Ang Duong
Ang Duong (12 June 1796 – 19 October 1860) was King of Cambodia from 1841 to 1844 and again from 1845 to his death in 1860. His formal investiture in 1848 benefited a kingdom that had suffered for centuries from royal dissent and decline.
His politics centered on maintaining national unity and identity while minimizing foreign interference. He published the first significant revision of the legal codex in centuries, and he encouraged and oversaw religious and cultural reforms. Faced with increasing Siamese and Vietnamese encroachment, he attempted to form a sovereign alliance with colonial France. Although this alliance eventually culminated in the French protectorate of Cambodia for 90 years, King Ang Duong's actions laid the groundwork for Cambodia's modern united state. Ang Duong ascended to the throne with the title Preah Karuna Preah Bat Samdech Preah Harireak Reamea Issathipadei Ang Duong.
He was the ancestor of Cambodia's two major royal houses, the Houses of Norodom and Sisowath.
Ang Duong was the son of King Ang Eng, who reigned over Cambodia from 1779 to 1797 and was based in the then-capital of Oudong. His mother, Ros, was a royal consort since 1793 and later Queen Vara of Thailand (died around 1869). Ang Duong was the father of his successor King Norodom (1834-1904), King Sisowath (1840-1927), and King Norodom Sihanouk's great-great-grandfather (1941-2004). Ang Duong had numerous wives and had 18 legitimate children - 11 sons and 7 daughters - in order to further the royal family line.
