The distribution of the ancient Malay Kingdoms in Indochina from the first century to the fourteenth century from the context of the spatial and ethnoarchaeology

Abstract

The demographics of the Malayo-Polynesian people are not only spread within the Malay Archipelago but also into the Indochina Peninsula. The arrival of Hindu-Buddhist influence has led to the emergence of a system of kingship in the mainland of Southeast Asia, witnessing the emergence of several early kingdoms based on agrarian and maritime activities. Among these kingdoms were the Funan and Champa. These kingdoms were the earliest Malayo-Polynesian kingdoms to exist in the region, where both appeared at about the same time as early as the first century AD. These kingdoms dominated the Southeast Asian mainland for almost 1,500 years from their founding period in the first century AD until their demise in the 15^th century. Following the collapse, their existence was forgotten by history until it was rediscovered by French scholars at the turn of the 20^th century. However, efforts to rebuild knowledge about these two kingdoms still have many aspects that can be implemented such as from the perspective of spatial and ethnoarchaeological studies. This article will briefly discuss the history of Funan and Champa before discussing the impact of Indianization and its correlations with the artifacts and monumental remains, and the sociocultural practices of the Cham community today that have been passed down from the two early kingdoms through the lenses of spatial and ethnoarchaeology.

Keywords: Champa, Ethnoarchaeology, Funan, Indochina, Malayo-Polynesia, Spatial archaeology