c. 9th–15th centuries CE / South & Southeast Asia
Angkor's Temples and Water-Based Urban Landscape
Khmer rulers built capitals, temples, and water-management systems in the Angkor region, linking agricultural production, royal power, and religious landscapes.
The story
The ninth to fifteenth centuries here indicate the long period of construction of successive capitals, temples, and waterworks in the Angkor region. The timeline uses approximately 800 as a representative starting point; this is not a complete map of the empire in a particular year and does not imply that Khmer society suddenly ended in 1500. The Angkor ruins preserve capitals from several periods of the Khmer Empire. The temples were not isolated buildings in a forest, but were connected with inhabited settlements, roads, reservoirs, and farmland. Hindu and Buddhist traditions were reinterpreted under different rulers, producing distinctive local art. The relocation of Angkor's political center unfolded over a long period and cannot be explained by a single war or drought, much less described as the sudden disappearance of all Khmer society.
Elsewhere in the world
Angkor had deep connections with South Asian religious and writing traditions and also belonged to the Southeast Asian transport world linking China and the Indian Ocean.
Dates and precision
c. 9th–15th centuries CE Approximate period
The dates describe a process over time; the interactive timeline uses its starting point.
Representative map location
Representative coordinates · 13.413°, 103.867°
Coordinates locate a representative point for the story. They do not mean the event happened only here and do not represent historical borders.
Bibliography
- UNESCO | Angkor
Sources are listed as bibliography titles, without external links. A reference does not mean every sentence or interpretation has been independently verified.