Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v1.c7.s5: Chapter V
Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champā; Vol. II: Suvarṇadvīpa) v1.c7.s5
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Chapter V
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After Rudravarman II the kingdom of Champā passed on to a new dynasty. As all the inscriptions of this dynasty come from the Kauthāra region in the south, they probably originally belonged to that quarter. But from the very beginning they seem to have exercised suzerainty over the entire kingdom.
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The founder of this dynasty is named Prthivīndravarman.¹ A brief reference is made to him in the Glai Lamov Inscription (No. 24), vv 2-5. We are told that he ‘enjoyed the lands by having conquered all his enemies by his own power’. This seems to show that he owed the kingdom to his military genius. As we shall see, there are epigraphic references to more than one raid of Champā by the Javanese fleet within half a century of his accession. The Chinese history also contains reference to a raid as early as 767 A.D.¹ It is likely that the invasion of the Javanese fleet overthrew the last dynasty and Pṛthivīndravarman owed the kingdom to his success against these naval marauders. But whatever may be the circumstances to which he owed his throne, the inscription tells us that 'he enjoyed the whole of Campā' (No. 24 A. V. 3). The king is said to have destroyed all the thieves. This probably means that there were disorders consequent upon the overthrow of the last dynasty and king Pṛthivīndravarman effectively checked them. He enjoyed a long reign and died sometime before 774 A.D., the earliest known date of his successor king Satyavarman. King Satyavarman was the nephew (sister's son) of king Pṛthivīndravarman. He issued the Po-Nagar stelæ inscription (No. 22) and we know a great deal about him from the Glai Lamov Inscription (No. 24) of his younger brother Indravarman, and the Po-Nagar inscription of his sister's son, king Vikrāntavarman (No. 29 A.).
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¹ Maspero attributes the title “Rudraloka” to this king on the authority of Ins. No. 24, verse 5. This verse, however, merely says ‘that the king went to “Rudraloka” i.e, died, and I do not think that “Rudraloka” may be regarded as a posthumous title. (T’oung Pao. 1910, pp. 549-550). For a similar expression cf. verse 10, of the Glai Lamov Ins. (No. 24). Maspero further says that the throne was offered to Prthivīndravarman by the nobles, but I do not find any authority for this statement’ (Ibid). The verse (No. 31, B. VI) on which he relies is difficult to construe. I doubt if Prthivīndravarman of that verse can be taken to refer to a king of a different dynasty who died more than 100 years ago. But even then it does not justify Maspero’s assumption.
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¹ T'oung Pao, 1910 p. 550.
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The chief event in the reign of the king was the raid of the Javanese sea-men who devastated the land, and in particular destroyed a temple containing a Mukhaliṅga. There was a halo of sanctity around the temple as popular tradition ascribed its foundation to a king Vicitrasagara 'in the year 5911 of the Dvāpara Yuga' (No. 29). In the year 774 A. D. the Javanese—"vicious cannibals coming from other countries by means of ships,"—burnt this temple and carried away the image together with all the properties of the temple. King Satyavarmā pursued these marauders in his own ships and inflicted a crushing defeat upon them. But the object of the pursuit was not fully realised and king Satyavarman was very much dejected to learn that the Śivamukha, together with its property which was in the enemy ships, was thrown into water, and that the Śivaliṅga was destroyed (No. 22). The victorious king, unable to recover the old image, installed a new Śivamukhaliṅga, together with images of other deities, in the year 784 A. D. and gave rich endowments to the god. For this reason he came to be regarded as the second Vicitrasagara or an incarnation of that king.
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Conventional praises are bestowed on the king in verses 6-9 of the Glai Lamov Inscription (No. 24), but no other specific event of his reign is mentioned. We are expressly told in verse 10 of the same inscription that he died without reigning for a long time, and we may therefore put the end of king Satyavarman's reign shortly after 784 A. D. King Satyavarman was succeeded by his younger brother Indravarman. He is the author of the Yang Tikuh and Glai Lamov Inscriptions (Nos. 23 and 24) in which his glory is sung in most extravagant terms. He is said to have fought with many enemies and ruled over the whole of Champa.¹ The chief event in his reign, like that of his predecessor, was a raid of Javanese sea-men. In the year 787 A. D. they burnt the temple of Bhadrādhipatiśvara, a celebrated deity of the kingdom, who was regarded as having been established there for many thousands of years (No. 23). King Indravarman re-installed the deity under the name of Indrabhadreśvara, and endowed it with various treasures in the year 799 A. D. In addition to this, king Indravarman endowed many other pious establishments. He at first installed Indrabhogeśvara at Virapura. He then installed in the excellent house of Satyavarmā (i. e. in a temple erected by that king) the god Indraparameśvara, and endowed him with various riches in 801 A. D. Lastly, Indravarmā made a rich donation of all kinds of treasures to the god Śaṅkara-Nārāyaṇa (i. e. Śiva and Hari united in one body).
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¹ Maspero thinks that it is by defeating the enemies that he came to rule over Champa. That does not, however, seem to be a fair deduction from the vague general expression of his victory over enemies with which the two inscriptions abound.
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A verse in Yang Tikuh Inscription (No. 23, V. 3 and footnote) has been taken to mean that Indravarmā carried on wars in the north, north-east, east, south-east and south, and Maspero has based important conclusions upon it, locating the countries in the various directions implied in the passage. The verse does not, however, seem to bear that meaning at all.
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Indravarman renewed the relations with China and sent presents of rhinoceros and buffaloes to the emperor in 793 A. D.
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Indravarman was succeeded by his brother-in-law (sister's husband) Harivarman. His full name was Vira Jaya Śrī Harivarmadeva and he assumed the proud title of ‘Rājādhirāja Śrī-Champā-pura-Parameśvara’, king of kings, Lord of Champā. Three inscriptions of his time are known to us (Nos. 25-27). In one of them (No. 26) he is said to have defeated the Cinas. From the Chinese history we know that in January 803, a king of Champā conquered the two chinese districts of Hoan and Ai, and renewed the expedition again in 809 A.D. But the chinese governor forced him to retreat after inflicting a crushing defeat upon him, and wreaked his vengeance upon the people of the two districts who helped the king of Champā. The king referred to in the Chinese annals is almost certainly Harivarman, though it is not easy to decide what was the extent of his success against the imperial forces.
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Harivarman entrusted his son Vikrāntavarman with the government of Pāṇḍuraṅga district (modern Phanrang), but as he was too young for the responsible post, he was placed in charge of a general named Pār¹. This general led an expedition against Cambodge on behalf of his young master, and ‘ravaged the towns of the Kambujas’. Whether it was a mere border raid, or anything more serious than that, we have no means to determine. A fragmentary passage of the Po-Nagar inscription (No. 26) seems to indicate that he carried his arms into the heart of Cambodge². But the fame of the general did not rest upon his victories alone. He was equally renowned for his religious establishments. A famous temple of Bhagavatī in Kauthāra remained empty for a long time, probably the image was carried away by the Javanese marauders. General Pār made a new stone image of the goddess, and in the year 817, erected three new temples for the Liṅga of Saṇḍhaka, Śrī Vināyaka and Śrī-Malālā-kuṭhāra. He also made various other minor donations.
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¹ The reading of this name is doubtful. I have adopted the reading of Finot (B. E. F. vol, III. p. 637. note 2.).
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² Maspero minimises the importance of this raid on the ground that no Cambodian document describes Jayavarman II, the contemporary king of Cambodge, as being vanquished by the Chams (T'oung Pao 1910, p. 56: ) But as the inscriptions of a country very seldom refer to reverses sustained by its kings, no importance need be attached to such silence in the present case.
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The known dates of Harivarman are 813 A. D. and 817 A. D. If the Chinese expeditions referred to above have been correctly attributed to him, he must have ascended the throne before 801 A. D. As the last known date of Indravarman is 799 A. D. the year 800 A. D. may be looked upon as the date of his accession.
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Harivarman was succeeded by his son Vikrāntavarman III, who was the nephew (sister's son) of the two kings Satyavarmā and Indravarmā. As related above, he was entrusted with the government of Pāṇḍuraṅga by his father and was placed in charge of general Pār. He is the author of four inscriptions found at Po-Nagar (Nos. 29 A, 29 B, 29 C, 30). Conventional praises are bestowed on him in the last, while all the four describe his religious endowments. Among others, he granted a field to Śrī Vikrānta-Rudreśvara in 854 A. D., and subsequently another to Śrī Vikrānta-devādhibhaveśvara. He also established a Mahādeva and richly endowed the god.
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Vikrāntavarman III died without issue and with him ended the dynasty founded by Pṛthivīndravarman. As already remarked above the epigraphic evidence shows that the dynasty had its stronghold in the south, and it has been styled the dynasty of Pāṇḍuraṅga.
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It held sway for about a century from the middle of the eighth to the middle of the ninth century A.D.
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It has been suggested¹ that the capital was removed from Champā to Virapura during the rule of this dynasty. There does not, however, seem to be sufficient evidence for this assumption. For the only thing we know about the town is that several images of gods were established there by Indravarman. On the other hand, the fact that Harivarman is styled as lord of the city of Champā seems to indicate that Champā was still the official capital. Further, if we remember that the government of Pāṇḍuraṅga was entrusted by Harivarman to his son, we must hold that the main seat of the government was far to the north. All these, however, in no way invalidate the conclusion, stated at the beginning, that the dynasty might have originated from Pāṇḍuraṅga.
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¹ Maspero in T'oung Pao, 19 0, p. 559. Maspero says that the temple of Bhadradhipatisvara was "to the west of the town of Virapura,'. The inscription (No. 23 V. 5), however, simply refers to town and not to Virapura.
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It is also a noteworthy fact that throughout this period the Chinese substituted the name Houan Wang for Lin-yi to denote the kingdom of Champā. After the downfall of this dynasty Houan Wang was replaced by Tch'eng Cheng which is undoubtedly the Chinese transcription of Champā. It is difficult to explain the meaning of the new term Houan Wang¹.
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¹ T'oung Pao, 1910, pp. 547 ff.
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1. Pṛthivīndravarman (c. 758 A. D.—773 A. D.).
2. Satyavarman (c. 773 A. D.—785 A. D.). (Sister's son of No. 1.).
3. Indravarman I (785—c. 800 A. D.). (Younger brother of 2).
4. Harivarman (c. 800 A. D.—c. 820 A. D.). (Sister's husband of No. 3).
5. Vikrāntavarman III (c. 820 A. D.—860 A. D.). (Sister's son of Nos. 2 and 3).