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Indrapura (Champa)

Coordinates: 15°40′01″N 108°22′59″E / 15.66694°N 108.38306°E / 15.66694; 108.38306
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Indrapura
ឦន្ទ្រពុរ
The ruins of Đồng Dương Monastery
TypeFormer capital of Champa
LocationQuảng Nam province, Central Vietnam
Coordinates15°40′01″N 108°22′59″E / 15.66694°N 108.38306°E / 15.66694; 108.38306
Founded875
FounderIndravarman II
Đồng Dương before its destruction during the Vietnam War

Indrapura was the capital city of the kingdom of Champa from 875 AD until 982,[1] or until 12th century AD,[2] for several decades,[3][4] under the reign of Indravarman I (877-890) and some of his followers belonging to the 6th dynasty in Dong Duong.[5] The word Indrapura means "City of Indra" in Sanskrit, Indra being the Hindu God of Storm and War, and King of the Gods in the Rig Veda.

Name archetype

Indrapura (nowadays Đồng Dương) was transcribed in both Chinese and Vietnamese sources as Fóshì/Phật Thệ (Chinese: 佛逝) or Fóshìchéng (Chinese: 佛逝城, lit. 'the City of Indra' or 'the city of Buddha').[6] Previous generations of French scholarships mistakenly attributed Fóshì to Vijaya (Chinese: 尸唎皮奈; pinyin: Shīlì Pínài; Vietnamese: Thị Lợi Bi Nai; alternate: Chà Bàn).[7]

History

King Vikrantavarman III of Champa installed his government in Virapura (Phan Rang, Ninh Thuận province). Being heirless, then he had to choose one of the sons of the royal family from the northern tribe to succeed to the throne. The new king (Indravarman II) decided to move the capital to the north where is Indrapura.

Influence of Mahayana Buddhism

Sculpture of Cham monks, c. 10th century, Dong Duong style. Museum of Cham Sculpture, Danang.

This era also remarked the rise of Mahayana Buddhism into Champa kingdom from religious life and society. Buddhism was technically the official religion of the country as well as royal court. The king of Champa Indravarman II in 875 initiated the construction the large Buddhist monastery in Indrapura which was recorded as the largest monastery of Southeast Asia at that time. His successor Jaya Simhavarman I and latters ordered more Buddhist projects in Indrapura and throughout the Cham kingdom, for examples a temple named vihara Pramuditalokeśvara in Quảng Nam was built in 902 in dedicating to Avalokiteśvara, and in 911 another large Mahayana monastery was built Quảng Trị by Rajadvara, a Cham nobleman known for serving several kings and having undertaken two diplomatic missions to Java, which was also ruled by Mahayana Shailendras. A Buddhist shrine was built at Kon Klor, Kon Tum, Central Highlands in 914 as well.

Buddhist temples extended far north as Quảng Bình and across northern Champa. That may be the reason why during the 13th century Vietnamese king Trần Nhân Tông, a Buddhist devotee, spent nine months for his trip in Champa, undoubtedly for visiting holy Buddhist sites there.[8]

From 875 to 982, Champa also maintained the relation with Khmer empire and Java that had some influences on the architecture of Cham

End and destruction

The rising of the two neighbors Đại Cồ Việt in the north and Khmer empire in the West were the threat to the national security. The war between Champa and Khmer empire in 945 and Đại Cồ Việt under Early Lê dynasty in 979 that led to the weakening of the country. In 982, King of the Dai Viet, Lê Hoàn, led the armies and destroy a city in Northern Champa (Quảng Bình) in Cham–Vietnamese War (982) and killed the Cham king Paramesvaravarman. The Cham successor (perhaps a minor local king), retreated 700 li (300 km/186 miles) to the city of Indrapura (Fóshì).[9]

In 988, a king of Foshi, Yángtuópái (楊陀排 or Ju-shi-li-he-shen-pai-ma-luo) sent an envoy to the Song dynasty. The History of the Song dynasty (Song Shi) reports a Cham envoy in 1007 saying that "my country was formerly subject to Jiaozhou, then we fled to Foshi, 700 li south of our former location." The Vietnamese chronicle Khâm định Việt sử Thông giám cương mục relates that former Huế was Foshi territory, or had been belonged to the Principality of Indrapura. There was no proof that yāï po ku vijaya śrī Harivarman (r. 989–997), who was elected by the Cham to overthrow Lưu Kế Tông, had ever moved the capital south to Bình Ðịnh.[10] These historical accounts could be seen as evidence for a Vietnamese attack in 982, not on Indrapura, but a city ruled by a minor king from the same Indrapura dynasty in modern-day Quảng Bình. Early academic misinterpretation had failed to recognize the fact that 'Foshi' in both Chinese and Vietnamese sources was indeed Indrapura, not Vijaya, led to a long-lasted problematic confusion.[11]

There's no further elaborate evidence that Indrapura had been completely abandoned by the Cham before 1471. At least its status might have downgraded from being the major principality of mandala Champa during the ninth to tenth centuries, to a minor one. During the Vietnam War, Dong Duong/Indrapura was severely damaged and leveled down to ruins by US B52 aircraft carpet-bombs because it was used by the Vietcong as hideout place.

Now

The site is near the present-day village of Đồng Dương, Bình Định Bắc commune, Thăng Bình District of Quảng Nam province. Unlike his predecessors, Indravarman II was a Mahayana Buddhist, so he built a great Buddhist monastery. The ruins was mostly destroyed by Vietnam War bombings and nowadays even by looting of bricks.[12]

The Museum of Cham Sculpture ("Bao Tang Cham") at Da Nang, founded in 1915 by the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), has a valuable collection of Cham sculptures, which were retrieved from Đông Dương as well as from other archaeological sites, such as Mỹ Sơn and Tra Kieu.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella (ed.). The Indianized States of south-east Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.
  2. ^ Vickery, Michael Theodore (2005). Champa revised. University of London. p. 56.
  3. ^ O'Reilly, 2006 p.139
  4. ^ Maspero, Georges (2002). The Champa Kingdom. White Lotus Co., Ltd. pp. 72, 93. ISBN 978-9-747-53499-3.
  5. ^ Maspero, Georges (2002). The Champa Kingdom. White Lotus Co., Ltd. p. 53. ISBN 978-9-747-53499-3.
  6. ^ Vickery, Michael Theodore (2005). Champa revised. Asia Research Institute, Singapore. p. 37.
  7. ^ Vickery, Michael Theodore (2005). Champa revised. Asia Research Institute, Singapore. pp. 42–44.
  8. ^ Vickery, Michael Theodore (2005). Champa revised. Asia Research Institute, Singapore. p. 76.
  9. ^ Vickery, Michael Theodore (2005). Champa revised. Asia Research Institute, Singapore. p. 45.
  10. ^ Vickery, Michael Theodore (2005). Champa revised. Asia Research Institute, Singapore. p. 48.
  11. ^ Vickery, Michael Theodore (2005). Champa revised. Asia Research Institute, Singapore. p. 46.
  12. ^ The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

References

  • O'Reilly, Dougald J.W. (2006). Early Civilizations of south-east Asia. Altamira Press. ISBN 978-0-7591-0279-8.
  • Ngô Văn Doanh (2006). Chămpa ancient towers: reality & legend. Hanoi: The Gioi Publishers.
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