For somewhere between 500 and 1,000 years, what we know as modern Vietnam was divided into two more or less equal halves. In the north was the Dai Viet, known commonly by the Chinese name of Annam or 'the pacified south.' This state was very highly influenced by China and Chinese institutions and so had a developed imperial and bureaucratic system unique in Southeast Asia. To the south of Annam was the land of the Chams.
The Chams were originally Malayan peoples from one or more of the islands of Southeast Asia and who had established a network of small states which would combine together when faced with an external threat. The Chams established generally good relations with the indigenous people living inland, who were mostly mountain dwellers and they formed alliances. Both the Chams and the Vietnamese had good reputations for fighting bravely and resourcefully.
The most recent attempt by China to invade Annam came at the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the Yong-Le emperor dispatched a large army to the south and succeeded in conquering and occupying Dai Viet for twenty years. This was the greatest victory by Chinese over Vietnamese to that date and was recognised as unprecedented by Vietnamese of the time. One of the main reasons why the Chinese were successful on this occasion was because they had established an important lead in military technology by inventing and making a range of firearms, from guns to cannons to rockets.
Over the course of the twenty years of occupation, Vietnamese people managed to learn this military technology and to create a stock of weapons of their own. Eventually, they were able to throw off the Chinese overlords and re-establish their own independent state. They also had acquired a military weapon that allowed them to achieve a clear advantage over the Chams to the south, their neighbours and enemies for so many centuries, so that they could begin to plan a final conquest that would double their territory and resources and help to ensure they could resist any further attempts at conquest by the Chinese.
In 1460, Le Thanh Tong was crowned emperor of Dai Viet and he at once threw himself into the preparations necessary to bring down the Chams. This involved not just military campaigns but also legal and administrative reforms to assist in the modernisation of the state. His efforts were undermined by a famine that peaked in intensity in 1467 and it was not until 1471 that his army vanquished the Chams, burning the capital city of Vijaya, killing 40,000 Chams and looting vast amounts of gold and treasure. One Cham prince managed to escape with some followers and thy established a new community in Melaka.
The Chams were originally Malayan peoples from one or more of the islands of Southeast Asia and who had established a network of small states which would combine together when faced with an external threat. The Chams established generally good relations with the indigenous people living inland, who were mostly mountain dwellers and they formed alliances. Both the Chams and the Vietnamese had good reputations for fighting bravely and resourcefully.
The most recent attempt by China to invade Annam came at the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the Yong-Le emperor dispatched a large army to the south and succeeded in conquering and occupying Dai Viet for twenty years. This was the greatest victory by Chinese over Vietnamese to that date and was recognised as unprecedented by Vietnamese of the time. One of the main reasons why the Chinese were successful on this occasion was because they had established an important lead in military technology by inventing and making a range of firearms, from guns to cannons to rockets.
Over the course of the twenty years of occupation, Vietnamese people managed to learn this military technology and to create a stock of weapons of their own. Eventually, they were able to throw off the Chinese overlords and re-establish their own independent state. They also had acquired a military weapon that allowed them to achieve a clear advantage over the Chams to the south, their neighbours and enemies for so many centuries, so that they could begin to plan a final conquest that would double their territory and resources and help to ensure they could resist any further attempts at conquest by the Chinese.
In 1460, Le Thanh Tong was crowned emperor of Dai Viet and he at once threw himself into the preparations necessary to bring down the Chams. This involved not just military campaigns but also legal and administrative reforms to assist in the modernisation of the state. His efforts were undermined by a famine that peaked in intensity in 1467 and it was not until 1471 that his army vanquished the Chams, burning the capital city of Vijaya, killing 40,000 Chams and looting vast amounts of gold and treasure. One Cham prince managed to escape with some followers and thy established a new community in Melaka.
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