Ang Chan I, also known as Chan Reachea the Great and Chao Ponhea Chan Reachea (,,; 1486–1566) was a Cambodian king who reigned from 1516 to 1566. In his early years he was viceroy of the region of Phnom Penh and the eastern provinces, but was ousted by a pretender named Sdach Korn in 1512 and fled to Siam. He returned with a Siamese army in 1516 and was crowned king of Western Cambodia at Pursat after putting down several rebellions. A civil war with Korn ensued, leading to a number of battles involving firearms and cannons until Chan was finally victorious and crowned the king of all Cambodia.
Later, after the neighbouring Siamese invaded Cambodia twice, Chan regained the city of Longvek from the Siamese and built his new capital there, reigning peacefully until his death in 1566.Chan I Encyclopædia Britannica
Birth and early life
Chan Reachea ("Chan" henceforth), was born in Chaktomuk, Cambodia (modern-day Pnomh Penh) in 1486. He was the second son of King Dharma Rechea II and the half-brother of King Srei Sokuntbot ("Sokuntbot" henceforth), who reigned from Tuol Basan in Kampong Cham Province. Chan became the governor of Chaktomuk district at the age of 24, but in 1509 he was forcibly deported to the Cambodian-Siamese border at the request of Sokuntbot, who had dreamed of a threat to his throne in the form of two dragons flying to bite his royal umbrella, interpreting the dragons to be Chan and a rival Cambodian king Sdach Korn ("Korn" henceforth).
In 1512 Korn raised an army to conquer Tuol Basan and was victorious, expelling Sokuntbot from the capital and forcing the defeated king to set up a fort in the Stung Sen district of Kampong Thom province. Sokuntbot sent a message to Chan telling of Korn's revolt and appointing him as Grand Viceroy, tasked with returning to help him. Borrowing 5,000 Siamese troops from the Siamese king in return for 100 elephants, Chan arrived in Battambang province, where the district chief Ponhea Nou donated a further 10,000 troops and 100 food carts.
Chan continued his journey to Pursat province and met with the district chief, Mern Pich, who had 40,000 troops in Banteay Mernchey province. But Chan's travels and his preparation of a military strategy to help Sokuntbot had taken two years. Seeing how far Chan's military preparations were running behind, Korn attacked Sokuntbot's Stung Sen Fortress in 1514 with his navy and artillery and assassinated Sokuntbot. However the five Cambodian royal crowns disappeared at the same time as Sokuntbot's death, so Korn's official ascension was postponed for two years to wait for new crowns to be made. Korn finally declared his throne officially in 1516, naming it Srei Chetha Thiraj Reamea Thipadei.Mak Phoeun (1988) Chroniques royales du Cambodge: De Bañā yāt à la prise de Laṅvaek : de 1417 à 1595 Publisher: Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, Original from the University of Michigan,
The Cambodian Civil War (1516–1525)
With Chan now King of the Western Empire and Korn now King of the Eastern Empire, the stage was set for the two dragons of Sokuntbot's dream to compete for influence in the series of battles that became known as the Cambodian Civil War, beginning with the two kings dividing the Mekong River into two parts between them.
Battle of Tuol Basan (1517)
In 1516, three months after Korn ascended his throne in Tuol Basan, Chan raised 30,000 troops and besieged Korn, forcing him and his army to flee to the east and set up a new fort in the Tbong Khmum district between Kampong Cham and Prey Veng provinces. Kong established a new capital there called Sralop Dountei Pichey Prey Nokor, building a fortress 7.5 meters high and with a total length of 2.5 kilometers. With this fortress established, a year later in 1517 Korn returned to Chan's capital of Tuol Basan and set fire to it, forcing Chan and his army to withdraw to Banteay Mernchey. The two kings then opened peace talks to allow time to gather food and increase their armies, thereby suspending the war for three years until 1520.Bhun Khol (1994) Pravatti vidyā saṃrâp pathamsiksā, Publisher: Griḥsthān Poḥbumb Phsāy Qâpraṃ, Original from University of California, Berkeley p.138
Battle of Kampong Chhnang (1520)
At the end of the three year peace from 1517 to 1520, Korn mobilized 120,000 troops and formed some of them into two divisions. The first division of 20,000 troops was led by Chao Ponhea Lumpaing and tasked with setting up strongholds in Samrong Tong district (now Kampong Speu province), while the second division of 30,000 troops was led by Ponhea Kao and was to make a fortress in Chey Sour village (now Wat Vihear Sour, Kandal province). With an army of 20,000 troops led by General Chao Ponhea Lumpaing, Korn left Samrong Tong to launch a pre-attack on Chan in Kampong Chhnang Province. But Chan led 20,000 of his own troops to confront them, fighting fiercely with arrows, swords, spears, and artillery in what became the Battle of Kampong Chhnang. Chan was bolstered by a further 10,000 troops and 140 warrior elephants who were hiding in the forest behind the army of Chao Ponhea Lumpeang and who now rushed out to attack Korn's army. Korn was defeated and fled to Chaktomuk, where he built a fort.
Battle of Chaktomuk (1521)
In 1521, one year after the battle of Kampong Chhnang, Chan ordered two of his commanders – Oknha Chakrei Keo and Oknha Vongsa Akka Reach – to lead 30,000 troops in an attack on Korn's new Chaktomuk fortress, now guarded by a 10,000-strong army led by General Chao Ponhea Lumpaing. But with Chan's army being much larger than Korn's army, they prevailed on the Chaktomuk battlefield. Chan's army then marched on Bati district (now Takeo province), with Chan later announcing that all district governors in the Kampuchea Krom area must keep their troops neutral, or otherwise he would fight them to the death.Eng Suth (1991) Mohaboros Khmer Documents Volume 2, Publisher: Member of the Committee on History and Culture p.78
Battle on the Four Rivers (1522) After Korn discovered that his nephew Chao Ponhea Lumpaing had been killed in Chaktomuk fortress by Chan's army he became very angry and ordered his general Ponhea Kao, stationed in Chey Sour village in Kandal province, to mobilize for immediate revenge. So in 1522, 30,000 of Ponhea Kao's troops crossed the river to the west. The first 15,000 were infantry, stationed at Boeung Pong Peay, north of Phnom Penh, and led by Ponhea Sral and Javea Viang, while Ponhea Kao himself led the second battalion of 15,000 troops and 60 warships who stormed Chan's port at Chroy Ponlea (now Chroy Changvar).
Ponhea Kao's navy was so strong that it chased Chan's navy, led by Vibol Reach and Protous Reach, to Prek Pnov, But then Chan's General Ponhea Mern Pich came out of the fort he had set up in Prek Taten to reinforce the Vibol Reach and Prothous Reach troops. Seeing this, Ponhea Kao used the trick of pretending to lose and retreat so that Ponhea Mern Pich would chase after him and his army, allowing Ponhea Sral and Javea Viang who were north of Phnom Penh to attack Ponhea Mern Pich's troops from behind. In the end, Ponhea Mern Pich was killed in the Chatomuk river, which was called "the bloody river" by the locals. The place is now known as the Ponhea Mern Pich Monastery or Ta Pich, and is next to the Royal Monument in front of the Cambodia Royal Palace.Eng Suth (1969) Mohaboros Khmer Documents Volume 1-2 , Publisher: Institut Français du Cambodge Bibliothèque Numérique Culturethèque.
Battle of Kampong Cham (1523)
After winning the river battle but with his surviving 10,000 troops tired and having gone without food for many days, Ponhea Kao decided to set up camp in the Kampong Siem district of Kampong Cham province. On the other side of the conflict, Chan was shocked and saddened after receiving the news of the death of Ponhea Mern Pich, and appointed Oknha Khleang Moeung as the new Chief of Army Staff as he was well known for his war tactics and military leadership. In 1523, Chan divided his army into two divisions, with the first division of 55,000 led by himself setting out on the battleship Saray Andet and accompanied by 300 other warships to gather troops in the province of Santuk (now Kampong Thom province). The second group of 50,000 troops was led by Oknha Khleang Moeung and went out at the same time to attack Ponhea Kao's army in the Kampong Siem district of Kampong Cham province.
The news of Chan's declaration of war reached Korn and he mobilized his remaining 80,000 troops into five divisions: the first division of 15,000 troops was the front line army, led by Ponhea Prom Vieng; the second division of 10,000 troops was led by Ponhea Penh; the third division of 10,000 troops was led by Ponhea Nuon; the fourth division consisted of 10,000 troops and was the rear line army; and the fifth division, led by Ponhea Phat Sral and Ponhea Vibol Reach, had 20,000 troops and 300 warships to defend the fort in Kampong Siem district, the site of the battle of Kampong Cham. Korn directly commanded 20,000 royal troops and assigned 20,000 more under Generals Ponhea Kao and Javea Viang. Including the 40,000 troops guarding the Sralop Pichey fort in Tbong Khmum district (now Tbong Khmum province), the total number of troops defending Korn's Kampong Siem district was 65,000.
Eventually, more than 100,000 of Chan's troops attacked the fort of Kampong Cham, resulting in Chan and Korn waging a great war on this battlefield in Kampong Siem district. Both armies damaged a lot of military equipment, and so the two kings sent envoys to purchase cannons from the Portuguese in Malacca on the Malay Peninsula, as recorded by historians in the 16th century.Mamitua Saber, Dionisio G. Orellana (1977) Comparative Notes on Museum Exhibits in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Macao, and the Philippines: A Report to the Ford Foundation on Travelling Symposium for Southeast Asia Museum Development, April-May, 1971, Publisher: Aga Khan Museum, Mindanao State University, Original from the University of Michigan p.354Contributor: James Richardson Logan (1851) The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, Volume 5, Publisher: Kraus Reprint, Original from Cornell University. Chan ordered 100 artillery pieces and 1,000 pistols to be kept in the fort, while Korn ordered 150 artillery pieces and 2,000 rifles. But a boat carrying this materiel to Korn was intercepted in the Peam district of Kampuchea Krom and instead sent to Chan, leaving Korn with no weapons with which to re-supply his army.Eng Suth (2001) Documents of the great Khmer man, the royal genealogy of the Khmer people according to the real manuscript, Publisher: Phnom Penh Publishing House of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports p.250
Battle of Tonle Bet (1524) In 1524, Chan raised 135,000 troops divided into four divisions. The first division of 50,000 troops was led by Ponhea Pheakdey and was tasked with intercepting the 40,000-strong army of Ponhea Komheng, the father-in-law of Korn, which was stationed in Siem Poi district (now Siem Pang district, Stung Treng province), so that it could not be brought to help Korn. The second division of 40,000 troops was led by Ponhea Tep and tasked with attacking the road to Sralop Pichey in what became the Battle of Tonle Bet, while the third division of 40,000 auxiliary troops was led by Chan Reachea and stationed in Kampong Siem district. The fourth division of 5,000 troops led by Oknha Maha Montrei went to hide in Prey Veng province.