History Chams

1 history

1.1 vietnamese invasion
1.2 encounter islam
1.3 religious history , change
1.4 advent of vietnamese period
1.5 21st century

history

historical extent of kingdom of champa (in green) around 1100 ce



depiction of fighting cham naval soldier against khmer, stone relief @ bayon

austronesian origin, patterns , chronology of migration remain debated , assumed, cham people arrived in peninsular southeast asia via borneo. mainland southeast asia had been populated on land routes members of austroasiatic language family, such mon people , khmer people around 5,000 years ago, chams accomplished seafarers belonging austronesian marine migrants, 4,000 years bp populated , dominated maritime southeast asia. earliest known records of cham presence in indochina date second century ce. maritime trade essence of prosperous economy population centers around river outlets along coast controlled import/export of continental southeast asia. acquisition of territory has not been subject of concern. size of champa during heyday in 9th , 10th century not substantially larger during formative period.

cham folklore includes tradition of creation myth in founder of first cham polity lady po nagar. coming humble peasant origin somewhere in dai mountains, khánh hòa province, spirits assisted traveled china on floating log of sandalwood married man of royalty whom had 2 children. returned champa did many deeds in helping sick , poor , temple erected in honor people venerate patroness.

the champa principalities underwent countless other political entities of southeast asia process of indianisation, since common era result of centuries of socio-economic interaction adopted , introduced cultural , institutional elements of pre-islamic india. 8th century onward trade , shipping of india came increasingly controlled muslims such regions gujarat. islamic ideas became part of vast tide of exchange, treading same path hinduism , buddhism centuries before. cham people picked these ideas 11th century. can seen in architecture of cham temples, shares similarities 1 of angkor temples. ad-dimashqi writes in 1325, country of champa... inhabited muslims , idolaters. muslim religion came there during time of caliph uthman... , ali, many muslims expelled umayyads , hajjaj, fled there .

the daoyi zhilüe records @ cham ports, cham women married chinese merchants whom came after trading voyages. chinese merchant quanzhou, wang yuanmao, traded extensively champa , married cham princess.

in 12th century, cham fought series of wars khmer empire west. in 1177, cham , allies launched attack lake tonlé sap , managed sack khmer capital. in 1181, however, defeated khmer king jayavarman vii.

vietnamese invasion

between rise of khmer empire around 800 , vietnamese people s territorial push south jiaozhi and, later, Đại việt, champa began shrink. in cham–vietnamese war (1471), champa suffered serious defeats @ hands of vietnamese, in 120,000 people either captured or killed, , kingdom reduced small enclave near nha trang many chams fleeing cambodia.

encounter islam

a number of cham fled across sea malay peninsula , 15th century, cham colony established in malacca. chams encountered sunni islam there malacca sultanate officially muslim since 1414. king of champa became ally of johor sultanate; in 1594, champa sent military forces fight alongside johor against portuguese occupation of malacca. between 1607 , 1676, 1 of champa kings converted islam , became dominant feature of cham society. chams adopted jawi alphabet.

historical records in indonesia showed influence of queen dwarawati, muslim princess kingdom of champa (chams), toward husband, kertawijaya, seventh king of majapahit empire, royal family of majapahit empire converted islam, lead conversion islam of entire region. chams princess tomb can found in trowulan, site of capital of majapahit empire. in babad tanah jawi, said king of brawijaya v has wife named dewi anarawati (or dewi dwarawati), muslim daughter of king of champa (chams). chams had trade , close cultural ties maritime kingdom of srivijaya, , majapahit in malay archipelago.

another significant figure champa in history of islam in indonesia raden rakhmat (prince rahmat) s known sunan ampel, 1 of wali sanga (nine saints), spread islam in java. considered focal point of wali sanga, because several of them descendants and/or students. father maulana malik ibrahim known ibrahim as-samarkandy ( ibrahim asmarakandi javanese ears), , mother dewi candrawulan, princess of champa (chams) s sister of queen dwarawati. sunan ampel born in champa in 1401 ce. came java in 1443 ce, in order visit aunt queen dwarawati, princess of champa married kertawijaya (brawijaya v), king of majapahit empire. local legend says built great mosque of demak (masjid agung demak) in 1479 ce, other legends attribute work sunan kalijaga. sunan ampel died in demak in 1481 ce, buried in ampel mosque @ surabaya, east java.

the cham matrilineal , inheritance passed through mother. because of this, in 1499 vietnamese enacted law banning marriage between cham women , vietnamese men, regardless of class.(tạ 1988, p. 137) vietnamese issued instructions in capital kill chams within vicinity. more attacks vietnamese continued , in 1693 champa kingdom s territory integrated part of vietnamese territory.

when ming dynasty in china fell, several thousand chinese refugees fled south , extensively settled on cham lands , in cambodia. of these chinese young males, , took cham women wives. children identified more chinese culture. migration occurred in 17th , 18th centuries.

during vietnam war, sizeable number of chams migrated peninsular malaysia, granted sanctuary malaysian government out of sympathy fellow muslim brothers; of them have assimilated malay cultures.

religious history , change

chams participated in defeating spanish invasion of cambodia.

cambodian king cau bana cand ramadhipati launched cambodian–dutch war expel dutch. vietnamese nguyen lords toppled ibrahim power restore buddhist rule.

after vietnam invaded , conquered champa, cambodia granted refuge cham muslims escaping vietnamese conquest.

cham migrated sulu orang dampuan. champa , sulu enaged in commerce each other resulted in merchant chams settling in sulu known orang dampuan 10th-13th centuries. orang dampuan slaughtered envious native sulu buranuns due wealth of orang dampuan. buranun subjected retaliatory slaughter orang dampuan. harmonious commerce between sulu , orang dampuan later restored. yakans descendants of taguima-based orang dampuan came sulu champa. sulu received civilization in indic form orang dampuan.

the trade in vietnamese ceramics damaged due plummet in trade cham merchants after 1471 vietnamese invasion of champa. vietnam s export of ceramics damaged internal civil war, portuguese , spanish entry region , portuguese conquest of malacca caused upset in trading system, while carracks ships in malacca macao trade run portuguese docked @ brunei due relations between portuguese , brunei after chinese permitted macao leased portuguese.

advent of vietnamese period

in 1700s , 1800s cambodian based chams settled in bangkok.

further expansion vietnamese in 1720 resulted in total annexation of champa kingdom , dissolution 19th century vietnamese emperor, minh mạng. in response, last champa muslim king, pô chien, gathered people in hinterland , fled south cambodia, while along coast migrated trengganu (malaysia). small group fled northward chinese island of hainan known today utsuls. refuge in cambodia king , people settled , scattered in communities across mekong basin. remained in nha trang, phan rang, phan rí, , phan thiết provinces of central vietnam absorbed vietnamese polity. cham provinces seized nguyen lords.

in 1832 vietnamese emperor minh mang annexed last champa kingdom. resulted in cham muslim leader katip suma, educated in kelantan, declaring jihad against vietnamese. vietnamese coercively fed lizard , pig meat cham muslims , cow meat cham hindus against punish them , assimilate them vietnamese culture.

flag of flc – front de libération du champa, active during vietnam war

in 1960s various movements emerged calling creation of separate cham state in vietnam. liberation front of champa (flc – le front pour la libération de cham) , front de libération des hauts plateaux dominated. latter group sought greater alliance other hilltribe minorities.

initially known front des petits peuples 1946 1960, group later took designation front de libération des hauts plateaux , joined, flc, front unifié pour la libération des races opprimées (fulro) @ point in 1960s. since late 1970s, there no serious cham secessionist movement or political activity in vietnam or cambodia.

the cham community suffered major blow during khmer rouge rule of cambodia. khmer rouge targeted ethnic minorities chinese, thai, lao, vietnamese , cham people, chinese suffering biggest death toll (over 200,000) among ethnic minorities, followed cham, , thai. cham suffered biggest death toll overall. around 100,000 cham out of total cham population of 250,000 died in genocide.

21st century


young muslim cham girl in châu Đốc



map of distribution of cham in southeast asia today

the majority of cham in vietnam (also known eastern cham) hindu while cambodian counterparts largely muslim. small number of eastern cham follow islam , lesser degree mahayana buddhism. number emigrated france in late 1960s during vietnam war.

the majority (88%) of chams reside in cambodia muslim, utsul of hainan. isolation of cham muslims in central vietnam resulted in increased syncretism buddhism until recent restoration of contacts other global muslim communities in vietnamese cities.

malaysia has cham immigrants , link between chams , malaysian state of kelantan old one. malaysian constitution recognises cham rights malaysian citizenship , bumiputra status, , cham communities in malaysia , along mekong river in vietnam continue have strong interactions.

around 98,971 cham estimated live in vietnam.

the muslim acehnese people of aceh, sumatra, indonesia, descendants of cham refugees fled after defeat vietnamese polity in 15th century.

according national geographic article published journalist adam bray, vietnamese government fears evidence of champa s influence on disputed area in south china sea bring attention human rights violations , killings of ethnic minorities in vietnam such in 2001 , 2004 uprisings, , lead issue of cham autonomy being brought dispute, since vietnamese conquered cham people in war in 1832, , vietnamese continue destroy evidence of cham culture , artefacts left behind, plundering or building on top of cham temples, building farms on them, banning cham religious practices, , omitting references destroyed cham capital of song luy in 1832 invasion in history books , tourist guides. situation of cham compared ethnic vietnamese substandard, lacking water , electricity , living in houses made out of mud. cham activist organisation international office of champa republished bray s article on website cham today.

cham muslims in cambodia



chams villages in giang province (an phú, châu phú, châu thành district, tân châu town).



a mosque in da phuoc village, phu district, giang province.

the cham in vietnam officially recognised vietnamese government 1 of 54 ethnic groups. however, according cham adovcacy group international office of champa (ioc-champa) , cham muslim activist khaleelah porome, both hindu , muslim chams have experienced religious , ethnic persecution , restrictions on faith under current vietnamese government, vietnamese state confisticating cham property , forbidding cham observing religious beliefs. hindu temples turned tourist sites against wishes of cham hindus. in 2010 , 2013 several incidents occurred in thành tín , phươc nhơn villages cham murdered vietnamese. in 2012, vietnamese police in chau giang village stormed cham mosque, stole electric generator. cham muslims in mekong delta have been economically marginalised, ethnic vietnamese settling on land owned cham people state support.

a cambodian cham muslim dissident, hassan kasem, former military helicopter pilot both persecuted , imprisoned khmer rouge , fought against vietnamese invasion, denounced vietnam trying position saviour of cambodia khmer rouge rule , wrote vietnam has deceived west thinking of magnanimous liberator when invaded cambodia , ousted khmer rouge when in fact vietnam used war benefit own interests such subjecting cambodian financial assets , national treasures pillaging , theft, settling border disputes own advantage, trying destroy cambodian nationalist feeling against vietnam, benefiting khmer on khmer violence khmer rouge , setting own communist puppet government rule cambodia, cambodia people s party (cpp) vietnamese soldiers secretly remaining behind in vietnam prop puppet government , vietnamese officials pretending khmer continuing direct government puppet. cham activist organisation international office of champa republished hassan s article on website cham today.

the cham suleiman idres bin called independence of champa vietnam , advocated international intervention similar how east timor independence implemented united nations.

the cham muslim human rights activist musa porome , daughter khaleelah porome live in america , advocate cham rights against vietnamese government.

an attempt @ salafist expansion among cham in vietnam has been halted vietnamese government controls, however, loss of salafis among chams has been benefit of tablighi jamaat.