champa ( vietnam)

The Chams of Vietnam

In Vietnam, the civilization of the ancients was called "Champa". We know very little of its ancient history, but by about 400 A.D, Champa were united under the rule of a King called Bhadravarman. In about 446 A.D, - in retaliation for Cham raids on their coast - the Chinese invaded Champa, bringing down Bhadravarman, and placing the region under Chinese suzerainty.

One hundred and fifty years later, in about 600 A.D, a new Cham dynasty arose, and Champa was able to expel it's Chinese overlords. This ushered in a new era of independence and prosperity, which produced great artistic achievements. It is also at this time, in its early "recorded" history, that the Chams attack the superpower of the region - Funan in Cambodia - and bring an end to that Empire.

But by the late 8th century A.D, the Chams were at war with either Java to the south, China to the north, or the Khmer in the west, sometimes more than one at a time. So that by the late 15th century A.D, incessant wars had for all practical purposes, wiped out the Champa kingdom. One by one their provinces were annexed, until finally Champa and its people, were entirely absorbed by the current Mongol inhabitants in the 17th century A.D.

Modern Vietnamese People