Funan (; km, ហ៊្វូណន, ; vi, Phù Nam,
Chữ Hán
Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...
: ) was the name given by
Chinese cartographers
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, geographers and writers to an ancient
Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''(
Mandala
A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...
)''—located in mainland Southeast Asia centered on the
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
that existed from the first to sixth century CE. The name is found in
Chinese historical texts describing the kingdom, and the most extensive descriptions are largely based on the report of two Chinese diplomats,
Kang Tai and Zhu Ying, representing the
Eastern Wu dynasty who sojourned in Funan in the mid-3rd century CE.
[Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ]
Funan is known in the modern languages of the region as ''Vnum'' (
Old Khmer
Old Khmer is the oldest attested stage of the Khmer language, an Austroasiatic language historically and presently spoken across Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, and parts of Thailand and Laos. It is recorded in inscriptions dating from the early 7th c ...
: ), Nokor Phnom ( km, នគរភ្នំ, , ), ( th, ฟูนาน), and (
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
). However, the name ''Funan'' is not found in any texts of local origin from the period, and it is not known what name the people of Funan gave to their polity. Some scholars argued that ancient Chinese scholars transcribed the word ''Funan'' from a word related to the Khmer word ''bnaṃ'' or ''vnaṃ'' (modern: , meaning "mountain"), others however thought that ''Funan'' may not be a transcription at all- rather it meant what it says in Chinese.
Like the very name of the kingdom, the ethno-linguistic nature of the people is the subject of much discussion among specialists. The leading hypotheses are that the Funanese were mostly
Mon–Khmer
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...
, or that they were mostly
Austronesian, or that they constituted a multi-ethnic society. The available evidence is inconclusive on this issue.
Michael Vickery
Michael Theodore Vickery (April 1, 1931 – June 29, 2017) was an American historian, lecturer, and author known for his works about the history of Southeast Asia.
Life
Vickery was born on April 1, 1931, in Billings, Montana.
After acquiring a ...
has said that, even though identification of the language of Funan is not possible, the evidence strongly suggests that the population was Khmer. The results of archaeology at
Oc Eo have demonstrated "no true discontinuity between Oc Eo and pre-Angkorian levels", indicating Khmer linguistic dominance in the area under Funan control.
Based on the testimony of the Chinese historians, the polity Funan is believed to have been established in the 1st century CE in the
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
, but archaeological research has shown that extensive human settlement in the region may have gone back as far as the 4th century BCE. Though regarded by Chinese authors as a single unified polity, some modern scholars suspect that Funan may have been a collection of city-states that sometimes were at war with one another and at other times constituted a political unity.
Hà Văn Tấn
Hà Văn Tấn (16 August 1937 – 27 November 2019) was a Vietnamese historian, archeologist, and scholar of Buddhism. He was born in Tiên Điền, Nghi Xuân, Hà Tĩnh, and became a professor at Vietnam National University, Hanoi
Vietnam ...
, "Oc Eo: Endogenous and Exogenous Elements", ''Viet Nam Social Sciences'', 1–2 (7–8), 1986, pp.91–101. From archaeological evidence, which includes
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
, Chinese, and Indian goods excavated at the ancient mercantile centre of
Óc Eo
Óc Eo ( Vietnamese) is an archaeological site in modern-day Óc Eo commune of Thoại Sơn District in An Giang Province of southern Vietnam. Located in the Mekong Delta, Óc Eo was a busy port of the kingdom of Funan between the 2nd century BC ...
in southern Vietnam, it is known that Funan must have been a powerful trading state. Excavations at
Angkor Borei
Angkor Borei ( km, អង្គរបូរី, ) is a district located in Takéo Province, in southern Cambodia. According to the 1998 census of Cambodia, it had a population of 44,980.
Administration
The district has 6 communes, 34 villages ( ...
in southern Cambodia have likewise delivered evidence of an important settlement. Since Óc Eo was linked to a port on the coast and to Angkor Borei by a system of canals, it is possible that all of these locations together constituted the heartland of Funan.
Etymology
Some scholars have advanced speculative proposal regarding the origin and meaning of the word ''Funan''. It is often said that the name ''Funan'' (
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 ...
pronunciation of : /bju nậm/,
Later Han Later Han (後漢) may refer to two dynastic states in imperial China:
*Eastern Han (25–220), the second period of the Han dynasty, also called Later Han
* Later Han (947–951), a dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
See al ...
pronunciation: /buɑ nəm/ or possibly /puɑ nəm/
) represents a
transcription
Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including:
Genetics
* Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...
from some local language into Chinese. For example, French scholar
Georges Coedès Georges may refer to:
Places
*Georges River, New South Wales, Australia
*Georges Quay (Dublin)
* Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Other uses
* Georges (name)
* ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas
* "Georges" (song), a 19 ...
advanced the theory that in using the word ''Funan'', ancient Chinese scholars were transcribing a word related to the Khmer word ''bnaṃ'' or ''vnaṃ'' (modern: ''phnoṃ'', meaning "mountain").
However, the epigraphist Claude Jacques pointed out that this explanation was based on a mistranslation of the Sanskrit word ''parvatabùpála'' in the ancient
inscriptions as equivalent to the Khmer word ''bnaṃ'' and a mis-identification of the King
Bhavavarman I mentioned in them as the conqueror of Funan. It has also been observed that in Chinese the character (, vi, nam) is frequently used in geographical terms to mean "South"; Chinese scholars used it in this sense in naming other locations or regions of Southeast Asia, such as
Annam.
[Claude Jacques, "‘Funan’, ‘Zhenla’: The Reality Concealed by these Chinese Views of Indochina", in R. B. Smith and W. Watson (eds.), ''Early South East Asia : Essays in Archaeology, History and Historical Geography'', New York, Oxford University Press, 1979, pp.371–9, p.378.]
Thus, ''Funan'' may be an originally Chinese word, and may not be a transcription at all. Jacques proposed that use of the name Funan should be abandoned in favour of the names, such as ''Bhavapura'', ''Aninditapura'', ''Shresthapura'' and ''Vyadhapura'', which are known from inscriptions to have been used at the time for cities in the region and give a more accurate idea of the geography of the ancient Khmer regions than the names ''Funan'' or ''
Zhenla'' which are unknown in the Old Khmer language.
Sources
![Di tích Gò Cây Thị A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Di_t%C3%ADch_G%C3%B2_C%C3%A2y_Th%E1%BB%8B_A.jpg)
The first modern scholar to reconstruct the history of the ancient polity of Funan was
Paul Pelliot
Paul Eugène Pelliot (28 May 187826 October 1945) was a French Sinologist and Orientalist best known for his explorations of Central Asia and his discovery of many important Chinese texts such as the Dunhuang manuscripts.
Early life and caree ...
, who in his ground-breaking article "Le Fou-nan" of 1903 drew exclusively on Chinese historical records to set forth the sequence of documented events connecting the foundation of Funan in approximately the 1st century CE with its demise by conquest in the 6th to 7th century. Scholars critical of Pelliot's Chinese sources have expressed scepticism regarding his conclusions.
Chinese records dating from the 3rd century CE, beginning with the (,
Records of the Three Kingdoms
The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...
) completed in 289 CE by
Chén Shòu (; 233–297), record the arrival of two Funanese embassies at the court of (), governor in the southern Chinese kingdom of Wú (): the first embassy arrived between 225 and 230 CE, the second in the year 243. Later sources such as the Liáng shū (,
Book of Liang
The ''Book of Liang'' (''Liáng Shū''), was compiled under Yao Silian and completed in 635. Yao heavily relied on an original manuscript by his father Yao Cha, which has not independently survived, although Yao Cha's comments are quoted in seve ...
) of Yáo Chá (; 533–606) and (, d. 637), completed in 636, discuss the mission of the 3rd-century Chinese envoys
Kang Tai () and () from the Kingdom of Wu to Funan. The writings of these envoys, though no longer extant in their original condition, were excerpted and as such preserved in the later dynastic histories, and form the basis for much of what we know about Funan.
Since the publication of Pelliot's article, archaeological excavation in Vietnam and Cambodia, especially excavation of sites related to the
Óc Eo
Óc Eo ( Vietnamese) is an archaeological site in modern-day Óc Eo commune of Thoại Sơn District in An Giang Province of southern Vietnam. Located in the Mekong Delta, Óc Eo was a busy port of the kingdom of Funan between the 2nd century BC ...
culture, have supported and supplemented his conclusion.
History
Origins of Funan
Chinese sources relate a local legend to document Funan's origin, that a foreigner named "Huntian (混填)"
inyin: Hùntiánestablished the Kingdom of Funan around the 1st century CE in the
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
of southern Vietnam. Archeological evidence shows that extensive human settlement in the region may go back as far as the 4th century BCE. Though treated by Chinese historians as a single unified empire, according to some modern scholars Funan may have been a collection of city-states that sometimes warred with one another and at other times constituted a political unity.
The ethnic and linguistic origins of the Funanese people have consequently been subject to scholarly debate, and no firm conclusions can be drawn based on the evidence available. The Funanese may have been
Cham
Cham or CHAM may refer to:
Ethnicities and languages
*Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia
**Cham language, the language of the Cham people
***Cham script
***Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script
*Cham Albanian ...
or from another
Austronesian group, or they may have been
Khmer or from another
Austroasiatic
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...
group. It is possible that they are the ancestors of those indigenous people dwelling in the southern part of Vietnam today who refer themselves as "Khmer" or "Khmer Krom." The Khmer term "krom" means "below" or "lower part of" and is used to refer to territory that was later colonized by Vietnamese immigrants and taken up into the modern state of Vietnam.
[Asia: A Concise History by Milton W. Meyer p.62] While no conclusive study to determine whether Funan's ethnolinguistic components were Austronesian or Austroasiatic, there is dispute among scholars. According to the majority of Vietnamese academics, for example, Mac Duong, stipulates that "Funan's core population certainly were the Austronesians, not Khmer;" the fall of Funan and the rise of
Zhenla from the north in the 6th century indicate "the arrival of the Khmer to the Mekong Delta." That thesis received support from
D. G. E. Hall
Daniel George Edward Hall (1891–1979) was a British historian, author, and academic. He wrote extensively on the history of Burma. His most notable work is ''A History of Southeast Asia'', said to "...remain the most important single history o ...
. Recent archaeological research lends weight to the conclusion that Funan was a Mon-Khmer polity. In his Funan review,
Michael Vickery
Michael Theodore Vickery (April 1, 1931 – June 29, 2017) was an American historian, lecturer, and author known for his works about the history of Southeast Asia.
Life
Vickery was born on April 1, 1931, in Billings, Montana.
After acquiring a ...
expresses himself a strong supporter of Funan's Khmer predominance theory.
It is also possible that Funan was a multicultural society, including various ethnic and linguistic groups. In the late 4th and 5th centuries, Indianization advanced more rapidly, in part through renewed impulses from the south Indian
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 ...
and the north Indian
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
.
The only extant local writings from the period of Funan are paleographic
Pallava Grantha inscriptions in
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 ...
of 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 ...
, a scholarly language used by learned and ruling elites throughout South and Southeast Asia. These inscriptions give no information about the ethnicity or vernacular tongue of the Funanese.
Funan may have been the
Suvarnabhumi
( sa, सुवर्णभूमि; Pali: '); my, သုဝဏ္ဏဘူမိ, ; km, សុវណ្ណភូមិ, ''Sovannaphoum''; and th, สุวรรณภูมิ, . is a toponym, that appears in many ancient Indian literary s ...
referred to in ancient Indian texts. Among the
Khmer Krom of the lower Mekong region the belief is held that they are the descendants of ancient Funan, the core of Suvarnabhumi/Suvarnadvipa, which covered a vast extent of Southeast Asia including present day Cambodia, southern Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Malaya, Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia. In December 2017, Dr Vong Sotheara, of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, discovered a Pre-Angkorian stone inscription in the Province of
Kampong Speu Baset District, which he tentatively dated to 633 CE. According to him, the inscription would “prove that Suvarnabhumi was the Khmer Empire.” The inscription, translated, read: “The great King Isanavarman is full of glory and bravery. He is the King of Kings, who rules over Suvarnabhumi until the sea, which is the border, while the kings in the neighbouring states honour his order to their heads”.
Myth of Origin and Indianisation
Huntian/Kaundinya I
''Multiple sources of the myth''
The
Book of Liang
The ''Book of Liang'' (''Liáng Shū''), was compiled under Yao Silian and completed in 635. Yao heavily relied on an original manuscript by his father Yao Cha, which has not independently survived, although Yao Cha's comments are quoted in seve ...
records a local legend to document Funan's origin, that of the foundation of Funan by the foreigner Hùntián (,
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 ...
pronunciation /ɦwən
x tɦian/): "He came from the southern country Jiào (, an unidentified location, perhaps on the Malaysian Peninsula or in the Indonesian archipelago) after dreaming that his personal genie had delivered a divine bow to him and had directed him to embark on a large merchant junk. In the morning, he proceeded to the temple, where he found a bow at the foot of the genie's tree. He then boarded a ship, which the genie caused to land in Fúnán. The queen of the country, Liǔyè (, "Willow Leaf";
Queen Soma,
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 ...
: ''Iiu-iap'') wanted to pillage the ship and seize it, so Hùntián shot an arrow from his divine bow which pierced through Liǔyè's ship.
Frightened, she gave herself up, and Hùntián took her for his wife. But unhappy to see her naked, he folded a piece of material to make a garment through which he made her pass her head. Then he governed the country and passed power on to his son,
[ who was the founder of seven cities." Nearly the same story appeared in the Jìn shū (]Book of Jin
The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang X ...
), compiled by Fáng Xuánlíng in 648 CE; however, in the Book of Jin the names given to the foreign conqueror and his native wife are "Hùnhuì" and "Yèliǔ" .
Some scholars have identified the conqueror Hùntián of the Book of Liang
The ''Book of Liang'' (''Liáng Shū''), was compiled under Yao Silian and completed in 635. Yao heavily relied on an original manuscript by his father Yao Cha, which has not independently survived, although Yao Cha's comments are quoted in seve ...
with the Brahmin Kauṇḍinya who married a nāga (snake) princess named Somā, as set forth in a 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 ...
inscription found 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 dated 658 CE (see below). Other scholars have rejected this identification, pointing out that the word "Hùntián" has only two syllables, while the word "Kauṇḍinya" has three, and arguing that Chinese scholars would not have used a two-syllable Chinese word to transcribe a three-syllable word from another language.
The story of Kaundinya is also set forth briefly in the Sanskrit inscription C. 96 of the ]Cham
Cham or CHAM may refer to:
Ethnicities and languages
*Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia
**Cham language, the language of the Cham people
***Cham script
***Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script
*Cham Albanian ...
king Prakasadharma found 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 ...
. It is dated Sunday, 18 February 658 CE (and thus belongs to the post-Funanese period) and states in relevant part (stanzas XVI-XVIII): "It was there t the city of Bhavapurathat Kauṇḍinya, the foremost among brahmins, planted the spear which he had obtained from Droṇa's Son Aśvatthāman, the best of brahmins. There was a daughter of a king of serpents, called "Somā", who founded a family in this world. Having attained, through love, to a radically different element, she lived in the abode of man. She was taken as wife by the excellent Brahmin Kauṇḍinya for the sake of (accomplishing) a certain task...".
The Sanskrit inscription (K.5) of Tháp Mười (known as "Prasat Pram Loven" in Khmer), which is now on display in the Museum of Vietnamese History
The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History is located at 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Formerly known as the Musée Blanchard de la Brosse, built by Auguste Delaval in 1926, and The National Muse ...
in Ho Chi Minh City
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
, refers to a Prince Guṇavarman, younger son (''nṛpasunu—bālo pi'') of a king Ja avarmanwho was "the moon of the Kauṇḍinya line (''...kauṇḍi a aṅaśaśinā...'') and chief "of a realm wrested from the mud".
The legend of Kaundinya is paralleled in modern Khmer folklore, where the foreign prince is known as "Preah Thaong" and the queen as "Neang Neak". In this version of the story, Preah Thaong arrives by sea to an island marked by a giant thlok tree, native to Cambodia. On the island, he finds the home of the nāga
The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
s and meets Neang Neak, daughter of the nāga king. He marries her with blessings from her father and returns to the human world. The nāga king drinks the sea around the island and confers the name "Kampuchea Thipdei", which is derived from the Sanskrit (''Kambujādhipati'') and may be translated into English as "the lord of Cambodia". In another version, it is stated that Preah Thaong fights Neang Neak.
''Interpretation of the Myth''
Keneth Hall remarks that the basic details of the Chinese legend are reiterated elsewhere in Indian and Southeast Asian folklore.
The historian Gabriel Ferrand believed that some Indian merchants might have immigrated to the region and established relations with the natives and that's how the myth emerged. Some Indian historians have taken this myth to extreme length and speculate that a large population of South Asians colonized Funan. Dutch historian J.C. van Leur stressed that it was the local rulers who recognized the benefits of associating with the relatively advanced level of life and drew from the Indian traditions by encouraging migration of Brahman clerks to help with the administration.
As per O.W. Wolters, there was a mutual sharing process in the evolution of Indianized statecraft and no mass influx of Brahmans. He said that it was rather the Indianized local Southeast Asian traders who provided the initial contact with Indian cultural traditions and the local rulers followed up. He also stated that Hindu traditions was selectively mobilized by the local rulers to strengthen the political alliances among fragile polity of the states in that period.
Kaundinya II
Even if the Chinese "Hùntián" is not the proper transcription of the Sanskrit "Kaundinya", the name "Kaundinya" auṇḍinya, Koṇḍañña, Koṇḍinya, etc.is nevertheless an important one in the history of Funan as written by the Chinese historians: however, they transcribed it not as "Hùntián", but as "Qiáochénrú" (). A person of that name is mentioned in the Book of Liang
The ''Book of Liang'' (''Liáng Shū''), was compiled under Yao Silian and completed in 635. Yao heavily relied on an original manuscript by his father Yao Cha, which has not independently survived, although Yao Cha's comments are quoted in seve ...
in a story that appears somewhat after the story of Hùntián.
According to this source, Qiáochénrú was one of the successors of the king Tiānzhú Zhāntán (, "Candana from India"), a ruler of Funan who in the year 357 CE sent tamed elephants as tribute to Emperor Mu of Jin
Emperor Mu of Jin (; 343 – July 10, 361According to Sima Dan's biography in ''Book of Jin'', he died aged 19 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''dingsi'' day of the 5th month of the 5th year of the ''Shengping'' era of his reign. This correspond ...
(r. 344–361; personal name: Sīmǎ Dān (): "He iáochénrúwas originally a Brahmin from India. There a voice told him: 'you must go reign over Fúnán,' and he rejoiced in his heart. In the south, he arrived at Pánpán (). The people of Fúnán appeared to him; the whole kingdom rose up with joy, went before him, and chose him king. He changed all the laws to conform to the system of India."
Apex and decline of Funan
Successive rulers following Hun-t'ien included Hun-p'an-huang, P'an-p'an, and then Fan Shih-man, "Great King of Funan", who "had large ships built, and sailing all over the immense sea he attacked more than ten kingdoms... he extended his territory five or six thousand li." Fan Shih-man died on a military expedition to Chin-lin, "Frontier of Gold". He was followed by Chin-cheng, Fan Chan, Ch'ang and then Fan Hsun, in successive assassinations. Before his death, Fan Chan sent embassies to India and China in 243.[Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., ]
Around 245, Funan was described as having "walled villages, palaces, and dwellings. They devote themselves to agriculture... they like to engrave ornaments and chisel. Many of their eating utensils are silver. Taxes are paid in gold, silver, pearls, perfumes. There are books and depositories of archives and other things." The Indian Chan-T'an was ruling in 357, followed by another Indian Chiao Chen-ju (Kaundinya) in the fifth century, who "changed all the laws to conform to the system of India." In 480, She-yeh-pa-mo, Jayavarman or "Protege of Victory" reigned until his death in 514. One of his sons, Rudravarman, killed the other, Gunavarman, for the throne, and became the last king of Funan.[
Funan reached the apex of its power under the 3rd-century king Fan Shiman (). Fan Shiman expanded his empire's navy and improved the Funanese bureaucracy, creating a quasi-feudal pattern that left local customs and identities largely intact, particularly in the empire's further reaches. Fan Shiman and his successors also sent ambassadors to China and India to regulate sea trade. The kingdom likely accelerated the process of Indianization of Southeast Asia. Later kingdoms of Southeast Asia such as ]Chenla
Chenla or Zhenla (; km, ចេនឡា, ; vi, Chân Lạp) is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indoc ...
may have emulated the Funanese court. The Funanese established a strong system of mercantilism and commercial monopolies that would become a pattern for empires in the region.[Stark, M. T. (2006). From Funan to Angkor: Collapse and regeneration in ancient Cambodia. After collapse: The regeneration of complex societies, 144–167.]
Funan's dependence on maritime trade is seen as a cause for the beginning of Funan's downfall. Their coastal ports allowed trade with foreign regions that funnelled goods to the north and coastal populations. However, the shift in maritime trade to Sumatra, the rise in the Srivijaya trade empire, and the taking of trade routes all throughout Southeast Asia by China, leads to economic instability in the south, and forces politics and economy northward.
Funan was superseded and absorbed in the 6th century by the Khmer polity of the Chenla Kingdom
Chenla or Zhenla (; km, ចេនឡា, ; vi, Chân Lạp) is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indoc ...
(Zhenla). "The king had his capital in the city of T'e-mu. Suddenly his city was subjugated by Chenla, and he had to migrate south to the city of Nafuna" (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 ...
: ''*nâ-piiidt-nâ'').[
The '']Book of Sui
The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...
'' (complied in 636) states: "The Kingdom of Zhenla is to the southwest of Linyi and was originally subject to Funan… The surname of its ormer
Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or mutto ...
king was that of the Cha-li clan; his given name was Zhiduo-si-na 質多斯那. His ancestors had gradually become more powerful and flourishing until the time of Zhi-duo-sina himself, who annexed Funan and possessed it." The ''New Book of Tang
The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
'' (c. 1060) tells that "Yīshēnàxiāndài (伊奢那先代), son of Citrasena- Mahendravarman, subdued Funan and annexed Funan territory in the beginning of the Zhenguan era (627–649) hen_Emperor_Taizong_of_Tang
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The first inscription in the Khmer language is dated shortly after the fall of Funan. A concentration of later Khmer inscriptions in southern Cambodia may suggest the even earlier presence of a Khmer population. Despite absence of compelling evidence as to the ethnicity of the Funanese, modern scholar Michael Vickery has stated that "on present evidence it is impossible to assert that Funan as an area and its dominant groups were anything but Khmer".
Legacy
The "King of the mountain" was the monarch of Funan. There was a mountain regarded as holy. Mountain in Khmer sounds similar to Funan.
The Java-based Sailendras claimed that the Funan monarchs were their ancestors. Cambodia was taken control of after a sojourn in Java by Jayavarman II.
The "Mountain Kings" of Funan were claimed as the forebears of the Malacca Sultanate
The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswa ...
and Brunei Sultanate.
Society
Keeping in mind that Funanese records did not survive into the modern period, much of what is known came from archaeological excavation. Excavations yielded discoveries of brick wall structures, precious metals and pot from southern Cambodia and Vietnam. Also found was a large canal system that linked the settlements of Angkor Borei and coastal outlets; this suggests a highly organised government.[Charles Holcombe, ''Trade Buddhism: Maritime trade, immigration, and the Buddhist landfall in early Japan'', p. 280] Funan was a complex and sophisticated society with a high population density, advanced technology, and a complex social system.
Capital
On the assumption that Funan was a single unified polity, scholars have advanced various linguistic arguments about the location of its "capital".
* One theory, based on the presumed connection between the word "Funan" and the Khmer word "phnom", locates the capital in the vicinity of Ba Phnoṃ near the modern Cambodian town of Banam in Prey Veng Province.
* Another theory, propounded by George Coedès
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...
, is that the capital was a town identified in Angkorian
Khmer architecture ( km, ស្ថាបត្យកម្មខ្មែរ), also known as Angkorian architecture ( km, ស្ថាបត្យកម្មសម័យអង្គរ), is the architecture produced by the Khmers during the Ang ...
inscriptions as "Vyādhapura" (''City of the Hunter''). Coedès based his theory on a passage in the Chinese histories which identified the capital as "Temu" (, ); Coedès claimed this name represented a transcription from the Khmer word "dalmāk", which he translated as "hunter." This theory has been rejected by other scholars on the grounds that "dalmāk" means "trapper", not "hunter".
Unfortunately, only limited archaeological research has been conducted on Funan in southern Cambodia and Cochinchina in the last few decades, and it is precisely this region that reputedly housed the capital or capitals of Funan. However, archaeological surveys and excavations were carried out by joint Cambodian (Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts; Royal University of Fine Arts) and international teams at Angkor Borei since 1994 continuing into the 2000s. The research included excavation and dating of human burials at Wat Kamnou. Numerous brick features, architectural remains, and landscape features such as mounds, canals and reservoirs have also been identified.
Some have been dated with a wide spectrum of results ranging from the late centuries BCE to the Angkorian period. A significant canal system linking the site of Oc Eo has also been researched and dated. Phon Kaseka led a Royal Academy of Cambodia and Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts team (also with Royal University of Fine Arts personnel) conducted Iron Age to Funan period burial excavations at neighboring Phnom Borei. Large landscape features, notable settlement mounds, and other sites exhibiting Funan material culture and settlement patterns extend from at least Phnom Chisor through Oc Eo and numerous sites in Vietnam. Vietnamese archaeologists have also conducted a fair amount of research on Funan sites in the lower Mekong region.
Many of the mounds show evidence of material culture and landscape modification (inclusive of species-genera biological regimes) ranging from the metal age through the post-Angkorian period and later as evidenced by 13th through 16th century CE Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Cham ceramics. The evidence suggests a 2000-year or longer period of urbanization, continuous activity, and relatively strong albeit indirect and multi-nodal connections to long-distance value chains. Nevertheless, it is quite evident that periods of intense production, consumption, activity, commercial and political centrality fluctuated.
The Funan period seems to have been the heyday and Angkor Borei may have been Funan's premiere capital for much of that period. However, many of the settlements did not necessarily spring up out of nowhere or vanish quickly. They were certainly well integrated into pre-Funan, Funan, Zhenla henla Angkorian and post-Angkorian socio-economic and political networks. The urbanization and networking processes demonstrate significant continuity, evolution and longevity before and after the typical first to sixth century CE historic classification scheme.
Culture
Funanese culture was a mixture of native beliefs and Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
ideas. The kingdom is said to have been heavily influenced by Indian culture, and to have employed Indians for state administration purposes. 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 ...
was the language at the court, and the Funanese advocated Hinduism and, after the fifth century, Buddhist religious doctrines. Records show that taxes were paid in silver, gold, pearls, and perfumed wood. Kang Tai () and Zhu Ying () reported that the Funanese practised slavery and that justice was rendered through trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience.
In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...
, including such methods as carrying a red-hot iron chain and retrieving gold rings and eggs from boiling water.
Archaeological evidence largely corresponds to Chinese records. The Chinese described the Funanese as people who lived on stilt house
Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...
s, cultivated rice and sent tributes of gold, silver, ivory and exotic animals.
Kang Tai's report was unflattering to Funanese civilisation, though Chinese court records show that a group of Funanese musicians visited China in 263 CE. The Chinese emperor was so impressed that he ordered the establishment of an institute for Funanese music near Nanking
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
. The Funanese were reported to have extensive book collections and archives throughout their country, demonstrating a high level of scholarly achievements.
Two Buddhist monks from Funan, named Mandrasena and Sanghapala
Sanghapala (506–518 CE) was a famous Khmer monk who traveled to Southern and Northern Dynasties China.
He, along with the fellow Funan monk, Mandrasena, translated Buddhist scriptures to Chinese.
See also
*List of Buddhists
This is a list o ...
,[ took up residency in China in the 5th to 6th centuries, and translated several Buddhist sūtras from Sanskrit (or a ]prakrit
The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...
) into Chinese.[''T'oung Pao: International Journal of Chinese Studies.'' 1958. p. 185] Among these texts is the Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
''Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'', also called the ''Mahāprajñāpāramitā Mañjuśrīparivarta Sūtra''. This text was separately translated by both monks. The bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
Mañjuśrī
Mañjuśrī (Sanskrit: मञ्जुश्री) is a ''bodhisattva'' associated with '' prajñā'' (wisdom) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. His name means "Gentle Glory" in Sanskrit. Mañjuśrī is also known by the fuller name of Mañjuśrīkumārab ...
is a prominent figure in this text.
Economy
Funan was Southeast Asia's first great economy. It became prosperous through maritime trade and agriculture. The kingdom apparently minted its own silver coinage, bearing the image of the crested argus
Crested arguses are large and spectacular peafowl-like birds in the genus ''Rheinardia'' of the pheasant family.
Taxonomy
Although traditionally treated as a single species with two subspecies, it has long been suspected that a species pair is i ...
or hamsa
The ''hamsa'' ( ar, خمسة, khamsa) is a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout North Africa and in the Middle East and commonly used in jewellery and wall hangings.Bernasek et al., 2008p. 12Sonbol, 2005pp. 355–359 Depicting the open right h ...
bird.
Funan came into prominence at a time when the trade route from India to China consisted of a maritime leg from India to the Isthmus of Kra
The Kra Isthmus ( th, คอคอดกระ, ) in Thailand is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailand. The ...
, the narrow portion of the Malay peninsula, a portage across the isthmus, and then a coast-hugging journey by ship along the Gulf of Siam, past the Mekong Delta, and along the Vietnamese coast to China. Funanese kings of the 2nd century conquered polities on the isthmus itself, and thus may have controlled the entire trade route from Malaysia to central Vietnam.
The Funanese settlement of Óc Eo
Óc Eo ( Vietnamese) is an archaeological site in modern-day Óc Eo commune of Thoại Sơn District in An Giang Province of southern Vietnam. Located in the Mekong Delta, Óc Eo was a busy port of the kingdom of Funan between the 2nd century BC ...
, located near the Straits of Malacca, provided a port-of-call and entrepot for this international trade route. Archaeological evidence discovered at what may have been the commercial centre of Funan at Óc Eo includes Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
as well as Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
, and Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
artefacts. The German classical scholar Albrecht Dihle believed that Funan's main port, was the Kattigara
Cattigara is the name of a major port city located on the Magnus Sinus described by various antiquity sources. Modern scholars have linked Cattigara to the archaeological site of Óc Eo in present-day Vietnam.
Ptolemy's description
Cattigara w ...
referred to by the 2nd century Alexandrian geographer Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
as the emporium where merchants from the Chinese and Roman empires met to trade. Dihle also believed that the location of Óc Eo best fit the details given by Ptolemy of a voyage made by a Graeco-Roman merchant named Alexander to Kattigara, situated at the easternmost end of the maritime trade route from the eastern Roman Empire.
Georges Coedès said: "Fu-nan occupied a key position with regard to the maritime trade routes, and was inevitably a port of call both for the navigators who went through the Straits of Malacca and for those – probably more numerous – who made the transit over one of the isthmuses of the Malay Peninsula. Fu-nan may even have been the terminus of voyages from the Eastern Mediterranean, if it is the case that the Kattigara mentioned by Ptolemy was situated on the western coast of Indochina on the Gulf of Siam".
At Óc Eo, Roman coins
Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denom ...
were among the items of long-distance trade discovered by the French archaeologist Louis Malleret
Louis Malleret (1901–1970) was a French archaeologist. Malleret together with Paul Levy are credited with first reporting the archeological site An Son in Southern Vietnam.
References
1901 births
1970 deaths
French archaeologists
Pe ...
in the 1940s.[Milton Osborne (2006), ''The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future'', Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, revised edition, first published in 2000, , pp 24–25.] These include mid-2nd-century Roman golden medal
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
lions from the reigns of Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius (Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Born into a senatoria ...
, and his adopted son and heir Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
.[Gary K. Young (2001), ''Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC – AD 305'', London & New York: Routledge, , p. 29.] From Óc Eo, archaeologists also found a fine gold pendant imitation of a ''aureus
The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver ''denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th cen ...
'' of Antoninus minted in 152 AD with caption ANTONINVS AVG PIVS (Antoninus Aug(ustus) Pius) and portrait of the emperor turning left. Similar gold sheet discs that imitated Roman coins minted by local Funanese also are rediscovered, included imitations of aureus of Antoninus (minted in 155–158), Commodus
Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...
( 192), Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
( 198–202), perhaps the minting techniques were brought by traders including those from the Roman Empire. It is perhaps no small coincidence that the first Roman embassy from "Daqin
Daqin (; alternative transliterations include Tachin, Tai-Ch'in) is the ancient Chinese name for the Roman Empire or, depending on context, the Near East, especially Syria. It literally means "great Qin"; Qin () being the name of the founding dyn ...
" recorded in Chinese history is dated 166 AD, allegedly sent by a Roman ruler named "Andun" ( zh, t=安敦; corresponding with the names Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) and arriving through the Eastern Han Empire's southernmost frontier province of Jiaozhi
Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or Giao Chỉ (Vietnamese), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Co ...
in northern Vietnam.
In addition to trade, Funan also benefited from a sophisticated agricultural system that included use of an elaborate system of water storage and irrigation. The Funanese population was concentrated mainly along the rivers of the Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
; the area was a natural region for the development of an economy based on fishing and rice cultivation
The history of rice cultivation is an interdisciplinary subject that studies archaeological and documentary evidence to explain how rice was first domesticated and cultivated by humans, the spread of cultivation to different regions of the planet, ...
.
Foreign relations
Little is known about Funan's political history apart from its relations with China. The Funanese had diplomatic relations and traded with the Eastern Wu
Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < : ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...
and Liang dynasties of southern China. Contact with Southeast Asia began after the Southward expansion of the Han dynasty
The southward expansion of the Han dynasty was a series of Chinese military campaigns and expeditions in what is now modern Southern China and Northern Vietnam. Military expansion to the south began under the previous Qin dynasty and continued ...
, and the annexation of Nanyue and other kingdoms situated in southern China. Goods imported or modelled on those from China, like bronze axes, have been excavated in Cambodia. An Eastern Wu embassy was sent from China to Funan in 228. A brief conflict is recorded to have happened in the 270s, when Funan and its neighbour, Linyi
Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the east, Weifang to the northeast, Zibo t ...
, joined forces to attack the area of Tongking
Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...
(Vietnamese: Đông Kinh, "eastern capital"), located in what is now modern Northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
(which was a Chinese colony at the time).
Funan maintained diplomatic relations with the Murunda dynasty
The Murunda dynasty ruled in the Utkal region of modern Odisha in eastern India during 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. Their territory included parts of the area around the northern districts of coastal Odisha. They appear to have succeeded the Maham ...
of northern Kalinga Kalinga may refer to:
Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology
* Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India
** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature
** Kalinga script, an ancient writ ...
during 3rd cen CE, when King Dhamadamadhara (Dharmatamadharasya) of Murunda received envoy Su-Wu who represented King Fan Chan of Funan (225–250 CE).
According to Chinese sources, Funan was eventually conquered and absorbed by its vassal polity Chenla
Chenla or Zhenla (; km, ចេនឡា, ; vi, Chân Lạp) is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indoc ...
(pinyin: Zhēnlà). Chenla was a Khmer polity, and its inscriptions are in both Sanskrit and in Khmer. The last known ruler of Funan was Rudravarman (, pinyin: ) who ruled from 514 up to c. 545 CE.
The French historian Georges Coedès Georges may refer to:
Places
*Georges River, New South Wales, Australia
*Georges Quay (Dublin)
* Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Other uses
* Georges (name)
* ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas
* "Georges" (song), a 19 ...
once hypothesized a relation between the rulers of Funan and the Shailendra dynasty
The Shailendra dynasty (, derived from Sanskrit combined words ''Śaila'' and ''Indra'', meaning "King of the Mountain", also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) was the name of a notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century ...
of Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. Coedès believed that the title of "mountain lord" used by the Sailendra kings may also have been used by the kings of Funan, since he also believed that the name "Funan" was a Chinese transcription related to the Khmer "phnom", which means "mountain." Other scholars have rejected this hypothesis, pointing to the lack of evidence in early Cambodian epigraphy for the use of any such titles.[Vickery, ''Funan Reviewed'', pp.103, 132–133.]
People who came from the coast of Funan are also known to establish Chi Tu
Chi Tu (other alternative spellings include Chihtu, Chitu or Ch-ih-t'u; Sanskrit: Raktamaritika or Raktamrittika; ; Malay language: ''Tanah Merah'') was an ancient kingdom mentioned in the history of China. The Sui Dynasty annals describe an ad ...
(the Red Earth Kingdom) in the Malay Peninsula. The Red Earth Kingdom is thought to be a derivation nation of Funan with its own kind of Khmer culture.
List of rulers of Funan
See also
* Mnong people
The Mnong or Munong people (Vietnamese: ''người Mơ-nông'') are an ethnic group mainly living in Central Highlands and Southeast regions of Vietnam, and Eastern region of Cambodia. They are made up of many smaller groups: Mnong Gar, Mnon ...
* Angkor Borei and Phnom Da
The ancient Funan sites of Angkor Borei ( km, អង្គរបុរី) and Phnom Da ( km, ភ្នំដា) are located in the Angkor Borei District, Takéo Province, of southern Cambodia.[Óc Eo
Óc Eo ( Vietnamese) is an archaeological site in modern-day Óc Eo commune of Thoại Sơn District in An Giang Province of southern Vietnam. Located in the Mekong Delta, Óc Eo was a busy port of the kingdom of Funan between the 2nd century BC ...]
* Cát Tiên archaeological site
* Pan Pan
References
Literature
* George Cœdès, ''The Indianized States of Southeast Asia'' (translated from the French by Susan Brown Cowing). Honolulu: East West Center Press, 1968
* George Cœdès, "Études Cambodgiennes XXV: Deux inscriptions sanskrites du Fou-nan",''Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême Orient'' XXXI (1931), pp. 1–12
* Louis Finot, "Notes d'Épigraphie XI: Les Inscriptions de Mi-so'n", ''Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême Orient'' IV (1904), pp. 918–925
* Karl-Heinz Golzio, "Kauṇḍinya in Südostasien", in Martin Straube, Roland Steiner, Jayandra Soni, Michael Hahn and Mitsuyo Demoto (eds.) ''Pāsādikadānaṁ. Festschrift für Bhikkhu Pāsādika'', Marburg: Indica et Tibetica Verlag 2009, pp. 157–165
* Heinrich Hackmann, ''Erklärendes Wörterbuch zum chinesischen Buddhismus. Chinesisch-Sanskrit-deutsch. Von Heinrich Hackmann. Nach seinem handschriftlichen Nachlass überrbeitet von Johannes Nobel'', Leiden: E. J. Brill 1952
* Claude Jacques, "'Funan', 'Zhenla'. The reality concealed by these Chinese views of Indochina", in R. B. Smith and W. Watson (eds.), ''Early South East Asia: Essays in Archaeology, History, and Historical Geography'', New York, Oxford University Press, 1979, pp. 371–9.
* Claude Jacques,‘Funan: a major early Southeast Asian State’, in ''The Khmer Empire: Cities and Sanctuaries, Fifth to Thirteenth Century'', translated by Tom White, Bangkok, River Books, 2007, pp. 43–66.
* James C.M. Khoo (editor), ''Art & archaeology of Fu Nan: pre-Khmer Kingdom of the lower Mekong valley'', Bangkok, The Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, Orchid Press, 2003
* Lương Ninh, ''Vương quó̂c Phù Nam: lịch sử và văn hóa'' u Nan: history and culture Hà Nội, Viên văn hóa và Nhà xuât bản Văn hóa thông tin, 2005
* Lương Ninh, «Nước Chi Tôn», một quőc gia cở ở miển tây sông Hậu, ("Chi Tôn", an ancient state in the western bank of the Hậu river), ''Khảo cổ học'', ső 1, 1981, tr.38
* Pierre-Yves Manguin, "The archaeology of Fu Nan in the Mekong River Delta: the Oc Eo culture of Viet Nam", in Nancy Tingley and Andreas Reinecke, ''Arts of ancient Viet Nam: from River Plain to Open Sea'', Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, 2009, pp. 100–118.
* Pierre-Yves Manguin, "From Funan to Sriwijaya: Cultural continuities and discontinuities in the Early Historical maritime states of Southeast Asia", in ''25 tahun kerjasama Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi dan Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient'', Jakarta, Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi / EFEO, 2002, p. 59–82.
*
* Miriam T. Stark, "From Funan to Angkor: Collapse and Regeneration in Ancient Cambodia", G. Schwartz, J. Nichols (eds.), ''After Collapse: The Regeneration of Societies'', University of Arizona Press, 2006, pp. 144–16
* Michael Vickery, ''Society, Economics, and Politics in pre-Angkor Cambodia: The 7th–8th centuries''. Tokyo: The Center for East Asian Cultural Studies for Unesco, The Toyo Bunko, 1998
* Michael Vickery, "Funan reviewed: Deconstructing the Ancients." ''Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême Orient'' XC-XCI (2003–2004), pp. 101–143
* An Giang Province Bureau of Culture, Sport and Tourism, Office of Cultural Heritage; An Giang Province Management Commission for Oc Eo Cultural Relics, ''Di Sản Văn Hóa Phù Nam-Óc Eo, An Giang-Việt Nam: Thế kỷ I-VII'' (Phu Nam-Oc Eo Heritage, An Giang-Vietnam: 1st–7th Century), ong Xuyên Ong or ONG may refer to:
Arts and media
* Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction
* “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip
Places
* Ong, Nebraska, US, city
* Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town
* Ong River, Odisha, India ...
An Giang, 2013.
External links
Library of Congress Country Studies: Cambodia
SIDDHAM : the Asia inscriptions database
{{coord missing, Asia
Ancient Hindu kingdoms
States and territories established in the 60s
550 disestablishments
States and territories disestablished in the 550s
1st millennium in Cambodia
Historical Chinese exonyms