The inscription of Vo-can is in correct Sanskrit prose and contains a fragmentary address from a king who seems to have been a Buddhist and writes somewhat in the style of Asoka.  He boasts that he is of the family of Srimararaja.  The letters closely resemble those of Rudradaman’s inscription at Girnar and contemporary inscriptions at Kanheri.  The text is much mutilated so that we know neither the name of the writer nor his relationship to Srimara.  But the latter was evidently the founder of the dynasty and may have been separated from his descendant by several generations.  It is noticeable that his name does not end in Varman, like those of later kings.  If he lived at the end of the second century this would harmonize with the oldest Chinese notices which fix the rise of Lin-I (their name for Champa) about 192 A.D.[331] Agreeably to this we also hear that Hun T’ien founded an Indian kingdom in Fu-nan considerably before 265 A.D. and that some time between 220 and 280 a king of Fu-nan sent an embassy to India.  The name Fu-nan may include Champa.  But though we hear of Hindu kingdoms in these districts at an early date we know nothing of their civilization or history, nor do we obtain much information from those Cham legends which represent the dynasties of Champa as descended from two clans, those of the cabbage palm (arequier) and cocoanut.

Chinese sources also state that a king called Fan-yi sent an embassy to China in 284 and give the names of several kings who reigned between 336 and 440.  One of these, Fan-hu-ta, is apparently the Bhadravarman who has left some Sanskrit inscriptions dating from about 400 and who built the first temple at Mi-so’n.  This became the national sanctuary of Champa:  it was burnt down about 575 A.D. but rebuilt.  Bhadravarman’s son Gangaraja appears to have abdicated and to have gone on a pilgrimage to the Ganges—­[332]another instance of the intercourse prevailing between these regions and India.

It would be useless to follow in detail the long chronicle of the kings of Champa but a few events merit mention.  In 446 and again in 605 the Chinese invaded the country and severely chastised the inhabitants.  But the second invasion was followed by a period of peace and prosperity.  Sambhuvarman (A.D. 629) restored the temples of Mi-so’n and two of his successors, both called Vikrantavarman, were also great builders.  The kings who reigned from 758 to 859, reckoned as the fifth dynasty, belonged to the south and had their capital at Virapura.  The change seems to have been important, for the Chinese who had previously called the country Lin-I, henceforth call it Huan-wang.  The natives continued to use the name Champa but Satyavarman and the other kings of the dynasty do not mention Mi-so’n though they adorned and endowed Po-nagar and other sanctuaries in the south.  It was during this period (A.D. 774 and 787) that the province of Kauthara was invaded by pirates, described as thin black barbarians and cannibals, and also as the armies of Java.[333] They pillaged the temples but were eventually expelled.  They were probably Malays but it is difficult to believe that the Javanese could be seriously accused of cannibalism at this period.[334]