Online window to Cambodian history

One of the many recordings by King Norodom Sihanouk in the collection

Dec 13, 2011
By Monash University (Australia)

The digitised archive is now available on the Monash University library’s website in the ARROW e-repository.

For the first time historians, researchers and students of Asian studies have online access to one of the world’s most significant archives of Cambodian history.

The archives are digitised versions of documents, photos, music and journals from the personal collection of the former King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk (1941–55 and 1993–2004). Sihanouk bequeathed part of his personal archives to the University in 2004.

Senior Asian Studies Librarian Dr Aline Scott-Maxwell said the addition of the digital files to the library’s catalogue further enhances the research resources offered by the University.

“The physical collection has already attracted a lot of interest so we anticipate the digital archives will only increase the interest,” Dr Scott-Maxwell said.

Computer rendering of Angkor era

Illustrations by Tom Chandler/Monash University

An artist's impression of life in Angkor, Cambodia's medieval capital.

Khmer warriors of Angkor's heyday rode elephants into battle, as seen in this computer illustration based on relief sculptures at an Angkor temple.

Although the city thrived for six centuries, Angkor was no stranger to strife.

A Thai royal document, for example, records the invasion and sacking of the city in the mid-1400s. Modern looting still threatens Angkor temples, many of which are beyond the UN World Heritage site boundaries that protect Angkor Wat.

Suburbia in 13th-century century Angkor was a low-density place, with houses perched on mounds to protect the structures from seasonal floods.

Small artificial ponds stored water that could be use to flood rice paddies.

Neighborhood temples, surrounded by miniature moats, echoed the structure of Angkor Wat.

As Angkor's population expanded, it would have needed to clear forest to create more neighborhoods like this one. Archaeologists speculate that resulting floods and erosion ruined the waterworks the city depended on, possibly leading to its collapse.