The Ancient History of Champa

A few blogs ago, I mentioned briefly about my Cham heritage and how excited I was about returning to Vietnam and visiting the ruins of my ancient kingdom. A few of you commented that you would like to know more about the Kingdom of Champa, its history, its people and so forth so I thought I would dedicate a blog or two to this topic, interspersed with photos I had taken while I was there.

History
The history of this "mysterious" kingdom is quite sketchy. While there are definite links with Malaysia, the claim that Chams come from Malays is not accurate, according to many scholars. Admittedly, I know that some of my siblings, growing up in the States, told friends they were Malays as it was easier than explaining the whole "Cham situation"; it was close enough.

According to Michael Chick (2009) from the National University in Singapore, Chams and Malays are indeed cousins of one another, a cross-bred of the Dravidic and Mongoloid peoples. (I realise that I have included a very long quote, but there is so much good stuff here that I did not want you to miss out on..). Enjoy!

"Six thousand years ago, this new Austronesian race, as a result of the successful Dravidic-Mongoloid cross-breeding in southern China, started migrating towards Taiwan. Today, the leftover tribe of this earliest migration is known as the Alisan.

From Taiwan, they crossed the sea into the Philippines. They then split into two groups. One moving into the Celebes Islands (Sulawesi), and the other into Borneo. While this was happening, the Austronesians who were left behind on the Amoy Coast decided to start migrating again.

But this time, south-westward. These brown skinned Austronesians walked right past Hanoi, and settled on the entire central Vietnamese coast. Proof of this lies in the archaeological sites of Hoa Binhian, Sah Hyun, and Dong Song. The artefacts will include uni-facial and bi-facial stone tools, curved axes, pottery, and the detail-etched copper drums of the Dong Song.

These Austronesians would be known today as the Cham people, of the Champa Kingdom. At this same moment, their Austronesian cousins (who travelled from Taiwan, to the Philippines, via the Celebes, into Java, Sumatera,) would have arrived on the Malayan peninsula on the very same day."   http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20090205



Source: http://www.angkorianwarrior.com/history.html


I will cover the more "recent" (192- 1832) Cham history in the next blog.

 

Love, marriage and laughter in the Cham village

"To the world you may be one person,
but to one person you may be the world" Bill Wilson


On our fourth day here in Chau Doc, we were invited to a Cham wedding. I have been to many Cham weddings, growing up in the States, but I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to be able to finally witness a traditional Cham wedding in the village.

For days, we watched the bride's house being transformed and decorated in the traditional Cham wedding style- lots of colours, lights and, of course, the traditional (and compulsory it seems) valance with the hand-embroidered Arabic words "Laillaha illah muhamadur rasullah" or even simpler with just the Arabic words Allah and Muhammad.

Most diaspora Cham parents in the States (and other countries as well?)  start collecting these decorations from their village as soon as their children are of marriageable age. I know mine did.

Scarves, streamers, balloons, lights and even beach balls are used here in Vietnam. The groom's house is more simply decorated with a just a square valance atop the groom's throne (lounge/chair).

The gifts ready to be given to the bride and her family

Like Cham weddings in America, there is a malam dhga (young girls night) where the bride and groom hold separate parties in their respective homes and greet guests. It is similar to the henna night in Indian/Arab culture. Wedding sweets and tea are offered. Girls of marriageable age (usually 18 years and over) get dressed up in their best clothes and jewellery and use the opportunity to catch up with each other.

The bride mingling with her guests



The bride serving sweets to her guests



Music is an important part of Cham weddings. Both men and women perform in front of an appreciate crowd. Nasheeds (songs praising God and the Prophet), traditional Cham folk songs,as well as Vietnamese pop songs are sung by the villagers.

An absolute sweet voice to listen to- her folk songs bring tears to your eyes

The Cham men doing the chacha to a Viet pop song. Trust me they were having a lot of fun!

After the malam dhga, the next important day is the procession whereby the villagers meet the groom at his house, prepare him to meet his bride and walk him to her house. He also has helpers who come bearing traditional gifts for the bride's family consisting of rice, fruits and grains.

We are not sure why, but Cham grooms dress up in Arab gear on the procession day. Also quite confusing is the Aviators sunglasses. No one has been able to give us a clear answer as to why they are worn. At least, they don't make the groom wear make-up including lipstick anymore.



My two brothers with the groom and his helpers bearing gifts for the bride's family



The beautiful, handmade wedding umbrella sheltering the groom on his walk to the bride's house

The women in the village lead the wedding procession

The groom, his helpers and the men follow shortly after

Arriving at the bride's house

First photo as husband and wife

The groom takes her hand and leads her out of her house to introduce her to the rest of the villagers waiting outside to view the newly married husband and wife. After the introduction, the traditional wedding meal of Cham curry, pickles, soup and rice is served.

The wedding was indeed elaborate, yet it wasn't complicated or formal. People came and went as they pleased with barely any speeches, except to introduce the next performer. There is no invite list; it is open to everyone.Indeed it is a village affair as the whole village participates in the preparations of the wedding, from the decorations to the cooking. Generally women chop up the meat and vegetables and the men do the cooking. 

I am enthralled by what I have observed as well as participated in. Cham weddings here are vibrant, informal, and a true celebration of not only the love between the bride and groom but within the whole village as well.

Fresh markets

After 4.5 years of living in Malaysia, the wet markets didn't phase me too much. But for my daughter and my two brothers from the States, the smell of fresh meat, poultry, seafood with vegetables and fruits displayed in all manners proved quite overpowering.

The bustling wet market

Fresh grilled corn

Dried fish, cuttlefish, shrimp (prawns) in all shapes and sizes

These women work at least 12 hours day to sell their fruit



The famous durian- king of all fruits


The incredibly fresh vegetables can be bought whole or already cut up for you to use.



The absolutely beautiful dragon fruit- so yummy.

Although the smell of the wet markets didn't daunt me too much, the wide selection of items offerred for sale did. I saw many trays of fresh eels, frogs and turtles. I saw congealed blood as well as other animal organs...And I have to say that they are appeared incredibly fresh.

If you look closely, you will see fresh frogs, turtles, eels along with other fish



Congealed blood- thought to have many health benefits



For the Foodies out there

For all the foodies out there, Vietnam is food paradise. With influences from French as well as the surrounding Asian neighbours, the food in Vietnam is delicious. But what I really love about Vietnamese food  is its freshness. Vegetables, meat and fish are bought from the markets on the day it is cooked. Many people in Vietnam, including many of my Cham relatives also grow their own vegetables and fruits, especially jackfruit and bananas.

The jackfruit tree growing in the courtyard of my uncle's house- one of my favourite tropical fruits

 The bananas here are so delicious, sweet and fragrant

My cousin's husband, Hamileen, serving the food. Notice the symetry of the dishes. Everything is lined perfectly.

My cousin and uncle placing food on the "Cham table" i.e the floor. In Cham culture, men play an active role in helping set the table, serve the food and clean up.

A sample of our first family meal in Vietnam- the Cham famous beef curry, with marinated grilled fish and the mandatory salad.

I was obsessed with coffee sua da when I was here. Strong coffee with condensed milk. It is such a delicious and refreshing drink. I loved starting my day with it.

My relatives found out that I love banh xeo (savoury Vietnamese crepes) and made these for us the second day we were there.

Although many Chams have a bit of a sweet tooth, not many Cham sweets are overly sweet. My favourite Cham sweet is a pretzel shape biscuit, usually served at weddings.

Dean being fed fresh young cocnut by our aunty.

Just two weeks here and I have probably gained an extra 3 kilos. I couldn't stop sampling and enjoying the food lovingly prepared and cooked by family and friends.

More from the Mekong

The Mekong Delta left such an impression on me that I thought I would share more photos on this blog.

The colourful houses along the Mekong Delta

Amira after a swim in the Delta for the first time

My brother Dean relaxing after a long day of filming the documentary. My dad deliriously happy after a swim in the Mekong Delta.

Majestic Mekong

After days of visiting Grandma and the many relatives in Chau Doc village, we managed to squeeze in an impromptu boat ride on the Mekong River. And what a treat it was. Even though the boat looked quite weathered and none of us had life vests on, we didn't think twice about our safety.

For 2 hours, we were mesmerised by the majesty of the river and fascinated by the people who live, play and work on the river. We glimpsed the many homes floating on the river with the floorboards cut out to enable the catching of the basa (cat) fish. We saw the popular salted fish drying on the shores of the river. We viewed the beauty of the rice fields and we saw colourfull boats carrying rice and wheat grains.

Besides the houseboats, there are many floating houses on the Mekong which also act as fish reservoirs. The floats are empty metal drums. Like many homes in Chau Doc, many of the floating homes appear to be runned down and in need of repairs.

Houses along the river are built on very tall stilts in attempt to protect itself from floodwaters during the heavy, rainy monsoon season.

But perhaps the best part of the afternoon was when we stopped for 30 minutes to have a swim in the Mekong. My dad was like a big kid- ducking his head in and out of the water to find clams, rocks and even the odd piece of wood. We couldn't get him out of the water.

Absorbing the experience....