Chams

TheChams(Cham:ꨌꩌ, چام,cam), orChampa people(Cham:ꨂꨣꩃ ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, اوراڠ چامفا,Urang Campa;Vietnamese:Người ChămorNgười Chàm;Khmer:ជនជាតិចាម,Chônchéatĕ Cham), are anAustronesianethnic group inSoutheast Asiaand are the original inhabitants ofcentral Vietnamand coastalCambodiabefore the arrival of the Cambodians and Vietnamese, during the expansion of theKhmer Empire(802–1431) and the Vietnamese conquest of Champa (11th–19th century).
From the 2nd century, the Chams foundedChampa, a collection of independent Hindu-Buddhist principalities in what is now central and southernVietnam. By the 17th century, Champa became an Islamic sultanate.Today, the Cham people are largelyMuslim, with a minority followingHinduism, both formed the indigenous Muslim and Hindu population in both Cambodia and Vietnam.Despite their adherence to Islam, the Cham people still retain their ancestral practice ofmatriarchyin family and inheritance.
The Cham people speakChamandTsat(the latter is spoken by theUtsuls, a Cham subgroup on China'sHainan Island), the twoChamic languagesfrom theMalayo-Polynesianbranch of theAustronesian family.The Cham people were one among several ethnic groups that were primarily targeted by theKhmer Rouge's ethnic cleansing campaign during theCambodian genocide(1975–1979).
For a long time,researchers believed that the Chams had arrived by sea in the first millennium BC fromSumatra,Borneoand theMalay Peninsula, eventually settling in central modernVietnam.
The original Chams are therefore the likely heirs ofAustronesiannavigators fromTaiwanand Borneo, whose main activities are commerce, transport and perhaps also piracy.AustronesianChamicpeoples might have migrated into present-day Central Vietnam around 3 kya to 2.5 kya (1,000 to 500 BC). With having formed athalassocracyleaving traces in written sources, they invested the ports at the start of important trade routes linkingIndia,ChinaandIndonesianislands. Historians are now no longer disputing in associating theSa Huynh culture(1000 BC–200 AD) with the ancestors of the Cham people and other Chamic-speaking groups.
Patterns and chronology of migration remain debated and it is assumed that the Cham people, the only Austronesian ethnic group originated from South Asia, arrived later inpeninsular Southeast Asiavia Borneo.Mainland Southeast Asia had been populated on land routes by members of theAustroasiatic language family, such as theMon peopleand theKhmer peoplearound 5,000 years ago. The Chams were accomplished Austronesian seafarers that from centuries populated and soon dominatedmaritime Southeast Asia.Earliest known records of Cham presence in Indochina date back to the second century CE. Population centers were located on the river outlets along the coast. As they controlled the import/export trade of continental Southeast Asia, they enjoyed a prosperous maritime economy.
Cham folklore includes acreation mythin which the founder of the Cham people was a certainLady Po Nagar. According to Cham mythology, Lady Po Nagar was born out of sea foam and clouds in the sky.However, in Vietnamese mythology, which adopted the goddess after taking over the Champa kingdom, her name isThiên Y A Naand she instead came from a humble peasant home somewhere in the Dai An Mountains,Khánh Hòa Province, spirits assisted her as she traveled to China on a floating log of sandalwood where she married a man of royalty and had two children. She eventually returned to Champa "did many good deeds in helping the sick and the poor" and "a temple was erected in her honor".
Like countless other political entities of Southeast Asia, the Champa principalities underwent the process ofIndianizationsince the early common era as a result of centuries of socio-economic interaction adopted and introduced cultural and institutional elements of India. From the 8th century onward, Muslims from such regions asGujaratbegan to increasingly appear in trade and shipping of India. Islamic ideas became a part of the vast tide of exchange, treading the same path as Hinduism and Buddhism centuries before. Cham people picked up these ideas by the 11th century. This can be seen in the architecture of Cham temples, which shares similarities with the one of theAngkortemples.Ad-Dimashqiwrites in 1325, "the country of Champa... is inhabited byMuslimsand idolaters. The Muslim religion came there during the time of CaliphUthman... andAli, many Muslims who were expelled by theUmayyadsand byHajjaj, fled there".
TheDaoyi Zhilüerecords that at Cham ports, Cham women were often married to Chinese merchants, who frequently came back to them after trading voyages.A Chinese merchant fromQuanzhou, Wang Yuanmao, traded extensively with Champa and married a Cham princess.
In the 12th century, the Chams fought a series of wars with theKhmer Empireto the west. In 1177, the Chams and their allies launched an attack from the lakeTonlé Sapand managed to sack the Khmer capital ofAngkor. In 1181, however, they were defeated by the Khmer KingJayavarman VII.
Islam first arrived in Champa around the ninth century; however, it did not become significant among the Cham people until after the eleventh century.
Chams who migrated toSuluwere Orang Dampuan.Champa and Sulu engaged in commerce with each other which resulted in merchant Chams settling in Sulu where they were known as Orang Dampuan from the 10th-13th centuries. The Orang Dampuan were slaughtered by envious native Sulu Buranuns due to the wealth of the Orang Dampuan.The Buranun were then subjected to retaliatory slaughter by the Orang Dampuan. Harmonious commerce between Sulu and the Orang Dampuan was later restored.The Yakans were descendants of the Taguima-based Orang Dampuan who came to Sulu from Champa.Sulu received civilization in its Indic form from the Orang Dampuan.
A number of Chams also fled across the sea to theMalay Peninsulaand as early as the 15th century, a Cham colony was established inMalacca. The Chams encounteredSunni Islamthere as theMalacca Sultanatewas officially Muslim since 1414. The King of Champa then became an ally of theJohor Sultanate; in 1594, Champa sent its military forces to fight alongside Johor against thePortuguese occupation of Malacca.Between 1607 and 1676, one of the Champa kings converted to Islam and it became a dominant feature of Cham society. The Chams also adopted theJawi alphabet.
Historical records inIndonesiashowed the influence of Queen Dwarawati, a Muslim princess from the kingdom of Champa, toward her husband, Kertawijaya, the Seventh King ofMajapahit Empire, so that the royal family of the Majapahit Empire eventually converted to Islam, which finally led to the conversion to Islam of the entire region.Chams Princess tomb can be found inTrowulan, the site of the capital of the Majapahit Empire.InBabad Tanah Jawi, it is said that the king ofBrawijayaV has a wife named Dewi Anarawati (or Dewi Dwarawati), a Muslim daughter of the King of Champa (Chams).Chams had trade and close cultural ties with the maritime kingdom ofSrivijayain theMalay Archipelago.
Another significant figure from Champa in the history of Islam in Indonesia is Raden Rakhmat (Prince Rahmat) who's also known asSunan Ampel, one ofWali Sanga(Nine Saints), who spread Islam inJava. He is considered as a focal point of the Wali Sanga, because several of them were actually his descendants and/or his students. His father isMaulana Malik Ibrahimalso known as Ibrahim as-Samarkandy ("Ibrahim Asmarakandi" toJavaneseears), and his mother is Dewi Candrawulan, a princess of Champa who's also the sister of Queen Dwarawati. Sunan Ampel was born in Champa in 1401 CE. He came to Java in 1443 CE, in order to visit his aunt Queen Dwarawati, a princess of Champa who married to Kertawijaya (Brawijaya V), the King of Majapahit Empire.Local legend says that he built the Great Mosque ofDemak(Masjid Agung Demak) in 1479 CE, but other legends attribute that work toSunan Kalijaga. Sunan Ampel died inDemakin 1481 CE, but is buried inAmpel MosqueatSurabaya,East Java.
Recent scholarship, however, has shown that widespread conversion to Islam came much later. Poorly studied artifacts such as Islamic graves (which simply could have been ships' ballast) have been reexamined to show that they were, in fact, Tunisian and not Cham. Poorly conducted linguistic research attempting to link vocabulary to Arabic has been debunked as well. Rather, there is no sound evidence for widespread conversion to Islam until the 16th century.
Between the rise of the Khmer Empire around 800 and theVietnamese'sterritorial expansion southwardsfromJiaozhiand, later,Đại Việt, Champa began to shrink. At a disadvantage against Dai Viet's army of 300,000 troops, the Cham army of 100,000 were overwhelmed.In theCham–Vietnamese War (1471), Champa suffered serious defeats at the hands of the Vietnamese, in which 120,000 people were either captured or killed, and the kingdom was reduced to a small enclave nearNha Trangwith many Chams fleeing toCambodia.Champa was no longer a threat to Vietnam, and some were even enslaved by their victors.
The Chams werematrilinealand inheritance passed through the mother.Because of this, in 1499 the Vietnamese enacted a law banning marriage between Cham women and Vietnamese men, regardless of class.(Tạ 1988, p. 137)The Vietnamese also issued instructions in the capital to kill all Chams within the vicinity.More attacks by the Vietnamese continued and in 1693 the Champa Kingdom's territory was integrated as part of Vietnamese territory.
The trade inVietnamese ceramicswas damaged due to the plummet in trade by Cham merchants after the Vietnamese invasion.Vietnam's export of ceramics was also damaged by its internal civil war, the Portuguese and Spanish entry into the region and the Portuguese conquest of Malacca which caused an upset in the trading system, while the carracks ships in the Malacca to Macao trade run by the Portuguese docked at Brunei due to good relations between the Portuguese and Brunei after the Chinese permitted Macao to be leased to the Portuguese.
When theMing dynastyin China fell, several thousand Chinese refugees fled south and extensively settled on Cham lands and in Cambodia.Most of these Chinese were young males, and they took Cham women as wives. Their children identified more with Chinese culture. This migration occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Chams participated indefeating the Spanish invasion of Cambodia. Cambodian kingCau Bana Cand Ramadhipati, also known as 'Sultan Ibrahim', launched theCambodian–Dutch Warto expel the Dutch. The VietnameseNguyen Lordstoppled Ibrahim from power to restore Buddhist rule.
In the 18th century and the 19th century, Cambodian-basedChams settled in Bangkok.
Further expansion by the Vietnamese in 1692 resulted in the total annexation of the Champa kingdomPandurangaand dissolution by the 19th century Vietnamese Emperor,Minh Mạng. In response, the last Cham Muslim king, Pô Chien, gathered his people in the hinterland and fled south toCambodia, while those along the coast migrated toTrengganu(Malaysia). A small group fled northward to the Chinese island ofHainanwhere they are known today as theUtsuls. The king and his people who took refuge in Cambodia were scattered in communities across theMekong Basin. Those who remained in the Nha Trang, Phan Rang, Phan Rí, andPhan Thiếtprovinces of central Vietnam were absorbed into the Vietnamese polity. Cham provinces were seized by the Nguyen Lords.
After Vietnam invaded andconquered Champa, Cambodia granted refuge to Cham Muslims escaping from Vietnamese conquest.
In 1832, the Vietnamese Emperor Minh Mang annexed the last Champa Kingdom. This resulted in the Cham Muslim leaderKatip Sumat, who was educated inKelantan, declaring aJihadagainst the Vietnamese.The Vietnamese coercively fed lizard and pig meat to Cham Muslims and cow meat to Cham Hindus against their will to punish them and assimilate them to Vietnamese culture.The second revolt led byJa Thak Wa, a Bani cleric, resulting in the establishment of aCham resistancewhich lasted from 1834 to 1835 until it was bloody crushed by Minh Mang's forces in July 1835. Only 40,000 Chams remained in the old Panduranga territory in 1885.
At the division of Vietnam in 1954, the majority of Chams remained in South Vietnam. A handful of Chams who were members of theViet Minhwent North during the population exchange between North and South known asOperation Passage to Freedom– along with around ten thousand indigenous highland peoples – mainly Chamic and Bahnaric – from South Vietnam. TheDemocratic Republic of Vietnamduring its early years (1954–1960) were actually more favorable toward ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, compared toRepublic of Vietnam, attackingNgo Dinh Diem's Kinh chauvinist attitudes. Leaders ofCommunist Party of Vietnamat the time promised equal rights and autonomy, and by 1955 the North's national broadcast stationVoice of Việt Nambegan broadcasting propaganda radio inRhadé,Bahnar, andJarai, to recruit support from the South's indigenous groups. These cultivation efforts later contributed to the foundation of theFULROin 1964, although FULRO's objective was to fight against both North and South Vietnam.
In Cambodia, due to discriminatory treatments of the colonial and following Sihanouk governments, the Cham communities here sought communism. The Chams began to rise in prominence in Cambodian politics when they joined the communists as early as the 1950s, with a Cham elder, Sos Man joining theIndochina Communist Partyand rising through the ranks to become a major in the Party's forces. He then returned home to the Eastern Zone in 1970 and joined theCommunist Party of Kampuchea(CPK), and he co-established the Eastern Zone Islamic Movement with his son, Mat Ly. Together, they became the mouthpiece of the Khmer Rouge and they encouraged the Cham people to participate in the revolution. Sos Man's Islamic Movement was also tolerated by the Khmer Rouge's leadership between 1970 and 1975. The Chams were gradually forced to abandon their faith and their distinct practices, a campaign which was launched in the Southwest as early as 1972.
In the 1960s various movements emerged calling for the creation of a separate Cham state in Vietnam. TheFront for the Liberation of Champa(FLC) and theFront de Libération des Hauts plateauxdominated. The latter group sought greater alliance with other hill tribe minorities. Initially known as "Front des Petits Peuples" from 1946 to 1960, the group later took the designation "Front de Libération des Hauts plateaux" and joined, with the FLC, the "Front unifié pour la Libération des Races opprimées" (FULRO) at some point in the 1960s. Since the late 1970s, there has been no serious Cham secessionist movement or political activity in Vietnam or Cambodia.
During theVietnam War, a sizable number of Chams migrated toPeninsular Malaysia, where they were granted sanctuary by theMalaysian governmentout of sympathy for fellow Muslims; most of them have now assimilated withMalaycultures.The integrated community who self identifies asMelayu Champa("ChampaMalay") has dabbled into trades ofagarwood, clothing (especially in Kelantan) and fishery (in coastalPahang) from their arrival in the late 1970s to the 80s.
The Cham community suffered a major blow during theCambodian genocideinDemocratic Kampuchea. TheKhmer Rougetargeted ethnic minorities likeChinese, Thai, Lao,Vietnameseand the Cham people, though the Chams suffered the largest death toll in proportion to their population. Around 80,000 to 100,000 Chams out of a total Cham population of 250,000 people in 1975, died in the genocide.
The Chams in Vietnam are officially recognized by the Vietnamese government as one of 54 ethnic groups. There has also been wide-reaching recognition of the historicalChampa Kingdom.
An attempt atSalafistexpansion among the Chams in Vietnam has been halted by Vietnamese government controls; however, the loss of the Salafis among Chams has been to the benefit ofTablighi Jamaat.
There is evidence that someAcehnese peopleofAceh,Sumatra, Indonesia are descendants of Cham refugees who fled after defeat by the Vietnamese polity in the 15th century.
Eastern Chams (also known asPanduranga ChamsorPhan Rang Chams) and their related ethnic groups,RaglaiandChuru, are a major minority inPandurangaregion inBình ThuậnandNinh Thuậnprovinces of Vietnam. The Haroi Chams mainly populate inĐồng Xuân districtof Phu Yen andVân Canh districtof Bình Định province. They are the core of the Hindu and Bani population.
The Western Cham population is concentrated between the inCambodiaand inSouthern Vietnam, mainly inKampong Cham provinceandAn Giang province. InKampot province, communities of Chvea of Malay origin also identify themselves as Cham. Chams also made significant presence in other southern Vietnamese provinces likeĐồng Nai,Tây Ninh,Kiên Giang, and even as far as in Ninh Thuận, as well as having a large minority presence inHo Chi Minh City. This group represents the core of theMuslimcommunities in bothCambodiaandVietnam. Including thediaspora, their total is about 400,000. An additional 4,000 Chams live inBangkok,Thailand, whose ancestors migrated there duringRama I's reign. Recent immigrants to Thailand are mainly students and workers, who preferably seek work and education in the southern IslamicPattani,Narathiwat,YalaandSongkhlaprovinces.
After the fall ofSaigonin Vietnam andPhnom Penhin Cambodia in 1975, 9,704 Cham refugees made their way toMalaysiaand were allowed to stay, unlike 250,000 other refugees that fled to Malaysia. Most of the Cham refugees came from Cambodia and were Muslims, known asMelayu KembojaandMelayu Champain Malay. Many of these Cham refugees chose to settle in Malaysia, as they preferred to live in an Islamic country and had family ties in the Malaysian states ofKelantanandTerengganu. Kelantan served as a center of Islamic teachings for Chams in Cambodia for three to four centuries and many Cambodian Chams had relatives living there, subsequently many Chams chose to settle in Kelantan. By 1985, around 50,000 or more Chams were living in Malaysia. As of 2013, many have been integrated into Malaysian society.
While historically complicated, the modern Chams of Cambodia and Vietnam have had friendly relationships with the Khmer and Vietnamese majority. Despite ethnic and religious differences, the majority people of Cambodia and Vietnam have accepted the Chams as closer to them than other minorities.Some Muslim Chams report a friendly attitude of both Cambodians and Vietnamese toward the Chams and little harassment against them from locals.However, between government and people, it is difficult to categorize. According to Cham human rights activists, the Vietnamese regime, the fears of historical influence has evolved into suppression of Islam among Muslims Chams. For example, there is an unofficial ban on distributing the Quran and other Islamic scripture.Even with Vietnam's growing relations with Muslim states likeIndonesia,Malaysia,Saudi Arabia,Iran,TurkeyandEgypt, the regime discourages growth of Islam because the Vietnamese government distrusts the Cham Muslims.
According to international scholars, it's observed that both modern Cham separatism and Cham nationhood are non-existent.The only active representative organization for the Chams, the International Office of Champa (IOC), whose headquarter locates inSan Jose, California, only demands civil and land rights for the Cham people in Vietnam and Cambodia. Criticism and concerns against Vietnamese, Indian, Malaysian governments and tourist corporations for misappropriating Cham heritage and ignoring living indigenous culture was made by the IOC and international scientists in recent years.
Several studies state that Chams descend from islander Southeast Asian immigrants who later intermixed with mainland Southeast Asians, such as Mon-Khmers and other Austroasiatic groups.Because of this, Chams primarily have Austroasiatic ancestry like other Vietnamese Austronesian groups such asEdeandGiarai. But compared to Ede and Giarai, they share slightly more ancestry withTaiwanese Austronesiangroups and have ~10% ancestry from an ancestor of theAtayal.Low to moderate frequencies of South Asian Y-haplogroups are also found in Chams, such as R-M17 (13.6%), R-M124 (3.4%) and H-M69 (1.7%), which is corroborated by a similar proportion of South Asian admixture.
The Cham culture is diverse and rich because of the combination of indigenous cultural elements (plains culture, maritime culture, and mountain culture) and foreign cultural features (Indian cultures and religions such as Buddhism; early Han Chinese influences; Islam) (Phan Xuan Bien et al. 1991:376). The blend of indigenous and foreign elements in Cham culture is a result of ecological, social, and historical conditions. The influences of various Indian cultures produced similarities among many groups in Southeast Asia such as the Chams, who traded or communicated with polities on the Indian subcontinent. However, the indigenous elements also allow for cultural distinctions. As an example, Brahmanism became the Ahier religion, while other aspects of influence were changed, to adapt to local Ahier characteristics and environment. The blending of various cultures has produced its own unique form through the prolific production of sculptures and architecture only seen at the Champa temple tower sites.
The Chams shielded and always observed their girls attentively, placing great importance on their virginity. A Cham saying said "As well leave a man alone with a girl, as an elephant in a field of sugarcane."
The Cham Muslims view the karoeh (also spelled karoh) ceremony for girls as very significant. This symbolic ceremony marks the passage of a girl from infancy to puberty (the marriageable age), and usually takes place when the girl is aged fifteen and has completed her development.If it has not taken place, the girl cannot marry since she is "tabung". After the ceremony is done the girl can marry. Circumcision to the Chams was less significant than karoeh.It is not practiced, only symbolic and performed with a toy wooden knife.
Important festivals include Kate, celebrated mainly by the Chams of central Vietnam. The festival venerates ancient Cham royalty gods. Among Cham Muslims, Ramadan, El Fitri, and the Hajj are important celebrations. However, the Chams (regardless of faith) all have a very rich tradition of dance, arts, music, costumes, poetry, and more.
TheCham languageis part of theAustronesian language family. Although sparse, Cham literary tradition is ancient, dating back to the 4th century AD. TheDong Yen Chau inscription, written in old Cham, is the oldest known attestation of an Austronesian language. Cham is very rich with many loan words and terminology influenced by many other languages it came into contact with. Most Chams speak the language though many also speak the dominant language of the nation they reside in like Vietnamese, Khmer, Malay and others. Some Chams can also speak and write Arabic.
Cham is written in EasternCham scriptin Central Vietnam while the language is predominantly written in Jawi Arabic script around theMekong Delta.Western Cham script, used in Cambodia, is different enough from Eastern Cham's to be under review by the Unicode Consortium for inclusion as its own block — as of 2022, the character set is still being revised.
TheKan Imam Sansect, accounting for about 10% of the Cambodian Cham minority and mainly centered around a few villages in the Tralach District of Kampong Chhnang Province and their historic mosque atop Phnom Oudong, have kept the use of the Western Cham script, akhar srak, alive — with grants from the US embassy for about a decade starting in 2007, the written form of Western Cham has moved from the preserve of a few elders to being taught in close to 20 classrooms with thousands of students exposed to some degree, albeit limited.
Almost all of the existing texts are housed at twoKan Imam Sanmosques in Kampong Tralach, primarily at the Au Russey mosque.
The first recorded religion of the Champa was a form ofShaiva Hinduism, brought by sea from India. Hinduism was the predominant religion among the Cham people until the sixteenth century. Numerous temples dedicated toShivawere constructed in the central part of what is now Vietnam. The jewel of such temple isMỹ Sơn. It is often compared with other historical temple complexes in Southeast Asia, such asBorobudurof Java in Indonesia,Angkor Watof Cambodia,Baganof Myanmar andAyutthayaof Thailand. As of 1999, Mỹ Sơn has been recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site.
Religiously and culturally, the Chams were grouped into two major religio-cultural groups; the Balamon Chams that adhere to an indigenized form ofHinduism, and Cham Bani that adhere to an indigenized form of Shi'aIslam. The term "Balamon" derived from "Brahmana, the priests. The term "Bani" on the other hand is derived fromArabicterm "bani" (بني) which means "people". Balamon Chams adhere to the old religion of their ancestor, an indigenized form of Hinduism that thrived since the ancient era of Kingdom ofChampain 5th century AD, whereas Cham Bani are adherents of a localized version of Shi'a Islam, including a minor element ofSufism, endured with Hindu-Chamic customs as early as around the 11th–13th century. However, it was not until 17th century that Islam began to attract large numbers of Chams, when some members of the Cham royalty converted to Islam. These two groups mostly live in separate villages. Intermarriage was prohibited in former times, and remains rare even nowadays. Both groups arematrilinealand conform tomatrilocalresidence practice.
As Muslim merchants of Arab and ofPersianorigin stopped along the Vietnam coast en route to China,Islambegan to influence Cham civilization. The exact date that Islam came to Champa is unknown; however, the religion first arrived around the ninth century.It is generally assumed that Islam came tomainland Southeast Asiamuch later than its arrival in China during theTang dynasty(618–907) and that Arab traders in the region came into direct contact only with the Chams and not others. Islam began making headway among the Chams beginning in the eleventh century, however it split into two distinctive versions.
The number of Balamon Cham Hindus in Vietnam were declared at 64,547 (36%) out of a total Cham population of 178,948 according to the 2019 population census.They do not have a caste system, although previously they may have been divided between theNagavamshi Kshatriyaand theBrahmincastes, the latter of which would have represented a small minority of the population.
Hindu temples are known asBimongin Cham language, but are commonly referred to astháp"stupa", in Vietnamese. The priests are divided into three levels, where the highest rank are known asPo AdhiaorPo Sá, followed byPo Tapáhand the junior priestsPo Paséh. By the 17th century, due to pressures from kingPo Rome, the Ahier (Balamon) were forced to accept Allah as the most supreme God while retaining the worships of other Balamon deities in their faiths.
The majority of Hindu Chams in Vietnam (also known as the Eastern Chams) are syncretic AhiérHinduand Bani Muslims and they mostly live in Central Vietnam, while Southern Vietnam's Chams and their Cambodian counterparts are largely SunniMuslim, as Islamic conversion happened relatively late.A number emigrated to France in the late 1960s during theVietnam War. In theMekong Delta, the mainly Cham Sunni community has a population of around 25,000 in 2006.
Popular Cham dishes aremuthin ritong(rice with fish),lithei jrau(rice with meat and vegetables),abu mutham(gruel with fish and vegetables), andkari cam murong(chicken or beef curry).A specialty of Chams inAn Giang provinceis the beef sausagetung lamaow(Cham: ꨓꨭꩂ ꨤꨟꨯꨱꨥ).Chams in this province are also known for their beef, goat or chickencurrywith rice.
Chams eat three meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – withrice,maize,sweet potatoandbeansbeing thestaple food. Other foods eaten by the Chams depend on the region they inhabit. Chams inCentral Vietnameat meat and processed meat products and arrange food in trays and usechopsticksand bowls similar toKinh people, while Chams inSouthern Vietnameat fish and shrimps and arrange food on plates.Cham cuisine is also diversified by thefood prohibitions in religionspractised by Chams: Hindu Chams not eatingbeef, and Muslim Chams not eatingpork, while Buddhism-practicing Cham Hroi ofPhú YênandBình Định provincesinVietnameating both beef and pork.
Cham cuisine is very similar to the cuisines ofCambodia,LaosandNorthern Thailand. It is sweeter and spicier than the cuisine ofNorthern Vietnamand uses many different types offermented fish(mắm), includingmắm nêm, which along with different spices, curries and other Cham dishes entered the cuisine ofSouthern Vietnamfollowing theVietnamese conquest and annexationofChampaduringVietnam's southward expansion. Another type ofmắmthat may have originally been a Cham product ismắm ruốc[vi], which has become a famous condiment in modern-day Central Vietnam eaten with raw vegetables, herbs and boiled pork and used as an essential ingredient for the Central Vietnamese noodle dishbún bò Huế.
InMalaysia, where the majority of Chams are from Cambodia, most of their dishes, such asleas hal,num banhchok, andnum kong, are of Cambodian origin, while the Cham style of coffee (café Yuon) andgreen teahave been adopted from the Vietnamese. Other Malaysia's Cham dishes, such astung lamaowandpaynong(banana-filled glutinous rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves) are known by Chams in both Cambodia and Vietnam.
In accordance with Cham custom, the surname is followed by the given name.