Kingdom of Funan

Funan (Chinese: 扶南; pinyin: Fúnán) (Khmer: អាណាចក្រហ្វូណន) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianised state—or, rather a loose network of states (Mandala)—located in mainland Southeast Asia centered on the Mekong Delta that existed from the first to sixth century CE. 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, Kang Tai and Zhu Ying, representing the Wu Kingdom of Nanking who sojourned in Funan in the mid-3rd century AD.

Funan is known in the modern languages of the region as វ្នំ Vnom (Khmer) or នគរភ្នំ Nokor Phnom (Khmer), ฟูนาน (Thai), and Phù Nam (Vietnamese), however, the name Funan is not found in any texts of local origin from the period, and it is not known what name the people of Funan gave to their polity. Some scholars argued that ancient Chinese scholars transcribed the word Funan from a word related to the Khmer word bnaṃ or vnaṃ (modern: phnoṃ, meaning "mountain"), others however thought that Funan may not be a transcription at all, rather it meant what it says in Chinese, meaning something like "Pacified South".

Like the very name of the kingdom, the ethno-linguistic nature of the people is the subject of much discussion among specialists. The leading hypotheses are that the Funanese were mostly Mon–Khmer, or that they were mostly Austronesian, or that they constituted a multi-ethnic society. The available evidence is inconclusive on this issue. Michael Vickery has said that, even though identification of the language of Funan is not possible, the evidence strongly suggests that the population was Khmer. The results of archaeology at Oc Eo have demonstrated "no true discontinuity between Oc Eo and pre-Angkorian levels", indicating Khmer linguistic dominance in the area under Funan control.

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