Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c8.33

c8.33

It is also to be remembered that the region round Vo-Chanh, under the name Kuṭhāra, formed an integral part of Champā down to the latest days of her history, and Kambuja laid no claim to it even in the heyday of its glory. Until therefore very convincing argument is brought forward we should regard Śrī Māra as a ruler of Champā. No such evidence is, however, forthcoming. The theory propounded by Finot was put forward merely as a possibility,⁷ and he admitted later, that his theory was as likely as the current view that Śrī-Mara was a Hindu king of Champā.⁸ The identification of Fan-che-man and Sri-Māra was proposed by Coedés simply on the ground that the former is known to have made extensive conquests. This is, however, a very weak ground, and Coedés himself admits that ‘man’ is not, correctly speaking, a regular transcription of ‘Māra’, though this does not seem to be impossible.⁹