Khmer beginnings
A) Origin stories
The founding of the kingdom of Funan
This is a retelling of a traditional creation story that was recorded in the third century CE by a Chinese
official, Kang Tai, who travelled to Funan.
Source 1
Legend has it that the royal house of Funan began from a divine dream had by Kaundinya. He dreamed
that a divine bow had been given to him. The bow led him to a ship that travelled to Funan where the
princess Liv Yi intended to take his ship. Instead, Kaundinya fired his magic bow which pierced Liv Yi’s
ship and defeated her. While he took over her rule, he married her and passed his kingdom to her son
when he died. This is why descent and property ownership is traced through the female line, unlike many
patriarchal societies.
Reference: Book of Liang, cited in Kingdom of Funan (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Funan
This tale was recorded in different versions over the centuries and still exists in modern Khmer folklore.
Some variations include the following:

The princess was the daughter of a Naga. Nagas in Indian mythology are serpent spirits who are
the patrons of water. In many versions of the story, the king of the Naga drank the floodwaters,
allowing the people to cultivate the land. Inscriptions at My Son (a temple complex in Cham —
now Vietnam) from 657 CE tell the same story using the names ‘Kaudinya’ and ‘Soma’.

A tenth century Khmer inscription describes the rulers of the empire as descendants of Kaudinya
and the daughter of Soma.

In some versions of the story, the Naga king drinks the sea and builds a capital for the couple.

In one version of the modern Khmer story, the Naga king gives the Brahmin the name
Kampuchea Thipdei, which means ‘king of Kambuja’ in Sanskrit.
B) Chinese records
Most of the information about Funan and Chenla comes from the records of the Chinese, who traded
with and sent official visitors to both kingdoms. Chinese texts described multiple capitals, large
populations, the economy, politics, the legal system and the way of life in Funan, including wooden
buildings and libraries.
Chinese records report visits of Funan ambassadors to China, bringing with them tributes of precious
metals and other goods, and performing music. The Chinese also report the conquests of the Funan
rulers and the expansion of Funan, especially along the coast of Thailand, which allowed access by sea
to the Chinese markets.
About the 6th century CE, Chinese records no longer mention Funan, but instead begin to include
descriptions of Chenla, a society that subsumed Funan.
Source 2
An account from the History of the Southern Ts'i (c.479 to c.501)
The people of Funan are malicious and cunning. They forcibly carry away and reduce to slavery the
inhabitants of neighbouring towns that do not submit to their authority. Their articles of trade are gold,
silver and silk. The men of noble families use Sarong made of brocade. The females cover their body in
a dress that passes over their head. The poor people cover their bodies with a piece of cloth. The
inhabitants of Fu-nan use golden rings and bracelets and silver vessels. They cut woods to make their
houses. The king lives in a storeyed pavilion. The houses are enclosed by a wooden palisade. The
houses are sometimes covered by bamboo-leaves, 8 or 9 ft. long. They also live in houses raised above
the ground. They construct boats 80 to 90 ft. long and 6 or 7 ft. wide, the front and back of which are
shaped like the head and tail of a fish. When the king goes out he rides on an elephant. The women also
ride on elephants. They arrange cock-fight and pig-fight for their amusements. They have no prison. In
case of dispute they throw a golden ring or egg in boiling water and the disputants have to draw them out
or they have to walk seven steps carrying red-hot iron chain in their hands. The hands of the guilty are
completely burnt, but the innocent do not suffer any injury. Sometimes the disputants are thrown into
water. The guilty sinks but the innocent does not. The country produces sugar-cane, pomegranate,
orange and much areca-nut. The birds and the mamalions are the same as in China. The character of
the people is good and they do not like war.
Cited in Majumdar, R.C. 1943 An Ancient Hindu colony in Cambodia, p37,
https://archive.org/details/kambujadesa030497mbp
C) Stone inscriptions
From the 6th century, the Khmer people and the people from
Champa began to inscribe information in stone. There are not
many inscriptions and the first inscriptions in the Ancient
Khmer language date from just after the fall of Funan.
These inscriptions were on the walls of temples and were
often Sanskrit poems such as the Indian epics, the Ramayana
and the Mahabharata. There were also inventories of temple
possessions and lists of the people attached to the temples —
the priests, servants, dancers and villagers — as well as
inscriptions providing some information about the rituals
performed inside the temples.
This engraving was found at My Son in modern-day Vietnam.
It is dated to 658CE, after the collapse of Funan but before the
formation of the Angkor/Khmer Empire. It contains the story of
Kaundinya in Sanskrit and describes a donation made to the
deity Vishnu.
e.JPG
D) Art and technology
The artists of Funan carved large freestanding sculptures in sandstone.
These sculptures were usually of Hindu deities.
Some vessels have been found from the period which indicates that
people from this area had both the technology and the maritime
knowledge to be seafaring and to participate in maritime trade.
ile:Visnu_
E) Archaeological evidence
Oc Eo (in modern-day Vietnam) was first discovered as ruins in aerial photographs taken in the 1920s.
Excavations in the 1940s found public buildings, a central place and evidence that the town was used as
a port. The town was surrounded by a large moat and ramparts. It appears to have been abandoned by
the middle of the 7th century. Archaeologists have also discovered another city near what is now Phnom
Penh in Cambodia.
Roman coins, items from Egypt and Persia, Indian jewellery and Buddhist religious objects have been
found.