Laotian Chams

Last updated

Laotian Chams
Urang Campa Laos (Western Cham)
ຊາວ​ເຜົ່າ​ຈຳ, Sav Pheoa Cham (Laotian)
Flag of Cham people in Laos.png
Laotian Chams.jpg
Map of Laotian Chams distribution. Vientiane Chams are represented by red triangles and Champasak Chams by blue triangles.
Total population
250–700[ citation needed ]
Regions with significant populations
Laos (Vientiane and Champasak)
Languages
Western Cham (native), also Laotian and Khmer
Religion
Sunni Islam (99%) and other religions (1%)[ citation needed ]
Related ethnic groups
Chams (mainly Cambodian Chams)

Laotian Chams are an Cham ethnic group living in Laos and holding Laotian citizenship. Most live in the Laotian capital, Vientiane, also in Champasak in southern Laos. They are the Western Cham-speakers related to the present-day Cambodian Chams.

Contents

History

A small number of Chams live in the Laotian capital, Vientiane,[ citation needed ] also in Champasak, near the Thailand and Cambodian borders. [1]

In fact, the relationship between the Chams and Laos has existed since the founding of the city-state of Champa, especially during the end of the Champa reign before finally being completely destroyed by Đại Việt especially in the 14th to 15th centuries and in the 17th century, where they were scattered. [2] Most of them fled to Khmer, but some also went to other places, namely to Hainan, where they now form the Utsul Muslims community, and also to Lan Xang (in present-day Laos).[ citation needed ]

In historical records, between the 1st and 9th centuries, Champasak in southern Laos was part of the Funan (which influenced early Champa) and then the Chenla before falling to Khmer. Archaeological research has identified the ancient city as Shrestrapura, a 5th-century AD pre-Khmer site. The city was at one time the capital of Champa. This can be seen around the Thailand-Laos border bridge across the Mekong River. In the vicinity are several Cham villages and ruins, the most important of which is Wat Phu which is also in Champasak. [1] The Chams in southern Laos at the time of their arrival had been absorbed and assimilated by the Khmer people in the Khmer Empire. [3]

Population

In Laos there are at least 250 to 700 Chams living mainly in Vientiane.[ citation needed ] Almost all of them are Sunni Muslims. In southern Laos and the Thai border some also practice animism and Hinduism with influences of Buddhism and Islam. [1]

They are few in number and relatively poor. However, the Cham have a strong sense of identity, which is why they built their own mosques, as followers of the Shafi'i school. Azahar Mosque in Vientiane is also known as the "Cambodian Mosque" or "Cham Mosque". Most of Chams those living in Vientiane today trace their origins to Muslim fishing villages along the banks of the Mekong River in Phnom Penh before fleeing in the 1970s. [4] Meanwhile, the Chams in Champasak have lived there for centuries and mingled with the Lao people. [1]

Languages

Their language is Western Cham. It is the same as the language spoken by the Chams in Cambodia. The other variety, Eastern Cham, is not spoken, or is very unlikely to be spoken. Nowadays they mostly speak Laotian.[ citation needed ] In Champasak, where the Khmer influence is quite large, the Khmer is used by the Chams there. [1]

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Cambodia</span>

Demographic features of the population of Cambodia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Laos</span>

Evidence of modern human presence in the northern and central highlands of Indochina, which constitute the territories of the modern Laotian nation-state, dates back to the Lower Paleolithic. These earliest human migrants are Australo-Melanesians—associated with the Hoabinhian culture—and have populated the highlands and the interior, less accessible regions of Laos and all of Southeast Asia to this day. The subsequent Austroasiatic and Austronesian marine migration waves affected landlocked Laos only marginally, and direct Chinese and Indian cultural contact had a greater impact on the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Laos</span>

Laos is a country in and the only landlocked nation in mainland Southeast Asia, northeast of Thailand and west of Vietnam. It covers approximately 236,800 square kilometers in the center of the Southeast Asian peninsula and it is surrounded by Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, and Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Laos</span>

This article concerns the systems of transportation in Laos. Laos is a country in Asia, which possesses a number of modern transportation systems, including several highways and a number of airports. As a landlocked country, Laos possesses no ports or harbours on the sea, and the difficulty of navigation on the Mekong means that this is also not a significant transport route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lao language</span> Kra–Dai language of Southeast Asia

Lao, sometimes referred to as Laotian, is the official language of Laos and a significant language in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Spoken by over 3 million people in Laos and 3.7 million in all countries, it serves as a vital link in the cultural and social fabric of these areas. It is written in the Lao script, an abugida that evolved from ancient Tai scripts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chams</span> Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia

The Chams, or Champa people, are an Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia and are the original inhabitants of central Vietnam and coastal Cambodia before the arrival of the Cambodians and Vietnamese, during the expansion of the Khmer Empire and the Vietnamese conquest of Champa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muang Sua</span> Former name of Luang Prabang, Laos

Muang Sua was the name of Luang Phrabang following its conquest in 698 by a Tai/Lao prince, Khun Lo, who seized his opportunity when the king of Nanzhao was engaged elsewhere. Khun Lo had been awarded the town by his father, Khun Borom, who is associated with the Lao legend of the creation of the world, which the Lao share with the Shan and other peoples of the region. Khun Lo established a dynasty whose fifteen rulers reigned over an independent Muang Sua for the better part of a century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakse</span> District & municipality in Champasak province, Laos

Pakse is the capital and most populous city of the southern Laotian province of Champasak. Located at the confluence of the Xe Don and Mekong Rivers, the district had a population of approximately 77,900 at the 2015 Laotian census. Pakse was the capital of the Kingdom of Champasak until it was unified with the rest of Laos in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Laos</span>

Laos developed its culture and customs as the inland crossroads of trade and migration in Southeast Asia over millennia. As of 2012 Laos has a population of roughly 6.4 million spread over 236,800 km2, yielding one of the lowest population densities in Asia. Yet the country of Laos has an official count of over forty-seven ethnicities divided into 149 sub-groups and 80 different languages. The Lao Loum have throughout the country's history comprised the ethnic and linguistic majority. In Southeast Asia, traditional Lao culture is considered one of the Indic cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Vietnam</span>

While the practice of Islam in Vietnam is primarily associated with the Cham people, an Austronesian minority ethnic group, roughly one-third of Muslims in Vietnam are of other ethnic groups. There is also a community which describes itself as of mixed ethnic origins, that practices Islam and also describes themselves as the Cham, or Cham Muslims, in southern Vietnam, mostly around the region of Châu Đốc or Ho Chi Minh City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Cambodia</span>

The largest of the ethnic groups in Cambodia are the Khmer, who comprise 95.8% of the total population and primarily inhabit the lowland Mekong subregion and the central plains. The Khmer historically have lived near the lower Mekong River in a contiguous arc that runs from the southern Khorat Plateau where modern-day Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet in the northeast, stretching southwest through the lands surrounding Tonle Sap lake to the Cardamom Mountains, then continues back southeast to the mouth of the Mekong River in southeastern Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Champasak</span> 1713–1904 kingdom in modern-day southern Laos and eastern Thailand

The Kingdom of Champasak or Bassac, (1713–1904) was a Lao kingdom under Nokasad, a grandson of King Sourigna Vongsa, the last king of Lan Xang and son-in-law of the Cambodian King Chey Chettha IV. Bassac and the neighboring principalities of Attapeu and Stung Treng emerged as power centers under what was later to be described as the Mandala Southeast Asian political model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Laos</span>

Laos is a Buddhist-majority nation with the officially recognised Muslim population approximately constituting 0.01% of the total population as of 2008 census. The majority of Laotian Muslims are Sunni. Laotian Muslims can be found in the capital, Vientiane, which has two mosques, as well as other urban areas such as Savannakhet and Oudomxay; the latter of which had a mosque constructed there in June 2016. Laotian Muslims are an ethnically diverse group, mainly consisting of ethnic Lao, Chin Haw, Chams, Tamils, and Pashtuns, with interracial marriages being increasingly popular. They are generally engaged in trade, agriculture, cosmetics, clothing and business though some have attained official roles with the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salavan province</span> Province of Laos

Salavan is a province of Laos, located in the south of the country. Its earlier name was Saravan which was changed by the Thais to Salavan in 1828. It was part of the Champasak Kingdom in an area known as Muang Mang inhabited by minorities of Mon-Khmer groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Champasak province</span> Province of Laos

Champasak is a province in southwestern Laos, near the borders with Thailand and Cambodia. It is one of the three principalities that succeeded the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. As of the 2015 census, it had a population of 694,023. The capital is Pakse, but the province takes its name from Champasak, the former capital of the Kingdom of Champasak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuy people</span> Ethnic group in Southeast Asia

The Kuy are an indigenous ethnic group of mainland Southeast Asia. The native lands of the Kuy range from the southern Khorat Plateau in northeast Thailand east to the banks of the Mekong River in southern Laos and south to north central Cambodia. The Kuy are an ethnic minority in all three countries, where they live as "hill tribes" or Montagnards. Their language is classified as a Katuic language of the Mon-Khmer language family. The Thais, Lao, and Khmer traditionally recognize the Kuy as the aboriginal inhabitants of the region. The word kuy in the Kuy language means "people" or "human being"; alternate English spellings include Kui, Kuoy and Kuay, while forms similar to "Suay" or "Suei" are derived from the Thai/Lao exonyms meaning "those who pay tribute". The Kuy are known as skilled mahouts, or elephant trainers, and many Kuy villages are employed in finding, taming, and selling elephants.

Vietnamese irredentism, also known as Ideology of Greater Vietnam, sometimes may be referred to as Baiyue Nationalism is an irredentist and nationalist claim concerning redemption of former territories of Vietnam and territories outside Vietnam that the Vietnamese have inhabited for centuries. Notable claims are usually made concerning territories of Laos, Cambodia, and Liangguang of China.

The Azahar Mosque, also called the Cambodia Mosque, Masjid Cambodia, or the Cham Mosque, is a Sunni Islamic mosque that worships in the Shafi'i school tradition, located in an obscure part of the Chanthabuly district of Vientiane, Laos.

Khmer Lao people or Lao Daeum are ethnic Lao living in northeastern Cambodia and western Cambodia. They are estimated to be 78.400 Khmer Lao native to the northeastern provinces of Cambodia.

The Cambodia–Laos–Vietnam Development Triangle Area is a growth triangle in the southern part of the Greater Mekong Subregion. The cooperation initiative was initiated in 1999 by the leaders of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and formalized in 2004.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Yen, Annie Chuah Siew. "On the trail of the Chams". museumvolunteersjmm.com. Museum Volunteers, JMM. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  2. "Cham Ethnic Minority Group". special.nhandan.vn. Báo Nhân Dân điện tử. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  3. Howard, Michael C. (2008). "Supplementary Warp Patterned Textiles of the Cham in Vietnam". Proceedings of the 11th Biennial Symposium. Honolulu, United States: Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "The Crescent in Laos: Muslims of Vientiane". islamawareness.net. Islam Awarness. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  5. "Samad Bounthong | Lao American Sports Hall of Fame". laoamericansports.com. Lao American Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2024.