building of Chale-town the lofty towers,
while quakes illustrious Diu his name to hear."
[c. 1610.—"... crossed the river which separates the Calecut kingdom from that of a king named Chaly."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 368.]
1672.—"Passammo Cinacotta situata alla bocca del fiume Ciali, doue li Portughesi hebbero altre volte Fortezza."—P. Vincenzo Maria, 129.
CHAMPA, n.p. The name of a kingdom at one time of great power and importance in Indo-China, occupying the extreme S.E. of that region. A limited portion of its soil is still known by that name, but otherwise as the Binh-Thuān province of Cochin China. The race inhabiting this portion, Chams or Tsiams, are traditionally said to have occupied the whole breadth of that peninsula to the Gulf of Siam, before the arrival of the Khmer or Kambojan people. It is not clear whether the people in question took their name from Champa, or Champa from the people; but in any case the form of Champa is Sanskrit, and probably it was adopted from India like Kamboja itself and so many other Indo-Chinese names. The original Champā was a city and kingdom on the Ganges, near the modern Bhāgalpur. And we find the Indo-Chinese Champa in the 7th century called Mahā-champā, as if to distinguish it. It is probable that the Ζάβα or Ζάβαι of Ptolemy represents the name of this ancient kingdom; and it is certainly the Ṣanf or Chanf of the Arab navigators 600 years later; this form representing Champ as nearly as is possible to the Arabic alphabet.
c. A.D. 640.—"... plus loin à l'est, le royaume de Mo-ho-tchen-po" (Mahāchampā).—Hiouen Thsang, in Pèlerins Bouddh. iii. 83.
851.—"Ships then proceed to the place called Ṣanf (or Chanf) ... there fresh water is procured; from this place is exported the aloes-wood called Chanfi. This is a kingdom."—Relation des Voyages, &c., i. 18.
1298.—"You come to a country called Chamba, a very rich region, having a King of its own. The people are idolaters, and pay a yearly tribute to the Great Kaan ... there are a very great number of Elephants in this Kingdom, and they have lign-aloes in great abundance."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. 5.
c. 1300.—"Passing on from this, you come to a continent called Jampa, also subject to the Kaan...."—Rashīduddīn, in Elliot, i. 71.
c. 1328.—"There is also a certain part of India called Champa. There, in place of horses, mules, asses, and camels, they make use of elephants for all their work."—Friar Jordanus, 37.