Funan

Funan was one of the earliest states in Southeast Asia. Dating from about AD 100-550, its centers were located on the delta of the Mekong and Bassac rivers. The name is shrouded in mystery, and might have a Chinese rendition of the Khmer name phnom or hill. The History of the Liang Dynasty records that two

Chinese emissaries of the Wu Emperor, known as Kang Dai and Zhu Ying, visited Funan and encountered walled settlements and a king who lived in a palace. A system of taxation involved dues on gold, silver, perfumes, and pearls, and there was a form of legal system that involved trial by ordeal.

Ordinary people, who were black, with curly hair and tattooed bodies, lived in houses raised on piles against the regular threat of flooding. They also recorded the names of successive rulers and their predatory wars against their neighbors. One early ruler named Hun Panhuang conquered chiefs on the edge of his kingdom and installed his sons and grandsons to rule them under his command. His son was called Pan Pan, and he was followed by a ruler known as Fan Shiman, who launched wars against his neighbors.

Air photographs taken during 1930s identified ancient canals crisscrossing the delta landscape, and the outline of a large rectangular city now known as Oc Eo. On the northern margins of the delta, another walled city known as Angkor Borei lay at the northern terminus of one such canal. The Chinese visitors noted that the capital of Funan had an inland location, and the size of Angkor Borei would qualify it, at the very least, as a major center.

Subsequent archaeological research has confirmed much of what Kang Dai and Zhu Ying described. Oc Eo incorporated substantial brick temple foundations, Workshops for the production of jewelery, evidence for casting metals, and the wooden piles that would have supported houses. There are also seals bearing brief texts in the Indian Brahmi script, and an abundance of evidence for trade involving Rome, India, and China. A series of sites has also been uncovered by Vietnamese scholars, again involving brick temples as well as brick vaults containing cremated human remains and rich artifacts. These include gold leaves bearing inscriptions and images of women, gold discs, gold rings, a gold flower, and jewelry fashioned from precious stones and glass.

Few inscriptions survive, but their Sanskrit texts provide important information. One refers to a ruler named Jayavarman, who had been victorious in the battle against a rival king. He founded many sanctuaries dedicated to Vishnu, and placed his son Gunavarman in charge of one. A second text cites King Jayavarman and his son Rudravarman, and describes how the former named the son of a Brahman as his inspector of property. A third text mentions this king’s military victories. It also recorded the foundation of a hermitage, reservoir, and a residence by his queen. Between AD 480 and 520, there was conflict, the establishment of religious foundations in favor of exotic Indic gods, the presence of educated officiants, and a royal succession from father to son. There are two inscriptions from the vicinity of Angkor Borei which imply that this was the capital of Rudravarman, the last recorded king in this region. That from Phnom Da mentions his name on several occasions.

Funan prospered with the control of international maritime trade, and the stranglehold it could place over the flow of goods up and down the vital Mekong Valley. It was, however, equally vulnerable to any changes in the pattern of trade beyond its control. During the sixth century AD, such a change occurred when the Chinese increasingly bypassed the delta. Funan then fell into a rapid decline and the political center of gravity moved inland, to emerging agrarian states known to us under the name of Chenla.