Historical Developments

Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism, and their core beliefs and practices, continued to shape societies in South and Southeast Asia.

Beliefs and practices:

• Bhakti movement

• Sufism

• Buddhist monasticism

State formation and development demonstrated continuity, innovation, and diversity, including the new Hindu and Buddhist states that emerged in South and Southeast Asia.

Hindu/Buddhist States:

• Vijayanagara Empire

• Srivijaya Empire

• Rajput kingdoms

• Khmer Empire

• Majapahit

• Sukhothai kingdom

• Sinhala dynasties

Monsoon Winds

• Indian Ocean trade was made possible by monsoon winds

• Winds blew eastward in summer and westward in winter

• Understanding the monsoon winds along with better shipbuilding = increased trade

• The sea version of the Silk Roads

• Until the discovery the new world, it was the largest  sea-based system of communication and exchange

• Stretched from southern China to eastern Africa

• Cheaper to transport goods – cargo ships could carry more than camel caravans

• Traded goods for a mass market rather than just luxury goods (like Silk Roads) – b/c of increased cargo capacity of boats

Sea Roads as Catalysts for Change

• Oceanic commerce transformed all its participants

• Trade stimulated political change

  • Rulers used wealth derived from commerce to construct larger, more centrally governed states or cities

• As a result, they also experienced cultural changes

  • Confucian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic ideas flourished and spread

• Sea Roads like Indian Ocean were a conduit for cultural changes

• Southeast Asia’s location between India and China gave it a unique advantage in Indian Ocean trade

• New states developed because of the wealth of this trade

Srivijaya Empire

• Emerged due to the competition between ports along the Malay Peninsula and the coast of Sumatra

• Dominated the critical choke point of Indian Ocean trade from 670 to 1025

• Factors that led to their growth:

  • Plentiful gold supply

  • Access to source of highly sought after spices (cloves, nutmeg, mace)

  • Taxes levied on passing ships

• Created a bureaucratic government with military and naval forces that could secure the seas

Khmer Kingdom

• Founded in modern-day Cambodia in Southeast Asia

• Empire founded in 802 CE

• Indian influence was pervasive

• Angkor Wat was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu

• Social system was not subject to the caste system but on indigenous traditions

• Reached their peak in 1219 and gradually declined

Sufi Missionaries

• Sufi missionaries had the biggest impact on frontier regions of Islam

• Followed conquering armies or trades into Central and Southeast Asia, India, Anatolia, parts of Africa

• Devotional teachings, modest way of living, and reputation for supernatural powers gained a hearing for their faith

• Emphasized personal experience of the Divine, rather than law

  • This allowed them to accommodate local beliefs and practices and encouraged the growth of Islam

• Ulama (Islamic scholars) often condemned Sufis because they oftens deviated from the sharia (Islamic law)

Bhakti Movement

• Similar to Sufism in Islam

  • it is a more “easy going,” less rigid, and more mystical interpretation of Hinduism

• Popularized around the 12th Century (1100s CE)

• Started in Southern India

• Strong attachment to a particular deity rather than reading texts and performing rituals

• Worshipping a single deity was easy and accessible to most people

• Popular because it did not discriminate against women or those of low social status

• Inner reflection would get you closer to the deity

• Created a surge in Hindu literature and poetry

Chola Dynasty

• South Indian Tamil rulers, originated in the rich Kaveri River valley. Uraiyur was its oldest capital.  Outlasted Ashoka's Mauryan Empire

• At its height, the Chola Empire controlled not only southern India and Sri Lanka, but also the Maldives.

• It took key maritime trading posts from the Srivijaya Empire in what is now Indonesia

• Enabling a rich cultural transfusion in both directions

• Sent diplomatic and trading missions to China's Song Dynasty

• Left a rich legacy in the Tamil country

  • Majestic architectural accomplishments such as the Thanjavur Temple

  • Artwork including graceful bronze sculpture, and a golden age of Tamil literature and poetry.

  • Influenced religious art and literature from Cambodia to Java.

Vijayanagara Empire

• The city and its first dynasty were founded in 1336 by five sons of Sangama, of whom Harihara and Bukka became the city’s first kings

• Became the greatest empire of southern India

• Barrier against invasion by the Muslim sultanates of the north, it fostered the reconstruction of Hindu life and administration after the disorders and disunities of the 12th and 13th centuries.

• Contact with the Muslims (who were not personally disliked) stimulated new thought and creative productivity.

• Sanskrit was encouraged as a unifying force, and regional literatures thrived.

• This great empire resisted the onslaughts of Islam and took up the cause of Hindu civilization and culture in the south and attempted to preserve the ancient tradition of the country and its policy and art.

Rajput Kingdoms

• 12 million landowners organized in patrilineal clans and located mainly in central and northern India

Delhi Sultanate

• Made no break with the political traditions of the later Hindu period—namely, that rulers sought paramountcy rather than sovereignty.

• The early rulers were best known for their indiscriminate destruction of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples

• Greatest contribution to Indian fine arts , however, was the introduction of Islamic architectural features, including true domes and arches , and the integration of Indian and Islamic styles of architecture.

Majapahit

• Became a significant power in the region, maintaining regular relations with China, Champa, Cambodia, Annam, and Siam (Thailand).

• The golden era of Majapahit was short-lived; the empire began to decline after the death of Gajah Mada in 1364, and it was further weakened after the death of Hayam Wuruk in 1389.

• The spread of Islām and the rise of the Islāmic states along the northern coast of Java eventually brought the Majapahit era to an end in the late 15th or early 16th century.

Sinhala Dynasties

• Buddhism was first brought to Sri Lanka by a mission sent out from eastern India during the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka

• During the thirteenth century, the declining kingdom faced threats of invasion from India and the expanding Tamil kingdom

  • Tamils secured control of the valuable pearl fisheries around Jaffna Peninsula.

  • The Tamils in the north developed a more distinct and confident culture, backed by a resurgent Hinduism that looked to the traditions of southern India for its inspiration.

  • Conversely, the Sinhalese were increasingly restricted to the southern and central area of the island and were fearful of the more numerous Tamils on the Indian mainland.

  • Some historians maintain that it was the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century that prevented the island from being overrun by south Indians.

• Rice cultivation continued as the mainstay of agriculture but was no longer dependent on an elaborate irrigation network.

  • In the wet zone, large-scale administrative cooperation was not as necessary as it had been before. Foreign trade was of increasing importance to the Sinhalese kings.

    • In particular, cinnamon--in great demand by Europeans--became a prime export commodity.

Sukhothai Kingdom

• Before the Sukhothai Kingdom was founded in 1238, much of present day Thailand was under control of the Khmer empire. The Sukhothai area was one of its Western outposts.

• Thai people regard the founding of the Sukhothai Kingdom as the founding of their country, and its city-state as the first national capital. During the Sukhothai period, Thailand freed itself from the Khmer Empire and prospered, expanding its influence towards what are today Laos and Cambodia.

• The area used to be an outpost of the Khmer Empire, as can be seen from the style of some of the temples.

• Glazed ceramics that were exported to other Asian countries are a famous feature of the former city.