Angkor's Abandonment: The Khmer Empire's Final Years

In the final decades of the Khmer Empire, a slow abandonment of Angkor began that historians still debate. This episode traces the last known inscriptions, the Thai sieges that never breached the walls, and the gradual shift of population south toward Phnom Penh. We discuss the role of Theravada Buddhism in eroding the devaraja cult, the silting of the Tonle Sap channel, and the 1431 sack that wasn't quite a sack. Specifics include King Ponhea Yat's move, the Ming shi lu accounts, and the curious silence after 1440. What if the empire didn't fall—it just moved? #KhmerEmpire #Angkor #PonheaYat #Ayutthaya #TonleSap #TheravadaBuddhism #devaraja #PhnomPenh #MingShiLu #BorommarachaII #WatPhnom #Yasodharapura #SoutheastAsianHistory #MedievalHistory #EmpireCollapse #History #FexingoHistory #AngkorWat Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo