Champa Kingdom

Courtesy of Gary Theobald

The ancient history of Hoi An & My Son in Quang Nam Province and most of Central Vietnam is the history of the Lin Yi & Champa peoples - it is these ancient people who energized this area and given it the feelings which for centuries has attracted travelers.  This is the Indian part of the makeup of "Indo-China".

Hoi An is the only surviving Vietnamese port which remains intact as it was more than 200 years ago.  It is one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The My Son Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and today the most important surviving Champa ruins in Vietnam is about 40km by road from Hoi An.  Most tourists visiting Hoi An also visit My Son.  This is a tranquil place of healing & high energy - a place of feelings which attracts many people - My Son does not feel like modern Vietnam!

Earliest evidence points to Lin Yi origins from Borneo and the Iron Age around Sa Huynh around 200 B.C.

From the 192 A.D. until 1,400 A.D. this region was the commercial (Hoi An), political (Tra Kieu) & spiritual (My Son) heartland of first the Champa Kingdom which stretched from Danang down to Nha Trang (Kauthara) and later to Phan Rang (Panduranga).

The Champa people are ethnically the same Malay-Polynesian people as the Khmers of Angkor Wat, Cambodia - with dark skin, wiry hair and sunken eyes their physical appearance is very different from the Vietnamese.  Through wars finally the last of the Champa settlements was annexed by the Vietnamese in 1832 - many having fled to Cambodia and other countries within the region.

Thu Bon and Vu Gia rivers, some of the most important rivers in Vietnam, start in Laos and feed into Hoi An & Danang.  These rivers for thousands of years have been the commercial and cultural heritage of the area providing trading links between the highlands, lowlands and import/ export with other countries.  (There are plans to build hydro electric dams up river which would reduce water levels in the rivers and could destroy Hoi An and with it the tourism industry so critical to Central Vietnam!)

The Champas were great seafarers who owned ships and traded extensively with China, India, Java and other countries.  Their ships had similar lines to vessels still being used today.  The earliest traders were most likely from Borneo, Java & Indian. Later by 7th Century Arabs & Parsees (non-Muslim Persians), followed by the Chinese, Japanese, and by the 16th Century the Europeans including Dutch, Portuguese & British. 

Trade with China was along the second "Silk Road" - the sea route of "Nanhai Trade".  Nanhai (also called Panyu) was a Chinese port south of Canton (Guangzhou) at the narrows of the Pearl River.  Hanoi was a major port along this route and Cham Islands was commonly used for shelter, anchorage, fresh water, provisioning & trade.

The Autumn & Winter northeasterly monsoons carried sailing cargo ships from China and Japan on a reach.  On arrival these ocean going vessels were often anchored off Cham Islands.  Merchants stayed onshore in Hoi An - traded and waited for the Westerly or Southerly winds of summer before returning North to their homelands - again sailing on a reach.

During the 16th to 19th centuries Hoi An was a major trading port comparable to Macau and Melaka.  Increasingly Hoi An Bay became silted and shallow from sands carried downstream by rivers - about 150 years ago a new port was established 30km north in Danang. 

The Hai Van Pass (just North of Danang) acts as a natural barrier with two different weather systems North and South of the Pass.  Primarily Chinese influence came by land North of the Pass and to the South by sea first from India and later from the Muslim Arabs. 

In the 4th Century Buddhism and Hinduism both entered Vietnam through Hoi An from it's trade with India.  By the 10th Century the Champa people had moved from Buddhism to Islam - and today some Champa descendents in Malaka and Cambodia remain Muslims. 

Hoi An maintains a unique blend of ancient and modern Vietnam - with increased numbers of tourists it is quickly getting over crowded!  In comparison the tranquility of My Son remains.

Cham Islands (Cu Lao Cham)

Early Chinese charts from approx. 700 A.D. show that these islands, with excellent anchorage and shelter, were visited regularly during sea voyages.

Cham Islands (Cu Lao Cham) is the generic name given to the seven islands about 9 nautical miles off the coast due East of Hoi An.  These islands were sacred to the Champa people.

The largest island is Hon Lao with two fishing villages; the largest with piers is at Bai Lang, and the smaller and rarely visited is at Bai Huong (where we go for our Cham Island tours).  A number of tourist projects are supposed to be built along the leeward shoreline facing Hoi An - the other side of the island is too wind blown during the monsoon season for anyone but the military to survive!

The Danish Government through it's DANIDA program has generously donated funds and expertise to create one of Vietnam's first marine parks on the islands.  Snorkelling and diving are becoming increasingly popular tourist activities.

Today the Hoi An river inlet to the sea has a average depth of only 0.9 metres - making sea passage through the swell to Cham Islands almost impossible during the monsoon season!