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Funan
Contributed by Hemara
Saturday, 28 April 2007
Last Updated Sunday, 28 October 2007

Funan - The Mountain Kingdom

The Beginning

Funan was probably the earliest of the Indianized kingdom located around the Mekong delta and is believed to have been
established in the first century A.D with its capital located at Vyadhapura at the foot of Ba Phnom in Prei Veng or further
south at Angkor Borei in Takeo province by a Mon-Khmer. Its earliest historical reference can be found in the Chinese
chronicles History of the Chin dynasty (265-419) and History of the Liang (502-566) which transcribed the kingdom name
at Ba Phnom to Funan, the Old Khmer word Bnam which means "mountain" - the meaning of which survived in the
present day Cambodian word Phnom. However Khmer inscriptions during the pre-angkor period do not refer to Funan or
Chenla but to the name of capitals to describe territories and Kingdoms. Even though the beginning of Indian contact
with Southeast Asia was well before the beginning of the Christian era but its historical records have very little to say
about Southeast Asia, other than it was a "Land of Gold" from which bold and enterprising trader might, if they survived
the voyage return as rich men. However these men may have contributed to the introduction of Indian influence in
Funan.

The Legend The known or oral history of Funan began with the legend of an Indian Brahmin named Kaundinya (Hun-
t’ient) and the local princess Soma (Liu-yeh) of the Naga Kingdom, the legend that link to mythical origin of the
Pallavas dynasty of Kanchi and that of Iranian Pahlavas, and was shared by many kingdoms in the region. According to
the legend, an Indian Brahmin named Kaundinya (Hun-t’ient) dreamed that a divine figure gave him a divine bow
and gave him an instruction to set sail for a faraway destination. In the morning he entered the temple of his god and
found a bow. He then boarded a great ship with the party of merchants and set sail. His god had directed the wind to
make the ship arrived at Funan. Princess Soma (Liu-yeh) wished to take the ship and all the possessions on it.
Kaundinya raised the divine bow and fired. The arrow pierced the bark of the (Liu-yeh) tree from side to side. The
princess was frighten and submitted herself to Kaundinya and they got married. The Naga king drank the water and gave
the land to Kaudinya and Soma to rule. The legend provides the lineage and the legitimacy of an Indian Brahmin and the
divinity of the Naga, who at the time was considered to be the lord of the Earth in that region. The defeated of the Naga
princess by the Brahmin was a symbol of external influence over the local way of lives.

This legend indicated that Kaundinya was not the first king of the people of Funan, as the land was ruled by the Naga
king before his arrival. However, Kaundinya was the first king to transform Funan from a local tradition to a new
civilization – Indianized civilization. It was this administration and the trade route between Chinese and Indian
subcontinent that led Funan to a great height in 6th century, and also witnessed the fall of the great Funan Empire as the
trade route was altered

The other version of the legend appears in a Sanskrit inscription of the middle of seventh century (658) found at Mi-son
in Champa, now south Vietnam, tells us that Kaundinya came from India as a result of a dream and on disembarking he
drove the spear he had received from Drona’s son, the great Brahman Asavatthaman, into the ground to decide
on the spot where he would build his capital. He married Soma, daughter of the Naga king (Nagaraja). The Cambodian
version of the legend says that Preah Thong, son of a king in India, chased from his home, went to Nokor Kok Thlok
(Cambodia), where a Cham king was reigning, seized the throne and married a Naga princess, whose father, the
Nagaraja, helped him conquer his kingdom, and changed its name to Kambuja. The First People The first people of
Funan were probably austro-asiatic, related to the Mons of Burma and the modern Khmers. Chinese historical
documents by Chu Ying and K’ang-t-ai who reached the court of Funan during the early days of the reign of Fan
Hsun (probably a little after 240), described Funanse men as black and ugly with curly hair and body tattooed. The
documents described the custom of Funan as primitive, that the Funanese went about naked and barefoot, and wore
their long hair on the back. They lived in houses of woven bamboo or nipa palm on stilts. A typical characteristic of
Chinese to exaggerate when described people who differed from them, however the description about curly hair may
indicated that of a negroid element.

The Funan Dynasty The conquest of Liu-yeh by Hun-t’ien (Kaundinya) must have been taken place in the latter
part of the first century AD. They had a son who succeeded to the throne, and founded the first Funan dynasty of the
Hun or Kaundinya. The kingdom seems to have consisted at first of settlements, or cities chieftly along the Mekong,
between the present sites of Chaudoc and Phnom Penh, each under its local chieft. Kaundinya gave seven of these
cities to his son as a royal fief, thus apparently introducing a sort of feudalism into Funan. The rest of the country seems
to have been under the direct rule of the King. It was not sure how long Kaundinya and his son rule. One of his
successors, Hun P’an-h’uang whose reign apparently extended through the whole of the second half of
the second, and perhaps into the third century had conquered all the seven cities and sent his sons and grandsons to
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govern separately each of the cities as “little kingdoms”. He died at the age of ninety. P’an-
p’an, a second son of Hun P’an-h’uang, who succeeded his father to the throne at the beginning of
third century was not interested in the governing of the country and left all responsibilities to his general, Fan-man or Fan-
shih-man. P’an-p’an died after three year at the throne. Fan-shih-man was chosen to become king but the
rulers of the seven “little kingdoms” were not happy. This ended the First Kaundinya or Hun dynasty. He
had conquered neighboring kingdoms as his vassal states. He had built great ship and crossed the immense sea, he
attacked more than ten kingdoms. He had extended his boundaries to Tonkin on the East, to Indian Ocean on the West
and far down into the Malay Peninsula. He took the title of the Great King of Funan. When Fan-shih-man fell ill, he chose
his elder son (Fan) Chin-sheng to succeed him and to continue in his with battle. He had chosen his sister’s son
Chan to protect him with 2000 men. Chan took this opportunity to proclaim him Fan Chan, King of Funan and sent his
men to trap and kill Chin-sheng. It was during this reign that Funan came into direct contact with India as Fan Chan had
sent a relative name Su-Wu as an ambassador to India. And it was also during this reign that two Chinese envoys Chu
Ying and K’ang-t-ai arrived at Funan (probably a little after 240). It was Hun-t’ien (Kaundinya) who was
responsible for dressing the women of Funan and it was K’ang-t-ai who recommended Fan hsun to issue a
decree forbidding men to go naked. Chu Ying and K’ang-t-ai had described many things in Funan, including their
custom and tradition, and that Funan had libraries and book written in language which resembled that on India. Fan-shih-
man had another child, Fan Ch’ang, who was an infant when he died. Fan Ch’ang was reared among the
people. When he was twenty, he collected some brave warriors to attack and kill Fan Chan. His reign was very brief as
he was assassinated by Fan Chan’s general, Fan Hsun. Fan Hsun proclaimed himself king. Fan Hsun had
reigned for a long time and had made an alliance with Lin-yi. His reign seems to have ended about seventy years later in
an unrest. There was not much record for the eight king of Funan, Chu-chan-tan (Chandana), except that he sent an
embassy to Eastern Chin (317-420). Then came another period where record was very sketchy and where Chiao-cheu-ju
(Kaundiniya II) seems to have reigned. Shih-li-t’o-pa-no (Sri Indravarman or Srutaravarman) …

.....in progress

Suggested items to be contributed by our readers for this item "Funan":

- People
- Language e.g pre-Khmer Austro-Asiatic or Mon-Khmer

- Legend e.g Kaundinya (Hun-t'ien) and Soma (Liu-yeh)

- Influence and contact with other civilization e.g Indianization and in contact with other civilization through trading
- Land and map e.g covered much of modern Southeast Asia

- Cities and buildings e.g capital city at Vydhapura

Useful References:

◊ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan

◊ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kh0014)

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