THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIAof the ‘Greater India’ idea, as well by as European scholars who belonged
to the elite of the colonial powers then dominant in Southeast Asia. The
concept of an earlier ‘Indianisation’ of Southeast Asia seemed to provide a
close parallel with the later ‘Europeanisation’ under colonial rule. The first
trenchant criticism of this point of view came from the young Dutch
scholar J.C.van Leur.
Van Leur highlighted the great skill and courage of Indonesian seafarers
and emphasised the fact that Indonesian rulers themselves had invited
Indian Brahmins and had thus taken a very active role in the process of
cultural borrowing. Van Leur’s book on Indonesian trade and society was
published posthumously, in 1955. In the meantime, further research has
vindicated his point of view.
The Indian influence is no longer regarded as the prime cause of
cultural development; rather, it was a consequence of a development
which was already in progress in Southeast Asia. Early Indonesian
inscriptions show that there was a considerable development of
agriculture, craftsmanship, regional trade and social differentiation
before Indian influence made itself felt. However, indigenous tribal
organisation was egalitarian and prevented the emergence of higher
forms of political organisation. The introduction of such forms required
at least a rudimentary form of administration and a kind of legitimation
of these new governmental forms which would make them, in the initial
stages, acceptable to the people. It was at this point that chieftains and
clan heads required Brahmin assistance. Although trade might have
helped to spread the necessary information, the initiative came from
those indigenous rulers. The invited Brahmins were isolated from the
rural people and kept in touch only with their patrons. In this way the
royal style emerged in Southeast Asia just as it had done in India.
A good example of this kind of development is provided by the earliest
Sanskrit inscription found in Indonesia (it was recorded in Eastern Borneo
around AD 400). Several inscriptions on large megaliths mention a ruler
whose name, Kundunga, shows not the slightest trace of Sanskrit influence.
His son assumed a Sanskrit name, Ashvavarman, and founded a dynasty
(vamsha). His grandson, Mulavarman, the author of the inscriptions,
celebrated great sacrifices and gave valuable presents to the Brahmins. Of
the latter it is explicitly stated that ‘they had come here’—most likely from
India. After being consecrated by the Brahmins, Mulavarman subjected the
neighbouring rulers and made them ‘tribute givers’ (kara-da). Thus these
inscriptions present in a nutshell the history of the rise of an early local
Indonesian dynasty. It seems that the dynasty had been founded by a son of
a clan chief independently of the Brahmins, who on their arrival
consecrated the ruler of the third generation. With this kind of moral
support and the new administrative know-how, the ruler could subject his
neighbours and obtain tribute from them.