‘1620’, A Cautionary Tale
by Michael Vickery
The rivalry between Cambodia and Siam during the 17th century.
Publication: Michael Arthur Aung-Thwin & Kenneth R. Hall, eds., New Perspectives on the History and Historiography of Southeast Asia, Continuing Explorations (London: Routledge, 2011), pp. 157-166.
Published: 2011
Author: Michael Vickery
Pages: 11
Language : English
pdf 245.4 KB
Diverging from prevalent historical approaches, such as David P. Chandler´s thesis, the author presents a much more balanced ratio of power between Cambodian and Siamese rulers from 1593 – 4, when the Ayuthya forces invaded the Lovek kingdom, and a more nuanced picture of the respective Siamese and Vietnamese influences in Cambodia at that time.
For instance, “Cambodia offered an alternative to Siam for the procurement of sapppanwood and deer hide, both in great demand on the Japanese market, and thanks to its convenient and regular traffic with Guangnam [Nguyên Viet Nam] it could provide Vietnamese silk which was highly valued in Japan”, notes the author; “thus, far from isolating Cambodia, the Nguyên contact in mid- and late 17th century was of commercial benefit for Cambodia, and may have been instrumental for maintaining Cambodia’s relatively high position among Southeast Asian ports.”
He adds: “We see some of the confusion in modern scholarship about the events of the 1620s. But what were the basic facts? Cambodia had quickly recovered from an Ayutthayan invasion of Lovek in 1593 – 94, which itself was perhaps conflict over domination of maritime relations with China and Japan. Prince Suriyopear/soriyopoa/(sūryavarma) returned to Cambdia with Thai support in 1601⁄1602. He was king until he abdicated in 1618 for his son Jay Jettha. The capital was in Udong. Suriyopear was successful in reuniting Cambodia and making it a prosperous and strong kingdom.”
This latter Cambodian king married a Vietnamese princess under these circumstances: “Vietnam was divided into two kingdoms after 1570, the Trịnh in the North and the Nguyê˜n in the South, and they were at war from about 1620 to 1670. Contact between Cambodia and Vietnam (South Vietnam of the Nguyên) began between 1613 and 1620, just when the two Vietnamese kingdoms began their war. The first official contact was a request from Vietnam for war elephants from Cambodia to fight against the Trịnh in the North. In exchange the Nguyên king sent a Vietnamese princess to marry the Cambodian King Jay Jettha.”
Vietnamese Female Costumes in the 17th century (Nancy Duong, 2013)
Tags: Siam, Vietnam, royal chronicles, Khmer dynasties
About the Author
Michael Vickery
Michael Vickery (April 1 1931, Billings, Montana, June 29 2017, Battambang, Cambodia) was an American historian and lecturer with a passion for Cambodia.
In the preface to Cambodia: 1975 – 1982 (1984), he summarized his personal involvment with the country with the following:
I first arrived in Cambodia in July 1960 to begin work as an English language teacher in local high schools under one of the U.S. government aid programs to that country. In that capacity I spent nearly four years in Cambodia, the first two in Kompong Thorn, then a year in Siemreap, and a fourth academic year in Phnom Penh, cut short in March 1964 as a result of Sihanouk’s termination of all U.S. aid projects.
During that time I acquired fluency in Kluner, began studying, through examination of old newspaper files and conversations with friends, the post-1945 political history of Cambodia, and decided to make the country the
main focus of academic research which I intended to undertake.In March 1964 I was transferred to a similar position in Vientiane, Laos, where I remained for three more years and during which I was able to make regular extended visits to Cambodia. Then, after spending three years (1967−70) at Yale University, I returned to Cambodia in late 1970 for nearly two years of dissertation research there and in Thailand; and except for one more brief visit in 1974 I was then cut off from direct contact with the country until 1981, when I was able to travel there for three weeks.
Although my original interest in Cambodia was in the contemporary period, I kept pushing further back into the country’s history until I produced a dissertation and other writings on the 14th-16th centuries, something which occupied most of my research time from 1970 through 1977; and after 1973 I virtually ceased collecting o’r organizing material on the contemporary situation.
The turn taken by the revolution after April 1975 surprised me as it did nearly everyone else, but I found the first wave of atrocity stories over the next year suspect and felt that given the squalid record of our own country
in Indochina, Americans who could not view the new developments with at least qualified optimism should shut up.
His doctoral thesis research in Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia lasted from 1970 to 1977, when he completed it under the title Cambodia After Angkor: The Chronicular Evidence for the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. That same year, Vickery received the academic title of Doctor of Philosophy in history from Yale University.
Known for his liberal views, he later specialized in history of modern Cambodia, contributed numerous columns for the Phnom Penh Post from 1992 to 2007. He also taught Ancient History at the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) in Phnom Penh.