09-30-2006, 04:16 AM
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EAST OF INDIA Siva, Indochina and the geopolitics of peace
Amitav AcharyaPosted online: Friday, September 29, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print EmailThe history of Champa offers up lessons for a world where religious and political ideas are spread through violence
AMITAV ACHARYA
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Vietnam Airlines Flight 267 descended towards the airport over Cam Ranh Bay, a geopolitical relic of the Cold War where the Soviet Union built a major base for its Pacific Fleet. I, however, was flying into the area not to investigate Cold War history but in search of Siva and the relics of the ancient kingdom of Champa that flourished under his divine patronage.
Champa, which existed from the 2nd century to 15th century on the southern coast of todayâs Vietnam, was an enterprising nation on the sea trade route between China and India. In 1471, it was defeated and absorbed by the Dai Viet, Vietnamâs majority ethnic group.
Champa was an Indianised kingdom but not an Indian colony. Indian traders visited in large numbers and Brahmans found profitable employment in the royal courts. But the people of Champa were Austronesians who arrived from the sea and spoke a Malay-Polynesian dialect.
The court language of Champa was indisputably Sanskrit, as numerous inscriptions found in the area attest. The people of Champa borrowed heavily from Indian language religion, art, and the system of law and government. Indian ideas arrived peacefully, not through conquest. Brahmanism had a huge following among the people. Although Buddhism at times found patronage in Champa and its rulers also worshipped Visnnu and Brahma, and Indra, Siva was the presiding deity of Champa courts.
The first ruler of Champa to have assumed a Sanskrit name was King Bhadravarman, who built a temple in My Son in central Vietnam dedicated to the god Bhadresvara. His successor, who rebuilt the temple after it was destroyed by a Javanese raid, posthumously assumed the name of Sambhuvarmana. Sivaâs power and protection became Champaâs chief political ideology; its rulers claimed legitimacy by closely identifying with Siva.
A visit to the Cham towers in the southern coastal areas of Vietnam and the museums housing Champa artefacts attest to this. Made of brick, the Cham towers are not as imposing as the temple complexes of Angkor or Pagan. But they have a distinctive beauty and represent a high point of artistic achievement. The towers served as temple-mausoleums of Champaâs rulers. This is where the kings deified themselves as Siva, sometimes posthumously. The outer walls are decorated with images of Siva and Uma; inside are lingams, yonis and Nandis.
The 8th century vintage Po Nagar Cham Tower in Nha Trang (old name Kauthara) is named after the goddess Yang Ino Po Nagar, a Cham deity identified with the Hindu goddess Bhagawati). It has a richly decorated lingam, while the image of a dancing Uma adorns the entrance to the main shrine (known as kalan). At the Po Kloong Garai Tower in Phan Rang (formerly Panduranga), a bust of King Kloong Garai, with a clearly Malay-Polynesian face, is attached to a lingam which is placed within a yoni. At Po Rome, one of the last towers to be built before Champa disappeared, sits a stone relief of King Po Rome with eight arms, six of which hold objects symbolising his divinity.
As Champa civilisation waned under continuous pressure from the Dai Viet in the north and the Khmers to the west, so did lavishness of the Cham Towers.
Why did Champa fall? Although often at the receiving end of the expansionist policies of their larger and far more populous Dai Viet and Khmers, the Chams were not shy of instigating conflict. A Champa ruler sacked Angkor , the Khmer city, in 1177 AD, while another almost conquered Dai Viet in the 15th century. But these provocations cost Champa dearly, as it ultimately fell to Khmer and Dai Viet counter-attacks.
What was Sivaâs role in Champaâs rise and fall? The cult of Siva, along with Indian ideas about statecraft, came to Champa through commerce rather than conquest. Once there, it helped a small number of seafaring people to survive and sometimes prosper for more than a thousand years and motivated them to produce magnificent monuments. Sivaâs patronage gave the rulers of Champa their domestic legitimacy. Did it make Champaâs rulers overconfident and lose the sense of their vulnerability vis-a-vis the more numerous and powerful Dai Viets and Khmers? This question is yet to be answered by historians. If it did, it is certainly a lesson for todayâs leaders who may be tempted to view external protection as a substitute for domestic frailties and geopolitical realities.
Although Champaâs rulers waged warfare against their neighbours, there is no evidence that these wars were fought mainly over religious motives or were justified in the name of religion. Unlike the Buddhist monarchs of Siam (Thailand) and Burma, wars between the Chams and the Khmers of Cambodia were certainly not over Sivaâs patronage, even though Siva is more associated than Buddha with physical power and protection. The essentially peaceful nature of Sivaâs geopolitics deserves to be highlighted in an era where nations and groups seem intent on spreading their religious or political ideas through the use of violence.
The writer is deputy director, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and a senior fellow, Asia-Pacific Foundation, Canada
editor@expressindia.com
EAST OF INDIA Siva, Indochina and the geopolitics of peace
Amitav AcharyaPosted online: Friday, September 29, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print EmailThe history of Champa offers up lessons for a world where religious and political ideas are spread through violence
AMITAV ACHARYA
Related Stories Hedging the Asia bet
Beirut to Bali: the echo the West doesnât want to hear
Vietnam Airlines Flight 267 descended towards the airport over Cam Ranh Bay, a geopolitical relic of the Cold War where the Soviet Union built a major base for its Pacific Fleet. I, however, was flying into the area not to investigate Cold War history but in search of Siva and the relics of the ancient kingdom of Champa that flourished under his divine patronage.
Champa, which existed from the 2nd century to 15th century on the southern coast of todayâs Vietnam, was an enterprising nation on the sea trade route between China and India. In 1471, it was defeated and absorbed by the Dai Viet, Vietnamâs majority ethnic group.
Champa was an Indianised kingdom but not an Indian colony. Indian traders visited in large numbers and Brahmans found profitable employment in the royal courts. But the people of Champa were Austronesians who arrived from the sea and spoke a Malay-Polynesian dialect.
The court language of Champa was indisputably Sanskrit, as numerous inscriptions found in the area attest. The people of Champa borrowed heavily from Indian language religion, art, and the system of law and government. Indian ideas arrived peacefully, not through conquest. Brahmanism had a huge following among the people. Although Buddhism at times found patronage in Champa and its rulers also worshipped Visnnu and Brahma, and Indra, Siva was the presiding deity of Champa courts.
The first ruler of Champa to have assumed a Sanskrit name was King Bhadravarman, who built a temple in My Son in central Vietnam dedicated to the god Bhadresvara. His successor, who rebuilt the temple after it was destroyed by a Javanese raid, posthumously assumed the name of Sambhuvarmana. Sivaâs power and protection became Champaâs chief political ideology; its rulers claimed legitimacy by closely identifying with Siva.
A visit to the Cham towers in the southern coastal areas of Vietnam and the museums housing Champa artefacts attest to this. Made of brick, the Cham towers are not as imposing as the temple complexes of Angkor or Pagan. But they have a distinctive beauty and represent a high point of artistic achievement. The towers served as temple-mausoleums of Champaâs rulers. This is where the kings deified themselves as Siva, sometimes posthumously. The outer walls are decorated with images of Siva and Uma; inside are lingams, yonis and Nandis.
The 8th century vintage Po Nagar Cham Tower in Nha Trang (old name Kauthara) is named after the goddess Yang Ino Po Nagar, a Cham deity identified with the Hindu goddess Bhagawati). It has a richly decorated lingam, while the image of a dancing Uma adorns the entrance to the main shrine (known as kalan). At the Po Kloong Garai Tower in Phan Rang (formerly Panduranga), a bust of King Kloong Garai, with a clearly Malay-Polynesian face, is attached to a lingam which is placed within a yoni. At Po Rome, one of the last towers to be built before Champa disappeared, sits a stone relief of King Po Rome with eight arms, six of which hold objects symbolising his divinity.
As Champa civilisation waned under continuous pressure from the Dai Viet in the north and the Khmers to the west, so did lavishness of the Cham Towers.
Why did Champa fall? Although often at the receiving end of the expansionist policies of their larger and far more populous Dai Viet and Khmers, the Chams were not shy of instigating conflict. A Champa ruler sacked Angkor , the Khmer city, in 1177 AD, while another almost conquered Dai Viet in the 15th century. But these provocations cost Champa dearly, as it ultimately fell to Khmer and Dai Viet counter-attacks.
What was Sivaâs role in Champaâs rise and fall? The cult of Siva, along with Indian ideas about statecraft, came to Champa through commerce rather than conquest. Once there, it helped a small number of seafaring people to survive and sometimes prosper for more than a thousand years and motivated them to produce magnificent monuments. Sivaâs patronage gave the rulers of Champa their domestic legitimacy. Did it make Champaâs rulers overconfident and lose the sense of their vulnerability vis-a-vis the more numerous and powerful Dai Viets and Khmers? This question is yet to be answered by historians. If it did, it is certainly a lesson for todayâs leaders who may be tempted to view external protection as a substitute for domestic frailties and geopolitical realities.
Although Champaâs rulers waged warfare against their neighbours, there is no evidence that these wars were fought mainly over religious motives or were justified in the name of religion. Unlike the Buddhist monarchs of Siam (Thailand) and Burma, wars between the Chams and the Khmers of Cambodia were certainly not over Sivaâs patronage, even though Siva is more associated than Buddha with physical power and protection. The essentially peaceful nature of Sivaâs geopolitics deserves to be highlighted in an era where nations and groups seem intent on spreading their religious or political ideas through the use of violence.
The writer is deputy director, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and a senior fellow, Asia-Pacific Foundation, Canada
editor@expressindia.com