In the beginning, sea travel was perilous. Hence the distances traveled were short. Initially there were just fishing trips - perhaps a day - out in the morning and then back at night. As boating technology advanced, the trips became longer with the time gone from the home base extended into days, weeks, and months. With increased sophistication these fishing trips became trading trips between cultures and even empires.
By the modern era, India became the entrepôt between the East and West. Her sailors would travel eastward to obtain spices, gold, gems and even silks. Simultaneously, Arab merchants would travel across the Arabian Sea to India to trade for similar goods to bring back to the Mediterranean. This trade expanded as the Roman Empire grew. The wealth of Rome demanded exotic specialties from the East. India provided the Arab traders with everything necessary to supply Roman needs. With the growing appetite of the Roman and Indian aristocracies for exotic Eastern delicacies, Indian traders traveled ever further east. In the meantime, traders with goods from the coast of China were traveling south. Traders from India and China met in the middle to exchange goods and return back home to their native lands.
Initially, a primary center for these activities was in the Gulf of Thailand on a protected port on the coast of present day Cambodia. This was Vyadhapura, the capital of Funan, which we’ve already examined. This trade from East and West provided the necessary capital to set up the first Khmer kingdom of Funan. As mentioned this exchange of goods occurred in the early centuries of the present era. This trade turned Funan into a wealthy country.
At this time, traders from the West still got most of their Oriental goods on trading trips to India. These early sailors and traders hugged the coast, or stayed close to the charted islands. They went from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal without ever losing sight of land. Simultaneously, Indian traders sailed from the Bay of Bengal to the Gulf of Thailand to exchange goods with Chinese traders, who sailed into the Gulf from the South China Sea.
During this historical period, Indian traders acted as the middleman between China and the West. The West included the Roman Empire and the Mediterranean kingdoms, and then eventually Europe. As far as these Western nation/empires were concerned, all the exotic goods from the East came from India. This was the case up until the time of Columbus.
This perspective changed as sailing technology improved and simultaneously the routes became more completely mapped. However this took a long time because information was not free flowing - because, as always, knowledge was power. Trade meant money and riches beyond imagining. Hence, each culture and each ship captain kept their particular discoveries to themselves. If they revealed their route to unscrupulous merchants, they might lose their lucrative trade and subsequent wealth to these intruders.
A discovery of great importance for sea trade and the subsequent development of Southeast Asian empires was the understanding of the alternation of monsoons that occurs in the oceans of Asia. This was a great advance in sailing technology that was independent of ship design. In fact, this is a primary reason why there are multiple cultures and religions in my part of the world.
Basically, the monsoon wind cycle blows one way for six months and then the other way for the next six months. From October through April, the winds blow from the northeast; the rest of the year from May to September, they blow from the southwest. Sailors in the West used this regularity as early as the 1st century CE, when Hippalus sailed from Oman at the tip of the Persian Gulf to India and back using these winds. This feat was so remarkable that these winds were initially named after him. Because of their economic importance, they came to be called trade winds.
These winds had another function besides sea commerce. Their annual cycle forced sailors to remain for extended times in the Eastern ports. They couldn’t sail home until the trade winds turned. This enforced stay encouraged the Hindu traders from India and Buddhist traders from China to set up communities in the areas they traded in. The territory of Southeast Asia has always provided the maritime division between the Indian West and the Chinese East. It was natural that foreign cultures established their own communities here.
Because Southeast Asia was an international trading zone, there were no forced conversions. The Indians and the Chinese come from very tolerant cultures in terms of religion, especially as compared with the intolerance of the Biblical religions of the West. Instead of attempting to convert indigenous populations, or Nagas, they allowed the local traditions to persist. This included the cultures on the mainland, as well as those on Southeast Asian islands.
Overall the religions of the region have been incredibly tolerant. While this tolerance could be attributed to the nature of the mixing cultures, it might have more to do with the desire to conduct business. For Southeast Asians trade is of far more importance than the correctness of religious dogma. The most essential factor for merchant traders of all nationalities is the peaceful exchange of goods and services. This is contrasted with warrior cultures that take what they want by military force.
Initially, neither the Indians nor the Chinese engaged in international trade. Both were warrior cultures. This meant that the ruling classes were warriors. The traders and craftsman were definitely lower class. As we mentioned earlier, in India this changed with the advent of Buddhism. In the caste system of Hinduism, it was beneath the military and priestly class to trade. In the early Vedic days, this worked quite well as the military class exploited the agricultural class and the religious class attempted to convince everyone that this was God's will.
With the growth of cities and the emergent business class, a new religious conception was needed to address the needs of the merchants, who were relegated to the lower castes in Hinduism. Enter Buddhism, which didn’t believe in the caste system of the Hindus. In the 3rd century BCE, Asoka encouraged the spread of Buddhism throughout the entire subcontinent of India and the surrounding territories. From this point, it became acceptable for the wealthy merchant classes to trade and explore overseas. This new openness combined with the growing market of Rome sent Indian traders traipsing and sailing all over the world in search of exotic goods with which to supply the voracious appetites of the wealthy.
As well as trade, the Indians brought their culture, both political and religious, to Southeast Asia. Because of the pervasive Indianization of these cultures, historians initially thought that Indian kings had probably conquered the indigenous tribes. Scholars probably based their theories on historical examples from the West. However, there is no evidence of a military takeover. It is more probable that the Indian influence was based upon assimilation rather than force.
While impressed by India’s wealth and water technology, Southeast Asia’s native populations were equally overwhelmed by the complexity and sophistication of their mythology combined with the universality of their theology. When these factors were combined with their religious tolerance, Indian culture was easily placed as a unifying blanket on top of the diversity of local traditions.
Indian religion consisted of both Hinduism and Buddhism. In these early times, Buddhism hadn’t really been clearly differentiated from Hindusim. The Theravada purification was yet to come. Indeed, Buddha was considered by many to be simply one of many incarnations of Vishnu, a primary god of Hinduism. As such, the Buddhism of India included Hindu gods..
As mentioned earlier, the Chinese had adopted Mahayana Buddhism many centuries earlier. Thus religious travelers from China were bringing this version of Buddhism from the eastern side of the continent. The Chinese were also making pilgrimages to India overland and by sea to experience Buddhist doctrine first hand. Indeed the Chinese novel, Journey to the West, is loosely based upon the adventures of a real Chinese Buddhist monk as he traveled overland from China to India to obtain the Buddhist scriptures to bring back to his emperor and his people.
During this period Hindu and Chinese travelers brought their religious background to Southeast Asia. Impressed with the complexity and universality of the common belief system combined with tolerance, the indigenous population simply overlaid these beliefs upon their native religion without missing a step. This is yet another example of the inclusive both/and mentality of the Eastern civilizations, as contrasted with the exclusive either/or mentality of the Bible-based religions.
In addition to the religious beliefs of India, Southeast Asian culture also incorporated their political institutions. With trade going to and fro the local chieftains were exposed to India’s maharajah system.
The maharajah system is a basic hierarchical system. The Kushans, who were influenced by the Scythians and Persian/Mongol rulers of Northwest India, first used the title ‘maharajah’ in the 1st century BCE. ‘Mahat’ means great and ‘rajah’ means king in Sanskrit. So maharajah means ‘great king’. Maharajah refers to an Indian king with a ranking above a raja or prince. It morphed to mean the ruler of an Indian state, perhaps similar to a governor. There is another title that means great maharajah, which refers to the ruler of the kings - the Emperor. The Sanskrit term was borrowed from the Persian, shahanshah - king of kings.
The maharajah system derived from military cultures, where the warrior class are rulers. The patriarchal culture is based upon a class system with a clearly delineated hierarchy. Men dominate women; the rich dominate the poor; and the powerful dominate the weak. A complex religious mythology supported this domination mentality. The religion generally by ratified the class structure/caste system as divinely inspired and men’s dominance of women as the natural way. This elitist mentality inspired Hitler and the Germans in the last century.
In contrast to this hierarchical system, everyone was on relatively equal footing in the prior egalitarian tribal system of the indigenous tribes. The class structure of the tribe is minimal compared to that of kingdom. The hierarchical maharajah system that spread from India was overlaid upon the egalitarianism of the tribal system .
Despite the erosion of the equality of the tribal system, India's maharajah system enabled Southeast Asian cultures to build their magnificent works of art. If the indigenous population had remained in a fragmented tribal state, they would have continued producing their relatively small, perishable, wooden sculptures. In the first millennium of the Common Era, the maharajah system unified the small tribal units behind a common goal. The hierarchy motivated them to great artistic accomplishments. Without it, human culture would not have experienced the glory of Angkor or Borobudur.
Even though they have common foundations, there are many differences between the political systems of the typical military cultures of Eurasia and the trade-based cultures of Southeast Asia. The hierarchical warrior cultures are typically based upon the military domination of the preceding egalitarian agri-cultures. However, there is no evidence that a foreign army conquered the indigenous populations of Southeast Asia, at least at this point in time. (This didn't occur until the arrival of the Europeans, another military culture.) Instead, there was a merger, a marriage, of the indigenous population with the Indian immigrants, genetically and culturally. Further, there is very little evidence of any kind of caste system and women seem to be on a par with men for the most part. Although catalyzed by the Indian migrations, it seems that the emergence of kings with their kingdoms was an effective way of organizing society.
Another typical feature of the Eurasian military culture was their exclusionary religious propaganda.
Ruling military cultures regularly developed a mythology supporting their divine right to rule. This included a vilification of the gods and/or goddesses of the subjugated indigenous populations. The most famous example of this is the story of Adam and Eve, where Eve and the Serpent are turned into Adam’s corrupters and the cause of his banishment from the Garden of Eden. They vilified the serpent because in many of the indigenous fertility cultures across the Eurasian landmass, the serpent was worshipped as the symbol of knowledge and representative of the earth.
Military cultures typically worshipped a sky god, who was also the god of war - armed as always with his lightening bolt. Zeus/Jupiter of Greco-Roman culture, the Norse god Thor, the Jewish Yahweh, and the Indian God Indra are examples of this type. Military societies dominated other cultures by virtue of their military technology, not by the sophistication of their culture. Their primary question was: ‘Who has the most powerful war god.’
While the military cultures tend to worship a male sky god of war, the fertility cultures tend to worship an earth goddess. Frequently, the sky god culture attempts to eradicate or at least vilify the earth goddess culture of the subjugated population. The story of Adam and Eve is typical sky god propaganda - “Worship me and forget her - If you know what’s good for you.”
The Hindu story of Indra and the Dragon is another example of this type of religious propaganda. India was named after Indra, the supreme war god of the Hindus. Indra was the main god of the Hindus in Vedic times, circa 1000 BCE.
The aforementioned trade winds created by the alternation of monsoons were essential to farming in India. They blew the rain in one half of the year and blew the rain out in the second half, creating an alternation of wet and dry. This annual cycle was manifested in Hindu mythology through their trio of primary Vedic gods: Indra, Agni, and Soma.
The Aryans of Northern India turned this natural event into a cosmic battle. Annually, Indra, the Zeus-like God of War, would defeat Urta, the cosmic Serpent or Dragon, at which time the winds would turn to bring moisture to their crops. Indra needed the Fire Sacrifice symbolized by Agni and the hallucinogen represented by Soma to defeat the Serpent and turn the winds around. The Vedic sacrifice came to have paramount importance as it provided Indra with the extra energy he needed to defeat the cosmic serpent. This is akin to the idea in the story of Peter Pan where the children’s belief in fairies is necessary to keep Tinker Bell alive.
Like Zeus, Indra was also the god of thunder and lightening associated with rain. Because the rains came after his battle to turn the winds around, Indra is also essential to the ordering of the Universe. The Serpent represents the Chaos, the unpredictable chthonic forces, that are defeated by the forces of Order. Hence the Sacrifices to Indra establish the Order of the Universe. The subtext of the story is clear. Indra, the bringer of Order vanquishes Urta, the dragon/serpent of Chaos.
To control the subjugated population, the sky god- worshipping Eurasian rulers combined military domination with cultural propaganda that minimized, excluded, or vilified the deities of the indigenous agrarian societies.
Although Hindu mythology derived in part from the Aryan military culture of Northern India, Southeast Asians embraced an inclusive, rather than exclusive, religious stance. There were multiple reasons for this shift.
The underlying political structure of Southeast Asia’s Indianized kingdoms was very different from the typical Eurasian political system. Instead of warriors initiating a military invasion, merchants initiated a trade-based migration. This Indian migration transformed the indigenous population with the Hindu religious novels, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Indra just appears as a supporting figure in these dramas. Indeed, Vishnu channels Indra’s war-like nature, as exhibited by the relationship Krishna and Arjuna. Even in India, Indra’s influence was fading. He was most popular about a 1000 years before the Khmer were born from the union of the Naga Princess Soma and Tamil the Indian. Plus one the Mahabharata’s themes is the assimilation of the Naga/serpent. As such, there was no need for religious propaganda.Southeast Asia's Indianized kingdoms incorporated the Naga tribes rather than vilifying, exterminating or enslaving them. The indigenous agri-cultures worshipped the fertility of the earth, as in the rice goddess. They emphasized arts, crafts, trade and agriculture. Instead of enslavement, Southeast Asia's devarajas, the god-kings, inspired the local population to achieve merit thr3959799959/97 {%7'9(7*7,7/7-7*7)739(9%9$9'9&9(9'9-979)739)7/7)7$9&9$977-7(37**'7'$$&%%$-$3$1$'$'$*$&$/$9$/$5$(%(+*/'397$7%7-9$73757-977,*'z9&979%$%9$9$97795-9$$'799$791&9%95%/97939999957$+,519*9,939997959195959-3-797+7(7(7,7*7+7)977(%97+7'397(99979397939599713- {&7/9$7-7*5715++%-$*$3((+$+9,/***,*(*&*-*'**+$*+*+*1+$*/(1'))5'7&9&/&5'+'/)$*-***'++***(*%*-***/*&+&)3*$*-*7)5*$**)*%-$$%$$/ z9(9(7/5/3)1+/1/+1$3$1'1)1)1(1'1'1&1&1%1&1'1(1(1'1&1%1&3'/1(7+&+++**/)*+'17/51$///1/5/5/3/3/1/1//97/-(*/1/71$/9/91%1%131*1) y)797/7-9,739&999,779*999979797-7175799$9%9&9&9991+99+93999/9(9&7/7(7-7+9-9,9/779$9-999-939-7/799$9(9*9'737,719%757-9'9)73{'9/9%9&7/9,9'9%9&9/9,75779*9(7+9,9'7,7(7/759%9/717'5959779-9*7&557)77779+7&39-,+1*$(+&%'()'+%+$+1)/*%)-+9)')'&+$'$%'7'1)&,( {(9-9%93959*7975717-7771999%795*1'-5&1$9%%$9$5%'%(%&%$$*(5+(*+*1*9+/*,+&*'+(*,)*+%)/+1(%*1+%+%+/*7*-+-+5))*)*,)7*$***/*9*5*/ {,9*9(9*9,919/93999'7,5(/%*-**+&))*7+**1+&)%)&*/+(+&*9*$*5+'+)*(*++'+&+'**+$*5*7+'+(*-*++'*3**+'*3*7*9+$+&*1*)*++&*/+$*1)7*7 {3919-719+71((9&719/959795739)9-9*9)9/9-9)759'9*9799959)9+9(9&9%9%9(9+9-9-9399919*9,9,9*9-919+9&9$9%9)9-91757-779%9)9%719177 } 5),'5&$3/3$)9,/&/359/)1-%*%)7/$*$,%59)'575+3(*39,%3(1&'+)*,$(3,&+'+(%%-3$7()'&*%'-*$//,13&/339/'%*,1&%(&3&%/(9'',&*/)(%51&355 |-)&57$5(937'+*1,-**7,11/9&+)599-'&+71/-+/7'*19-9'(757*(')++&+3+&1'$%&-*3%%1+5(3)/%3+33*(/)'%/'3$1'%,')*-/3')))&+)-+-)973')1) |557,7(7,7%7+597(7%737+717)7'7)557$9'7(7'7%719)7,7)7(7&7+7$7)7-597,7(5/7(9%7/7,7-7%7-7,7+7*7'7&7/9'7-7)7*7'5/577+7/717579717+|7&79739/9(9%557+579'9)9(9*9&7/75779-9$9%755+7*759)9&9'9$77779'9&9'9*797)3,-&&&(''3%9%7&&$3%%$*$%$%$$$$$%$$$$$'$$$'$%$5$&$+$% {(9&9&719&7375777/597$7/75717(9%7/7/77557&7*71797571759777(+73779(9)9$9$9(9%759$9+9,9$799'9+9$9%9)9)77799)7&7/9'9&737*595373{)7(7,7,9&71757+9+737)7(7(77739+779&779'9$9$797/7(7,9$9'9(9(9%77759$9%77799$7975717-7,9)7)779(9)9&7-9-779&7577717+77737-9$9& {*7-9%9%9$77717+7*7-797+9%9'757-73777177799$7977799&9)9&757+7)7(7*759*7-9'7*9'7-7/79777%779(777)7(7+7,7*757(7)7$9$7/7)7$7/77 {,7)9+9)79717+7-739%717/779&7579797/55597'7+7-7-717371737-7'7*77757)7-7,737975799(9&75797771717577739-79+9779(7-7,7/7(7+7,9$ y+7*5*555)395*7*799*777,7'7*7+7,7,739*9'75717-7-7'557,7(7$7971757*737*7&555+5)5%5&5&5-5/5'31335&5*5,55515*5*577,7-7'7(717* z9)9$9$7-799(799%7/739(9$9&9$7-959%+97+75759$7*7-737*779)9%9(9&7-7/77777*7/75739,77797+77777)7-7973799'717+555/7&7+7)7,9$55 w+9/7*9%979,9&73779(9/939/9+999'9&9+799&9/9(9'9'9+9/9/9-9-9+737)719+939,9'7*7(7-9,999(7,73759)9*9%9'919-9$91999+9%799&9, {-73777+575*5&3/1/195%517'71757973759%9(9'9%9'9*9)9$77757577777573757-7'5-5)5971737,7'7$5&3$3(5-7)717)7%59597&7)7*7+7/+9759$ {/9$777/7(7%7'7)7+717/797159597/9%9'7)7&7-73737/7(7)757-7&7*7/7)7&5+577'7(7(7+7-7,7,7579737+7*7/9$717)7/7-9&7,7/7-9*777,7)71{17-7/717575717*5757555)39375(53555/5,5+5+5153$+%*+91$/3/'/)/71,3$19171,1%/51&173,33333/5$5&333,3+3(3)3-5$5,5+373%1,11151-1+ y19)75739&$/,+&/9(9,9,9-9-777*73739(9*9&9$9$9%9(9)9'9'9(9(9&9%9&9'9'9)9)9&9'9&757-71799'9(9'9%799%9&9&979%$,9$79737/717575z9)797)737,7/7171737779739$9(9)9&7775799%7+7/737-7-759%9&719'9%7/797)9%7*75757*779$717973737777717,7+7/7379597&9&9%7+7,779%{375739(9'7/7)777*7*717&7$759$9&737+59797*7)7,759$737+7-7(517'7'7*7,7-5+1*)5'$$+$&$$$($%$$$''7(1%($1$$$,%,%&&+%9$$$/$$%)*%,1 y9779&9$9%9'9&77737775759$759%9)9*9*9+9/9,9(9%9*9/91919/9,9*9*9,9/9/9-9+9+9,9'9)9*9*9+9,9*9(9&9'9'9(9+9-9,9(9'9)9*9+9+979*w9737-7-9%9(7*7*7-7)9)9'9%7/7/799777&-7'7(799%779%9)717/7*59557&719%7-7/7)7(7-7/7,717(739&9&9'9)9$7,577(9'779%7)7/7-7573v9'7+7'779(9$779&9&9%7-9'9(799%7'7+7*7,7/7/7,7+7-717-7,7)737/577*71779$9(7(9%9*9(7,7/799'9&9$9$9&9%9$799775*+77