The production of palm-leaf manuscripts began in the post-Angkorian period. Because of the degradable nature of the manuscripts, usually lasting two to three hundred years, the oldest extant manuscripts date to the late eighteenth century. Most were destroyed during the Khmer Rouge period. The manuscripts were used to record Buddha's teachings, historical events, folklore, and codes of conduct. Inscriptions were written in both Pali and post-Angkorian Khmer.