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Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v1.c6: Introduction

Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champā; Vol. II: Suvarṇadvīpa) v1.c6

Language
English

Contents

Introduction

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Although the study of Ancient Indian history has made a great deal of progress in recent years, there is one aspect of the subject which has not yet received the attention it deserves. This is the expansion of the Aryans beyond Indian frontiers towards the east and south-east. The history of Indo-Aryans usually begins with their settlement in the Punjab and ends with their expansion over the whole of India as far as Assam in the east and cape Comorin in the south. This is, however, an arbitrary line of distinction for which there does not seem to be any great justification. For the Aryans never regarded the hills or the sea by which India proper is bounded as the natural limits of their advance, and they boldly crossed over these to new regions on the other side. Their achievements in these regions are but vaguely known, but the more one thinks on this subject the more is one forced to realise that the Indianisation of these countries was probably as complete in the ancient period as we find in the Dravidian countries within the frontier of India. The study of Indian civilisation must therefore be regarded as imperfect so long as we do not take into proper account the achievements of Indians in these regions.

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Until recently, however, our knowledge of this subject was limited in the extreme. Indian literature, no doubt, clearly shows that there was an intimate intercourse between India and the Far East¹ in ancient times, but it does not tell us much regarding the activity of Indian colonists settled there. The writings of Ptolemy and Fa-Hien, also, while bearing ample testimony to the firm hold of Indian civilisation in those countries, have not preserved any detailed account of the colonial history of India. Such an account has been rendered possible only in comparatively recent times, when the colonies themselves have been made to yield up their rich antiquarian treasures, thanks to the untiring efforts of the savants of France.

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¹ Among important passages bearing upon this subject the following may be mentioned as specimens. (A) A passage in Ramayana referring to Yavadvipa and Suvarnadvipa, meaning the islands of Sumatra and Java. (B) The well-known passage in Mahavamsa referring to

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The first serious attempt to study the geography, history and civilisation of the Far East was made by Christian missionaries of Europe as far back as the early seventeenth century. The most memorable scholarly work of this period was the "Dictionnaire annamite-latin-portugais" by P. Alexandre de Rhodes, published in 1651. This monumental work has served as the basis of all future research and placed it on a secure foundation. The same author published in the following year a history of Tonkin in Latin. Similar works continued to appear from time to time but it was not till two centuries later that a beginning was made of an archaeological investigation in Indo-China. In 1858 Henri Mouhot explored the valley of the Mekong as far as the country of Laos between Korat and Luang-prabang. Although a naturalist, Mouhot was attracted by the beauties of Angkor Vat and other monuments of antiquity and his rapturous description made them known for the first time to the outside world.

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the conquest of Ceylon by prince Vijaya. (C) The following sentence in Milindapanha (English Translation II 269). "As a shipowner......will be...able to traverse the high seas and go to Vanga or Takkola, or China, or Sovira, or Surat or Alexandria or the Koromandel coast or Further India........."

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The enthusiasm thus created resulted in an well-organised mission of exploration in 1885 under Doudart de Lagree, an eminent archaeologist. The mission included such ardent workers as Francis Garnier and Delaporte. This mission recognised for the first time the importance of inscriptions and copied some of them.

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The work of this mission was continued by individual scholars like Garnier, Delaporte and Dr. Harmand. Then came Aymonier, who began in 1882 his memorable exploration of Cambodge, Laos and Annam. and collected a vast store of materials for the history of these countries. The last important mission was that of M. Pavie, with 40 collaborators, which worked for 15 years from 1879 to 1895. One of the notable results of this mission was the preparation of a reliable map of Indo-China.

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After a general knowledge of Indo-China had thus been secured, the task of special studies was taken up by special Departments. There originated in this way special Departments for the study of geography, geology and natural history of the country. The historical studies devolved upon a permanent archaeological society which soon took the name of ‘Ecole Francaise d Extreme Orient’. With the foundation of this society in 1898 the historical studies and archaeological explorations have been placed on a firm foundation, and the results of these studies, regularly published in the form of Bulletins, have made accessible to the outside world a vast store of information on the history and civilisation of Indo-China.

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From this very rapid and brief survey of the scholarly work in Indo-China we may now turn to a more detailed reference to the important and authoritative works with regard to the history of the ancient kingdom of Champā on which the present volume is based.

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The chief sources of information regarding the history and civilisation of ancient Champā may be classified under three heads.

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I Inscriptions. II Monuments. III Chinese texts and other foreign sources.

I. Inscriptions

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¹ For a detailed bibliography of the epigraphic studies in Indo-China—cf. B. E. F. Vol. XV. No. 2—pp 113 ff; also Toung Pao 1910, pp. 126 ff.

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The first important collection of Sanskrit inscriptions of Champā was prepared by Abel Bergaigne in 1888, and published, after his death, by Barth in 1893.² A large number of inscriptions written in Cham were edited by M. Aymonier in J. A. 1891 (pp 5 ff.). Since the foundation of the Ecole Francaise de Extreme Orient, a large number of new inscriptions have been published in its Bulletins, the most important being:—

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² Notices et Extraits des Manuscripts de la Bibliotheque Nationale et autres Bibliotheques publie par L' Institut national de France.—Tome Vingt-Septieme (1-er Partie), 2-e fascicule. Paris 1893.

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(1). (A) Myson, (B) Pāṇḍuraṅga and (C) Quang Nam Inscriptions by L. Finot. (A) B. E. F., Vol. II, pp. 185 ff; Vol. III, 206 ff; Vol. IV, pp. 917 ff. (B) Vol. III pp. 630 ff. (C) Vol. IV. pp. 83 ff.

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(2). A collection of miscellaneous inscriptions by M. Huber (B. E. F. Vol. XI, pp. 5 ff, pp. 260 ff) and L. Finot (B. E. F. Vol. IX, pp. 205 ff; Vol. XV. No. 2 pp. 1 ff.).

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Mention must be made in this connection to the very valuable list of inscriptions prepared by M. George Coedes (B. E. F. Vol VIII pp. 40 ff ; Vol. XV. No. 2 pp. 173 ff).

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All the inscriptions of Champā hitherto known¹ have been collected at the end of this volume, with full bibliographical notes, and hence it is not necessary to dwell on this topic any further.

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¹ A few inscriptions have been excluded, e.g. those which are very modern and fall beyond the scope of this study, those which are too fragmentary to yield any sense and those which have been casually referred to, but the text or even a purport of which has not been pu ished.

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II. As regards the study of archaeological monuments all previous works on this subject have been superseded by the monumental work of M. Parmentier, viz. Inventaire Descriptif des Monuments Cams vols. I and II.² In this book M. Parmentier has made a systematic study of all the existing monuments in Champā and fully illustrated them by pictures and plates. The descriptive catalogue of sculptures in the Touranne Museum (B. E. F. Vol. XIX. No. 3 , pp. 1-114) and the archaeological notes (B. E. F. Vol. XXIII, pp 267 ff) published by the same author, may be regarded as supplements to this famous work. Reference may also be made in this connection to Ars Asiatica Vol. IV which contains a set of good illustrations of sculptures.

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² Vol. I. appeared in 1909 and volume II in 1918. Both these are publications of Ecole Francaise d' Extreme orient.

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III. As to the Chinese texts bearing upon the history of Champā, they were first discussed by P. Gaubil³ and Deguignes⁴.

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³ Gaubil's 'Notice historique sur la Cochinchine' was originally published in the 18th century and later on included in "L' Histoire generale de la Chine" by P de Mailla.

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⁴ "L' Histoire generale des Huns" Tome I, 1-er partie p. 172-173.

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The more important workers in this line are Pelliot, Maspero and L. Aurousseau. Pelliot collected valuable data in his learned article “Deux Itineraires de Chine en Inde” and drew up a list of Cham kings mentioned in Chinese sources.² Maspero made for the first time an elaborate and systematic study of all the Chinese texts bearing upon the history of Champā.³ Last of all L. Aurousseau has considerably extended our knowledge by his learned contributions on this subject.⁴

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² B. E. F. Vol. IV. pp. 131-413.

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³ Ibid pp. 382 ff.

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⁴ The data he collected were utilised in his History of Champa (see f. n. 2 p. 7 below).

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Some valuable informations on the history of Champā are furnished by Annamite documents. In this field, again, Maspero has collected very valuable data although he was preceded by a number of writers on this subject.⁵

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⁵ B. E. F. Vol. XIV. No. 9. pp. 8-43 ; Vol. XXIII pp 137-264.
(1) Bouillevaux—L' Annam et le Cambodge—.
(2) Bouillevaux--Le Ciampa (Annales de Extreme Orient 1880, 1881).
(3) P. J. B. Tru'ong Vinh Ky-Cours d Histoire Annamite; 2 vols. Saigon 1875
(4) E. Luro-Le Pavs d' Annam ; Paris 1878.
(5) L Abbe Adr. Launay. Histoire Ancienne et Moderne de l' Annam etc. (Paris 1884).
(6) Abel des Michels-Les Annales Imperiales de l' Annam; Paris 1889.
(7) Camille Sainson-Memoires sur l' Annam. Peking 1896.
(8) Legrande la Liraye-Notices Historiques sur la Nation Annamite, Saigon, 1866.

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References to Champā are also contained in Cambodge inscriptions. Bibliographical references to them will be found in the body of the text.

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So far about the original sources of information, and we may now turn to the modern texts dealing with the history of Champā. As early as 1888 Bergaigne published a short account of the political history of Champā, mainly on the basis of Inscriptions.¹ Five years later Aymonier read his "History of Tchampā" before the Ninth International Congress of Orientalistes held in London. Both these were superseded by the monumental work of Maspero— "Le Royaume de Champā"² which must remain as the standard authority on this subject for sometime to come.

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¹ L' ancient royaume de Champa dans l' Indo-Chine d' apres les inscriptions—J. A. 1888 [pp. 64-70].

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² This was originally published in T'oung Pao [1910-1913] and later on as a separate book at Leyden in 1914.

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Some contributions on the study of religion, manners and customs of Champā may be mentioned in this connection. The earliest publication on this subject seems to be an article by Aymonier.³ Finot also contributed an important article on this subject.⁴ A very short account of the political, social and religious history of Champā as well as a brief review of Cham art are contained in Jeanne Leuba's "Les Chams et leur art" Paris (1923) which reached my hands after the present volume had been sent to the Press. The chief interest of this book as well as of Antoine Cabaton's "Nouvelles Recherches Sur les Chams (Paris, 1901)" and Aymonier's article referred to above, seems to lie in the light which they throw on the social customs and religious practices of the modern Chams.

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³ "Les Tchames et leurs religious" in "Revue de l' histoire des religions, 1891,"

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⁴ La Religion des Chams d' apres les monuments etc. B. E. F. Vol. I, p 12.

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By a proper utilisation of all these sources, both primary and secondary, I have tried to build up a picture of the ancient history and civilisation of Champa, one of the many kingdoms founded by the Hindus in that far-off region. I propose to write the history of the other colonial kingdoms as well, in order to complete the story of Greater India. But as these might yet take a long time, I propose to discuss here very briefly two important questions of a general nature which affect the study of Indian colonisation in the Far East. These are: (I) the part or parts of India from which Indian colonists proceeded to the Far East and the route which they followed; and (II) an approximate idea of the time when these colonial enterprises were first undertaken.

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I. As to the routes, the Aryans seem to have proceeded both by land and sea. Regarding the sea-route, there seems to have been emigration both from eastern as well as the western coast. From a very early period there was a regular trade intercourse between the coast of Bengal and the Far East. In the Mahājanaka Jātaka reference is made to voyages between Champa and Suvaṇṇabhūmi. Similarly passengers from distant inland cities like Patna and Benares travelled to the coast of Bengal by land or by water, and then sailed in open sea for eastern islands, Tāmralipti (modern Tamluk) being the most important sea-port.¹

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¹ Cf. Mahajanaka Jataka, No. 5319, VI, 30 ff. Samudda-Vanija Jataka, No. 466. IV, 158 ff. Buddhaghosa's Introduction to Samanta-Pasadika, Vinaya Texts, Vol. III p. 3388.

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There was a similar trade-route between the Kalinga-coast and the Far East. This is referred to by Ptolemy. The ships started from Gopalpur, just a little below the mouth of the Ganjam river, and crossed the Bay of Bengal.²

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² Gerini-Researches on Ptolemy's Geography. p. 743.

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We learn from the Periplus that there was another trade-route from three harbours on the Eastern coast near Masulipatam across the Bay of Bengal to the Eastern Peninsula.³ ous regions of the upper valleys of the Irawaddy, the Salween, the Mekong and the Red River as far as Yunnan. It is a well-known practice for colonists to name the new country after famous places in their mother land. We get a number of instances in Burma and Indo-China too well known to be repeated here. But the same spirit is also observable in the north-western regions. Yunnan was called Gāndhāra, and even as late as the 13th century A. D. Rasiduddin referred to this province by its Indian name. It may be observed that Yunnan, roughly speaking, occupied the same position in respect of Indo-China as Gāndhāra did in respect of India.

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³ Schoff's edition, p. 46.

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The Hindus established in Yunnan the kingdom of Nan-Chao or Tali in the upper valleys of the Mekong and the Red-River. According to local traditions, the third son of king Aśoka had nine grandsons who became the progenitors not only of the people of Nan-chao, but also of the Tibetans, the Chinese, the Annamites, the Singhalese etc. Whatever we may think of this story there cannot be any doubt about a strong Indian element in the population. Rasiduddin, writting as late as the 13th century, has remarked that the population of Yunnan originated from the Indian and the Chinese. Pelliot, too, has brought together a number of facts bearing upon the question of Hindu influence in the country. The king had the title Mahārāja and the people probably used an alphabet of Hindu origin. It was a great centre of Buddhism. According to local traditions, Avalokiteśvara came directly from Central India to convert it. There is a tradition that towards the close of the 8th century A. D. when the king of the country was inclined towards the Chinese civilisation he was abused by seven religious person of India. Buddhism had a strong hold in this region and we find the Pippala cave, the Bodhi tree, the Gṛdhrakūṭa, the Kukkuṭapādagiri, the stone mansion of Upagupta and the stūpa containing the relics of Ānanda— all appearing again in the neighbourhood of Nan-Chao. In the first half of the 9th century A. D. a Hindu Bhikṣu of Magadha named Chandragupta led a brilliant career of Thaumaturgist in Yunnan.

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There were two other Hindu kingdoms between Nan-Chao and the Indian frontier. To the east of the mountain ranges that border Manipur and Assam there was the Brāhmaṇa kingdom of Ta-tsin. About 150 miles further east, beyond the Chindwin river, was another Brāhmaṇa kingdom just to the north of the town of Ngan-si. Thus we find Hindu settlements all along the hilly tracts between the frontiers of India and China, in the upper valleys of the Chindween, Irawaddy, Salween, Mekong and Red Rivers. That the Indians proceeded towards the south along these rivers is also fairly certain. The kingdoms they established in Burma at Prome, Tagaung, Lower Pugan and other places are too well-known to be described in detail. There are indications that similar Hindu kingdoms existed in the Laos country. It was formerly known as Mālava-deśa. Ptolemy refers to its eastern part (mod. Luang Phrah Bang) as Dasana, which, as Gerini thinks, is probably derived from the Indian name Daśārṇa. Gerini suggests that as the original Daśārṇa in India denoted the eastern part of Mālava, it was, by analogy, given in Further India to the corresponding portion of the Indo-Chinese Mālava i. e. Eastern Laos. Gerini has traced the Indian origin of many other place-names in Indo-China and has collected many traditions about the Indian colonists associated with those places. He has summed up his observations in the following sentence:—

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"From the Brahmaputra and Manipur to the Tonkin gulf we can trace a continuous string of petty states ruled by those scions of the Kṣatriya race, using the Sanskrit or the Pāli languages in official documents, after the Indū style and employing Brāhmaṇa priests for the propitiatory ceremonies connected with the Court and State. Among such Indū monarchies we may mention those of Tagong, upper Pugān, and Sen-wī, in Burma; of Muang Hāng, Chieng Rung Muang Khwān, and Daśārṇa (Luang Phrah Bang) in the Lāu country; and of Agranagara (Hanoi) and Champā in Tonkin and Annam.”¹

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¹ Gerini, op, Cit, pp. 122-123.

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Although some of the conclusions of Gerini are based on mere philological grounds which are not always very reliable, the facts stated above make it quite clear that there were a good many Hindu kingdoms in the interior of Indo-China which was not easily accessible by sea, and which must therefore have been reached by the Indians through land-route. On the whole strong and conclusive evidence supports the hypothesis, advanced long ago by Sir Arthur Phayre and recently advocated by Gerini, viz. ‘that a double stream of emigrants from India flowed into Indo-China at a very early period’—one, proceeding from the north advanced overland, through Bengal and Assam, along the valleys of the Chindween, Irawady, Salween and Mekong, while the other reached Indo-China by sea. The colonists who proceeded by sea established the famous kingdoms of Champā (mod. Annam) and Kāmboja (Cambodia) in addition to many other notable kingdoms in lower Burma, Malay Peninsula and the islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Bali etc. Gerini and other scholars have held that only the Indians of the Malabar and Coromandel coasts colonised Indo-China by the sea-route. But there is nothing to support this view. As has been said above, Bengal undoubtedly played a great part in this colonisation through its well-frequented harbour Tāmralipti.

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So far at least as the few historical evidences go, they prove a close association of Bengal with Indian colonies in south and east throughout the Hindu period.

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Reference has already been made to the Buddhist stories about the voyage of merchants from Champā and Tāmralipti to Suvarṇabhūmi. We know from the Chinese records that the king of Fou-Nan (comprising Cambodia and Cochin-China) sent an ambassador to India about 240-245 A. D. and that the embassy reached the mouth of the Ganges at the end of a year. In the fifth century A. D. a king of Champā called Gaṅgārāja abdicated the throne and went over to India in order to spend his last days on the banks of the Ganges. It appears from the writings of Fa-Hien and I-Tsing that there was a regular maritime intercourse between the coast of Bengal and the Far East, including eastern Islands, between fifth and seventh centuries A. D. In the ninth century we find an intimate relation existing between the king of Sumatra-Java and Devapāla.¹ The Tibetan annals tell us that during Nayapāla's reign Buddhist Bhikkhus proceeded to Suvarṇadvipa for education. In the thirteenth century A. D. we find a queen of Champā called Gauḍendralakṣmi (probably a princess of Gauḍa). All these evidences certainly show a far more intimate connection between Bengal and Indian colonies than has yet been recognised.

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¹ Nalanda copperplate of Devapala-Ep. Ind. Vol. XVII, p. 310.

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Further, most of the traditions preserved in the different colonies refer to their original home as situated in Northern India. It is true that the traditions have very little value as historical facts. But it is impossible to ignore altogether the general view-point of all these stories regarding the original home of the colonists and the methods of colonisation. Some of these stories are given below.

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According to Burmese tradition, a Śākya chief of Kapilāvastu came with an army to the country of the middle Irawaddy, long before Buddha was born. The dynasty he founded ruled for 31 generations in Burma when they were overthrown by an invasion of an eastern tribe coming apparently from China. About this time there came a second band of immigrant Kṣatriyas from Gangetic India. Their chief married the widowed queen of the last king of the previous dynasty and established a new kingdom. This was the origin of the ruling dynasty of Upper Burma.¹

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¹ Phayre-History of Burma, pp. 7 ff.

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According to the traditions of Arakan the first king of the province was the son of a king of Benares who settled at Rāmāvatī a name which still exists in a corrupted form Rāmbyi or Ramri.² The Cambodian annals explain the origin of the kingdom of Cambodia in the following way:—

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² Ibid p. 12.

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“Adityavaṃśa, king of Indraprastha, was displeased with one of his sons and banished him from the state. He came to the country of Kok Thlok and made himself master of it by defeating the native king. One evening he was walking on a sand bank when suddenly the tide arose and obliged him to pass the night there. A Nāgī of marvellous beauty came to play on the sand and the king, overpowered by her charm, agreed to marry her. Then the Nāgarāja, the father of the betrothed girl, extended the dominions of his would be son-in-law by drinking the water which covered the country, built a capital for him and changed the name of the kingdom into that of Kāmboja.”

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The same tradition, in a changed form, occurs in an inscription of Champā dated 657 A. D. (No. 12). Speaking of the origin of Cambodge it says.

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"It was there that Kauṇḍinya, the foremost among Brāhmaṇas, planted the spear which he had obtained from Droṇa's son Aśvatthāmā the best of Brāhmaṇas. Kauṇḍinya married the daughter of the Nāga king named Somā and from this union sprang up the royal race."

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A still earlier version of the story, current as early as the first half of the third century A. D., occurs in a Chinese history compiled at the beginning of the sixth century. Referring to Fou-Nan, a kingdom comprising modern Cochin China, Cambodia and part of Siam and Laos, it says.

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"Formerly the country was ruled by a queen called Lieou-ye. Then there was a man of the country of Ki called Houen-t'ien who saw in a dream that a spirit gave him a bow and asked him to take to sea in a junk. Houen-t'ien went in the morning to the temple of the Deity and found the bow at the foot of a tree. Then he got into a junk and sailed to Fou-Nan. The queen Lieou-ye saw the junk and collected her soldiers to resist him. But Houen-t'ien raised his bow and shot from afar an arrow which passed through the side of a ship and struck somebody in the interior. Lieou-ye was struck with terror and submitted and Houen-t'ien married her."¹

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¹ Melanges Sylvain Levi, p. 203.

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Now Houen-t'ien is an exact Chinese transcription of Kauṇḍinya and we know from another Chinese version of the story that he practised the Brāhmaṇic cult. This story is therefore the earliest of the different versions and it must be noticed that it is the most credible of them all. It explains, in a quite natural manner, the conquest of Fou-Nan by Indians by means of superior military power, and the social alliance between the new-comers and the old settlers. It may be added that the tradition of their origin was faithfully kept by the later kings who called themselves as "Śrī-Kauṇḍinya-Somaduhitṛprabhavāḥ" or as belonging to 'Soma-Kauṇḍinya Vaṃśa'. Somā, the female originator of the race, being the daughter of Soma, the dynasty was also called 'Soma-Vaṃśa.' No doubt this appellation was to a great extent inspired by the Indian tradition of the great Somavaṃśa. As a proof of this we find an attempt on the part of the rival Cambodian kings to trace their descent from Sūryavaṃśa. According to legend they were descended from Maharsi Kambu Svāyambhuva, belonging to solar race, and the Apsarā Merā. Thus Jayavarman II a king in the 9th century A. D. is called in his inscription "Śrī-Kambu-Bhūbhṛd-iṇa-vaṃśa-lalāma-goptā' or guardian of the best solar race of king Śrī-Kambu". Sūryavarman I of the eleventh century is called 'Sūryavaṃśajo' VIII and Jayavarman of the 12th century 'aṃśumāli-vaṃśodbhavo.' But this tradition about Sūryavaṃśa apparently had no strong hold on the people, for generally the kings of Cambodge adopted the tradition of Fou-Nan and called themselves descendants of Kauṇḍinya and Somā and as such belonging to Somavaṃśa¹

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¹ Ibid pp. 205-212.

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II. The facts and legends quoted above unmistakably prove the Indian colonisation of the territories named at a very early date. If we now seek to find out more precisely the time when these colonies were established we find ourselves in great difficulty in the absence of any definite evidence. The utmost that we can do is to lay down a time limit before which these colonies were accomplished facts. Four different lines of evidence point out the first two centuries of the Christian era as this limit. In the first place, Ptolemy, writing about the middle of the second century A. D., has used quite a large number of geographical names of Sanskrit origin in Indo-China.

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Secondly, when the Chams or the people of Annam appear in history towards the close of the second century of our era, they were already under a Hindu or Hinduised dynasty, and the inscription of Vo-chanh, written in correct Sanskrit about the second or third century A. D., shows them to have already thoroughly imbibed the Indian civilisation.

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Now the royal author of the Vo-chanh inscription at Champā calls himself the descendant of Śrī Māra. On the other hand the Chinese refer to the foundation of the kingdom of Champā at 192 A. D. by one whose personal name was Lien and family name Kiu. It is probable that Śrī-Māra was the same person as Kiu-Lien, but whether this is true or not, we know of the definite establishment of a Hindu kingdom in Annam about second century A. D.¹

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¹ See below pp. 18, 21.

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Thirdly, the Chinese had intercourse with the Hindu kingdom of Fou-Nan in the first half of the third century A. D. At that time the throne was occupied by an usurper, and two kings had ruled before him for a period of 93 years. This takes us back to the first half of the second century A. D. as the date of the foundation of the royal dynasty.

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Fourthly, an ambassador from one of the smaller Hindu kingdoms, Lang-ya-sieou ( identified with Tenasserim ), who visited the Chinese court in 515 A. D. is reported to have said that their kingdom was founded more than four hundred years ago.²

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² Bulletin de l' Ecole Francaise d' Extreme Orient 1912, No. 3 pp. 3 ff.

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All these evidences agree in referring the beginnings of Indian colonial kingdoms to a period not later than the second century A. D.

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But although this may be regarded as the lower limit of the date by which Indians had established kingdoms in these distant colonies, it should by no means be regarded as the upper limit also. The very fact that the easternmost part of these colonies, *viz.* Annam, came under the sway of the Indians not later than the second century A. D. would naturally push back by a few centuries the date of the beginnings of political activity of the Indian colonists in these regions. Further, colonisation, as distinguished from the establishment of political authority, would be pushed back still further.

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About the time when the Indians gradually penetrated into Burma and countries further east these were settled by savage tribes. Those in Burma were Mongoloid in character. and akin to the present tribes of Abors and Mishmis. The people of Indo-China and of the islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo were Malayo-Polynesian or Austro-nesian in character. "In native traditions the early inhabitants of the coast, specially near the mouth of the Salween river, are represented as savages, called in Burmese Bilu, the equivalent of Rākṣasa. They rejected all intercourse with civilised men and even Gautama himself who, it is fabled, came to the country was stoned and driven away by them." The Chinese also speak of the people of Annam in the same strain. 'They are' we are told 'so savage that they do not know cultivation and live by fishing and hunting alone. They are turbulent people who frequently rise in revolt, invade the Chinese official quarters, burn pillage and massacre wherever they go, and take refuge in their impenetrable forests whenever they are attacked by a strong army.',²

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It was the mission of Indian colonists to bring this heterogeneous mass of barbarians within the pale of civilisation, a task which the Chinese, their next-door neighbours, had hitherto failed to accomplish.

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¹ Phayre-History of Burma, p. 27.

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As a matter of fact the political conquest of Further India and the adjacent islands was rapidly followed by a complete cultural conquest. The local people readily assimilated the new civilisation and adopted the religion, art, social manners and customs, alphabet, literature, laws and administrative system of the conquerors. This will be amply evident from the picture of civilisation in Champā contained in Book II of the present volume.

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In short Indian civilisation made a thorough conquest of these lands and a new India was established in that far-off region. The Indian colonists even tried to complete the transformation by importing celebrated place-names of their motherland into their new home, and thus we find new towns and countries called Ayodhyā, Kauśāmbi, Śrikṣetra, Dvārāvati, Mathurā, Champā, Kaliṅga, Kāmboja and Gāndhāra springing up hundreds of miles away from their name-sakes.

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The question naturally arises, what became of this splendid civilisation. The answer is not difficult. So long as the Hindu dynasties were in power the civilisation flourished. It is interesting to note that for nearly three centuries after India was conquered by the Muhammadans the banner of Hindu independence was hoisted up in those far-off lands. But like a fountain with a dried up spring these colonies decayed with the downfall of their motherland. Gradually the savage tribes from the north, like the Thais, the Laos and the Annamites, which were hitherto kept in check, overran these countries and destroyed the Hindu dynasties after they had gloriously ruled for nearly 1300 years. The result was very striking in the domain of art. As a distinguished writer has observed: ‘For nearly thirteen hundred years the Indian colonists had persevered in adorning these far-off lands with edifices almost unrivalled elsewhere of their class. But at the end of that time, as happened in India, they disappear as if at the touch of a magician’s wand.’ The case of Java is a typical one. In the year 1479 the last Hindu dynasty was overthrown and Fergusson describes the sequel in the following words. "Then occurred what was, perhaps, the least expected event in all this strange eventful history. It is as if the masons had thrown away their tools and the chisels had dropped from the hands of the carvers. From that time forward no building was erected in Java and no image carved, that is worth even a passing notice."¹ What is true of art is also true of other elements of civilisation. From the 15th century onwards the barbarian tribes occupied Further India and destroyed the civilisation which their Hindu predecessors had built up with so much toil. But some vestiges of the old civilisation still remain to this day. The island of Bali still follows the Hindu religion and only a few years ago a great Hindu sacrifice was performed there with due pomp and ceremony. In Cambodian palace the sword of Indra is still guarded with veneration and brought out on occasions of royal consecration when a handful of Hindu priests, the last remnant of a dignified body, pour holy waters over the head of the king. The stories of Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata still form the themes of their literary works and are regularly staged to the accompaniment of dances and songs. A handful of Brāhmaṇas still maintain a precarious existence in the Far East. But while all these serve as gratifying reminiscence of a glorious past, there is no longer any living connection between India and her forgotten colonial empire. Strange as it may seem, the descendants of men who founded that empire abandoned sea-voyage as something unholy and thus an impassable barrier was created between the Hindus and their brethren of the Far East. But whatever the modern Hindus might think of it, the historian now realises, that one of the most splendid, though yet unwritten, chapters of Indian history is the story of the growth of a new India in the Far East.

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¹ Fergusson-History of Indian and and Eastern Architecture Vol. II, p. 421.

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