Funan I

Inhabitants. ’The chiefs of Funan core a Mon-Khmer title pon, but some were taking Indic names with the suffice -varman, and the later 7th-century inscription suggest that the reason was related to the question of inheritance of accumulated wealth. A pon was chief of a settlement, and the typical pon-dom was a large village, or supra village of several hundred or a thousand or two persons living around or near a pond, sometimes artificial, and growing at least enough rice for self-sufficiency. Some settlements had several pon, perhaps watch one a chief over a hamlet-size community, with one superior to the others within the larger community. The population of each core pon-dom consisted of a lineage or a clan, with its own deity whore representative, and putative descendent, as the pon. Pon-ship was inherited matrilineally through sisters’ sons; and there a hierarchy, perhaps informal, of pon, probably based on wealth and political influence. During the florescence of Funan, the greatest wealth would have been accumulated through maritime activity, and it was the coastal pon-doms which would have become most directly involved in sea trade, and their upon were called ’kings’ by Chinese visitors. By the 7th century, and presumably earlier, their was a ruling stratum in each pon-dom, and others, even though relatives of the same clan, were subordinate juniors [...]’ ^[1] ’The site would have been a major population center. The surrounding terrain is suited today to flood- retreat farming, whereby the retreating floodwaters from the Mekong and Bassac Rivers are retained behind banks to sustain rice.’ ^[2] ’The entire town [Oc Eo] could have covered c. 450 hectares (1.74 square miles) and thus might have contained many thousands of people.’ ^[3]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, pp. 19-20)

[2]: (Higham 2004, p. 18)

[3]: (Coe 2003, p. 65)

in squared kilometers. ’General Fanshiman succeeded him taking the title of Great King of Funan, and extended his territory to 5,000 or 6,000 li." (Pelliot, ibid, pp. 277-8)’ ^[1] ’Funan encompassed much of the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula, including territory that is today southern Vietnam, Thai- land, and Myanmar and all of Cambodia.’ ^[2] About 300 archaeological sites have been identified by Malleret on the delta and the lower Mekong Valley. "Les sites archéologiques aujourd’hui associés au Funan sont répartis sur l’ensemble du delta et de la basse vallée du Mékong, des deux côtés de l’actuelle frontière khméro-vietnamienne. On sait par les sources chinoises et par l’épigraphie, confirmées aujourd’hui par les résultats des récentes fouilles archéologiques, qu’ils ont prospéré entre le Ier et le VIe siècle E.C. Les recherches rassemblées par Louis Malleret dans son Archéologie du Delta du Mékong restent à ce jour le point de départ obligé de toute étude archéologique des provinces méridionales du Viêt Nam. Cette somme est pour l’essentiel un inventaire systématique d’un ensemble de quelque trois cents gisements ayant produit une quantité variable, parfois minime, d’objets d’intérêt archéologique, allant de l’outil lithique au monument architectural, en passant par la céramique, la glyptique, la numismatique, l’épigraphie ou la statuaire." ^[3]

[1]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 48)

[2]: (West 2009, p. 222)

[3]: (Manguin 2000, 170)

levels. There were probably three levels of settlements: the negara were the largest and most important cities, the pura were smaller cities with political auhtority, and then there were the grama, which consisted of towns or large villages. ^[1] ’Within this period of competition and endemic conflict [the 250 years from AD 550], the inscriptions of Jayavarman I reflect a breakthrough in state formation, with his appointment of state officials and creation of at least three and probably four levels of settlement hierarchy.’ ^[2] The site of Oc Eo covered about 450 ha. "En 1946, une reconnaissance aérienne me permit d’obtenir une vision claire de l’ensemble qui consiste en un rectangle de 15oo mètres sur З000 mètres orienté nord-nord-est — sud-sud-ouest, enfermant une surface de 459 hectares, soit environ la moitié d’Ankor-Thom." ^[3]

[1]: (O’Reilly 2007, p. 99)

[2]: (Higham 2014b, p. 405)

[3]: (Malleret 1951, 76)

levels. There was a progressive change in religious cults in the area of Funan, the most radical one being the abandonment of inhumation practices in favour of cremation. The funerary practices incorporated gold leaves decorated with human forms with raised hands, one of which appears to represent Harihara, the combined image of Shiva and Vishnu. ^[1] This change seems to be in effect toward the 5th century CE, at the same time that Funanese rulers started to take on the Sanskrit honorific title of -varman (protected by, protege of). Indian gods were incorporated into the Funanese pantheon, particularly Siva, Visnu, and Buddha. The phallic symbol that represented Siva, the linga, was perceived as being the essence of the mandala. ^[2] . NOTE: data from ethnographic studies suggest that there was a pre-Indian religious strata that was eventually merged with Indian religions to become what today comprises the Khmer world view. In Khmer culture the world is divided into two landscapes that are marked by physical and psychological borders: the landscape of the village (srok) and the landscape of the wilderness (prei). The srok is the domesticated space of humans; the village, the paddy rice fields, a space of social organization ^[3] that is under the control of a Buddhist king ^[4] . The prei, on the other hand, is the forest, a place of uncertainty dominated by wild and dangerous spirits ^{[5] [5]} beyond the control of Buddhism. This division is not immutable: forests can be cleared to create new srok, and a village may be overtaken by the forest and regain its position as prei. This perception of the world has been identified as the pre-Indian stratum of Khmer culture ^[6] . The term srok is recorded in the inscriptions as sruk, and defines a geographical/administrative entity. ^[7] Currently, the person in charge of establishing dialogues and interactions with the spirits is known as rup ^[8] . It is therefore possible to suggest that before merging Indian and local religions, the early Funanese people may have had a structured religious world view with levels, that is, with the presence of particular people who could act as intermediaries with the spirits. These hierarchical levels increased as the cult to Indian gods were incorporated.

[1]: (Higham 2004b, p. 29-31)

[2]: (Higham 1989, p. 248)

[3]: (Ang Choulean 2004, p. 58)

[4]: (Aransen 2012, p. 54)

[5]: (Forest 1992, p. 15-16)

[6]: (Forest 1992)

[7]: (Vickery 2003, p. 127)

[8]: (Forest 1992, p.51)

levels. Following Higham’s text, it could be inferred that there was some degree of military organization that seem to imply the presence of different levels. "His son, Pan Pan, had only a brief reign, and was succeeded by a leader of military prowess known to the Chinese as Fan Shiman. He undertook raids against his neighbours, and then mounted a water-borne expedition which subdued over ten chiefs traditionally situated along the shores of the Gulf of Siam." ^[1] Sites like Angkor Borei have not yielded structures that may have been identified as indicators of violence. For example, the wall surrounding the city seems to have served as a "ring-road" and house placements rather than as a defensive structure. ^[2] It is likely then that at the earlier stages of the Funanese polity the chiefs would be in control of a somewhat large group of fighters that eventually became a stratified army as the polity gained complexity.

[1]: (Higham 1989, pp. 247)

[2]: (O’Reilly 2007, p. 107)

levels. (3) Leader of the most wealthy/politically influential set of settlements (pon), (2) leader of a superior community within a larger community (pon), (1) chief of a hamlet or an inferior settlement within larger community (pon). ’The chiefs of Funan core a Mon-Khmer title pon, but some were taking Indic names with the suffice -varman, and the later 7th-century inscription suggest that the reason was related to the question of inheritance of accumulated wealth. A pon was chief of a settlement, and the typical pon-dom was a large village, or supra village or several hundred or a thousand or two persons living around or near a pond, sometimes artificial, and growing at least enough rice for self-sufficiency. Some settlements had several pon, perhaps watch one a chief over a hamlet-size community, with one superior to the others within the larger community. The population of each core pon-dom consisted of a lineage or a clan, with its own deity whore representative, and putative descendent, as the pon. Poh-Ship was inherited matrilineally through sisters’ sons; and there a hierarchy, perhaps informal, of pon, probably based on wealth and political influence. During the florescence of Funan, the greatest wealth would have been accumulated through maritime activity, and it was the coastal pon-doms which would have become most directly involved in sea trade, and their upon were called ’kings’ by Chinese visitors. By the 7th century, and presumably earlier, their was a ruling stratum in each pon-dom, and others, even though relatives of the same clan, were subordinate juniors [...]’ ^[1]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, pp. 19-20)

Following Higham’s text, it could be inferred that there was some degree of military organization that seem to imply the presence of different levels, but at the early stages these "officers" may have been part of the chief’s court and not part of a professionalized army. Similarly, it is unclear if what the chinese identified as army was a real professional army or villagers who were conscripted to fight for their chiefs. Hence it is best to assume that in the early stages of Funan there were no professional soldiers (RA’s guess). "His son, Pan Pan, had only a brief reign, and was succeeded by a leader of military prowess known to the Chinese as Fan Shiman. He undertook raids against his neighbours, and then mounted a water-borne expedition which subdued over ten chiefs traditionally situated along the shores of the Gulf of Siam." ^[1] The Funanese named with the title "Fan" in the Chinese texts were identified as generals. ^[2]

[1]: (Higham 1989, pp. 247)

[2]: (Vickery 2003, p. 108)

Following Higham’s text, it could be inferred that there was some degree of military organization that seem to imply the presence of different levels, but at the early stages these "officers" may have been part of the chief’s court and not part of a professionalized army. Similarly, it is unclear if what the chinese identified as army was a real professional army or villagers who were conscripted to fight for their chiefs. Hence it is best to assume that in the early stages of Funan there were no professional soldiers (RA’s guess). "His son, Pan Pan, had only a brief reign, and was succeeded by a leader of military prowess known to the Chinese as Fan Shiman. He undertook raids against his neighbours, and then mounted a water-borne expedition which subdued over ten chiefs traditionally situated along the shores of the Gulf of Siam." ^[1] The Funanese named with the title "Fan" in the Chinese texts were identified as generals. ^[2]

[1]: (Higham 1989, pp. 247)

[2]: (Vickery 2003, p. 108)

There was a progressive change in religious cults in the area of Funan, the most radical one being the abandonment of inhumation practices in favour of cremation. The funerary practices incorporated gold leaves decorated with human forms with raised hands, one of which appears to represent Harihara, the combined image of Shiva and Vishnu. ^[1] This change seems to be in effect toward the 5th century CE, at the same time that Funanese rulers started to take on the Sanskrit honorific title of -varman (protected by, protege of). Indian gods were incorporated into the Funanese pantheon, particularly Siva, Visnu, and Buddha. The phallic symbol that represented Siva, the linga, was perceived as being the essence of the mandala. ^[2] . NOTE: data from ethnographic studies suggest that there was a pre-Indian religious strata that was eventually merged with Indian religions to become what today comprises the Khmer world view. In Khmer culture the world is divided into two landscapes that are marked by physical and psychological borders: the landscape of the village (srok) and the landscape of the wilderness (prei). The srok is the domesticated space of humans; the village, the paddy rice fields, a space of social organization ^[3] that is under the control of a Buddhist king ^[4] . The prei, on the other hand, is the forest, a place of uncertainty dominated by wild and dangerous spirits ^{[5] [5]} beyond the control of Buddhism. This division is not immutable: forests can be cleared to create new srok, and a village may be overtaken by the forest and regain its position as prei. This perception of the world has been identified as the pre-Indian stratum of Khmer culture ^[6] . The term srok is recorded in the inscriptions as sruk, and defines a geographical/administrative entity. ^[7] Currently, the person in charge of establishing dialogues and interactions with the spirits is known as rup ^[8] . It is therefore possible to suggest that before merging Indian and local religions, the early Funanese people may have had a structured religious world view with levels, that is, with the presence of particular people who could act as intermediaries with the spirits. These hierarchical levels increased as the cult to Indian gods were incorporated. (

[1]: (Higham 2004b, p. 29-31)

[2]: (Higham 1989, p. 248)

[3]: (Ang Choulean 2004, p. 58)

[4]: (Aransen 2012, p. 54)

[5]: (Forest 1992, p. 15-16)

[6]: (Forest 1992)

[7]: (Vickery 2003, p. 127)

[8]: (Forest 1992, p.51)

Following Higham’s text, it could be inferred that there was some degree of military organization that seem to imply the presence of different levels, but at the early stages these "officers" may have been part of the chief’s court and not part of a professionalized army (RA’s guess). "His son, Pan Pan, had only a brief reign, and was succeeded by a leader of military prowess known to the Chinese as Fan Shiman. He undertook raids against his neighbours, and then mounted a water-borne expedition which subdued over ten chiefs traditionally situated along the shores of the Gulf of Siam." ^[1] The Funanese named with the title "Fan" in the Chinese texts were identified as generals. ^[2]

[1]: (Higham 1989, pp. 247)

[2]: (Vickery 2003, p. 108)

Malleret excavated one of the central mounds, revealing brick foundations and and walls associated with ceramics figures of a lion, a unicorn-like animal, and a monster. one ceramic tile was embellished with a cobra. The bricks were also decorated with geometric designs in low relief. He was left to speculate on the function of these constructions. Could they have been shrines, or mortuary structures? The decorated tiles, bricks, and moulded animals suggested a religious or ritual function, a possibility supported by the recovery of a stone linga. ^[1]

[1]: (Hihgam 2004: 26)

The title pon seems to have been hereditary, probably uncle to nephew, and as the local chiefs gained access to more wealth, the social complexity increased. ^[1]

[1]: (O’reilly 2007, p. 96)

"It is important to appreciate that the overlords were increasingly served by advisers versed in Indian statecraft." ^[1] This may be more accurate toward the end of the Early Funan period.Inscription titles from stelae provide specific title for bureaucracy, like for example the one recorded in an inscription from Ta Prohm where there is a reference to an inspector of the royal property. ^[1] They also refer to the title poñ, which refers to a district leader with administrative powers ^[2] . The inscriptions, however, date no earlier than the 7th century CE.

[1]: (Higham 1989, p. 248)

[2]: (Vickery 2003, p. 108)

The title pon seems to have been hereditary, probably uncle to nephew, and as the local chiefs gained access to more wealth, the social complexity increased. ^[1]

[1]: (O’reilly 2007, p. 96)

This may be more accurate toward the end of the Funan period, but worth noting: "Before a case reached the king, it might go through various lower courts; inscriptions frequently mention officials who appear to have functions connected with courts of law. There is no way of measuring the extent of discrimination and corruption in the administration of ustice. The ideal of fiarness to all was certainly recognized; one judge, for example, is declared to have been appointed on the strength of his impartiality. ^[1]

[1]: (Mabbett and Changler 1995, p. 168)

’We do not know if Funan was a unitary state, as the Chinese descriptions seem to suggest, or a series of competing centers. Whichever was the case, certain trends are found which were to contribute to the character of later complex polities in Southeast Asia. The handful of surviving inscriptions, for example, indicates that the local rulers adopted Sanskrit language and took Sanskrit names. Indian religious and legal systems were adopted as well.’ ^[1] ’We have a detailed description of an early South-east Asian trading state, following a visit to the Mekon Delta by Kang Tai, an an emissary of the Chinese emperor. Sent to explore a maritime trade route in the third century AD, he encountered a state controlled by a ruling dynasty, with its own legal and taxation systems, which kept written records, and defended cities.’ ^[2] ’Slavery was an integral part of what must have been a highly stratified society. Justice was rudimentary, but a legal code probably existed and like that of India (and that of Angkor and post-Angkorean Cambodia) included trial by ordeal. Innocence might be decided if a suspect was not eaten after being thrown to the ubiquitous crocodiles.’ ^[3] An inscription makes a reference to the "five great crimes" which seems to be a reference to those recorded in Hindu law, suggesting a strong link between the legal code in Funan and that of India. ^[4]

[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[2]: (Higham 2011, pp. 474-475)

[3]: (Tully 2005, p. 12)

[4]: (Higham 1989, p. 249)

’The evidence that either mountain was a cult site is stronger than the evidence that Funan was a major, unified kingdom or that its political center was associated with either hill.’ ^[1] ’Most scholars accept an identification with the Funan kingdom described by Chinese visitors, as early as the third century C.E., as a complex of walled political centers where craft specialists plied their trade, summary justice was adminis- tered, stone inscriptions were engraved, and the range of mortuary practices included inhumations. Angkor Borei may have been the “inland capital” of Funan referred to by the Chinese, as its large area (300 hectares) and plethora of brickwork suggest.’ ^[2] ’The first Chinese envoys who wrote about Fu- nan in about 250 c.e. described it as an urbanized kingdom that resembled the Chinese state rather than the region’s other tribal social systems. They pointed to the structured political hierarchy and bureaucracy including a centralized judiciary system, institutionalized religion, and even libraries.’ ^[3]

[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 20)

[2]: (Bulbeck 2004, p. 876)

[3]: (West 2009, p. 224)

’There is no evidence that the economy was monetized, and the exchange of goods recorded in some inscriptions do not appear to represent trade, at least not market transactions. Since land is described as donated by individual officials, it would appear that it was either private property, or property of the small communities which could be assigned for use by the communities’ leaders.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, p. 257)

’There is evidence that the major step during the Funan period toward the integration of the small, dry-rice-growing and root-cultivating principalities, whose people worshipped Siva, with hunting and gathering societies inland from Oc-Eco was the introduction, perhaps as late as 500, of systematic irrigation; drainage probably came earlier.’ ^[1] The latest archaeological survey work by Evans using LiDAR attests to the large extent of irrigation systems from the fifth century onward ^[2]

[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 21)

[2]: (Evans 2016)

Temples seem to have accumulated food supplies. ^[1] However, these were not "specialized" structures.

[1]: (O’Reilly 2007, p. 96)

’The Liangshu also notes that "Where they live, they do not dig wells. In groups of several tens of families they have a pond in common where they draw water." [...].’ ^[1] ’The manipulation of water has a long history in South- east Asia. This reflects the monsoon climate, with its sharp contrast between the wet and the dry seasons. In the former, there is a superabundance of water in the lowlands, and flooding is widespread. During the latter, months can go by without any rainfall. This pattern encouraged communities, as they grew in size and popu- lation numbers, to control water flows, usually by build- ing up earthen dikes to form reservoirs. These banks ring many large Iron Age sites, and where dated, fall within 1 to 400 C.E. During the life of the states of FUNAN and CHENLA, water was retained in rectangular reservoirs known as BARAYS. None was large enough to have any influence on rice production, but they could have satis- fied domestic needs, as well as fulfilled a symbolic role as the oceans that surround the mythical home of the Hindu gods.’ ^[2]

[1]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 51)

[2]: (Higham 2004, p. 162)

’Funan seems to have originated in the Mekong delta area, and around 200 AD under Fanzhan’s uncle, Fanshiman, through successive campaigns along the Gulf of Siam, it occupied belts of land of varying length which allowed goods to be transported by road or porterage to the ports on the Indian Ocean side of the peninsula.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 47)

’At any rate, Oc Eco is generally considered to have been the main port of Fu-nan; its capital, if there was one, has not been located precisely.’ ^[1] ’Malleret concluded that the port [near the modern Vietnamese village of Oc-Eco in the Mekong Delta] was used by pilgrims and traders moving between India and China in the first centuries of the Christian era.’ ^[2] ’This is certainly plausible, for Chinese records report that ships were being built in Funan’s ports, including the ships that the Funan monarch Fan Shihman had ordered constructed for his third-century expedition of conquest against Malay Peninsula port-polities (Miksic: 2003a, 22).’ ^[3]

[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.69)

[2]: (Chandler 2008, p. 19)

[3]: (Hall 2010, p. 49)

’Archaeological research at Oc Eco in Vietnam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia, two walled and moated urban centres linked by a canal system, have revealed the adoption of Sanskrit names for kings, use of the Bhrahmi script, worship of Hindu gods, and adherence to the teachings of the Buddha, wooden statues of whom have been uncovered, containing pits for cremated human remains. Grave offerings found in these pits include gold plaques embellished with sacred Buddhist inscriptions and images of Hindu deities.’ ^[1] ’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ ^[2] ’The Funanese had already built a canal network near their port, and a canal 90 km long linking their port to an inland city, Angkor Borei, in which channels and bray were constructed for flood control and dry-season water supply, but the canal is considered to have been for transportation, and within a trading polite, not for irrigation.’ ^[3] ’Clearly Funan’s rise had two sources: the productivity of its agrarian system and the area’s strategic location opposite the Isthmus of Kra. A network of canals connect the coast to Funan’s agricultural upstream, centered on its urban ‘‘capital’’ at the archeological site of Angkor Borei in modern southern Cambodia. It is unclear whether this canal network required a new level of techno- logical competence or a central leadership for its construction (Malleret:1959-1963; Liere: 1980; Stark: 1998, 2003, 2006a, 2006b; Stark and Sovath: 2001).’ ^[4] ’The FUNAN maritime state (150-550 C.E.) was responsible for the con- struction of an extensive canal network, and at its main center of ANGKOR BOREI the EASTERN BARAY covers an area of about 200 by 100 meters (660 by 330 ft.).’ ^[5] ’The canal linking Oc Eo and Angkor Borei is 90 kilome- ters (54 mi.) long.’ ^[6] The latest archaeological survey work by Evans using LiDAR attests to the large extent of irrigation systems from the fifth century onward ^[7]

[1]: (Higham 2013, p.586)

[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[3]: (Vickery 1998, p. 307)

[4]: (Hall 2010, pp. 48-49)

[5]: (Higham 2004, p. 41)

[6]: (Higham 2004, p. 62)

[7]: (Evans 2016)

Stone bridges date to classical Angkor, but it is likely that bridges were made using wood. As Hendrickson points out: The Phnom Sres (1022 CE) inscription found in the Battambang region makes reference to the construction of reservoirs along roads and a wooden bridge across a river (Jacques 1968:616-617). ^[1]

[1]: (Hendrickson 2007, p. 123)

’Instead of taxing people, land, or agricultural produce at a fixed rate, tribute from a subordinate ruler required delivery of spec- ified amounts of valuable local products, which might be gathered (such as aromatic woods and resins, rare wildlife, or spices), mined (gold, silver and other metals), grown (mainly rice), or manufactured (including weapons and luxury handicrafts). Some of these would be retained for use by the king and his court; others would be traded, often as a royal monopoly. All that was offered in return was status as a lord of the realm and protection against the depredations of neigh- bouring kingdoms.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 33)

’There can hardly be any doubt that the polities within Cambodia from the 7th to the 13th centuries were mainly agrarian, their development of written records very high for the period, these records largely concerned with economic and administrative matters, and that by the Angkor period temples had political and economic managerial functions. The notable Southeast Asian societies without an impressive epigraphic tradition, such as Funan, Srivijaya, Ayutthaya, and Pregu, were preeminently maritime trading polities.’ ^[1] "Taxes are paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes. They have books and repositories of archives and other things. Their writing characters resemble those of the Hu (i.e. the Indians)". (Pelliot, ibid, p. 254) ^[2] ’There were specialists in engraving and metalworking, and the ordinary people lived in houses raised on piles against the regular threat of flooding. The people kept written records, and a repre- sentative of the Indian Murunda king was present.’ ^[3] ’We have a detailed description of an early South-east Asian trading state, following a visit to the Mekon Delta by Kang Tai, an an emissary of the Chinese emperor. Sent to explore a maritime trade route in the third century AD, he encountered a state controlled by a ruling dynasty, with its own legal and taxation systems, which kept written records, and defended cities.’ ^[4]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, p. 99)

[2]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 51)

[3]: (Higham 2004, p. 113)

[4]: (Higham 2011, pp. 474-475)

’Archaeological research at Oc Eco in Vietnam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia, two walled and moated urban centres linked by a canal system, have revealed the adoption of Sanskrit names for kings, use of the Bhrahmi script, worship of Hindu gods, and adherence to the teachings of the Buddha, wooden statues of whom have been uncovered, containing pits for cremated human remains. Grave offerings found in these pits include gold plaques embellished with sacred Buddhist inscriptions and images of Hindu deities.’ ^[1] ’The Chinese envoy Kang Tai reports that Funan had walled vil- lages, palaces, and houses. His report that “they like to engrave ornaments and to chisel” is borne out by the discovery of many artifacts related to metalworking, including gold, silver, tin, and copper at Oc Eo. He also mentions that they had books and archives and used an Indic script to write.’ ^[2] ’The earliest extant Sanskrit texts, from Cambodia’s Funan period, are undated records from the 5th century: undated Khmer inscriptions appear about a century later. Dated inscriptions in Sanskrit and Old Khmer start from the early 7th century. The Pre-Angkorian Sanskrit texts were generally short ‘literary gestures’ (ibid., 219), but by the Angkorian period, they used very sophisticated poetry, employing polished orthography and grammar, as in India. These display knowledge of Indian intellectual and political thought and of literature including the metrics of poetry (Majumdar 1953: xvii-iii; Bhattacharya 1991: 2-4; Pollock 1996: 218-220; Dagens 2003: 217).’ ^[3] ’There are also SEALS bearing brief texts in the Indian BRAHMI script and an abundance of evidence for trade involving Rome, India, and China.’ ^[4] ’This ascendance has important implications when considering the inscriptions of Southeast Asia. The earliest of these, from VO CANH in southern coastal Vietnam, was written in Sanskrit, as were those of the coastal state of FUNAN. Indeed, Sanskrit was the preferred language of all the major inscriptions of CHENLA and the kingdom of ANGKOR, in Cambodia, although Old KHMER was also used in subsidiary texts on many occasions. The quality of the Sanskrit employed was admirable, as seen in the long dedicatory inscriptions of the temples of the PRE RUP, PREAH KHAN, and TA PROHM at Angkor.’ ^[5]

[1]: (Higham 2013, p.586)

[2]: (Miksic 2007, p. 123)

[3]: (Lustig 2009, p. 107)

[4]: (Higham 2004, p. 113-114)

[5]: (Higham 2004, p. 294)

’No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, where they came from, or what languages they spoke before writing was introduced, using an Indian-style alphabet, around the third century CE.’ ^[1] ’Probably a form of the Mon­-Khmer language family using the Sanskrit writing system’ ^[2]

[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 13)

[2]: (West 2009, p. 222)

’During the first five hundred years or so of the current era, India provided Cambodia with a writing system, a pantheon, meters for poetry, a language (Sanskrit) to write it in, a vocabulary of social hierarchies (not the same as a caste system), Buddhism, the idea of universal kingship, and new ways a looking at politics, sociology, architecture, iconography, astronomy, and aesthetics.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 17)

’All that remains, apart from all-important inscriptions on stone or metal, are those texts that were regularly recopied. These were mainly religious texts, the copying of which generated spiritual merit, various technical treatises on such subjects as agricul- ture, astrology and law, and court chronicles. In few of these, even the last, can be found any references, however, to political or even economic relations with China.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 35)

’During the first five hundred years or so of the current era, India provided Cambodia with a writing system, a pantheon, meters for poetry, a language (Sanskrit) to write it in, a vocabulary of social hierarchies (not the same as a caste system), Buddhism, the idea of universal kingship, and new ways a looking at politics, sociology, architecture, iconography, astronomy, and aesthetics.’ ^[1] ’It was also a reputable center of Bud- dhist scholarship during the latter part of the fifth and early sixth centuries.’ ^[2] ’All that remains, apart from all-important inscriptions on stone or metal, are those texts that were regularly recopied. These were mainly religious texts, the copying of which generated spiritual merit, various technical treatises on such subjects as agriculture, astrology and law, and court chronicles. In few of these, even the last, can be found any references, however, to political or even economic relations with China.’ ^[3] ’The earliest extant Sanskrit texts, from Cambodia’s Funan period, are undated records from the 5th century: undated Khmer inscriptions appear about a century later. Dated inscriptions in Sanskrit and Old Khmer start from the early 7th century. The Pre-Angkorian Sanskrit texts were generally short ‘literary gestures’ (ibid., 219), but by the Angkorian period, they used very sophisticated poetry, employing polished orthography and grammar, as in India. These display knowledge of Indian intellectual and political thought and of literature including the metrics of poetry (Majumdar 1953: xvii-iii; Bhattacharya 1991: 2-4; Pollock 1996: 218-220; Dagens 2003: 217).’ ^[4]

[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 17)

[2]: (Ooi 2004, p. 11)

[3]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 35)

[4]: (Lustig 2009, p. 107)

’All that remains, apart from all-important inscriptions on stone or metal, are those texts that were regularly recopied. These were mainly religious texts, the copying of which generated spiritual merit, various technical treatises on such subjects as agriculture, astrology and law, and court chronicles. In few of these, even the last, can be found any references, however, to political or even economic relations with China.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 35)

’During the first five hundred years or so of the current era, India provided Cambodia with a writing system, a pantheon, meters for poetry, a language (Sanskrit) to write it in, a vocabulary of social hierarchies (not the same as a caste system), Buddhism, the idea of universal kingship, and new ways a looking at politics, sociology, architecture, iconography, astronomy, and aesthetics.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 17)

’There can hardly be any doubt that the polities within Cambodia from the 7th to the 13th centuries were mainly agrarian, their development of written records very high for the period, these records largely concerned with economic and administrative matters, and that by the Angkor period temples had political and economic managerial functions. The notable Southeast Asian societies without an impressive epigraphic tradition, such as Funan, Srivijaya, Ayutthaya, and Pregu, were preeminently maritime trading polities.’ ^[1] ’The archaeological hardware of these vital centuries is provided by the surviving temples, reservoirs and rice fields, but the social software has to be teased out of the surviving inscriptions. Carved onto stone stelae, these were inscribed in Sanskrit and old Khmer languages. Nearly all relate to the foundation and administration of a temple. They regularly refer to a ruler or the title and name of a local grandee associated with the temple foundation and its maintenance. The Khmer text includes information on rice fields, their boundaries, donations of surplus products to the temple, and the number and duties of individuals assigned to its support.’ ^[2] ’From 550 AD, a network of powerful chiefdoms emerged in the interior of Cambodia, under the generic name Chenla. By this period, paramounts were setting up inscriptions to record their august genealogies and achievements. These were carved in Sanskrit, but some texts were written in Old Khmer. These provide us with a vital glimpse of the religious beliefs under the veneer of Hindu worship.’ ^[3] ’The Sanskrit text began with a eulogy of the king, if it was a royal foundation, followed by a list of donations, such as workers and land, which was written in Khmer.’ ^[4]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, p. 99)

[2]: (Higham 2014, p. 830)

[3]: (Higham 2011, p. 475)

[4]: (Higham 2014b, p. 293)

This is not history in the modern sense, but it is a particular telling of the past. ’All that remains, apart from all-important inscrip- tions on stone or metal, are those texts that were regularly recopied. These were mainly religious texts, the copying of which generated spiritual merit, various technical treatises on such subjects as agricul- ture, astrology and law, and court chronicles. In few of these, even the last, can be found any references, however, to political or even economic relations with China.’ ^[1] ’Court chronicles in the Theravada Buddhist kingdoms of mainland Southeast Asia were not composed as objective historical records. On the contrary, they formed part of the royal regalia of legitimation. They recorded the ruler’s genealogy, his marriage alliances and his meritorious deeds, all of which were intended to reinforce his right to rule in the eyes of his subjects.’ ^[2]

[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 35)

[2]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, pp. 35-36)

Records from the early Funan period are scarce. ’The earliest extant Sanskrit texts, from Cambodia’s Funan period, are undated records from the 5th century: undated Khmer inscriptions appear about a century later. Dated inscriptions in Sanskrit and Old Khmer start from the early 7th century. The Pre-Angkorian Sanskrit texts were generally short ‘literary gestures’ (ibid., 219), but by the Angkorian period, they used very sophisticated poetry, employing polished orthography and grammar, as in India. These display knowledge of Indian intellectual and political thought and of literature including the metrics of poetry (Majumdar 1953: xvii-iii; Bhattacharya 1991: 2-4; Pollock 1996: 218-220; Dagens 2003: 217).’ ^[1]

[1]: (Lustig 2009, p. 107)

Indian calendrical system. "With the Sanskritization of personal names came the Indian calendrical system..." ^[1]

[1]: (Higham 1989, p. 248)

In Sukhothai (in northern Thailand) where a large quantity
of cowries from the Maldives was unearthed, many inscriptions composed between 1292 and 1400 have demonstrated cowries as a measure of value in Thai society.54 Cowries were used for religious dedications and for the purchase of cheap goods such as cloth and lamps, but also expensive deals such as land. To be true, the use of cowrie money in Thailand did not end until the latter part of the nineteenth century. The situation east of Siam seemed very different, as the cowrie currency was not found either in Cambodia or in Cochin China. ^[1]

[1]: (Yang 2011, p. 13)

’The city [near the modern Vietnamese village of Oc-Eco in the Mekong Delta] probably provided warehousing for goods in transit between India and China and was an outlet for products collected from the forested interior of Cambodia and Vietnam. Until the twentieth century, forest products and precious metals made up the bulk of Cambodia’s export trade. These included gold, elephants, ivory, rhinoceros horn, kingfisher feathers, wild spices like cardamom, and forest products such as lacquer, hides, and aromatic wood.’ ^[1] ’They described a country to the south ruled by a king who resided in a palace in a walled settlement.’ ^[2] "Taxes are paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes. They have books and repositories of archives and other things. Their writing characters resemble those of the Hu (i.e. the Indians)". (Pelliot, ibid, p. 254) ^[3] Chinese sources from the 5th century CE estate that "In Funan, they always use gold in their transactions". ^[4]

[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 19)

[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 51)

[4]: (Wicks 1992, p. 184)

Barter was the normal market exchange mechanism. After the Angkor period, gold coins marked with symbols made their appearance, but until then gold or silver ingots with measured weights functioned as currency (the earliest evidence of the use of bullion in exchange dates from the period of the "Fu-nan").’ ^[1]

[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.176)

’The 1st to 5th century site of Oc Eo on Vietnam’s coast, then on the east-west maritime trade route, has produced, among other artefacts, a Vishnuite silver coin and a Roman gold medallion (Malleret 1959-62; Coe 2003; 66-67), but there is no evidence that Funan minted its own coinage (Sahai 1971: 94; Wicks 1992: 186). Indeed, the Chinese reported that taxes in Funan were paid in gold, silver, pearls and perfumes (Pelliot 1903: 252).’ ^[1] Higham, however, points out that " A local coinage developed with motifs including the sun and shellfish. It did not survive the life of Funan, however. ^[2] Wicks sustains that there was no local coinage, but acknowledges the presence of Burmese or Thai coinage. ^[3]
’Strong evidence against the importance of trade or markets is the absence of money in post-6th-century Cambodia in contrast to Funan which had coinage’ ^[4] ’Neither is there reference to coinage, although precious metals are mentioned as objects of exchanges among donors and temples. The lack of coinage seems confirmed by the inability of archaeologists or architects excavating and restoring temples to discover any coins which may be dated between the end of the Funan and the post-Angkor period.’<re>(Vickery 1998, p. 275); ’Barter was the normal market exchange mechanism. After the Angkor period, gold coins marked with symbols made their appearance, but until then gold or silver ingots with measured weights functioned as currency (the earliest evidence of the use of bullion in exchange dates from the period of the "Fu-nan").’ ^[5] ’Coinages were arguably introduced into Southeast Asia to expand the economies of early Indianised polities, including Funan, and to enhance the status of rulers. The absence of coins in later polities, such as Pagan and Angkor, is attributed to the redistribution of surplus wealth through the temples and monasteries, rather than the royal courts (Gutman 1978: 8-10)’ ^[6]

[1]: (Lustig 2009, p. 82)

[2]: (Higham 2004b, p. 27)

[3]: (Wicks 1992, p. 186)

[4]: (Vickery 1998, p. 314)

[5]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.176)

[6]: (Lustig 2009, p. 95)

’Two Roman medallions of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius (121-180 C.E.) and Antoninus Pius (86-161 C.E.), together with carnelian ornaments, evi- dence trade involving the Roman Empire. There are also Iranian COINAGE and a Chinese mirror.’ ^[1] ’Roman coins found at the site [near the modern Vietnamese village of Oc-Eco in the Mekong Delta] and at Angkor Borei date from the second and third centuries, and some Indian artefacts, including seals and jewelry, can be dated to the same period.’ ^[2] ’There were two Roman medallions bearing the images of Marcus Aurelius (161-180) and Antonius Pius (138-161), Iranian coinage, and rings and seals bearing inscriptions in the Brahmi script of India.’ The style of the Indian writings covers the first to the fifth centuries AD.’ ^[3] ’The first extends approximately from the first to the third centuries AD and provides firm evidence of trade within the region and also with India and beyond, since a gold medallion depicting the Roman emperor Antonius Pius and dated 152 AD was among the items unearthed. At this level there was no sign of Hinduism or Buddhism.’ ^[4] ’The coinage found at the O ́ c Eo excavations further substantiates O ́ c Eo’s contacts with the regions to its west (Malleret: 1959-1963, 3:948-49; Gut- man: 1978; Wicks: 1985, 196-99; Miksic: 2003a, 23-24). Notable among the coins recovered, most of which date to the second-to-fourth-century period, are silver conch/Srivatsa (an auspicious Indian symbol of fertility and abundance usually associated with Sri Laksmi or a tuft of hair on Visnu’s chest) weighing 8.3 to 8.6 grams, as well as later Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins weighing 9.2 to 9.4 grams, all of which originated in the coastal region of southern Burma. At O ́ c Eo, sixty-eight to seventy wedge-shaped pieces cut from Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins were recovered, and it is thought that the cut portions were used as fractional coinage in local marketplace transactions. Since no similar cut portions of the Burma silver coins (or of any other coin- age from that era) have been recovered in Burma or Thailand, this evidence substantiates the Funan coast’s greater importance at this time, due to its need for smaller-denomination currency to sustain local exchange (Wicks: 1985, 196-99; Miksic: 2003a, 24).’ ^[5]

[1]: (Higham 2004, p. 246)

[2]: (Chandler 2008, p. 19)

[3]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[4]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 52)

[5]: (Hall 2010, p. 58)

The earliest text records a transaction between a chief and his followers in which fruits and animals were given out of respect and adoration, trend that shifted soon to payment of taxes in luxury goods. Common exchange articles for payment were gold, silver, and scented woods. ^[1] Later inscriptions suggest the existence of a well developed barter system where cloth and silver were used as the main basis for trade. For example, "the exchange goods given for the land and other gifts is paddy but its value is expressed in terms of silver and cloth which thus appear to have almost monetary value. [...] ’A rice field near the tank of Devacila. The barter for it is paddy. The value of this is 5 ounces of silver and a yau of double cloth’. ^[2] . Other exchange rates are recorded as well: ’honey is given to buy oil, cloth to buy syrup, ... cotton to buy ginger conserve’. ^[3] Although this references are from the late Funanese period, it suggests that there was a developed exchange system.

[1]: (Wicks 1992, p. 186)

[2]: (Jacob 1979, p. 415)

[3]: (Jacob 1979, p. 414)

unknown: Though Hendrickson points to the need of using couriers for quick communication as empires expand, ^[1] it doesn’t seem that there has been relevant work conducted on this matter in relation to early Funan.

[1]: (Hendrickson 2007, p. 32)

unknown: Though Hendrickson points to the need of using couriers for quick communication as empires expand, ^[1] it doesn’t seem that there has been relevant work conducted on this matter in relation to early Funan.

[1]: (Hendrickson 2007, p. 32)

unknown: Though Hendrickson points to the need of using couriers for quick communication as empires expand, ^[1] it doesn’t seem that there has been relevant work conducted on this matter in relation to early Funan.

[1]: (Hendrickson 2007, p. 32)

’They make their enclosures of wooden palisades.’ ^[1] ’This extraordinary site [Oc Eo] comprises a rectangular enceinte measuring 3 by 1.5 km. It lies behind five ramparts and four moats, and covers an area of 450 ha.’ ^[2]

[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 58)

[2]: (Higham 2014, p. 279)

Walls found at Oc Eco are brick i.e. mud wall so counts as a rampart rather than a stone wall.

Walls found at Oc Eco are brick i.e. mud wall so counts as a rampart rather than a stone wall.

This refers to the Mun River Valley in Thailand, an area outside the NGA but tightly linked to the development of Angkor: The sites were preferentially located next to stream channels, and the construction of banks permitted water to be controlled and retained in the immediate surrounds of each settlement. Water is essential to life in the dry season of northeast Thailand. The broad moats not only assured the water supply, but also augmented the availability of fish and shellfish. They would also have been at least a deterrent to surprise attacks from rival groups. The presence of iron weaponry leaves little doubt that conflict was on the rise, although the evidence is not as clear cut as for the contemporary site of Phum Snay in northern Cambodia, where the many skeletons discarded by looters bear the scars of fighting (Domett et al. 2011). ^[1] For Funan: ’They described a country to the south ruled by a king who resided in a palace in a walled settlement.’ ^[2] ’It has also been observed that the Chinese text designates Funan as a kuo, a term which should translate as "principality" rather than "kingdom". A kuo was usually of a limited extent and could even designate a fortified town (Stein, Le Lin-ye, p. 119).’ ^[3] ’The early sedentary people used copper and bronze tools from at least 1500 BC. One thousand years later, these people—or others like them—lived in fortified settlements, using iron tools, in sophisticated social systems made possible by the creation of a social surplus product based on efficient agriculture and animal husbandry.’ ^[4] ’We have a detailed description of an early South-east Asian trading state, following a visit to the Mekon Delta by Kang Tai, an an emissary of the Chinese emperor. Sent to explore a maritime trade route in the third century AD, he encountered a state controlled by a ruling dynasty, with its own legal and taxation systems, which kept written records, and defended cities.’ ^[5] ’This extraordinary site [Oc Eo] comprises a rectangular enceinte measuring 3 by 1.5 km. It lies behind five ramparts and four moats, and covers an area of 450 ha.’ ^[6] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ ^[7] However, O’Reilly has pointed out that the enclosure that surrounds Angkor Borei does not have any indication of having been used for military purposes. ^[8]

[1]: (Higham 2012: 282)

[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 46)

[4]: (Tully 2005, p. 8)

[5]: (Higham 2011, pp. 474-475)

[6]: (Higham 2014, p. 279)

[7]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)

[8]: (O’Reilly 2007, p. 107)

There are no indications that the wall surrounding Angkor Borei was used as a defensive mechanism, there are no guardhouses, gateways, or bastions which may indicate that the wall was not made for military purposes. ^[1]

[1]: (O’Reilly 2007, p. 107)

’The picture [of the Funan] is one of small town-states, moated, fortified and frequently in conflict with each other.’ ^[1] ’This extraordinary site [Oc Eo] comprises a rectangular enceinte measuring 3 by 1.5 km. It lies behind five ramparts and four moats, and covers an area of 450 ha.’ ^[2]
’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ ^[3] ’The river which flows there today was formerly a canal which functioned as a moat and a harbour, and ran about halfway around the outskirts of town.’ ^[4] ’Angkor Borei, a city covering about 300 hectares (750 acres), located above the Mekong Delta in Cambodia mayonee have been the capital of a state called FUNAN. The city had been occupied as early as the fourth century B.C.E. and was a major center. It is ringed by a brick wall and a moat. Chinese visitors to the region in the third century C.E. described a capital of a state called Funan, and Angkor Borei, which was linked to OC EO and other delta settlements by a canal, may well have been such a regal centre.’ ^[5] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ ^[6]

[1]: (Freeman and Jacques 1999, p. 8)

[2]: (Higham 2014, p. 279)

[3]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[4]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p, 57)

[5]: (Higham 2004, p. 17)

[6]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)

’The picture [of the Funan] is one of small town-states, moated, fortified and frequently in conflict with each other.’ ^[1] ’There is considerable evidence for conflict and the imposition of hegemony by one group over another in Southeast Asia from earliest times. From the Angkor period (after 800CE), there is ample evidence of conflict, both from inscriptions (Finot 1925; Jacques 1986) and bas-reliefs (Chetwin 2001; Clark 2007; Coedés 1932; Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007; Le Bonheur & Poncar 1993). Accounts from Chinese histories provide indirect evidence for conflict in the earlier period too. One indicates that settlements in the polity of Funan, located in the Mekong Delta, were fortified. Another reveals that missions were sent to China by a number of polities conquered by Chenla, the power that superseded Funan in Cambodia, after CE 650-6 (Tuan-Lin 1876).’ ^[2]

[1]: (Freeman and Jacques 1999, p. 8)

[2]: (Dommet et al 2011, p.441)

’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ ^[1] ’In the second phase, housing on stilts makes its appearance in the plain itself. Funerary monuments have been discovered, betokening to the emergence of "chiefdoms", together with evidence of town planning at Oc-Eo, which was now supplied with an earthen enclosure rampart.’ ^[2] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ ^[3] ’Another text describing the kingdom, the Kinshu, begins thus: "There are walled towns, palaces and dwellings.’" ^[4] ’The ancient town at Angkor Borei was in fact a port linked by canals to both Oc-Eo and the river Baassac, a branch of the lower Mekong. It is said to have been enclosed within a rather irregularly-shaped wall forming a rough square some two by two kilometers. This was a veritable rampart comparable to that of the twelfth-century Angkor Thom. It was a brick wall more than a metre thick and six to eight metres high, lined on the inside by a ramp and a sentry path along the top.’ ^[5] ’Angkor Borei, a city covering about 300 hectares (750 acres), located above the Mekong Delta in Cambodia mayonee have been the capital of a state called FUNAN. The city had been occupied as early as the fourth century B.C.E. and was a major center. It is ringed by a brick wall and a moat. Chinese visitors to the region in the third century C.E. described a capital of a state called Funan, and Angkor Borei, which was linked to OC EO and other delta settlements by a canal, may well have been such a regal centre.’ ^[6]

[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[2]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 54)

[3]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)

[4]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 51)

[5]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p, 57)

[6]: (Higham 2004, p. 17)

It seems that most of the features are canals, embankments, moats, or ponds/reservoirs:’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ ^[1] ’The river which flows there today was formerly a canal which functioned as a moat and a harbour, and ran about halfway around the outskirts of town.’ ^[2] ’Angkor Borei, a city covering about 300 hectares (750 acres), located above the Mekong Delta in Cambodia mayonee have been the capital of a state called FUNAN. The city had been occupied as early as the fourth century B.C.E. and was a major center. It is ringed by a brick wall and a moat. Chinese visitors to the region in the third century C.E. described a capital of a state called Funan, and Angkor Borei, which was linked to OC EO and other delta settlements by a canal, may well have been such a regal centre.’ ^[3] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ ^[4]

[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[2]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p, 57)

[3]: (Higham 2004, p. 17)

[4]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)

There are no indications that the wall surrounding Angkor Borei was used as a defensive mechanism, there are no guardhouses, gateways, or bastions which may indicate that the wall was not made for military purposes. ^[1]

[1]: (O’Reilly 2007, p. 107)

Rather, the use of copper/bronze during the MSEA Iron Age is concentrated on the decorative and ideational sphere (bells, bowls, drums, figurines, finger and toe rings, bangles, belts and ear discs), whereas utilitarian objects (adze/axes, knives, digging stick tips,ploughshares, and spearheads) are produced in iron/steel. ^[1] However, it is not clear from sources if these items are specifically found in this polity. Polity expert Charles Higham "I dont think there was ever a transition to steel but will ask the iron expert, Oliver Pryce for his view." (pers. comm. with Harvey Whitehouse 04/08/2017)

[1]: (Pryce 2014: 5)

The discovery of iron spears and arrowheads including one found lodged in the spine of a man lying prone, support this conjecture [evidence of fighting]. ^[1]

[1]: (Higham 2002, p. 214)

Their mortuary ritual was considerably more complex than that of the preceding Neolithic 2. Burial 569, for example, was cut deeply into the substrate, and the young woman was interred in a wooden coffin with a pointed end resembling that of a boat. Fourteen finely-made pots had been placed within and outside the coffin. She wore a shell bangle, and over 2000 shell disc beads were found as belts and necklaces. She was also interred with several probably symbolic bivalve shells, two positioned beside the hands. A socketed copper-base axe had been placed beside her head. ^[1]

[1]: (higham 2012: 271)

An Iron Age settlement in Cambodia yielded a bronze helmet inlaid with gold, and evidence of bronze and iron weaponry. ^[1]

[1]: (Higham 2002, p. 214)

No references in the literature.

No references in the literature.

Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of slings. ^[1]

[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GAJMIR4G.

According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ ^[1]

[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)

The discovery of iron spears and arrowheads including one found lodged in the spine of a man lying prone, support this conjecture [evidence of fighting]. ^[1] Not clear that the spear is a thrown weapon however. Uncertain if the spears in this period were used a thrown weapons.

[1]: (Higham 2004b, p. 21)

Firearms were not known in this region until around 1600 CE. ’The arms that [the Khmer] bore were substantially like those wielded by Classic warriors, with the addition of firearms and canon (after 1600). Again the principle of five ruled, as there were five corps: the vanguard, the rear guard, the right flank, the left flank, and the central corps or main body of the army, where the king kept himself with his war elephants. These animals were strengthened magically from time to time by bring sprayed with water mixed with human bile (or so say our sources); magical ideas also led the warriors to cover themselves with protective amulets. The king would be surrounded by Brahmins who conducted ritual ablutions, and by soothsayers who were consulted on the placement of military camps and for auspicious days for military operations.’ ^[1] ’The only major novelty is the appearance at the Bayon and Banteay Chmar of war machines which put the army a step up the ladder of technical prowess. But we are still far from the appearance of firearms.’ ^[2]

[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 219)

[2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 37)

Canon and gunpowder were not known in this region until around 1600 CE. ’Military campaigns were probably conducted in the Post-Classic period as they had been during the Classic Era, but on a lesser scale: it is doubtful if any king of Lovek or Udong could muster the armies that were fielded by rulers like Suryavarman II. There was no standing army - in times of war, the patron was expected to muster a force of his clients, and place himself or an officer designated by the king at the head. The arms that they bore were substantially like those wielded by Classic warriors, with the addition of firearms and canon (after 1600). Again the principle of five ruled, as there were five corps: the vanguard, the rear guard, the right flank, the left flank, and the central corps or main body of the army, where the king kept himself with his war elephants. These animals were strengthened magically from time to time by bring sprayed with water mixed with human bile (or so say our sources); magical ideas also led the warriors to cover themselves with protective amulets. The king would be surrounded by Brahmins who conducted ritual ablutions, and by soothsayers who were consulted on the placement of military camps and for auspicious days for military operations.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 219)

A crossbow mechanism was found in Lang Vac cemetery, a site from the Dong Son culture in central Vietnam. ^[1] Though the Lang Vac cemetery is not part of the Funanese polity, it lies within the area of contact and points to possible knowledge of crossbows in Funan.

[1]: (Higham 2002, p. 176)

Inferred from the absence of composite bows in the subsequent polities, and not specifically mentioned in the sources.

New World weapon.

Inferred from the absence of war clubs in the previous and subsequent polities, also not known as a weapon in this region (NGA). Applies to the NGA (Tonle Sap area). There is no evidence for war clubs, however, there is evidence of injuries that appear to have been made through blunt force trauma. The authors of the study conclude that there may be blunt weapons, it is also possible that the resulting injury was made through another weapon hitting against a helmet. "The trauma apparent at Phum Snay is a combination of blunt and sharp force but the large amount of healed trauma makes it difficult to match a specific weapon with the wounds (cf. Powers 2005). An examination of known weaponry from the later Angkorian period does not show a predominance of weapons that could inflict BFT". ^[1]

[1]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)

The following refers to a site that is in the NGA but not specifically part of Funan: O’Reilly et al. have documented a burial site in the Cambodian basin that dates from the Iron Age period (i.e. slightly before the Funan period). Given the evidence that follows and the fact that swords were known in Angkor, we can assume there were swords as well in the Funan period. "A range of weapons were identified in many graves, including long iron swords and projectile points. The majority of individuals buried with weapons were male. The swords found in these graves were over 1m in length and nearly 100mm wide near the hilt, similar in form to the late medieval claymore swords of Scotland. Smaller short swords were also encountered in some burials. Caches of projectile points found in burials appear to be of two types: long, narrow points and broad, leaf-shaped points. ^[1]

[1]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)

According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ ^[1] The following applies to the NGA region (Tonle Sap area): "A range of weapons were identified in many graves, including long iron swords and projectile points. The majority of individuals buried with weapons were male. The swords found in these graves were over 1m in length and nearly 100mm wide near the hilt, similar in form to the late medieval claymore swords of Scotland. Smaller short swords were also encountered in some burials. Caches of projectile points found in burials appear to be of two types: long, narrow points and broad, leaf-shaped points. ^[2]

[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)

[2]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)

According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ ^[1]

[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)

According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ ^[1]

[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)

According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’ ^[1] The axe was known in the region, hence there is no reason to believe that they wouldn’t have used them in warfare. Traditional Khmer weapons later depicted in Angkor include the a battle axe known as phka’k, which was carried by high ranking officials. ^[2]

[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49)

[2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007, p. 24)

’The acquisition of a calvary raised many more problems: horses had to be imported, perhaps from India-like those of the embassy of the Funan, Fan Zhan, received as a gift from the court of the Murundas around AD 230-240, most likely from China via Vietnam. This difficulty must always have acted as a restraint on the development of this corps. ^[1]

[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 173)

There is a reference in the Chinese text to tame elephants being brought from Funan. ^[1] Later accounts mention "chief of king’s elephant" as a duty for slaves. ^[2] This shows that the Funanese were using elephants as early as the 4th century CE, since elephants were known to be used in warfare and transport in the Angkoria period, we could assume that the practice started in Funan

[1]: (Vickery 2003, p. 112)

[2]: (Jacob 1979, p. 418)

No references in the literature.

No references in the literature.

There are no camels in mainland Southeast Asia.

’[...] protection, along with rainfall, is the sine qua non of peasant society: protection from enemies, from rival overlords, from the forces of nature. In recognition of this necessity, overlords in the time of Funan and throughout Cambodian history often included in their reign-names the suffix varman (originally "armour", hence, "protection").’ ^[1]

[1]: (Chandler 2008, p. 23)

There are shields and bucklers in the Angkorian period, but there are no references in the literature to shields found in archaeological contexts.

Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour. ^[1] Given that the later Khmer polity did not have scaled armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.

[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2)

Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour. ^[1] Given that the later Khmer polity did not have plate armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.

[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2)

Inferred from absence of limb protection in previous and subsequent polities.

Zhou Daguan mentions that in the 13th century the Angkorians did not use the hide of cow to make items, ^[1] which may be connected to religious ideas. If that is so, it is likely that leather items were not produced as far back as Funan, when the Indian religions were introduced. Cloth, on the other hand, is used by the Angkorian infantry in the bas-reliefs. ^[2]

[1]: (Zhou Daguan 2007, p. 73)

[2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007, p. 88)

Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour. ^[1] Given that the later Khmer polity did not have laminar armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.

[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2)

An Iron Age settlement in Cambodia yielded a bronze helmet inlaid with gold, and evidence of bronze and iron weaponry. ^[1] At Phum Snay looters reported finding skulls with bronze helmets; however, our excavations and subsequent excavations have not encountered such evidence. A shallow bronze bowl was found covering the right side of one female skull (O’Reilly et al. 2006b; O’Reilly & Pheng 2001; O’Reilly 2004), similar to a discovery at Prohear in south-east Cambodia (Reinecke et al. 2009). It is possible that similar burial behaviour has been misinterpreted by the villagers as representing helmets. A helmet would protect the cranium to some degree, perhaps providing an explanation for the large number of healed injuries. ^[2]

[1]: (Higham 2002, p. 214)

[2]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)

No references in the literature.

The following refers to a site that is in the NGA but not specifically part of Funan, where ornamental breastplates were found: "Although not directly indicative of violence, ornamental shoulder decorations, epaulettes, were also found in the graves of young adult males (Figure 7). The epaulettes were fashioned from shaped pot rims and shoulders, and some had iron in the shape of buffalo horns attached to them. These were found in two burials at the shoulder of the skeleton and many looted examples were encountered. It is interesting to note that the marriage of martial and animal motifs is apparent on the walls of Angkor Wat where soldiers in Suryavarman II’s army wear helmets depicting a range of different animals (Figure 8). Jacq-Hergoualc’h (2007: 85) states that ‘perhaps these animal figures corresponded to the desire of the warriors to place themselves under the protection of this or that revered animal’. It may be that these animals are regional or clan signifiers. At Phum Snay buffalo iconography was very common, especially in the form of finger rings, on bronze bells and on epaulettes. Buffalo bones were also commonly encountered in male burials as a grave offering (O’Reilly et al. 2006b). ^[1]

[1]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452)

’The importance of Funan as a maritime power is attributed to the king Fan Man or Fan Shi Man, whose reign has been dated to around 200 C.E. He is said to have constructed a fleet of ships and to have attacked more than ten kingdoms. Only three kingdoms were individually named, but all have been identified with the Malay Peninsula. These raids appear to have been an attempt to take control of the maritime trade flowing from India through the Malay Peninsula to China.’ ^[1] ’The most notable ruler holding the title fan was known to the Chinese as Fan Shih-man. He was recorded as a great military leader who defeated rivals and replaced then with his kinsmen to rule under him. He also led maritime expeditions against his ene- mies, but the extent of these campaigns is not known. The History of the Liang Dynasty describes how the ruler of Funan in the early third century C.E. “used troops to attack and subdue the neighboring kingdoms, which all acknowledged themselves his vassals. He himself adopted the style of Great King of Funan. Then he ordered the construction of great ships and, crossing right over the Gulf of Siam, attacked more than ten states.”’ ^[2] ’According to the Chinese chronicles, the Funanese also had a powerful navy, which suggests that they themselves ventured onto the seas to trade.’ ^[3]

[1]: (Southworth 2004, p. 529)

[2]: (Higham 2004, p. 109)

[3]: (Tully 2005, p. 12)

The use of boats is recorded in a Chinese text translated and published by Paul Pelliot in 1903. The text indicates that boats from Funan were made from a single log and that the head and the tail of a fish. ^[1] The use of canals as transport systems has been theorized by Higham who poses that "The way in which the canals link settlements also makes it likely that they were used to convey goods between the centres of population". ^[2] This Chinese text mentions that the Funan people were aggressive toward their neighbors, whom they sometimes captured and enslaved, but they were also expert smiths of gold rings and bracelets, silver plates, and bronze statues, as well as shipbuilders.’ ^[3]

[1]: (Pelliot 1903, p. 261)

[2]: (Higham 2002, p. 238)

[3]: (Miksic 2007, p.123)

’We should think of Funan, therefore, not as a centralised kingdom extending from southern Vietnam all the way around to the Kra Isthmus, but rather as a mandala, the power of whose capital in southeastern Cambodia waxed and waned, and whose armed merchant ships succeeded in enforcing its temporary suzerainty over small coastal trading ports around the Gulf of Thailand. What gave Funan the edge over other such centres of power was clearly its position astride the India-China trade route. Its power, however, is unlikely to have spread far inland. Further north, on the middle Mekong and on the lower Chao Phraya River, other power centres were establishing themselves that in time would challenge and replace Funan.’ ^[1]

[1]: (Stuart-Fox 2003, p. 29-30)