Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v1.c7.s9: Chapter IX. Dynasty of Harivarman
Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champā; Vol. II: Suvarṇadvīpa) v1.c7.s9
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Chapter IX. Dynasty of Harivarman
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Among the many aspirants to the throne of Champā during the dark days that followed the Annamite conquest and the capture of the king, one name stands in bold relief, that of Harivarman IV. We have two long inscriptions (Myson Ins. Nos. 61, 62) with interesting particulars of his life and times, and these enable us to reconstruct the history of the period to a certain extent.
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The full name of the king was Śrī Harivarmadeva prince Thān-yan Viṣṇumūrti or Mādhavamūrti or Devatāmūrti. He was the son of Prāleyeśvara Dharmarāja of the Cocoanut clan. As his mother belonged to the Betelnut clan, he represented in his person the two chief rival families of the kingdom.¹
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¹ The two clans probably represented two important fiefs in the kingdom. M. Durand has located the betelnut clan in Binh Thuan (B. E. F., vol. V, pp. 368 ff )
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Within ten years of the capture of Rudravarman, Harivarman established his authority over the greater part of the kingdom. But the civil war continued throughout his reign² and he had to fight with rival chiefs for the throne of Champā. To make matters worse, the Annamite king sent a new expedition in 1075,³ and the king of Cambodge also began his plundering raids. It reflects great credit upon Harivarman that he not only checked his internal foes but also guarded his kingdom against his powerful neighbours. No wonder, that his reign was full of military campaigns as we are told in the Myson Inscription. "He has dispersed the hostile troops in the field of battle as many as twelve times. He has cut off the heads of kings, generals, chiefs and other men in the field of battle nine times. He defeated the troops of Cambodge at Someśvara and captured the prince Śrī Nandanavarmadeva who commanded the army." (No. 62 b-d). The defeat of the Annamite forces assured the safety of the newly established power, and by dint of numerous military successes "the king of Champa became prosperous as of old." Then king Harivarman celebrated his coronation and probably assumed the title Utkṛṣṭarāja. After this he enjoyed complete happiness and tasted royal felicities.¹
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² cf. Po Nagar Ins. No. 64 which refers to a civil war of sixteen years ie. from 1069-1084 A. D.
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³ The king of Annam sent an expedition against Champa in 1075 on the pretext of some agressive frontier raid conducted by the Chams But the expedition proved a failure. The defeat of the Annamite king emboldened the Chinese court to send an expedition against him (1075-1076 A. D.) and the Chinese emperor ordered the kings of Champa and Cambodge to attack Annam from the south. The king of
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¹ Myson Ins No. 61. The term Utkrstaraja may also be taken as an ordinary adjective rather than a special title assumed by the king.
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But Harivarman had another important task before him. The country had been ruined by the Annamite invasions and the Civil War and it was necessary to repair the damages as far as possible. The ruinous effect of the foreign domination
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Champa obeyed and despatched a force 7,000 strong to Nghean. The Chinese army was, however, defeated, and so the king of Champa also had to beat retreat. The year following he sent regular tributes to the court of Annam as well as to China. Maspero supposes that the king of Champa referred to above was Harivarman, but this is at best doubtful, and hence is not incorporated in the text. The other supposition of Maspero that the Annamite raid of 1075 against Champa was undertaken with a view to restore Rudravarman to the throne is equally doubtful (T'oung Pao 1911, pp. 247-48; B. E. F. vol. XVII, No. 3 p. 44).
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has thus been graphically described in the Myson Inscription (No. 61.).
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“The enemy had entered into the kingdom of Champā and installed themselves as masters, having taken possession of all the royal property and the wealth of the gods; having pillaged the temples, the monasteries, the śālās, cells, hermita-ges, villages and various edifices together with the horses, elephants, infantry, oxen, buffaloes and the crops; having ravaged everything in the provinces of the kingdom of Champā; having plundered the temple of Śrīśanabhadreśvara and all that the king of past times have granted as endowments to Śrīśanabhadreśvara; having taken all the riches of the god and carried away the men belonging to the temple, the dancers, musicians.....servants, together with the various properties, of Śrīśanabhadreśvara; the temple remained empty and devoid of worship...”
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The inscription proceeds: “Then his Majesty Vijaya Śrī Harivarmadeva, Yan Devatāmūrti ascended the throne. He completely defeated the enemies, proceeded to the Nagara Champā and restored the temple of Śrīśanabhadreśvara.” (No. 61).
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Two Inscriptions at Myson (Nos. 61, 62) describe in detail the work of restoration as well as the rich endowments to the temple of Śrīśanabhadreśvara made by the king and his brother Yuvarāja Mahāsenāpati. The latter “re-erected the temples, the chapels, the gateways and the different edifices in the domain of Śrīśanabhadreśvara and made them perfectly beautiful. He re-erected the temples in the various provinces of the kingdom of Champā. He gave all the necessary articles for the worship of the god with the servants of temples, dancers, musicians.....as before. He re-established the śālās, the cells, and the hermitages in the various provinces of the kingdom of Champā...”. (No. 61).
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The rich endowments of king Harivarman to Śrīśānabhadreśvara consisted of various articles of gold, silver and precious jewels, as well as of servants and various animals. The Myson Inscription informs us that "seeing Śrīśānabhadreśvara despoiled of all his possessions at the end of the war, he came to worship the god with a pious heart, and gave him all the booty taken at Soméśvara (i. e. from the conquered Cambodgians) and various objects" (No. 62).
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King Harivarman also turned his attention to secular buildings and "re-established the edifices and the city of Champā during the troublesome days of the war. And the city of Champā and all the edifices were enriched, as if by nature, and freshly decorated" (No. 62). The Yuvarāja also "ordered the people of Siṃhapura to construct the temples, to build the houses, to make perpetual sacrifices, to re-erect the chapels, and to reconstruct the roads, all as before" (No. 62).
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King Harivarman thus successfully accomplished the two important tasks of establishing law and order and restoring material prosperity in the kingdom. With the exception of the southern district of Pāṇḍuraṅga, the whole of Champā was probably united under his sceptre, and he vigorously set himself to the task of repairing damage and reviving the old prosperity of the kingdom. Harivarman must have been endowed with exceptional qualities and the long praises bestowed upon him at the commencement of the Myson Inscription (No. 62) may have some justification.
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In 1081 A. D. at the age of 41¹ Harivarman IV abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Pulyan Śrī Rāja Ivāra, and devoted himself to spiritual exercises and worship of Śiva. He did not however, long enjoy the rest and died within a month (1081 A. D.). It is interesting to note that 14 of his wives followed him to death in right Indian fashion.
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¹ The Cham ambassador in the court of China in 1076 referred to his king as being of 36 years of age (T'oung Pao 1911, p. 250).
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Pu-lyaṅ Śrī Rājadvāra ascended the throne under the name of Yān-po-ku Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva. He was a boy of nine years and was obviously unfit to hold the reins of government in those troublesome days. He had hardly reigned for a month when the necessity of a stronger government impressed itself upon all and the throne was offered to Pu-lyaṅ Śrī Yuvarāja Mahāsenāpati, prince Pāṅ, younger brother of Śrī Harivarmadeva. The event is thus described in the Myson Inscription (No. 65) of Jaya Indravarman himself.
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"There is His Majesty Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva, Prince Vāk, son of His Majesty Śrī Harivarmadeva, prince Thāṅ...... He reigned about a month. Then as Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva was very young, did not know what was good or bad in the government of the kingdom and made everything contrary to the rules of government, Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva with all the generals, Brāhmaṇs, astrologers, learned men, masters of ceremonies and the wives of Śrī Harivarmadeva searched for a prince to govern the kingdom. Now they found that Pu-lyaṅ Śrī Yuvarāja Mahāsenāpati, prince Pāṅ, uncle of Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva, and younger brother of Śrī Harivarmadeva, had all the marks of a Mahārāja according to the canon of Rājacakravartin, and that he had the knowledge of the good and the bad, . . . . . Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva, nephew of Pu-lyaṅ Śrī Yuvarāja Mahāsenāpati, with the Brāhmaṇs, Kṣatriyas, Paṇḍits, astrologers, masters of ceremonies, with all the ladies, carrying royal insignia, went to Pu-lyaṅ Śrī Yuvarāja Mahāsenāpati and made him king."
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The Yuvarāja ascended the throne under the title Paramabodhisattva in 1081 A. D. "He gave bounties to the generals and to all the people of Champā, and an uninterrupted bliss reigned as before.”
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Paramabodhisattva quelled the disturbances in the kingdom and completed the task of his elder brother by recovering the southern district of Pāṇḍuraṅga. There a usurper had set up an independent kingdom after the Annamite expedition of 1069 A. D. and maintained his position for 16 years. Paramabodhisattva imprisoned him with all his followers. He spared their lives but confiscated their property (No. 64).
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Thus after 16 years there was once more a united kingdom of Champā. The king, whose zeal for restoring the temples and palaces, during the reign of his brother, has been referred to before, now gave rich donations to the goddess of Po Nagar, the tutelary deity of the kingdom, together with his sister Garbha Lakṣmī, and his eldest son Pu lyaṅ Śrī Yuvarāja prince Vyu (No. 64). The king further installed an image of Śiva at Myson and made rich donations to the God (No. 63).
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Paramabodhisattva remained at peace with the court of Annam and regularly sent tributes year after year (1081-1085). But he did not enjoy a long reign. He was succeeded in 1086 by his nephew Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva Paramarājādhirāja who had abdicated the throne in his favour in 1081 A. D.¹ (No. 65). His known dates are 1081 and 1084 A. D. (Nos. 63-64).
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¹ Maspero's suggestion that Jaya Indravarman's restoration was accomplished by a bloody civil war does not commend itself to me. He remarks: "It is at least in this way that we can account for the disappearance of Paramabodhisattva, the return of Jaya Indravarman, and the passage in the Myson Ins. (No. 65) where the latter is said to have "completely reconstructed the city of Champa which was ruined and deserted." It is obvious that the first two of these events could
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The full title of the new king was Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva (V) prince Vāk yān Devatāmūrti. He is praised in extravagant terms in the Myson Ins. (No. 65) which refers to his rich donations to Śrīśanabhadreśvara and the gift of a monastery to Śrī Indralokeśvara in the district of Tranul. He also sup-
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be easily accounted for by supposing that Paramabodhisattva had died and was succeeded by the legitimate sovereign Jaya Indravarmadeva Maspero obviously lays emphasis on the passage quoted above. He holds that if, as we are told, Harivarman and Paramabodhisattva had already reconstructed and repopulated the city of Champa, Jaya Indravarman’s attempts in the same direction could only be explained by supposing that there was a fresh civil war in course of which the city was again ruined. But it is obvious that the serious damages which the Annamite hosts inflicted upon the capital city might have taken long to repair, and Jaya Indravarman probably merely supplemented the work of his father and uncle.
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On the other hand, the way in which the abdication of Indravarman, coronation of his uncle and his own restoration are described in an inscription of Jaya Indravarman himself (No. 65), and particularly the favourable notice of the qualities of Paramabodhisattva contained therein discredit any idea of a civil war between the two.
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Further, Maspero’s view that Harivarman IV abdicated in 1080 A. D. is almost certainly wrong. The Inscription No. 62 refers to his abdication in favour of his son and also contains an account of his death in 1081. No mention is made therein of the accession of Paramabodhisattva which, as we know, took place within a month of the abdication. We are therefore bound to conclude that the abdication and death of Harivarman took place within a month some time in 1081 A. D., and Paramabodhisattva replaced his nephew on the throne almost immediately after the latter event
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(cf. Maspero T’oung Pao 1911, pp. 252 ff)
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plemented the work of his father and uncle in reconstructing the town of Champā.
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Although Jaya Indravarman V paid his tribute to the court of Annam with fair regularity, he deplored the loss of the three districts ceded by Rudravarman. The two peoples were so much estranged over this question, that when their ambassadors, having arrived at the Chinese court at the same time, were introduced to the Emperor on the same day, they kept themselves aloof from each other. At a dinner in which they were invited they were seated at two ends of the table. At last in 1092 A. D. Indravarman stopped the payment of tribute to Annam and approached the Chinese emperor with a proposal to make a common cause against that country. The Chinese emperor, however, refused to fight with Annam. Nevertheless, Jaya Indravarman continued to withhold the tribute till a formal complaint was made by the Annamese court in 1094. Indravarman was seized with terror, and hastened to comply with the demand. The tribute was sent in 1095, 1097, 1098, 1099 and 1102 A. D.
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At last in 1103 a refugee from Annam instigated king Indravarman to fight against the country. He represented that Annam was enfeebled by internal dissensions and had not the power to resist an invasion from Champā. Misled by these false statements Jaya Indravarman led an army and conquered the three ceded districts. But his triumph was short-lived. He was soon defeated and compelled to abandon these districts. To avoid further troubles he immediately sent tribute to Annam. Henceforth the two countries lived in peace and tributes were regularly sent from Champā to Annam.
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Jaya Indravarman V was succeeded by his nephew Harivarman who was on the throne in 1114 A. D. (No. 68). Jaya Indravarman's reign, therefore, falls between 1086 and 1114 A. D.
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Harivarman V has left us a single inscription at Myson (No. 68) from which we learn that he built two temples and a palace for Śrīśanabhadreśvara and bestowed various articles of gold and silver for his worship.
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He was on friendly terms with the Chinese and Annamese courts. The former bestowed honorary titles on him in 1116, 1127, and 1129 A. D. The latter also treated his ambassadors with honour and distinction and invited him to the imperial palace in 1126. From 1120 to 1124 he had regularly sent tributes to the Annamese Court without any exception.
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KINGS REFERRED TO IN CHAPTER IX.
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1. Harivarmā IV (c. 1070—1081 A. D.)
2. Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva V (1081 A. D.) (Son of No. 1)
3. Paramabodhisattva (1081—1086 A. D.) (Younger brother of No. 1)
2. Śrī Jaya Indravarmadeva V (1086—1113 A. D.) (Second time)
4. Harivarman V (1113 A. D.—1126 A. D.) (Nephew of No. 2)