One of the major
success of the
Angkor Empire was
due to its mastery
over the control of
water from the
Mekong River. Being
situated in the
tropical Monsoon
zone, the Angkor was
subjected to a wet
season with heavy
rainfall during
Monsoon and a dry
season during the
off-Monsoon period.
Due to their
engineering genius,
the ancient Khmer
built extensive
irrigation and
drainage system in
order to manage the
excessive water from
the flood. This
water was stored in
the huge reservoirs
such as the East and
West Baray, and
irrigated to the
farmlands during the
dry period. In this
way, the Angkor were
able to cultivate
and harvest rice
crops two or three
times in one year.
Such a high
productivity of rice
crops in a year
helped to strengthen
the country's
economy
significantly, and
thus enhanced its
prosperity. This
enabled the god-king
of the Angkor Empire
to mobilize large
number of laborers
and slaves to
undergo temples
construction,
several of which
required over ten
thousands of
laborers and took
them from two to
three decades to
complete.
In addition, the
Angkor kings were
able to recruit
manpower to serve in
military which play
a major role, not
only in defending
the throne, but in
invading the
neighbors. The
Angkor kingdom
expanded its
territory vigorously
and became a strong
regional empire.
The two major
reservoirs at the
Angkor are the East
and West Baray. The
East Baray has long
been dry whereas the
West Baray is still
in use today. Two
more reservoirs had
been discovered
recently by the
aerial photographs.
It was estimated by
George Grosliers, a
French
archaeologist, that
the total
agricultural land of
the Angkor Empire
was about 70,000
hectares. Being used
to cultivate crop
two or three times
in one year, the
land was able to
support the densely
populated Angkor
kingdom. This
mastery over the
water is one of the
major factor for the
rise of Khmer
Civilization. |
