In the 2nd
century of Christian reckoning, the kingdom of Champa establishes
itself in the area modern-day
Danang. It is founded by
the people of the Chams, who are ethnically not related to the
Vietnamese but probably have immigrated from an area today belonging
to
Indonesia. While the kingdom of Funan to the South of
Champa was hardly influenced by China, the kingdom of Champa,
during the 1,600 years of its history, repeatedly suffers
Chinese
overlordship.
Apart from
that, Champa has to balance between two immediate neighbours stronger
in numbers of population and in military terms: Vietnam to
the North and the realm of the Khmer (Cambodians) to the
South. Like Funan, the kingdom of Champa principally is a seafaring
merchant power ruling over only a small land area.
In 1471
the armies of the Vietnamese Le Dynasty conquer the
kingdom of Champa. About 60,000 Champa soldiers are slain, another
60,000 are abducted into Vietnamese slavery. The kingdom of Champa
is reduced to a small area around the present-day Vietnamese city
of Nha Trang.
When in 1720
a new attack by Vietnamese armies threatens the kingdom of
Champa, the entire nation of the Cham emigrates to the Southwest,
into an area north of lake Tonle Sap in present-day Cambodia.
During the
Cambodian Khmer Rouge reign of terror from 1975
to 1979, some 100,000 of 250,000 Chams die or are killed.
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