Middle AgesWar & Conflict
Ayutthaya sacks Angkor
c. 1431NotableContested
Forces of the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya take Angkor and the Khmer court moves south toward Phnom Penh. The great temple city is slowly left to the forest.
Contested history
Consensus: Angkor's decline as the Khmer capital was gradual and probably had several causes; the 1431 Ayutthaya attack is a traditional date rather than a single cause.
Conquest by AyutthayaDebated
Thai and Khmer chronicles record attacks on Angkor in the 14th and 15th centuries, but their dates and scale are uncertain.
Climate swings damaged the water networkDebated
Tree-ring records show long droughts broken by intense monsoons in the 14th and 15th centuries, and excavations show damage to Angkor's canals and reservoirs.
Trade shifted toward the coastDebated
The later Khmer capitals near Phnom Penh sat better for the growing maritime trade with China, which may have pulled the court south.
Angkor was suddenly and completely abandonedUnsupported
Angkor Wat stayed in use as a Buddhist temple and Khmer kings briefly returned in the 16th century.
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