Introduction
The article narrates the earliest history of the Austronesian Cham people and how and when they migrated to where they live today.Homeland
The Chamic people is a branch of the Austronesian people; the homeland of the Cham was in central Vietnam where their ethnic group first formed.
Original homeland
Proto-Cham originated from southwestern Borneo where they are the natives; they migrated to coastal area of mainland South East Asia around 2000 years ago. |
| Migration path |
However, the natives of central and southern Vietnam are the Austro-Asiatic people specifically Katuic and Bahnaric people (Refer to origin of Austro-Asiatic people in this blog).
The ancient culture such as Sa Huỳnh culture in this region was probably made by the natives which ended around the same time as the arrival of the Cham; however, there is no agreement on this among the scholars.
Cham kingdom
The Cham kingdom of Champa was established in 192 AD; its older name recorded in the Han dynasty history text was Lam Ap (林邑). It stretched between present-day Quang Binh province to Phan Rang aka Panduranga.
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| Champa in 10th century AD |
Cham languages
The first Cham writing found near Indrapura was based on South Indian Brahmi script. The inscription was dated to around mid 4th century AD. The Cham people were originally Hindus as evidenced by the various temples in central Vietnam.
Most of them converted to Islam between 1607 AD and 1676 AD and started to use the Arabic script whereas some Cham people in Vietnam still use the South Indian script.
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| Cham Brahmi script |
Waves of Cham refugees
There were four major waves of refugees when the Vietnamese started annexing Champa territories.The Vietnamese started taking over its northern capital of Indrapura (Da Nang) in 982 AD. The first wave of refugees were these Cham merchants who fled by boat to southern Hainan whereas the rest fled south to form another capital in Vijaya.
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| Waves of Cham refugees |
The second wave of refugees escaped to the highlands of central Vietnam and also far away Aceh in Sumatra. Prince Syah Pau Ling and his followers went to Aceh by following the bustling Malacca sea trade route after the fall of Vijaya.
The remaining southernmost Cham cities such as Panduranga were completely absorbed into Vietnam by 1835 AD by emperor Minh Mang of Nguyen dynasty.
The third wave of Cham refugees escaped from southern Cham cities in Cambodia in the years 1692, 1796 and 1835 AD.
The fourth wave of refugees occurred during 1975-1982 AD when the communists took over Cambodia and Vietnam.
The remaining southernmost Cham cities such as Panduranga were completely absorbed into Vietnam by 1835 AD by emperor Minh Mang of Nguyen dynasty.
The third wave of Cham refugees escaped from southern Cham cities in Cambodia in the years 1692, 1796 and 1835 AD.
The fourth wave of refugees occurred during 1975-1982 AD when the communists took over Cambodia and Vietnam.
Malaysia accepted them to stay as permanent residents on the reasons of them belonging to the same religion and same ethnicity; they came overland via Thailand and not by boats that were taken by the Vietnamese Kinh and Hoa.
The Roglai and Utsul came from Hue in northern Champa. The Utsul in Yanglan town in Sanya speak Tsat language but borrowed some Hlai and Chinese loanwords.
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2022/03/ethnic-origin-of-malay.html
Chamic subgroups
The subgroups of Chamic people are
- Northern: Utsul aka Hainan Cham, Roglai, Chru
- Central: Jarai, Rade/Ede, Aceh
- Southern: Phan-Rang/Panduranga Cham, Cambodian Cham, Haroi
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| Chamic subgroups |
The Jarai and Rade moved to the highlands either after warfare with other Chamic subgroups between 1000 and 1300 AD or they were the Cham who escaped into the highlands after the fall of Vijaya.
The Haroi moved to the highlands in the 1600s when the Vietnamese moved into the southernmost coastal Cham cities. The Cambodian Cham live mainly in Kampong Cham and also migrated from the southern Cham cities such as Panduranga.
Closest ethnic relative
Their closest ethnic relatives are the Malayic people who live mostly in Sumatra and West Malaysia. |
| Malay cultural dance |
Conclusion
The Cham are not the natives of central Vietnam as they came from Borneo island where they share their original homeland with Malayic people. The real natives are the Austro-Asiatic people such as the Katuic and Bahnaric people.They established an ancient Austronesian kingdom in mainland Southeast Asia which was gradually annexed by the Vietnamese.
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| Cham in Vietnam |
Related links
Ethnic origin of Malayhttp://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2022/03/ethnic-origin-of-malay.html
Sources
- From Ancient Cham to Modern Dialects: Two Thousand Years of Language Contact and Change. By Graham Thurgood.
- From Ancient Cham to Modern Dialects. By Graham Thurgood.
- The Acehnese: genetic affiliations, diversity, and absorption. By Graham Thurgood.
- The Cham arrivals in Malaysia: Distant memories and Rekindled links. By Danny Wong Tze Ken.
- Sociocultural influences on linguistic geography: Religion and language in Southeast Asia. By Johannes Gutenberg
- Revisiting the expansion of the Chamic language family. By Marc Brunelle, Université d’Ottawa.
- The Mon-Khmer substrate in Chamic: Chamic, Bahnaric & Katuic contact. By Paul Sidwell. http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/sidwell2002mon-khmer.pdf
- Dating the separation of Acehnese and Chamic by etymological analysis of the Aceh-Chamic lexicon. By Paul Sidwell. http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/sidwell2006dating.pdf
- Supplementary Warp Patterned Textiles of the Cham in Vietnam. By Michael C. Howard.
- https://kknews.cc/history/j6qaqy.html
Very nice research!
ReplyDeleteThere are more than 100 articles in this blog covering the unbiased origin of many ethnic groups. There is also a companion EastAsia Origin channel on Youtube for those who want a visual experience.
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