The Civilization of Angkor (review)

Higham's slim volume is an admirable attempt to synthesize what we know about the Cambodian civilization of Angkor from prehistorical times until its alleged collapse, usually dated as the mid-fifteenth century. It is the first such attempt in English since Lawrence Palmer Brigg's magisterial The Ancient Khmer Empire (Philadelphia, 1951).

The chapters dealing with early history lay the groundwork for an analysis of the pre-Angkorean kingdoms known as Chen-la to the Chinese (36-53). Drawing on Vickery's pathbreaking, contrarian work, Higham plays down Indian influences on pre-Angkorean Cambodia at the expense of local initiatives.¹ He also places less stress on the devotional aspects of Cambodian religion, which we can infer through Cambodian art, than on the ways in which the elite used religious foundations to increase their wealth and power.

Higham's analysis of the Angkorean period is based on a thorough reading of available sources, most of them in French. These chapters (53-143) are useful for newcomers, but until the closing chapter of the book, Higham takes a conventional, dynastic approach that adds little to previous work.

Cambodian social history in the Angkorean period has received little attention, and archaeologists have only recently begun to excavate Angkorean burial grounds, kilns, and residential sites. Higham takes note of these ongoing developments but appears to be more comfortable with presenting dynastic history. He also seems unaware of the exciting recent work on Angkorean urbanism by Fletcher, Pottier, and others, and fails to mention the re-thinking among scholars about the supposed "fall" of Angkor and its "abandonment" in the 1400s.²

The most rewarding chapter of the book (143-166) bears the book's title, breaks loose from the dynastic straitjacket of the preceding pages, and closes with a spirited summary of the controversial theories that have bedeviled scholars interested in the still-undefined role that irrigation and the huge, man-made reservoirs played in Angkorean life.