CAMBODIA

Today's Swat valley of Pakistan that has breathtaking landscapes and mountain features and valleys such as Kalam, Kumrat, Madyan, Bahrain etc. was also abode to one of the ancient kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent. The name shares with today's one nation of the southeast Asia and had colonisation not hit this region, the etymology would have been the same old Sanskrit version. The ancient kingdom of Kamboja during the Iron Age with its capital Rajapur (today's Rajauri, India) shares its name with the southeast Asian country of Cambodia, that has the same origin of name. In fact, on several older maps, the region is marked as Cambodge (and its variant spellings), indicating that even the former name Kampuchea (existed between 1975 to 1982) was derived from Kamboja. 

Some of the ancient townships in Cambodia also have direct Sanskrit roots. Places such as Isanapura, Bhavapura, Naravaranagara, Shreshthapura, Vyadhapura and minor Khmer speaking states such as Bhimapura, Amoghapura, Chakrankapura, Aninditapura etc. all existed during the medieval and pre-colonial era. Even the Hindu temple of Angkor Wat was originally named as Param Vishnulok (परम विष्णुलोक) and even the former Sanskrit name for Angkor was Yashodharapura. In fact, even when the so-called 'Indian Islands' (that would be later called as Indonesia, although this isn't a former name) were heavily Islamised due to extensive trade and merchant business, the mainland southeast Asia was virtually untouched by Islam. 

The first imperial contact with Kambujadesa took place in the 12th century when it was raided by the Champa Empire, located in today's Vietnam. But apart from the usual Thai and neighbouring kingdom's attacks, Kambujadesa was untouched by any other imperial coloniser upto the 19th century. 1863 was the first time when Cambodia became a French protectorate, the first European imperial power and soon after 2 decades, it was incorporated in the French Indochina colony. 

What is interesting to note is the name Cochin-China associated with both Cambodia and Vietnam during the French period. It's interesting as Cochin itself is a former name of an Indian city called Kochi and has no connection with the southeast Asian peninsula whatsoever. The name was first coined by the Portuguese sailors, which means in the pre-colonial days it had different names even on European maps. On the Ptolemaic maps, one would find the following names encapsulating the entire southeast Asian peninsula: 

• India Ultra Gagem (Gangem)
• Pego (Pegu or Bago, in Burma)
• Sindi (or Sinae, modern China)
• Regio Aurea

A more clearer nomenclature could be found on the 17th century maps where, as per the then European explorations, places like Siam or Sian was marked as a township rather than the Thai kingdom. Certain places such as Corol and Chacara were marked in today's Cambodia-Vietnam areas. Johannes Cloppenburg (1592-1652) mentions the settlement of Camboia which coincides more with today's Ho Chi Minh City rather than any place in Cambodia on a 1636 dated map. The name Cambodia started appearing slowly on late 17th century maps, such that on one 1680 dated, by Joannes van Keulen. The name Conchin China also appeared on the same map. 

As cartography approached the 18th century, heavy improvements could be seen on the maps. The boundaries between Camboge, Cochin Chine, Laos and Tongking were much prominent and clearer than before. Cities like Sombock, Tarrana, Langor (Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand), Babanon etc. were also marked on these maps. The name 'Kingdom of Camboja' would also appear in this era on a 1787 dated map by Robert Sayer, that connected the ancient name Kamboja once again. The capital Phnom Penh is marked as Ponomping and various other spellings throughout the 18th century. 

In the 19th century, the territories of Cambodia, Laos, Tonkin, Burma, Pegu, Siam and Cochin China would consist of the Indochina peninsula. The name 'Cochin China' became much prominent although when the French colonised the peninsula in 1887, the entity 'Cochin China' was used to denote only the southernmost part of what today Vietnam is. Also, though there was a clear knowledge that these kingdoms are separate from mainland India, which itself was a British colony back then, certain maps continued marking the entire subcontinent and the Indochina peninsula as 'India' or 'Greater India'. 

In 1884 when Siam occupied Cambodia, the maps would denote the same. The boundaries of Siam stretched till the Cambodia River that drained into the South China Sea, thus making Annam, Laos and Burmese kingdoms as Siam's neighbours. During the early 20th century, Siam ceded territories to Cambodia and its present map was slowly in the making. For the initial part of the early 1900s, the territory of Siem Reap was shown as part of Siam. It got annexed by Siam in 1907. Cambodia was part of the expanding Japanese Empire during the Great War of 1939-45, where the Thai forces re-occupied major portions to defeat the Japanese forces. The state of Cambodia was restored as a French associated state after the war and in 1953, it was granted independence. 

During the Vietnam War of 1970s-80s, Cambodia was heavily bombarded by Vietnamese forces as part of the ongoing Cambodian Civil War. The extension of the various disputes clashed between the communist and democratic forces in Vietnam that got the United States involved as well, spread out to the neighbouring Cambodia that lead to wiping off a quarter of its population, as part of the Cambodian genocide that lasted for 3 years (1975-1979). Peace was finally restored in 1993 with the establishment of the current Kingdom of Cambodia. 

Below here is a recreated map of Cambodia in 1882, originally sketched by Blackie and Son.