Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c43.12

c43.12

Racially the Khmers were the result of a fusion of the "aborigines of Indo-China with Aryan and Mongolian invaders" and derived their name from the Hindu Kambu, the mythical founder of their race, hence Kambuja, with its European form Cambodia. The actual beginnings of the Khmer empire date from the second half of the sixth century A D but there are records of the Khmers much earlier than this time, when they occupied the town of Angkor Borai, or Vyadhapura, on the lower reaches of the Mekong river in Southern Cambodia During the primitive period Brahmanism and the Sanskrit language were introduced, and probably due to this civilizing influence, under a rule of the name of Srutavarman about the fifth century the Khmers assumed some prominence as a growing power. Apart, however, from the inspiration caused by the spread of this culture, such a contact was bound to have an effect on their spiritual, intellectual, and physical activities, conditions which expressed themselves notably in the art of building so that a brief reference to the life of the people, together with their aspirations, appears to be a necessary preliminary to a study of their architectural ideals, and, subsequently, to their interpretation of these in structural form