SOUTHEAST ASIAN RELIGIONS: INSULAR
CULTURES
The cultures of insular Southeast Asia are made up predomi-
nantly of peoples speaking Austronesian languages, and the
traditional religions of the area, despite substantial diversity
and extensive borrowing from other sources, retain signifi-
cant features that reflect a common origin. Linguistic evi-
dence indicates that the point of origin of the languages of
present-day Austronesians was the island of Taiwan (Formo-
sa) and possibly also the adjacent coastal region of southeast-
ern China. The initial expansion of the Austronesians began
in the third millennium BCE and proceeded, by stages,
through the Philippines and the islands of Indonesia, then
east to the islands of the Pacific, and eventually west as far
as the island of Madagascar.
In the first stage of this expansion, migrating Austrone-
sian groups possessed a basic cultural technology that includ-
ed the domesticated dog and pig, a knowledge of the cultiva-
tion of rice, millet, and sugarcane, and a developing
craftsmanship in pottery, weaving, and barkcloth making. At
a later stage in the course of this continuing expansion, the
Austronesians developed further forms of cultivation involv-
ing breadfruit, bananas, taro, and yams and the use of a vari-
ety of fruit-bearing or starch-yielding palms. By this time
they also possessed domesticated chickens and had developed
sails for their canoes and some of the sailing techniques that
were to carry them from island to island. By about 2500 BCE
they had expanded through the southern Philippines and
into Borneo and had begun to penetrate the islands of both
eastern and western Indonesia.
Because this expansion involved a scattering of numer-
ous small groups through thousands of islands over several
millennia, it gave rise to considerable linguistic and cultural
diversity. Earlier island populations were undoubtedly assim-
ilated, although there is very little linguistic evidence on
these peoples except for those in Melanesia.
Regional variation is indicated by the various linguistic
subgroups of Austronesian that are currently recognized.
Formosan languages are distinguished from Malayo-
Polynesian languages within the Austronesian family and the
Malayo-Polynesian languages are divided into (1) a western
subgroup that includes the languages of the Philippines, Bor-
neo, Madagascar, and western Indonesia as far as the island
of Sumbawa, (2) a central subgroup that begins in eastern
Sumbawa and comprises the languages of the Lesser Sundas
and most of the Moluccas, and (3) an eastern subgroup that
includes the languages of southern Halmahera and all of the
languages of the Pacific.
In the course of migration, natural ecological variation
as well as numerous outside influences led to the develop-
ment, emphasis, or even abandonment of different elements
of a general Neolithic culture. In the equatorial zones, for ex-
ample, reliance on rice and millet gave way to a greater de-
pendence on tubers and on fruit- and starch-gathering activi-
ties. As populations moved into the interior of the larger
islands some sailing skills were abandoned, but a coastal or
riverine orientation was generally maintained. During most
of their protohistory, Austronesian populations lived in im-
permanent settlements and combined shifting cultivation
with hunting and gathering. The development toward cen-
tralized states began on Java, on the coast of Sumatra, and
in several other coastal areas that were open to trade and out-
side influences. Chief among these influences were religious
ideas and inspiration that derived variously, at different peri-
ods, from Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.
The earliest Hindu inscriptions found in insular South-
east Asia date from the fourth century CE; their location and
composition, however, suggest a long period of prior regional
contact with Indian religious ideas. By the fifth century,
Hinduism is reliably reorted to have been established on
Java, and by the sixth century, there is evidence of Buddhist
influence on Sumatra and Java, with the port of Srivijaya de-
veloping into a major Buddhist center of learning in the sev-
enth century. Javanese monuments dating from the eighth
to the fourteenth centuries indicate a lively development and
interrelation of Saivaite, Vaisnavite, and Buddhist traditions.
By the thirteenth century, Islam had begun to spread
through the islands and exert a major influence. By the fif-
teenth century, Catholicism had reached the region with the
arrival of the Portuguese and Spanish, and by the sixteenth
century, Protestantism had made its appearance with the
Dutch and English. In addition, the popular traditions of
Taoism and Confucianism were brought to the region by
Chinese traders and settlers. Both individually and together
these religions have had a profound effect in shaping reli-
gious practice in the region.
At present, 88 to 89 percent of the Indonesian popula-
tion is classified as Muslim, although a significant portion
of this population, particularly on Java, still adheres to tradi-
tional practices that are not considered orthodox. In the Phil-
ippines, approximately 84 percent of the population is Cath-
olic; 3 percent is Protestant; and a further 5 percent are
classified as Aglipayan, followers of an independent Philip-
pine Christian church. Muslims constitute a small minority
of approximately 5 percent in the Philippines, while Chris-
tians make up about 9 percent of the Indonesian population.
In Indonesia, Bali forms a traditional Hindu-Buddhist en-
clave but there has occurred a recent resurgence of Hinduism
on Java and elsewhere. Many members of the Chinese popu-
lation of Indonesia are officially considered Buddhists, al-
though some continue to practice forms of Taoism or Con-
fucianism. A considerable portion are also Christian. Official
statistics from Indonesia and the Philippines thus indicate
only a small minority of the population in either country as
official adherents of some form of traditional religion. In Sa-
rawak and Sabah, adherents of tradition constitute a high
percentage of the population of their local area, but in Ma-
laysia as a whole they are a minority. In Brunei, similar
groups form an even smaller minority.
National policies of the countries of the region affect the
practice of traditional religions. Indonesia gives official rec-SOUTHEAST ASIAN RELIGIONS: INSULAR CULTURES 8647