Christopher Columbus in Champa

Christopher Columbus in Champa?
Dr UdayDokras
Historical Champa consisted of up to five principalities:
 Indrapura ("City of Indra", Foshi, Phậtthành/Phậtthệthành) was the capital of Champa

from about 875 to about 1100 AD. It was located at the site of the modern village of
ĐồngDương, near the modern city of Da Nang. Also found in the region of Da Nang is
the ancient Cham city of Singhapura ("City of the Lion"), the location of which has been
identified with an archaeological site in the modern village of TràKiệu, and the valley
of MỹSơn, where a number of ruined temples and towers can still be seen. The associated
port was at modern Hội An. The territory once controlled by this principality included
present-day QuảngBình, QuảngTrị, and ThừaThiên–Huế provinces.
 Amaravati was located in present-day ChâuSa citadel of QuảngNgãi Province. The
earliest mention of Amaravati is from an AD 1160 inscription at Po Nagar.
 Vijaya was located in present-day BìnhĐịnh Province (Tumpraukvijaya). Early mention

is made of Vijaya in an 1160 inscription at Po Nagar. The capital has been identified with
the archaeological site at Cha Ban. The associated port was at present-day Qui Nhơn.
Important excavations have also been conducted at nearby ThápMắm, which may have
been a religious and cultural centre. Vijaya became the political and cultural center of
Champa around 1150s. It remained the center of Champa until 1471, when it was sacked
by the Việt and the center of Champa was again displaced toward the south. [138] In its
time, the principality of Vijaya controlled much of present-day Quang Nam, Quang Ngai,
BìnhĐịnh, and PhúYên (AiaRu) Provinces.
 Kauthara was located in the area of modern NhaTrang (AiaTrang) in KhánhHòa
Province (Yanpunagara). Its religious and cultural center was the temple of Po Nagar,
several towers of which still stand at NhaTrang. Kauthara is first mentioned in an 784 AD
inscription at Po Nagar.
 Panduranga was located in the area of present-day Phan Rang–ThápChàm (Pan Rang)
in NinhThuận and BìnhThuận province. Panduranga with capital Parik, was the last of
the Cham territories to be annexed by the Vietnamese. It was the most autonomous,
sometimes independent, princedom/principality of Champa. Panduranga is first
mentioned in an 817 AD inscription at Po Nagar.
Within the four principalities were two main clans: the "Dừa" (means "coconut" in
Vietnamese) and the "Cau" (means "areca catechu" in Vietnamese). The Dừa lived in
Amravati and Vijaya, while the Cau lived in Kauthara and Panduranga. The two clans
differed in their customs and habits and conflicting interests led to many clashes and even
war. But they usually managed to settle disagreements through intermarriage.
Champa was a religiously tolerant kingdom, with many different faiths coexisted peacefully
or have merged with indigenous Cham beliefs. Religiously and culturally, the Chams were
grouped into two major religio-cultural groups; the BalamonChams (also called Cham Ahiér)
that adhere to an indigenized form of Islam and Hinduism. Another northern group inhabiting
around BìnhĐịnh and PhúYên provinces is the Cham Hroi (Haroi), who practice
Chamic animism. Under the previous Republic of Vietnam, they were considered a distinct
ethnic group. Since 1979, they have been reclassified by the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam government as a subgroup of the Cham.
1
Hinduism and Buddhism
Po Nagar/’ NinhThuận
Apsara with Saraswati (right)/Dancing Sivas, both from c. 10th century AD
The forgotten Hindus of Vietnam’s Champa Kingdom

The Cham Hindus of Vietnam are builders of cities named Indrapura, Simhapura, Amaravati,
Vijaya and Panduranga, these Hindu people and their culture continue to flourish to this day.
When we speak of the Champa people, it is not a trek through history; we are speaking of a
living culture with roots going back thousands of years.While today the Cham are Vietnam’s
only surviving Hindus, the nation once harbored some of the world’s most exquisite and
vibrant Hindu cultures. The entire region of Southeast Asia, in fact, was home to numerous
Hindu kingdoms. The many magnificient temples and artifacts, from Angkor Wat to
Prambana, remain as potent testimonials to their splendor and accomplishments. These grand
edifices still stand, though the societies around them no longer worship there or practice the
lost traditions.
Champa was a formidible Hindu kingdom, renowned for its immense wealth and
sophisticated culture. Its major port was Kattigara. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Claudius Ptolemy
wrote of Cattigara and outlined it on his map of the world. Modern scholarship has
confirmed Cattigara as the forerunner of Saigon (modern day Ho Chi Minh
City).Cattigara was, in fact, the main port at the mouth of the Mekong River, a name derived
from Mae Nam Khong, the Mother Water Ganga.
Another early Champa king was Bhadravarman, who ruled from 349-361CE. His capital was
the citadel of Simhapura or ‘Lion City,’ now called TraKieu. Badravarman built a number of
temples, conquered his rivals, ruled well and in his final years abdicated his throne and spent
his last days in India on the banks of the Ganges River.
2
Historic Champa was divided into five regions. Indrapura (present-day Dong Duong) served
as the religious center of the kingdom; Amaravati is the present day Quong Nam province;
Vijya is now Cha Ban; Kauthara is the modern NhaTrang; and Panduranga is known today
simply as Phan. Panduranga was the last Cham territory to be conquered by the Sino-
Vietnamese.
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus Was Not His Real Name- Although Columbus remains a
prominent historical figure around the world and has been researched and written about for
centuries, there are many details of his life that are still a mystery. Many scholars agree that
he was born in Genoa, which is now part of Italy, although there are theories that he may
have originated in Spain or even in Poland or Greece. In Italian he is known as Cristoforo
Colombo, which was long thought to be his birth name, and in Spanish as Cristóbal Colón.
But he has also been referred to, by himself and others, as Christoual, Christovam,
Christofferus de Colombo, and even Xpoual de Colón. There is even a theory that he adopted
the name from a pirate named Colombo.
Speaking of Names, Those Boats Were Not Named What You Think
Christopher ColumbusThe Granger Collection, New York/Christopher Columbus's fleetKean

Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Ask any American schoolchildren and they’ll tell you Columbus’s ships were
named Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria. However, at least two of those were likely nicknames.
In Columbus’s time it was the custom in Spain to name ships after saints and to call them by
nicknames instead. La Niña was likely a nickname for a ship called Santa Clara. The
3
nickname is thought to have come from the name of the ship’s owner, Juan Niño. It is
unknown what the Pinta’s original name might have been. Santa Maria is a perfectly saintly
name for the third, which was also nicknamed La Gallega.
 He Made Four Journeys to the “New World”
Landing of ColumbusArchitect of the Capitol

In 1492 Columbus did sail the ocean blue. He also sailed it in 1493, 1498, and 1502.
Although many people may have an image of Columbus planting a flag in the lower half of
Florida, he really only explored a small area of the Caribbean—which included the Bahamas,
Cuba, and Jamaica—and parts of Central America.
His Remains Did About as Much Traveling as He Did in Life
4
Ptolemy: world mapLibrary of Congress, Washington, D.C./Christopher ColumbusJupiterimages
After Columbus died in 1506, he was buried in Valladolid, Spain. Three years later his
remains were taken to his family mausoleum, which was in Sevilla. In 1542, in accordance
with the will of his son Diego, Columbus’s remains were transferred to Santo Domingo,
Hispaniola (now in the Dominican Republic). Hispaniola was ceded to France by Spain, and
in 1795 Columbus’s bones were moved to Havana, Cuba. More than a hundred years later
they were shipped back across the Atlantic and returned to Sevilla in 1898.
He (Maybe) Was Not Great at Math
At the time Columbus made his famous journey, a lot of overseas travel was guesswork. The
exact size of the planet Earth was unknown, and there were two main ways of measuring
degrees of latitude—the method developed by the Greek philosopher Poseidonius and the
method developed by the medieval Arabs. In making his own calculations, Columbus argued
that the circumference yielded by both methods was the same…ignoring, or forgetting, that
Arab miles were longer than Roman miles. Using that data, which ultimately rendered the
planet about 25 percent smaller, Columbus assured his backers that his small wooden ships
could make it from Spain to Japan in 30 days. Some scholars think Columbus willfully
misrepresented the distance, but the jury is still out.
Few know that Christopher Columbus, on his fourth and last voyage, had attempted to reach
the Champa Kingdom and actually believed he had reached Vietnam. In ancient days well-
worn trade routes had linked Europe with India and the entire region of South and Southeast
Asia, and for countless centuries the wealth and wisdom of India had flowed to the markets
and institutions of the world. By the 1400s, however, political instability had disrupted direct
trade links with India and the West. Columbus was convinced that by sailing west from Spain
he could circle the globe—a concept ridiculed by most Europeans, who still believed the
5
Earth was flat—and thus find a new trade route and reestablish the long-lost link to the
wealth of the East. His planned route would take him south along the Vietnamese coast, past
the Cape of Kattigara and on to Malacca; he believed this to be the route Marco Polo had
followed from China to India in 1292. Reaching Cariay on the coast of Costa Rica, he
thought he had found Vietnam and was very close to one of his coveted destinations, the
famous gold mines of the Champa Kingdom. Fortunately for Vietnam, he was mistaken.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0ooo0oooo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Christopher Columbus in Champa

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Christopher Columbus in Champa

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Christopher Columbus in Champa

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Christopher Columbus in Champa?

 Indrapura ("City of Indra", Foshi, Phậtthành/Phậtthệthành) was the capital of Champa

 Vijaya was located in present-day BìnhĐịnh Province (Tumpraukvijaya). Early mention

Apsara with Saraswati (right)/Dancing Sivas, both from c. 10th century AD

The forgotten Hindus of Vietnam’s Champa Kingdom

Christopher ColumbusThe Granger Collection, New York/Christopher Columbus's fleetKean

Landing of ColumbusArchitect of the Capitol

He (Maybe) Was Not Great at Math

You might also like