Indrapura (Champa)

Indrapura was the capital city of the kingdom of Champa from 875 AD until 982, or until 12th century AD, for several decades, under the reign of Indravarman I (877-890) and some of his followers belonging to the 6th dynasty in Dong Duong. The word Indrapura means "City of Indra" in Sanskrit, Indra being the Hindu God of Storm and War, and King of the Gods in the Rig Veda.

Nomenclature

Indrapura (nowadays Đồng Dương) was transcribed in both Chinese and Vietnamese sources as ''Fóshì/Phật Thệ'' (Chinese: 佛逝) or ''Fóshìchéng'' (Chinese: 佛逝城, lit. 'the City of Indra' or 'the city of Buddha'). Previous generations of French scholarships mistakenly attributed Fóshì to Vijaya (Chinese: 尸唎皮奈; pinyin: ''Shīlì Pínài''; Vietnamese: ''Thị Lợi Bi Nai''; alternate: ''Chà Bàn'').

History

King Vikrantavarman III of Champa installed his government in Virapura ( Phan Rang, Ninh Thuận province). Being heirless, he had to choose one of the sons of the royal family from the northern tribe to succeed to the throne. The new king (Indravarman II) decided to move the capital to the north where Indrapura is.

Influence of Mahayana Buddhism

This era also marked the rise of Mahayana Buddhism in the religious life and society of Champa. Buddhism was technically the official religion of the country as well as royal court. In 875, King Indravarman II initiated the construction of the large Buddhist monastery in Indrapura, which was recorded as the largest monastery of Southeast Asia at that time. His successors, starting with Jaya Simhavarman I, ordered more Buddhist projects in Indrapura and throughout the Cham kingdom. For example, a temple dedicated to Avalokiteśvara named vihara Pramuditalokeśvara was built in Quảng Nam in 902. Another large Mahayana monastery was built in Quảng Trị in 911 by Rajadvara, a Cham nobleman known for serving several kings and having undertaking two diplomatic missions to Java, which was also ruled by Mahayana Shailendras. A Buddhist shrine was built at Kon Klor, Kon Tum, Central Highlands in 914 as well.

Buddhist temples extended as far north as Quảng Bình and across northern Champa. This led the 13th century Vietnamese king Trần Nhân Tông, a Buddhist devotee, to travel to Champa for nine months during which he visited Buddhist sacred sites.

From 875 to 982, Champa also maintained relations with the Khmer empire and Java, both whom influenced Cham architecture.

End and destruction

The rise of two neighboring powers, Đại Cồ Việt in the north and the Khmer empire in the West, posed new threats to Champa. A war between Champa and the Khmer empire in 945, and another with Đại Cồ Việt under the Early Lê dynasty in 979, together weakened Champa. In 982, King of the Đại Việt, Lê Hoàn, led armies to sack a city in Northern Champa (Quảng Bình) in the Cham–Vietnamese War (982), killing the Cham king Paramesvaravarman. His successor retreated 700 ''li'' (300 km/186 mi) to the city of Indrapura.

In 988, the king of Champa, whose name is not known in Cham, but is referred to in Vietnamese sources as Lưu Kế Tông and in Chinese sources as Yángtuópái (楊陀排), sent an envoy to the Song dynasty. The ''History of the Song dynasty'' (Song Shi) reports that a Cham envoy in 1007 reported that "my country was formerly subject to Jiaozhou, then we fled to Foshi ndrapura 700 ''li'' south of our former location." The Vietnamese chronicle ''Khâm định Việt sử Thông giám cương mục'' relates that Huế was once in Cham territory, or had been belonged to the Principality of Indrapura. There was no proof that yāï po ku vijaya śrī Harivarman (r. 989–997), who was elected by the Cham to overthrow Lưu Kế Tông, had ever moved the capital south to Bình Ðịnh. These historical accounts could be seen as evidence that a Vietnamese attack in 982 not on Indrapura, but on a city ruled by a minor king from the same Indrapura dynasty in modern-day Quảng Bình. Early academic misinterpretation had failed to recognize the fact that 'Foshi' in both Chinese and Vietnamese sources was indeed Indrapura, not Vijaya.

There's no further evidence suggesting that Indrapura had been completely abandoned by the Cham before 1471. At least its status might have downgraded from being the major principality of Champa during the ninth to tenth centuries, to a minor one.

Surveys suggest that Indrapura might have been ransomed and slightly damaged during the periodic Angkorian invasions of 1145-1203. The city was briefly taken by the Vietnamese in 1402, and recaptured by Champa in 1407. It was probably sacked by Đại Việt in 1471 and thereafter abandoned.

During the Vietnam War, in August 1969, the USAF launched a massive carpet bombing campaign on Indrapura/Đồng Dương and surrounding sites against Vietcong hideouts, reducing the ancient city and its monasteries to rubble.

Now

The site is near the present-day village of Đồng Dương, Bình Định Bắc commune, Thăng Bình District of Quảng Nam province. Unlike his predecessors, Indravarman II was a Mahayana Buddhist, so he built a great Buddhist monastery. The ruins was mostly destroyed by Vietnam War bombings and nowadays even by looting of bricks.The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog
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The Museum of Cham Sculpture ("Bao Tang Cham") at Da Nang, founded in 1915 by the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), has a valuable collection of Cham sculptures, which were retrieved from Đông Dương as well as from other archaeological sites, such as Mỹ Sơn and Tra Kieu.

Archaeology

The site of Đồng Dương was preliminarily surveyed by Louis Finot in 1904. Henri Parmentier (1909, 1918) took two volumes of his research on Champa, which included detailed drawing lithographs of Đồng Dương. Jean Boisselier managed to publish another Champa monograph in 1963 before Champa studies halted during the Vietnam War.

Đồng Dương and surrounding sites during the height of the war were hotspots of the NLF (Vietcong) activities and bunkers. After the war as Champa sites throughout South Vietnam had received massive destructions, research on Champa resumed in the late 1980s and 1990s. In recent decades, Indrapura/Đồng Dương has been re-excavated, revealing new insights about the city during its magnificence.

Modern-day vestiges of Indrapura/Đồng Dương are barely recognizable: eroded citadel; the royal palace area; watch towers; ruins of the Monastery; paved roads, bridges, and sewer system. It was a highly organized, well-urbanized city. Except for the remaining temples and shrines, most buildings in medieval Indrapura might have been constructed with wooden materials such as logs or bamboo.

* Rectangular lotus pond of 180 meters (590 ft) long and 110 meters (360 ft) wide. The royal palace could have stood next there. King Jaya Simhavarman I (r. 897-904) applauses: "The splendid royal Indrapura city...beautified by white lotus, and ornamented with excellent lotus flowers, made by Bhṛgu in ancient times..."
* Semi-convex rectangular artificial low hill of 340 meters (1115 ft) long and 260 meters (853 ft) wide, carefully designed. Apparently might be due replacement of soils dug from the forged pond and being piled up.
* Ramparts, remains of dams, and irrigation canals running from the Li Li River and Bà Đăng stream.
* Outer and inner layers form a military citadel. Outer layer is composed of lighter materials. Inner layer is a thick brick wall, with a square structure of 110 meters (360 ft) situates in the northeast of the innermost and traces of watch towers at its four corners.
* An artificial 750 meter long (2460 ft) and 10 meters (33 ft) wide road/rampart leading to the Buddhist Monastery.
* The ruins of the Monastery, which were severely destroyed by bombs, enveloped by a rectangular-shaped urban settlement of 1070 ft by 508 ft.
* Two gates at the superficial central portion of the citadel; the east seemingly has a tower shape.
* Wells, ceramic pipes used to pump water from reserves, underground aqueducts, sewer system.
* Monolith stone sculptures, tombstones, and stelae created by unidentified artisans on nearby remote Trà Cai Mountain

See also

* Tra Kieu
* Vijaya

Notes

References

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External links

*{{in lang, fr}
Historical photos of Champa archeological sites
on EFEO website

Archaeological sites in Vietnam
Former populated places in Vietnam
875 establishments
9th-century establishments in Vietnam
Champa