The same Indian Sanskrit toponyms in ancient Cambodia were one among many Indian cultural traits that were adapted by Khmer people ever since Indian culture was introduced directly into the country, from around 3rd century. There were some well-known place names such as Kuruksetra, Janapada, Aryadeça and Madhyadeça that were found in several edited inscriptions. The first two names were identified as well as referring to toponyms in Cambodia; but no evidence of the existence of Madhyadeça was found to correspondent to any place during Coedès’s scholarly life. So whenever we saw an information that described a person as originating from Madhyadeça, it was always assumed that he had come from India. Recently, I have observed that one newly discovered inscription proved the existence of a Madhyadeça toponym in ancient Cambodia. Therefore, we cannot assume any longer that all persons who have their home land at Madhyadeça must have come from India.
This paper will present to a workshop on Southeast Asian Epigraphy that will be organized by EFEO in Kuala Lupur, at Midah Hotel on November 8th-9th, 2011. I'm invited to participate this scholarly event by EFEO correspondents in Cambodia.
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