The country which is today called Cambodia is only a small fraction of the vast Khmer Empire that controlled much of [G 16 / Indo-China] from the ninth to the 13th century AD. At its height, the Khmer Empire consisted of today's Cambodia, Laos, most of southern Vietnam and Thailand, as well as some of the Malay peninsula.
From the time of Jayavarman II (c. AD800 - AD850) to the mid-15th century, the Khmer Empire was known as the Kingdom of Kambuja, after the legendary first-century founder of the first Cambodian kingdom of Funan, the Indian [G 08 / brahmin] Kambu. It is in this earliest Cambodian kingdom that Cambodian people see their real roots. The English word `Cambodia' is derived from this name.
From around AD550 to AD800, the Kingdom of Chenla ruled some of the lands that would become the Khmer Empire. In this text the lands in question will be referred to as Funan and Chenla up to the reign of Jayavarman II. From then on, they will generally be referred to as the Khmer Empire or Kambuja. Cambodia will also be used, referring both to the Khmer empire, and to the smaller kingdom which the French dominated in the 19th and 20th centuries.
