Champa

At a time when British and French colonial powers were locked into fierce competition, in particular in the Middle East, Indian scholar R.C. Majumdar, himself a British subject, did not hesitate to travel to Indochina and to dedicate his monumental study: ​“To The French Savants whose labours have opened a new and glorious chapter Of the ancient history and civilisation of India: this volume is dedicated in token of respect, admiration and gratitude by the author.”

And in effect, Part II of the book consists of the transcription and translation into English of 130 Champa inscriptions that have been previously translated into French from Sanskrit (mostly) and Cham language by French scholars such as Abel Bergaigne, Barth, Louis Finot, or Henri Parmentier. The author, who readily acknowledged his ​“limited knowledge of Sanskrit and French”, notes that ​“regarding the study of Indian literature in Champa, it is evident from the published inscriptions that up to the tenth century A. D. the Classic Indian Sanskrit Literature was thoroughly studied, probably even to the exclusion of the native literature, if there were any. Sanskrit became the language of the learned and the indigenous tongue suffered a cold neglect. Not only were Indian books imported and studied but even new books were written in Sanskrit, and the name of at least one such book and an extract from it has reached us.”

In line with academic works of the time, the book centers on a chronological approach based on Champa dynasties. This allows to follow the fluctuations in the relations between the Cham and the Khmer kingdoms. While King Sambhuvarman was on good terms with the Tang China, sending embassies there in 623, 625 and 628, and was ​“on friendly terms with the Khmer King Mahendra-Varman who sent one of his ministers, Simhadeva as ambassador to the court of Champa”, the new dynasty founded by Jaya Paramesvaravarmadeva Varman at the end of the 10^th century retaliated to Annamite and Khmer invasions by inflicting ​“a cruel defeat upon the Cambodgians and took the town of Sambhupura. He destroyed a large number of temples there and distributed the Khmer captives among the temples of Srisanabhadresrvara.”

The author comments at length on the cult of the primordial goddess Yapu-Nagara (or Pu-Nagara, or Baghavati Kautharesvari. In 1256, for instance, ​“Princess Suryadevi, daughter of king Jaya Indravarmadeva, gave a sum of money for making a statue of the goddess, and also gave various ornaments of gold and silver to the goddess and prescribed regulations for the dancing girls [among them were probably Khmer female captives] employed in the service of the goddess”. The powerful goddess seems to have been for the Cham people not only the ​“Sakti” (consort) of Shiva but her equal, an ​“Ardhanari”, ​“i. e. an idol which represents Siva and Durga in the same body, prominence being given to the female part under Tantric ideas.” Incidentally, the last ruler of an independent Cham kingdom was a woman: ​“In 1822, Po Chong, the last king, unable to bear the oppressions of the Annamites, passed over to Cambodia with a colony of exiles, leaving behind princess Po Bia to guard over the so-called ​“Royal treasures of Cham” at Bal Chanar. She died a few years ago, mourned by her faithful subjects who looked upon her as the last emblem of their independence.”

Joining Henri Parmentier in the assumption that ​“the primitive Khmer Art was not only very different from, but also in a decidedly inferior state of development that the primitive Cham Art,” the author states in his introduction that ​“Champa has been selected as the subject of the first volume, partly because it is the remotest colony in the East, and partly because it is less known than Cambodge and Java on which general attention has been focused on account of the famous monuments of Angkor Vat and Boro-budur.” For the author does not embrace the idea of local, native elites embracing Indian religion and culture: according to him, the rulers of ancient Champa (or Cambodia) were actually Indian ​“colonists” who ​“kept up the tradition of their motherland. In ancient India people laid great stress upon the special privileges of wearing particular dresses and using particular conveyances, and these distinctions were granted by the king upon poets and other great personages in recognition of their loyal, faithful services. Traces of these customs still persist in the Native States of India, particularly among the Rajput States.”