The kingdom of Champa (Campadesa or nagara Campa in Cham and Cambodian inscriptions written in Devanagari as [citation needed] Chăm Pa in Vietnamese, Chiêm Thành in Hán Việt and Zhàn chéng in Chinese records) was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.

The Cham people are remnants of this kingdom. They speak Cham, a Malayo-Polynesian language.

Champa was preceded in the region by a kingdom called Lin-yi (Middle Chinese *Lim Ip) or Lâm Ấp (Vietnamese) that was in existence from 192 AD, but the historical relationship between Lin-yi and Champa is not clear. Champa reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries. Thereafter began a gradual decline under pressure from Đại Việt, the Vietnamese polity centered in the region of modern Hanoi. In 1471, Viet troops sacked the northern Cham capital of Vijaya, and in 1697 the southern principality of Panduranga became a vassal of the Vietnamese emperor. In 1832, the Vietnamese emperor Minh Mạng annexed the remaining Cham territories. Mỹ Sơn, a former religious center, and Hội An, one of Champa's main port cities, are now heritage listed.

Historiography of Champa

Sources for the historiography of Champa

The historiography of Champa relies upon three types of sources:

Overarching theories in the historiography of Champa

Modern scholarship has been guided by two competing theories in the historiography of Champa. Scholars agree that historically Champa was divided into several regions or principalities spread out from South to North along the coast of modern Vietnam and united by a common language, culture and heritage. However, scholars have disagreed on whether these several regions belonged to a single political unit, or whether they were politically independent of one another. It is acknowledged that the historical record is not equally rich for each of the regions in every historical period. For example, in the 10th century, the record is richest for Indrapura; in the 12th century, it is richest for Vijaya; following the 15th century, it is richest for Panduranga. Some scholars have taken these shifts in the historical record to reflect the movement of the Cham capital from one location to another. According to such scholars, if the 10th century record is richest for Indrapura, it is so because at that time Indrapura was the capital of Champa. Other scholars have disputed this contention, holding that Champa was never a united country, and arguing that the presence of a particularly rich historical record for a given region in a given period is no basis for claiming that the region functioned as the capital of a united Champa during that period.[3]

Sources of foreign cultural influence

Through the centuries, Cham culture and society were influenced by forces emanating from China, from India, from Cambodia, from Java, as well as from other sources. Lin Yi, the predecessor state of historical Champa, began its existence in 192 AD as a breakaway Chinese colony. An official successfully revolted against Chinese rule in central Vietnam, and Lin Yi was founded in 192.[4] In the 4th century, wars with the neighboring Kingdom of Funan in Cambodia and the acquisition of Funanese territory led to the infusion of Indian culture into Cham society. Sanskrit was adopted as a scholarly language, and Hinduism, especially Shaivism, became the state religion. From the 10th century onwards Arab maritime trade in the region brought increasing Islamic cultural and religious influences. Champa came to serve as an important link in the Spice Route which stretched from the Persian Gulf to southern China and later in the Arab maritime routes in Indo-China as a supplier of aloe. Despite the frequent wars between Champa and Cambodia the two countries also traded and cultural influences moved in both directions. Royal families of the two countries intermarried frequently. Champa also had close trade and cultural relations with the powerful maritime empire of Srivijaya and later Majapahit of the Malay Archipelago. Minangkabau people in Sumatra Indonesia believe that one of their ancestor come from Champa who called as Harimau Campo (Tiger of Champa)[citation needed]. Harimau Campo together with Datuak Suri Dirajo (one of Minangkabau founding father), Kambiang Hutan, and Anjiang Mualim created basic concept of martial art of Minangkabau called silek (silat). Evidences gathered from linguistic studies also confirm that a very strong cultural influence of Champa in Indonesia is found in Aceh, indicated by the use of chamic or Aceh–Chamic language as main language in coastal districts of Aceh Besar, Pidie, Bireun, Aceh Utara, Kota Lhokseumawe, Aceh Timur, Aceh Barat, Aceh Barat Daya, and Aceh Jaya.

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