Kingdom of Funan

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Kingdom of Funan (Chinese:  Fúnán; Vietnamese: Phù Nam; Khmer  Nokor Phnom), was the Chinese name of an ancient kingdom located around the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam and in southern Indochina. The name is found in Chinese historical texts describing the kingdom, and the most extensive descriptions are largely based on the report of two Chinese diplomats representing the Wu Kingdom of Nanking who sojourned in Funan in the mid-3rd century A.D.; however, the name Funan is not found in any texts of local origin, and it is not known what name the people of Funan gave to their country. Some scholars have advanced speculative proposals regarding the origin and meaning of the word Funan. It is often said that the name Funan represents a transcription from some local language into Chinese. For example, French scholar Georges Coedès advanced the theory that in using the word Funan ancient Chinese scholars were transcribing a word related to the Khmer word bnaṃ or vnaṃ (modern: phnoṃ, meaning "mountain"). However, the epigraphist Claude Jacques pointed out that this explanation was based on a mis-translation of the Sanskrit word parvatabùpála in the ancient inscriptions as equivalent to the Khmer word bnaṃ and a mis-identification of the King Bhavavarman I mentioned in them as the conqueror of Funan. It has also been observed that in Chinese the character ( nán, Vietnamese: nam) is frequently used in geographical terms to mean "South"; Chinese scholars used it in this sense in naming other locations or regions of Southeast Asia, such as Annam. Thus, Funan may be an originally Chinese word meaning something like "Pacified South", and may not be a transcription at all. Jacques proposed that use of the name Funan should be abandoned in favour of the names, such as Bhavapura, Aninditapura, Shresthapura and Vyadhapura, which are known from inscriptions to have been used at the time for cities in the region and give a more accurate idea of the geography of the ancient Khmer country than the names Funan or Zhenla which are unknown in the Old Khmer language. ...........................................................................................................................................