THE SOCIAL HIERARCHY OF THE KHMER EMPIRE 

 

Kings

 

Kings were the Leader of the Khmer Empire, A King controlled everything. The King of the Khmer Empire got a portion of everybody’s profits which was brought up through the ranks of the social structure.

 

Elites

 

Elites included religious leaders, court-officials, military leaders and royal bureaucrats. Elites lived a much separate and different life compared to others, and as their role was to help the king to grow and expand the civilisation through trade and agriculture.

 

Peasants

 

Peasants of the Khmer Empire were quite unlike and were treated much differently compared to how other civilisations did at the time (e.g. Vikings). In Ancient Cambodia peasants worked on the estates of the elites or on new temples, helping the society to improve its infrastructure.

 

Slaves

 

There were 3 main types of slaves that existed during the Khmer Empire:

Slaves who were persecuted or inherited. These slaves were generally captured during war or were indigenous Mon-Khmer Tribespeople. The second type of slave were, Slaves belonging to a temple complex. These slaves were announced “slaves of God’’ and were mainly used for entertainment and other services. The final type of slave was Debt slaves, whom were people enslaved until they could pay off their debts