Vietnam

Early history

Christian invasion

  • French navy intervened in 1834 with the aim to free imprisoned Catholic missionaries from a kingdom that was perceived as xenophobic against foreign influence. Vietnam’s kingdom independence was then gradually eroded by France which was aided by the Spanish and large Catholic militias in a series of military conquests between 1859 and 1885. In 1862, the southern third of the country became the French colony of Cochinchina. By 1884, the entire country had come under French rule, with the central and northern parts of Vietnam separated in the two protectorates of Annam and Tonkin. The three Vietnamese entities were formally integrated into the union of French Indochina in 1887.
  • Guerrillas of the royalist Cần Vương movement massacred around a third of Vietnam’s Christian population during the colonial period as part of their rebellion against French rule but were defeated in the 1890s.
  • The French developed a plantation economy, and ignored demands for rights and self-government. This led to a nationalist political movement. Then the the 1930 Yên Bái mutiny. The suppressed mutineers became communists.
  • After Japanese defeat, France refused freedom. Việt Minh revolted, culminating in the partition and population exchange. Diệm ruled the south. In 1963, Buddhist discontent with Diệm’s regime erupted into mass demonstrations, leading to a violent government crackdown. Then there were many military rulers.
  • North Vietnam fought the south. US intervened, but were forced out by the obstinate vietcong despite bearing heavy losses (including from the use of chemical warfare).

Current state

  • “Balamon Chams that adhere to an indigenized form of Hinduism, and Bani Chams that adhere to an indigenized form of Islam. These two groups mostly live in separate villages. Intermarriage was prohibited in former times, and remains rare even nowadays. Both groups are matrilineal and conform to matrilocal residence practice.”
  • “The majority of Vietnamese Cham being Hindu while the majority of Cambodian Cham are Muslim, though significant minorities of Mahayana Buddhists continue to exist.”

Hindus

  • “Balamon Chams do not have a strict caste system, although previously they may have been divided between the Nagavamshi Kshatriya and the Brahmin castes”
  • “Hindu temples are known as Bimong in Cham language, but are commonly referred to as tháp “stupa”, in Vietnamese. The priests are divided into three levels, where the highest rank are known as Po Adhia or Po Sá, followed by Po Tapáh and the junior priests Po Paséh.”
  • Balamon Cham - YT

Muslims

  • “All of the Cham Muslims are Sunnis of the Shafi’i school. Po Dharma divides the Muslim Cham in Cambodia into a traditionalist branch and an orthodox branch.”
  • Traditional branch: " … A syncretic form of Islam that blends indigenous practices of matriarchy, ancestor veneration and Hinduism is practiced by the Cham Bani."
  • “Each year some of the Cham go to study the Qur’an at Kelantan in Malaysia, and some go on to study in, or make a pilgrimage to, Mecca. According to figures from the late 1950s, about seven percent of the Cham had completed the pilgrimage and could wear the fez or turban as a sign of their accomplishment.”

Christians

  • Christian population in vietnam is closer to 8% due to French colonialism & Catholic dictator Diem regime backed by USA.