Po Rome was a Churu chief, originally from present-day Đơn Dương District, Lâm Đồng Province.
[3] Malay historical tradition speaks of a Cham prince called Nik Mustafa who, prior to his ascent to the throne, stayed in Kelantan for several years.
Kelantan tradition says that Nik Mustafa, upon coming to the Champa throne, assumed the royal title Sultan Abdul Hamid Shah Bin Syarif Wan Abu Muzaffar Bin Syarif Wan Abdullah Umdatuddin (Jawi: سلطان عبدالحميد شاه بن شريف وان ابو موزففر بن شريف وان عبدالله اومداتو الدين).
Dutch visitors noted in 1644 that the king expressed disapproval of the usurpation of power in Cambodia by a Muslim prince.
[2] During his reign, Champa traded with Siam, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, the Malay world, and even the Western countries including France and Portugal.
[2] According to a Dutch report from January 1652, "the Quinamese [Southern Vietnamese] have subjugated Champa through the arms, beheaded the king, and keep the Dairo [upper priest] prisoner".
Unable to bear this, he moved with his mother to Hamou Barau, and then to Boh Matuh in the land of Panduranga, where he tended the king's buffaloes.
One day, the royal astrologist heard a voice from the kitchen, which was Po Rome chasing away dogs from the premises.
[16] Phik Cak had good relations with the Nguyễn lord in the north, and revealed to him the weaker sides of Po Rome's character.
They told Po Rome that the only remedy for the illness was to fell the sacred krek (trunk of ironwood) that protected Champa.
The king, deaf to the pleas by his astrologers that it would ruin his kingdom, took a hatchet and felled the krek, which gave off a blood-like substance.
The protective deities of the realm, discontent with Po Rome, eventually abandoned the kingdom, and a last Vietnamese attack was successful.