Shows / The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Empire, which dominated Southeast Asia from the 9th to the 15th centuries, left behind the sprawling temple complex of Angkor Wat—but its story is far more than stone and sandstone. Hosts Lucas and Luna guide listeners through the rise of the empire under King Jayavarman II in 802 CE, the construction of Angkor Wat by Suryavarman II, and the reign of Jayavarman VII, who built the walled city of Angkor Thom and the enigmatic Bayon with its 216 smiling faces. Along the way, they explore…
Episodes
The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo HistoryThe Preah Vihear Dispute: A Khmer Temple on a Cliff
On the border between Cambodia and Thailand, perched atop a 525-metre cliff, stands Preah Vihear — a Khmer temple that has sparked one of the longest-running…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Sandstone That Built Angkor: Khmer Quarrymen and the Mountain of Phnom Kulen
For centuries, the temples of Angkor have stood as monuments to Khmer ambition and artistry. But behind every carved lintel and towering gopura lay an immense…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Suryavarman II and the Construction of Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious monument, but who built it and why? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the reign of Suryavarman II, the…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Empire's Spice Trade and the Route to China
Before Angkor Wat rose from the jungle, the Khmer Empire thrived on a web of trade routes stretching from the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal. This…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Bayon's Stone Faces: Jayavarman VII's Enigmatic Smile
In this episode of the Khmer Empire series, Lucas and Luna explore the enigmatic Bayon temple at the heart of Angkor Thom. Built by Jayavarman VII in the late…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Banteay Chhmar Temple and Jayavarman VII's Deserted Masterpiece
Deep in the Cambodian jungle, 60 kilometers from the Thai border, lies Banteay Chhmar — a massive temple complex built by Jayavarman VII that rivals the scale…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Engineer King: Jayavarman VII's Roads and Hospitals
Jayavarman VII is known for building Angkor Thom and the Bayon, but his most revolutionary achievement was a network of over a hundred hospitals and rest…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Jayavarman VI and the Angkor Wat Succession Crisis
In the early 12th century, the Khmer Empire faced a succession crisis that pitted a provincial warlord against the established capital. This episode focuses on…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Baray That Broke: Engineering and Collapse of Angkor's Water System
Angkor's colossal barays — the Western Baray, the Eastern Baray, Indratataka — were not just reservoirs but sacred cosmograms, built to control Monsoon…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Yasovarman I: The King Who Built Angkor’s First Baray and Moved a Capital
Before Angkor Wat rose from the jungle, before Jayavarman VII’s sprawling city temples, one man made the decision that shaped Khmer history for centuries…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Angkor's Envoys to China Zhou Daguan's Lost Travelogue
In August 1296, a Chinese diplomat named Zhou Daguan arrived at Angkor Thom as part of a Mongol-sponsored mission. He stayed nearly a year, observing every…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Water Crisis That Brought Down Angkor
Angkor's rise was powered by one of the most sophisticated water management systems in the premodern world—a network of barays, canals, and reservoirs…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Indravarman II: The Forgotten King Who Built Angkor's Golden Age
Between the epic reigns of Suryavarman II, who built Angkor Wat, and Jayavarman VII, who constructed Angkor Thom and the Bayon, lies a lesser-known but pivotal…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Dark Age After Angkor's Fall
When Angkor fell in the 15th century, the Khmer Empire didn't vanish overnight — it fragmented. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the so-called…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Jayavarman V and the Court Intrigue of Tenth Century Angkor
In this episode, we step back to the 10th century, to the reign of Jayavarman V, a king who ascended the throne as a child and whose rule was marked by…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Priest-King of Angkor: Jayavarman VIII's Anti-Buddhist Purge
In the late 13th century, Jayavarman VIII, a Shaivite priest-king, seized power in Angkor and launched a violent campaign to eradicate Mahayana Buddhism from…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Sacred Geography of Angkor Thom: Jayavarman VII's Cosmic City
In this episode of The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat, Lucas and Luna explore the deliberate, cosmological design of Angkor Thom, the…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Royal Road Network: Angkor's Ancient Highway System
Angkor Wat is iconic, but the Khmer Empire's true strength lay in its roads. This episode explores the vast network of highways, rest houses, and bridges…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Royal Ballet of Angkor: Dance and Cosmology in the Khmer Empire
Long before Angkor Wat was a temple, it was a stage. This episode explores the sacred dance tradition of the Khmer Empire—the apsara and devata carvings that…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Leper King: Angkor's Strangest Statue and Its Mystery
On the terrace of Angkor Thom stands a naked, enigmatic figure known as the Leper King. For centuries, Cambodians believed the statue depicted a Khmer monarch…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Lopburi and the Khmer Frontier: Suryavarman I's Northern Expansion
More than a century before Angkor Wat rose from the jungle, King Suryavarman I pushed the Khmer Empire's reach deep into what is now central Thailand…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Cham Invasion of 1177 How Warships Reached Angkor
In 1177, the Cham kingdom launched a stunning naval raid that reached the heart of the Khmer Empire. Lucas and Luna explore how Cham warships sailed up the…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Preah Khan: Jayavarman VII's Temple of Sacred Glory
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Preah Khan, the sprawling temple complex built by Khmer king Jayavarman VII in 1191 CE. More than a place of worship…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Desertion of Angkor: Why 750,000 People Walked Away
Why would a million people abandon the world's largest pre-industrial city? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the slow-motion collapse of Angkor…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Suryavarman II's Failed Campaign Against Dai Viet
This episode focuses on Suryavarman II, the builder of Angkor Wat, but not on his temple. Instead, we examine his disastrous military campaign against the…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Angkor Wat Bas-Reliefs: A Khmer Empire Epic in Stone
Lucas and Luna examine the extraordinary bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat, focusing on the Battle of Kurukshetra panel from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. They discuss…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Siege of Prasat Hin Phimai and the Khmer Satellite Temple Network
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the role of Prasat Hin Phimai, a remote Khmer satellite temple on the Khorat Plateau, during the late 13th century when…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Chandravarman: The Rebel King Who Shook Angkor
In the late 12th century, as the Khmer Empire reeled from the Cham naval siege of 1177, a little-known rebellion in the provinces threatened to unravel…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Founding of Angkor: Jayavarman II and the Devaraja Cult
Before Angkor Wat rose from the jungle, before Jayavarman VII built the Bayon, there was a king who declared himself a god. Jayavarman II united the warring…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Suryavarman I: The Usurper Who Expanded Angkor West
Before Angkor Wat, before Jayavarman VII's Buddhist revolution, there was Suryavarman I — a usurper of uncertain origin who seized the Khmer throne around…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Naval Siege of Angkor 1177: Cham Warships on the Tonlé Sap
In 1177, the Khmer Empire suffered a catastrophic blow that nearly erased it from history. The Cham kingdom, long a rival to the east, launched a daring naval…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Theravada Shift That Reshaped Angkor
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the gradual but profound religious transformation that swept through the Khmer Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Water Crisis That Helped Bring Down Angkor
Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious monument, but the Khmer Empire that built it collapsed around the same time as the cathedral-building era in…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Invisible City: Angkor's Wooden Houses and Ordinary Life
Angkor is famous for its stone temples, but what about the people who lived there? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the hidden archaeology of ordinary…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Suryavarman II and the Building of Angkor Wat: A King's Cosmic Vision
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the reign of Suryavarman II, the 12th-century Khmer king who built Angkor Wat. They discuss his military campaigns…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Forgotten Inscriptions of Angkor: Life Beyond the Temples
Angkor's stone temples tell only part of the story. The empire's thousands of inscriptions—carved on temple walls, stele, and even cave walls—reveal…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Indravarman III: The Forgotten King Who Built the West Baray
Angkor's water system is legendary, but one king's contribution is often overlooked. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the reign of Indravarman…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Chakravartin Who Built Angkor Thom
Jayavarman VII is often remembered as the Buddhist king who transformed Angkor, but his rise to power was as dramatic as his monuments. This episode explores…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Jayavarman II: The God-King Who Founded the Khmer Empire
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the life and legacy of Jayavarman II, the enigmatic king who founded the Khmer Empire in 802 CE. They discuss his…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Broken Roads: Land Transport and Logistics in the Khmer Empire
Most of what we know about Angkor's infrastructure focuses on canals and barays, but the Khmer Empire also built overland roads. This episode of Fexingo…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Royal Treasury of Angkor: Gold, Silver, and the Economy of the Khmer Empire
While the great temples of Angkor stand as monuments to the divine, the wealth that built them came from an intricate system of taxation, tribute, and trade…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Thai Migration and the Fall of Angkor
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the role of Thai migration in the decline of the Khmer Empire. They discuss how the gradual movement of Tai-speaking…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Black Stone of Preah Vihear: A Khmer Temple on the Edge
Perched on a 525-meter cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, Preah Vihear is one of the most dramatically situated temples of the Khmer Empire. Built over centuries…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Temple of Preah Khan: Angkor's Buddhist University
In this episode, we explore Preah Khan, one of the largest temple complexes built by King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century. While Angkor Wat and the…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Cham Siege of Angkor 1177: A Naval Assault on an Empire
In 1177, the Khmer Empire suffered a catastrophic military defeat that nearly erased it from history. This episode reconstructs the Cham naval invasion of…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Reclining Buddha of Angkor Thom and Khmer Buddhist Art
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a lesser-known masterpiece of Khmer religious art: the Reclining Buddha of Angkor Thom. Carved in the late 12th century…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Empire's Diplomatic Game: Playing China and Champa
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Khmer Empire's diplomatic relations with Song China and the neighboring kingdom of Champa. They discuss how…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Jayavarman VII's Buddhist Rise: Angkor's Great Transformation
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic religious and political transformation of the Khmer Empire under Jayavarman VII. Coming to power after the…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Buddhist Conversion of Angkor Under Jayavarman VII
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic religious shift that transformed the Khmer Empire under King Jayavarman VII. After the…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Jayavarman VIII and the Shivaite Purge of Angkor
After centuries of Buddhist kings building Angkor's grandest monuments, a Shiva-worshipping king named Jayavarman VIII seized power in 1243 and…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
King Indravarman II and the Golden Age of Angkor
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the reign of King Indravarman II, a lesser-known but pivotal figure who ruled the Khmer Empire during its golden age…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Cham Invasion of 1177: Angkor's Darkest Hour
In 1177, the Khmer Empire suffered a catastrophe that seemed impossible: a Cham fleet sailed up the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers, across the great lake itself…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Empire's Lost Library: The Sdok Kak Thom Inscription
In 1952, a forgotten stone stele was discovered near the Thai border, bearing a 341-line Sanskrit inscription that rewrote everything scholars thought they…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Water Engineers of Angkor: Canals, Barays, and Collapse
Angkor was the largest pre-industrial city in the world, and its entire existence depended on one thing: water. This episode dives into the hydraulic system…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Mekong Delta and Khmer Empire's Maritime Trade
Long before Angkor Wat rose from the jungle, the Khmer Empire's heartland was crisscrossed by a web of waterways. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Devaraja Cult: God-Kings and the Soul of the Khmer Empire
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the devaraja, or god-king cult, that underpinned Khmer imperial ideology for centuries. They trace its origins to…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Hindu Cosmology of Angkor Wat's Central Tower
This episode peels back the stone layers of Angkor Wat to examine its central tower—not just as architecture, but as a three-dimensional mandala of Hindu…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Empire's Angkor Wat Bas-Reliefs as History Text
In Episode 100 of The Khmer Empire, Lucas and Luna step away from the kings and invasions to examine something that survives them all: the stone bas-reliefs of…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Water Crisis That Doomed Angkor
Angkor Wat is a masterpiece, but it was part of a vast urban complex that depended on a sophisticated water management system. In this episode, Lucas and Luna…
- The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
The Khmer Empire's Lost City of Phnom Kulen
Deep in the jungles of modern-day Cambodia lies Phnom Kulen, the sacred mountain where the Khmer Empire was born. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the…