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Kampouchea Krom ( km, កម្ពុជាក្រោម, ; "Lower Cambodia") is the region variously known as Southern Vietnam, Nam Bo, and the former
French Cochinchina French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled ''Cochin-China''; french: Cochinchine française; vi, Xứ thuộc địa Nam Kỳ, Hán tự: ) was a colony of French Indochina, encompassing the whole region of Lower Cochinchina or Southern Vietnam fr ...
. Bordering present-day
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
, the region is positioned in Cambodian nationalist mythology as a "once-integral part of the Khmer kingdom that was colonised by France as
Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exon ...
in the mid-nineteenth century, then was ceded to Vietnam in June 1949". In the present day, the region roughly corresponds to the
Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
region of Vietnam. Kampouchea Krom continues to be home to many ethnic
Khmer Krom The ''Khmer Krom'' ( km, ជនជាតិខ្មែរក្រោម, , , lit. 'Lower Khmers' or 'Southern Khmers'; vi, người Khơ-me Crộm, người Khmer Nam Bộ, người Khmer Việt Nam, người Việt gốc Miên (used before 19 ...
, with some Khmer estimating their numbers to be between seven million and over ten million. The Khmer term "Kampuchea Krom" can be translated as "Lower Cambodia". An alternative name for the region is "Kampuchea Lech Tuek" ( ), which roughly corresponds to "Flooded Cambodia".


Territorial history

In a Khmer Buddhist monk's vision, the Khmer have inhabited the land of Kampuchea Krom since it first emerged from the ocean thousands of years ago as a fragrant and glowing land that attracted the ''teovada'', celestial beings who ate the sweet earth and were subsequently unable to fly back to their world, thus staying on earth as the first humans. Throughout history, the area known in Khmer as Kampuchea Krom has been situated within numerous ancient polities, including Nokor Phnom (
Funan Funan (; km, ហ៊្វូណន, ; vi, Phù Nam, Chữ Hán: ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''(Mandala)''—located in mainla ...
),
Chenla Chenla or Zhenla (; km, ចេនឡា, ; vi, Chân Lạp) is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indoc ...
, and the Khmer Empire.


Ancient civilizations

Archaeological research at the
Óc Eo Óc Eo ( Vietnamese) is an archaeological site in modern-day Óc Eo commune of Thoại Sơn District in An Giang Province of southern Vietnam. Located in the Mekong Delta, Óc Eo was a busy port of the kingdom of Funan between the 2nd century BC ...
site between
Rạch Giá Rạch Giá () is a provincial city and the capital city of Kiên Giang province, Vietnam. It is located on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand, southwest of Ho Chi Minh City. East of city, it borders Tân Hiệp and Châu Thành town, ...
and
Long Xuyên Long Xuyên () is the capital city of An Giang province, in the Mekong Delta region of south-western Vietnam. History In 1789, a group of explorers established a small outpost in the Tam Khe canal, naming it Dong Xuyen. Sooner after a marketpl ...
in present South Vietnam dates Vietnamese incursion in the region to the sixteenth century, prior to which the area was located within the ancient Khmer empire. There is no clear consensus on the ethnic makeup of those living within the region during the earlier Funan and Chenla polities. Linguistic evidence from the period - by way of inscriptions - supports the theory that inhabitants spoke a pre-Khmer Austronesian language. However, archaeologists and historians also contend that this language may have been similar to Khmer, and that a version of
Old Khmer Old Khmer is the oldest attested stage of the Khmer language, an Austroasiatic language historically and presently spoken across Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, and parts of Thailand and Laos. It is recorded in inscriptions dating from the early 7th ...
may have been used by the end of the Funan period. A further theory is that ethnic distribution within the region may have varied with elevation within the landscape, with Khmer speakers living on higher ground, and Malayo-Polynesian - and later Vietnamese - speakers occupying the lower-lying areas.


17th–19th-century Vietnamese expansion

The period spanning the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries saw an unprecedented expansion of the Vietnamese state into Kampuchea Krom. Historian Barbara Andaya identifies Vietnamese internal feuding and the Trịnh–Nguyễn Civil War of the early seventeenth century as motivating the dispersal of the Vietnamese population into Khmer speaking areas. In particular, Khmer sources note that Vietnamese immigrants flooded into the regions of Prey Nokor (known as the present-day
Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
), Baria, and Daun Nay (Kampong Sroka Trei), following requests by Vietnamese missionaries to King Chey Chettha (1618–1628). Following the fall of the Ming dynasty in the mid-seventeenth century, Ming loyalists began to migrate across East and Southeast Asia, including towards Kampuchea Krom. Historian Claudine Ang argues that this migration of Ming loyalists into the Mekong delta, or Kampuchea Krom, and their alliance with the southern Vietnamese rather than the Khmer or the Siamese, "gave the Nguyễn lords of the southern Vietnamese state the support that they needed to lay claims on the delta lands", enabling the aggressive southward territorial expansion of the Nguyễn lords in the mid-eighteenth century. However, it was only after the 1809 death of Mạc Tử Thiêm, whose father
Mạc Cửu Cửu (, vi-hantu, 鄚玖, vi, Mạc Cửu; km, ម៉ាក គីវ ''or'' ; 1655–1736), also spelled Mok Kui, was a Chinese exile who founded the Principality of Hà Tiên and ruled as its first monarch. He played a role in the relat ...
had arrived in Kampuchea Krom after leaving China following the fall of the Ming dynasty, that the Vietnamese state incorporated the Hà Tiên principality into Vietnamese administrative control. Prior to Mạc Tử Thiêm's death, Hà Tiên had been an autonomous principality. Through the incorporation of Hà Tiên, the Nguyễn dynasty thus further extended their borders amidst a period of tense regional competition involving the Siamese, Vietnamese, and Khmer. This period of unprecedented southward territorial expansion was cited by the Gia Long emperor to the Qing court in its request for the Vietnamese state to be recognized by the term Nan Yue rather than Annan, a request that ultimately resulted in its current name of Yue Nan, or Vietnam. (See: Mekong Delta - History, Vietnamese Period) Historian David Chandler argues that further long-term effects of Vietnamese southward territorial expansion into Kampucha Krom included: (1) Cambodia being "cut off to a large extent from maritime access to the outside world"; (2) the removal of "large portions of territory and tens of thousands of ethnic Khmer from Cambodian jurisdiction"; and (3) the placement of Cambodia in a vise between its two powerful neighbors of Siam and Vietnam.


Environment and infrastructure

As implied by its alternate name of Kampuchea Lik Tuk, or "Flooded Cambodia", Kampuchea Krom sees an abundance of water, with events like high flooding, high rainfall, and seawater incursions varying with the seasons. The abundance of water brought by these events, together with the natural flat plain that characterizes its region, makes Kampuchea Krom a productive agricultural area with rich, fertile soils. However, its swampy and amphibious nature, accompanied by seasonal dry spells, have resulted in researchers' characterization of the region as resistant to human settlement, with significant infrastructural development required to make permanent settlement possible.


Phno

Anthropologist Philip Taylor's ethnographic text on Khmer communities within Kampuchea Krom identifies a number of strategies employed by the Khmer to utilize local precipitation for the purposes of agriculture and consumption, even during the dry season. These strategies differ across its geomorphically distinct sub-regions. One key strategy is that of harvesting fresh rain water stored within the ''phno'', a strategy that is particularly prominent within the northern coastal complex. The northern coastal complex is a "flange of flat, salt-impregnated land lying between the mouths of the
Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...
and Bassac Rivers and bounded by the ocean to the east", an area often perceived as the "quintessential Khmer region of Vietnam" by researchers and tourists alike. The region sees annual wet and dry seasons. Its rainy season lasts from May to December and covers the majority of the region with water. During the dry season however, soil surfaces crack and drinking water becomes extremely scarce. Taylor identifies the ''phno'', or "elevated ridges of coarse sandy soil, between one to five metres high", as crucial to the sustenance of life within the northern coastal complex, constituting both cosmological and strategic significance for the Khmers in the region. According to Taylor's interlocuter, a
Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...
teacher in the region, the ''phno'' were the first land to emerge, and comprised the ancient lands of Suvannaphum through which the Buddha traversed during his travels across the world. According to the Abbot of Wat Knong Srok, Buddhist Khmer thought further explains the stratification of the world and its elements, where humans live upon the land, water supports the land, and water rests on air, otherwise expressed in Khmer as:
''Kyo tro tuk'' ir supports water ''Tuk tro dei'' ater supports land ''Dei tro munnou'' and supports people/blockquote>Alongside this cosmological explanation of the elements, Taylor cites people at the Tra Vinh museum of Khmer culture and other locals to suggest that it is the height of the ''phno'', and the numerousness of the ''phno'' in the region, that has made the northern coastal dune complex habitable, and one of the oldest inhabited places in Kampuchea Krom. Further, though groundwater in the region is salinated throughout the year, the absorption and retention of fresh rain water by the sand dunes during the rainy months creates natural freshwater reservoirs for residents. The less dense freshwater remains above the denser saline groundwater without mingling, both of which lie at a shallow depth beneath apparently dry land and accessible with some digging.


Irrigation

Numerous
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
projects have been undertaken in Kampuchea Krom, including by the French during the colonial period of the mid-twentieth century, and by the Vietnamese, following their significant expansion into the region in the nineteenth century and the post-war period of the late twentieth century. Environmental historian David Biggs argues that these irrigation projects have often reflected states' desires to incorporate the region into their nation-building projects. The construction of such irrigation infrastructure has also been the source of a number of Khmer-led rebellions within the region (see:
Vĩnh Tế Canal The Vĩnh Tế Canal (, km, ព្រែកជីក ''or'' ) is an canal in southern Vietnam, designed to give the territory of Châu Đốc a direct access to the Hà Tiên sea gate, Gulf of Siam. Background Construction of the Vĩnh T� ...
).


Improvements to crop yield

Researchers assessing changes in agricultural production within the region often assess that the infrastructural development of such irrigation projects have been a success, citing statistics like the doubling of rice production in the delta between 1980 and 1995, following the digging of canals and raising of dykes. Kono Yasuyuki argues that the moderation of the "hydrological environment by infrastructure improvement is essential for agricultural intensification and diversification in the deltas", and for the " production of a substantial surplus of rice and its export".


Critiques of irrigation efforts

The Chợ Gạo Canal was built by the Colonial Department of Public Works to connect Sài Gòn (now Hồ Chí Minh City) to the nearest delta port. Biggs draws from records from the Maritime and Colonial Review to argue that the Chợ Gạo Canal, despite opening to great success and fanfare in 1877, quickly became unnavigable within the short span of several months. The flatness of the delta, and the tides of the sea had resulted in the formation of bars of silt that choked off all but one of the canal's waterways. Drawing on a later example in the mid-1980s, Taylor examines the impact of irrigation and infrastructural development in the saltwater river region of Kampuchea Krom. The intensification of canal digging and dyke construction during the post-war period turned “nearly the entire saltwater rivers region ntoa freshwater zone”, making fresh water conveniently available to Khmer residents in the region for the first time. New high yield rice varieties were made simultaneously available to the Khmer. However, due to the new rice varieties’ dependence on pesticides, canals, rivers, and ponds in the area had been contaminated. By the mid-1990s, Taylor argues that the Khmer “faced conditions of water scarcity even more dire than in the pre-canal period”, with no safe water sources.


Biodiversity

The delta region of Kampuchea Krom supports a diverse biota, including two mammals of conservation significance, the
Hairy-nosed Otter The hairy-nosed otter (''Lutra sumatrana'') is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to Southeast Asia and one of the rarest and least known otter species. It is threatened by loss of natural resources and poaching. Description The hairy-nosed otter has ...
and the
Dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...
. A further at least 37 species of birds, and 470 species of fish of conservation significance have been recorded. However, the high use of fertilisers and pesticides to support the intensification of agriculture in the region, has resulted in nutrient and pesticide runoff, endangering aquatic biodiversity in the region. Khmer farmers affiliated to Wat Bei Chhau observe that local fish stocks have declined, attributing the decline to high-yield rice varieties' need for pesticides and comparing the new rice varieties with seasonal rice grown in the past that required no pesticides, and did not kill the fish. Continued human activities within the region, including overfishing, and the construction of dams and other irrigation efforts are expected to have further ill effects on the biodiversity of the region. These effects include the blocking of
fish migration Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...
pathways, and the trapping of nutrient and sediment, resulting in
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...
and the loss of arable land. Climate change and
rising sea levels Rising may refer to: * Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique) *Elevation * Short for Uprising, a rebellion Film and TV * "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starg ...
in the long term are expected to result in a significant loss of land in the region, as well as the loss of coastal habitats as brackish water becomes saline and freshwater areas become brackish or saline. Taylor suggests that these instances of environmental decline and changes in biodiversity have convinced many Khmers in the region of the imminence of an apocalypse (''pleung ka)''. As shared by the Khmer Buddhist monk, the apocalypse will come in the form of fire, floods and winds that consume the earthly realm, with only the most virtuous followers of the Buddha's message escaping and achieving
rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * ''The Re ...
in the celestial realm as ''teovada''. Taylor takes the Khmers' interpretation of environmental and ecological change in the region to reflect the hold of monastic institutions within Kampuchea Krom, and the appeal of Buddhist pathways to salvation.


Areas

Kampuchea Krom was originally divided into only four provinces Don Nai, Long Haor, Moat Chruk, and Peam. According to Cambodian sources, it now covers approximately the areas of twenty-one
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
ese districts. According to Cambodian sources, the Khmer names of the local divisions have been continually renamed by Vietnamese authorities. Vietnamese names are seen as a calque of the original Khmer names such as Sa Đéc (Khmer: Phsar Dek), Sóc Trăng (Khmer: Srok Khleang), Trà Vinh (Khmer: Preah Trapeang), Bạc Liêu (Khmer: Pol Leav), Cà Mau (Khmer: Toek Khmau), Mỹ Tho (Khmer: Me Sar); Đồng Nai (Khmer: Don Nai). Some Vietnamese names were translated from the meaning of the original Khmer names such as Bến Tre (Khmer: Kampong Roessei), Bến Nghé (Khmer: Kampong Krabei).


See also

*
Khmer Krom The ''Khmer Krom'' ( km, ជនជាតិខ្មែរក្រោម, , , lit. 'Lower Khmers' or 'Southern Khmers'; vi, người Khơ-me Crộm, người Khmer Nam Bộ, người Khmer Việt Nam, người Việt gốc Miên (used before 19 ...
*
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
*
History of Cambodia The history of Cambodia, a country in mainland Southeast Asia, can be traced back to Indian civilization. Detailed records of a political structure on the territory of what is now Cambodia first appear in Chinese annals in reference to Funan, a ...
*
Funan Funan (; km, ហ៊្វូណន, ; vi, Phù Nam, Chữ Hán: ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''(Mandala)''—located in mainla ...
*
Chenla Chenla or Zhenla (; km, ចេនឡា, ; vi, Chân Lạp) is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indoc ...
* Khmer Empire *
Six Provinces of Southern Vietnam The Six Provinces of Southern Vietnam (''Vietnamese:'' Nam Kỳ Lục tỉnh, 南圻六省 or just Lục tỉnh, 六省) is a historical name for the region of Southern Vietnam, which is referred to in French as Basse-Cochinchine (''Lower Cochin ...


References

{{Cambodia topics Geography of Cambodia Former countries in Cambodian history Regions of Southeast Asia