The Kingdom of Champa

The heart of this ancient kingdom of Indochina, known as Champa, extended from Danang to Phan Thiet in what is now central Vietnam. The remarkable red brick and sandstone Cham towers found all over that area are the silent witnesses of a civilization that has been swept away in the maelstrom of history.

The Cham people came from the area now known as Indonesia. They were seafarers who raided, occupied and finally settled along the central and southern coastal areas of Vietnam. Contact with Indian merchants introduced them to Hinduism in the second century, providing the religious beliefs and social development that led to the establishment of the powerful kingdom of Champa.Physically, the Cham differed significantly from the Viets to the north and the Kh’mer in the south, being larger with prominent straight noses and black curly hair. Apart from being excellent sailors, they were skilled builders and farmers. By the beginning of the fifth century, the Cham had resisted Chinese attempts at domination and unified their kingdom with a capital at Simhapura (also known as Indrapura, and now called Tra Kieu) on the Thu Bon River between Hoi An and the My Son Sanctuary, near Danang.Thanks to the silk, spice, and ivory trade with China, India and the Muslim world, the Cham Kingdom prospered. However, by the middle of the tenth century, it faced threats from the Khmer Empire who briefly held Champa from 1145-1147, and the southward advance of Kublai Khan's Mongol hordes. The Cham struck an alliance with Vietnam, and were successful in repelling their enemies. Allied to Vietnam, the military power of the armies of the Cham Kingdom waxed: at one stage during the twelfth century, they were strong enough to sack the Kh’mer capital at Angkor, but later its might dwindled and even fell under Khmer rule for a time.Vietnamese expansionism southwards began to place pressure on the Cham people as early as the eighth century. Treaties were signed as part of a Cham strategy of appeasement, but there was a resurgence of Cham nationalism under King Binasuor during the latter part of the twelfth century. The King re-opened hostilities with the Viets and ransacked their capital city of Thanh Long, present-day Hanoi, on several occasions. However, after Binasuor’s death, more and more Cham territory was ceded to, or annexed by, the Vietnamese until it became necessary to abandon Simhapura and migrate south to a new capital they called Vijaya, not far from present-day Quy Nhon.

Finally, in a decisive battle, the Cham forces were heavily defeated the Vietnamese. By the seventeenth century, the Kingdom of Champa was but a memory, with most of its people assimilated or scattered.

Today, about 100,000 ethnic Cham live in small, impoverished minorities in South Vietnam, and in a larger, more prosperous community in Cambodia. Most of the Vietnamese Cham are Hindus, and those in Cambodia usually Muslim. Other remnants of the Cham people are scattered in a Diaspora as far as Malaysia. Apart from folk memories and a few artefacts, all that remains of the greatness of Champa is dozens of exotic Cham temples, adorned with bas-reliefs and statues in varying stages of decay.