VIETNAM ( SERIES -9 )
KING RUDRAVARMAN-III OF CHAMPA
RUDRAVARMAN-III was the King of CHAMPA from 1062 AD to 1069/1074 AD . He was the grandson of King JAYA PARMESVARAVARMAN-I . His predecessor older brother BHAVAVARMAN-III , who ruled for a very brief time from 1060 AD to 1061 AD , transferred the crown to his younger brother RUDRAVARMAN-III , who at that time was in PHAN RANG . He was again a man of development who built many temples around PO NAGAR (NHA TRANG) . It is said that he sent delegations to the court of SONG DYNASTY in 1062 AD and 1068 AD respectively . He also sent delegations to DAI VIET in 1063 AD , 1065 AD and 1068 AD . GEORGES MASPERO in his book THE CHAMPA KINGDOM , published in 2002 by WHITE LOTUS CO. LTD. , has written that in late 1068 AD RUDRAVARMAN-III provoked war with the DAI VIET King LY THANH TONG which ultimately led to a VIETNAMESE raid on VIJAYA CHAMPA the next year . However , a historian like MICHAEL VICKERY is of the opinion that the incursion of DAI VIET in 1069 AD was not staged against King RUDRAVARMAN-III and the city of VIJAYA , but possibly against a local CHAM chief called CHE CU in AMARAVATI . The SONG HUIYAO JIGAO , a QING DYNASTY collection of SONG DYNASTY writings on SONG government , edited by XU SONG and others who extracted the Manuscripts in part from the MING DYNASTY YONGLE ENCYCLOPEDIA ( 1408 AD ) , described 1060 AD as , ‘CHAMPA and CAMBODIA ( ZHENLA ) , who are neighbors of JIAOZHI , have never been practiced in warfare . They frequently suffer from invasions and occupation . However , in recent times , CHAMPA has been developing its military defenses in order to guard against JIAOZHI .’ But surprisingly enough the 15th century VIETNAMESE chronicle DAI VIET SU KY TOAN THU claims that after the successful raid against CHAMPA in 1069 AD , RUDRAVARMAN-III became a Vassal of DAI VIET and paid annual tributes to the court of DAI VIET from 1071 AD to 1074 AD . But no historical sources are available to support this fact as such . However , it cannot be ruled out that after 1069 AD , CHAMPA might have suffered a violent civil war between elites of NHA TRANG and PHAN RANG which had crippled the MANDALA CHAMPA , making it vulnerable for foreign invasion as such . However , in 1074 AD , CHAM Prince HARIVARMAN-IV consolidated the power by defeating antagonistic factions of CHAMPA , thus , reunified CHAMPA .
KING HARIVARMAN-IV OF CHAMPA
HARIVARMAN-IV or Prince THANG was the ruling King of CHAMPA from 1074 AD to 1080 AD whose SANSKRIT name was VISHNUMURTI . His father was a noble belonging to the COCONUT CLAN ( NORTHERN TRIBES ) . And his mother was a member of the ARECA CLAN ( SOUTHERN TRIBES ) . He was born in QUANG NAM ( CHAMPA ) and died in 1081 AD in INDRAPURA . He was from HARIVARMANID DYNASTY . Since RUDRAVARMAN-III was a tyrant King , he estranged the NHA TRANG elites agitating a civil war between PHAN RANG and NHA TRANG aristocrats in 1069 AD . Then CHAMPA was passing through a turbulent period of chaos caused by the reign of King RUDRAVARMAN-III which left CHAMPA completely devastated . From the North two brothers called : 1. PRINCE THANG ; and 2. PRINCE PANG , who were descended from the COCONUT CLAN of Northern Tribes and ARECA CLAN of Southern Tribes triumphantly defeated all the warring factions and , thus , reunified CHAMPA . He set out rebuilding the Kingdom . He constructed a capital , restoring the citadel of TRALAUN SVON and streamlined the state welfare and happiness as such . He wanted to make CHAMPA a great power again . Therefore , he restored the old city of SIMHAPURA , the former capital of CHAMPA . He rebuilt many religious foundations in MY SON including the temple of BHADRESVARA . Not only that he reformed the fiscal system of CHAMPA . He also strengthened CHAMPA’S might and prosperity . HARIVARMAN-IV defeated a VIETNAMESE raid led by Chancellor LY THUONG KIET in 1074 AD . He refused to cooperate with the SONG DYNASTY and KHMER Empire in a joint campaign against DAI VIET in 1076 AD . Instead he preferred peace with DAI VIET .
KING HARIVARMAN-IV OF CHAMPA AND KING HARSHAVARMAN-III OF KHMER
KHMER King HARSHAVARMAN-III sent prince NANDAVARMADEV as a commander of a KHMER army to attack northern CHAMPA . They sacked cities and temples and looted many in MY SON . HARIVARMAN-IV routed the invaders in the battle of SOMESVARA . And Prince NANDAVARMADEV was captured alive as a war prisoners . In 1080 AD , HARIVARMAN-IV and his younger brother Prince PANG had counterattacked on CAMBODIA and they plundered the city of SAMBHUPURA located on the MEKONG RIVER . However , HARIVARMAN-IV stepped down from the crown in 1080 AD . He chose his nine year old son Prince VAK as heir. He was crowned as JAYA INDRAVARMAN-II . HARIVARMAN-IV was a staunch HINDU , a religious man . So , he entered esoteric religious life but he died in 1081 AD . And his funeral took place on a pyre according to the tradition of SATI in which his first-queen and second-rank queen were willingly burnt alive with him . SATI System was an ancient HINDU tradition in which wife willingly preferred to be burnt alive on the funeral pyre of his deceased husband . This yearlong evil in INDIA was eradicated by an Act of Parliament only recently in the year 1829 AD with the help of an INDIAN social reformer called RAJA RAMMOHUN ROY . Anyway , the new king JAYA INDRAVARMAN-II was a child , quite inexperienced . So , he didn’t know how to govern his subjects properly . That’s why he was deposed by his uncle and Chief Regent called Prince PANG who ruled from 1081 AD to 1086 AD as PARAMABHODHISATVA .
NOTE : THE SOURCES OF THE BLOG ARE TEXT BOOKS AND OTHER WRITTEN MATERIALS ON THE SUBJECT .
TO BE CONTINUED …………………
ARBIND KUMAR BLOG 
Such a treasure of historical information on Vietnam!
The photos are wonderful
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks !
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙏🙏🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person