The Champa kingdom once thrived in the area that is now central Vietnam. Their resources and skill allowed them to greatest goldsmiths of the era. However, centuries later, most treasures of the Cham are lost to history.
Rising to power in roughly the 7th century, the kingdom Champa dominated what is now Southern and Central Vietnam. Its peak ran through the 10th century, when then Cham people were a maritime power, controlling much if the spice trade along the region between Chine, India and ancient city of Hoi An as their major sea port.
Through their travels and trade, the Cham culture picked up strong influences from India and later the Arad world. Ultimately, their powers waned, and by 1832 Vietnamese Emperor Ming Mang annexed what little was left of the Cham territories.
Many part of their culture have been lost to history. What we do height of their civilization, the Chams created an abundance of ornate gold treasures.
Much of the religious iconography the Chao produced was decorated with gold. One of the characteristic features of the Cham art is the kosa, an ornamental piece often in the form of a Shiva head. These were usually decorated with gold jewelry, such as golden pieces of cloth inlaid earrings, or four-petal plum flowers in gold.
Archeological excavations at the Champa towers in Central Vietnam is the past decades like statues, waistbands, bracelets, earrings cups, knives and even books. Records further illuminate the extent of gold’s use, such as a stele found in a monastery in Quang Nam province, dated 875 AD, that records a gift from King Indravarman II of a Shiva head with its whole face in gold.
Jewelry for the common people was equally plentiful.
Approximately 1, 600 years ago locals already knew how to make excellent gold beads or rings with Hindu symbols such as Nandin heads or the sacred Garuda bird. They also created earrings with sophisticated turnover latches like those found in the South.
The objects confirm the abundance of gold available to the Cham people. They used the material in the large amounts in almost all constructions, most likely due to nature’s favors in giving this land many gold mines.
Disappearing Treasures
Considering the quaintly of the gold used in Cham culture, there is little left behind of their treasures today. Unsurprisingly, their objects were highly valued by invaders and traders, and carted off in sometimes staggering amounts. In his 1928 book Le Royaume de Champa (the Champa Kingom), archeologist Gaston Maspero quotes a Chinese historical text saying that in 446 AD the Chinese invaded and occupied Champa, collecting a large amount of precious gold objects to sand back to China. Their haul was later melted to yield an estimated number of 60, 000 kilograms of pure gold.
Another book, D.G.E. Hall’s History of Southeast Asia, tells of the attacks of the Javanese navy on Champa, taking away a gold Shiva statue bigger than a real man from a temple in Panduranga in Phan Rang. Yet another story reveals that on the Top of the Towers in Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh province there were two large balls made of gold. These, however, were stolen by the crew of a European commercial ship after an attack.
Some Cham artifacts can still be found in museum in Danang houses many sandstone and terracotta sculptures, along with pieces of jewelry, and the Vietnam History museums in Ho Chi Minh City also has a large stock of Cham and Oc Eo relics. Overseas museums such as the Zelnik Museum of Southeast Asian Gold in Budapest, Hungary and the Guimet National Museum of Asian Art hold large collections of Cham artifacts.
What remains of the Cham civilization and its wonders of gold, however, is just a tantalizing glimpse into a world we will never fully know. Pending a fuller discovery of their gold treasures we are left to wonder how life glittered at the height of the Champa kingdom’s glory.
This article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vietnam Heritage Travel
For original article, please visit:
No comments:
Post a Comment