South Indians were the ancient money bags in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh city (IANS Books)
05-Mar-2010
Source: Madhusree Chatterjee
New Delhi, March 5 (IANS) Vietnam - the bloody stage for a 30-year-war with France and then the US - was once home to a bustling Hindu settlement devoted to Shiva and Vishnu. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, was the business hub of the South Indian Chettiyar community that set up money-lending businesses.
'The relation between India and Ho Chi Minh city dates back to more than two centuries when the Chettiyars, the trading community from south India, first came to the city to establish their money lending business.
'Subsequently, when they flourished, they entered the retail trade and formed a place for themselves in local society. They were followed by several other trading communities and religious groups from India,' writes veteran journalist, scholar and social activist Geetesh Sharma in his new book, 'Traces of Indian Culture in Vietnam'.
Ties between India and Vietnam date back to more than 2,000 years when Hindu traders from the Bhagalpur region established the ancient Champa kingdom in central Vietnam, Sharma says.
The book, published by Banyan Tree Books Pvt Ltd, the English publishing wing of Rajkamal Publications, was released by ICCR president Karan Singh in the capital Wednesday.
The 77-year-old Kolkata-based writer, who has visited Vietnam 13 times, had been researching the historical ties between the two nations since 1982.
'Vietnam - once a household name in Kolkata made popular by Communist slogans such as 'tomar naam, amar naam, Vietnam' (your name, my name is Vietnam) - captured my imagination in the 1970s when I attended demonstrations against the Vietnam war in the city. I realised that Vietnam shared a lot with India - and Bengal,' the writer told IANS.
'The first lot of people who migrated to Vietnam during the first and fourth century AD were temple artisans and traders from Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. Hindu culture is still alive in Vietnam. Several communities of ethnic Cham people in the country speak a tongue that is a phonetic blend of Devanagari and Sanskrit. I also came upon a local theatre troupe which performs a version of Ramayana,' Sharma said.
The Vietnamese adaptation of Ramayana, 'Ms Sita', is woven around the lives of local prince Po Liem [KI-Media Note: Not Po Liem but Preah Ream!] , a local version of king Rama and his wife Sita.
'The king dies and the crown is passed on to the king's ex-wife's son. Liem and Sita are forced to live in the forest. Demon Riep (Ravana) falls under the spell of Sita's enchanting beauty and forces her to become his wife. Po Liem rescues Sita with the help of General Hanuman,' Sharma said, narrating the story.
But the Vietnamese Ramayana ends with a twist in the tale. Sita refuses to return to the palace with Rama and pledges that she would see him only in death. 'She enters the imperial palace to die in Po Liem's arms'.
Sharma has toured 17 ancient Hindu sites across Vietnam.
'Vietnam has at least 200 Hindu temples. Mysol, a Unesco World Heritage Site, alone had 40 temples before the Vietnam war; but bombings reduced their number to 20. The remaining temples have been restored,' he said.
Sharma also quotes new research to prove that Hindus had settled down along the banks of the Mekong river in southern Vietnam.
'It is an incontrovertible fact that by the time of the establishment of the Hindu Champa kingdom in central Vietnam, a large number of Brahmins, Kshatriyas and traders had settled down in southern parts of Vietnam.
'The Hindu caste hierarchy in Vietnam was free of Shudras. Recent excavations in a large area of the Mekong delta have unearthed relics of Hindu gods and goddesses - mostly Shivalingas and yonis,' he said.
Sharma said the Fu Nan dynasty, the ruling dynasty in the Mekong delta, was established by a Brahmin named Kaundinya from India.
'According to a Chinese version, Kaundinya, who came to Vietnam from India via Cambodia, married a local princess Nagi and founded the dynasty. Shiva commanded supreme obeisance among the Hindus followed by Vishnu and the Buddha. Subsequently, the Buddha replaced Shiva,' Sharma said.
(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)
05-Mar-2010
Source: Madhusree Chatterjee
New Delhi, March 5 (IANS) Vietnam - the bloody stage for a 30-year-war with France and then the US - was once home to a bustling Hindu settlement devoted to Shiva and Vishnu. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, was the business hub of the South Indian Chettiyar community that set up money-lending businesses.
'The relation between India and Ho Chi Minh city dates back to more than two centuries when the Chettiyars, the trading community from south India, first came to the city to establish their money lending business.
'Subsequently, when they flourished, they entered the retail trade and formed a place for themselves in local society. They were followed by several other trading communities and religious groups from India,' writes veteran journalist, scholar and social activist Geetesh Sharma in his new book, 'Traces of Indian Culture in Vietnam'.
Ties between India and Vietnam date back to more than 2,000 years when Hindu traders from the Bhagalpur region established the ancient Champa kingdom in central Vietnam, Sharma says.
The book, published by Banyan Tree Books Pvt Ltd, the English publishing wing of Rajkamal Publications, was released by ICCR president Karan Singh in the capital Wednesday.
The 77-year-old Kolkata-based writer, who has visited Vietnam 13 times, had been researching the historical ties between the two nations since 1982.
'Vietnam - once a household name in Kolkata made popular by Communist slogans such as 'tomar naam, amar naam, Vietnam' (your name, my name is Vietnam) - captured my imagination in the 1970s when I attended demonstrations against the Vietnam war in the city. I realised that Vietnam shared a lot with India - and Bengal,' the writer told IANS.
'The first lot of people who migrated to Vietnam during the first and fourth century AD were temple artisans and traders from Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. Hindu culture is still alive in Vietnam. Several communities of ethnic Cham people in the country speak a tongue that is a phonetic blend of Devanagari and Sanskrit. I also came upon a local theatre troupe which performs a version of Ramayana,' Sharma said.
The Vietnamese adaptation of Ramayana, 'Ms Sita', is woven around the lives of local prince Po Liem [KI-Media Note: Not Po Liem but Preah Ream!] , a local version of king Rama and his wife Sita.
'The king dies and the crown is passed on to the king's ex-wife's son. Liem and Sita are forced to live in the forest. Demon Riep (Ravana) falls under the spell of Sita's enchanting beauty and forces her to become his wife. Po Liem rescues Sita with the help of General Hanuman,' Sharma said, narrating the story.
But the Vietnamese Ramayana ends with a twist in the tale. Sita refuses to return to the palace with Rama and pledges that she would see him only in death. 'She enters the imperial palace to die in Po Liem's arms'.
Sharma has toured 17 ancient Hindu sites across Vietnam.
'Vietnam has at least 200 Hindu temples. Mysol, a Unesco World Heritage Site, alone had 40 temples before the Vietnam war; but bombings reduced their number to 20. The remaining temples have been restored,' he said.
Sharma also quotes new research to prove that Hindus had settled down along the banks of the Mekong river in southern Vietnam.
'It is an incontrovertible fact that by the time of the establishment of the Hindu Champa kingdom in central Vietnam, a large number of Brahmins, Kshatriyas and traders had settled down in southern parts of Vietnam.
'The Hindu caste hierarchy in Vietnam was free of Shudras. Recent excavations in a large area of the Mekong delta have unearthed relics of Hindu gods and goddesses - mostly Shivalingas and yonis,' he said.
Sharma said the Fu Nan dynasty, the ruling dynasty in the Mekong delta, was established by a Brahmin named Kaundinya from India.
'According to a Chinese version, Kaundinya, who came to Vietnam from India via Cambodia, married a local princess Nagi and founded the dynasty. Shiva commanded supreme obeisance among the Hindus followed by Vishnu and the Buddha. Subsequently, the Buddha replaced Shiva,' Sharma said.
(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)
21 comments:
OMG, my jaw just dropped to the floor! This person has been living under a rock?! The way that he/she keep making reference to Vietnam!
KI--Don't be stupid! The article clearly stated 2 centuries ago...not 2000 years ago! There were Vietnamese then, 200 years ago...The Vietnamese were in Prey Nokor around 1623 with the blessings of King Chey Chetta II who maried a Vietnamese princess named Ngoc Van.
Khmer Krom
Khmer Krom,
The fourth paragraph of the article reads "Ties between India and Vietnam date back to more than 2,000 years when Hindu traders from the Bhagalpur region established the ancient Champa kingdom in central Vietnam, Sharma says."
This article and Sharma's book contained serious historical errors. Saigon, formerly the Khmer city of Prey Nokor, only fell under Vietnam's control in around 1630. 2,000 years ago it was a Khmer city, so the Indian traders at that time established contacts with Khmer, not Vietnamese. About the Ramayana (Reamker in Khmer), it was performed by Khmer Krom, not Vietnamese and the name Po Liem was a mispronunciation of the name Preah Ream (King Rama)and Demon Riep (Ravana) and Hanuman are all characters in the Khmer version of the Ramayana called Reamker.
And Kaundinya, known in Cambodian as Preah Thorng and in Chinese as Hun Tien, was a Cambodian traders who came to Cambodia, probably 2,000 years ago, and married a Cambodian princess (Nagi) called Preah Neang Soma, known as Liv Yi in Chinese and founded a Cambodian kingdom. At that time, 2,000 years ago, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was a Cambodian city known as Prey Nokor. It only fell under Vietnam's control in around 1630 so Indian traders at the time established ties with Cambodian people and traders, not Vietnamese because 2,000 years ago the Vietnamese people were still settling in Yunan in China and Tonkin in the most northerly part of territories nearly Hanoi.
This article contained serious historical errors.
Ki, please review and make decision.
Thank you
Hi KI-Media readers, please dont be much annoy or interested with the writer.he is not internationally famous writers or historians like Goerge coedes,Adema le clare.etc.,what he wrote depends on his night dream as reference. he wrote this article when he was playing flute for cobra dancing around Vietname like mosquito net selling indians in Cambodia now. from battambang
Who is Madhusree Chatterjee?
I think this guy was already poinson by YOUN GIRL or he is crazy and silly? If this guy losses his conscience why they allowed him to post such a shit story?
Where is Vietnam in last 2000 years?
EVERY BODY KNOW THAT INDIAN VERY SYMPATHIZE WITH VIETNAMESE BUT DON'T WORRY CHINESE WILL TEACH INDIAN A LESSON IN NEAR FUTURE.
You have to read the book between the lines. When the author refers to Vietnam 2,000 years ago, in the period of Funan, he means the port at Oc Eov, the port city of the Funan period, that preceeded Zhenla, which became then the Khmer Empire from 9th century.
The Champa in central Vietnam also received Indian influence. At that time, Vietnam, to which the author referred, was populated by the indigenous people. We always consider Funan as the origin of the Khmer Empire. I think that the readers misunderstook and the authors did not make any mistake. The main sources of history during that period come from the Chinese Royal Chronicles.
Like Chey Chetta II, Madhusree Chatterjee who licked youn's puzzie that's why his brand become crazy and error.
Money talks. Yuon visited India secretely. Yuon bribed the miserable Indian to forge Khmer Empire History.
How stupid this Indian can be for saying that Yuon thieve invaders were Hindu?
Dear Lady & Gentlement,
Ho Chi Minh City the first formerly name is Prey Nokor the Capital of KHMER KAMPUCHEA KROM land and our land A cruel Vampire Yuonese / Vietnamese token over, but we hope that, we will get back our land for around next 12 years times.
I hope everyone must be care full about Yuonese / Vietnamese peoples tha robbery from China many years ago and they not change anything.
From Khmer in Australia.
India hate China more than anything else for supporting Pakistan for fighting the Indian military over Kashmir and Vietnam hate China more than anything else for supporting Pol Pot for fighting to regain Khmer land called Kampuchea Krom. As you can see here even during the cold war the Indian and the Vietnamese find some common ground in their hatred and their same cultural connection all the way back to the Stone Age! ahahhahahh
The Indian and the Vietnamese can't rewrite history but they rewrite their hatred, their common ground through politic, economic, and military! This is natural for any nation to do because it help them to conquer over their enemy!
Where are Vietnumbers come from?
Yuons are peoples.
Vietnumbers is country.
Youn came to live in Prey Norkor since Ah king chey chetta II ruled the country!!!!!!!
we all know the viet/youn migrated into khmer land of the mekong delta region about 200 or less years ago, before that time, the entire mekong delta region was khmer territories. that's why khmer people claiming the lands belong to khmer people, really!
and they always say ho chi minh city as formerly known as saigon, but the are so ignorant that going in history before that, it was known as prey nokor. but again, we never hear that mention in the articles, etc... surely, they try to erase history or something!
people need to quote history right, instead of shortcut referring funan as vietnam or something. this writer is so ignorant. we ought to educate him more and tell him to go back to study the history of cambodia and southeast asia, really!
ah chey chetta was a sdech stupid and ignorant, really! cambodian will always hated him for allowing the viet/youn to settle in the mekong delta region that opened up youn migration into khmer territories for the first time, then! he is known in our history book as the stupid, ignorant king or sdech pleu or sdech lgnoung(stupid king)! i have a feeling he was probably only 12 years old during his reign or something! thank god, that was history now!
I am not suprise by this article. To all khmer brothers, please don't pay much attention to foreigners. Indian don't know much about us. Khmer had cultural tied with indian thousands years ago, but very few indian knew about our history. They are influenced by muslims world for many centuries and that's why they had lost contact with far east.
He must be Yuon Indian metics was born in the jungle with the Tamil tiger fither, and vent to Hanoi U support by Hanoi GOV'T as well as Hanoi Idioligy to write the book to confuse the world oppinion according to Hanoi polici. Hanoi is trying to deviating the Khmer history, trying to change name of their nation, from Yuon to Anam to Yianam, to Vietnam today. They still doing it abd order Khmer new generation to call By VIETNAM name; they realy want to capetting the word YUON from history because this name had had a verry bad influant with the neighbour, as same the Siam coubtry.
But khmer' word nerver ever chnged, YUON and SIAM always.
geetesh sharma,who the heel are you???,where the heel you come from??? and what the heel `re you???.nextime,don`t let me see your scamp,stincky,ugly stupid and untrue history again.otherwise ,the whole world will not read your history tex books anymore.from me unesco staff.i`ll keep my eye on you silly man.
History is written by sponsored people. Geetesh sharma is one of them. He is also a masked person like us. Stays in kolkata and son placed in delhi... both in posh areas.
He knows how to use and throw.
Most of the history books are example of errors. So why are you firing GS.
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