known as Veang-Chas (old palace) and Khleang-Pram (five storehouses). The former was the second royal palace of king Ang-Duong and the latter was also his first palace, situated 4km west to the royal palace in the 17th century.Therefore, we concluded that:A) The capital Longvêk—Oudong kept close relations with Pursat, south of the Tonle-Sap Lake.B) The transfer from Longvêk to Oudong during the 17th century came from the development of Ponhea-Lu as a river port in the “Age of Commerce”.C) However, with the end of the “Age of Commerce” and the control of Saigon by the Vietnamese, this situation was changed. King Ang-Duong tried to build a new network which could connect Pursat and Kampot via Oudong. In doing so, he built his palace 4km inland.D) Under the French Protectorate, Phnom-Penh became the capital of Cambodia and the network which centered on Phnom-Penh and the Mekong River was completed for the first time.