Phan Thiet - Name

Name

There are several theories about the origin of the name Phan Thiết most of which agree that, "Phan Thiết" is not a pure Vietnamese name:

• Before the Vietnamese conquest of the area in the 17th century, the Cham people called this land "Hamu Lithit" - "Hamu": hamlet in the field, "Lithit" :near the sea. With the arrival of the Vietnamese settlers, a new name in Vietnamese was gradually developed. Since the Vietnamese had already changed the Cham city of Panduraga into Phan Rang and another settlement into Phan Rí, they attached the prefix "Phan" into the shortening of "Lithit" to make the name Phan Thiet.

• Vietnamese people have been transliterating the Cham names into more Vietnamese sounding names Panduranga or Mang-lang into Phan Rang, Mang-lý into Phan Rí, Hamu Lithit or Mang-thit into Phan Thiết. Those three places are referred to as "Tam Phan" (Triple Phan).

• The name of the Cham Prince who was the military governor of the area in the 15th century was Po Thit (brother of the princess Po Inu Sah and son of King Par Ra Cham Chanh or Trà Chanh). The fortification was thus called Camp Po Thit. The Vietnamese pronounced the camp name as Phan Thiết.