the cham like their neighbours in cambodia provided the french a perfect example of how mercultures could the french aperfect example of how cultures could wither and decay without external stimulatino inspired by the flowering of indian hindu culture in the early centuries of the christian era it appeared to the french that the cham and khmer peple had declined into a slothful apathy. jean-yues claeys archaeologist and ethnographer who worked extensively in the old cham territories of central viet nam in the 1920s-30s.