Champa was a kingdom that existed from the 2nd to 17th century on the south central coast of what is now Vietnam. The northern boundary of Champa was in the vicinity of what is now Da Nang and the souther boundary was Cape Varella, just north of the city of Nha Trang. Some elements of the population of Champa were the descendants of migrants from the area of what is now Indonesia at a time when Indonesia was dominated by the religion and culture of India. These cultural roots were manifested in the rudiments of a caste system in Champa. Later when the Indonesian area, except for the island of Bali, were converted to Islam Champa too became Islamic.

While the culture and religion of ancient Champa came indirectly from India the political control was in the hands of the Han Empire of China. When the Han Empire began to fall around 200 A.D. the Chinese governor of the province, then called Lin-yi, established his own, independent kingdom in the region around Hue.