Chenla

A kingdom of the Khmers of the 6th-8th centuries AD in what is now southern Laos. It expanded to absorb the territories formerly occupied by Funan (now Cambodia). At the beginning of the 8th century it split into Water Chenla and Land Chenla. Chenla ceased to exist when the kingdom of Angkor was established in 802. From local inscriptions remarkable sculptures architectural remains and Chinese sources it is clear that it was an Indianized kingdom. There was an important cult site called Wat Phu (Laos).

The first kingdom of the Khmers which came into being in what is now southern Laos in the middle of the 6th century. Its etymology is not known. It gradually expanded towards the south to absorb the territories formerly occupied by Funan (i.e. present Cambodia). At the beginning of the 8th century it split into Upper (or Land) and Lower (or Water) Chenla, the latter part coming under Javanese suzerainty towards the end of the same century. Chenla ceased to exist with the establishment, in 802, of the kingdom of Angkor which succeeded it. As no site of this period has so far been excavated, the material culture of Chenla is little known, but from local inscriptions, architectural remains and Chinese sources it is clear, that it was a so-called Indianized kingdom. In art history the time is known as the ‘pre-Angkor’ period. See also ISanapura.