The East Sea World and the Connection of Champa and Indian Culture
Luong Ninh, Ph.D.
Abstract
After the Discovery of Sa Huynh Culture which provided us with knowledge of the relation between this Culture and the one existing in the East Sea, even far across ocean-the Malayo-Polynesians, The Community of that was of master of Sa Huynh Culture could be Population constituting the State of Champa, also of Malayo-Polynesian speakers, called the Chams, considered themselves the owner-master of State Champa. So were the Chams coming into the desert? Were they the unique population on the shore, the only people of Champa? No. What was other Population? The first question to be addressed.
In the ancient area of Champa, one can find many vestiges, such as kalan (Temple), of brick, Stelae written in Sanskrit and ancient Cham, a lot of Deity statues of stone, sculptural pictures all originated from prototype of Indian Art School.
Was India the single partner of Champa? No, there was also China. There were a lot of Chinese productions and a quantity of money in Archaeological Museum. The 2nd question to be proposed. So, is it occurred a choice of “Partner”? What was the causality? The feeling of love or hate? Willingly or pressure? This is the 3rd Issue to be proposed and to deliberate.
This paper presents respectively the Mode and the Processes of Indian Cultural Influences to the local People on the shore of the present Vietnam, constituting the State of Champa and Funan in 3 stages-in the North Champa, in the South, and the Connection of Indian Culture coming from the Andaman Sea to the East Sea in Pacific, with the local People -Vnam, Bnam-nowadays: Mnong Gar, Penongs in the South of West Highland of Vietnam. The Mode and the Processes of 3 stages of Indian Cultural Influences in the North Champa, South Champa and Funan, trying to explain the issues proposed.
1. The Local People and Their Community on the shore of the present Vietnam
From the Stone Age, the local Communities lived along the shore. The Katuic lived in the North, in the present-day provinces from Quang Binh to Hue, the Ho Reic in the provinces from Quang Nam to Binh Dinh and the Mnong and Maa in the South. Today, they are all minorities speaking Austro-Asiatic (denominated ancient Mon-khmer) or Proto Indochinois (Olivier, 1968) or Proto Mon (Luong Ninh, 2002) languages. About the 5th century BCE, some groups of Seamen who were ethnic Malayo-Polynesians or Austronesians- the Raglai, Jarai, Churu, Edeh, Rhadeh - all the Orang laut (Seamen) who came from the sea and settled on the shore to form the Sa Huynh Culture by co-inhabiting and conflating with the Austroasiatic people which resulted in a new population base. In thís Population, the Malayo-Polynesians-the Sea Men took a dynamic role and a faculty of linkage of different groups on the shore, and the connection with the foreigners, becoming the pioneers in the struggle for forming the State Lin yi-Champa. From that time, they became the Community of Champa- the Chams speaking Malayo Chamic or Cham language.
The basic community, formed by the merge of these two population groups, settled on the shores of present Vietnam. They consisted of the local Austro-asiatic or Proto-Indochinois and the Malayo-Polynesians or Austronesians who emigrated from the Sea in ca. 500 BCE.
At the beginning of CE, the local Communities of this merged population along the coast still lived at the level of a tribal society. However, they were on their way to develop Agriculture, change production and deploy their navigation skills along the coast; thus, enlarging their relationships and advancing their society. They needed to connect with a higher culture, to learn the alphabet, to read and write, to know how to organize the state and, to revere God and deities as devotees.
Between higher and lower cultural levels, it is unreasonable to assess the interactive relationships but the pervading influence and the cultural adaptation.
But at that beginning time, the northern realm was conquered by the troops of the Chinese Han dynasty, including the area of the present provinces extending from Quang Binh to Hue and to Binh Dinh. In that period, some areas of North and South India developed trade activities with the Arab world by navigating to the west and with the East Sea world to the East. Thus, the people of the communities along the coast of Vietnam knew both Chinese and Indians.
In the archaeological site of Go Cam, near Tra Kieu, south of Da Nang City, vestiges of an agglomeration and a market have been discovered. At this site, a number of potsherds with checked pattern, most likely pieces from Chinese Han pottery, and a Han clay seal were uncovered in 2002. Also a number of Indo-Roman potsherds, glass earrings of Indian origin, and several artefacts of bronze and iron were found nearby. It can be said, from these finds, that the coastal communities were very familiar with and had a clear understanding of the people and the traders from India and China.
The local People and Chinese Authority
From 111 BCE to 192 CE, the Chinese Han troops conquered and dominated the area of Ri Nan, establishing the Administrative Division of Ri Nan which was a realm comprising of some northern provinces from Quang Binh to Hai Van pass and to Thu Bon river in Quang Nam province. The local people strongly disliked Chinese domination and the oppression and exploitation by foreign mandarins. The people rose in revolt many times and finally killed the despotic mandarins in 192 CE. According to Chinese records, Chinese authority was overthrown and their own state, the Polity Lin Yi, was established under their ruler Khu Lian. Thus, the people of Lin Yi had chosen the course they would take. The atrocious, greedy Chinese mandarin was relegated and in its place entrusted to an Indian Brahmin who was priest, a literati and a chetti (merchant).
However, after the successful uprising of the people of Lin Yi, the Chineses sought ways to establish and retain a commercial relation with the people of Lin Yi. Archaeologists have found two to three Han Chinese mirrors and a clay seal as commercial sign in the ancient area of Ri Nan.
In recent years, as seen in the provincial museums, large quantities of Chinese bronze coins have been uncovered in ancient areas of Champa. These are listed below:
-In Quang Binh province, in 1998, 4 vases full of bronze coins weighing 59 kg. were uncovered. They consisted of 1,200,000 pieces of Chinese coins from T’ang and Sung dynasties as well as some coins from Han and Tsin dynasties.
-In Phu Yen province, in a report from 2000, it was stated that 5 vases containing a large quantity of bronze coins weighing 500 kg. was uncovered in excavations conducted over 20 years.
-In Khanh Hoa province, in 1998, a vase full of Chinese bronze coins and paper money soaked,torn in water were found. (See New Archaeological Findings, Hanoi NAF 1998- NAF 2012). Thus, a scholar has assumed that Champa did not have money or mint coins? (R. Wicks, 1992).
Thus, the considerable total of about 700 kg. of bronze coins from different Chinese dynasties have been uncovered to-date.
The Chinese traders came to buy local products at a cheap price, such as, rhinoceros horns, ivory, gold, bee honey, agate and, especially, sandalwood. The local people purchased Chinese products with some of the Chinese money they had earned while burying the remaining money. The people of Lin Yi-Champa had made their choice. They did not want to be dominated or return to being submissive.
The local People and Indian Persons
In the encounter with Indian traders, the relation was not one between a ruler and a ruler, between a king and a king, operating under official protocol procedures. Instead it was a relation between two equal peoples or normal group of representatives working together willingly and peacefully, without pressure or any obligation to act.
2. The 1st Connection in North Champa
This contact was established in North Champa between the indigenous people and persons of Indian origin.
2.1 It seemed that some Indian chetti (merchants) on Siang Lin Street, a town of Lin Yi, living along the river Thu Bon (in Quang Nam) sent written requests to their native country for assistance to further their careers.
A leader or a group with a leader arrived in ca. 2nd century. They taught the local people the Sanskrit language and its script, and organized an administration system for the region. In the process, they spread Hinduism, especially Shaivism. Trade and religious activities were established and continued uninterrupted. Three Sanskrit inscriptions from the 3rd and 4th centuries CE are known. They are (1) Hon Cut (Cut Rock) (C.105[1]) from Quang Nam, (2) Cho Dinh (Dinh Market) (C.41) from Phu Yen, near Nha Trang in the south, and (3) My Son A 1 (C.73A) in the My Son valley, 68 kilometers southwest of Da Nang City. They are dedicated to one king, Bhadravarman.
Bhadravarman, therefore, appears to be the first king of the first dynasty in the north, ruling over My Son and the areas contiguous with Quang Nam. He was soon attracted to areas far to the South.
2.2 In 5th to 6th centuries, the polity of Lin Yi was stabilized. The Cham kings planned to recover the territory in the north which was occupied by Chinese mandarins from River Gianh, in present-day Quang Binh province to Hue-Hai Van pass. After many battles, attack and counter-attacks, Lin Yi was successful in finally defeating the Han garrison. Relying on their social- economic base on the Thu Bon river basin , and expanded greatly to the north, from Hue to Quang Binh, the 7th king, Kandarpadharma (580-605) decided to build the capital at the confluence of three rivers, Lou, Bou and Huong (fragrant), which cross Hue to the lagoon at Thuan An. The capital, called Kandarpapura, with ramparts, was a stronghold of brick and earth and several kalan (temple).
2.3 But the Chinese, under the newly established Suie Dynasty does’nt gave up its ambition in the region. It ordered General Liou Fang to reconquer Lin Yi. Liou’s troops attacked, defeated and sacked the stronghold of Kandarpapura in 605 CE; King Kandarpadharma must have fled by sea. The capital was devastated. Today the remaining vestiges are traces of a wall, 1 m. high, and two temples in ruin, including a lintel, 2 m. long and 1 m. high, with sculptures of the image of Brahma, Siva and Visnu. The lintel, called Lintel Uu Diem, is one of the most beautiful and early pictures of sculptural art of Champa.
2.4 A prince of the Lin Yi royal family who lived and was educated at the court of Bhavapura/ Chenla, returned to Lin Yi. He ascended the throne of Lin Yi, to become the 10th king, Prakasadharma (657-687 CE). This king did not return to Kandarpapura, which was in ruins. Instead, he returned to the basin of Thu Bon and My Son and to the wide areas in the south to develop theỉr social economic base. Under his rule, eight new inscriptions in Sanskrit were placed. One was in Le Cam (C.127) in Nha Trang, three in Quang Nam (C.135 in Thach Bich, C.136 in Duong Mong, C.137 in Tra Kieu), three in My Son (My Son B6, C.87, offering to Gods a kosa and a mukuta; My Son A10, C.79, offering to deity Kuvera; and My Son E6, C.96, records three donations by Prakasadharma, and the genealogy of the king) and Inscription of My Son A1 (C.73A). This last inscription is damaged and only the reference to Prakasadharma is legible.
2.5 The inscription of Tra Kieu, mentioned above, presents the king’s efforts to build a temple at Tra Kieu dedicated to Valmiki, the author of Ramayana, as a cultural monument. Perhaps his intention was to introduce the the Vaishnava cult beside the main Shaivism.
The inscription of My Son E6 (C. 96), dated 658 CE, narrates from the beginning the history of Lin Yi. The first seven lines and the first verse are given below (Majumdar, Inscription 12).
“Perfection has been attained…….another family…….the town of Brahma…consecrated image of God Sri Sambhu-Bhadresvara…….in the prosperous Champa-pura.
“There was a king called Gangaraja, who was famed for the royal qualities of knowledge and heroism…….the sovereignty difficult to abandon……. ‘The joy arising from a view of Ganga is very great,’ and so he went to the Ganga.”
(The Sanskrit text was edited and translated at first in French by L. Finot. This English translation is by R. C. Majumdar in Champa, published in Lahore in 1927, p. 21). This stela, My Son E6, tells us:
(It seemed that, respecting the invitation of the Indian chetti-merchants, and priest), King Gangaraja from his kingdom Anga in India, came here, chose a site at the confluence of rivers , as it is with the Ganga in his native country, to establish the administrative apparatus to organize the Kingdom of Champa.
2.6 In 658 CE, the name, Kingdom of Champa, was officially declared for the first time—Champapura Paramesvara (i.e., Champa, devotee of Siva). The name Champa reflects nostalgia as it expresses the memory of their native country, where Champa was the capital of the kingdom of Anga on the Ganga River, near Pataliputra of Magadha.
Previously, G.Maspero has wrong assumed that the local Community denominated their State belonging a kind of flower - Champaka Linnae.
But, in reality, the administration was constituted earlier, from about the 2nd century. After the first King Gangaraja , the first dynasty continued with some legendary kings (Manorathavarman, Rudravarman.). Perhaps the legendary kings are mentioned for continuity before recording the true king Bhadravarman of the 3rd century, mentioned above, appears in inscriptions My Son 1 and 3, and Quang Nam 1 and 2.