Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v1.c7.s3: Chapter III. Early Hindu Dynasties
Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champā; Vol. II: Suvarṇadvīpa) v1.c7.s3
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Chapter III. Early Hindu Dynasties
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The successful raids into the Chinese territory and the establishment of a powerful kingdom testify to the growth of a new spirit in the Chams towards the second century A. D. This is easily explained by epigraphic records. The Vo-Chanh Rock Inscription (No. 1) refers to the royal family of Śrī Māra, and its royal author is styled as the "delight of the family of Śrī Māra". The inscription is not dated, but may be referred, on palaeographic grounds, to the second or third century A. D. Thus a Hindu or Hinduised dynasty was founded by Śrī Māra in the second century A. D., and it was ruling over the region, later known as Kauthāra, about the second or third century A. D.
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The coincidence in date makes it almost certain that the regeneration of the Cham power in the second century A. D. was due to the introduction of a new element in her politics, Viz. the Indian colonists.
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From this time forward until the conquest of the country by the Annamites in the 15th. century A. D. the Chams, as such, never played any distinctive part in the political history of the country. They cheerfully submitted to their foreign masters and adopted their manners, customs, language and religion. They were politically merged in the Indian elements and there was a complete cultural fusion between the two races.
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The Indians must have been acquainted with Champā by way of trade and commerce, long before they established their political supremacy in that region. The general question about the nature and antiquity of Indian colonisation in the Far East will be fully discussed elsewhere. Here we may confine ourselves to the traditions which the later Hindu kings of Champā preserved about their origin. The Dong Duong (No. 31) Stelæ Inscription of Indravarman II., dated 797 Śaka, describes how Uroja, apparently the first king, was sent to the earth by Śiva himself. Three other inscriptions (Nos. 22, 29 A, and 71) refer to a king Vicitra-Sagara who flourished in the year 5911 of the Dvāpara age or about 1,779,357 B. C. Uroja is evidently a mythical conception and Vicitra-Sagara, too, belongs to the same category.
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The first historical Hindu King, so far known, is, however, Śrī Māra who, as we have seen above, established a dynasty about the second century A.D. Maspero has proposed to identify this Śrī-Māra with the Kiu Lien of the Chinese history referred to above. This is probable, but there is as yet no evidence in support of it.
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Nothing is known about the early Hindu kings of Champā, but the troublesome events in China which brought about the downfall of the imperial Han dynasty in 220 A. D. must have offered them a splendid opportunity to extend and consolidate their kingdom. The dismemberment of the Chinese empire into three parts (220-265 A.D.) emboldened them to cross the frontier and carry their raids far into the Chinese territory. Some time between 220 and 230 A.D. the king of Champā sent a diplomatic mission to the Governor of Kiao-Tche on the invitation of the latter; nevertheless, in 248 A.D. the Cham army made a naval attack, ravaged even the provincial capital, Kiao-tche (Hanoi) with several other towns, and defeated the fleet that was sent against them. At last a treaty was concluded by which the district of K'iu-Sou corresponding to Modern Thua-Thien was ceded to Champā¹.
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¹ According to M. Aurousseau the whole of Cheou-ling was ceded to Champa (Ibid p. 27), but Maspero is of opinion that only the the southern part of the district, including the capital K'iu-sou was ceded to the Chams, the northern
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The Chinese history has preserved the names of several kings of this period. Each of these names begins with Fan, probably corresponding to ‘Varman’, which was the epithet of every Cham king in later times.¹ King Fan Hiong who succeeded to the throne of Champā sometime between 270 and 280 A.D. was probably a descendant of Śrī Māra by the female line. He continued the policy of extending the Cham territory to the north at the cost of the Chinese. He allied himself with the king of Fou-Nan (in Cambodia) for this purpose, and continually ravaged the Chinese possessions in Tonkin. For ten years the struggle went on, and the Chinese were reduced to great straits. At last peace was established in 280 A.D., probably on terms unfavourable to the Chinese.
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¹ B. E. F. vol. IV, p. 194.
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Fan-Yi, the son of Fan Hiong, succeeded him on the throne. He had a long and peaceful reign and devoted his energies to increasing the military power and strengthening the defensive works of the kingdom. He was the first Cham king to send an embassy to the Imperial court of China (284 A.D.).
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Fan-Yi died in 336 A.D.² On his death the throne was usurped by his commander-in-chief Fan Wen. Wen is said to have been originally a Chinese slave and owed his fortune to miracles.³ It appears that he enjoyed the complete confidence of his royal master, and taking advantage of his old age
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² According to some authorities, in 331 A. D., (B. E. F. vol. IV p. 382, fn (5). ).
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³ cf. the story as given in B. E. F. vol. XIV, No. 9, p 17.
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part still remaining in the hands of the Chinese; this portion of Cheou-ling together with Wou-lao were conquered by Champa in the time of Fan Wen.
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B. E. F. vol. XVII, No. 3, pp. 24-25.
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induced him to exile one of his two sons. The other, too, forestalled his fate, and left the kingdom. Thus when the king died, the legitimate heirs were far away. But Wen found them out and had them poisoned. After thus removing all possible claimants, he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself king of Champā.
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Wen was a capable ruler and soon made himself the undisputed master of the whole kingdom by defeating the savage tribes who formed independent states within the kingdom. In 340 he sent an envoy to the Chinese emperor with a request that the Hoan Sonh mountains should be recognized as the frontier between the two states.¹ This would have meant the cession of the fertile province of Nhu't-Nam (corresponding to Thua Thien, Quang Tri and Quang Binh) to Champā and naturally the Chinese emperor refused the request. But Wen decided to take by force what he could not gain by diplomacy. The people of Nhu't-Nam were mutinous on account of the exactions of the Chinese governor. Taking advantage of this situation Fan Wen led an expedition in 347 A.D., and conquered Nhu't-Nam. He killed the governor of the district and made an offering of his body in an expiatory sacrifice. The Chinese governor made great preparations against Wen, but the latter took the offensive and captured Cu'n Duc, putting to death a large number of Chinese soldiers who garrisoned it (348 A.D.). In 349 he again defeated a vast Chinese army; but he was himself wounded in the fight, and died the same year. Fan Wen thus carried his conquests to the "Porte de Annam", and the kingdom of Champā now exactly corresponded to the old Chinese province of Je-Nan, and reached its furthest limit to the north.
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¹ Either on this or on another occasion Fan Wen wrote a letter to the Chinese emperor in Indian characters.
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Wen was succeeded by his son Fan Fo (349-80 A. D.). He wanted to emulate his father's exploits and laid siege to the chief town of the Chinese district of Cu'u-Chon. He was, however, defeated and had to accept a disgraceful treaty in 351. But within a short time he again renewed hostilities. In 353 the Chinese sent another expedition against him and reconquered Nhut-Nam. But the struggle did not end there. As soon as the Chinese returned to their country the Chams renewed their excursions. At last the Chinese inflicted a severe defeat upon Fan Fo in 358 and advanced upto the very walls of the city of Champa. In 359 a treaty was concluded by which the district of Nhut Nam, as far as the Bay of On Cang, was ceded to the Chinese. Fan Fo faithfully observed the treaty till his death in 380, and sent his ambassadors with tribute to the Chinese Emperor in 372 and again in 377.
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Fan-Hou-ta, the son of Fan Fo, was very young when he ascended the throne on the death of his father in 380. But as soon as he came to age he revived the ambitious project of his father. The whole of his reign was an almost unceasing struggle against the Chinese. The times were favourable to him. The imperial Tsin dynasty was in a decadent condition, and revolts broke out throughout the Chinese empire. So Fan-Hou-ta scored some successes at first. He not only recovered Nhut Nam but carried his arms even further to the north, as far as Than Hoa. But in 413 A. D., Tou Houei-tou, the Chinese governor of Kiao-tche (Hanoi), arrived at Kieou-tchen (Than-hoa) and defeated Fan-Hou-ta in a pitched battle. Two (or one according to some version) sons of the latter fell into his hands and were beheaded. Tou-Houei-tou then laid siege to Than-hoa. He occupied the top of the hills overlooking the city and barricaded the course of the river by means of hedges of trees. Exciting attacks and counter-attacks took place almost under the ramparts of the city, and the Chinese governor retreated, after killing and wounding lots of enemies, but without apparently being able to take the city.¹
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¹ This interesting information is furnished by Lin-yi-ki, a text composed probably towards the close of the fifth century A. D.
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The end of Fan-Hou-ta is not known with certainty. There is no doubt that he was a great general and increased the power and prestige of his kingdom to a very great extent, after the late reverses. One of the most important works done by him was the fortification of the city of Kiu-sou which the Chams had conquered in 248 A. D. The identification of the city of Kiu-sou had long been a difficult problem. But M. Aurousseau is probably right in his hypothesis that it occupied the site which is now covered by ruins immediately to the south-east of Hue. This city occupied a very important position from the point of view of military strategy. It was situated between two rivers which met at the foot of its ramparts, and was surrounded by high hills on three sides. Situated 400 li (about 70 miles) to the north of the capital, it commanded the route which every Chinese army had to follow in an expedition against Champā. Fan-Hou-ta fully realised the importance of the city and converted it into one of the strongest citadels in his kingdom. For obvious reasons the citadel of Kiu-sou, which was renamed by the Chams as Si-Kiuan, figures largely in the Chinese historical texts. These give a very graphic description of the fortified city. The ramparts round the city, we are told, measured more than a mile, and had thirteen gates. The plinth of these remparts was made of a brick course, 20 feet deep. Upon this was raised a brick wall 10 feet high, pierced by square loopholes. Upon the bricks rested five-storeyed wooden structures supporting high towers on their roofs. The height of these towers varied between 50 and 80 feet. The outer walls of the fortified city nearly touched the mountains which were covered with thick impenetrable forest. On account of its military strength the warmaterials of the kingdom of Champā were stored in this city.
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Maspero has suggested the identification of Fan-Hou-ta with king Bhadravarman. This is probable but not certain. Bhadravarman is the author of two inscriptions (Nos. 2 and 4) and three other inscriptions (nos. 3, 5 and 6) also probably belong to his reign. On palæographical grounds these inscriptions have been referred to the 5th century A.D. and this agrees well with the reign-period of Fan-Hou-ta. That the latter set the fashion of engraving records on stone clearly follows from the Chinese accounts. For we are told that close to the eastern gate of his capital there was a Stelæ containing a record of his glory in barbarous character (i.e., the Indian alphabet as modified in Champā).
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Whatever we might think of this identification, Bhadravarman must be regarded as one of the most important kings in ancient Champā. His full name was Dharma-mahārāja Śrī Bhadravarman. The findspots of his inscriptions show that he ruled over at least the northern and central portion of the kingdom, the provinces of Amarāvatī and Vijaya. There are, however, reasons to suppose that his kingdom also included the southern province of Pāṇḍuraṅga. But the famous work, by which he was destined to be immortal, was the erection of a temple to Śiva, under the name of Bhadreśvarasvāmī, at Myson. This temple became the national sanctuary of the Chams, and the practice he thus set on foot of calling the tutelary deity by the name of the reigning king, came to be almost universally adopted in later times. We shall have occasion to refer to this temple of Bhadreśvarasvāmī again and again in course of the history of Champā. Bhadravarman made an endowment of lands to this temple and their boundaries are given in 3 inscriptions (Nos. 4, 5 and 7) as follows: "To the east, the Sulaha mountain, to the south the Great mountain, to the west, the Kucoka mountain, and to the north, the Great River". The great river is of course the "Song-Thu-bon" and this shows that the boundaries described are not of the temple and its surroundings, as was formerly supposed, but of the lands granted to it.¹ King Bhadravarman seems to have been a scholar and it is expressly laid down in the inscription no. 4 that he was versed in the four Vedas.
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¹ The northern boundary, leading to the important conclusion noted in the text, is given only in the inscription No. 5 (cf. B. E. F. vol XVIII, No. 10, p. 14). For the detailed regulations of the endowment cf. Ins. No. 4.
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According to the Chinese accounts.² Fan-Hou-ta was succeeded in 413 by his son Ti-Tchen. We are told that Ti-Kai, the brother of this king, fled with his mother, and the king could not induce them to come back. Grieved at heart, he abdicated the throne in favour of his nephew and himself went to India. The departure of the king was followed by anarchy and civil war in Champā. Ti Kai thereupon came back and claimed the throne from his nephew who was designated as his successor by Ti-Tchen. Wen-Ti, a brother of Ti-Kai by the same mother but a different father, and the minister Tsang Yin joined the combat. Civil war followed and led to murders and rapid successions to the throne till the dynasty was dispossessed of the kingdom of Champā after a reign of about 80 years (336-420 A.D.).
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² The Chinese accounts regarding the period that followed the death of Fan-Hou-ta are very conflicting cf. B. E. F. vol. IV, p. 382, fn (9).
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Maspero has suggested the identification of Ti-Tchen with the king Gangārāja who is mentioned in inscription No. 12 as having abdicated the throne in order to spend his last days on the Ganges. The abdication of the throne and retirement to India are certainly very striking coincidences, and the identification, although by no means certain, is undoubtedly very probable.
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The civil war was brought to an end by the accession of Fan Yang Mai (420? A D.). His origin is unknown but he is said to have been a son of Fan-Hou-ta, probably by a mother of inferior rank. The relations between China and Champā were not interrupted by the civil war. The Chams carried on their usual raids into the Chinese territory, attended by pillage, massacre and horrible cruelties. In the year 420 the Chinese inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Chams, and the following year Yang Mai sent an ambassador to the Imperial Court with a request that his title of king of Champā be recognised by the Chinese Emperor. Yang Mai no doubt took this step to ensure his position in the newly gained kingdom, and his example was followed by many of his successors.
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Yang Mai died within a few years and was succeeded by his son Tou who assumed the name of his father. The usual frontier raids against the Chinese territory continued, and in 431 he sent more than 100 vessels to pillage the coast of Nhu't Nam and Cu'u Cho'n. This provoked the Chinese governor who sent a strong expedition both by land and sea against Champā. The Chinese army besieged K'iu-sou. Yang Mai II had gone to marry. He hurried back by way of sea and fell in with the Chinese fleet. His chief pilot was struck down by an arrow and his fleet dispersed, pursued by the Chinese. The Chinese fleet, however, could not follow up the victory on account of bad weather, and retreated. Consequently their army had also to raise the siege and fall back (431 A.D.).
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Yang Mai was, however, elated with the result of the battle and his ambition knew no bounds. In 433 A. D. he sent an envoy to the Chinese emperor asking to be appointed the governor of Kiao Tcheou. This would have virtually meant the cession of the province of Tonkin and was of course refused. Irritated at the refusal, Yang Mai redoubled his efforts against Kiao Tcheou and hardly a year passed without an invasion of the district by his troops. All the while, however, he continued to pay his tribute regularly to the Chinese emperor.
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The Chinese emperor now decided to bring his turbulent vassal to sense by another military expedition. The preparations took three years, and in 446 A. D. the Chinese army under T'an Ho-Tche invaded Champa. Terror now seized Yang Mai II and he proposed a humiliating peace to the Chinese emperor. The emperor accepted his offer and sent instructions to his commander to conclude a treaty, if he found Yang Mai sincere in his desire for peace. The commander accordingly sent some of his officers to Yang Mai to treat with him. In the meantime the war-party in the court, which had lost its influence on the approach of the Chinese army, regained its power and prevailed upon the king to reject the proposals of peace. Yang Mai accordingly put the Chinese envoys to prison and sent back one of them to carry the news to their commander.
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The Chinese general at once advanced and laid seige to Kiu-sou¹ the principal stronghold of Champa. Yang Mai sent an army in aid of Fan Fou Long who defended the place, but although the Chams scored some successes at first, the Chinese ultimately captured the stronghold. The general Fan Fou Long was beheaded and all the inhabitants above the age of 15 were put to the sword. The palace halls were inundated with blood and heaps of dead bodies covered the court-yard. An immense booty of gold, silver and various other precious objects was gained by the victors.
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¹ For a description of Kiu-sou see above, pp. 26-27.
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The Chinese continued their advance and were at last met by Yang Mai himself at the head of an immense host. Yang Mai placed a large number of elephants in front of his army. This terrified the Chinese soldiers. But the ingenuity of a Chinese general saved the situation. He prepared numerous figures of lions by means of bamboos and papers, and these were thrown before the elephants. The latter took fright and fled, and in so doing threw into confusion and disorder the very army they were intended to protect. Yang Mai suffered a most terrible defeat and fled from the battlefield with his son. The victorious Chinese general T'an Ho Tche then entered the capital Champāpura in triumph and obtained a rich booty of very precious objects. The whole country was occupied, all the temples were sacked, and their statues were melted for the metals contained in them. About 100,000 pounds of pure gold were obtained from this source. The Chinese victory was complete.
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After the retreat of the Chinese army Yang Mai came back to his capital. But the city was in ruins and Yang Mai died in a broken heart in 446 A.D.¹
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¹ G. Maspero puts the date wrongly as 443. (T'oung Pao 1910, p. 499).
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Fan Yang Mai II was succeeded by his son and grandson. The latter, named Fan Chen Tch'eng,² pursued a policy of peace and sent tributes to the Chinese emperor on at least three different occasions, in 455, 458 and 472 A.D. The tributes were very rich and the emperor was pleased to confer high honours and titles on the ambassador.
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² cf. T'oung Pao, 1910, p. 499 fn. (4).
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The death of Fan Chen Tch'eng was followed by a troublesome period. Taking advantage of this a man called Fan Tang-Ken-Tch'ouen or Kieou Tch'eou Lo usurped the kingdom. He was the son of Jayavarman king of Fou-Nan. He had committed some crime in his country, and, fleeing from the wrath of his royal father, took refuge in Champā. King Jayavarman could ill brook the success of his son in the foreign land. He sent the Bhikṣu Śākya Nāgasena to the Chinese Emperor in order to complain against the usurper and ask the aid of imperial troops to punish him. The long letter which Jayavarman addressed to the Chinese emperor on this occasion, explaining the measures he proposed to adopt for driving his son out of Champā, is a very interesting reading.¹ It shows that the Chinese emperor was tacitly looked upon as the sovereign authority by all the states in the Far East, and whatever the amount of actual control possessed by him, he never ceased to exercise a political influence upon them all. Jayavarman's endeavour, however, bore no fruit. The Chinese emperor received the embassy cordially and gave a very courteous reply, but he did not agree to meddle in the affairs of Champā. On the other hand the emperor recognised the usurper as the king of Champā and gave him high sounding honorary titles² by an Imperial Decree in 491 A.D. But the usurper was defeated and dethroned immediately after by Fan Tchou-Nong, great-grandson of Fan Yan Mai II. Fan Tchou-Nong was recognised by the Chinese emperor in 492 A.D., and received honorary titles like his predecessor¹, but his reign was short, and he died in 498 A.D., being drowned in the sea during a pleasure trip, or, according to some authorities, in course of a voyage to China. He sent ambassadors to the Chinese court in 492 and 495 A.D. Tchou-Nong was succeeded by his son, grandson and great-grandson, named respectively Fan Wen K'ouan or Fan Wen Ts'an, Fan T'ien K'ai (Devavarman?), and Vijayavarman. We do not know anything about them except that they sent embassies to China and received the same honorary titles from the emperor as their predecessors. The embassy of 502 A. D. was probably sent by Fan Wen K'ouan. Devavarman's embassies were dated 510, 512 and 514 A.D. Vijayavarman sent two embassies in 526 and 527 A.D.
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¹ The letter has been translated in full in Pelliot's "Le Fou-Nan" B. E. F., vol. III, pp. 257 ff.
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² These titles are: "General, Pacifier of the South, Commander-in-chief in all the military transactions on the Seacoast, King of Champa.
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¹ The first portion of the title was slightly changed in his case. It was "The Marshal, who maintains orders in the South".
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1. Śrī Māra or } (2nd C. A.D.) Kiu Lien . . .
2. Fan Hiong (c. 270-280 A.D.)
3. Fan-yi (c. 280 A.D.-336 A.D.) (Son of No. 2)
4. Fan Wen (336 A.D.-349 A.D.) (Commander-in-Chief of No. 3)
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5. Fan Fo (349-380 A.D.)
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6. Fan-Hou-Ta (Bhadravarman ?) (380-413 A.D.) (Son of No. 5)
7. Ti-Tchen (Gangārāja) (413-c. 415 A.D.) (Son of No. 6) (Civil War 415-420 A.D.)
8. Fan Yang Mai (420-c. 425 A.D. ?) (Son of No. 6 ?)
9. Fan Yang Mai II (c. 425-446 A.D.) (Son of No. 8)
10. Son of No. 9, name unknown (446-454 ?)
11. Fan Chen Tch'eng (c. 454-c. 480 A.D.) (Son of No. 10)
12. Kieou Tch'eou Lo (c. 480-491 A.D.) (Usurper)
13. Fan Tchou-Nong-( 491-498 A.D.) (Great-grandson of No. 9)
14. Fan Wen K'ouan (c. 500-c. 508 A.D.) (Son of No. 13)
15. Fan T'ien K'ai (Devavarman ?) (c. 508-c. 520 A.D.) (Son of No. 14)
16. Vijayavarman (c. 520 A.D.-c. 529 A.D.)
Cites (1)
- Vo-canh Rock Inscription — Sanskrit