Funan Kingdom in Vietnam 250 BC - 250 AD
During the period between 250 BC and 250 AD, a maritime sea route existed between Alexandra in Northern Africa and China. As trade took place along this route, a number of kingdoms rose to power, flush with finances from trade. These kingdoms all came into being around the same time, and all waned around the same time.
In Vietnam, the Funan Kingdom was active during the time that the Ancient Trade Route was operating.
It is thought by some that the kingdom of Funan was founded early in the first century A.D. In Cambodia (Siam), i the kingdom of Funan was established in the Mekong delta, which today is Vietnamese territory. The founders of this kingdom were most likely Indian merchants. In subsequent centuries, Funan developed into a seafaring merchant power, but it did not become a formal state with a large land area. It was strategically located to become a trading power ships traveled almost exclusively close to the coastline. The Mekong delta was also an important stop over on the sea route between China and the Malay Peninsula. In the 6th century the kingdom of Funan dissolved. According to the Chinese sources, Funan was founded by a Brahmin from India called Kaundinya. He met and married a local princess, Soma, daughter of the naga king and founded the first Kingdom called the phnoni, introducing Hindu customs, legal traditions and the Sanskrit language. Modern historians refer to it as Funan, the first Khmer Kingdom, and the oldest State in the Southeast Asia.
The capital city, Oc-eo is currently found about 6 miles (10 km) inland from Rach Gia. It was an important port at the height of the ancient Kingdom of Funan from the 1st - 6th centuries AD. It lay submerged for centuries until it was rediscovered in the 1940s.
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