Longvaek, After Angkor, Dismantled by Siamese Invasion
By Chea Sophal
March 2009
Cambodia (1587), Longvaek: Cambodia during the Longvaek period was seen as having relationship with Siam and Europe, the Siam-Khmer alliance, and the invasion of Lao. Under the reign of Khmer King Sattha who supported Siamese King Naresuan and his declaration of independence from Burma. This Khmer King authorized his brother, Prince Srisuphanma, to lead Cambodian troops to help fight and attack the Burmese King Bayinnungs troops who were invaded Chiangmai in April 1586
King Sattha was so upset with the Siamese King Naresuan’s act of having Laotian captives impaled, he then broke ties with Naresuan and launched an invasion of his own into Southern Siam in 1587, seizing Prachin Buri[1]. While his country was engaging in the military retaliation with Siamese troops, King Sattha sought Portugese aid from Manila but it was useless.
Seeing this opportunity in place, instead of pursuing the retreat of Burmese troops who had failed to capture Ayutthaya, Naresuan forced the Cambodians to retreat and reclaimed Prachim Buri. His force advanced to take control of Battambang and Pursat) and further moved down to the capital city of Longvaek in May 1593. This was another offensive attack into Cambodia with a force of 100,000 men who moved East-ward into Cambodia. King Naresuan also joined with other two Siamese armies to dismantle Longvaek and capturing Siem Reap, Champasak, and other towns in the North.
King Sattha was so determined and committed to this military act. He refused to surrender despite his failure to obtain Spanish aid from Manila. After the fall of Longvaek, King Sattha fled to Lao and too refuge in Luang Prabang where he died in 1596. His brother Prince Srisuphanma was imprisoned in Ayuthya and Cambodia was put under the rule of a Siamese military Governor.
Ayuthya regained its strength after the Burmese attack and a Thai army besieged Longvaek unsuccessfully in 1587. Foreshadowing the conduct of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Cambodian leaders, the Cambodian King sought help from a distant country – the Spanish Philippines – even promising to become a Catholic if sufficient military help arrived. It never did; instead, the Thai returned in 1594 and sacked the capital[2].
Two Cambodian myths associated with this even have retained their currency in Cambodia until today. One relates that Longvaek sheltered two spiritually powerful statues, one known as preah ko (sacred cow) and the other as Preah kaev (sacred jewel). Inside the bellies of the statues, the legend relates, ‘there were sacred books, in gold, where one could learn sacred formulas, and books where one could learn anything about the world’.[3]
Food for thought
[1] http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=102726
[2] Mabbett and Chandler: The Khmers, The People of South-East Asia and the Pacific, 2001, pp.222
[3] The legend is contained, in Khmer and a French translation, in G. Janneau, Manuel pratique pour le cambodgien. Saigon: Imprimerie Coloniale, 1876, pp. 87-8.
By Chea Sophal
March 2009
Cambodia (1587), Longvaek: Cambodia during the Longvaek period was seen as having relationship with Siam and Europe, the Siam-Khmer alliance, and the invasion of Lao. Under the reign of Khmer King Sattha who supported Siamese King Naresuan and his declaration of independence from Burma. This Khmer King authorized his brother, Prince Srisuphanma, to lead Cambodian troops to help fight and attack the Burmese King Bayinnungs troops who were invaded Chiangmai in April 1586
King Sattha was so upset with the Siamese King Naresuan’s act of having Laotian captives impaled, he then broke ties with Naresuan and launched an invasion of his own into Southern Siam in 1587, seizing Prachin Buri[1]. While his country was engaging in the military retaliation with Siamese troops, King Sattha sought Portugese aid from Manila but it was useless.
Seeing this opportunity in place, instead of pursuing the retreat of Burmese troops who had failed to capture Ayutthaya, Naresuan forced the Cambodians to retreat and reclaimed Prachim Buri. His force advanced to take control of Battambang and Pursat) and further moved down to the capital city of Longvaek in May 1593. This was another offensive attack into Cambodia with a force of 100,000 men who moved East-ward into Cambodia. King Naresuan also joined with other two Siamese armies to dismantle Longvaek and capturing Siem Reap, Champasak, and other towns in the North.
King Sattha was so determined and committed to this military act. He refused to surrender despite his failure to obtain Spanish aid from Manila. After the fall of Longvaek, King Sattha fled to Lao and too refuge in Luang Prabang where he died in 1596. His brother Prince Srisuphanma was imprisoned in Ayuthya and Cambodia was put under the rule of a Siamese military Governor.
Ayuthya regained its strength after the Burmese attack and a Thai army besieged Longvaek unsuccessfully in 1587. Foreshadowing the conduct of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Cambodian leaders, the Cambodian King sought help from a distant country – the Spanish Philippines – even promising to become a Catholic if sufficient military help arrived. It never did; instead, the Thai returned in 1594 and sacked the capital[2].
Two Cambodian myths associated with this even have retained their currency in Cambodia until today. One relates that Longvaek sheltered two spiritually powerful statues, one known as preah ko (sacred cow) and the other as Preah kaev (sacred jewel). Inside the bellies of the statues, the legend relates, ‘there were sacred books, in gold, where one could learn sacred formulas, and books where one could learn anything about the world’.[3]
Food for thought
- Will the history repeat itself? Phnom Penh will be sacked by Thais although there is a United Nations body to rule the world in the act of aggressive nation?
- Where have those books, formulas, and sacred things been placed? They should be used in a good hand to help the world not to eliminate a nation, race or to show their aggression?
[1] http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=102726
[2] Mabbett and Chandler: The Khmers, The People of South-East Asia and the Pacific, 2001, pp.222
[3] The legend is contained, in Khmer and a French translation, in G. Janneau, Manuel pratique pour le cambodgien. Saigon: Imprimerie Coloniale, 1876, pp. 87-8.
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