Cambodian Royal Chronicles

The Cambodian Royal Chronicles or Cambodian Chronicles (Rajabansavatar or Rapa Ksatr) are a collection of 18th and 19th century historical manuscripts that focus on the time from around the year 1430 to the beginning of the 16th century.^[1] This period of Cambodia's history is considered to be the Middle Periods, as it marks the end of the Khmer Empire. Written sources such as Sanskrit epigraphy become obsolete, beginning in the first half of the 14th century. Even Old Khmer inscriptions are absent until the middle of the 16th century. The last king mentioned in the ancient inscriptions of Angkor is King Jayavarman Parameshwara (or Jayavarma-Paramesvara), who reigned from 1327 to 1336.^[2][3]

The manuscripts (Sastra Slek Rit) on palm leaves and bound together in bundles are only short-lived. Surviving texts are copies and in many cases only fragments remain. The chronicles begin in 1796 and last far into the 19th century. Records tackle with the chronology of the kings, foreign affairs, relations to neighboring countries, internal conflicts among the Khmer kings, civil wars, controversies over royal succession and marriage and leadership issues among others.^[4]

The study of these texts is said to have been "time-consuming and requires a great deal of scholarship to properly organize and interpret the valuable information to be found within" with respect to the ongoing debate on the reasons and events of the abandonment of Angkor, the shifting of the Khmer capital and the general cultural decline.^[2]