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]

The capital continued to be transferred under subsequent dynasties.
Under the sixth (860-900) it was at Indrapura in the north: under the
seventh (900