Subject: nobleman as military commander
Culture: Khmer / Cambodian
Setting: Khmer empire late 11-13thc
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Turnbull 2024 (Elephants and gunpowder) p11
"It is possible that both the Khmers and the Chams used dedicated 'elephantry', but the reliefs tend to show the elephants taking part in the fight under the personal command of one important individual and using their trunks as weapons. A Khmer war elephant normally had a crew of two. The mahout controlled the animal and is invariably shown sitting on the nape of the elephant's neck, wedged between its head and the howdah. All the mahouts carry a goad with a spear blade and a hook that is curved in different ways. On some images, the mahout is carrying a round shield as well, which suggests that he would be expected to engage in fighting or, at the very least, defend himself when attacked. As the mahout was crucial in controlling the elephant, he would be an important target during an enemy assault. [....]
"An elephant's howdah provided a dignified platform for the king, his commanding general or an elite follower, because, throughout Southeast Asian history, elephants were almost always the mounts of choice for rulers and heroes. They provided a perfect symbol of monarchy because they were strong and intelligent: everything that a king believed himself to be! As a result, instead of merely sitting on the howdah, the elephant commanders of Angkor are depicted standing on it in a striking martial pose with their other foot on the elephant's back. Lances or spears are combined with round or elongated shields; alternatively, the warrior is depicted as an archer with a bow in his hand and a quiver at his side. In some illustrations, he holds an edged weapon and keeps his archery equipment in reserve inside the howdah. The distinctive Khmer axe, or phkā'k, also appears on the Angkor Wat frieze."
* Turnbull 2024 (Khmer art of war) p37
"Throughout Southeast Asian military history cavalry have taken second place in the popular heroic imagination to the more spectacular elephantry. The same situation applied in Angkor, because there are many horses to be seen on parade on the Angkor Wat carvings but strangely few on the battle scenes at the Bayon and Banteay Chhmar. The Khmer kings may have deployed specialised cavalry units, but in view of the shortage of horses and the manner of their depiction on the friezes it seems that the use of cavalry was confined to officers in charge of troops fighting on foot who made up the bulk of both the Khmer and the Cham armies at the time. Also, as the horsemen mainly appear in a parade setting, there are ... few clues as to how they fought ...."
* Turnbull 2024 (Khmer art of war) p43
"The Bayon carvings provide few clues as to how the cavalry were used in the combat situation, but the absence of saddles and stirrups would appear to rule out their use as shock troops. There was therefore nothing resembling a Khmer cavalry charge, and only one illustration shows horsemen fighting."
* Jacq-Hergoualc'h 2007 p
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Ax
* Jacq-Hergoualc'h 2007 p24-25
"[T]he phkā'k, a kind of axe (which in this translation will be termed the Khmer axe) which, like the knives and cutlasses, remains the same in form from generation to generation to the present. Again, G. Groslier notes this, saying that the Khmers have faithfully retained this weapon which 'is used in all domestic tasks in the forest and when hunting, with a long or short handle'. Boisselier however considers that the form of the phkā'k is only found, with its bent-back handle by the blade, in the north-west of the Tonle Sap and especially near Siem Reap.
"At Angkor Wat this weapon can be found in the hands of high-ranking warriors on elephants or horseback. This is not a weapon for the infantry. The design is carefully observed: the bent handle, ending in a kind of bulb, has a splayed blade, cut obliquely at the end. The way the handle and blade are attached is unclear.
"At the Bayon and Banteay Chmar this is also the arm of the warriors of a certain rank, but some foot soldiers carry it too. It is always summarily represented and on the whole is found less often than at Angkor Wat."
* Quaritch-Wales 1952 p61
"The phkak is seen less in actual combat than in processions. By the twelfth century it largely replaced the sword and is the most distinctive of Khmer arms. Persisting among the modern Mois, and finding its way into Malay's iron age culture as the tulang mawas, the phkak seems to be of very ancient origin, even though, like the keris in Java, it may have only returned to favour as a warrior's weapon after Indianization was on the wane. While I can only mention the similarity with great reserve, it is interesting to note the resemblance of the phkak to a Sumerian weapon described as 'a scimitar-blade of thin copper attached to a crooked wooden by copper bolts and a gold band.'"
Armor
* Nicolle 1999 p330
"[C]arved reliefs on various superb Khmer religious monuments ... illustrate war elephants and weapons such as the bow, spear and war-axe or phkåk, but very little armour. That which does appear seems to be of scale construction, including both helmets and limited forms of body protection. However, the carvings look somewhat impractical, suggesting that the sculptors were not fully familiar with what they were illustrating."
* Jacq-Hergoualc'h 2007 p18-19
"At Angkor Wat, breastplates were mostly worn by soldiers of higher rank riding elephants or horses rather than by the foot soldiers. The breastplates have a special wrap-around form which encloses the chest, leaving the arms and the neck free.
"At the Bayon and Banteay Chmar, breastplates are very rarely seen (at the Bayon it would be difficult to find as many as a dozen). From the few examples worn by the foot soldiers or warriors on elephants, they consist of two quadrangular plates, one at the front and one at the back, kept in position by straps and epaulettes, while other types seem to continue the forms found at Angkor Wat with some modifications. Let us examine them now in detail.
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Costume
* Turnbull 2024 (Khmer art of war) p39-41
"All the Angkor Wat cavalrymen were similarly dressed with jackets and some form of short leggings or loincloths. Their hair is tied back and often has some form of ornamentation. They ride horses with neither saddles nor stirrups but bearing decorations. The cavalrymen are armed with offensive weapons such as swords, spears and phkā'k [....]
"A similar social status may be noted on the Bayon reliefs, but the horsemen's behaviour there is more appropriate for the battle situation and some are much more lightly dressed. Three examples show an individual cavalryman in what clearly an officer role [SIC]. "
* Jacq-Hergoualc'h 2007 p70
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* Jacq-Hergoualc'h 2007 p57-58
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Dagger
* Quaritch-Wale 1952 p61
"Swords and daggers were also in use, the latter often worn in sheaths suspended from belt or collar, or attached to the cuirass."
* Jacq-Hergoualc'h 2007 p26
"We can ... link the swords at the Bayon and Banteay Chmar with what Goloubew calls, at Dong Son, daggers. He says that 'they belong to the large family of Sino-Scythian daggers. Some examples are as long as 0.25 m and could pass for short swords.'
"We have seen that examples of swords on these monuments were rather short. There may also be a link here.
"But perhaps it is not necessary to look for such distant links to these weapons. In Cambodia, at the site of Phnom Bayan, excavations unearthed a sword which recalls, in its form, those found in the bas-reliefs and which could be dated to the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. Another of similar shape, was definitely dated to the eleventh century, thanks to its inscription, by Claude Jacques." [references omitted]
