Champa

01Lin Yi and the Vo Canh stone

Chinese annals date the founding of the kingdom they called Lin Yi to 192 CE. Near Nha Trang stands the Vo Canh inscription, in Sanskrit, in a Brahmi script close to that of southern India in the 2nd–3rd century. It is the oldest Sanskrit inscription found in Southeast Asia. Its king, of the family of Shri Mara, gives his wealth away in a royal gift.

02Bhadreshvara at My Son

In a valley ringed by hills behind Simhapura, King Bhadravarman I set up a linga named after himself, Bhadreshvara, around 400 CE. The wooden shrine burned, and in the 7th century Shambhuvarman rebuilt it and renamed the lord Shambhu-Bhadreshvara. For the next six centuries Cham kings added brick towers there, more than seventy of them, carved with a skill in brick no one else matched. American bombing in 1969 destroyed much of it; UNESCO listed what remains in 1999.

Evidence · c. 2nd–3rd century CEVõ Cạnh inscriptionA Sanskrit stele from the coast of central Vietnam, the oldest Sanskrit inscription found in Southeast Asia.Read →

03Po Nagar and the Mother

On a hill above the river mouth at Nha Trang, the Cham of Kauthara worshipped Bhagavati, the Mother of the land, whom they called Yang Po Nagar. Her temple has stood there since the 8th century, and Vietnamese and Cham pilgrims still bring offerings. In the 9th century Indravarman II founded a great Mahayana monastery at Dong Duong, and Cham kings gave to both without any sense of conflict.

04War with Angkor and Dai Viet

Champa fought on two fronts. In 1177 Jaya Indravarman IV sailed up the Mekong and sacked Angkor. Che Bong Nga, who reigned 1360–1390, raided Thang Long, the Vietnamese capital, more than once. But the Vietnamese kingdom of Dai Viet kept pressing south, and in 1471 its king Le Thanh Tong took Vijaya. A Cham state survived in Panduranga, around today’s Phan Rang, until the Nguyen emperor Minh Mang annexed it in 1832.

Place · From the late 4th century CE (Bhadravarman I) to the 13th century, Champa kingsMỹ SơnThe holy valley of the Cham kings, where for some nine centuries they built brick temples to Shiva Bhadreshvara, the guardian of their kingdom.Read →

The rulers

1. 1Shri MaraAncestor named in the Vo Canh inscriptionc. 2nd century
2. 2Bhadravarman IFounded Bhadreshvara at My Sonc. 400
3. 3ShambhuvarmanRebuilt the My Son shrinec. 572–629
4. 4Prakashadharma Vikrantavarman IMany Sanskrit inscriptions at My Son653–c. 686
5. 5Indravarman IIFounded the Dong Duong monastery, 875late 9th century
6. 6Jaya Indravarman IVSacked Angkor in 1177late 12th century
7. 7Che Bong NgaRaided the Vietnamese capital1360–1390

What they left

• My Son, the brick temple valley, UNESCO 1999
• Po Nagar temple at Nha Trang, still in worship
• The Vo Canh inscription, oldest Sanskrit text in Southeast Asia
• The Balamon Cham of Ninh Thuan, Hindu to this day
• The Museum of Cham Sculpture at Da Nang