Kingdom of Funan

The Kingdom of Funan, also known by its Sanskrit name Suvarnabhumi, meaning land of gold, was a loose network of ancient Indianized states, called a mandala, in mainland Southeast Asia covering parts of what are now Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, existing from around the first century AD until the seventh century. Most surviving accounts of Funan come from Chinese historical texts, particularly the reports of the Chinese diplomats Kang Tai and Zhu Ying, who visited in the mid-third century AD; the name Funan itself does not appear in any texts produced locally during the period, and scholars still debate whether its people were primarily Mon-Khmer, Austronesian, or part of a multi-ethnic society. Funan was absorbed by the rising power of Chenla around 627 AD.