Founding of Funan: Kaundinya and Queen Liuye
According to a legend recorded by Chinese envoys in the 3rd century, Funan in the Mekong Delta was first ruled by Queen Liuye, until a stranger from over the sea, Hùntián — whom some scholars identify with the Brahmin Kaundinya — overcame her with a magic bow and married her. Chinese records place the rise of Funan, generally considered the earliest known kingdom of Southeast Asia, in the 1st century.
- Date
- between 1 and 100exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Angkor Boreiapproximate locationtoday: Angkor Borei, Takeo Province, Cambodia · Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Participants
- Funan, Kaundinya I, Liuye
- Threads
- Southeast Asia and Oceania (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Hun Tian and Liu Ye; Kaundinya and Soma; Preah Thong and Neang Neak; Основание Бапнома; Лиуе
The earliest version was written down by Kang Tai, who, together with Zhu Ying, stayed in Funan in the mid-3rd century as an envoy of the Chinese kingdom of Wu; the Book of Jin gives a similar account. A spirit guides Hùntián’s ship to Funan; when Queen Liuye tries to seize the ship, he shoots an arrow from his divine bow through her boat, and she submits and becomes his wife.
Sanskrit inscriptions tell the story differently: in the inscriptions of Mỹ Sơn (657/658) and Baksei Chamkrong (947) the Brahmin Kaundinya marries Soma, the daughter of the nāga king, and in Khmer folklore the couple became Preah Thong and Neang Neak. Some scholars identify Hùntián with this Kaundinya; Cambodian folklore dates his arrival to 68. The legend itself cannot be dated and is usually placed in the 1st century.
Where Funan’s capital lay is unclear. George Coedès identified it with Vyādhapura, the ‘City of the Hunter’ of later inscriptions, but other scholars reject this; excavations suggest that the early capital was probably Angkor Borei, linked by canals with the port of Óc Eo.
Connections
Related events
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700 · Southeast Asia and OceaniaÓc Eo was the port of the kingdom whose origins the legend describes
Adjacent events in the thread
- Trưng sisters’ rebellionMarch 40 – 43 · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Boudica’s revoltbetween 60 and 61
- Roman conquest of Britain43 – between 83 and 84
- Great Fire of Rome19 July 64 – c. 27 July 64
- Martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Romebetween 64 and 68
- Nero crowns Tiridates I in Rome66
+ 5 events
Eastern Europe
- Roman–Bosporan War45–49
- The Alans appear on the Don and in the North Caucasusbetween 50 and 72
- Plautius Silvanus lifts the Scythian siege of Chersonesusbetween 61 and 66
- Rome recognises Aspurgus as king of the Bosporus14
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Balkans and Anatolia
- Missionary journeys of Paulc. 46 – between 57 and 58
- Thrace becomes a Roman province46
- Dioscorides’ De materia medicabetween 50 and 70
- Earthquake in Lydia17
- Domitian’s Dacian Warbetween 85 and 86 – 89
+ 1 event
Middle East and Egypt
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea40s … 70s
- Roman–Parthian War of 58–6358–63
- Reign of Vologases I51–78
- Crucifixion of Jesusbetween 30 and 33
- First Jewish–Roman War66 – between 73 and 74
+ 3 events
Africa
- Adulis and Aksum in the Periplus40s … 70s
- Roman annexation of Mauretania40 – between 42 and 44
- Nero’s expedition to the sources of the Nilebetween 61 and 62
- Temple of Apedemak at Naqabetween 1 BC and AD 70
- Revolt of Tacfarinas17–24
+ 1 event
Central and Northern Asia
- The Xiongnu split into Northern and Southern48
- The burials of Tillya Tepe (the Bactrian Gold)between 16 and 100
- Kujula Kadphises founds the Kushan Empirebetween 20 and 50
- Ban Chao’s campaigns in the Tarim Basin73–102
- Battle of Ikh Bayan and the Yanran inscription89
+ 2 events
South Asia
- Apostle Thomas in India (tradition)52 (?)
- Kushans conquer Gandhara and Taxilabetween 50 and 70
- Gandharan art: the first images of the Buddhabetween 30 BC and AD 100
- Reign of Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian kingdombetween 19 and 20 – c. 46
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
East Asia
- Envoys of Na receive a gold seal from Emperor Guangwu57
- Buddhism reaches China: the court of Liu Ying at Pengcheng65
- Liu Xiu restores the Han: the Eastern Han25
- Battle of Kunyangbetween June and July 23
- Red Eyebrows rebellion17–27
+ 3 events
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Latin America
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
- Emergence of the Moche culturec. 100
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Funan
- Wikipedia (English): Kaundinya I
- Wikipedia (Russian): Бапном
- Coedès G. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia / Ed. W. F. Vella; transl. S. B. Cowing. — Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1968.