Funan

A country located in the lower Mekong basin of the Indochina Peninsula. The country's name is thought to be a transliteration of "Bunam," which means "mountain" in Old Khmer, and the prevailing theory is that the people were Indonesian. The country was founded in the lower Mekong basin around the 1st century, and Fan Shiman (Funan Great King) called himself "King of Funan" in the early 2nd century. He extended his rule to the northern part of the Malay Peninsula in the south and lower Burma in the west. The Bokine stone pillar inscription from the same period, excavated in Vietnam, is the oldest inscription in Southeast Asia, and uses Indian Brahmi characters and Sanskrit, and the word Srimala in the text is thought to be the original pronunciation of Fan Shiman. After that, it prospered through maritime trade until the 7th century. The ruins of the city of Okeo are located southeast of the capital Byadapura (Tokuboku Castle, thought to be the present-day Banam), and was its trading port. Gold coins with images of Roman emperors, Indian Buddha statues, and Funan silver coins have been discovered there. In the early 7th century, under pressure from the Zhenla kingdom to the north, the kingdom moved its capital to Nalavaranagara (Nafutuna Fort, believed to be present-day Angkor Borei) in the south, and was destroyed in the mid-7th century.

[Kouzo Nakata]

"History of Indochina Civilization" by Sedes, translated by Karashima Noboru, Uchida Akiko, and Sakurai Yukio (1980, Misuzu Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

インドシナ半島、メコン川下流域にあった国。国名は、古クメール語で「山」を意味する「ブナム」の音写と考えられ、その民族はインドネシア系民族とする説が有力である。1世紀ごろメコン川下流域に建国し、2世紀初めの范師蔓(はんしまん)は「扶南大王」を称し、南はマレー半島北部、西は下ビルマまでその支配を拡大した。ベトナム出土の同時代のボカイン石柱刻文は東南アジア最古の刻文で、そこにはインドのブラーフミー系文字とサンスクリット語が使用され、文中のシュリーマーラは范師蔓の原音と推定される。その後、7世紀まで海上貿易で栄えた。都市遺跡のオケオは首都ビャーダプラ（特牧(とくぼく)城。現在のバナムと推定される）の南東に位置し、その貿易港であり、ローマ皇帝像を刻む金貨、インドの仏像、扶南の銀貨などが発見されている。7世紀初め北方の真臘(しんろう)国に圧迫されて南のナラバラナガラ（那弗那(なふつな)城。現在のアンコール・ボレイと推定される）に遷都し、7世紀中葉に滅亡した。

［仲田浩三］

『セデス著、辛島昇・内田晶子・桜井由躬雄訳『インドシナ文明史』（1980・みすず書房）』

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