ABSTRACT
The Sanskrit term kamsa or kangsa is a type of white-copper or bell-metal or brass, a drinking vessel of brass or a goblet. It is also a kind of musical instrument, a type of gong or plate of bell-metal struck with a stick or rod. A ninth-century Cham inscription dated 18 May 875 mentions the term kangsam and is translated by Finot as ‘laiton’ and by Golzio as ‘bell-metal’. In the Isan region in northeast Thailand, flat gongs are called panghaq or panghat, which are derived from the Sanskrit term kangsa. The distribution of the term panghat covers the northeast region of Thailand, and in some regions on the borders with Cambodia and Laos. P. J. Zoetmulder translates the Old Javanese term gangsa as derived from the Sanskrit form kansa as bell-metal. The movement of Sanskrit musical terms into Southeast Asia during the early period in the history of Southeast Asia is evident from the inscriptions.
