Bhadravarman or Phạm Hồ Đạt (,

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

: ''buam’-ɣɔ-dɑt,''

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

''Bhadravarman'', literally "Blessed armour" but also meaning the ''

Jasminum sambac ''Jasminum sambac'' (Arabian jasmine or Sambac jasmine) is a species of jasmine native to tropical Asia, from the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia. It is cultivated in many places, especially West Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is ...

'' flower), was the king of

Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...

from 380 to 413. In 380, Bhadravarman, the son or grandson of Fan Fo,Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., took the throne with the regal name Dharmamahārāja Śrī Bhadravarman I, "Great King of the Law Bhadravarman".Maspero, G., 2002, The Champa Kingdom, Bangkok: White Lotus Co., Ltd., He is the first Champa king to have ''varman'' suffixed to his name. The use of the honorific title ''varman'', very common amongst the

Pallava dynasty The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...

kings, was borrowed by the kings of Cambodia. Also the same year, the King moved the capital to

Simhapura Sinhapura ("Lion City" for Sanskrit; IAST: Siṃhapura) was the capital of the legendary Indian king Sinhabahu. It has been mentioned in the Buddhist legends about Prince Vijaya. The name is also transliterated as ''Sihapura'' or ''Singhapura'' ...

in Quảng Nam Province. He built temples and palaces, all facing north, at

Mỹ Sơn Mỹ Sơn () is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples in central Vietnam, constructed between the 4th and the 14th century by the Kings of Champa, an Indianized kingdom of the Cham people. The temples are dedicated to the wo ...

and

Trà Kiệu Trà Kiệu is a village in Duy Sơn commune, Duy Xuyên district, Quảng Nam province, Vietnam. Geography Trà Kiệu is located in the Thu Bồn river valley inland from Hội An, which has since moved putting the site on the southern bank ...

. Significantly, Bhadravarman was a renowned scholar, well-versed in all four

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

and the author of several inscriptions in Sanskrit. He invited learned Brahmins from India to settle in his kingdom. In 399, Bhadravarman went on a military campaign up north and succeeded in capturing the

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

ese provinces of Rinan and

Jiuzhen Jiuzhen (Vietnamese: Cửu Chân, Chinese: 九真) was a Chinese commandery within Jiaozhou. It is located in present-day Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam. Michel Ferlus (2012) and Frédéric Pain (2020) propose that 九真 Old Chinese Old Chin ...

( vi, Cửu Chân). He continued on his temple-building campaign as well, building Cham towers along the coast up north. From 405 to 413, he continuously battled the Chinese governor Du Xue. However, at their last confrontation, Bhadravarman disappeared without a trace after he was defeated by the governor. Two of his sons, Chen Chen and Na Neng were killed in 413, while another son, Ti Kai, fled with his mother. Bhadravarman's son, Ti Chen, Gangaraja, abdicated the throne and left for India. The kingdom then transitioned into civil war.

References

Cham rulers 4th-century monarchs in Asia 5th-century monarchs in Asia 5th-century Vietnamese people 4th-century Vietnamese people {{Vietnam-bio-stub