History of Southeast Asia - Essay Example

Name Essay (History) 26 May 2008 What are the characteristics of effective autonomous states in the "early modern" (to the 18th century) period of Southeast Asia? The History of Southeast Asia is a perpetual saga of conflict between the regional forces and the foreign powers. The states in the early Southeast Asia were not as clearly demarcated as they are today. For example, the modern day Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore constituted the Malay empire of Srivijaya and Malacca. Similarly the region that we call Indochina was predominantly under the sway of Khmer, Burmese and Thai people (Wikipedia, 2008). The flow of history in this region of the globe was mostly governed by the conflict of opportunities and the threats from the east and the west. Historical evidence points towards the fact that early non aboriginal Southeast Asians migrated from Southern China. Anthropologists, historians and archaeologists are of the opinion that the inhabitants of Malay Archipelago belonged to a diverse Diasporas hailing from far flung regions like Southern China to Philippines. The early inhabitants of Southeast Asia were animists. The more contemporary religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity were mostly introduced by the Indians and the Europeans. As per the ancient Hindu texts, this region was referred to as the Suvarnabhumi i.e. the land of the gold. Ptolemy, the Greek historian referred to Malay Peninsula as Aurea Chersonesus and to Java as Labadius. In the ancient times this region was mostly famous for its abundance of spices while rubber and tin became the important items of export in the later times. In the contemporary times, this region is the home to a few of the largest growing economies in the world. Till the last few decades, a historical perspective on this region was never attempted to by most of the modern day historians. Though a lot has been written by the historians about the most recent political and economic developments in this region, the history of ancient Southeast Asia was either conveniently ignored by most of the Historians or was attempted to in such a detail that it obfuscated its relevance to people who found it too difficult to comprehend and digest. (Asean Focus Group, 2008). Thus the main challenge before the modern day historians is to chalk out a readable history of this region that contains nearly ten countries and four Asian Tigers. Though there is no dearth of historical, literary, archaeological and research data on this region, the main objective of the contemporary historians is to write an understandable version of history of this region that will facilitate the interpretation of the course of future developments in this important region of Asia. In the eighteenth century Southeast Asia, most of the states were ruled by traditional monarchies that were more or less permanent and little effected by the occasional regional instabilities. The authoritative political systems in this region never imagined in their worst nightmares that their sovereignty will ever be challenged till the advent of the Europeans. Eighteenth century marks an important turning point in the history of this region in the sense that till now the people of this region led a more or less traditional life, totally untouched by the extraneous circumstances. It was only in the nineteenth century that with the arrival of the Europeans on the scene, the foundations of their virgin social set up were shaken. At least in a political perspective. Thus it was only till the 18th century that historians are able to get a glimpse of the traditional social, economic and political systems in this region of the world. If 19th century was highlighted by the advent of Europeans in this region, 20th century is hallmarked by a political and economic rejuvenation. It was only in the 20th century that Southeast Asia was transformed economically, politically and socially. Though at present this area consist of ten compact states, this was not so in the 18th century. In the 18th century this region was pathetically segmented to include at least forty different states. The political realities in this region in those times were even more complex then the intricacy of the cartographic documents of those times. In the 18th century, the most prominent region in this area was that of Vietnam that was ruled by two prominent families. If Northern Vietnam was under the sway of Trinh family, the Southern Vietnam was dominated by the Nguyen clan. Though the Vietnamese state remained unified only for a small period of time in the later half of the 18th century, this idea of unification managed to survive in the later years also. The concept of one Vietnam was more or less modeled on the Confucian doctrines, though the regional political powers never allowed China to play a prominent role on their home terrain. The Vietnamese court life was marked by tradition and formality. Only the individuals with the sound scholarly credentials were granted an admission to the court life. Contrary to this, in the neighboring Buddhist kingdoms of Cambodia, Thailand and the lowlands of Laos, officialdom was more or less hereditary in nature. Mostly the children of the higher officials and the ruling classes were granted important positions in the court hierarchy. The ultimate benchmark in the Vietnamese court setup was pure merit. Still to some extent, the sons of higher officials stood a better chance of making it to the higher positions. Unlike in the Vietnam, the king in the adjacent kingdom of Thailand was considered to be of purely divine origin. In the mainland and Thailand and the other adjacent Buddhist kingdoms, the divine origins of the king made the throne he represented the very center of the existing political set up. Monarchy was the primary force that acted as the main cohesive force in all the Buddhist kingdoms. In simple words, the king was the state and the state was the king. On the contrary, though the Vietnamese king was also referred to as ‘the son of the god’, in reality he did not enjoy such a prominent position in the over all political set up. Sometimes, from a purely Western perspective it gets really difficult to grasp such a magical persona of the king in the 18th century Southeast Asian Buddhist kingdoms. This superhuman status of the king was not only sanctioned by Buddhism but was also a continuation of the less dominant Hindu traditions. Though the Buddhist kings in the 18th century Southeast Asia enjoyed a godlike elevated status, this does not mean that the institution of monarchy was not open to family feuds. The history of Southeast Asia has an ample share of uprisings and usurpation of the throne. Still the idea of a divine king managed to continue through these troubled times also. The individuals who usurped the power from time to time immediately took appropriate steps to assert their semi divine status as the new king. It is only due to this peculiar historical background, that the Thai monarchy has been able to survive amidst all the local political upheavals till today. This also amply explains why Norodom Sihanovk of Cambodia was able to reap immense political advantage in the modern politics only owing to the fact that he had been the king of Cambodia before he abdicated the throne in 1955. The Indian Hindu and Buddhist traditions had a very strong influence on the socio-political setup in the 18th century Southeast Asian kingdoms. This Indian impact was even visible in the Javanese kingdom of Mataram, where the rulers though being unwaveringly affiliated to Islam, were also the benefactors and preservers of exotic mystical traditions, which had their moorings in the Hindu and Buddhist ideas and the traditional Javanese culture and beliefs. The common underlying factor in all the 18th century Buddhist kingdoms barring Vietnam was that the royalty and the royal followers were considered to be a class apart from the commoners and they enjoyed special privileges and advantages in the socio-economic set up of those times. Still the masses and the peasantry strongly stood by the special bond that they shared with their divine king and the aristocracy that served him. The entire monarchial set up in most of the states in this part of Asia was based on a wide schism between the common masses and the elite. However, the religion was a strong binding factor that united a monarch with the peasants and the commoners in his realm. This factor was quite evident in the Buddhist kingdom of Burma. Infact Buddhism happened to be the state religion of Burma and the chief patron of Buddhism in this important Southeast Asian kingdom was the monarch himself (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008) . Thus the division of power in these monarchies was amply compensated for by the religious traditions and ethics. At the village level, the most influential class happened to be that of the peasants who acted as the village headmen and the community leaders. The rich farmers in the villages commanded a position of respect and authority. They were the source of supplication and justice at the village level and also acted as go betweens linking the villagers to the higher provincial authorities. Such a system of power and status continued in this region till the advent of the Europeans and even after that. The system of power, both at the court and also in the villages was unquestionably patriarchal and the women rarely commanded a position of power and authority, at least never in a direct manner. The other classes which included the landless peasants and wage workers constituted the lowest strata of the society and commanded minimal power and authority. Till the beginning of the 19th century, Southeast Asian kingdoms and the society were practically untouched by European ideas and the way of life. However, this was not to be for a long time. As the time passed, the Europeans began to command a very strong influence in the local economy and political set up. This European influence was most evident in the Philippines were they left a strong impact on the social norms and values besides altering the political framework of this region (Lockard, 2007). Still in some regions of Indonesia, the impact of European colonization was not evident till the very end of the 18th century. However in this discussion, the most interesting point to be noted is that it is not only the Europeans who influenced the Southeast Asians, but in turn they were also not left untouched by the potent culture and traditions of this strange and fascinating land. The impact left by the Europeans, be it the Dutch, French or Spaniards or some other European power, on the people and culture of this region was far reaching and it grossly altered the economy, politics and the popular culture in this part of Asia. The process of political and economic integration of Southeast Asia that was initiated by the Europeans in the early 19th century has culminated through the regional forum called ASEAN. Though their exist till now many territorial and maritime conflicts between various nations in this region, still the countries in this part of Asia has been striving for a symbiotic integration not only amongst themselves but also with other regional powers like China. Since the first half of the nineteenth century, the main objective of the ten nations in this region has been not only to achieve internal political stability, but also to boost economic and cultural development in this part of Asia. In a modern context, Southeast Asia is to a great extent one of the most peaceful regions of the world with a democratic set up running in most of the countries of the region. In 2005, the combined GDP of the Southeast Asian nations was $896.5 billion. In the modern times, Southeast Asia can no doubt be considered to be an economic and political giant that has just awakened and has a long way to go. Works Cited History of Southeast Asia, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, viewed 26 May 2008, History of Southeast Asia, Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, viewed 26 May 2008, History of Southeast Asia, Asean Focus Group, viewed, 26 May 2008, Lockard, C.A. , Southeast Asia in World History, World History Connected, viewed , 26 May 2008, Southeast Asia, Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, viewed, 26 May 2008, Read More