Funan
Funan was an influential ancient kingdom in Southeast Asia, believed to have been founded in the first century CE by Kaundinya, who established his rule after marrying Liu-yeh, a local queen. This kingdom, primarily composed of Malay peoples, thrived along the Mekong River, particularly around present-day Phnom Penh, and became a significant power in the region. Funan is noted for its advanced irrigation systems that facilitated wet rice cultivation and for its artistic traditions that have endured through Cambodian culture. The kingdom experienced expansion and power consolidation, establishing alliances and conflicts with neighboring states, including the coastal kingdom of Champa. At its peak, Funan extended from southern Cambodia and Vietnam to much of the Malay Peninsula. However, by the sixth century, it faced challenges from the neighboring kingdom of Chenla, which eventually led to Funan's decline and annexation. The legacy of Funan can be seen in Cambodian traditions and its historical significance as a precursor to later states, including Angkor.
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Funan
Also known as: Kurung-bnam, “Kingdom of the Mountain”.
Date: first-sixth centuries c.e.
Locale: Present-day Cambodia
Funan
The reputed founder of the state of Funan (few-NAHN; the Chinese rendering of Bnam) was Kaundinya, who sailed up the Mekong River in the first century c.e., based on a dream. When he arrived at a place near modern Phnom Penh, Liu-yeh, the queen of the country, unsuccessfully tried to seize his ship. He then married her and founded a dynasty that ruled for nearly two centuries. The Funanese were Malay peoples.
One of Kaundinya’s grandsons decided to turn over the conduct of state affairs to Fan Shih-man, who built a fleet, attacked ten kingdoms, and established vassal states along the Mekong from Tonle Sap Lake to the Mekong Delta. Funan had walled cities containing palaces with engraved ornaments. By 270 c.e., Funan allied with Champa, the coastal state to the east, to attack the Chinese-controlled Tonkin state in the north, but the two attacking states later became rivals.
Funan went on to become the first great power in mainland Southeast Asia, having established many artistic traditions that persist to the present and vast irrigation works that enabled cultivation of wet rice as the kingdom expanded. Among the Funanese traditions that are typically Cambodian are the sampot, the piece of cloth wrapped around the waist, and the legends of the Naga princess and the sacred mountain. The canals, which extended for more than 124 miles (200 kilometers), permitted seagoing ships to pass along the Mekong to the Gulf of Siam. During its apogee, Funan occupied the territory from what is now southern Cambodia and Vietnam to most of the Malay peninsula. One of the Funan’s vassal states to the north was Chenla, which occupied what is now northern Cambodia and southern Laos.
In the middle of the sixth century c.e., Bhavavarman, the king of Chenla, rebelled against its vassal status, conquered the capital of Funan, and assumed dominance in the region through constant warfare. Funan then moved the capital south, while Bhavavarman’s successors continued conquests, seeking to subdue the rest of what is now known as Laos.
The two kingdoms of Chenla and Funan coexisted until 627 c.e., when King Isanavarman of Chenla annexed Funan. The kingdom of Angkor, in turn, absorbed Chenla in 802 c.e., but in 877 c.e., the ruler of Angkor chose as his queen a member of the royal line of both the Funan and Chenla kingdoms. Accordingly, Angkor, the precursor to the present state of Cambodia, may be said to have superseded both Chenla and Funan.
Bibliography
Beri, K. K. History and Culture of South-East Asia: Ancient and Medieval. New Delhi, India: Sterling, 1994.
Briggs, Lawrence Palmer. The Ancient Khmer Empire. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1951.
Hall, D. G. E. A History of South-East Asia. 3d ed. London: Macmillan, 1968.