Angkor. The mystery of the dead city and Anopheles dirus
Verdrager, J.
Medecine Tropicale Revue du Corps de Sante Colonial 52(4): 377-384
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-682X PMID: 1494307 Document Number: 390334
A hypothesis is proposed for the desertion of the city of Angkor (in present day Cambodia), which was the capital of the Khmer civilization during the 9th-15th centuries AD. Angkor Thom was sacked by the Thais in 1431, and after this the court was moved. It is suggested that the people remaining in Angkor were too few and too demoralised to maintain the elaborate system of irrigation ditches and rice fields which quickly reverted to jungle, the favoured habitat of A. dirus, an extremely efficient vector of malaria. The human population was non-immune, being descended from settlers from the non-endemic central plain of Cambodia and not having been troubled by large numbers of mosquito vectors before; devastating malaria epidemics swept through Angkor and led to its complete desertion. This hypothesis is supported by recent migrations of people from the central plain of Cambodia to forested areas, which have also resulted in epidemics of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The author attributes the desertion of Angkor (a centre of civilization for over 5 centuries) to malaria transmitted by the jungle mosquito Anopheles dirus. Angkor, at that time the capital of the Khmer kingdom, surrendered in 1431 to Thai conquerors. However, the population decreased when the young king went in search of a new capital a year later, and the ricefields became reinvaded by jungle. Severe epidemics of falciparum malaria in the non-immune population then occurred, with a high mortality rate, depleting the inhabitants further and leading to a progressive and complete desertion of the city.Carolyn A. Brown.