jahed minority in cambodia (2)

8/7/2019 Jahed Minority in Cambodia (2)

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The Cham minority group in Cambodia

Division within

Introduction to the temporary changesin Cham communities.

Cham-Jahed in mosque for Friday prayer

Asian -und African InstituteEthnic minorities on the mainland of Southeast Asia

Semester 2005Dr. Uta Grtner

Claudia [email protected]

2nd SemesterSoutheast Asian Studies

22. July 2005


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Content

Introduction

1. Who are the Chams in Cambodia?

1.1. A short introduction to Cham history The Champa Kingdom 1.2. The legend of the Kerik-Tree The beginning of the downfall of the Champa Kingdom 1.3. Islamisation 1.4. Cham language

2. Recent history - The Cham group after the colonial period

2.1. Sihanouks idea of the Cambodian ethnic minorities - unity in diversity

2.2. 1975 1979: Were the Chams persecuted because of their ethnic or religiousbackground during the Khmer Rouge regime?

3. The Chams in contemporary Khmer society

3.1. Division within The 3 main groups within the Cham minority

3.2. Living areas and working fields in modern day Cambodia

3.3. New Trends in the Cham Community3.3.1. Formation of a more orthodox Islam The influence of the Arab and Malay

World3.3.2. The Cay cult and other ceremonies of the Jahed keepers of the old

tradition?

Conclusion


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Introduction

The Chams form an ethnic minority group, both in Vietnam and Cambodia. In my researchpaper I will focus on the Cham in Cambodia, who emigrated from their lost homeland - the

Champa Kingdom in present day Vietnam. The Chams in Cambodia number around 200,000people and make up two percent of the countrys population.In part one I will try to give an idea on who the Chams in Cambodia are, by presenting a shortintroduction to Cham early history. And with the help of the popular legend of the Kerik-tree;clarify certain aspects of Cham history, like the gradual disappearance of the once greatChampa kingdom and the four main immigration waves to Cambodia. The first contact withMuslim traders or missionaries and the later Islamisation of the majority of the kingdom,plays a significant role in Cham history. But since history is not my focus in this researchpaper, I will only give a general survey on the three main theories of when Islam arrived inChampa. A brief overview is given on the Cham language to classify its belonging within theAsian language families.Because recent Cham history has a considerable impact on current changes within the Chamminority, I will discuss certain aspects of it in the second part of my research paper. KingNorodom Sihanouks attempt to include ethnic minorities, living in Cambodia was animportant step towards more general acceptance of the Chams among Khmer nationals. Thehorrendous time under the Khmer Rouge regime is also seen as extremely influential forpresent developments among the Cham communities. I will make an attempt to answer thequestion, whether or not the Cham in particular, were persecuted under the Khmer Rouge.In part three, I will analyse Chams life in contemporary Khmer society. Today we have todifferentiate the Cham minority group into three major subgroups. We find the division withintheir Islamic faith and therefore distinguish between the traditional branch and the orthodoxbranch. The second distinction is found in terms of descents, which on the one hand we havedescendents of the former Champa kingdom and on the other hand immigrants from theMalaya-Indonesian region, both groups which are referred to as Cham. Attention is also givento the living and working areas of the Cham in modern Cambodia. The Chams used to followtheir own way of Islamic faith. Recently, since Cambodias re-opening to the outside world inthe beginning of the 1990s, the Chams experience contrasting transformations within theircommunities. Reflecting to the past, I will discuss two major movements observed among theCham. On the one side, Chams revolve towards a more orthodox version of Islam, introducedby foreign Islamic missionaries. On the other side the Cham-Jahed recall their old traditional


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ways of Chamic Islam and experience a revival of certain ceremonies. I will introduce theCay-Cult ceremony and introduce possible explanations of the recent invigoration. How willCham communities continue to cope with future changes and influences from outside? Andthe last question is, how we can continue to do research work about the Chams and their

distinctive cultures and traditions.

1. Who are the Chams in Cambodia?

1.1. A short introduction to Cham history The Champa Kingdom

We find the name of Champa the first time in two stone inscriptions in the Sanskrit language.One was found in Central Vietnam and dated 658 AC and the other one was discovered inCambodia and dated 668 AC. Those inscriptions only show the date, on which Champa wasfirst mentioned. Of course the name could have been in use in earlier times, but until nowthere is no proof.Starting from the 8th century AC, Champa achieved its maximum geographical extent foraround 200 years. The northern limit (Gate of Annam), which bordered with South China,was located on the city of Hoanh Son. The southern limit of Champa was just about on thelevel of Baigaur1.The Champa Kingdom consisted of five federal state-like districts which from north to southwere named: Indrapura, Amaravati, Vijaya, Kauthara and Panduranga. At the end of itszenith, Champa was attacked from the Viet-people in the north in 982, who killed the Chamking, destroyed the capital and seized the land of Indrapura. The new built capital of Vijayawas in 1471 captured by the Vietnamese. The fall of Vijaya left the Champa kingdom withonly the two southern districts of Kauthara and Panduranga. It took almost another 400 years,until the Vietnamese captured all of the Champa Kingdom and basically made it disappearfrom the map. Around the years of 1830, the last remains of the great Champa kingdomdisappeared. In Vietnam as well as in Cambodia, the Chams are an ethnic minority group.Because of the recurred invasions of the Viet people further south, Cham people immigratedto the neighbouring country of Cambodia. Historians speak of four waves of immigration.The first immigration to Cambodia was during the 15th century after the Vietnamese invadedthe northern part of the Champa kingdom. This invasion is connected to the legend of the

1 Modern day Ho Chi Minh City


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mystical Kerik tree, which gave supernatural powers and the energy to the Cham king and itspeople since ancestral times. Later in my paper I will present a short version of this historicallegend, which is basically the beginning of the Chams misfortune. During the killings manyCham fled over the borders into Khemara, the old name for Cambodia or into the woods2.

The second major migration wave from the Champa kingdom to Cambodia, which ismentioned in the Khmer Royal Chronicles, occurred in the year of 1692. Again we find thereason in thenam tien 3 policy of the Nguyen, which are located in Hue in central Vietnam. Atthe expense of the Cham and Khmer, they pushed south towards the Mekong delta. In 1623the Viet people obtained a customs house in Prei Nokor, which they soon renamed in Saigon.Many Vietnamese moved further south and settled in and around this new acquiredVietnamese town. Soon they were joined by Chinese refugees from the Ming dynasty, who inturn established a sister town with the name Cholon. The Cham were superseded by the

Vietnamese and Chinese. Finally in 1692 the royal family of the Chams from Pandurangaimmigrated with about 5000 people to Cambodia and received official land from the presentKhmer King Preah Chez Choetta4 around the former capital of Oudong5. There are groundsfor the assumption that those immigrants from 1692 are the ancestors of the Cham-Jahedgroup, which is still located around Oudong.When the Champa kingdom of Panduranga became the battleground in a Vietnamese civilwar between Tay Son rebels and the Nguyen prince, Nguyen Anh in the last quarter of the18th century, can we speak about the third wave of immigrants that sought refugee in the

nearby Cambodia. It was also around this time, when the Chams themselves becameinternally divided, probably about the issue of religion. It is presumed, that the Muslim groupunder the guidance of Tuon Set Asmit left Panduranga for Cambodia.After their victory, the Nguyen established their emperor in Hue. During the reign of MinhMenh between 1820 and 1841, there was a huge Vietnamisation campaign on the remainingChams in the South. Religious observance, ceremonies and customs were suppressed. This ill-treatment went as far as that the Vietnamese forced the Hindu-Chams to eat beef and theMuslim-Chams to eat pork and lizard. The Khmer Royal Chronicles report that the Cham thatleft Panduranga to seek refugee in Cambodia during the fourth immigration wave, wereaccused of rebelling against the Vietnamese. Before the final demise of the once greatChampa kingdom, several small groups tried to fight back thenam tien , but after a short time

2 The Chams that fled to live in the woods are known as the Penik Phnong group.3 Nam tien: Vietnamese policy of pushing south towards the Mekong delta.4 King Preah Chez Choetta also known as: Jayajettha III, who was in power 1677-17095 Oudong was the Cambodian capital 1618-1866. Oudong is about 45 km north of the present day capital of Phnom Penh.


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left for sanctuary in Cambodia. The four main waves of immigration from the Champakingdom to Cambodia are those officially recognised in the Khmer Royal Chronicles. Weassume that there were smaller groups of refugees during all times beginning with the firstimmigration.

1.2. The legend of the Kerik Tree the beginning of the downfall

History is often connected to legends, known throughout time by the peoples. When lookingat Cham History and especially at the first invasion of the Viet people from southern Chinainto the northern Cham state of Indrapura and the capture of the capital in 982 AC, we findthat the legend of the Kerik tree was formed to explain the happenings. Passed on from

generation to generation the legend became the explanation for the beginning of the downfallof the great Champa kingdom. Because this legend became a part of the history of a nation, Iwant to stress the importance of it.There was once the great Champa king, whom the Vietnamese were not able to defeat, neitheron land nor on sea. The king and his kingdom of Champa were under the protection of amagic tree, which was located in front of the palace gates. It is said, that this tree was thesource of the powers and strengths of the king and his soldiers. After not being able to defeatthe Champa kingdom, the Vietnamese strived to uncover the secret of the Chams steady

victory. Soon they discovered the mystery of the tree and now attempted to destroy thissource of power. They sent a beautiful young Vietnamese woman and her mother to thepalace of the Champa king. They were granted admission and soon the young woman becamethe second wife of the king. After a short period she pretended to be very ill and for weeks shewas not able to leave her bed. Because she had put dry rice under her mattress, every moveshe made sounded like the cracking of her bones. The king was very anxious about his youngwife and asked all his medicine men and sorcerers, but none of them could find a remedy tohelp her. Finally a Vietnamese fortune-teller revealed the cause of the unknown illness of thekings wife. It was supposed to be the spirit living in the Kerik-tree that made her suffer. Headvised to cut down the tree. None of the kings subordinates was able to cut down the tree,so the king had to do it himself. Blood flowed out of the tree and covered the land. Soon laterthe Vietnamese attacked the Champa kingdom and the king and his soldiers were mercilessdefeated. To escape the cruelness of the enemies, the Champa king tried to hide in a well,covered under cobwebs. But a lizard, with its distinguished shouting betrayed him to the Viet


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people. They found him and beheaded him. The conquerors annexed the land and ever sincefollowed their policy of nam tien pushing south towards the Mekong delta. The beheadedChampa king turned into an evil spirit. This legend is still known and told in Chamcommunities today. We can still observe the influence of the legend of the Kerik-tree in

modern day Cham communities. Trankell6

suggests that the reason for the silence among theChams concerning their near past, experienced under the Khmer Rouge and connected withthis, the flourishing of the Cay-Cult among the Jahed group, could be already rooted in thelegend of the Kerik-tree. I will go into further details in the Cay-Cult discussion.

1.3. Islamisation

The Islamisation of Champa is controversial and there are to be found several theories on it.In the 13th century the Muslims invaded India and soon later Islam spread to Southeast Asia.The vectors of this Islamisation were the merchants who moved permanently to SoutheastAsia. Those traders could have been Indian traders, who centuries before brought Hinduismwith them, but now arrived in Champa and the rest of Southeast Asia with their new Islamicfaith. Cabaton (1906) suggests that Islam came between the 10th and 14th century with Araband Persian traders in connection with Muslim expansion or in the 14th century with Malayimmigrants. Cabaton did not mention the possibility that Indian merchants or Sufimissionaries from Gujarat and Bengal7 could have spread Islam in Champa. About Malayimmigrants, I only found that they were in constant contact with Cambodian traders and thatwe find the descendants in the Cham-Chvea group still living in Cambodia. There is apossibility that the Chams, after immigrating to Cambodia got in touch with the Malayminority and their orthodox version of Islam. Researchers do not only face the question of who brought the Islamic faith to the Champa kingdom, but also when. Manguin (1985) waslooking for the date in history of the Champa kingdom, which marks the conversion of theKing (or ruler)8. In his opinion we can not speak of an Islamisation before the conversion of the ruler. He did not find this date before the 17th century. This vague theory does not show if there were common people before that period, who converted to the new faith.

6 Ing-Britt Trankell: Songs of Our Spirits7 See William Collins: The Chams of Cambodia8 A kingdom will be defined as Muslim when the Sovereign, his court and a notable portion of the populationhave been converted. (Manguin 1985)


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There exist several theories of the Islamisation of the Champa kingdom. I imply that Indian,as well as Arab and Persian traders, on their way to China, paused in the former Champakingdom. During this period, the population received the information about this new religionand gradually started converting to the new Islamic faith. In my point of view, not so much

attention should be given to the conversion of the ruler, respectively the king, like Manguinsuggested. It is important that a great number of commoners went over to a different faith. Itwill be interesting to research the influence of the Sufi missionaries, since we do findelements of mysticism from the Sufi branch in Cham Islam, especially among the Jahedgroup.

1.4. The Cham Language

The Cham Language belongs to the Austronesian family and to the subgroup of the Malayo-Polynesian languages. The Cham language which nowadays exists in Cambodia is calledWestern Cham and differs somewhat from the Eastern Cham dialect spoken from the Chamsin Central Vietnam. The writing developed from the devanageri script. In Cambodia it isspoken near the major cities and along the Mekong River.The main scholars in the Chamic language field are tienne Aymonier and Antoine Cabatonwith the Dictionnaire cham francais 9. According to Dyen10 belong the Chamic languages,respectively the Cham language probably to the West Indonesian group of languages. On thebasis of lexicostatistic evidence the closest relatives of the Chamic languages are thelanguages of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. He further argues that no one ever questionedthat the languages mentioned above form a single subgroup within the Austronesian family,which in other references is called the Malayo-Polynesian group. This again proofs thegeneral opinion that Cham belongs to the Austronesian language family. Dyen presentsanother interesting theory from a scholar named G.K. Niemann, who made the suggestion thatthe Cham language is more closely related with the Achinese spoken in Sumatra. Apart fromfinding agreements in the phonology, grammatical forms and particularly in the lexicon, heexplains his agreements with the theory that a large number of the population of Acehoriginated from Champa. Collins11 remarks that the Cham language as an Austronesianlanguage is surrounded by only Austroasiatic languages. He further notes that there is also an

9 Publications de lEcole Francaise dExtreme Orient, VII (1906)10 Isidore Dyen: The Chamic Languages11 For more details see Collins, William: The Chams of Cambodia


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Austroasiatic enclave in the central highlands of Malaysia. Collins argues that concerning theChamic people it would be incorrect to think in terms of migrations, because whathappened [] people stayed where they had always been and the land changed around them.[] the Chamic peoples were separated from their fellow Austronesian speakers, who []

followed the receding coasts to higher land and found themselves on islands when the sealevels stabilised. In conclusion it is to say, that there exist more theories on languagerelations between the Chamic languages and other Southeast Asian languages. I onlypresented three theories that are partly congruent with theories concerning the origin of theCham people.

Areas of Western Cham language

2. Recent history - The Cham group after the colonial period

2.1. Sihanouks definition of Khmer ethnic minorities Unity in diversity

After Cambodias official independence from France in 195312 until 1970 Cambodia wasruled by King Sihanouk and his officials. He strongly followed a nationalist policy to takeeconomic control of the country from the Chinese and Vietnamese living in Cambodia. Hisaim was to advance the interests of the Khmer. In this context Sihanouk shaped a newterminology for some of the ethnic minorities in the country, using the term Khmer. He

distinguished the Highland Khmers (Khmer Loeu), which are the people of the hill tribeslocated in the Northeast of Cambodia, mostly in the provinces of Rattanakiri andMondulkiri13. Further more he points out the Muslim Khmer and the Cham-Malay

12 France granted Cambodia internal autonomy in January 1946 (modus vivendi agreement), but not untilNovember 1953 was Cambodia independent.13 Some of the Khmer Loeu also live in the provinces of Stung Treng and Kratie. For more information on theKhmer Loeu seehttp://countrystudies.us/cambodia/44.htmor www.cascambodia.org.


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community, referring to these groups as the Khmer Islam. And he also distinguished theKhmer Krom, which are the Lowland Khmers, ethnic Khmers who live in the MekongDelta, which now belongs to Vietnam. It is interesting that Sihanouk emphasized the fact thatthe ethnic minorities apart from the Chinese and Vietnamese, belong to the Khmer population

and are therefore seen as ethnic Khmers. This official terminology also found its way to thepeople of Cambodia, who are using those terms, when speaking about Khmer ethnicminorities. And when we look at the Cham-Chvea, we see that they are explicitly referring tothemselves as Khmer Islam. This term again, reflects their status of being Khmer, but witha different religious faith. I think it is important to see that apart from his intention of whyincluding those ethnic minorities into the ethnic Khmer, he did take a noticeable step towardsgeneral acceptance of those groups and in particular of the Khmer Islam among the Khmerpopulation. Nevertheless we do have to see the diversities of cultural differences from the

ethnic Khmers especially among the Khmer Islam, respectively the Chams. Since the Chamspractise Islam, which prohibits intermarriage with non-Muslims, they are already separatedfrom other non-Muslim Khmers. This separation is further enforced by numerous ritualpractises that contrast sharply with those of the Khmer majority community. The termKhmer Islam in fact points to the tolerance of the Cambodian nation, which includesMuslims among its diverse peoples.All three Khmer ethnic minorities are settled along the Mekong River. The Khmer Loeu liveon the upper stream of the Mekong, the Khmer Islam cultivate the middle reaches of the river

and are experts in coping with the changes of the Tonle Sap Lake. And the Khmer Krom builttheir villages in the Mekong Delta of nowadays Vietnam. We could say that because theMekong flows steadily through the Cambodian mountains and plains and therefore belongs tothe Cambodian landscape and culture, the ethnic minorities that inhabit the areas around theMekong, belong to Cambodia as well.

2.2. 1975 1979: Were the Chams persecuted because of their ethnic or religious

background during the Khmer Rouge regime?

Besides the Horror the people of Cambodia had to face during this time, irrespective whatethnic or religious origin they were from, I want to have a closer look, whether the Chams asan ethnic or religious group were more persecuted than others. In my opinion this is a reallydelicate question to ask, especially from a person, not from Cambodia. And asking or doing


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research on these questions might lead to the opinion that some people suffered more thanothers, which by no means I want to emphasize. I want to give an overview on whatCambodian Scholars and other researchers had to say about this topic and with my knowledgeof Cambodian history I will try to find my own position on whether or not the Cham minority

group was more persecuted than other Cambodians.Ben Kiernan14 describes the politics of Democratic Kampuchea concerning the Chams asan intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, assuch. He further argues that Cham girls had to cut their hair and men their beard and hair aswell. The Chams had to abandon their traditional clothes and adapt to the official black suitsof the Khmer Rouge. They were forced to eat pork and behave like Khmers. They had tospeak the Khmer language. They were prohibited to practise their Islamic faith and most of their mosques were destroyed or desecrated. Their Cham communities were broken up and

dispersed. According to Kiernan, only 20 Hakkem (community leaders) of 113 before the PolPot period survived, out of 226 Hakkem rong (deputies) survived 25 and only 38 of approx.300 religious teachers at Koranic schools survived. All in all one third of the Cham IslamCommunity perished under Pol Pot. Kiernan argues that the total death rate among the Chamswas statistically higher than among Cambodians. In the end of his article he concludes thatthere had been a persecution of the Cham based on race and/ or religion.Becker15 describes the Khmer Rouge policy as racial pogroms, which she compares withthose of the Nazis in Germany.

The Khmer Rouge Ideology also included an attempt to eradicate religions. All religiousbelieves were suppressed and Buddhists, Moslems, Christians and other followers were notallowed to practise their faith. Serge Thion16 adds concerning the Cham group that If therewas more resistance among Muslims, and then more repression [from the Khmer Rouge], it isbecause Islam as a cement was stronger than other religious beliefs. That would explain thehigher number of perished Chams during this period of Cambodian history. DemocraticKampuchea was establishing a completely new social order, which did not have any space forreligion and individualism. Not only the Cham language was prohibited to practise, but alsoEnglish, French, Vietnamese and all other foreign languages, because knowing otherlanguages than Khmer was a threat to the system and showed sympathy with imperialisticideas. All 51 interviewees Kiernan asked, whether or not the Cham population had beendispersed or broken up, all of the surveyed answered with yes. My question is, if there is one

14 Ben Kiernan: Orphans of Genocide: The Cham Muslims of Kampuchea under Pol Pot.15 Elizabeth Becker: When the war was over.16 Serge Thion: Watching Cambodia.


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Cambodian, who would answer no to this particular question. Families were torn apartduring and after the evacuation of the capital Phnom Penh, men sent away to the woods to beexecuted and children were taken away from their mothers to work for the revolution inworking camps. By no means have I wanted to deny that in some cases, people of the Cham

minority group were specially targeted by Khmer Rouge Cadres. But until now, there has notbeen a proof that Khmer Rouge policies were especially designed to eliminate ethnic minoritygroups as the Chams. Of course they were to some extant more affected than their Cambodianfellows, because of their distinctive tradition, religion and language, which they had toabandon.

3. The Chams in contemporary Khmer society

3.1. Division within The 3 main groups within the Cham ethnic minority

The Chams of Cambodia are not a homogenous ethnic minority group. There are three maingroups within the Cham community in Cambodia, whose descendent can only partly tracedback to the former Champa Kingdom in nowadays central Vietnam. All three groups have incommon their Islamic faith, although it is also a criterion for the division among the Cham

Muslim. This differentiation is found between traditionalists on the one side and puritans onthe other. The traditionalists, which more or less practise the Chamic Islam, are referred to asthe Jahed17 group.The Jahed themselves refer to their group as the followers of Imam San, who was a formerleader, that was granted a place for his mosque on a holy temple near Oudong from the thenKhmer king. The Jahed, which number about 23,000 persons, about ten percent of the totalnumber of Cham in Cambodia, stress the importance of their origin from the Champakingdom. They preserved their Cham script, which developed from a south Indian script.

They are not only using the Cham language in every day life, but also, in contrast to the otherCham groups which use either Malay or Arab, in their religious literature.In addition to preserving their language, they also celebrate some pre-Islamic and otherIslamic ceremonies, which I will discuss later. The Jahed group rejects the authority of clericsand only follow what they believe; Mohamed (the prophet) received from god. They believe

17 The word Jahed (Arabic: zahid- anchorite, recluse, devotee, ascetic) orKom Jumat is used by otherMoslems to emphasize that this special group of Cham only prays once a week; the Friday prayer.


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that one can come into personal communion with god, without accumulated rules. For thisreasons they only pray one time a week and instead say, that they are in a state of prayer at alltimes of the day. These believe, in a way, shows their superiority towards the other Chams.But because of this attitude and their rejection of more orthodox ways of Islam, which are

brought to Cambodia from Malaysia and other Islamic countries, do they not receive anyforeign Islamic aid. Missionaries want them for example to abandon their tradition of onlypraying once a week and to adopt the Arabic writing for the Koran. In return they would besponsored with new mosques and money for schools and books.

Local Cham-Jahed religious leader in a wedding procession.

The other two groups are attracted to a more orthodox version of Islam, which is mostlybrought to Cambodia from foreign Muslim organisations from the Malay and Arab world.

The Cham-Cham18 and the Cham-Chvea19, often tempted by economic offers follow thepurification movements. Even though both subgroups follow the same Islamic way, we haveto distinguish them because of their geographical and cultural background.The Cham-Cham are descendents from the kingdom of Champa, but rather than emphasizingtheir cultural, historical and ethnical heritage, in contrast to the Jahed, they prefer to point out

18 Cham-Cham refers to the ethnic minority of the Cham and the name Cham, they give themselves.19 Chvea is Khmer for Java. They prefer to call themselves Khmer Islam.


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their religious background. Because they only trace their descent through their Islamic faith,they are more open towards more modern Islamic practises that mostly come from the MalayaIslamic culture and more recently from Arab countries as well. Especially after the KhmerRouge regime did they turn towards a more orthodox version of Islam. In contrast to the

Jahed, which they callkaum hakekat - the group devoted to Divine Truth; they considerthemselves to belong to thekaum sharia group - the group to devote to Gods ordinances,ritual and liturgy. They usually pray five times a day.In recent times the Cham-Chams, like the Cham-Chvea belong to the Cham division, whichreceives foreign aid from Muslim organisations from Malaysia or the Arab Islamic World. Ina later Chapter I will discuss the influence and effects of the purification movements on theCham.The Cham-Chams still speak the Cham language, but in addition they also speak Khmer and

Malay. The use of the Cham script in religious literature among this group is replaced byArabic script.The Cham-Chveas are superficially numbered to the Cham minority group, even though theydo not descent from the former Champa kingdom, but belong to the Islamic minority group inCambodia. They prefer to call their group Khmer Islam, which shows their national andlinguistically affiliation. In turn they are called Chvea by other Khmer nationals, which showstheir foreign origin, which is probably in the Malaya-Indonesian region. The Cham-Chveashave the theory that they are the children of a Malay man and a Khmer Mother, which would

explain their affiliation with Khmer customs and their Islamic faith. Malay traders did passthrough Cambodia and brought with them their religious faith. To review this ethnic minorityof the Cham-Chvea more thorough would go beyond the means of this paper, which discussesthe Cham ethnic, as originated from the former Champa Kingdom.

3.2. Living Areas and working fields in modern day Cambodia

The Chams of all three groups mentioned above, the Jahed, Cham-Chvea and the Cham-Chamtypically live in villages inhabited only by other Cham, not by Khmer or other ethnicminorities. Cham villages may be along the banks of water courses, like the Mekong and arereferred to as play krong river villages. The population of a play krong usually engage infishing, raising rice or growing vegetables, especially onions. They trade fish for rice withlocal Khmers. Women in play krong earn additional money by weaving.


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The Cham living inland, inhabit villages called play ngok upper villages, where localssupport themselves by various means, depending on the playngok . Some villages specializein metal working; others raise fruit trees or vegetables. The Cham often serve as butchers of cattle for their Khmer Buddhist neighbours and in some areas are skilful water buffalo

breeders.

3.3. New Trends in the Cham Community

3.3.1. Formation of a more orthodox Islam among the Cham The influence of the

Arab and Malay World

Since Cambodia opened itself again to the outside world, foreigners and especially foreignNGOs found their way to Cambodia, which for over thirty years was basically isolated fromthe rest of the world. Knowing that Cambodia has a Muslim minority, organisations fromIslamic countries like Malaysia and Middle East countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait andthe Arab Emirates arrived. As I mentioned above, the Cham practise their own way of Islam,which is not as orthodox as known in other Islamic countries. The aim of the Muslimmissionaries was and still is to spread a more orthodox version of Islam, which includespraying five times a day and having to abandon certain traditional and pre-Islamic Chamicpractises. Like most Cambodians, the Cham suffered under the Khmer Rouge regime and losttheir valuables, lands and traditions. Their mosques and schools were destroyed. They were inneed for foreign aid, respectively financial support. Islamic donors, wanting to help theirMuslim brothers, visited the Cham communities and introduced their programs and rules, inorder to support the village. Flexible communities swiftly received financial aid from theirforeign fellows.More and more Cham Muslims join the orthodox movement that strives to purify ChamIslamic practises from Buddhist influence or Pre-Islamic traditions. Money from overseas notonly finances the building of new schools, mosques and wells for the village, but also opensthe opportunities to education abroad and to go on pilgrimage to Mecca. People returningfrom the pilgrimage or school; bring new views of Islam to their community, which oftenoppose localized Cham practises. The two groups of the Cham-Cham and the Cham-Chveaare mostly tempted by economic offerings from the puritans. Some religious leaders arefinanced through foreign funds.


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The majority of the Cham take criticism on the Jahed group for holding on to ancient Chambelieves, but in turn are criticised by the reformists for holding on to some of the samebelieves as the Jahed. The reformist movement opposes any form of religious synthesis,which we do find in some of the traditional Cham practises, ex. the traditional burial and

commemoration practise for the dead or wedding ceremonies that are accompanied with theuse of a drum or other instruments and the Cay-Cult, which I shall discuss in the next chapter.In some Cham-Cham villages we can tell dissension within the community. Cham eldersaccuse missionaries of creating unwanted disagreement in the village by criticising Chamtraditional practises20.

Religious Jahed leaders praying at a funeral.

We can observe several solutions in different villages. In some mosques are blankets put up to

separate the two different groups, the traditional and the orthodox. Other mosques have tworeligious leaders for their community and in some villages we can even find two mosques forthe two branches within the Muslim Cham community.The Jahed group, which are seen as the keepers of the old traditions and culture known sincethe Champa kingdom among the Cham, reject those kinds of religious transformations tomore orthodox versions of Islam. Therefore they do not belong to the Muslim minority inCambodia, receiving financial aid from foreign Islamic organisations.Recently there has been a controversial, whether or not there is a potential for terrorismamong the Cham Muslim communities. Several foreigners, working in Islamic schools havebeen arrested and a school has been closed down. There has not been any Cham personinvolved in any of these matters and on questioning the Minister of Cults and Religions CheaSavoeun, he replied: Khmer Islam is very peaceful and the people are innocent. []21

20 Bjorn Blengsli: Trends in the Islamic community. Blengsli recently spent several months living among theCham in Cambodia.21 Cambodia starts to wonder about Muslim minority Reuters, Phnom Penh.


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However, the Wahhabiyah22 reformist movement has a strong influence on nowadays Chamcommunities.There is a second purification movement working in Cambodia today, which I only want tomention shortly. The Tablighi Jamaat movement23, which originated in India and follows the

six principals, is found in some villages. Men dress completely in white and wear whiteturbans. Women are found covered from head to toe in black clothes and veils. It will beparticularly interesting observing the development among the Muslim communities under theinfluence of the two reformist and purification movements originated in other Muslimcountries. The question is if there will be Cham elders in one or two generations who will becomplaining about the dissension within the Cham community or if there simply will not beany dissension left, because of the complete loss of the old Chamic traditions. Or if the Cham,financially independent, find back to their roots and will experience a revival of their old

traditions, like we can find among the Jahed nowadays. How long will the Jahed group beable to reject financial support from Islamic organisations? Cheaply printed Islamic scripturesin Arabic find their way to Cham villages, respectively Jahed communities. The questionrises, if it is just a matter of time until those booklets take the place of the abundantlyproduced, handwritten Islamic literature of the Jahed.

3.3.2. The Cay-Cult ceremony of the Jahed keepers of the old tradition?

The Spirit possession cult, respectively the cay-cult is a ceremony celebrated by thetraditional branch of the Cham minority, the Jahed. The main purpose of the ceremony is toheal a suffering person where medical treatment has proofed insufficient and to purify thesame and his relatives. The state of health of a person is connected to once primary socialrelations. Trankell also describes the Cay-Cult as a state ceremony to celebrate the gloriouspast of the Cham nation.The Cay-Cult experienced some sort of revival since the end of the civil war and the arrival of the UNTAC- Soldiers in Cambodia. Baccot24 wrote in 1960 that the Cay-Cult was about todisappear. Before I discuss what the causes were of the recent revival, I will give a shortintroduction to the Cay-Cult ceremony for a better understanding.

22 Wahhabiyah: An Islamic renewal group established by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Whhab (d.AH1206/1792CE).According to the teachings of Abd al-Whhab, the movement is not a new Islamic school, but a call or missionfor the true implementation of Islam. The Wahhabiyah often refer to the mission of the oneness of God.23 Khmer: Dawa Tabligh24 Baccot: On gnur et Cay O Russei.


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Trankell, who in recent years consulted several field studies among the Jahed is my mainsource of information on the Cay-Cult ceremony of the Jahed.The Cay-Cult ceremony is mainly done by mediums, which are possessed by spirits, whichwere members of the royal court of the historical Champa. In the old society25 those mediums

were mostly women from thePo-cast 26

, putative descendants from the Champa royal lineageor aristocracy. Qualities like beauty, refined manners, high education, knowledge of the royallanguage and etiquette and Muslim texts and teachings were prerequisite. Mediums used toform a close network with training in etiquette and protocol during the ceremony.Nowadays, in the new society27 the distinction betweenPo and Ries 28 has little importance.New mediums come from all kinds of social backgrounds. Trankell explained that after thePol Pot regime and the invasion of the Vietnamese, most Jahed gathered together at a Villagecalled O Russei, where they stayed until they were able to move on to other villages. The

people, who were staying in O Russei can today claim some kind of elite status, which meansthat they are able to become a medium.The possession of a medium is transgender, which means that male spirits can possess femalemediums and reversed. The transgender of a medium expresses the general ambivalencewithin the cult world. Categories like male and female, past and present, spirits and humansare blurred. The initiation of a new medium is mostly brought about by the experience of atrauma, which includes near death experiences, serious illness and the sense of beingvulnerable or exposed. In addition a new medium still has to find a teacher, who is willing to

introduce the novice to etiquette and protocol of the ceremony.In the new society we not only find many new mediums, but also new spirits in the Chamspirit pantheon that nowadays also include Khmer Royal spirits, like the spirit of the PrincessDaun Penh29.Knowing that the Cay-Cult almost vanished before the Khmer Rouge takeover, it isinteresting to ask why the Cay-Cult experienced such a revival since the beginning of the1990s. Trankell introduced the theory that because of the traumatic experiences most of theChams suffered during the Khmer Rouge period, more people experienced the possession of a

25 Trankell does not specify what is meant with old society, but I suppose that it refers to the period before therevival of the cult and the disregard of the old rules known from the former Champa kingdom. My interpretationis that the old society and the execution of the rules, is mainly found in the old Champa kingdom. And itprobably reaches as far as the beginning of the Khmer Rouge period.26 Po: Cham for royal and aristocracy.27 In contrast to Trankells term of the old society, I use new society, referring to the time since the cay cultsrevival.28 Ries: Cham for commoner.29 Princess Daun Penh is the guardian spirit of the present capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.


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spirit. This would explain the high number of mediums. But without people who want toperform a cay-cult ceremony the mediums would not be worth anything.I think after suppression, like the one experienced under the Khmer Rouge, where a personwas stripped of any individualism, material goods and spiritual resort, people try to re-build

their traditions to take resort in them. Religion and old traditions help to look forward, workwith the experiences or try to forget about them. After years of separation Jahed communitiesand families were joined together and discovered their almost lost traditions again.I suggest that the Islamic purification movements experienced in Cham communities mightalso have a particular influence on the Jahed group. Seeing that other Cham Muslims abandontheir old believes and traditions for financial aid from foreign Islamic sources, the Jahed cometo terms of having to preserve their old Cham Islamic traditions and oppose the purification of their own way of Islam by becoming somewhat extreme traditionalists. The flourishing Cay

Cult is one expression.Another factor of the quick revival of the Cay-Cult might be found in the very sense of it. TheCay-Cult is performed on an ill person, where other remedies do not help anymore. Lookingat the medical situation in Cambodia, people had to face after the civil war and still have toface outside of the major cities; the cay-cult ceremony was and is a welcome hope. Hospitalsand other medical institutions were destroyed and most doctors were killed during the KhmerRouge period. People gained a higher conscious of traditional remedies and therefore for theCay-Cult as well.

In connection with the explanation of the recent revival of the Cay-Cult, Trankell argues thatthe revival of the Cay-Cult might be the verbalisation of the near and far past and theconnected experiences. Foreigners can experience deep silence when confronting people inCambodia with their experiences under the Khmer Rouge. Trankell suggests that the reasonfor this silence among the Chams concerning their near past under the Khmer Rouge and theflourishing of the Cay-Cult among the Jahed, could already be rooted in the legend of theKerik-tree. Because through its talkativeness, the lizard betrayed the Champa king, who washiding in the well from the Vietnamese.Not only the betrayal expressed in the legend shows that talking can bring misfortune, butalso the betrayal experienced under the Pol Pot Regime, where spies were waiting under thehouses to bear witness of any criticism on the revolution. The consequence was to keep quiet.Because speaking and talking with each other could bring harm, the Cham express their grief,suffering, guilt and other feelings attached to the pasts in the state ceremonies of the Cay-Cult.


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I experienced similar silence among the Khmer when confronting them with their recent pastand their suffering during the Pol Pot regime. I suggest that not only the fear to talk, becauseof possible consequences, but the pain and the speechlessness facing those happenings lead tothe silence. There are simply no words to describe. Often I also had the impression that the

people in Cambodia want to forget about what had happened to them, which by all means isunderstandable. And when looking at the Cham, we should consider the above mentioned aswell. The cult might be seen as a way to deal with history. Combined it can be said, thatseveral reasons led to the revival of the Cay-Cult among the Jahed and all of them should beconsidered to be part of the explanation.

ConclusionFirst I have to mention, that we face quiet a small collection of literature about the Chams. Istill could not include everything I was planning to. One of the reasons is that it would havedefinitely been too much material for the present research paper, so I had to make a selectionof material and topics, which I will probably include in one of my next essays about theChams in Cambodia.After discussing the given themes, I noticed that especially in Cham history there are severaltheories, which all try to explain certain aspects of history, like the Islamisation or evenearlier, the descent of the inhabitants of the Champa kingdom and the relations between theChamic language as an Austronesian language and other languages of the same family inSoutheast Asia. In my opinion, it is important to recognise each theory as a possible rightanswer to the question of origin and changes within the Cham society. The difficulty withhistorical theories is that we can not proof them one hundred percent, because there is nobodyleft to ask. For this reason I rather focused on temporary development and change within theCham community, since this subject left me with the possibility of doing further research in aCham community in the future.In my discussion about Chams history as well as modern Cham society I ascertained thatboth are recognized by major changes within the nation and community, coming mostly fromforeign influences, which caused a change of thinking within the Cham group.I could recognize the following important transformation:The development from a strong kingdom to an ethnic minority group that today lives inVietnam, where the former Champa kingdom existed and in Cambodia, where the people hadimmigrated to for sanctuary.


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The conversion from Hinduism to Islam is a second important change in Cham consciousness.After working through the material on Islamisation of the Champa kingdom, I noticed that weare facing a gap on historical information, which we might be able to cover through futureresearch in Southeast Asian archives.

The geographical alteration from present central Vietnam to the banks of the Mekong and theTonle Sap probably had a major impact on Chams living conditions and lifestyle, which shallbe a future aspect of research and discussion.These are the dominant transformations in Chams history, connected with the loss of theirhomeland and the immigration to the neighbouring country of Cambodia.I also discussed two major changes in contemporary Cham society. The present amendmentshave a great influence on the Chams sense of identity, because the conversion to a moreorthodox version of Islam on the one side and the revival of old Cham Islamic traditions, like

the Cay Cult ceremony on the other side, divide the Cham ethnic minority as a whole in twoparties. This division weakens the feeling of unity, which bounded the Cham group together.In present days we can not talk anymore about one Cham minority group, but because of religious dissensions have to distinguish between a traditional Cham group and an orthodoxCham group. The question is to what extent we can still number the Cham-Cham group to theCham minority group. I already emphasised, that the Cham-Chvea, respectively the KhmerIslam group are not descendents from the former Champa kingdom and could therefore notbe counted to the Cham minority, but form a minority group alone, like we can already notice

by the name they give themselves. Since Islamic missionaries have arrived in Cambodia, theCham-Chams gradually have abandoned their traditional Cham Islamic practises. Less andless, we can recognize typical features of their distinctive Cham culture. The question onwhether or not, a group (here the Cham-Cham) within a minority group (here the Cham) thatleft their distinctive features behind can still be seen as a part of this minority group, has to bediscussed more thorough.However, the Chams were officially accepted as an integral part of Khmer society by KingNorodom Sihanouk. The Chams, which among the Khmer population are recognized as aminority group that includes all three subgroups mentioned above became an importantfeature in the otherwise mostly homogenous Cambodia.To do further research on present changes and transformation in the Cham communities, it isimportant to conduct field studies in Cham communities. I already remarked the lack of scientific material about the Cham minority. To achieve new results in this subject, one has tocontact and probably live with Cham locals in Cambodia.


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Bibliographie

Mitsuo, Nakamura: Introduction. In: Islam &Civil Society in Southeast Asia, Nakamura

Mitsuo & Sharon Siddique & Omar Farouk Bajunid (Ed.). Singapore.Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.2001

Lidauer, Michael: Sozialanthropologische Notizen zur Islamisierung Sdostasiens. In:Sdostasien Working Papers Band 3. Wien. sterreichische Akademie derWissenschaften. 2002

Trankell, Ing-Britt &Ovesen, Jan: Foreigners and Honorary Khmers: Ethnic Minorities inCambodia. In: Civilizing the Margins, Christopher R.Duncan (Ed.). Ithaca. Cornell University Press. 2004.

Becker, Elizabeth: When the war was over, Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution.

United States of America.1998Thion, Serge: Watching Cambodia. Bangkok. White Lotus.1993

Blengsli, Bjrn: Religious globalization and the potential for terrorism among CambodiasMuslims, Trends in the Islamic Community.http://www.phnompenhpost.com/TXT/comments/trends.htm(06/05)

Willoughby, Jay: The Cham Muslims of Indo- China. In: The Message International. 1991http://www.geocities.com/mutmainaa/history/cham_muslim.html(06/05)

Trankell, Ing-Britt: Songs of Our Spirits: Possession and Historical Imagination amongthe Cham in Cambodia. In: Asian Ethnicity 4. Carfax Publishing. 2003

Ooi Keat Gin (Ed.): Southeast Asia, A historical Encyclopedia from Angkor Watto East Timor. USA, England. 2004

Collins, William A.: The Chams of Cambodia. In: Interdisciplinary Research on EthnicGroups in Cambodia. Phnom Penh: Center for Advanced Study.1996www.cascambodia.org(06/05)

Kiernan, Ben: Orphans of Genocide: The Cham Muslims of Kampuchea under Pol Pot.In: Bulletin of concerned Asian Scholars Vol. 20, Nr. 4. USA.1988

Maspero, Georges: The Champa Kingdom,The History of an Extinct Vietnamese Culture .Bangkok. White Lotus. 2002

Dharma, Po: The History of Champa. In: Cham Art,Treasures from the D Nang Museum,Vietnam. Emmanuel Guillon. Amarin Printing and Publishing. Thailand. 2001

Bakhtiar, Laleh: Sufi. London. Thames and Hudson.1976

Baudesson, Henry: Indo-China and its Primitive People. London: Hutchinson & Co. 1925


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