The earliest history of the region (from Chinese sources) notes an In-
dian presence in Annam (coastal “Indochina”), Cambodia, and Thailand
and on the islands of Java, Sumatra, and Celebes by at least the third cen-
tury A.D. Although influence came in from various regions of India, Indian
cultural features were restricted to the elite members of society, exerting no
more than minimal influence on the culture of the folk until the popular-
ization of Hinayana Buddhism in the thirteenth century.
The major cultural centers, dating to the second century A.D., were lo-
cated in the Mekong Delta (Funan, in the Chinese rendering of Khmer),
along the eastern coast of modern Vietnam (Champa), and in northern
Malaya (Sriksetra).
Indianized Funan comprised the dominant sea power of the era. From
their stronghold south of contemporary Hue, the Chams (an Indianized
culture of Annam, Vietnam) waged virtually constant land and sea cam-
paigns against their Chinese neighbors, which were met by retaliatory cam-
paigns. The Vietnamese in the tenth century entered into a struggle with the
Chams over the territory south of Tonkin. With the eventual Vietnamese
victory, the Indianized Cham culture was supplanted by the Chinese-based
Vietnamese culture.
In the area of modern Indonesia, the early cultural influences came
from India. The process of Indianization can be traced to approximately
A.D450 and to Taruma in west Java.
Sriksetra (in central Burma) was the capital of the Pyu. This state was
destroyed by invading Thais from Nanchao in the northeast before the Bur-
mans appeared on the scene in the ninth century. To the east lay the terri-
tory of the Mons, whose sphere of political influence spread into the area
of contemporary Thailand. Eventually, Mon cultural influence extended to
the Burmans, Khmers, and Thais.
After the fall of Funan to the Khmer in the sixth century, Srivijaya in
southeast Sumatra became the dominant sea power in the region. Main-
taining strong ties with India, while cultivating the favor of China as well,
the kingdom built a commercial empire by controlling the Strait of Sunda
and the Strait of Malacca.
The Tibetan Burmans, who ruled from the city-state of Pagan, arrived
in central Burma (now Myanmar) in the ninth century by way of the Shan
hills. After absorbing the surviving Pyus, whose state had been crushed by
Thai invaders just before the Burman arrival, they eventually subjugated
the dominant Mon culture, absorbing from it both technology and Hindu-
Buddhist culture.
The thirteenth century brought turmoil to the region due to Kublai
Khan’s conquest of China and subsequent expansionist agenda. Chinese
campaigns into Burma, Vietnam, Champa, and even Java led to the col-
Southeast Asia 539