Chams

The Chams were the people of Champa, a Hinduized kingdom that endured from approximately the second century A.D. until its conquest by Annam in 1471, stretching at its maximum extent some five hundred miles along the Indochinese coast from Porte d’Annam (18°N) to Phan Thiet (11°N) [1, p. 45]. Their civilization arose from the blending of indigenous culture with the Saiva Hinduism of colonists from South India, and its extensive remains in southern Indochina stand as a monument to a past greatness now reduced to a declining remnant [2, p. 90]. The Chams are of closely allied race to the Malays, sharing a similar language and culture, and history brought the two peoples together through trade, royal alliance, war, and the common propagation of Islam [2, p. 90]. Following the fall of the Cham capital Vijaya in 1471, refugee communities established themselves in Indonesian states, most notably in Malacca, where they contributed to the racial and cultural admixture of the Malay population of the Peninsula [2, p. 90].

Scope and Historical Definition

The Kingdom of Champa is documented as having existed from approximately 192 to 1471 A.D., a period during which Maspero enumerates fourteen dynasties, most of which maintained tribute relations with China [1, p. 45]. The most comprehensive general history of the state is Georges Maspero’s Le Royaume de Champa (1928), while G. Coedes’ Les Etats Hindouises d’Indochine et d’Indonesie (1948) summarizes the history and refers to more recent discoveries [2, p. 90]. A convenient précis of Cham ethnology was provided by Dato Sir Roland Braddell in the JMBRAS for 1935, with a continuation of their early history in 1939 [2, p. 90].

The Cham language, as attested in its earliest inscriptions, belongs firmly within the Indonesian language family. C. O. Blagden estimated in 1902 that at least half the words in Cham are cognate with Malay, and noted a close similarity in the syntactical structure of both languages [2, p. 90]. Sir Richard Winstedt identified parallels between the popular literature of Cham and Malay, quoting a Cham fable on the Hare’s Cunning that closely resembles the Malay tale of How Mousedeer cheated Tiger over Solomon’s Gong, and a catena of Cham clock sayings that nearly reproduces the Malay verses “Bangau, bangau, kenapa kau kurus?” [2, p. 90].

The later divergence of Cham from the Indonesian family was driven primarily by Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer contact. Marrison’s 1975 study of Cham epigraphic texts from the fourth to the late tenth century A.D. demonstrated that the early Cham language was closely affiliated with Malay in phonology, vocabulary, and syntax, and that the subsequent differentiation was a gradual process of phonological erosion and lexical replacement [3]. A recurring observation in these early texts is the forward shift of word accent to the final syllable, a consequent drift toward monosyllabism, and a morphological system that employs prefixes and infixes but rejects suffixation altogether—a pattern that aligns Cham with Mon-Khmer rather than with the Indonesian languages [3].

The Cham Episode in the Sejarah Melayu

The principal reference to the Chams in Malay literature is an episode of the Sejarah Melayu which gives a résumé of Cham traditional history, leading up to the arrival in Malacca of a refugee Cham prince named Indera Berma Shah [2, p. 91]. The first part of the reference is legendary and agrees to some extent with the Cham Royal Chronicles translated by E. Aymonier, though these have not altogether been reconciled with the more generally accepted history of Champa as reconstructed from archaeological and other sources [2, p. 91]. The story of Indera Berma Shah, however, seems quite probable: in Winstedt’s edition of the Sejarah Melayu, the arrival of this prince is the last recorded incident in the reign of Sultan Mansur Shah, who died in 1477, placing the event within a chronologically plausible window following the fall of Vijaya in 1471 [2, p. 91].

The narrative recounts that after the Annamese conquest, two of the king’s sons escaped to sea: Shah Palembang reached Aceh, while Indera Berma Shah sailed to Malacca, where the Sultan received them and caused them all to become Muslims [2, p. 93]. Sultan Mansur Shah made Indera Berma Shah a mantri (minister), and the community in Malacca is stated to be descended from the prince and his retinue [2, p. 93]. The presence of Chams in Malacca is independently confirmed by Tomé Pires, writing in 1512, who states that there was one magistrate, or shahbandar (harbour master), in charge of the Chinese, Formosan, and Cham communities there, and mentions Champa in a list of places that had carried on trade with Malacca [2, p. 91].

The Ming chronicles provide further corroboration of close political ties between Champa and Malacca during the sultanate period. In 1474, the Chinese censor Ch’en Chun went to Champa with an imperial commission to invest the king there, but finding the country occupied by Annamese soldiers, he diverted to Malacca with his goods and ordered its king to send tribute [2, p. 97]. In 1481, Malaccan envoys reported that their country’s envoys, returning from China in 1469, had been driven by a storm on the coast of Annam, where many were killed, the rest made slaves, and the younger ones castrated; they also reported that the Annamese now occupied Champa and wanted to conquer Malacca too [2, p. 97]. The Ming court subsequently instructed Malacca to raise soldiers and resist Annamese aggression whenever attacked [2, p. 97]. Marrison suggests that the prince Indera Berma Shah may have been the heir apparent to the Cham throne, and that the motive of the diversion of the Chinese embassy of 1474 to Malacca was to seek the crown prince there, while the Malays’ having given him refuge may have been used by Annam as a casus belli against Malacca [2, p. 97].

Linguistic and Literary Heritage

The Cham epigraphic record covers the period from the seventh to the thirteenth century A.D., a span for which no direct Malay textual evidence survives, making it coeval with Old and Early Middle Javanese [3]. The undated Dong-yen-chau inscription, attributed to the late fourth century A.D. on palaeographic grounds, is the oldest surviving example of an Indonesian language, with more than half its words directly cognate with Malay [3]. The Sixth Dynasty inscriptions span 875 to 991 A.D. and include temple dedications, field-endowment lists, royal curses, and military narratives [3]. The Nhan Bieu stele of 911 A.D. enumerates ricefields of the temple of Devalingesvara at Kumuvvel with areas measured in galauk and yields in jak [3]. The Po Klaung Garai inscription of 972 A.D. records the military recovery of Panduranga after a local revolt, providing a narrative text in which words such as luvang vatuv correspond directly to Malay lobang batu (‘holes in the rocks’) [3]. The Cham word asuv (‘dog’) preserves the Common Indonesian form asu, which is taboo in Malay and has been replaced by anjing, surviving only in the compound gigi asu (‘canine tooth’) [3].

The Cham literary tradition, though fragmentary and dispersed, is more extensive and significant for Indonesian comparative studies than previously recognized [1]. Marrison’s 1985 survey, organized around the major classes of text attested in the manuscript collections, identifies five classical verse romances, historical legends associated with deified kings, folk tales, ethical and didactic works, Hindu ritual and cosmological texts, and Islamic writings of both the syncretistic Cam Bani and the orthodox Cam Baruv [1]. The Book of Nosiravan, the principal Cham cosmogony, attributes its authority to the Persian king Khosroes and names the supreme deity Po Yang Po, from whom emanate Po Allah and Po Ratna—a fusion that Durand compared to the Javanese Manik Maya [1]. The Cham Ramayana (Pram Dit Pram Lak) shows the hero and his companion as friends rather than brothers, and the title appears to be an adaptation from Khmer, suggesting the story reached the Chams through Cambodian dance-drama rather than through a direct Sanskrit or Malay literary channel [1].

A recurring thread in Cham culture is the syncretistic blending of Hindu, Islamic, and indigenous animistic elements [1]. Durand recorded the Cam Bani in eighteen villages, constituting about a third of the Cham population of southern Annam; they observe only four of the five daily prayers, keep Ramadhan for three days only, and bury rather than cremate their dead [1]. Two eleventh-century Arabic tombstones with Fatimite characteristics were found in the vicinity of Panduranga, one bearing a date equivalent to A.D. 1039, supporting the hypothesis of early Ismaili settlement [1]. The Cham Royal Chronicles reckon 39 rulers “from Adam to the present day” reigning a total of 833 years, the text ending with Minh Menh’s intervention in 1834; the name Po Ovlvah (corresponding to Allah) is interpreted as reflecting the advent of Islam into Champa in the eleventh century [1].

Economic Relations and Cultural Legacy

Champa carried on trade with Malacca, and Tomé Pires gives details of the exports: the chief merchandise was kelembak, that is the scented kayu gaharu or agarwood; Champa also sent dried salt fish, rice, gold, and some pepper [2, pp. 97–98]. Champa was noted for its cloth; according to Pires, it was mostly sold in Siam and Cochin China, but it is also well known in Malaya as “kain champa,” a kind of flowered silk [2, p. 98]. Champa also had trade with Sumatra, importing gold from Menangkabau [2, p. 97].

The effects of the overthrow of Champa by Annam, and of Malacca’s concern in this event, are reflected in the observations of the Chinese chronicler, who records the diplomatic tensions between the three powers in the period immediately following the fall of Vijaya [2, p. 97]. The Chams in Malacca can never have been very numerous: the Sejarah Melayu implies that the community was descended from the prince and his retinue, and Tomé Pires indicates that one magistrate was sufficient to supervise the Chinese, Formosans, and Chams together [2, p. 97].

The legend of the prince born from an areca palm in the Sejarah Melayu is an allusion to a well-known Cham legend. The Cham prince Thang (Vishnu-Madhava- or Deva-murti), according to an inscription in Mi-Son, was descended through his father from the coconut palm (narikela-vamca) and through his mother from the areca (kramuka-vamca), and was proclaimed king in 1074 under the name of Harivarman IV [2, p. 95]. The associated cattle taboo in the Malay account aligns with the Siva-worship cult of Po Klaung Garai, who is identified with the “Po Gelang” of the Malay Annals; he founded the Champa irrigation system at Panduranga and was deified, with Jayasimhavarman III erecting a temple to him there in 1307 [2, p. 95].

In 1834, the Annamese emperor Minh Menh issued an edict making Panduranga an Annamese province and decreeing that the Cham people adopt Annamese language, names, clothing, and customs; the Cham reaction produced a body of verse celebrating revolts and an abiding hatred of this emperor [1, p. 54].

Research and Documentation

The investigation of the Chams in the Society’s literature reveals a progression from passing references to sustained scholarly engagement. C. O. Blagden’s 1902 article on the linguistic affinities of Cham and Malay in the JSBRAS established the foundational comparative work, estimating that at least half the words in Cham are cognate with Malay [2, p. 90]. Sir Richard Winstedt’s 1917 article on the folk tales of Indonesia and Indochina extended this to popular literary parallels [2, p. 90]. A. Cabaton’s studies in the Revue du Monde Musulman (1906–1907) addressed the propagation of Islam among both the Cham and Malay peoples, a connection Marrison identified as specially significant in the fifteenth century [2, p. 90].

Marrison’s 1951 article filled a gap he himself identified: the Cham episode in the Malay Annals had been largely ignored by historians of both Malaya and Indochina since Blagden’s passing reference to the fall of the Cham capital [2, p. 92]. His translation and analysis of the Sejarah Melayu episode, cross-referenced with Cham, Chinese, and Portuguese sources, represented the first sustained attempt to reconstruct the political and cultural ties between the two peoples during the Malacca Sultanate [2, p. 90].

The 1975 article shifted the focus from the modern Cham language to the epigraphic record, extending the comparative work of Niemann (1891), Blagden (1902), and Blood (1963) by isolating the language before the full impact of Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer contact [3]. This approach allowed Marrison to demonstrate that the early Cham language belonged firmly within the Indonesian family, with the later divergence being a product of external linguistic pressure rather than inherent separation [3].

The 1985 survey represented the most comprehensive English-language treatment of Cham literary traditions to date, synthesizing French scholarship (Aymonier, Cabaton, Durand, Mus, Claeys) with the more recent contributions of Cham scholars working from the Cham Cultural Centre at Panduranga (Po Dharma, Moussay, Naravija) [1]. A notable historiographical contribution was the partial rehabilitation of the Cham Royal Chronicles as historical sources, following the work of Lafont and Po Dharma, who demonstrated that these texts, long dismissed by historians, have a real relationship to the last stages of Cham rule, though difficulties remain in matching names and dates [1]. The Lafont catalogue (1977) of Cham manuscript collections in five Paris libraries, supplemented by Manguin’s annotated bibliography in Kerajaan Campa (1981) containing approximately 250 titles, provides the principal tool for identifying and classifying the surviving textual heritage [1].

MBRAS Sources

• G.E. Marrison (1951). The Chams of Malacca. JMBRAS 24: 90–98
• G.E. Marrison (1975). The early Cham language, and its relationship to Malay. JMBRAS 48(2): 52–59
• G.E. Marrison (1985). The Chams and their literature. JMBRAS 58(2): 45–70

References

1. G.E. Marrison (1985). The Chams and their literature JMBRAS 58(2): 45–70.
2. G.E. Marrison (1951). The Chams of Malacca JMBRAS 24(1): 90–98.
3. G.E. Marrison (1975). The early Cham language, and its relationship to Malay JMBRAS 48(2): 52–59.