Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c10.3

c10.3

The first and foremost of these elements was the Sanskrit language and literature which opened, as it were, a new world of culture to the more intelligent among them. Reference has been made above to the large number of inscriptions scattered all over the area. These are written in very good Sanskrit and indicate an acquaintance with various branches of Sanskrit literature. The Vo-Chanh inscription in Champā, belonging to the second or third century A.D., is perhaps the oldest of them. It is written in prose with two verses in *Vasantatilakā* metre which show a simple *kāvya* style; but an inscription of Śambhuvarman, a later king of Champā, is marked by a developed *kāvya* style. An idea of the language and the thorough-going spirit of Hindu culture which characterise these early records may be had from the following verse in the last-named inscription.¹