Chronology of Cambodian History, 1800-1849

YEAR

1802

Gia Long (Nguyen Anh / 1802 - 1820), emperor of Annam (Vietnam).

1806

Ang Chan II (r. 1806 - 1834) comes to the Khmer throne. After King Ang Eng died in 1796, but Siam which held many important members of the Khmer royal family in Bangkok, did not approve the elevation of any princes to ascend the throne immediately.

1809

Rama II (1809 - 1824), Siamese king.

1811

King Ang Chan asks Vietnam for help in protecting his throne - especially from one of his brothers who had fled the court and seemed bent on rebellion.

1820

Khmer revolt.  Resentment with the Vietnamizing process, harsh rule and forced labor leads to a Khmer revolt against the Vietnamese occupiers. The rebels, lead by a monk named Kai, slaughter Vietnamese residents in eastern Cambodia before being subdued by superior forces sent by the Vietnamese governor in the south.

Minh Mang (1820 - 1840), emperor of Annam.

1824

Rama III (1824 - 1851), Siamese king.

1833

Thai attacks Cambodia and Vietnam. Rama III, believing that the time come to restore the Khmer kingdom and to punish the insolence of Vietnam - who he blamed of removing of Khmer court from his control - sent a large army down the southern shores of the Tonle Sap and occupies Phnom Penh.  King Ang Chan had been taken off beforehand into Vietnam. The Siamese retreated a few months later after burning down Phnom Penh and driving out its population.

1834

King Ang Chan dies; Princese Ang Mey ascends the Khmer throne.  At the time of the King's death, the Khmer court was still controlled by the Vietnamese who was able to prevent the succession from passing to any of the dead king's brothers, who were living in Bangkok, Siam.  King Ang Chan had left no sons of his own.  Under Vietnamese pressure, the Khmer Court chose princess Ang Mey as a successor. [6]

1835

Prince Norodom is born.

1840

Prince Sisowath is born.

Khmer revolt. The uprising broke out in late 1830s, but a larger one in 1840 broke out soon after the Vietnamese decided to install a Vietnamese taxation system and to administer Cambodia's provinces directly, instead of using local officials. Furthermore, the Vietnamese imprisoned the Khmer queen whom they thought uncooperative. The disappearance of their queen, however ineffectual she had been, enraged and terrified many Khmer provincial officials who led their followers into rebellion.

Thieu Tri (1840 - 1847), emperor of Annam/Vietnam.

1841

Prince Si Votha is born. He is son of King Ang Duong; half-brother of Prince Norodom and Prince Sisowath.

Thai invades Cambodia. For the next five years, Cambodia is a battlefield, with the advantage seesawing between the Thai and the Vietnamese, with the casualties largely Khmer.

1847

Prince Ang Duong is crowned king.

Tu Duc (1847 - 1883), emperor of Annam/Vietnam.

1848

Thai and Vietnamese conclude peace. The two enemies made an uneasy peace between themselves, which left most of Cambodia a Thai protectorate. In the 1840s Cambodia almost disappeared as the Thai took charge of much of the country west of the Mekong and the Vietnamese controlled the Cambodian royal family, the capital region, and the eastern part of the country. [Map of Asia]

The Siamese General P'raya Bodin, who launched a long campaign against the Vietnamese in Cambodia which brought Prince Ang Doung to the Khmer throne, dies.  In honoring the General, King Ang Doung orders his statue to be erected in the Khmer royal court.