Funan - the first Southeast Asian state

Funan was the first important Southeast Asian mandala state which flourished from the 3rd through 6th centuries AD. Centered in southern Vietnam, Funan was in regular contact with China. It had become extensively Indianized, esttemed literacy, planned masterful irrigation systems and was probably organized by a branch of the Khmer people who likely dominated that area. It was apparently part of a large trading networks, since trade goods from as far as Rome and Central Asia have been found in its ruins. The people of Funan also skillfully manufactured jewelry, pottery and other trade goods. But some historians suspect Funan was never more than a federation of coastal towns.

Originally posted by flyingzone Funan was the first important Southeast Asian mandala state which flourished from the 3rd through 6th centuries AD. Centered in southern Vietnam, Funan was in regular contact with China. It had become extensively Indianized, esttemed literacy, planned masterful irrigation systems and was probably organized by a branch of the Khmer people who likely dominated that area.

Actually, in K.W. Taylor's book, The Birth of Vietnam, the author says the people of the Red River Delta had a very sophisticated irrigation system which could not have been built unless there was a level of coordination due to a well organized state.  Moreover, there is the remants of the Cao Lo citidel in northern Vietnam which predates any Chinese conquest of the region.  This Citidel is associated to a Vietnamese state called Van Lang.

Vietnamese lore claims that Van Lang goes back to nearly 3000 BCE.  Taylor says the archeological records suggest it goes back to at least 600-700 BCE.

Au Lac was also a short lived dynasty from 257 to 207 BCE.  It is said to have succeeded Van Lang by conquest.