Angkor's Forgotten Trade Routes and Economic Collapse

While climate change and warfare have dominated the narrative of Angkor’s decline, this episode explores a quieter, more insidious factor: the collapse of long-distance trade networks. Lucas and Luna trace how the Khmer Empire’s wealth was not just built on rice and temples, but on its position as a hub in the maritime silk road. They examine the role of the port city of Udong, the shifting alliances with Ming China, and the economic strangulation caused by the rise of Ayutthaya. Through the lens of merchant logs and archaeological finds of foreign ceramics, they reveal how the sudden drying up of gold and spice imports left the capital unable to maintain its elite class or fund its religious institutions. This is a story about an economy that forgot how to adapt when the world changed around it. #KhmerEmpire #AngkorCollapse #SoutheastAsiaHistory #TradeRoutes #MaritimeSilkRoad #AyutthayaKingdom #MingChina #Udong #EconomicHistory #TonleSap #PhnomPenh #CeramicsArchaeology #Devaraja #TheravadaBuddhism #JayavarmanVII #IndravarmanIII #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo