Women are often the leaders of families and make up a majority of the teachers in Cambodia. It is easy to assume the kingdom has always thought this way, but if we take a closer look at the past, there are plenty of great women that have contributed to Cambodian success. We always think this kingdom think this way, but if we look closer to the past, there plenty of great women giving birth to Cambodia success, the value of women throughout Cambodian history is rather surprising.
King Jayavarman VII (Khmer:ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧), who ruled the Angkor empire, is well known by most of Cambodia’s citizens. He was considered the best king. Before King Jayavarman VII became a great king, there was the first leader during the Funan era which began around 613 AD, and that woman’s name was Leavyi or Soma (Khmer:លៀវយី ឬ សោមា). During her leadership, national unity was really strong, She was a really powerful female leader in Asia.
Leavyi was not only a good leader; she was also a brave military chief, who led her soldiers into battles against enemies who wanted to invade the land and people of Cambodia. One day, she led her military force into a battle against Hun Tean’s (Khmer:ហ៊ុនទៀន) soldiers from India.
Leavyi was fearless on battlefields; she took great care of her people and culture. When she married with Hun Tean, following his military defeat, she insisted that Khmer culture remain as Khmer culture and refused to allow India’s culture to take over our land and culture. In India, women were considered to be inferior to men, while in Funan, women often were considered to be the superior sex After marrying Leavyi, Hun Tean helped to build Cambodia’s trade relations but had no power in changing the country’s culture.
Her marriage to Hun Tean itself showed the level to which Leavyi was willing to sacrifice herself for the country. She made that decision to ensure that one-time enemy of India would no longer threaten Cambodia. Many people helped to build the Funan civilization.
During the dynasty of King Jayavarman VII (Khmer:ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧), women played a vital role in the development of Cambodian civilization. King VII’s wife, Queen Indradevi, positively impacted Cambodia.
Queen Indradevi (Khmer:ឥន្ទ្រទេវី) played a key role in educating women and led them to work on many good tasks such as preserving and building temples and raising social morale. Queen Indradevi was a role model for other women by working to become a university rector, scholar, and teacher.
Queen Indradevi was skilled at manipulating the government while her husband was away at war. She was able to to implement policies and achieve tasks that only men had accomplished, all for the success of the Angkor dynasty. man can do but she did it for the success of the (Angkor dynasty (Khmer:រាជវង្សអង្គរ))។
In the past, women were valued and respected highly because people realized that women were had the ability to produce human life the sources of producing human beings and the symbol of purity and sympathy. The value of Cambodian women has faded little by little.
As a boy that likes to help each others, I would recommend to all of you that we must encourage women to further their education and strengthen their abilities. For women, I encouraged you to study harder to strengthen their abilities.
In the words of Sambo Manara, “women and men have to learn how to understand and compromise with each other. Women themselves have to study hard to show their talents and achievements to Cambodia and the world.” Suggested by Sambo Manara.
Author: Menghuoth Lim