Campā Epigraphical Data on Polities and Peoples of Ancient Myanmar

Arlo Griffiths (1) , Amandine Lepoutre

1 EFEO - École française d'Extrême-Orient

The inscriptions of ancient Campā written in Old Cam language show names that seem to denote certain polities and/or ethnic groups of ancient Myanmar: Pukām (Pagan) and Davāy (Dawei). Possibly they show a further polity but the term in question, Lauv, could denote ancient Laos, China or Lawa. Our recent study of inscriptions containing these names allows for the correction of certain mistaken historical interpretations that are currently accepted among scholars of ancient Myanmar. For more than a century, incomplete readings of one inscription, and the fact that other inscriptions had been incorrectly dated, have led scholars to believe that the oldest mentions of Pagan, dating from c.1050, were found in inscriptions of Campā. By bringing to light new data from previously unpublished inscriptions, this article aims to update the understanding of epigraphical data from Campā relevant to ancient Myanmar and to relations between Myanmar polities, Campā, and other polities of mainland Southeast Asia also mentioned in Campā inscriptions.

Mots clés: Campā; Cam language; Epigraphy; Myanmar

Domaines: Histoire; Archéologie et Préhistoire; Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie

Arlo Griffiths, Amandine Lepoutre. Campā Epigraphical Data on Polities and Peoples of Ancient Myanmar. Journal of Burma Studies, 2013, 17 (2), pp.373-390. ⟨halshs-01958963⟩