You may be surprised that the Indinianized temples are scattered along the central coast of Vietnam. This is evidence that cultural exchange between many countries has happened a long time ago. Cham people had their ancient kingdom from the second to the eighteenth century before their kingdom was fully incorporated into Vietnam. Today, Cham people mostly live in Ninh Thuan and An Giang provinces.
Champa’s heyday was the 10th century when they traded with many countries through trade maritime. Some artifacts collected from Vietnam show that Arab, Indian, Indonesia, and China had traded with Champa. Some stories tell that many Vietnamese Kings after they defeated Champa, Kings took Cham dancers to their imperial palaces where Cham dancers taught Vietnamese dancers about Cham dancing styles. As a result, northern Vietnamese traditional dances mixed with Cham dancing style (no empirical evidence).
Nowadays, Cham people who live in Ninh Thuan follow a kind of Hindu religion. In the contrast, Cham people live in southern Vietnam- An Giang follows Islam. This is the only ethnic minority in Vietnam that practices Islam. According to some historical research, Cham began practicing Islam when they interacted with Arab traders in the 10th century. Islam became dominant in Champa when the ruling royal families converted to Islam in the 17th century. There are around 70,000 Muslims in Vietnam, they are very secular and live harmoniously with other people and religions in the country. An Giang is a province bordering Cambodia, travelers can see many Mosques that you can’t see in other parts of Vietnam.
I hope that you can know some more places to travel to Vietnam. Please leave any comments or thoughts below. I appreciate your reading. Help me by liking or sharing my blog with your social friends.