THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIAThe process paralleled that which we have observed in South and
Central India. In its initial stages, however, it was not necessarily due to
Indian influence at all. Around the middle of the first millennium several of
such small states seem to have arisen in this way in Southeast Asia. They
have left only a few inscriptions and some ruins of temples; most of them
were obviously very short-lived. There must have been a great deal of
competition, with many petty rajas vying with each other and all wishing
to be recognised as maharajas entitled to all the Indian paraphernalia of
kingship. Indian influence increased in this way and in the second half of
the first millennium a hectic activity of temple erection could be observed
on Java and in Cambodia, where the first larger realms had come into
existence.
Though it is now generally accepted that Southeast Asian rulers played
an active role in this process of state formation, we cannot entirely rule out
the occasional direct contribution of Indian adventurers who proceeded to
the East. The most important example of this kind is that of the early
history of Funan at the mouth of the Mekong. Chinese sources report the
tale of a Brahmin, Kaundinya, who was inspired by a divine dream to go
to Funan. There he vanquished the local Naga (serpent) princess by means
of his holy bow and married her, thus founding the first dynasty of Funan
in the late first century. We have heard of a similar legend in connection
with the rise of the Pallava dynasty and this may indicate that Kaundinya
came from South India where the Kaundinyas were known as a famous
Brahmin lineage. A Chinese source of the fourth century describes an
Indian usurper of the throne of Funan; his name is given as Chu Chan-t’an.
‘Chu’ always indicates a person of Indian origin and ‘Chan-t’an’ could
have been a transliteration of the title ‘Chandana’ which can be traced to
the Indo-Scythians of northern India. Presumably a member of that
dynasty went to Southeast Asia after having been defeated by
Samundragupta. In the beginning of the fifth century another Kaundinya
arrived in Funan and of him it is said in the Chinese annals:
He was originally a Brahmin from India. There a supernatural
voice told him: ‘You must go to Funan.’ Kaundinya rejoiced in his
heart. In the South he arrived at P’an-p’an. The people of Funan
appeared to him; the whole kingdom rose up with joy, went before
him and chose him king. He changed all the laws to conform to
the system of India.^1This report on the second Kaundinya is the most explicit reference to an
Indian ruler who introduced his laws in Southeast Asia. In the same period
we notice a general wave of Indian influence in Southeast Asia, for which
the earliest Sanskrit inscriptions of Indonesia—discussed above—also
provide striking evidence. We must, however, note that even in this case of