The Rising Cham - Alternate Indochina TL

1. In Turmoil, The Cham Rise

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Ngô Quyền defeating the Southern Han

Ancient Indochina had been in turmoil. What is now northern Vietnam had been under the control of the Chinese Southern Han Dynasty, but with them defeated in battle, what is considered northern Vietnam was ruled by the Ngô Dynasty. However, this victory and unification were short-lived with the Vietnamese people, as the realm soon fell apart into civil war and anarchy. 12 warlords vied to unify the former Ngô Dynasty under a dynasty of their own, but only one would rule. In the end, it would be a general by the name of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh that would do it, one by one defeating warlords and finally unifying the former realm under the Đinh Dynasty in 968 CE. One of these warlords was by the name of Ngô Nhật Khánh, grandson of Ngô Quyền, who defeated the Southern Han in battle and became the first ruler of the Ngô Dynasty. Ngô Nhật Khánh, after he was defeated by Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, would flee to the Kingdom of Champa, south of whereof all of this was happening, biding his time to see if the situation north would change, and change it did.

Đinh Bộ Lĩnh would be assassinated, along with his eldest son and heir in 973 CE. It would be disputed if they were killed by a eunuch or a palace official, but no matter, either way, the Đinh Dynasty was crumbling. Turmoil again struck the land, as Đinh Bộ Lĩnh's younger son would take the throne at the age of five. As the generals took larger power in the face of a child emperor, the Song Dynasty was ready to take advantage of this situation. This is where Ngô Nhật Khánh made his move. He urged the Cham royalty to invade north, to exploit the Đinh Dynasty's weakness. King Parameshvaravarman I of Champa would agree with this request and sent a naval fleet to invade the capital and successfully landed at shore [*]. Although the Song had lost a battle against general Lê Hoàn, who had recently been named the new emperor in the face of invasion, the army was not prepared for another force that landed south from the capital. Lê Hoàn would attempt to crush the Cham before the Song could regroup, but the Cham had already taken Hoa Lư, the capital and pillaged it. The combined forces of Song and Cham would decimate the army of Lê Hoàn.


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Modern-day river gateway where the Cham forces entered Hoa Lư

The Cham and Song realms negotiated the situation of the former Đinh Dynasty. The lands were given to Ngô Nhật Khánh, with the Ngô Dynasty being revived. However, this gift was not given without sacrifice. The Cham would take all lands south of the Nam Ma River and the new Ngô ruler was to make a tribute to the Song emperor annually. The new political situation was quick in its arrival. The Cham and Song, with their previous negotiations, grew the beginnings of foreign embassies for one another. While former Vietnamese kingdoms in the situation of the Cham kingdom would request a subordinate status to the Chinese, most recently being the former Đinh Dynasty, the Cham stood firm in their independence and with their recent relations being majorly cooperative, relations with the Song were peaceful and the Cham were even able to gain a non aggression pact by doing some trade concessions.

Peace would be established for many decades. The trade between the Cham and Chinese merchants encouraged each other to not start a conflict with one another, and the new Ngô Dynasty would eventually fall deeper into chaos, as new warlords emerged to take power and the former Ngô ruler took on a passive role in his realm, similar to Japan's Emperor during the Shogunate times. However, this time the Cham and Song decided this can no longer stand and invaded the Ngô Dynasty, committing both genocide and assimilation. There was a mass exodus of people leaving to the western kingdoms, as the Song and Cham split the former Ngô Dynasty at the fertile Red River in 990 CE. However, the Chinese wanted to still have leverage in this relationship and not give Champa an advantage, so rice tributes to the Song were made. The population of Champa erupted as the new crop yields gave rise to more people. The Kingdom of Champa, although faced with a new rebellious population north, the population boost gave an advantage against Champa's new rivals to the west, the Khmer Empire, after the exodus caused tension between them.


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Song cavalry routing a warlord's forces

The first real sign of conflict was when a small Khmer force entered Champa, pillaging villages. This force was rebuffed by the Cham army and the Song Empire warned the Khmer Empire that if another incident like this happened again, they would be involved, in hopes to keep an ally in the south, so the Khmer Empire backed down. Later on, however, the Cham kingdom had taken advantage of the situation after the death of Jayavarman V of the Khmer Empire in 1001 CE, three kings ruled simultaneously fighting one another. One of Parameshvaravarman’s relatives succeeded him after his death, Jaya Indravarman IV, but he would not bear an heir, so one of the Cham noblemen, Sri Vijayavarman, succeeded him. This king would launch a raid down at the Mekong River, pillaging anything in his path while the three kings fought one another. It was said that they carried off women from one of the kings' entourage, gold, silver, and other precious objects.


"The return of the Khmer means bloodshed for us all." - A message (translated) sent to Sri Vijayavarman, later discovered by historians

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Cham soldiers in naval combat

When the Khmer Empire mostly reunified under Suryavarman I in 1006 CE. The new king was clear he was going to get back at the Cham kingdom for their raid. While the Chinese sent some economic aid for their conflict, no real troops could be sent. Sri Vijayavarman would not have it. He would ally himself with the Tambralinga kingdom, which was at tension with the Khmer Empire, as well as the Srivijaya Empire, all making a pact against the Khmer Empire. They would strike first, as Suryavarman was currently still fighting a claimant to his throne, leaving him distracted. It was said that the first conflict began where a Cham naval force intercepted a Khmer ship holding a chariot and burnt it to the ground. While in the beginning, the Cham struggled on the land, with Suryavarman invading Champa and northern provinces rebelling, those losses would be reversed and the combined naval forces of the three powers decimated the Khmer navy in decisive victories.

This war is called the Khmer-Cham War, being characterized by the epic sea battles that occurred, mainly in the Mekong River. The war would be over in 1008 CE after the Cham sacked the city of Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire, killing Suryavarman there and taking much loot. The Cham would take control of Cambodia lands east of the Mekong River. Srivijaya would take the cities of Chaiya and Phetchaburi, effectively taking control over the Gulf of Thailand. The Tambralinga kingdom would seize Nakhon Si Thammarat from the Khmer Empire. With the death of Suryavarman I, his rival who he was also fighting, Jayavarman, took the throne. However, he would face resistance, constantly facing rebellions and pretenders. Every day the Khmer become weaker and weaker, and the Cham ready to take their place as the rulers of Indochina.


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1008 CE, Indochina

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[*] In OTL, the Cham fleet was destroyed by a storm and was unable to be involved in the Chinese invasion.
 
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