Who were the people who lived in the city of Angkor? What did they look like, how did they work and live, what were their habits? What was their religion? Who ruled there and built (or rather, had built) these impressive and beautiful temples and palaces? What was Angkor like in the days of its glory? And why was it left and abandoned after six centuries?

Unfortunately these questions cannot be answered with certainty. We know what the people of Angkor looked like because they are depicted in the wonderful reliefs in Angkor Thom and in other places. From these we can draw the conclusion that they looked at lot like modern Cambodians and also lived in the basically the same style as the contemporary rural population of Cambodia - they lived in thatched houses on stilts, cultivated rice and fished. 

Jayavarman II is the name of the man who is considered the founder of the kingdom of Angkor. There is very little reliable evidence concerning the life and personality of this man, but he seems to have spent some time in Indonesia, perhaps as a hostage or prisoner of the Sailandras dynasty, an Indonesian dynasty that had led a successful war against the Khmers. He probably returned to Cambodia around 790 AD and set out to build a kingdom by military campaigns. His first capital was in Indrapura, but he moved his base several times, until he settled first at Roluos (south of Angkor), and then to Phnom Kulen, a mountain 40 kilometers north of Angkor. There he is said to have proclaimed  himself universal ruler (in 802). He also introduced a new religion, a god-king cult (devaraja), which further strengthened his status. Although Jayavarman II later moved back to Roluos and never actually resided in Angkor itself, he is associated with its foundation. 39 kings followed him until the end of Angkor in the 15th century.

Seven of these kings are especially important and should be mentioned in this short history of Angkor. Indravarman I (the suffix "varman" means "protection" or "armor") ruled from 877 to 889. He resided in Roluos, then called Hariharalaya, and built the first temple mountain (the Bakong at Roluos) and the first baray, the Indratatakata. A baray is a large water reservoir (the Indratatakata is 2.300 by 750 meters). The function of the barays is not entirely clear, some believe that they were used to supply water to the surrounding rice fields during the dry periods (an inscription stone in a temple at Rolouos confirms this), others believe that their water was used only for drinking and bathing - there is some doubt as to whether the barays were really used for irrigation as there is no evidence for canals that would have to have been part of such a controlled, centralized system. There are all in all four barays in and around Angkor, but only one of them, the West Baray, is still filled with water.

One of these other barays, the East Baray (Yasodharatataka) was built by Indravarman's son, Yasovarman I, who reigned for eleven years until 900 AD. He was the first king who actually settled in the place that is called Angkor. His main achievement, apart from the construction of the East Baray, is the wonderful temple on Phnom Bakheng.  Yasovarman's capital was called Yasodharapura. It was located in the area around Phnom Bakheng (apart from this temple, only parts of the enclosure wall have remained) and Angkor now became the centre of power for the next 500 years.

Indravarman's dynasty did not last long - Yasovarman was followed by two sons but then an usurper, Jayavarman IV came to power. He did not leave any monuments but his nephew, Rajendravarman, built the two temples mountains Pre Rup and the East Mebon. Under the reign of his son, Jayavarman V, one of the highlights of Angkor was built: Banteay Srei. He died in 1001, after having ruled for 33 years. His immediate follower, Suryavarman I, was successful in his attempt to extend the boundaries of the Angkor empire - he conquered the Mon kingdom (Dvaravati) in the Chao Phraya Delta in Thailand. An even more important king was one of his successors, Suryavarman II. He was responsible for the building of Angkor Wat.

In 1177 the royal city of Angkor was conquered by the Chams, a people from the Mekong delta. They sailed their fleet up the Mekong to the Tonlé Sap and then seized Angkor and set it on fire. After four years of Cham occupation, Jayavarman VII staged a war against the Chams and subjugated them ( a relief in the Bayon shows scenes from his great victory). He regained Angkor and ruled from 1181 - 1220.  Jayavarman VII counts as the last major king of Angkor - besides being a brilliant military leader, he certainly left more monuments than all his predecessors. Angkor Thom, the Bayon, Preah Khan, Tha Phrom, the Terrace of the Elephants, and the Terrace of the Leper King were all built during his reign. While his predecessors were Hindus, Jayavarman VII was a devout buddhist of the Mahayana school. His successors, like Indravarman III, Jayavarman VIII and Srindravarman, re-hinduized his temples, however - stone Buddhas were transformed into Hindu gods or just hacked away from reliefs. 

In 1296, Angkor was invaded and pillaged by the Thai. Zhou Daguan (Chou Ta-Kuan), the Chinese emissary, who left the only written account of life in Angkor, had visited just some years before. Over the next 150 years there were repeated attacks by the Thais from Ayutthaya which led to the final defeat of the Khmers in 1432. Angkor was abandoned and the Khmer capital moved to the Phnom Penh region.