A History of India, Third Edition

THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIA

early Funan there was no military intervention. Kaundinya had obviously
stayed for some time at P’an-p’an at the Isthmus of Siam, then under the
control of Funan, and he was later invited by the notables of the court of
Funan to ascend the throne at a time of political unrest.

The contribution of the Buddhist monks

So far we have discussed the contribution of Brahmins to the early
transmission of Indian culture to Southeast Asia. Buddhist monks,
however, were at least as important in this respect. Two characteristic
features of Buddhism enabled it to make a specific impact on Southeast
Asia: first, Buddhists were imbued with a strong missionary zeal; and,
second, they ignored the caste system and did not emphasise the idea of
ritual purity. By his teaching as well as by the organisation of his monastic
order (sangha) Gautama Buddha had given rise to this missionary zeal,
which had then been fostered by Ashoka’s dispatch of Buddhist
missionaries to Western Asia, Egypt, Greece, Central Asia, Sri Lanka and
Burma.
Buddhism’s freedom from ritual restrictions and the spirit of the unity of
all adherents enabled Buddhist monks to establish contacts with people
abroad, as well as to welcome them in India when they came to visit the
sacred places of Buddhism. Chinese sources record 162 visits to India of
Chinese Buddhist monks for the period from the fifth to the eighth century.
Many more may have travelled without having left a trace in such official
records. This was an amazing international scholarly exchange programme
for that day and age.
In the early centuries the centre of Buddhist scholarship was the
University of Taxila (near the present city of Islamabad), but in the fifth
century when the University of Nalanda was founded not far from Bodh
Gaya, Bihar, the centre of Buddhist scholarship shifted to eastern India. This
university always had a large contingent of students from Southeast Asia.
There they spent many years close to the holy places of Buddhism, copying
and translating texts before returning home. Nalanda was a centre of
Mahayana Buddhism, which became of increasing importance in Southeast
Asia. We mentioned above that King Balaputra of Shrivijaya established a
monastery for students of his realm at Nalanda around 860 which was then
endowed with land grants by King Devapala of Bengal. But the Sumatran
empire of Shrivijaya had acquired a good reputation in its own right among
Buddhist scholars and from the late seventh century attracted resident
Chinese and Indian monks. The Chinese monk I-tsing stopped over at
Shrivijaya’s capital (present-day Palembang) for six months in 671 in order
to learn Sanskrit grammar. He then proceeded to India, where he spent
fourteen years, and on his return journey he stayed another four years at
Palembang so that he could translate the many texts which he had collected.