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 Chaktomuk
People have inhabited parts of Southeast Asia including Cambodia since
the early Stone Age, but the first firm evidence of settlements in the
Phnom Penh area does not appear until about 2000 years ago. Though
probably an active settlement in the Angkorian era (9th-15th century
AD,) Phnom Penh doesn’t enter the historical record until after the
Khmer capital had been moved to the area in the mid 15th century AD. At
the time it was known as Chaktomuk - the 'Four Faces' - so called for its location
at the four-branched confluence of the Mekong River, a riverine
crossroads in the heart of Cambodia with the Tonle Sap River running
west to the old Angkorian capital, the Mekong River north to Laos and
branches south to the delta and the South China Sea. Phnom Penh is,
before all else, the city at Chaktomuk on the Mekong. The earliest
record of the name 'Phnom Penh' comes in the legend of Lady Penh and the
origin of the city.
 Legend
First recorded a century after it is claimed to have taken place, the
legend of the founding of Phnom Penh tells of a local woman, Duan Penh,
'Old Lady Penh,' (see photo left) living in the area that was to become Phnom Penh. It
was the late 14th century and the Khmer capital was still at Angkor near
Siem Reap 350 kilometers to the west. Gathering firewood along the banks
of the Chaktomuk, Lady Penh spied a floating koki tree in the river and
fished it from the water. Inside the tree she found four Buddha statues
and one of Vishnu (the numbers vary on different tellings.) The
discovery was taken as a divine blessing, and to some a sign that the
Khmer capital was to be brought to Phnom Penh from Angkor. Lady Penh
raised a small hill and crowned it with a shrine to house the sacred
statues at the site of what is now Wat Phnom ('phnom' is Khmer for
'hill,') (see photo right.) The hill later took on the name of the founder, Phnom Duan
Penh, and the area around it became known after the hill - Phnom Penh.
History
Cambodia is the land of the Khmer, the dominant ethnic group in Cambodia
stretching from the present time deep into prehistory. The Angkorian era
Khmer Empire centered near Siem Reap dominated the region from the
9th-13th century AD, at its apex stretching across most of mainland
Southeast Asia. But by the 15th century the Empire was in political and
territorial decline and under challenge from the rising Tai kingdom of
Ayudhaya in the west. Ayudhaya was staging regular incursions
culminating with the sack of Angkor in 1431-32. Shortly thereafter the
court of King Pohea Yat left the Angkorian capital and established a new
Khmer capital at Phnom Penh.
The choice to move the capital to Phnom Penh at the confluence of the
Mekong was probably not only a strategic move but also reflected a
tectonic economic shift from the traditional Angkorian agrarian economy
based in the country’s interior to a trade/commerce oriented economy
based in a riverine port town. The move to Phnom Penh was a change not
only of location but in the nature of the state.
During the first Royal occupation of Phnom Penh in the mid 15th century,
King Pohea Yat set the foundations of city, establishing several wats
and laying out the town along moats/rivers which approximate the area
and layout of modern central Phnom Penh. Wat Ounalom, on the riverfront
near the Royal Palace, may even slightly pre-date King Pohea Yat, making
it the oldest known Buddhist foundation in the city.
Phnom Penh
Trade with China and other Asian kingdoms was well established in the
Angkorian era long before Phnom Penh was the capital. Boats traveling
upriver to Angkor would pass Chaktomuk (Phnom Penh) which, due to its
location, was probably an active settlement at the time. After the move
from Angkor in the 1430s or 40s, Phnom Penh remained the capital only
briefly, moving to Longvek 46km upriver (see map page 31) before the
century was out. With a very brief exception, the Khmer capital never
returned to Angkor. It moved a few more times over the coming centuries
(primarily between Longvek and Oudong,) but always within a few tens of
kilometers of the Chaktomuk area.
The 15th century saw the beginning of a dramatic increase in maritime
trade throughout the entire region with international players from as
far as Japan and Europe. Though the capital had moved from Phnom Penh,
the area remained a center of international trade for Cambodia.
Sixteenth century Spanish and Portuguese records paint a picture of
cosmopolitan port of trade hosting significant populations of Chinese,
Malay, Cham, Japanese and some Europeans, all living in separate camps
in and around the Phnom Penh area. Structures of wood and bamboo crowded
the west bank of the Chaktomuk and the great stupa on the hill of Wat
Phnom was visible from ships on the river.
Arriving in the early 16th century, the Portuguese and Spanish were the
first Europeans to make contact with Cambodia, establishing trade and
eventually becoming deeply involved in the affairs of the Cambodian
court, culminating in the 1599 massacre of Spaniards in Phnom Penh. In
the 17th century, Phnom Penh continued to prosper and the Dutch East
India Company became the dominant European trading partner, but this
relationship also ended in tears, climaxing at the 1644 Battle of Phnom
Penh. After a lengthy trade and diplomatic dispute between the Company
and the King of Cambodia, negotiations came to violence. A Company
embassy was killed and captives taken. The Company sent war ships to
force the issue with the King at Longvek. Once the ships had passed
Phnom Penh on their way up the Tonle Sap, the Cambodians built bridges
across the river behind them, effectively blockading the river. On
returning downstream the Dutch ships were trapped by the bridges at
Phnom Penh and besieged by cannon and gunfire from both banks. The ships
eventually escaped but suffered very heavy losses. The Company never
regained its status in Cambodia and European contact waned until the
French arrived in the late 19th century with colonial aims.
The 19th Century
The capital did not return to Phnom Penh until the 19th century, first
only briefly, under King Ang Chan. In 1813 he built the palace Banteay
Kev in Phnom Penh, but the palace burned in 1834 when the retreating
Siamese army razed the city. The capital subsequently moved back to
Oudong 35km away. It was not until the French arrived in the 1860s that
capital returned to Phnom Penh once again, this time permanently. At the
time the area had a population of about 10,000 including a large Chinese
sector as well as many other foreigners. It was a multi-ethnic port town
of floating villages along the riverfront and wooden houses, shops and
vendors lining a single main road paralleling the river and grouped into
separate ethnic communities. After a brief visit in 1859, traveler Henri
Mouhot called Phnom Penh “the great market of Cambodia."
L'Indochine
française
France gained colonial control of much of mainland Southeast Asia
beginning in the 1860s, first taking portions of Cochinchina (southern
Vietnam,) then Cambodia, followed by the remainder of Vietnam and Laos,
finally coalescing into the federation of protectorates called French
Indochina in 1887. Cambodia first came into the French sphere in 1863.
Seeking assistance fending off Siam and Vietnam, and under pressure from
France, Cambodian King Norodom signed a Protectorate agreement with
France in August 1863. On French encouragement, the seat of government
was officially moved from Oudong to Phnom Penh in 1866. It was only then
that the city first began to take on the appearance we see today.
The first modern stone structure to be built was the Royal Palace,
opening in 1870. (See page 22.) Soon thereafter the first stone 'Chinese
shophouse-style’ buildings were constructed, initially appearing along
the riverside near the Palace. The shophouse design is present across
Southeast Asia and ubiquitous in Phnom Penh, characterized by a long,
narrow, combined ground-floor businessfront and upstairs residence.
By the 1880s, some early colonial buildings clustered near Wat Phnom but
most of the city was a swampy place of wooden houses and huts. In the
1880s and 90s fires periodically swept through wooden sections of town,
finally capped by the Great Fire of May 1894. After the Great Fire stone
became the standard for new buildings. The 1890s saw an expanding
population (50,000) and accelerated development including draining
wetlands, constructing canals and bridges, expanding the Grand Rue along
the river and adding several colonial structures such as the Post Office
and Treasury Building which still exist today. The city stretched from
the French Quarter around Wat Phnom south to Sihanouk Blvd, most
squeezed within a few hundred meters of the river.
 The 20th
Century...
France continued to control Cambodia for most of the first half of the
20th century. Many classic colonial buildings were constructed including
the Police Station (next to the Post Office,) the Hotel Le Royal and the
large villas around the Royal Palace. By the 1930s the canals had been
filled and turned into garden boulevards, now parks along Sihanouk Blvd
and also Streets 108/106. As the population grew (109,000 in 1939) the
city continued to expand, mostly westward into the wetlands, which were
drained accordingly.
In 1935 the Boeung Deco lake was filled and the distinctive, domed, art
deco 'Central Market' (Phsar Thmey) was built in its place, originally
known as the ‘Grand Market’ when it was opened in 1937. (See page 18.)
That same year the cyclo-pousse, the iconic bicycle rickshaw that has
become known the ‘cyclo,’ was first introduced in the city. This was
Phnom Penh at its colonial apex, reputed to be the most beautiful city
in French Indochina.
 Independence from France came in 1954 issuing in a period of
considerable urban and commercial development and the beginning of the
distinctive 'New Khmer Architecture,' reflected in structures such as
the Independence Monument and Chaktomuk Theatre. Factories, roads,
markets, power plants and hundreds of shophouse-style apartments were
built. This period came to an abrupt end with the coup of 1970 and
Cambodia's descent into war between the government and the communist
Khmer Rouge (KR.) As the Khmer Rouge took over the countryside in the
early 1970s Phnom Penh became swollen with refugees. In 1974 the city
was lain siege and eventually cut off, finally falling to the Khmer
Rouge on April 17, 1975. Three days after the fall the Khmer Rouge
ordered the total evacuation of the city, leading to thousands of
deaths. Though some workers and Khmer Rouge remained in Phnom Penh, the
city was essentially a ghost town until the Khmer Rouge fled the
invading Vietnamese army in December 1978-January 1979, leaving behind
evidence of their horrors such as the S-21 facility, now known as the
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. (See page 25.)
When the people returned to the city after the Khmer Rouge period, it
was a shambles, largely intact but thoroughly looted and neglected.
Restarting the city had to begin from scratch. As low level war
continued in the western provinces, the 1980s saw Phnom Penh repopulated
and revitalization begun. The city was scoured and basic services were
re-established. Phnom Penh’s population grew from 100,000 at the end of
1979 to 615,000 in 1990.
In 1991 UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia) began
its 2 year administration of the country as part of a UN brokered peace
agreement leading to national elections in 1993. With the elections
Cambodia was suddenly open for business. International investment
started to flow into the country and after years of being off the
tourist map, Cambodia quickly became a new adventure destination. The
city saw the beginning of a period of economic and urban development
that has continued to this day. There was a flurry of new construction
in the 1990's including most of the distinctive 'wedding cake villas.'
With the final demise of the Khmer Rouge in 1998 and increased
stability, development accelerated. The 2000's have seen another boom in
Phnom Penh. The city’s population has increased to near 2,000,000, there
has been significant infrastructure improvement and, very recently, the
first high rise structures have been built, giving considerable change
to the skyline and architectural character of the city. Phnom Penh is
now a city in the midst of rapid change. .
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