’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.
| 48 P |
| Funan II |
| Vyadhapura/Angkor Borei | |
| Temu | |
| Nafuna | |
| Naravaranagara |
| bnam | |
| biennium | |
| vnam | |
| Culture of Oc Eo |
| nominal allegiance to [---] |
| Chinese cultural sphere |
| Zhenla |
| continuity |
| Preceding: Funan I (kh_funan_1) [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Chenla (kh_chenla) [continuity] |
| confederated state |
| present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| 8 km |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| Year Range | Funan II (kh_funan_2) was in: |
|---|---|
| (540 CE 639 CE) | Cambodian Basin |
’No one knows what the Chinese word ’Fu-nan’ represents. The country to which it refers appears to have had its heartland in the Mekong delta area. The Chinese describe it as an empire, with a number of vassal states; since modern scholars doubt whether this is correct, they treat the Chinese information with suspicion, and the name ’Fu-nan’ belongs in inverted commas. [1] ’Chinese records noted a maritime kingdom situated on the lower reaches of the Mekong that flourished from the third to seventh cen- turies C.E. Referred to as FUNAN, this polity is believed to be the intermediary of the sea-going trade between IMPERIAL CHINA to the east and INDIA to the west.’ [2] ’The name of Funan is first mentioned in the Sanguo zhi, which was compiled in the late 3rd century and covers the period 220-280 AD.’ [3]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.66)
[2]: (Ooi 2004, pp. 10-11)
[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 46)
Vyadhapura is believed to be the place location as modern-day Angkor BoreiAngkor Borei ’The kingdom’s capital was the city of Vyadhapura, which is believed to be the same place as Angkor Borei, Cambodia, where extensive archaeologi- cal work has been done recently.’
[1]
’One important centre of Funan was on the coast in Vietnam near the Cambodian border, at a site now called Oc Eco; the Chinese reported Funan’s capital to be farther inland, most probably Angkor Borei, not at Ba Phom. The name for the capital in the Chinese records, T’e-mu, cannot yet be identified with any local name, but Vyadhapura, at least, must be rejected as the name or site of the Funan capital.’
[2]
’At any rate, Oc Eco is generally considered to have been the main port of Fu-nan; its capital, if there was one, has not been located precisely.’
[3]
’The evidence that either mountain was a cult site is stronger than the evidence that Funan was a major, unified kingdom or that its political center was associated with either hill.’
[4]
’Most scholars accept an identification with the Funan kingdom described by Chinese visitors, as early as the third century C.E., as a complex of walled political centers where craft specialists plied their trade, summary justice was adminis- tered, stone inscriptions were engraved, and the range of mortuary practices included inhumations. Angkor Borei may have been the “inland capital” of Funan referred to by the Chinese, as its large area (300 hectares) and plethora of brickwork suggest.’
[5]
’Recent research has determined that Angkor Borei may have been the centre of the early third century state identified as ‘Funan’ in Chinese annals.’
[6]
’Two inscriptions from Angkor Borei imply that the capital of the last recorded king of Funan, Rudravarman, was located in that area. These inscriptions are the earliest dated texts believed to emanate from the people of Funan (inventory numbers K.557 and K.600), both from 611. Another recently discovered inscription, provisionally dated to 650 (the reign of Jayavarman I), mentions that Funan’s last ruler, Rudravarman, lived in Angkor Borei. A Chinese source, the Liang Shu, says the “enclosed settlement” (possibly meaning capital) of Funan was 500 li (200 kilometers/120 miles) from the sea, which would fit the location of Angkor Borei. Another Chinese record, the Xin Tangshu, says that the capital was once at Temu, but after that city was captured by Zhenla in the late sixth century, it moved to Nafuna (Naravaranagara).’
[7]
’Some have hypothesized that Angkor Borei was Naravaranagara, a capital of Funan in the sixth century. According to Michael Vickery, however, Naravaranagara was probably 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Angkor Borei. In any case, Angkor Borei was one of the most impressive sites in early first-millennium Southeast Asia.’
[8]
’The oldest dated inscriptions from Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 611, have both been found at Angkor Borei. Another recently discovered inscription is believed to date from about 650. This stele mentions that Rudravarman, Funan’s last known ruler, was living in Angkor Borei.’
[9]
’Clearly Funan’s rise had two sources: the productivity of its agrarian system and the area’s strategic location opposite the Isthmus of Kra. A network of canals connect the coast to Funan’s agricultural upstream, centered on its urban ‘‘capital’’ at the archeological site of Angkor Borei in modern southern Cambodia. It is unclear whether this canal network required a new level of techno- logical competence or a central leadership for its construction (Malleret:1959-1963; Liere: 1980; Stark: 1998, 2003, 2006a, 2006b; Stark and Sovath: 2001).’
[10]
’The site of Angkor Borei, which was a political centre of Funan, continued to be important into the Angkorian period, though not as a capital (Vickery 1998: 394-397; 409; Stark 2006: 106).’
[11]
’If Funan were a unitary state its capital is not known, with conflicting claims made by modern writers for Vyadhapura, Angkor Borei, Banteay Prei Nokor and even Prey Veng, all situated in the Mekong delta or reasonably close to it. Another Funanese centre, the port town of Oc Eo in what is today called the Camau peninsula, was excavated by the French archaeologist Louis Malleret before World War II.’
[12]
’Two inscriptions from the vicinity of Angkor Borei imply that this was the capital of Rudravarman, the last recorded king in this region.’
[13]
’In about 550 the capital of the great Hindu kingdom of Funan, Vyadhapura, was conquered by King Bhavavarman of Chen-la.’
[14]
[1]: (West 2009, p. 222)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 19)
[3]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.69)
[4]: (Chandler 2008, p. 20)
[5]: (Bulbeck 2004, p. 876)
[6]: (Rooney, p. 159)
[7]: (Miksic 2007, pp. 125-126)
[8]: (Miksic 2007, p. 19)
[9]: (Miksic 2007, p.20)
[10]: (Hall 2010, pp. 48-49)
[11]: (Lustig 2009, pp. 65-66)
[12]: (Tully 2005, p. 10)
[13]: (Higham 2004, p. 114)
[14]: (O’Brien 2007, p. 64)
Vyadhapura is believed to be the place location as modern-day Angkor BoreiAngkor Borei ’The kingdom’s capital was the city of Vyadhapura, which is believed to be the same place as Angkor Borei, Cambodia, where extensive archaeologi- cal work has been done recently.’
[1]
’One important centre of Funan was on the coast in Vietnam near the Cambodian border, at a site now called Oc Eco; the Chinese reported Funan’s capital to be farther inland, most probably Angkor Borei, not at Ba Phom. The name for the capital in the Chinese records, T’e-mu, cannot yet be identified with any local name, but Vyadhapura, at least, must be rejected as the name or site of the Funan capital.’
[2]
’At any rate, Oc Eco is generally considered to have been the main port of Fu-nan; its capital, if there was one, has not been located precisely.’
[3]
’The evidence that either mountain was a cult site is stronger than the evidence that Funan was a major, unified kingdom or that its political center was associated with either hill.’
[4]
’Most scholars accept an identification with the Funan kingdom described by Chinese visitors, as early as the third century C.E., as a complex of walled political centers where craft specialists plied their trade, summary justice was adminis- tered, stone inscriptions were engraved, and the range of mortuary practices included inhumations. Angkor Borei may have been the “inland capital” of Funan referred to by the Chinese, as its large area (300 hectares) and plethora of brickwork suggest.’
[5]
’Recent research has determined that Angkor Borei may have been the centre of the early third century state identified as ‘Funan’ in Chinese annals.’
[6]
’Two inscriptions from Angkor Borei imply that the capital of the last recorded king of Funan, Rudravarman, was located in that area. These inscriptions are the earliest dated texts believed to emanate from the people of Funan (inventory numbers K.557 and K.600), both from 611. Another recently discovered inscription, provisionally dated to 650 (the reign of Jayavarman I), mentions that Funan’s last ruler, Rudravarman, lived in Angkor Borei. A Chinese source, the Liang Shu, says the “enclosed settlement” (possibly meaning capital) of Funan was 500 li (200 kilometers/120 miles) from the sea, which would fit the location of Angkor Borei. Another Chinese record, the Xin Tangshu, says that the capital was once at Temu, but after that city was captured by Zhenla in the late sixth century, it moved to Nafuna (Naravaranagara).’
[7]
’Some have hypothesized that Angkor Borei was Naravaranagara, a capital of Funan in the sixth century. According to Michael Vickery, however, Naravaranagara was probably 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Angkor Borei. In any case, Angkor Borei was one of the most impressive sites in early first-millennium Southeast Asia.’
[8]
’The oldest dated inscriptions from Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 611, have both been found at Angkor Borei. Another recently discovered inscription is believed to date from about 650. This stele mentions that Rudravarman, Funan’s last known ruler, was living in Angkor Borei.’
[9]
’Clearly Funan’s rise had two sources: the productivity of its agrarian system and the area’s strategic location opposite the Isthmus of Kra. A network of canals connect the coast to Funan’s agricultural upstream, centered on its urban ‘‘capital’’ at the archeological site of Angkor Borei in modern southern Cambodia. It is unclear whether this canal network required a new level of techno- logical competence or a central leadership for its construction (Malleret:1959-1963; Liere: 1980; Stark: 1998, 2003, 2006a, 2006b; Stark and Sovath: 2001).’
[10]
’The site of Angkor Borei, which was a political centre of Funan, continued to be important into the Angkorian period, though not as a capital (Vickery 1998: 394-397; 409; Stark 2006: 106).’
[11]
’If Funan were a unitary state its capital is not known, with conflicting claims made by modern writers for Vyadhapura, Angkor Borei, Banteay Prei Nokor and even Prey Veng, all situated in the Mekong delta or reasonably close to it. Another Funanese centre, the port town of Oc Eo in what is today called the Camau peninsula, was excavated by the French archaeologist Louis Malleret before World War II.’
[12]
’Two inscriptions from the vicinity of Angkor Borei imply that this was the capital of Rudravarman, the last recorded king in this region.’
[13]
’In about 550 the capital of the great Hindu kingdom of Funan, Vyadhapura, was conquered by King Bhavavarman of Chen-la.’
[14]
[1]: (West 2009, p. 222)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 19)
[3]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.69)
[4]: (Chandler 2008, p. 20)
[5]: (Bulbeck 2004, p. 876)
[6]: (Rooney, p. 159)
[7]: (Miksic 2007, pp. 125-126)
[8]: (Miksic 2007, p. 19)
[9]: (Miksic 2007, p.20)
[10]: (Hall 2010, pp. 48-49)
[11]: (Lustig 2009, pp. 65-66)
[12]: (Tully 2005, p. 10)
[13]: (Higham 2004, p. 114)
[14]: (O’Brien 2007, p. 64)
Vyadhapura is believed to be the place location as modern-day Angkor BoreiAngkor Borei ’The kingdom’s capital was the city of Vyadhapura, which is believed to be the same place as Angkor Borei, Cambodia, where extensive archaeologi- cal work has been done recently.’
[1]
’One important centre of Funan was on the coast in Vietnam near the Cambodian border, at a site now called Oc Eco; the Chinese reported Funan’s capital to be farther inland, most probably Angkor Borei, not at Ba Phom. The name for the capital in the Chinese records, T’e-mu, cannot yet be identified with any local name, but Vyadhapura, at least, must be rejected as the name or site of the Funan capital.’
[2]
’At any rate, Oc Eco is generally considered to have been the main port of Fu-nan; its capital, if there was one, has not been located precisely.’
[3]
’The evidence that either mountain was a cult site is stronger than the evidence that Funan was a major, unified kingdom or that its political center was associated with either hill.’
[4]
’Most scholars accept an identification with the Funan kingdom described by Chinese visitors, as early as the third century C.E., as a complex of walled political centers where craft specialists plied their trade, summary justice was adminis- tered, stone inscriptions were engraved, and the range of mortuary practices included inhumations. Angkor Borei may have been the “inland capital” of Funan referred to by the Chinese, as its large area (300 hectares) and plethora of brickwork suggest.’
[5]
’Recent research has determined that Angkor Borei may have been the centre of the early third century state identified as ‘Funan’ in Chinese annals.’
[6]
’Two inscriptions from Angkor Borei imply that the capital of the last recorded king of Funan, Rudravarman, was located in that area. These inscriptions are the earliest dated texts believed to emanate from the people of Funan (inventory numbers K.557 and K.600), both from 611. Another recently discovered inscription, provisionally dated to 650 (the reign of Jayavarman I), mentions that Funan’s last ruler, Rudravarman, lived in Angkor Borei. A Chinese source, the Liang Shu, says the “enclosed settlement” (possibly meaning capital) of Funan was 500 li (200 kilometers/120 miles) from the sea, which would fit the location of Angkor Borei. Another Chinese record, the Xin Tangshu, says that the capital was once at Temu, but after that city was captured by Zhenla in the late sixth century, it moved to Nafuna (Naravaranagara).’
[7]
’Some have hypothesized that Angkor Borei was Naravaranagara, a capital of Funan in the sixth century. According to Michael Vickery, however, Naravaranagara was probably 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Angkor Borei. In any case, Angkor Borei was one of the most impressive sites in early first-millennium Southeast Asia.’
[8]
’The oldest dated inscriptions from Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 611, have both been found at Angkor Borei. Another recently discovered inscription is believed to date from about 650. This stele mentions that Rudravarman, Funan’s last known ruler, was living in Angkor Borei.’
[9]
’Clearly Funan’s rise had two sources: the productivity of its agrarian system and the area’s strategic location opposite the Isthmus of Kra. A network of canals connect the coast to Funan’s agricultural upstream, centered on its urban ‘‘capital’’ at the archeological site of Angkor Borei in modern southern Cambodia. It is unclear whether this canal network required a new level of techno- logical competence or a central leadership for its construction (Malleret:1959-1963; Liere: 1980; Stark: 1998, 2003, 2006a, 2006b; Stark and Sovath: 2001).’
[10]
’The site of Angkor Borei, which was a political centre of Funan, continued to be important into the Angkorian period, though not as a capital (Vickery 1998: 394-397; 409; Stark 2006: 106).’
[11]
’If Funan were a unitary state its capital is not known, with conflicting claims made by modern writers for Vyadhapura, Angkor Borei, Banteay Prei Nokor and even Prey Veng, all situated in the Mekong delta or reasonably close to it. Another Funanese centre, the port town of Oc Eo in what is today called the Camau peninsula, was excavated by the French archaeologist Louis Malleret before World War II.’
[12]
’Two inscriptions from the vicinity of Angkor Borei imply that this was the capital of Rudravarman, the last recorded king in this region.’
[13]
’In about 550 the capital of the great Hindu kingdom of Funan, Vyadhapura, was conquered by King Bhavavarman of Chen-la.’
[14]
[1]: (West 2009, p. 222)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 19)
[3]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.69)
[4]: (Chandler 2008, p. 20)
[5]: (Bulbeck 2004, p. 876)
[6]: (Rooney, p. 159)
[7]: (Miksic 2007, pp. 125-126)
[8]: (Miksic 2007, p. 19)
[9]: (Miksic 2007, p.20)
[10]: (Hall 2010, pp. 48-49)
[11]: (Lustig 2009, pp. 65-66)
[12]: (Tully 2005, p. 10)
[13]: (Higham 2004, p. 114)
[14]: (O’Brien 2007, p. 64)
Vyadhapura is believed to be the place location as modern-day Angkor BoreiAngkor Borei ’The kingdom’s capital was the city of Vyadhapura, which is believed to be the same place as Angkor Borei, Cambodia, where extensive archaeologi- cal work has been done recently.’
[1]
’One important centre of Funan was on the coast in Vietnam near the Cambodian border, at a site now called Oc Eco; the Chinese reported Funan’s capital to be farther inland, most probably Angkor Borei, not at Ba Phom. The name for the capital in the Chinese records, T’e-mu, cannot yet be identified with any local name, but Vyadhapura, at least, must be rejected as the name or site of the Funan capital.’
[2]
’At any rate, Oc Eco is generally considered to have been the main port of Fu-nan; its capital, if there was one, has not been located precisely.’
[3]
’The evidence that either mountain was a cult site is stronger than the evidence that Funan was a major, unified kingdom or that its political center was associated with either hill.’
[4]
’Most scholars accept an identification with the Funan kingdom described by Chinese visitors, as early as the third century C.E., as a complex of walled political centers where craft specialists plied their trade, summary justice was adminis- tered, stone inscriptions were engraved, and the range of mortuary practices included inhumations. Angkor Borei may have been the “inland capital” of Funan referred to by the Chinese, as its large area (300 hectares) and plethora of brickwork suggest.’
[5]
’Recent research has determined that Angkor Borei may have been the centre of the early third century state identified as ‘Funan’ in Chinese annals.’
[6]
’Two inscriptions from Angkor Borei imply that the capital of the last recorded king of Funan, Rudravarman, was located in that area. These inscriptions are the earliest dated texts believed to emanate from the people of Funan (inventory numbers K.557 and K.600), both from 611. Another recently discovered inscription, provisionally dated to 650 (the reign of Jayavarman I), mentions that Funan’s last ruler, Rudravarman, lived in Angkor Borei. A Chinese source, the Liang Shu, says the “enclosed settlement” (possibly meaning capital) of Funan was 500 li (200 kilometers/120 miles) from the sea, which would fit the location of Angkor Borei. Another Chinese record, the Xin Tangshu, says that the capital was once at Temu, but after that city was captured by Zhenla in the late sixth century, it moved to Nafuna (Naravaranagara).’
[7]
’Some have hypothesized that Angkor Borei was Naravaranagara, a capital of Funan in the sixth century. According to Michael Vickery, however, Naravaranagara was probably 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Angkor Borei. In any case, Angkor Borei was one of the most impressive sites in early first-millennium Southeast Asia.’
[8]
’The oldest dated inscriptions from Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 611, have both been found at Angkor Borei. Another recently discovered inscription is believed to date from about 650. This stele mentions that Rudravarman, Funan’s last known ruler, was living in Angkor Borei.’
[9]
’Clearly Funan’s rise had two sources: the productivity of its agrarian system and the area’s strategic location opposite the Isthmus of Kra. A network of canals connect the coast to Funan’s agricultural upstream, centered on its urban ‘‘capital’’ at the archeological site of Angkor Borei in modern southern Cambodia. It is unclear whether this canal network required a new level of techno- logical competence or a central leadership for its construction (Malleret:1959-1963; Liere: 1980; Stark: 1998, 2003, 2006a, 2006b; Stark and Sovath: 2001).’
[10]
’The site of Angkor Borei, which was a political centre of Funan, continued to be important into the Angkorian period, though not as a capital (Vickery 1998: 394-397; 409; Stark 2006: 106).’
[11]
’If Funan were a unitary state its capital is not known, with conflicting claims made by modern writers for Vyadhapura, Angkor Borei, Banteay Prei Nokor and even Prey Veng, all situated in the Mekong delta or reasonably close to it. Another Funanese centre, the port town of Oc Eo in what is today called the Camau peninsula, was excavated by the French archaeologist Louis Malleret before World War II.’
[12]
’Two inscriptions from the vicinity of Angkor Borei imply that this was the capital of Rudravarman, the last recorded king in this region.’
[13]
’In about 550 the capital of the great Hindu kingdom of Funan, Vyadhapura, was conquered by King Bhavavarman of Chen-la.’
[14]
[1]: (West 2009, p. 222)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 19)
[3]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.69)
[4]: (Chandler 2008, p. 20)
[5]: (Bulbeck 2004, p. 876)
[6]: (Rooney, p. 159)
[7]: (Miksic 2007, pp. 125-126)
[8]: (Miksic 2007, p. 19)
[9]: (Miksic 2007, p.20)
[10]: (Hall 2010, pp. 48-49)
[11]: (Lustig 2009, pp. 65-66)
[12]: (Tully 2005, p. 10)
[13]: (Higham 2004, p. 114)
[14]: (O’Brien 2007, p. 64)
’One of the best-known states controlled the strategic Mekong Delta (Higham 2011). Called Funan by the Chinese, it incorporated large walled cities linked by canals stretching for tens of kilometers across the flat deltaic landscape.’ [1] ’In his opening paragraphs on Funan is his major synthesis, Coedes wrote that ’Funan’ was derived from the Khmer word bnam/vnam, "mountain" [...]’ [2] ’The phrase “Culture of Oc Èo” is used to denote the culture that emerged and developed in this delta area throughout the first half of the first millen- nium C.E., as exhibited by the uncovering of more than 300 sites.’ [3] ’FUNAN. This is the modern pronunciation of Chinese characters used in texts from the third to the seventh centuries to denote a kingdom centered in the lower Mekong Valley (see map 7). In ancient times they were probably pronounced biunâm, which is a good approxima- tion of the Khmer word bnam, now pronounced phnom and meaning “mountain.”’ [4]
[1]: (Higham 2013, p. 586)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 36)
[3]: (Ooi 2004, pp. 6-7)
[4]: (Miksic 2007, p. 121)
’One of the best-known states controlled the strategic Mekong Delta (Higham 2011). Called Funan by the Chinese, it incorporated large walled cities linked by canals stretching for tens of kilometers across the flat deltaic landscape.’ [1] ’In his opening paragraphs on Funan is his major synthesis, Coedes wrote that ’Funan’ was derived from the Khmer word bnam/vnam, "mountain" [...]’ [2] ’The phrase “Culture of Oc Èo” is used to denote the culture that emerged and developed in this delta area throughout the first half of the first millen- nium C.E., as exhibited by the uncovering of more than 300 sites.’ [3] ’FUNAN. This is the modern pronunciation of Chinese characters used in texts from the third to the seventh centuries to denote a kingdom centered in the lower Mekong Valley (see map 7). In ancient times they were probably pronounced biunâm, which is a good approxima- tion of the Khmer word bnam, now pronounced phnom and meaning “mountain.”’ [4]
[1]: (Higham 2013, p. 586)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 36)
[3]: (Ooi 2004, pp. 6-7)
[4]: (Miksic 2007, p. 121)
’One of the best-known states controlled the strategic Mekong Delta (Higham 2011). Called Funan by the Chinese, it incorporated large walled cities linked by canals stretching for tens of kilometers across the flat deltaic landscape.’ [1] ’In his opening paragraphs on Funan is his major synthesis, Coedes wrote that ’Funan’ was derived from the Khmer word bnam/vnam, "mountain" [...]’ [2] ’The phrase “Culture of Oc Èo” is used to denote the culture that emerged and developed in this delta area throughout the first half of the first millen- nium C.E., as exhibited by the uncovering of more than 300 sites.’ [3] ’FUNAN. This is the modern pronunciation of Chinese characters used in texts from the third to the seventh centuries to denote a kingdom centered in the lower Mekong Valley (see map 7). In ancient times they were probably pronounced biunâm, which is a good approxima- tion of the Khmer word bnam, now pronounced phnom and meaning “mountain.”’ [4]
[1]: (Higham 2013, p. 586)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 36)
[3]: (Ooi 2004, pp. 6-7)
[4]: (Miksic 2007, p. 121)
’One of the best-known states controlled the strategic Mekong Delta (Higham 2011). Called Funan by the Chinese, it incorporated large walled cities linked by canals stretching for tens of kilometers across the flat deltaic landscape.’ [1] ’In his opening paragraphs on Funan is his major synthesis, Coedes wrote that ’Funan’ was derived from the Khmer word bnam/vnam, "mountain" [...]’ [2] ’The phrase “Culture of Oc Èo” is used to denote the culture that emerged and developed in this delta area throughout the first half of the first millen- nium C.E., as exhibited by the uncovering of more than 300 sites.’ [3] ’FUNAN. This is the modern pronunciation of Chinese characters used in texts from the third to the seventh centuries to denote a kingdom centered in the lower Mekong Valley (see map 7). In ancient times they were probably pronounced biunâm, which is a good approxima- tion of the Khmer word bnam, now pronounced phnom and meaning “mountain.”’ [4]
[1]: (Higham 2013, p. 586)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 36)
[3]: (Ooi 2004, pp. 6-7)
[4]: (Miksic 2007, p. 121)
’The site of Nen Chua is located on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. It dates to the period when the maritime state of FUNAN flourished on the basis of widespread trade relations linking China with Rome. [...] The radiocarbon dates from this site suggest occupation in the period 450-650 C.E.’
This period, from approximately 540 to 640 CE, marks a period 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. The last Funan king was attested to in 539 CE. 640 CE marks the end of the Funan polity, having lost considerable ground to the Zhenla in the preceding fifty years, as attested by Chinese sources, which attest to missions that were sent to China by a number of polities conquered by Zhenla around 650 CE. ’There is considerable evidence for conflict and the imposition of hegemony by one group over another in Southeast Asia from earliest times. From the Angkor period (after 800CE), there is ample evidence of conflict, both from inscriptions (Finot 1925; Jacques 1986) and bas-reliefs (Chetwin 2001; Clark 2007; Coedés 1932; Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007; Le Bonheur & Poncar 1993). Accounts from Chinese histories provide indirect evidence for conflict in the earlier period too. One indicates that settlements in the polity of Funan, located in the Mekong Delta, were fortified. Another reveals that missions were sent to China by a number of polities conquered by Chenla, the power that superseded Funan in Cambodia, after CE 650-6 (Tuan-Lin 1876).’ [1] Note: Chenla is the older formulation of the name, the modern romanization of the Chinese character is Zhenla. [2] ’According to the Chinese accounts, the last king of Funan was called Rudravarman and he was chiefly distinguished in their eyes because he offered the gift of a live rhinoceros to the Emperor at Beijing in 539 AD. After this, the historical record becomes somewhat blurred. For many years, it was believed that Funan declined or disappeared because it was threatened by the rise of another, more powerful state called Chenla or Zhenla to the north.’ [3] ’Late in sixth century, ’Fu-nan’ disappears from the Chinese record, and its place is taken by the Khmer city-states further north where minor rajas competed for hegemony.’ [4] ’In the 6th century Southeast Asian shipping to China linking China, Southeast Asia, and India began to shift from coastal sailing along the shores of Vietnam, Cambodia, and the peninsula, to a direct route across the South China Sea from Indonesia to southern China and northern Vietnam. Funan, the coastal polity dependent on maritime trade, apparently collapsed and was replaced in Cambodia by an entity known to the Chinese as ’Chenla’, a state, or group of states, or pon-led communities based on the control of land and people, and extracting wealth from agriculture, and possibly inter-community trade, with little involvement in maritime activities.’ [5] ’In the lower reaches of the Mekong River in Vietnam, between the delta area and the Gulf of Thailand (Siam), lies OC ÈO, an archaeological site generally believed to be FUNAN, a kingdom that flourished in the third through seventh centuries C.E., hitherto known only through written source materials.’ [6] ’The CHINESE TRIBUTE SYSTEM was imposed on FU-NAN from the fourth century until its demise in the latter half of the sixth century.’ [7] ’Following the decline of Funan sea power by about the sixth century, the Khmers turned inland, to the country’s agricultural regions.’( [8] ’It is clear, however, that in the third century the great expansion of Funan towards the Malay peninsula during which it subdued, or rather relegated to vassal status, a number of small states, gave way in the succeeding centuries to a reduction in the extent of its territory, ending around the fourth or fifth centuries in an area restricted to the southern parts of today’s Cambodia and Vietnam.’ [...] Thus Funan at the beginning of the sixth century would appear to have shrunk to what must have been its original core, the Mekong delta areas of today’s Cambodia and Vietnam.’ [9] ’In 550 CE Chitrasena, borther of king Bhavarma, royal descendant of Hun Tian [Skt. Kaundinya] invaded Te Mu from the northern mountains bringing about the subsequent decline of the Fu Nan kingdom and the beginning of the Zhenla, at about 550-630 CE.’ [10] ’Whatever the cause, the fact remains that the Oc Eo culture and references to the kingdom of Funan both came to an end in the sev- enth century. Oc Eo was peopled by a highly advanced society for its time, but it dwindled into insignificance and was not replaced by any comparable political or commercial entity. Instead, a new society co- alesced in the middle Mekong Valley. Its connection with Funan is unclear.’ [11] ’The changes came as improvements in navigation made it possible for ships sailing from distant ports to bypass Funan and deal directly with the Chinese. Chinese records make it clear that by the fifth century Holotan in western Java and Koying in the Sunda Strait were trading directly with China, rather than through Funan’s intermediary ports (Wolters: 1979b). Funan and the east coast Malay Peninsula were thus being cut out of the India-to-China trade. The Isthmus of Kra portage had fallen into disuse, as ships from Sri Lanka and India were now sailing via the Straits of Melaka directly to these ports on the western edge of the Java Sea, putting them closer to the source of the Indonesian archipelago spices that were beginning to find an international market (Wolters: 1967; Miksic: 2003a, 28-33). The more direct sea passage from the Sunda Strait region north to China incorporated a stopover on the central (Linyi) and northern Vietnam coastlines rather than on the Funan coast of southern Vietnam. Whether this refocusing of the international trade was directly responsible for Funan’s dynastic crisis is not certain, but it had profound consequences for Funan’s future. The shifting of the commercial shipping route to the Straits of Melaka passage and the subsequent omission of stops at Funan’s ports in the Gulf of Thailand and the Mekong Delta region of the lower Viet- nam coastline denied the Funan rulers important revenues. Deprived of this major source of royal income, the ruler as well as his followers, including subordinate chiefs and their supporters, found their prosperity diminished. Such a decline in royal income available for redistribution to their followers could well have touched off a dynastic crisis as rival claimants, promoting their ability to restore Funan’s prosperity, attempted to gather enough supporters to seize the throne. As they did so, they competed for a shrinking realm. By the end of the fifth century, Funan was losing ground to its northern neighbor Linyi (the future Champa), the sailors who had provided Funan’s navy had turned to piracy, and the Malay entrepoˆts had begun sending their own embassies to China. In this same period, as noted earlier, Funan’s canal and irrigation networks were expanding rapidly in the Mekong Delta, as part of its transition to a more intensive agricultural economy. However, Funan’s decline continued, as midway through the sixth century its Khmer vassals to the north broke away, and by the seventh century Funan was no more. Its irrigation networks in the Mekong Delta were reclaimed by jungle as the farmers moved northwest to the new Khmer-ruled centers in the central Cambodia Tonle Sap area.’ [12] ’As Chinese trade began to bypass the Mekong Delta and go directly to Sumatra, the state of FUNAN declined, and Srivijaya expanded.’ [13]
[1]: (Dommet et al 2011, p.441)
[2]: (Miksic, John. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email)
[3]: (Tully 2005, p. 13)
[4]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.78)
[5]: (Vickery 1998, p. 20)
[6]: (Ooi 2004, p. 6)
[7]: (Ooi 2004, p. 11)
[8]: (Ooi 2004, p. 149
[9]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 50)
[10]: (Khai 2003, p. 43)
[11]: (Miksic 2007, p. 126)
[12]: (Hall 2010, pp. 60-61)
[13]: (Higham 2004, p. 332)
’ANNAM. A Chinese term literally meaning “pacified south,” first applied in the Six Dynasties period (third to sixth centuries CE) as part of titles given to Chinese officials in north Vietnam and to kings of Champa and Funan who declared themselves to be Chinese vassals.’ [1] ’What was tribute for the Chinese was for Southeast Asian rulers the polite exchange of gifts as a formality that went with mutually beneficial trade. The accompanying ceremonial established status hierarchy, but not vassalage in the Southeast Asian sense. It was acceptable for envoys to show proper respect to the Chinese emperor, just as Chinese envoys paid their respects to Southeast Asian kings; but with the exception of Vietnam, no ruler of a major Southeast Asian kingdom ever voyaged to Beijing to pay homage in person.’ [2] ’Both sought to maximise power through manipulation of ideologies of legitimation and world order. But what for the Chinese was the permanent order of the relation between Heaven, Earth and humankind represented by the emperor was, for Southeast Asian rulers, the temporary configuration of the ever-changing play of karma. And what for the Chinese was tribute offered in submission to the Son of Heaven was, for Southeast Asian rulers, polite recognition of superior status as a prerequisite for mutually beneficial trade.’ [3]
[1]: (Miksic 2007, p. 26)
[2]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, pp. 33-34)
[3]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 34)
’ANNAM. A Chinese term literally meaning “pacified south,” first applied in the Six Dynasties period (third to sixth centuries CE) as part of titles given to Chinese officials in north Vietnam and to kings of Champa and Funan who declared themselves to be Chinese vassals.’ [1]
[1]: (Miksic 2007, p. 26)
Lin-yi; Chenla. Chenla is the older spelling of the name, the modern romanization of the Chinese character is Zhenla. [1] ’After a further gap of some fifty years, ten embassies arrived between 484 and 539, and three more between 559 and the last embassy in 588, after which Funan gave way to Zhenla, which itself was replaced by the Khmer kingdom of Angkor in 802.’ [2] ’In 550 CE Chitrasena, borther of king Bhavarma, royal descendant of Hun Tian [Skt. Kaundinya] invaded Te Mu from the northern mountains bringing about the subsequent decline of the Fu Nan kingdom and the beginning of the Zhenla, at about 550-630 CE.’ [3] ’By the end of the fifth century, Funan was losing ground to its northern neighbor Linyi (the future Champa), the sailors who had provided Funan’s navy had turned to piracy, and the Malay entrepoˆts had begun sending their own embassies to China.’ [4] ’Vickery’s (1985; 1998; 1999a; 2005) work, in contrast to some earlier Marxist studies, is concerned with economic, social and political changes. His (1998) study from inscriptions of the society and institutions of the pre-9th century proposes explanations for the transition from the earlier Funan period to that of Pre-Angkorian Chenla, a period for which there is little historic evidence.’ [5] ’At any given time dozens of lesser kings would have been paying tribute to Funan; the loss of much of that revenue and the peace it signaled led to the eventual re- placement of Funan by Chenla as the dominant force in the mandala system of Southeast Asia.’ [6]
[1]: (Miksic, John. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email)
[2]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 30)
[3]: (Khai 2003, p. 43)
[4]: (Hall 2010, p. 60)
[5]: (Lustig 2009, p. 41)
[6]: (West 2009, p. 225)
(Relationship): ’A most informative inscription dated to AD 667 informs us that the rulers of this dynasty were served by members of an elite family which traced its origins back to the rule of Rudravarman, thought to be one of the last kings of Funan in the early 6th century. Thus there appears to have been a smooth transition from one state to another.’
[1]
’The first rulers of a united and powerful Chenla were related to the royal family of Fu- nan, with the founder, Bhavavarman, being the grandson of King Rudravarman of Funan. Bha- vavarman united the two kingdoms and even- tually subsumed Funan under his own rule.’
[2]
’Bhavavarman united the two kingdoms and eventually subsumed Funan under his own rule. He was succeeded by his brother Mahendravarman and then the latter’s son, Isanavarman, who used their connections and knowledge of Funan to complete the integration process.’
[2]
’Six Funanese tributary missions to China are recorded as arriving during the third century. Then comes a gap of seventy years, a single embassy in 357 CE, then eighty years before a group of three embassies arrived between 434 and 438 CE. After a further gap of some fifty years, ten embassies arrived between 484 and 539, and three more between 559 and the last embassy in 588, after which Funan gave way to Zhenla, which itself was replaced by the Khmer kingdom of Angkor in 802.’
[3]
(Entity): ’Six Funanese tributary missions to China are recorded as arriving during the third century. Then comes a gap of seventy years, a single embassy in 357 CE, then eighty years before a group of three embassies arrived between 434 and 438 CE. After a further gap of some fifty years, ten embassies arrived between 484 and 539, and three more between 559 and the last embassy in 588, after which Funan gave way to Zhenla, which itself was replaced by the Khmer kingdom of Angkor in 802.’
[3]
’At any given time dozens of lesser kings would have been paying tribute to Funan; the loss of much of that revenue and the peace it signaled led to the eventual re- placement of Funan by Chenla as the dominant force in the mandala system of Southeast Asia.’
[4]
[1]: (Higham 2014b, p 293-294)
[2]: (West 2009, 160)
[3]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, 30)
[4]: (West 2009, 225)
’This passage gives the impression of Fu-nan as an empire, but modern scholars are distrustful of such a portrayal. It is likely that the communities involved were all relatively small city-states scattered along the coast; they could conduct raids upon one another, but there were no great tracts of territory settled by agriculturalist, and it is not likely that centralized control could extend over a large area. [...] Fu-nan, then, was less likely a dominant empire than the largest and most aggressive of a number of principalities.’ [1] ’We do not know if Funan was a unitary state, as the Chinese descriptions seem to suggest, or a series of competing centers. Whichever was the case, certain trends are found which were to contribute to the character of later complex polities in Southeast Asia. The handful of surviving inscriptions, for example, indicates that the local rulers adopted Sanskrit language and took Sanskrit names. Indian religious and legal systems were adopted as well.’ [2] ’There was a taxation system involving payment in gold, silver, perfumes, and pearls, and a script which originated in India.’ [2] ’Some historians suspect that the Chinese assumed that Funan’s political structure was more centralized than was really the case. No territorially based polities can be found in Southeast Asia before the imperial era of Angkor in the 11th and 12th centuries. It is unlikely that Funan was such a kingdom. More likely it was a typical early Southeast Asian mandala, in which political power manifested itself in the form of ability to extract tribute and occasional other tokens of subservience, but not direct rule of distant provinces. It is impossible to tell whether Funan could be defined as a unified state or as a cluster of small polities in the delta. Evidence in favor of territorial organization covering at least the lower Mekong includes extensive remains of a canal network and signs of the emergence of an elite stimulated by trade involving resources brought downriver from the hinterland.’ [3] ’We should think of Funan, therefore, not as a centralised kingdom extending from southern Vietnam all the way around to the Kra Isthmus, but rather as a mandala, the power of whose capital in southeastern Cambodia waxed and waned, and whose armed merchant ships succeeded in enforcing its temporary suzerainty over small coastal trading ports around the Gulf of Thailand. What gave Funan the edge over other such centres of power was clearly its position astride the India-China trade route. Its power, however, is unlikely to have spread far inland. Further north, on the middle Mekong and on the lower Chao Phraya River, other power centres were establishing themselves that in time would challenge and replace Funan.’ [4] ’Combining the assumptions of Chinese sources with their own bias in favor of consolidated states, early European scholars portrayed Champa as a unified kingdom, with a hierarchy of provincial functionaries and a centralized administration.19 Recent research has substantially modified that view, preferring to see Champa (like neighboring Funan) even at its height as a loose confederation of local polities which might com- bine for longer or shorter periods under powerful leaders, but which retained a basic autonomy grounded in the self-sufficiency of small east-west river valleys and isolated coastal plains, and perhaps in an irreducibly polycentric world view. Not infrequently, Cham principali- ties fought one another. A hegemon became merely “king of the kings (raja di raja) of Champa,” and the location of the preeminent center - when such a center existed-shifted: in the 8th century, which may have seen the first sustained coalescence, Panduranga dominated, in the late 9th century Indrapura, after c. 1000 Vijaya, and in the 16th century Kauthara and Panduranga.20 It would be foolish to assume that Cham political structures remained frozen for centuries.’ [5] ’The elements of a social overlay to the archaeological record are found in the surviving texts: we read of kings, a legal system, taxation, warfare and sujugation of rivals. Yet important issues remain unresolved. Was there, for example, a unitary state which straddled the delta, or were there a series of competing polities?’ [6] ’At any given time dozens of lesser kings would have been paying tribute to Funan; the loss of much of that revenue and the peace it signaled led to the eventual re- placement of Funan by Chenla as the dominant force in the mandala system of Southeast Asia.’ [7]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.73)
[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[3]: (Miksin 2007, p. 122)
[4]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 29-30)
[5]: (Lieberman 2003, p. 350)
[6]: (Higham 2014, p. 286)
[7]: (West 2009, p. 225)
Mabbett and Chandler (1995) contend that the language and language family of the Funan is unknowable given the scarcity of data, but others, such as Miksic cite archaeological evidence to suggest that it is highly probable that the Funan spoke Mon-Kmer, an Austronesian language. ’It has often been supposed that the people of the Fu-nan were connected with the speakers of Austronesian languages of the islands rather than with the mainland Mon and Khmer; but when so little linguistic evidence survives, the pasting of such labels upon ancient communities is a speculative venture.’ [1] ’Some scholars interpret the Vocanh stele as a record of a Funan vassal in Khanh-hoa, central Vietnam. Unfortunately all inscriptions yet discovered in the territory and time period thought to belong to Funan are written in Sanskrit. We therefore cannot be sure whether the Funan rulers spoke an Austronesian or Austroasiatic language. In view of recent archaeological research, however, it seems likely that Funan was a Mon-Khmer polity. Pottery discovered at Oc Eo and Angkor Borei have more in common with later Cambodian ceramics than with those found in such probable Austronesian areas as Sahuynh.’ [2] ’In what is believed to have been Funan, Khmer and its related dialects seems the strongest candidate, but it is plausible that other languages, particularly Mon, were also spoken.’ [3] ’What language they spoke in everyday life we do not know. Although Funan was a literate, Indianised society, all trace of the books in what the Chinese described as impressive libraries have disappeared in the heat and humidity, and all stone inscriptions from before the seventh century are in Sanskrit.’ [4] ’Probably a form of the Mon-Khmer language family using the Sanskrit writing system’ [5] ’The actual origins of Funan are still un- clear, but its language seems to indicate membership in the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austro-Asiatic language family. The Funanese are thus related to both the Mons of present- day Myanmar and the Khmers of Cambodia.’ [6]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.66)
[2]: (Miksin 2007, p. 123)
[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 46)
[4]: (Tully 2005, p. 9)
[5]: (West 2009, p. 222)
[6]: (West 2009, p. 223)
Mabbett and Chandler (1995) contend that the language and language family of the Funan is unknowable given the scarcity of data, but others, such as Miksic cite archaeological evidence to suggest that it is highly probable that the Funan spoke Mon-Kmer, an Austronesian language. ’It has often been supposed that the people of the Fu-nan were connected with the speakers of Austronesian languages of the islands rather than with the mainland Mon and Khmer; but when so little linguistic evidence survives, the pasting of such labels upon ancient communities is a speculative venture.’ [1] ’Some scholars interpret the Vocanh stele as a record of a Funan vassal in Khanh-hoa, central Vietnam. Unfortunately all inscriptions yet discovered in the territory and time period thought to belong to Funan are written in Sanskrit. We therefore cannot be sure whether the Funan rulers spoke an Austronesian or Austroasiatic language. In view of recent archaeological research, however, it seems likely that Funan was a Mon-Khmer polity. Pottery discovered at Oc Eo and Angkor Borei have more in common with later Cambodian ceramics than with those found in such probable Austronesian areas as Sahuynh.’ [2] ’In what is believed to have been Funan, Khmer and its related dialects seems the strongest candidate, but it is plausible that other languages, particularly Mon, were also spoken.’ [3] ’What language they spoke in everyday life we do not know. Although Funan was a literate, Indianised society, all trace of the books in what the Chinese described as impressive libraries have disappeared in the heat and humidity, and all stone inscriptions from before the seventh century are in Sanskrit.’ [4] ’Probably a form of the Mon-Khmer language family using the Sanskrit writing system’ [5] ’The actual origins of Funan are still un- clear, but its language seems to indicate membership in the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austro-Asiatic language family. The Funanese are thus related to both the Mons of present- day Myanmar and the Khmers of Cambodia.’ [6]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.66)
[2]: (Miksin 2007, p. 123)
[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 46)
[4]: (Tully 2005, p. 9)
[5]: (West 2009, p. 222)
[6]: (West 2009, p. 223)
Inhabitants. ’The chiefs of Funan core a Mon-Khmer title pon, but some were taking Indic names with the suffice -varman, and the later 7th-century inscription suggest that the reason was related to the question of inheritance of accumulated wealth. A pon was chief of a settlement, and the typical pon-dom was a large village, or supra village of several hundred or a thousand or two persons living around or near a pond, sometimes artificial, and growing at least enough rice for self-sufficiency. Some settlements had several pon, perhaps watch one a chief over a hamlet-size community, with one superior to the others within the larger community. The population of each core pon-dom consisted of a lineage or a clan, with its own deity whore representative, and putative descendent, as the pon. Pon-ship was inherited matrilineally through sisters’ sons; and there a hierarchy, perhaps informal, of pon, probably based on wealth and political influence. During the florescence of Funan, the greatest wealth would have been accumulated through maritime activity, and it was the coastal pon-doms which would have become most directly involved in sea trade, and their upon were called ’kings’ by Chinese visitors. By the 7th century, and presumably earlier, their was a ruling stratum in each pon-dom, and others, even though relatives of the same clan, were subordinate juniors [...]’ [1]
[1]: (Vickery 1998, pp. 19-20)
in squared kilometers."General Fanshiman succeeded him taking the title of Great King of Funan, and extended his territory to 5,000 or 6,000 li." (Pelliot, ibid, pp. 277-8)’
[1]
’Funan encompassed much of the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula, including territory that is today southern Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar and all of Cambodia.’
[2]
About 300 archaeological sites have been identified by Malleret on the delta and the lower Mekong Valley. "Les sites archéologiques aujourd’hui associés au Funan sont répartis sur l’ensemble du delta et de la basse vallée du Mékong, des deux côtés de l’actuelle frontière khméro-vietnamienne. On sait par les sources chinoises et par l’épigraphie, confirmées aujourd’hui par les résultats des récentes fouilles archéologiques, qu’ils ont prospéré entre le Ier et le VIe siècle E.C. Les recherches rassemblées par Louis Malleret dans son Archéologie du Delta du Mékong restent à ce jour le point de départ obligé de toute étude archéologique des provinces méridionales du Viêt Nam. Cette somme est pour l’essentiel un inventaire systématique d’un ensemble de quelque trois cents gisements ayant produit une quantité variable, parfois minime, d’objets d’intérêt archéologique, allant de l’outil lithique au monument architectural, en passant par la céramique, la glyptique, la numismatique, l’épigraphie ou la statuaire."
[3]
[1]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 48)
[2]: (West 2009, p. 222)
[3]: (Manguin 2000, 170)
People. This is a very rough estimate based on the number of households with between four and seven individuals per household. Pre-Angkor inscriptions from the delta mention several pura: Tamandarapura, Samudrapura, Svargadvarapura, and over 20 pura outside the delta. The Chinese Sui Shu says that in the early seventh century Funan had 30 enclosed settlements with at least 1,000 households each.’Pre-Angkor inscriptions from the delta mention several pura: Tamandarapura, Samudrapura, Svargadvarapura, and over 20 pura outside the delta. The Chinese Sui Shu says that in the early seventh century Funan had 30 enclosed settlements with at least 1,000 households each.’ [1]
[1]: (Miksic 2007, p. 125)
levels. ’Within this period of competition and endemic conflict [the 250 years from AD 550], the inscriptions of Jayavarman I reflect a breakthrough in state formation, with his appointment of state officials and creation of at least three and probably four levels of settlement hierarchy.’ [1] The site of Oc Eo covered about 450 ha. "En 1946, une reconnaissance aérienne me permit d’obtenir une vision claire de l’ensemble qui consiste en un rectangle de 15oo mètres sur З000 mètres orienté nord-nord-est — sud-sud-ouest, enfermant une surface de 459 hectares, soit environ la moitié d’Ankor-Thom." [2]
[1]: (Higham 2014b, p. 405)
[2]: (Malleret 1951, 76)
levels. There was a progressive change in religious cults in the area of Funan, the most radical one being the abandonment of inhumation practices in favour of cremation. The funerary practices incorporated gold leaves decorated with human forms with raised hands, one of which appears to represent Harihara, the combined image of Shiva and Vishnu. [1] This change seems to be in effect toward the 5th century CE, at the same time that Funanese rulers started to take on the Sanskrit honorific title of -varman (protected by, protege of). Indian gods were incorporated into the Funanese pantheon, particularly Siva, Visnu, and Buddha. The phallic symbol that represented Siva, the linga, was perceived as being the essence of the mandala. [2] . NOTE: data from ethnographic studies suggest that there was a pre-Indian religious strata that was eventually merged with Indian religions to become what today comprises the Khmer world view. In Khmer culture the world is divided into two landscapes that are marked by physical and psychological borders: the landscape of the village (srok) and the landscape of the wilderness (prei). The srok is the domesticated space of humans; the village, the paddy rice fields, a space of social organization [3] that is under the control of a Buddhist king [4] . The prei, on the other hand, is the forest, a place of uncertainty dominated by wild and dangerous spirits [5] [5] beyond the control of Buddhism. This division is not immutable: forests can be cleared to create new srok, and a village may be overtaken by the forest and regain its position as prei. This perception of the world has been identified as the pre-Indian stratum of Khmer culture [6] . The term srok is recorded in the inscriptions as sruk, and defines a geographical/administrative entity. [7] Currently, the person in charge of establishing dialogues and interactions with the spirits is known as rup [8] . It is therefore possible to suggest that before merging Indian and local religions, the early Funanese people may have had a structured religious world view with levels, that is, with the presence of particular people who could act as intermediaries with the spirits. These hierarchical levels increased as the cult to Indian gods were incorporated. (RA’s guess).
[1]: (Higham 2004b, p. 29-31)
[2]: (Higham 1989, p. 248)
[3]: (Ang Choulean 2004, p. 58)
[4]: (Aransen 2012, p. 54)
[5]: (Forest 1992, p. 15-16)
[6]: (Forest 1992)
[7]: (Vickery 2003, p. 127)
[8]: (Forest 1992, p.51)
levels. Following Higham’s text, it could be inferred that there was some degree of military organization that seem to imply the presence of different levels. "His son, Pan Pan, had only a brief reign, and was succeeded by a leader of military prowess known to the Chinese as Fan Shiman. He undertook raids against his neighbours, and then mounted a water-borne expedition which subdued over ten chiefs traditionally situated along the shores of the Gulf of Siam." [1] Sites like Angkor Borei have not yielded structures that may have been identified as indicators of violence. For example, the wall surrounding the city seems to have served as a "ring-road" and house placements rather than as a defensive structure. [2] It is likely then that at the earlier stages of the Funanese polity the chiefs would be in control of a somewhat large group of fighters that eventually became a stratified army as the polity gained complexity. (RA’s guess).
[1]: (Higham 1989, pp. 247)
[2]: (O’Reilly 2007, p. 107)
levels. (3) Leader of the most wealthy/politically influential set of settlements (pon), (2) leader of a superior community within a larger community (pon), (1) chief of a hamlet or an inferior settlement within larger community (pon). ’A pon was chief of a settlement, and the typical pon-dom was a large village, or supra village or several hundred or a thousand or two persons living around or near a pond, sometimes artificial, and growing at least enough rice for self-sufficiency. Some settlements had several pon, perhaps watch one a chief over a hamlet-size community, with one superior to the others within the larger community. ... [There was] a hierarchy, perhaps informal, of pon, probably based on wealth and political influence.’ [1]
[1]: (Vickery 1998, pp. 19-20)
Following Higham’s text, it could be inferred that there was some degree of military organization that seem to imply the presence of different levels, but at the early stages these "officers" may have been part of the chief’s court and not part of a professionalized army. Similarly, it is unclear if what the chinese identified as army was a real professional army or villagers who were conscripted to fight for their chiefs. Hence it is best to assume that in the early stages of Funan there were no professional soldiers (RA’s guess). "His son, Pan Pan, had only a brief reign, and was succeeded by a leader of military prowess known to the Chinese as Fan Shiman. He undertook raids against his neighbours, and then mounted a water-borne expedition which subdued over ten chiefs traditionally situated along the shores of the Gulf of Siam." [1] The Funanese named with the title "Fan" in the Chinese texts were identified as generals. [2]
[1]: (Higham 1989, pp. 247)
[2]: (Vickery 2003, p. 108)
’A Sanskrit inscription of the sixth century from Prasat Pram Loven mentions that a prince of the line of Kaundinya, entrusted a sanctu- ary containing an image of Vishnu’s feet to his son Gunavarman, in a domain that he had “wrested from the swamp.” Another undated Sanskrit inscription from Nak Ta Dambang Dek (Ta Prohm, Bati) is Buddhist rather than Hindu and refers to Jayavarman and his son Rudravarman. The first two stanzas praise Buddha; the next two praise King Rudravarman; the fifth says that his father, King Jayavar- man, gave the office of inspector of royal goods to the son of a brahmin. The rest praise this functionary and his family and describe a foundation made by him during Rudravarman’s reign. George Co- edès, who studied the inscription, concluded that the inscription can- not refer to Jayavarman I, who reigned around 660, because the script style was older, slightly before 550. He therefore concluded that this Jayavarman must be the same king as Chinese sources mention in 514 (Jayavarman died, Rudravarman succeeded). Chinese texts showed that Buddhism flourished under Jayavarman I. The inscrip- tion, however, betrays no suggestion of Mahayana influence; thus the Palembang inscription of 684 is still the oldest to demonstrate the existence of Mahayanism in Southeast Asia.’ [1]
[1]: (Miksic 2007, p. 125)
Following Higham’s text, it could be inferred that there was some degree of military organization that seem to imply the presence of different levels, but at the early stages these "officers" may have been part of the chief’s court and not part of a professionalized army "His son, Pan Pan, had only a brief reign, and was succeeded by a leader of military prowess known to the Chinese as Fan Shiman. He undertook raids against his neighbours, and then mounted a water-borne expedition which subdued over ten chiefs traditionally situated along the shores of the Gulf of Siam." [1] The Funanese named with the title "Fan" in the Chinese texts were identified as generals. [2]
[1]: (Higham 1989, pp. 247)
[2]: (Vickery 2003, p. 108)
’A Sanskrit inscription of the sixth century from Prasat Pram Loven mentions that a prince of the line of Kaundinya, entrusted a sanctu- ary containing an image of Vishnu’s feet to his son Gunavarman, in a domain that he had “wrested from the swamp.” Another undated Sanskrit inscription from Nak Ta Dambang Dek (Ta Prohm, Bati) is Buddhist rather than Hindu and refers to Jayavarman and his son Rudravarman. The first two stanzas praise Buddha; the next two praise King Rudravarman; the fifth says that his father, King Jayavar- man, gave the office of inspector of royal goods to the son of a brahmin. The rest praise this functionary and his family and describe a foundation made by him during Rudravarman’s reign. George Co- edès, who studied the inscription, concluded that the inscription can- not refer to Jayavarman I, who reigned around 660, because the script style was older, slightly before 550. He therefore concluded that this Jayavarman must be the same king as Chinese sources mention in 514 (Jayavarman died, Rudravarman succeeded). Chinese texts showed that Buddhism flourished under Jayavarman I. The inscrip- tion, however, betrays no suggestion of Mahayana influence; thus the Palembang inscription of 684 is still the oldest to demonstrate the existence of Mahayanism in Southeast Asia.’ [1]
[1]: (Miksic 2007, p. 125)
There are no indications to an examination system in the references reviewed by the RA, but Vickery points out that an important family of Adhyapura provided ministers to five kings, which suggests that the appointment of ministers may not have followed an examination system. [1]
[1]: (Vickery 1986, p. 96)
’The first Chinese envoys who wrote about Funan in about 250 c.e. described it as an urbanized kingdom that resembled the Chinese state rather than the region’s other tribal social systems. They pointed to the structured political hierarchy and bureaucracy including a centralized judiciary system, institutionalized religion, and even libraries.’ [1]
[1]: (West 2009, p. 224)
’We do not know if Funan was a unitary state, as the Chinese descriptions seem to suggest, or a series of competing centers. Whichever was the case, certain trends are found which were to contribute to the character of later complex polities in Southeast Asia. The handful of surviving inscriptions, for example, indicates that the local rulers adopted Sanskrit language and took Sanskrit names. Indian religious and legal systems were adopted as well.’ [1] ’We have a detailed description of an early South-east Asian trading state, following a visit to the Mekon Delta by Kang Tai, an an emissary of the Chinese emperor. Sent to explore a maritime trade route in the third century AD, he encountered a state controlled by a ruling dynasty, with its own legal and taxation systems, which kept written records, and defended cities.’ [2] ’Slavery was an integral part of what must have been a highly stratified society. Justice was rudimentary, but a legal code probably existed and like that of India (and that of Angkor and post-Angkorean Cambodia) included trial by ordeal. Innocence might be decided if a suspect was not eaten after being thrown to the ubiquitous crocodiles.’ [3]
[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[2]: (Higham 2011, pp. 474-475)
[3]: (Tully 2005, p. 12)
’The evidence that either mountain was a cult site is stronger than the evidence that Funan was a major, unified kingdom or that its political center was associated with either hill.’ [1] ’Most scholars accept an identification with the Funan kingdom described by Chinese visitors, as early as the third century C.E., as a complex of walled political centers where craft specialists plied their trade, summary justice was adminis- tered, stone inscriptions were engraved, and the range of mortuary practices included inhumations. Angkor Borei may have been the “inland capital” of Funan referred to by the Chinese, as its large area (300 hectares) and plethora of brickwork suggest.’ [2]
[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 20)
[2]: (Bulbeck 2004, p. 876)
’There is no evidence that the economy was monetized, and the exchange of goods recorded in some inscriptions do not appear to represent trade, at least not market transactions. Since land is described as donated by individual officials, it would appear that it was either private property, or property of the small communities which could be assigned for use by the communities’ leaders.’ [1]
[1]: (Vickery 1998, p. 257)
’There is evidence that the major step during the Funan period toward the integration of the small, dry-rice-growing and root-cultivating principalities, whose people worshipped Siva, with hunting and gathering societies inland from Oc-Eco was the introduction, perhaps as late as 500, of systematic irrigation; drainage probably came earlier.’ [1] ’Ruins here [in Angkor Borei] cover 300 hectares (660 acres). It has been estimated that 9.5 million bricks were used in constructing its walls, weighing 142,500 metric tons (130,000 tons). The walls, irregular in shape, average 6 kilometers (3.5 miles) in diameter, 4.5 meters (14 feet) high, and 2.4 meters (8 feet) wide. In some places a road and structures were built atop it. It is flanked by inner and outer moats and encloses a baray, smaller pools, canals, unexcavated mounds, and at least 15 ancient structures, few of which have been dated. Given the lack of bastions, guardhouses, or gateways, it is thought that the wall was not built for defensive purposes. Instead it was probably intended to provide dry land during that part of the year when the waters of the Mekong, swollen with melted snow from the Himalayas, turn the region into a giant swamp.’ [2] ’By the end of the fifth century, Funan was losing ground to its northern neighbor Linyi (the future Champa), the sailors who had provided Funan’s navy had turned to piracy, and the Malay entrepoˆts had begun sending their own embassies to China. In this same period, as noted earlier, Funan’s canal and irrigation networks were expanding rapidly in the Mekong Delta, as part of its transition to a more intensive agricultural economy. However, Funan’s decline continued, as midway through the sixth century its Khmer vassals to the north broke away, and by the seventh century Funan was no more. Its irrigation networks in the Mekong Delta were reclaimed by jungle as the farmers moved northwest to the new Khmer-ruled centers in the central Cambodia Tonle Sap area.’ [3] The latest archaeological survey work by Evans using LiDAR attests to the large extent of irrigation systems from the fifth century onward [4]
[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 21)
[2]: (Miksic 2007, pp. 19-20)
[3]: (Hall 2010, pp. 60-61)
[4]: (Evans 2016)
’The Liangshu also notes that "Where they live, they do not dig wells. In groups of several tens of families they have a pond in common where they draw water." [...].’ [1] ’The manipulation of water has a long history in South-east Asia. This reflects the monsoon climate, with its sharp contrast between the wet and the dry seasons. In the former, there is a superabundance of water in the lowlands, and flooding is widespread. During the latter, months can go by without any rainfall. This pattern encouraged communities, as they grew in size and popu- lation numbers, to control water flows, usually by building up earthen dikes to form reservoirs. These banks ring many large Iron Age sites, and where dated, fall within 1 to 400 C.E. During the life of the states of FUNAN and CHENLA, water was retained in rectangular reservoirs known as BARAYS. None was large enough to have any influence on rice production, but they could have satis- fied domestic needs, as well as fulfilled a symbolic role as the oceans that surround the mythical home of the Hindu gods.’ [2]
[1]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 51)
[2]: (Higham 2004, p. 162)
’Funan seems to have originated in the Mekong delta area, and around 200 AD under Fanzhan’s uncle, Fanshiman, through successive campaigns along the Gulf of Siam, it occupied belts of land of varying length which allowed goods to be transported by road or porterage to the ports on the Indian Ocean side of the peninsula.’ [1] ’Some have hypothesized that Angkor Borei was Naravaranagara, a capital of Funan in the sixth century. According to Michael Vickery, however, Naravaranagara was probably 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Angkor Borei. In any case, Angkor Borei was one of the most impressive sites in early first-millennium Southeast Asia.’ [2] ’The oldest dated inscriptions from Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 611, have both been found at Angkor Borei. Another recently discovered inscription is believed to date from about 650. This stele mentions that Rudravarman, Funan’s last known ruler, was living in Angkor Borei.’ [3]
[1]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 47)
[2]: (Miksic 2007, p. 19)
[3]: (Miksic 2007, p.20)
’At any rate, Oc Eco is generally considered to have been the main port of Fu-nan; its capital, if there was one, has not been located precisely.’ [1] ’Malleret concluded that the port [near the modern Vietnamese village of Oc-Eco in the Mekong Delta] was used by pilgrims and traders moving between India and China in the first centuries of the Christian era.’ [2] ’This is certainly plausible, for Chinese records report that ships were being built in Funan’s ports, including the ships that the Funan monarch Fan Shihman had ordered constructed for his third-century expedition of conquest against Malay Peninsula port-polities (Miksic: 2003a, 22).’ [3] ’The Funanese had already built a canal network near their port, and a canal 90 km long linking their port to an inland city, Angkor Borei, in which channels and bray were constructed for flood control and dry-season water supply, but the canal is considered to have been for transportation, and within a trading polite, not for irrigation.’ [4]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.69)
[2]: (Chandler 2008, p. 19)
[3]: (Hall 2010, p. 49)
[4]: (Vickery 1998, p. 307)
’Archaeological research at Oc Eco in Vietnam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia, two walled and moated urban centres linked by a canal system, have revealed the adoption of Sanskrit names for kings, use of the Bhrahmi script, worship of Hindu gods, and adherence to the teachings of the Buddha, wooden statues of whom have been uncovered, containing pits for cremated human remains. Grave offerings found in these pits include gold plaques embellished with sacred Buddhist inscriptions and images of Hindu deities.’
[1]
’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’
[2]
’The Funanese had already built a canal network near their port, and a canal 90 km long linking their port to an inland city, Angkor Borei, in which channels and bray were constructed for flood control and dry-season water supply, but the canal is considered to have been for transportation, and within a trading polite, not for irrigation.’
[3]
’Clearly Funan’s rise had two sources: the productivity of its agrarian system and the area’s strategic location opposite the Isthmus of Kra. A network of canals connect the coast to Funan’s agricultural upstream, centered on its urban ‘‘capital’’ at the archeological site of Angkor Borei in modern southern Cambodia. It is unclear whether this canal network required a new level of techno- logical competence or a central leadership for its construction (Malleret:1959-1963; Liere: 1980; Stark: 1998, 2003, 2006a, 2006b; Stark and Sovath: 2001).’
[4]
’The canal linking Oc Eo and Angkor Borei is 90 kilometers (54 mi.) long.’
[5]
[1]: (Higham 2013, p.586)
[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[3]: (Vickery 1998, p. 307)
[4]: (Hall 2010, pp. 48-49)
[5]: (Higham 2004, p. 62)
Stone bridges date to classical Angkor, but it is likely that bridges were made using wood. As Hendrickson points out: The Phnom Sres (1022 CE) inscription found in the Battambang region makes reference to the construction of reservoirs along roads and a wooden bridge across a river (Jacques 1968:616-617). [1]
[1]: (Hendrickson 2007, p. 123)
’Instead of taxing people, land, or agricultural produce at a fixed rate, tribute from a subordinate ruler required delivery of specified amounts of valuable local products, which might be gathered (such as aromatic woods and resins, rare wildlife, or spices), mined (gold, silver and other metals), grown (mainly rice), or manufactured (including weapons and luxury handicrafts). Some of these would be retained for use by the king and his court; others would be traded, often as a royal monopoly. All that was offered in return was status as a lord of the realm and protection against the depredations of neigh- bouring kingdoms.’ [1]
[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 33)
’There can hardly be any doubt that the polities within Cambodia from the 7th to the 13th centuries were mainly agrarian, their development of written records very high for the period, these records largely concerned with economic and administrative matters, and that by the Angkor period temples had political and economic managerial functions. The notable Southeast Asian societies without an impressive epigraphic tradition, such as Funan, Srivijaya, Ayutthaya, and Pregu, were preeminently maritime trading polities.’ [1] "Taxes are paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes. They have books and repositories of archives and other things. Their writing characters resemble those of the Hu (i.e. the Indians)". (Pelliot, ibid, p. 254) [2] ’We have a detailed description of an early South-east Asian trading state, following a visit to the Mekon Delta by Kang Tai, an an emissary of the Chinese emperor. Sent to explore a maritime trade route in the third century AD, he encountered a state controlled by a ruling dynasty, with its own legal and taxation systems, which kept written records, and defended cities.’ [3]
[1]: (Vickery 1998, p. 99)
[2]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 51)
[3]: (Higham 2011, pp. 474-475)
’Archaeological research at Oc Eco in Vietnam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia, two walled and moated urban centres linked by a canal system, have revealed the adoption of Sanskrit names for kings, use of the Bhrahmi script, worship of Hindu gods, and adherence to the teachings of the Buddha, wooden statues of whom have been uncovered, containing pits for cremated human remains. Grave offerings found in these pits include gold plaques embellished with sacred Buddhist inscriptions and images of Hindu deities.’ [1] ’There was a taxation system involving payment in gold, silver, perfumes, and pearls, and a script which originated in India.’ [2] ’Funan seems to have originated in the Mekong delta area, and around 200 AD under Fanzhan’s uncle, Fanshiman, through successive campaigns along the Gulf of Siam, it occupied belts of land of varying length which allowed goods to be transported by road or porterage to the ports on the Indian Ocean side of the peninsula.’ [3] ’The Chinese envoy Kang Tai reports that Funan had walled vil- lages, palaces, and houses. His report that “they like to engrave ornaments and to chisel” is borne out by the discovery of many artifacts related to metalworking, including gold, silver, tin, and copper at Oc Eo. He also mentions that they had books and archives and used an Indic script to write.’ [4] ’There are also SEALS bearing brief texts in the Indian BRAHMI script and an abundance of evidence for trade involving Rome, India, and China.’ [5] ’This ascendance has important implications when considering the inscriptions of Southeast Asia. The earli- est of these, from VO CANH in southern coastal Vietnam, was written in Sanskrit, as were those of the coastal state of FUNAN. Indeed, Sanskrit was the preferred language of all the major inscriptions of CHENLA and the kingdom of ANGKOR, in Cambodia, although Old KHMER was also used in subsidiary texts on many occasions. The quality of the Sanskrit employed was admirable, as seen in the long dedicatory inscriptions of the temples of the PRE RUP, PREAH KHAN, and TA PROHM at Angkor.’ [6] ’Probably a form of the Mon-Khmer language family using the Sanskrit writing system’ [7]
[1]: (Higham 2013, p.586)
[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 47)
[4]: (Miksic 2007, p. 123)
[5]: (Higham 2004, p. 113-114)
[6]: (Higham 2004, p. 294)
[7]: (West 2009, p. 222)
’During the first five hundred years or so of the current era, India provided Cambodia with a writing system, a pantheon, meters for poetry, a language (Sanskrit) to write it in, a vocabulary of social hierarchies (not the same as a caste system), Buddhism, the idea of universal kingship, and new ways a looking at politics, sociology, architecture, iconography, astronomy, and aesthetics.’ [1]
[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 17)
’All that remains, apart from all-important inscriptions on stone or metal, are those texts that were regularly recopied. These were mainly religious texts, the copying of which generated spiritual merit, various technical treatises on such subjects as agriculture, astrology and law, and court chronicles. In few of these, even the last, can be found any references, however, to political or even economic relations with China.’ [1]
[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 35)
’During the first five hundred years or so of the current era, India provided Cambodia with a writing system, a pantheon, meters for poetry, a language (Sanskrit) to write it in, a vocabulary of social hierarchies (not the same as a caste system), Buddhism, the idea of universal kingship, and new ways a looking at politics, sociology, architecture, iconography, astronomy, and aesthetics.’ [1] ’It was also a reputable center of Bud- dhist scholarship during the latter part of the fifth and early sixth centuries.’ [2] ’All that remains, apart from all-important inscriptions on stone or metal, are those texts that were regularly recopied. These were mainly religious texts, the copying of which generated spiritual merit, various technical treatises on such subjects as agriculture, astrology and law, and court chronicles. In few of these, even the last, can be found any references, however, to political or even economic relations with China.’ [3]
[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 17)
[2]: (Ooi 2004, p. 11)
[3]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 35)
’All that remains, apart from all-important inscriptions on stone or metal, are those texts that were regularly recopied. These were mainly religious texts, the copying of which generated spiritual merit, various technical treatises on such subjects as agriculture, astrology and law, and court chronicles. In few of these, even the last, can be found any references, however, to political or even economic relations with China.’ [1]
[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 35)
’During the first five hundred years or so of the current era, India provided Cambodia with a writing system, a pantheon, meters for poetry, a language (Sanskrit) to write it in, a vocabulary of social hierarchies (not the same as a caste system), Buddhism, the idea of universal kingship, and new ways a looking at politics, sociology, architecture, iconography, astronomy, and aesthetics.’ [1]
[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 17)
’There can hardly be any doubt that the polities within Cambodia from the 7th to the 13th centuries were mainly agrarian, their development of written records very high for the period, these records largely concerned with economic and administrative matters, and that by the Angkor period temples had political and economic managerial functions. The notable Southeast Asian societies without an impressive epigraphic tradition, such as Funan, Srivijaya, Ayutthaya, and Pregu, were preeminently maritime trading polities.’ [1] ’The archaeological hardware of these vital centuries is provided by the surviving temples, reservoirs and rice fields, but the social software has to be teased out of the surviving inscriptions. Carved onto stone stelae, these were inscribed in Sanskrit and old Khmer languages. Nearly all relate to the foundation and administration of a temple. They regularly refer to a ruler or the title and name of a local grandee associated with the temple foundation and its maintenance. The Khmer text includes information on rice fields, their boundaries, donations of surplus products to the temple, and the number and duties of individuals assigned to its support.’ [2] ’From 550 AD, a network of powerful chiefdoms emerged in the interior of Cambodia, under the generic name Chenla. By this period, paramounts were setting up inscriptions to record their august genealogies and achievements. These were carved in Sanskrit, but some texts were written in Old Khmer. These provide us with a vital glimpse of the religious beliefs under the veneer of Hindu worship.’ [3] ’The Sanskrit text began with a eulogy of the king, if it was a royal foundation, followed by a list of donations, such as workers and land, which was written in Khmer.’ [4]
[1]: (Vickery 1998, p. 99)
[2]: (Higham 2014, p. 830)
[3]: (Higham 2011, p. 475)
[4]: (Higham 2014b, p. 293)
’All that remains, apart from all-important inscriptions on stone or metal, are those texts that were regularly recopied. These were mainly religious texts, the copying of which generated spiritual merit, various technical treatises on such subjects as agriculture, astrology and law, and court chronicles. In few of these, even the last, can be found any references, however, to political or even economic relations with China.’ [1] ’Court chronicles in the Theravada Buddhist kingdoms of mainland Southeast Asia were not composed as objective historical records. On the contrary, they formed part of the royal regalia of legitimation. They recorded the ruler’s genealogy, his marriage alliances and his meritorious deeds, all of which were intended to reinforce his right to rule in the eyes of his subjects.’ [2]
[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 35)
[2]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, pp. 35-36)
Records from the early Funan period are scarce. ’The earliest extant Sanskrit texts, from Cambodia’s Funan period, are undated records from the 5th century: undated Khmer inscriptions appear about a century later. Dated inscriptions in Sanskrit and Old Khmer start from the early 7th century. The Pre-Angkorian Sanskrit texts were generally short ‘literary gestures’ (ibid., 219), but by the Angkorian period, they used very sophisticated poetry, employing polished orthography and grammar, as in India. These display knowledge of Indian intellectual and political thought and of literature including the metrics of poetry (Majumdar 1953: xvii-iii; Bhattacharya 1991: 2-4; Pollock 1996: 218-220; Dagens 2003: 217).’ [1]
[1]: (Lustig 2009, p. 107)
In Sukhothai (in northern Thailand) where a large quantity
of cowries from the Maldives was unearthed, many inscriptions composed between 1292 and 1400 have demonstrated cowries as a measure of value in Thai society.54 Cowries were used for religious dedications and for the purchase of cheap goods such as cloth and lamps, but also expensive deals such as land. To be true, the use of cowrie money in Thailand did not end until the latter part of the nineteenth century. The situation east of Siam seemed very different, as the cowrie currency was not found either in Cambodia or in Cochin China.
[1]
[1]: (Yang 2011, p. 13)
’The city [near the modern Vietnamese village of Oc-Eco in the Mekong Delta] probably provided warehousing for goods in transit between India and China and was an outlet for products collected from the forested interior of Cambodia and Vietnam. Until the twentieth century, forest products and precious metals made up the bulk of Cambodia’s export trade. These included gold, elephants, ivory, rhinoceros horn, kingfisher feathers, wild spices like cardamom, and forest products such as lacquer, hides, and aromatic wood.’ [1] ’They described a country to the south ruled by a king who resided in a palace in a walled settlement.’ [2] ’Taxes are paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes. They have books and repositories of archives and other things. Their writing characters resemble those of the Hu (i.e. the Indians)". (Pelliot, ibid, p. 254) [3] ’The 1st to 5th century site of Oc Eo on Vietnam’s coast, then on the east-west maritime trade route, has produced, among other artefacts, a Vishnuite silver coin and a Roman gold medallion (Malleret 1959-62; Coe 2003; 66-67), but there is no evidence that Funan minted its own coinage (Sahai 1971: 94; Wicks 1992: 186). Indeed, the Chinese reported that taxes in Funan were paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes (Pelliot 1903: 252).’ [4] ’
[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 19)
[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 51)
[4]: (Lustig 2009, p. 82)
Barter was the normal market exchange mechanism. After the Angkor period, gold coins marked with symbols made their appearance, but until then gold or silver ingots with measured weights functioned as currency (the earliest evidence of the use of bullion in exchange dates from the period of the "Fu-nan").’ [1]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.176)
’The 1st to 5th century site of Oc Eo on Vietnam’s coast, then on the east-west maritime trade route, has produced, among other artefacts, a Vishnuite silver coin and a Roman gold medallion (Malleret 1959-62; Coe 2003; 66-67), but there is no evidence that Funan minted its own coinage (Sahai 1971: 94; Wicks 1992: 186). Indeed, the Chinese reported that taxes in Funan were paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes (Pelliot 1903: 252).’
[1]
’Strong evidence against the importance of trade or markets is the absence of money in post-6th-century Cambodia in contrast to Funan which had coinage’
[2]
’Neither is there reference to coinage, although precious metals are mentioned as objects of exchanges among donors and temples. The lack of coinage seems confirmed by the inability of archaeologists or architects excavating and restoring temples to discover any coins which may be dated between the end of the Funan and the post-Angkor period.’
[3]
’Barter was the normal market exchange mechanism. After the Angkor period, gold coins marked with symbols made their appearance, but until then gold or silver ingots with measured weights functioned as currency (the earliest evidence of the use of bullion in exchange dates from the period of the "Fu-nan").’
[4]
’Coinages were arguably introduced into Southeast Asia to expand the economies of early Indianised polities, including Funan, and to enhance the status of rulers. The absence of coins in later polities, such as Pagan and Angkor, is attributed to the redistribution of surplus wealth through the temples and monasteries, rather than the royal courts (Gutman 1978: 8-10)’
[5]
’But certain Indian traits, such as the minting and use of coinage, never took: the Khmer realm essentially remained a barter economy until the arrival of the French in the nineteenth century.’
[6]
[1]: (Lustig 2009, p. 82)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 314)
[3]: (Vickery 1998, p. 275)
[4]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.176)
[5]: (Lustig 2009, p. 95)
[6]: (Coe 2003, p. 63)
’The 1st to 5th century site of Oc Eo on Vietnam’s coast, then on the east-west maritime trade route, has produced, among other artefacts, a Vishnuite silver coin and a Roman gold medallion (Malleret 1959-62; Coe 2003; 66-67), but there is no evidence that Funan minted its own coinage (Sahai 1971: 94; Wicks 1992: 186). Indeed, the Chinese reported that taxes in Funan were paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes (Pelliot 1903: 252).’
[1]
’Strong evidence against the importance of trade or markets is the absence of money in post-6th-century Cambodia in contrast to Funan which had coinage’
[2]
’Neither is there reference to coinage, although precious metals are mentioned as objects of exchanges among donors and temples. The lack of coinage seems confirmed by the inability of archaeologists or architects excavating and restoring temples to discover any coins which may be dated between the end of the Funan and the post-Angkor period.’
[3]
’Barter was the normal market exchange mechanism. After the Angkor period, gold coins marked with symbols made their appearance, but until then gold or silver ingots with measured weights functioned as currency (the earliest evidence of the use of bullion in exchange dates from the period of the "Fu-nan").’
[4]
’Coinages were arguably introduced into Southeast Asia to expand the economies of early Indianised polities, including Funan, and to enhance the status of rulers. The absence of coins in later polities, such as Pagan and Angkor, is attributed to the redistribution of surplus wealth through the temples and monasteries, rather than the royal courts (Gutman 1978: 8-10)’
[5]
’But certain Indian traits, such as the minting and use of coinage, never took: the Khmer realm essentially remained a barter economy until the arrival of the French in the nineteenth century.’
[6]
[1]: (Lustig 2009, p. 82)
[2]: (Vickery 1998, p. 314)
[3]: (Vickery 1998, p. 275)
[4]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.176)
[5]: (Lustig 2009, p. 95)
[6]: (Coe 2003, p. 63)
’Two Roman medallions of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius (121-180 C.E.) and Antoninus Pius (86-161 C.E.), together with carnelian ornaments, evi- dence trade involving the Roman Empire. There are also Iranian COINAGE and a Chinese mirror.’ [1] ’Roman coins found at the site [near the modern Vietnamese village of Oc-Eco in the Mekong Delta] and at Angkor Borei date from the second and third centuries, and some Indian artefacts, including seals and jewelry, can be dated to the same period.’ [2] ’There were two Roman medallions bearing the images of Marcus Aurelius (161-180) and Antonius Pius (138-161), Iranian coinage, and rings and seals bearing inscriptions in the Brahmi script of India.’ The style of the Indian writings covers the first to the fifth centuries AD.’ [3] ’The first extends approximately from the first to the third centuries AD and provides firm evidence of trade within the region and also with India and beyond, since a gold medallion depicting the Roman emperor Antonius Pius and dated 152 AD was among the items unearthed. At this level there was no sign of Hinduism or Buddhism.’ [4]
[1]: (Higham 2004, p. 246)
[2]: (Chandler 2008, p. 19)
[3]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[4]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 52)
The earliest text records a transaction between a chief and his followers in which fruits and animals were given out of respect and adoration, trend that shifted soon to payment of taxes in luxury goods. Common exchange articles for payment were gold, silver, and scented woods. [1] Later inscriptions suggest the existence of a well developed barter system where cloth and silver were used as the main basis for trade. For example, "the exchange goods given for the land and other gifts is paddy but its value is expressed in terms of silver and cloth which thus appear to have almost monetary value. [...] ’A rice field near the tank of Devacila. The barter for it is paddy. The value of this is 5 ounces of silver and a yau of double cloth’. [2] . Other exchange rates are recorded as well: ’honey is given to buy oil, cloth to buy syrup, ... cotton to buy ginger conserve’. [3] Although this references are from the late Funanese period, it suggests that there was a developed exchange system. (RA’s guess)
[1]: (Wicks 1992, p. 186)
[2]: (Jacob 1979, p. 415)
[3]: (Jacob 1979, p. 414)
’They described a country to the south ruled by a king who resided in a palace in a walled settlement.’ [1] ’It has also been observed that the Chinese text designates Funan as a kuo, a term which should translate as "principality" rather than "kingdom". A kuo was usually of a limited extent and could even designate a fortified town (Stein, Le Lin-ye, p. 119).’ [2] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ [3] ’We have a detailed description of an early South-east Asian trading state, following a visit to the Mekon Delta by Kang Tai, an an emissary of the Chinese emperor. Sent to explore a maritime trade route in the third century AD, he encountered a state controlled by a ruling dynasty, with its own legal and taxation systems, which kept written records, and defended cities.’ [4]
[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[2]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 46)
[3]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)
[4]: (Higham 2011, pp. 474-475)
’The picture [of the Funan] is one of small town-states, moated, fortified and frequently in conflict with each other.’ [1] ’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ [2] ’The river which flows there today was formerly a canal which functioned as a moat and a harbour, and ran about halfway around the outskirts of town.’ [3] ’Some have hypothesized that Angkor Borei was Naravaranagara, a capital of Funan in the sixth century. According to Michael Vickery, however, Naravaranagara was probably 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Angkor Borei. In any case, Angkor Borei was one of the most impressive sites in early first-millennium Southeast Asia.’ [4] ’The oldest dated inscriptions from Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 611, have both been found at Angkor Borei. Another recently discovered inscription is believed to date from about 650. This stele mentions that Rudravarman, Funan’s last known ruler, was living in Angkor Borei.’ [5] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ [6] ’This extraordinary site [Oc Eo] comprises a rectangular enceinte measuring 3 by 1.5 km. It lies behind five ramparts and four moats, and covers an area of 450 ha.’ [7]
[1]: (Freeman and Jacques 1999, p. 8)
[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p, 57)
[4]: (Miksic 2007, p. 19)
[5]: (Miksic 2007, p.20)
[6]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)
[7]: (Higham 2014, p. 279)
’The picture [of the Funan] is one of small town-states, moated, fortified and frequently in conflict with each other.’ [1] ’There is considerable evidence for conflict and the imposition of hegemony by one group over another in Southeast Asia from earliest times. From the Angkor period (after 800CE), there is ample evidence of conflict, both from inscriptions (Finot 1925; Jacques 1986) and bas-reliefs (Chetwin 2001; Clark 2007; Coedés 1932; Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007; Le Bonheur & Poncar 1993). Accounts from Chinese histories provide indirect evidence for conflict in the earlier period too. One indicates that settlements in the polity of Funan, located in the Mekong Delta, were fortified. Another reveals that missions were sent to China by a number of polities conquered by Chenla, the power that superseded Funan in Cambodia, after CE 650-6 (Tuan-Lin 1876).’ [2]
[1]: (Freeman and Jacques 1999, p. 8)
[2]: (Dommet et al 2011, p.441)
’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ [1] ’In the second phase, housing on stilts makes its appearance in the plain itself. Funerary monuments have been discovered, betokening to the emergence of "chiefdoms", together with evidence of town planning at Oc-Eo, which was now supplied with an earthen enclosure rampart.’ [2] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ [3] ’Another text describing the kingdom, the Kinshu, begins thus: "There are walled towns, palaces and dwellings.’" [4] ’The ancient town at Angkor Borei was in fact a port linked by canals to both Oc-Eo and the river Baassac, a branch of the lower Mekong. It is said to have been enclosed within a rather irregularly-shaped wall forming a rough square some two by two kilometers. This was a veritable rampart comparable to that of the twelfth-century Angkor Thom. It was a brick wall more than a metre thick and six to eight metres high, lined on the inside by a ramp and a sentry path along the top.’ [5]
[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[2]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 54)
[3]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)
[4]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 51)
[5]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p, 57)
It seems that most of the features are canals, embankments, moats, or ponds/reservoirs:’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ [1] ’The river which flows there today was formerly a canal which functioned as a moat and a harbour, and ran about halfway around the outskirts of town.’ [2] ’Angkor Borei, a city covering about 300 hectares (750 acres), located above the Mekong Delta in Cambodia mayonee have been the capital of a state called FUNAN. The city had been occupied as early as the fourth century B.C.E. and was a major center. It is ringed by a brick wall and a moat. Chinese visitors to the region in the third century C.E. described a capital of a state called Funan, and Angkor Borei, which was linked to OC EO and other delta settlements by a canal, may well have been such a regal centre.’ [3] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ [4]
[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)
[2]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p, 57)
[3]: (Higham 2004, p. 17)
[4]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)
Rather, the use of copper/bronze during the MSEA Iron Age is concentrated on the decorative and ideational sphere (bells, bowls, drums, figurines, finger and toe rings, bangles, belts and ear discs), whereas utilitarian objects (adze/axes, knives, digging stick tips,ploughshares, and spearheads) are produced in iron/steel. [1] However, it is not clear from sources if these items are specifically found in this polity. Polity expert Charles Higham "I dont think there was ever a transition to steel but will ask the iron expert, Oliver Pryce for his view." (pers. comm. with Harvey Whitehouse 04/08/2017)
[1]: (Pryce 2014: 5)
Bronze weapons have been found and copper is needed to make bronze, so it seems reasonable to assume that copper weapons were probably used too.
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of slings. [1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GAJMIR4G.
According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ [1]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)
The discovery of iron spears and arrowheads including one found lodged in the spine of a man lying prone, support this conjecture [evidence of fighting]. [1] Not clear that the spear is a thrown weapon however. Uncertain if the spears in this period were used a thrown weapons.
[1]: (Higham 2004b, p. 21)
Firearms were not known in this region until around 1600 CE. ’The arms that [the Khmer] bore were substantially like those wielded by Classic warriors, with the addition of firearms and canon (after 1600). Again the principle of five ruled, as there were five corps: the vanguard, the rear guard, the right flank, the left flank, and the central corps or main body of the army, where the king kept himself with his war elephants. These animals were strengthened magically from time to time by bring sprayed with water mixed with human bile (or so say our sources); magical ideas also led the warriors to cover themselves with protective amulets. The king would be surrounded by Brahmins who conducted ritual ablutions, and by soothsayers who were consulted on the placement of military camps and for auspicious days for military operations.’ [1] ’The only major novelty is the appearance at the Bayon and Banteay Chmar of war machines which put the army a step up the ladder of technical prowess. But we are still far from the appearance of firearms.’ [2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 219)
[2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 37)
Canon and gunpowder were not known in this region until around 1600 CE. ’Military campaings were probably conducted in the Post-Classic period as they had been during the Classic Era, but on a lesser scale: it is doubtful if any king of Lovek or Udong could muster the armies that were fielded by rulers like Suryavarman II. There was no standing army - in times of war, the patron was expected to muster a force of his clients, and place himself or an officer designated by the king at the head. The arms that they bore were substantially like those wielded by Classic warriors, with the addition of firearms and canon (after 1600). Again the principle of five ruled, as there were five corps: the vanguard, the rear guard, the right flank, the left flank, and the central corps or main body of the army, where the king kept himself with his war elephants. These animals were strengthened magically from time to time by bring sprayed with water mixed with human bile (or so say our sources); magical ideas also led the warriors to cover themselves with protective amulets. The king would be surrounded by Brahmins who conducted ritual ablutions, and by soothsayers who were consulted on the placement of military camps and for auspicious days for military operations.’ [1]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 219)
Inferred from the absence of composite bows in the subsequent polities, and not specifically mentioned in the sources.
Inferred from the absence of war clubs in the previous and subsequent polities, also not known as a weapon in this region (NGA). There is no evidence for war clubs, however, there is evidence of injuries that appear to have been made through blunt force trauma. The authors of the study conclude that there may be blunt weapons, it is also possible that the resulting injury was made through another weapon hitting against a helmet. Given that both options are equally valid, we can assume that there may have been war clubs, even if these were out of use by the Angkorian period. (RA’s guess). "The trauma apparent at Phum Snay is a combination of blunt and sharp force but the large amount of healed trauma makes it difficult to match a specific weapon with the wounds (cf. Powers 2005). An examination of known weaponry from the later Angkorian period does not show a predominance of weapons that could inflict BFT". [1]
[1]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)
The following refers to a site that is in the NGA but not specifically part of Funan: O’Reilly et al. have documented a burial site in the Cambodian basin that dates from the Iron Age perio (i.e. slightly before the Funan period), given the evident that follows and the fact that swords were known in Angkor, we can assume there were swords as well in the Funan period. "A range of weapons were identified in many graves, including long iron swords and projectile points. The majority of individuals buried with weapons were male. The swords found in these graves were over 1m in length and nearly 100mm wide near the hilt, similar in form to the late medieval claymore swords of Scotland. Smaller short swords were also encountered in some burials. Caches of projectile points found in burials appear to be of two types: long, narrow points and broad, leaf-shaped points. [1]
[1]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)
According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ [1] "A range of weapons were identified in many graves, including long iron swords and projectile points. The majority of individuals buried with weapons were male. The swords found in these graves were over 1m in length and nearly 100mm wide near the hilt, similar in form to the late medieval claymore swords of Scotland. Smaller short swords were also encountered in some burials. Caches of projectile points found in burials appear to be of two types: long, narrow points and broad, leaf-shaped points. [2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)
[2]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)
According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ [1]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)
According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ [1]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)
According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ [1] The axe was known in the region, hence there is no reason to believe that they wouldn’t have used them in warfare. Traditional Khmer weapons later depicted in Angkor include the a battle axe known as phka’k, which was carried by high ranking officials. [2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)
[2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007, p. 24)
’The acquisition of a cavalry raised many more problems: horses had to be imported, perhaps from India-like those of the embassy of the Funan, Fan Zhan, received as a gift from the court of the Murundas around AD 230-240, most likely from China via Vietnam. This difficulty must always have acted as a restraint on the development of this corps. [1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 173)
There is a reference in the Chinese text to tame elephants being brought from Funan. [1] Later accounts mention "chief of king’s elephant" as a duty for slaves. [2] This shows that the Funanese were using elephants as early as the 4th century CE, since elephants were known to be used in warfare and transport in the Angkoria period, we could assume that the practice started in Funan
[1]: (Vickery 2003, p. 112)
[2]: (Jacob 1979, p. 418)
’[...] protection, along with rainfall, is the sine qua non of peasant society: protection from enemies, from rival overlords, from the forces of nature. In recognition of this necessity, overlords in the time of Funan and throughout Cambodian history often included in their reign-names the suffix varman (originally "armour", hence, "protection").’ [1]
[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 23)
There are shields and bucklers in the Angkorian period, but there are no references in the literature to shields found in archaeological contexts. RA.
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour. [1] Given that the later Khmer polity did not have scaled armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2)
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour. [1] Given that the later Khmer polity did not have plate armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2)
Inferred from absence of limb protection in previous and subsequent polities.
Zhou Daguan mentions that in the 13th century the Angkorians did not use the hide of cow to make items, [1] which may be connected to religious ideas. If that is so, it is likely that leather items were not produced as far back as Funan, when the Indian religions were introduced. Cloth, on the other hand, is used by the Angkorian infantry in the bas-reliefs. [2]
[1]: (Zhou Daguan 2007, p. 73)
[2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007, p. 88)
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour. [1] Given that the later Khmer polity did not have laminar armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2)
An Iron Age settlement in Cambodia yielded a bronze helmet inlaid with gold, and evidence of bronze and iron weaponry. [1] At Phum Snay looters reported finding skulls with bronze helmets; however, our excavations and subsequent excavations have not encountered such evidence. A shallow bronze bowl was found covering the right side of one female skull (O’Reilly et al. 2006b; O’Reilly & Pheng 2001; O’Reilly 2004), similar to a discovery at Prohear in south-east Cambodia (Reinecke et al. 2009). It is possible that similar burial behaviour has been misinterpreted by the villagers as representing helmets. A helmet would protect the cranium to some degree, perhaps providing an explanation for the large number of healed injuries. [2]
[1]: (Higham 2002, p. 214)
[2]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)
NOTE: this refers to a site that is in the NGA but not specifically part of Funan, where ornamental breastplates were found (RA). "Although not directly indicative of violence, ornamental shoulder decorations, epaulettes, were also found in the graves of young adult males (Figure 7). The epaulettes were fashioned from shaped pot rims and shoulders, and some had iron in the shape of buffalo horns attached to them. These were found in two burials at the shoulder of the skeleton and many looted examples were encountered. It is interesting to note that the marriage of martial and animal motifs is apparent on the walls of Angkor Wat where soldiers in Suryavarman II’s army wear helmets depicting a range of different animals (Figure 8). Jacq-Hergoualc’h (2007: 85) states that ‘perhaps these animal figures corresponded to the desire of the warriors to place themselves under the protection of this or that revered animal’. It may be that these animals are regional or clan signifiers. At Phum Snay buffalo iconography was very common, especially in the form of finger rings, on bronze bells and on epaulettes. Buffalo bones were also commonly encountered in male burials as a grave offering (O’Reilly et al. 2006b). [1]
[1]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)
’The importance of Funan as a maritime power is attributed to the king Fan Man or Fan Shi Man, whose reign has been dated to around 200 C.E. He is said to have constructed a fleet of ships and to have attacked more than ten kingdoms. Only three kingdoms were individually named, but all have been identified with the Malay Peninsula.These raids appear to have been an attempt to take control of the maritime trade flowing from India through the Malay Peninsula to China.’ [1] ’According to the Chinese chronicles, the Funanese also had a powerful navy, which suggests that they themselves ventured onto the seas to trade.’ [2]
[1]: (Southworth 2004, p. 529)
[2]: (Tully 2005, p. 12)
The use of boats is recorded in a Chinese text translated and published by Paul Pelliot in 1903. The text indicates that boats from Funan were made from a single log and that the head and the tail of a fish. [1] The use of canals as transport systems has been theorized by Higham who poses that "The way in which the canals link settlements also makes it likely that they were used to convey goods between the centres of population". [2] This Chinese text mentions that the Funan people were aggressive toward their neighbors, whom they sometimes captured and enslaved, but they were also expert smiths of gold rings and bracelets, silver plates, and bronze statues, as well as shipbuilders.’ [3]
[1]: (Pelliot 1903, p. 261)
[2]: (Higham 2002, p. 238)
[3]: (Miksic 2007, p.123)
’We should think of Funan, therefore, not as a centralised kingdom extending from southern Vietnam all the way around to the Kra Isthmus, but rather as a mandala, the power of whose capital in southeastern Cambodia waxed and waned, and whose armed merchant ships succeeded in enforcing its temporary suzerainty over small coastal trading ports around the Gulf of Thailand. What gave Funan the edge over other such centres of power was clearly its position astride the India-China trade route. Its power, however, is unlikely to have spread far inland. Further north, on the middle Mekong and on the lower Chao Phraya River, other power centres were establishing themselves that in time would challenge and replace Funan.’ [1] ’By the end of the fifth century, Funan was losing ground to its northern neighbor Linyi (the future Champa), the sailors who had provided Funan’s navy had turned to piracy, and the Malay entrepoˆts had begun sending their own embassies to China. In this same period, as noted earlier, Funan’s canal and irrigation networks were expanding rapidly in the Mekong Delta, as part of its transition to a more intensive agricultural economy. However, Funan’s decline continued, as midway through the sixth century its Khmer vassals to the north broke away, and by the seventh century Funan was no more. Its irrigation networks in the Mekong Delta were reclaimed by jungle as the farmers moved northwest to the new Khmer-ruled centers in the central Cambodia Tonle Sap area.’ [2]
[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 29-30)
[2]: (Hall 2010, pp. 60-61)