Funan II

  General Description   ’Funan’ is the name the Chinese gave to the polity (or cluster of polities) that, between the 3rd and the 7th centuries CE, ruled over much of the southern portion of mainland Southeast Asia ‒ including territory that is today southern Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar, as well as all of Cambodia. ^[1] Most likely, what we now know as Funan emerged from Iron Age settlements around the Mekong Delta and the banks of the Mekong river. ^[2] The best known of these settlements is the archaeological site of Oc Èo ‒ hence the name ’culture of Oc Èo’ to describe mainland Southeast Asian culture at this time. ^[3]
Our Late Funan period spans the century between 540 (the year following the final mention of a Funanese ruler in the Chinese records) ^[4] and 640 CE (a decade or so before the Chinese received embassies from a number of polities subjugated by the Northern Cambodian polity of Chenla). ^[5] This period was one of decline and dissolution, due in large part to significant changes in international trade networks and the nautical technologies on which these trade networks relied. ^[5]
Population and political organization
It is not entirely clear whether Funan was a unitary state, as suggested by Chinese records, or a cluster of competing centres, or indeed the most powerful out of many such polities. ^[6] The highest political authority was probably something like a Mon-Khmer poñ, that is, a settlement chief. There may have been a loose hierarchy of poñ, possibly based on wealth and political influence, with the wealthiest and most powerful poñ viewed as ’kings’ by the Chinese. ^[7]
No population estimates for Funan could be found in the literature, as work continues to locate and study settlements from this period. However, Chinese records state that, in the early 7th century, Funan included 30 settlements with about 1,000 households each. ^[8]

[1]: (West 2009, 222) Barbara West. 2009. Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. New York: Facts on File.

[2]: (O’Reilly 2007, 91, 97) Dougald J. W. O’Reilly. 2007. Early Civilizations of Southeast Asia. Lanham: AltaMira Press.

[3]: (Gin 2004, 6-7) Ooi Keat Gin. 2004. ’Introduction’, in Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, edited by Ooi Keat Gin, 1-109. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC Clio.

[4]: (Tully 2005, 13) John Tully. 2005. A Short History of Cambodia: From Empire to Survival. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin.

[5]: (Hall 2010, 60-61) Kenneth R. Hall. 2010. A History of Early Southeast Asia: Maritime Trade and Societal Development, 100-1500. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

[6]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, 73) Ian Mabbett and David Chandler. 1995. The Khmers. Oxford: Blackwell.

[7]: (Vickery 1998, 19-20) Michael Vickery. 1998. Society, Economics, and Politics in pre-Angkor Cambodia: The 7th-8th Centuries. Chicago: Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies.

[8]: (Miksic 2007, 125) John N. Miksic. 2007. Historical Dictionary of Ancient Southeast Asia. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.