A REVOLUTION OF TUEN PHAOW IN 1796-1797

By Dr. Nicolas Weber (INALCO, Paris)
Translated By Musa Porome

The revolution led by Tuen Phaow in 1796-1797 was a subject that led researchers to study the life of Tuen Phaow based on Ariya Tuen Phaow, a poem written in Cham characters. It details the history of Panduranga at a time when the people struggled and rose above the enemy. Panduranga includes the boundaries that range from Mount Hoanh-Son to Bien-Hoa[1].

The Ariya Tuen Phaow is purported to describe the revolution that was led by Tuen Phaow, a marquise. Vietnamese history reports him being Tuan-Phu[2]. Tuen Phaow came from Malaysia to help stop the Vietnamese invasion in the land of Panduranga-Champa. Ariya helps us prove that there was a revolutionary rise against the Vietnamese by the people of Champa and supplies us with the best narrative of the political crisis that the people of Panduranga-Champa had bared towards the end of the XVIII century.

This documentary was found in a Cham manuscript and was conserved by the School of Vien-Dong, France (EFEO) under the notation of CAM-58a. It is also found in the research book of Paul Mus. The manuscript measures about 155x230mm with 35 pages. Specific content regarding Ariya Tuen Phaow is found on pages E11-E23[3]. Pages E10 and E24 indicate the name of the person who rewrote this document, naming it Tajaong.

Ariya Tuen Phaow has a variety of copies; some were copied into Microfilm under the label of CAM-MICROFILM 16[4], CAM-MICROFILM 66[5] CAM-MICROFILM 56[6]. There is also a copy that is kept at the Asian Society in Paris, France (Societe asiatique de Paris) under the label CM-25[7]. Finally, there were two other documents found at a foreign missionary association in Paris (Missions Etrangerres de Paris) under the label MEP, VOL. 1189/4 and 1190/1[8].

In 1987, and 1993, Dr. Po Dharma was briefed on the history of Tuen Phaow[9]. Mr. Inrasara[10] references it a book of poems he researched and published in Latin and translated to Vietnamese in 1996[11]. Inrasara also worked in Cham characters, but the meaning seemed to be slightly different than the book written in Latin. We use this book written by Inrasara for reference purposes in research[12].

POLITICAL SITUATIONS IN PADURANGA BEFORE THE PRESENCE OF TUEN PHAOW

In the 18th century, the political situation in Panduranga became chaotic. This chaos was a result of the conflict between Tay-Son[13] and Nguyen-Anh[14] in 1771. Nguyen-Anh lost to Tay-son, forcing him to hide in Gia-Dinh in 1786. Nguyen-Anh used Gia-Dinh as a secret resistance zone, with the hope that one day he would win back the throne from Tay-son.

Unfortunately, Panduranga-Champa was the victim of a war that they had nothing to do with. For Tay-son or Nguyen-anh to win the war, they first needed to conquer Panduranga-Champa and then use it as a military base to fight their opponent. Panduranga-Champa had no choice but to join the side that benefited the country most. This choice led Panduranga-Champa into an unstable government and a political crisis According to Dr. Po Dharma; Panduranga-Champa had a very small chance of becoming independent. The situation was completely one sided, and whichever side they chose would determine either their prosperity or destruction[15].

When the war broke out in 1771, Panduranga-Champa was under the leadership of King Tisuntiraydapaghoh (34th dynasty according to the Champa calendar) [16]. King Tisuntiraydapaghoh took the throne in 1768 and was a direct descendent of the famous King Po Rome (1627-1653) from the Chru tribe[17].

After king Tisuntiraydapaghoh died in 1780, Nguyen-Anh immediately abolished a treaty that served to continue King Tisuntiraydapaghoh’s dynasty, according to the Champa tradition[18], and would install Po Tisuntiraydaparan (35th dynasty) to the throne in Panduranga. Unfortunately, this king had no blood relation to the former king at all. For this reason, in the eyes of the Champa people, allowing this to take place was usurpation of the throne. One year later, Tay-son forces invaded Panduranga in 1781 and overthrew Po Tisuntiraydapuran, forcing him to give up his throne to Tay-son[19]. In 1783 Tay-son offered the crown to prince Po Cei Brei (36th dynasty), the son of Po Tisuntiraydapaghoh (34th dynasty) and he became the king of Panduranga-Champa.

Even though Panduranga-Champa was under the protection of Tay-son, Nguyen-Anh continued attacking Panduranga in the Southern region. When Po Cei Brei could no longer tolerate the pressure of the foreign invasion, he made the decision to secretly move his family and his royal army. He fled the palace and hide in the Dong-Nai Thuong zone to rearm and prepare for the rise against the foreign[20] occupation.

After Po Cei Brei withdrew from the throne and fled the palace, Nguyen-Nhac (Tay-Son) offered the throne back to Po Tisuntiraydapuran (35th dynasty); a king who had previously took the throne by the help of Nguyen-Anh before and eventually surrendered to Tay-Son in 1781. The situation of Po Tisuntiraydapuran taking back the throne forced Po Cei Brei to sign a treaty with Nguyen-Anh in order to reconcile the political crisis in Panduranga-Champa. In order to keep the treaty alive and to show support, Nguyen-Anh promoted Po Cei Brei to a position of Chuong-Co (Attorney-general) in 1790[21].

The treaty signed by Po Cei Brei and Nguyen-Anh in 1790 led Panduranga-Champa into a harsh civil war between the two sides; Po Cei Brei under the support of Nguyen-Anh and Po Tisuntiraydapuran in alliance with Tay-son.

According to the history of Panduranga[22], after the death of Po Tisuntiraydapuran in 1793, The Nguyen dynasty offered Po Lanhuanpaghoh[23] the position of Chuong-Co (attorney-General), granting him full power to govern Panduranga-Champa (Tran-Thuan-Thanh) [24]. Po Lanhuanpaghoh was a logical choice, since he had previously held several important positions in the region being controlled by Nguyen-Anh during the rise against the Tay-Son. This Po (king) also used to be a governor of Phan-Ri region in 1790 while Phan-Rang was still under the occupation of Tay-son[25], particularly during their participation in the war against Tay-son[26]. Choosing Po Lahuanpaghoh in the eyes of Po Cei Brei was a traitor move. Po Cei Brei then vowed to launch another war against Nguyen-Anh, and war broke out yet again. This explains the political and military forces occurring in this region just prior to Tuen Phaow’s arrival in Panduranga in 1796-1797, based on the two sources of the Cham document[27] and Vietnam history[28].

THE PRESENCE OF TUEN PHAOW IN PANDURANGA

According to a document of CM-33, when Nguyen-Anh sent his armies to occupy Panduranga and overthrow Po Tisuntiraydapuran, an alliance occurred with Tay-Son[29] in 1793. Tuen Phaow was present in Panduranga at the Dong-Nai-Thuong zone. When the invader (Tay-Son) became aware of the presence of Tuen Phaow, he began calling upon his fellow Vietnamese, living in Panduranga, to somehow capture Tuen Phaow alive so that he could be executed based on charges that Tuen Phaow illegally seized power, and stole the property of the people of Panduranga. Obviously these were false accusations against Tuen Phaow.
In 1793 the presence of Tuen Phaow in close proximity with Po Cei Brei and his royal army in the Dong-Nai-Thuong zone brought concerns and suspicions to the Vietnamese invaders and their king. The questions were; was it a coincidence that Tuen Phaow was in the same region that Po Cei Brei was? Did these two leaders have a plan to work together to defeat the occupying army and the Cham traitors in the country?
It appeared to the Vietnamese that this was not a coincidence and that the operations that were carried out to defeat the occupying army and the Cham traitors in the country, on either side were connected. This seems to be a preemptive strategy of Tuen Phaow to liberate Panduranga. The presence of Tuen Phaow and Po Cei Brei in the same region at the time did not come as a surprise to many of the Champa people.

THE PURPOSE OF THE REVOLUTION OF TUEN PHAOW

Before he came to Panduranga, Tuen Phaow already knew what was going on in the region. He had known that the Vietnamese were oppressing the Cham and he realized that the Cham would soon be wiped out of their motherland if he did not quickly intervene to defend Panduranga.

Tuen Phaow did not arrive in Panduranga alone, he was escorted by a strong revolutionary army that included the Cham from Kampuchea (Cham Buruw)[30], Java Kur and some of the officers of Khmer. This army was divided into two groups. The first group wore white uniforms[31] and the second wore black uniforms and black turbans on their heads. Their clothing made it easy for the local Cham to identify these two groups.

To put the plan into effect, Tuen Phaow also recruited highland Cham to join the revolution: this included local men and women from the Chru, Roglai and Kahaow tribes in western Panduranga[32]. Lastly, in order to train a new army, Tuen Phaow designated an army zone around his residential palace and carefully selected and trained new recruits, showing his strategic and military intelligence.

Tuen Phaow was particularly concerned about the local Champa that supported his revolution. He called upon the Champa Panduranga to join hands so they could rise up against the occupation of foreigners. Psychologically, he knew what the Panduranga-Champa people wanted, so he created a psychological warfare among the Champa. Immediately after his arrival in Panduranga, he announced he was a Bhradhik (just a leader) coming from Makah (Kalantan) the kingdom of Malaysia[33]. To reaffirm his original loyalty, he started building his own palaces in Kayaon (East of Phan-Thiet).

The effort of Tuen Phaow’s psychological warfare used Islam to the extreme, to the point that he began comparing himself to the Prophet Muhammad and or the warriors Ali, and even to the extent that he claimed that he had directly received orders from ALLAH to come liberate Panduranga-Champa. Even though his propaganda was utilizing Islamic beliefs, his intention was not to convert the people of Panduranga to Islam and lead a battle that was considered by them to be Jihad. He wanted to educate people to understand the importance of having pride and love for one’s own country, and he wanted them to distinguish and construct guidelines for foreign occupants and local residents.

After strenuous and careful recruitment and training, he was ready to direct the army to attack the occupation position. In the seventh month of the year 1796 the year of the Dragon, he ordered the army to launch an attack on the Phan-Ri region[34]. The king of Panduranga at that time, Nguyen-van-Hao (Po Lahuanpaghoh) was ordered by the king of Vietnam to crush the revolution under the leader of Tuen Phaow. However, Nguyen-van-Hao was unsuccessful, and after few months, the army of Tuen Phaow was victorious over Phan-Thiet and took control over the Highlands region. After the victory over Phan-Ri, Tuen Phaow decided to move north to liberate Phan-Rang. Unfortunately, he was injured in the battle and was forced to move some of his army back to a mountain so he could recuperate. Even though he was injured, he urged the army to continue battling the enemy, and encouraged them not to become discouraged because of his injury, but to fight bravely until the occupation was defeated and had completely withdrawn from their land.

The enemy had double the armed forces and also had more advanced weapons, so Tuen Phaow decided to go back to Maka (Kalentan) to ask for help. He also considered asking France for help. He asked the army to continue the fight during his absence. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese knew that Tuen Phaow was leaving the country, and the Vietnamese took advantage of his absence. With the help of insiders they were able to launch an aggressive attack and defeat the army of Tuen Phaow in December 1787, the year of the snake.

Based on the sources that were documented, the important details about the revolution of Tuen Phaow toward the end of XVIII century were found, showing how the revolution had a strong support system and a strong relationship between Panduranga-Champa and Malaysia. It also shows us that some of the greatest unity was between the Champa from Kampuchea, the Chru, Raglai and Koho in the Dong-Nai-Thuong region.


Note :
[1] More about the Champa History, refer to G. Maspero, 1988; G.Coedes, 1964; P-B Lafont, 1990, Po Dharma, 1987, I-II.
[2] Po Dharma, 1987,II:74
[3] P-B La font, Po Dharma and Nara Vija, 1977:41-42
[4] This copy refer as a hand written A
[5] This copy refer as a hand written B
[6] This copy was not used for the purpose of this research due to it being too short and has no new content.
[7] This copy refer as a hand written D
[8] P-B La Font, Po Dharma and Nara Vija, 1977:116,216-217
[9] Po Dharma 1987, I:74
[10] Inrasara, 1993:228-236. in this book, Inrasara wrote that Dr. Po Dharma (1987:141-164) the revolution of Tuen Phaow happened in 1833-1835. But the truth was (page 141-164) Dr. Po Dharma never mentioned the name of Tuen Phaow, but wrote that the wave of revolution of Tuen Phaow happened in 1796 not in 1833-1835. This mistake indicated that the work of Dr. Inrasara was incorrect.
[11] Inrasara 1996:45-208
[12] This copy refers as a hand written C.
[13] The movement of the three brothers of Nguyen-Nhac, Hue and Lu rise up against the Trinh dynasty in the North and the Nguyen dynasty in the South.
[14] For more detail on this conflict refer to DNCBLT (Tay-son) 1970, HLNTC 1970; Nguyen Khac Vien, 1974; Le thanh Khoi, 1955; Tran Trong kim, 1971,II; Po Dharma,1987, II
[15] Po Dharma 1987, II:73
[16] Po Dharma, 1978:62
[17] This is one of the tribe the living in the Eastern of Phan-Rang
[18] Po Dharma 1978:62
[19] refer to document (translated by Po Dharma: Cam I:I);DNTLCB (part II);118 & DNNTC (binh-thuan):41
[20] refer to Po Dharma 1983:253-266
[21] Ta Chi Dai Truong 1973:255; DNTLCB (part II): 124; CAM 27:232.
[22] Po Dharma 1978
[23] According to Vietnam history, this prince was Nguyen-van-Hao.
[24] Refer to DNTLCB (part II): 129-188.
[25] DNTLCB (part II):58-125.
[26] DNTLCB (part II): 129-188
[27] Hand written CM-33
[28] Refer to DNTLCB (part II): 249,251-255,275.

[29] About this war, please refer to DNTLCB (part II):188 and DNTLCB (Binh-Thuan):41. Po Tisuntiraydapuran was arrested and sent to Gia-dinh and sentences to death.
[30] New cham or the cham Muslim
[31] White uniform indicated the group of Muslim.
[32] Refer to B.Gay, 1998:49-58 and Dominique Nguyen 2003: 14-36 with the theme “panduranga is multi-tribes”.
[33] About the word of Maka please refer to Po Dharma 1999:198-199.
[34] DNTLCB (part II): 251-225, 275.


REFERENCE BOOKS

I. Documents in Cham version:
Cam 58 (3)
Cam Microfilm 16 (1)
Cam Microfilm 66 (1)
Cam Microfilm 56 (8)
Mep 1189/4 (4)
Mep 1190/1 (9)
CM 25 (4)
CM 33
Cam 112 (1)

II. Documents in VietNamese version (Vietnam Bien nien Su):
Dai Nam Chinh Bien Liet Truyen (The Tay-son), Phu Quoc Vu Khanh Dac Trach Van Hoa, Saigon 1970.
Dainam Nhut Thong Chi (Tinh Binh-Thuan), Bo Van Hoa Giao Duc Saigon 1965.
Dainam thuc Luc Chinh Bien, Part II, De Nhut Ky I:The To cao Hoang-De (1778- 1801), nha xuat ban Khoa hoc xa hoi Hanoi 1963.
Hoang Le Nhut Thong Chi, Nha khoa hoc xa hoi Hanoi 1970.

III. Document that published:
Aymonier, E.
1889 Grammaire de la langue Chame, Imprimerie Coloniale Saigon.
Aymonier, E at Cabaton, A.
1906 Dictionnaire Cam-Francais Publications EFEO VII, Paris.
Bui Quang Trung.
1963 “Tables Synoptiques de chronologie Vietnamienne” BEFEO LI, P.1-77.
Coedes, G.
1964 Histoire ancienne des Etats hindouises d’indochine et d’indonesie, de Boccard, Paris.
Dominique Nguyen.
2003 Tu Vung Hroi-Viet theo bang chep tay CAM 182 and CAM 183 by Vien Vien Dong France, Champaka 3, 2003.
Gay, B.
1988 “Vue nouvelle sur la composition ethnique du Campa” actes du Seminaire sur la Campa organize a l’Universite de Copenhague le 23 mai 1987, Travaux du CHCPI, Paris, P-49-58.
Inrasara.
1993 “Ariya Twon Phauw” Van hoc Cham,Khai Luan-Van Tuyen.Part 1,Nha xuat ban Dan Toc, PP 228-236.
1996 Ariya Twon Phauw” Van hoc Cham II. Truong Ca, nha xuat ban Van Hoa dan Toc, P 195-208.
La Font P. –B., Po Dharma and Nara Vija.
1977 Catalogue des manusscrits Cam des bibliotheques francaises. Publications EFEO CXIV, Paris.
1991 “Les grandes dates de L’histoire du Campa” Le Campa et le Monde Malais, Publications CHCPI, Paris.
Le-Thanh-Khoi
1955 Le Vietnam. Histoire et civilizations, Editions de Minuit, Paris.
Lombard, D.
1990 Le Carrefour javanais. Essai d’histoire globale: III.L’heritage des royaumes concentriques, Editions de I’EHESS, Paris.
Mak Phoeun.
1988 “La communaute Cam au Cambodge du XVe au XIXe siecle. Historique de son implantation et son role dans la vie politique Khmer” Actes du seminaire sur le Campa organise a l’Universite de Conpenhague le 23 mai 1987, Travaux du CHPCI, Paris, P.83-93.
1990 “La communaute malaise musulman Ramadhipati ler” Le monde Indochinois et la Peninsule Malaise, Travaux du CHPCI, Kaula Lumpur, P.47-68.
1995 Histoire du Cambodge de la fin du XVIe siecle au debut du XVIIIe. Siecle, Presses de l’EFEO, Monographies, N0#176, Paris.
Maspero, G.
1988 Le royaume de Champa, Reimpressions EFEP, Paris.
Moussay, G.
1971 Dictionaire Cam-Vietnamien-Francais (tu dien Cham-Viet-Phap), Cham culture center, Phanrang.
Muhammad Zain bin Musa.
1990 Contribution a l’histoire du Panduranga (Campa) (La fruited u Po Ci Bri), These EPHE, Paris.
Nguyen-khac-Vien
1974 Histoire du Vietnam, Editions Sociales, Paris.
Po Dharma
1978 Chroniques du Panduranga, These EPHE, Paris.
1981 “Notes sur les Cam au cambodge”, Seksa Khmer 3-4, P.161-163.
1983 “Etudes Cam V. A Propos de l’exil d’un roi cam au Cambodge” BEFEO LXXII, P.253-266.
1987 Le Panduranga (Campa) 1802-1835. Ses rapports avec le Vietnam (I,II), Publications EFEO CXLIX, Paris.
1999 quatre lexiques malais-Cam anciens rediges au Campa, Presses de l’EFEO, Paris.
Sharifah Mawnah Syed Omar.
1993 Myths and the Malay ruling Class, Times academic Press, Singapore.
Ta-Chi-Dai-Truong.
1973 Lich su noi chien o Vietnam fr. 1771-1802, van su hoc, Saigon.
Thien-Sanh-canh.
1974 “Bien nien su cac doi vua Chiem-Thanh fr. 1000-1810” Noi san Panrang 8, 05-1974, P. 15-21.
Tran-Trong-Kim
1971 Vietnam su luoc (I, II) Bo giao duc trung tam hoc lieu xuat ban, Saigon. By Dr. Nicolas Weber(INALCO, Paris)

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