THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIAAncient Indian Colonies in the Far East. This school held that Indian kings
and warriors had established such colonies and the Sanskrit names of
Southeast Asian rulers seemed to provide ample supporting evidence. At
least this hypothesis stimulated further research, though it also alienated
those intellectuals of Southeast Asia who rejected the idea of having once
been ‘colonised’ by India. As research progressed, it was found that there
was very little proof of any direct Indian political influence in those states
of Southeast Asia. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that Southeast Asian
rulers had adopted Sanskrit names themselves—thus such names could not
be adduced as evidence for the presence of Indian kings.
The Vaishya theory, in contrast, emphasised a much more important
element of the Indian connection with Southeast Asia. Trade had indeed
been the driving force behind all these early contacts. Inscriptions also
showed that guilds of Indian merchants had established outposts in many
parts of Southeast Asia. Some of their inscriptions were written in
languages such as Tamil. However, if such merchants had been the chief
agents of the transmission of Indian culture, then their languages should
have made an impact on those of Southeast Asia. But this was not so:
Sanskrit and, to some extent, Pali words predominated as loan words in
Southeast Asian languages. The traders certainly provided an important
transmission belt for all kinds of cultural influences. Nevertheless, they did
not play the crucial role which some scholars have attributed to them. One
of the most important arguments against the Vaishya theory is that some
of the earliest traces of Indianised states in Southeast Asia are not found in
the coastal areas usually frequented by the traders, but in mountainous,
interior areas.
The Brahmin theory is in keeping with what we have shown with regard
to the almost contemporary spread of Hindu culture in southern and
central India. There Brahmins and Buddhist and Jain monks played the
major role in transmitting cultural values and symbols, and in
disseminating the style of Hindu kingship. In addition to being religious
specialists, the Brahmins also knew the Sanskrit codes regarding law
(dharmashastra), the art of government (arthashastra), and art and
architecture (shilpashastra). They could thus serve as ‘development
planners’ in many different fields and were accordingly welcome to
Southeast Asian rulers who may have just emerged from what we earlier
described as first- and second-phase state formation.
The dynamics of cultural borrowingsWhat was the role of the people of Southeast Asia in this process of
cultural borrowing? Were they merely passive recipients of a culture
bestowed upon them by the Indians? Or did they actively participate in this
transfer? The passive thesis was originally emphasised by Indian advocates