Chakravartin/Ruler
This class includes Kings or the ruler of the time, such as ‘god-kings’. They were the rulers of the Khmer society and held the highest power. They were looked up upon by the lowers parts of the social structure. They were of course, the richest and held the highest respect as the ruler.
The king or chakravartin embodied the empire. He was: -a God on earth -the supreme judge over life and death -head of the army -chief financial administrator -chief diplomat of foreign relations All Khmer Empire rulers claimed themselves to be special and they identified themselves with Gods like Shiva and Vishnu. When Jayavarman II declared Cambodia’s independence, he created a cult of devaraja, also known as the ‘god-king’. This connected the king with Shiva and represented the king’s power. Despite these claims, Khmer rulers gained power by practical methods and there were still power struggles within ruling families. |
Royal Family
The Royal family were of course the King’s family and
experienced the same riches as the ruler did. But their power was not on the
same level as the King, although the family was treated with well-furnished
houses, good education for the children, finer quality in food and also their
clothing compared to peasants. Royal family members were important because they
occupied key government positions, carried out rituals/ceremonies and brought
blessings to the king.
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Bureacracy
The king appointed bureaucrats to help him rule his vast empire. The Khmer empire was divided into provinces (praman or visaya) and every province sectioned into villages (sruk). The head of a province was known as the khlon visaya.
He was responsible for three key areas:
-tax collection
-witnessing the purchase and sale of land
-fixing land boundaries
He was responsible for three key areas:
-tax collection
-witnessing the purchase and sale of land
-fixing land boundaries
Kings depended on officials and nobles to manage and administer their kingdoms. Officials and nobles held more and more power as the Khmer Empire grew. It was only at the centre of the Empire did the ruler have complete power. The nobles and officials were usually friends or relatives to the ruler, or inherited the job. They were answerable to the king but in charge of ordinary people, such as peasants, slaves, fishermen, traders and skilled artisans.
A similarity between a noble and a peasant is the way they dressed. In those times because of the hot weather, it is believed every male and female dressed the same way, which was a cloth around their waists.
A similarity between a noble and a peasant is the way they dressed. In those times because of the hot weather, it is believed every male and female dressed the same way, which was a cloth around their waists.
Priesthood
Preisthood consisted of a person inheriting the role. It consists of father and family passing down knowledge down to their generations, therefore only a few had good knowledge as it was taught within the family. Priests were an elite class who lived comfortably away from the general population. Their power were of great because they linked with the temple of the king.
Professionals- artisans and architects
An artisan was a worker who was skilled in a particular craft. They were a small part of the population but were still very essential for their role in building projects and supplying luxury goods for the ruling class and weapons for war. According to Zhou Daguan, a few of the artisans were Thai immigrants who worked in silk production as tailors.
Fisherman on the other hand harvested the rivers and coasts to collect fish for the population and trade. Traders sold goods at moving markets and Zhou Daguan describes in his book a range of Chinese goods that were sold at Angkor. It included some paper, combs and needles. Traders were very important to the prosperity of the Empire. |
The legacy of these people are displayed and carved on temple walls. They were also said to be in high demand. The people in this social class included:
Architects: completed designs
Bronze specialists: cast statues
Master sculptors: carved the reliefs
Goldsmiths: decorated
Potters: manned the stoneware kilns
Boat builders: essential for the empire's survival
Blacksmiths, weavers, traders and miners were also professionals. The king's glory depended on their expert knowledge and skill.
Architects: completed designs
Bronze specialists: cast statues
Master sculptors: carved the reliefs
Goldsmiths: decorated
Potters: manned the stoneware kilns
Boat builders: essential for the empire's survival
Blacksmiths, weavers, traders and miners were also professionals. The king's glory depended on their expert knowledge and skill.
Peasants
Peasants were by far the largest group among the ordinary people, just like the Medieval World. They lived in villages among their fields and according to Zhou Daguan, the peasant's houses had thatched roofs. They had no tables or chairs and they cooked food in earthen pots.
Most peasants lived in villages and were rice farmers. They were conscripted to occasional military service and performed corvee labour: a period of assigned work for temple construction and maintenance. They also paid taxes to the king in the form of produce (rice), which was donated to the village temple. It was a life of dutiful service and hard work. However, they believed that they were accumulating merit with the Gods through their service to the king. The ordinary people were the livelihood of the Khmer Empire, being the ones who worked the land, provided labour for the buildings and created a working economy through trading. |
Slaves
Slaves on the social structure of the Khmer society are the
last and final one as they are the most poorest and obviously do not have a huge
authority. They are at the bottom as their worth during the time of the living
society was not as worshipped and they did not make much money as others,
therefore a slave. Slaves had masters and lived under harsh conditions and
rules. Strict traditional rules were given to them to follow like the way the
address their masters and how they enter and when they can enter the house.
The slaves were sold off traded to people. Most families had up to a hundred or more slaves, few had ten or twenty, the poor ones, just about the slaves on the social structure, had none at all. The punishments for not following their master’s rules or trying to escape, were somewhat painful and could be severe.
There were four types of slaves:
-legally acquired: people who were normally sold into slavery
-inherited: passed down
-religious: 'slaves of the gods' who completed work at the temple once a fortnight. They were not necessarily born into slavery.
-native: people who lived in the mountains
The extract below from ‘A Record of Cambodia: The Land and its People by Zhou Daguan translated by Peter Harris’ gives vital primary sources as they were written at the time by Chinese diplomat, Zhou Daguan.
(A Record of Combodia: The Land and its People by Zhou Daguan translated by Peter Harris)
Ch. 9 Slaves:
Family slaves are all savages purchased to work as servants. Most families have a hundred or more of them; a few have ten or twenty; only the very poorest have none at all. The savages are people from the mountains. They have their own way of categorising themselves, but are commonly called “thieving Zhuang”...
A strong young slave is worth perhaps a hundred pieces of cloth; a weak old one can only fetch thirty or forty. They are only allowed to sit and sleep under the house. If they are carrying out their tasks then they can come up into the house, but they must kneel, join their hands in greeting, and bow down to the floor before they can venture forward. They address their master as batuo and their mistress as mi.
Batuo is ‘father’, and mi is ‘mother.’If they do something wrong they are beaten and take their caning with their heads bowed, not venturing to move even a little... Sometimes slaves run away. Those that are caught and taken back must carry a dark blue tattoo on their face, and sometimes an iron shackle around their neck or between their arms and legs.
This extract was written by Zhou Daguan, he wrote it for the purpose of keeping a diary and writing all the new things he found and saw in the Khmer empire. It was created in the 13th during the 1200s. It was created during his stay in the Khmer society. Although this may be a first-hand account of what happened at the time, it was only from one man’s opinion and his perspective. This passage speaks of how the slaves worked in the Khmer Empire, Zhou tries to convince us that there were heaps of slaves by saying things like, ’ Family slaves are all savages purchased to work as servants. Most families have a hundred or more of them…’.
The slaves were sold off traded to people. Most families had up to a hundred or more slaves, few had ten or twenty, the poor ones, just about the slaves on the social structure, had none at all. The punishments for not following their master’s rules or trying to escape, were somewhat painful and could be severe.
There were four types of slaves:
-legally acquired: people who were normally sold into slavery
-inherited: passed down
-religious: 'slaves of the gods' who completed work at the temple once a fortnight. They were not necessarily born into slavery.
-native: people who lived in the mountains
The extract below from ‘A Record of Cambodia: The Land and its People by Zhou Daguan translated by Peter Harris’ gives vital primary sources as they were written at the time by Chinese diplomat, Zhou Daguan.
(A Record of Combodia: The Land and its People by Zhou Daguan translated by Peter Harris)
Ch. 9 Slaves:
Family slaves are all savages purchased to work as servants. Most families have a hundred or more of them; a few have ten or twenty; only the very poorest have none at all. The savages are people from the mountains. They have their own way of categorising themselves, but are commonly called “thieving Zhuang”...
A strong young slave is worth perhaps a hundred pieces of cloth; a weak old one can only fetch thirty or forty. They are only allowed to sit and sleep under the house. If they are carrying out their tasks then they can come up into the house, but they must kneel, join their hands in greeting, and bow down to the floor before they can venture forward. They address their master as batuo and their mistress as mi.
Batuo is ‘father’, and mi is ‘mother.’If they do something wrong they are beaten and take their caning with their heads bowed, not venturing to move even a little... Sometimes slaves run away. Those that are caught and taken back must carry a dark blue tattoo on their face, and sometimes an iron shackle around their neck or between their arms and legs.
This extract was written by Zhou Daguan, he wrote it for the purpose of keeping a diary and writing all the new things he found and saw in the Khmer empire. It was created in the 13th during the 1200s. It was created during his stay in the Khmer society. Although this may be a first-hand account of what happened at the time, it was only from one man’s opinion and his perspective. This passage speaks of how the slaves worked in the Khmer Empire, Zhou tries to convince us that there were heaps of slaves by saying things like, ’ Family slaves are all savages purchased to work as servants. Most families have a hundred or more of them…’.
Women
NOTE: Women is not at the bottom because women aren't important but because it doesn't particularly fit in the social organisation pyramid.
It was commented by Zhou Daguan that the Khmer women had
their social freedom and their strength and ability to able to do things in the
society. During the time of the society, women were able to inherit land and
property and also some held political positions such as judges. Often, the
King’s personal bodyguard would be woman as they were believed to have been
more trustworthy and loyal. Women were well regarded in Khmer society, both
priestly succession and property inheritance were passed through the female
line. Women were also highly influential in the economy, as seen in their
management of the daily markets.