THE WORLD CIVILIZATIONS AND INDIA , PART-86

ARBIND KUMAR BLOG

VIETNAM ( SERIES -4 )

KING JAYA SAMBHUVARMAN OF CHAMPA

King JAYA SAMBHUVARMAN OF CHAMPA was the King of LAM AP from 572 AD to 629 AD . LAM AP was the Kingdom located in the central VIETNAM which existed around 192 AD to 629 AD and one of the earliest recorded CHAMPA Kingdoms . It was also known as LYNYI . SAMBHUVARMAN was the son of King RUDRAVARMAN-I . In 595 AD , he sent tribute to the SUI Dynasty of CHINA . SUI Dynasty ( 581 AD to 618 AD ) was a short lived Imperial Dynasty of CHINA which unified the North and South Dynasties . When the tribute reached there , the SUI officials began to take a special interest in it as myth prevailed in the SUI Dynasty that CHAMPA was immensely rich area . In 605 AD , YANG CHIEN , the founder and the first Emperor of the SUI Dynasty of CHINA , ordered General LIU FANG to invade LAM AP. SAMBHUVARMAN’S army faced off against the CHINESE forces with many war elephants . At first they had some success , but troops of LIU FANG had dug ditches and covered them with twigs . The elephants were alarmed by the ditches and retreated . It caused disorder in the SAMBHUVARMAN’S army which was completely routed with immense slaughter . Within eight days LIU FANG’S army reached the capital TRA KIEU and pillaged the city . TRA KIEU was the first capital of city of the HINDU CHAMPA Kingdom then named as SIMHAPURA from 4th century to 8th century . The plunder of the city included about one thousand BUDDHIST books as well as gold tablets commemorating the reigns of eighteen CHAMPA Kings . After capturing LAM AP , the SUI King divided the country into three parts : 1. TY ANH ; 2. HAI AM ; and 3. TUONG LAM . Before coming back to CHINA , General LIU FANG cut a stone Inscription to commemorate his victory . But on the way back to CHINA , his army was hit by an outbreak of disease which killed a large number of his army including General LIU FANG . Now SAMBHUVARMAN reasserted his power . He sent an embassy to the SUI Emperor to acknowledge his fault . After the collapse of the SUI Empire , the CHAMPA Kingdom regained independence. It send a gift to the new TANG Empire’s ruler in 623 AD . At home front his contribution in reconstructing the ruined BHADRESVARA temple was total . Around 600 AD , he ordered the construction of MY SON BHADRESVARA temple . He reinstalled in it the God named as SHAMBHUBHUDRESHVARA . He also erected a stele to document the event and commemorate the God as the creator of the world and destroyer of sin causing happiness in the Kingdom of CHAMPA . The stele also applauded the King himself . He died in 629 AD . He was succeeded by his son KANDARPADHARMA who was short-lived and died in 630-31 AD . Some sources said he died in 640 AD . Anyway , he was succeeded by his son PRABHASADHARMA but his rule ended in 645 when he was assassinated by his minister .

RUINS OF MY SON

KING VIKRANTAVARMAN-I OF CHAMPA

VIKRANTAVARMAN-I ( 653 AD TO 686 AD ) was a King of CHAMPA from the GANGARAJA Dynasty . His original name was PRAKASADHARMA but he took appellation VIKRANTAVARMAN when he was crowned in 653 AD . He was the son of Prince JAGADDHARMA , the grandson of KANDARPADHARMA , and Princess SARVAPI , the daughter of King ISANAVARMAN I . He had thorough knowledge of the SANSKRIT Language , SANSKRIT Literatures and INDIAN Cosmology . He sent numerous embassies to the Court of Emperor GAOZONG OF TONG in the years 653 AD , 654 AD , 669 AD and 670 AD respectively . He had also expanded the CHAMPA Kingdom to the south . He carried a series of military campaigns against other chiefdoms in the south thus uniting the entire areas under the Kingdom of CHAMPA . In view of the Inscriptions of CHAMPA , edited , translated and compiled by different scholars including R.C. MAJUMDAR states , ‘ The illustrious conqueror , King of CHAMPA , of great wisdom , called SRI PRAKASADHARMA , had established Amaresa , the great ………’. VIKRANTAVARMAN , for the first time , tightened the administrative machineries of CHAMPA . He introduced and implemented the territorial division unit of VISAYA (DISTRICT) for the first time . And there were at least two known VISAYA : 1. CAUM ; and 2. MIDIT . Sources state that he used to spend with some of his courtiers as vacational times in the city of VISNUPURA (PRESENTLY QUANG TRI) . And VASHANAVISM (A CULT OF HINDUISM) could only be found in VISNUPURA (QUANG TRI) . During his reign , numerous temples had been built in MY SON . Most of the temples were dedicated to LORD SHIVA. Many pedestals or kosas were erected for his devotion to LORD SHIVA AND LORD VISHNU as such . However , he named his beloved deity KANDARPAPURESVARA after the name of his great grand father, King KANDARPADHARMA . As we have seen above that King VIKRANTAVARMAN-I sent numerous embassies to the Court of the then CHINESE Emperor , the NEW BOOK OF TANG had recorded the name of the King of LAM AP as ZHU GHEDE or BOJIASHEBAMO .

STELE AT TEMPLE OF MY SON (657AD)

KING VIKRANTAVARMAN-II OF CHAMPA

VIKRANTAVARMAN-II was the seventh king of the fourth Dynasty of CHAMPA . He reigned from 686 AD to 741 AD . He was the son of VIKRANTAVARMAN-I . According to the CHINESE annals of the NEW BOOK OF TANG , he was identified as JIANDUODAMO . He was venerated as LION AMONG KINGS in his KOSA (THERE ARE FIVE KOSA AS PER VEDANTIC PHILOSOPHY , A SHEATH COVERING THE ATMA OR SELF ) for the LINGAM of VAMESVARA of MY SON . An Inscription on a stele dated 9th May 687 in MY SON is attributed to his coronation . Similarly , on the same day he was supposed to have also installed a sheath and a crown of two of his beloved God called ISANESVARA and BHADRESVARA , manifested in the Earth in the form of LINGAS . A historian like R.C. MAJUMDAR , in his book CHAMPA : HISTORY AND CULTURE OF AN INDIAN COLONIAL KINGDOM IN THE FAR EAST , 2nd to 16th CENTURY AD , BOOK-III , ( GYAN PUBLISHING HOUSE ) had vividly described about the King called VIKRANTAVARMAN -II , as initially historians thought that there was a single King VIKRANTAVARMAN who ruled over CHAMPA from 658 AD to 741 AD . But it appears virtually impossible to rule for such a span of time of 83 years for a single King . The existence of two Kings named as VIKRANTAVARMAN was also found in the CHINESE documents/annals which confirms that the King VIKRANTAVARMAN-I had passed away in 686 AD and he was succeeded by a son namesake VIKRANTAVARMAN-II .

THE STELE OF VIKRANTAVARMAN-II IN MY SON , DATED 19th MAY 687 AD

NOTE : THE SOURCES OF THE BLOG ARE TEXT BOOKS AND OTHER WRITTEN MATERIALS ON THE SUBJECT .

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