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3. Connections and Interactions

Indian Ocean: Sea Roads

until genuinely global oceanic trade system after 1500, was world’s largest sea-based network of communication and exchange

southern China to Eastern Africa

Grew from diversities

environmental, cultural

desire for goods not available at home

porcelain from China

spices from Southeast Asian islands

cotton goods, pepper from India

ivory, gold from East African coast

incense from southern Arabia

transportation costs lower than Silk Roads

ships could accommodate larger and heavier cargoes than camels

carried bulk goods, products for mass market

textiles

paper

timber

rice

sugar

wheat

Facilitating trade

monsoons

alternating wind currents that blew predictably

northeast in summer

southeast in winter

early CE: construction of “interlocked human world joined by the common highway of the Indian Ocean”

understanding of monsoons

technology of shipbuilding, oceanic navigation

drew from ingenuity of many peoples

Chinese

Malays

Indians

Arabs

Persians

Swahilis

Technological innovations

improvements in sails

new kinds of ships

Chinese junk

Indian/Arab dhaows

new ways of calculating latitude (astrolabe, etc.)

evolving versions of magnetic needle, compass

China’s economic growth led to massive outflow of Chinese products

Permanent settlements of foreign traders

located at various points along Indian Ocean trade routes

merchants learned local languages, cultures, trading practices

retained links to home societies

diasporic communities

position to facilitate commercial exchange among different peoples, introduce new religions to host society

Southeast Asia

located between China, India (major civilizations)

series of cities, states, kingdoms on both islands and mainland

all connected in various ways to growing commercial network of Indian Ocean

traders, sailors introduced Buddhism, Hinduism, later Islam

vehicle of cultural and economic exchange

Buddhism

Srivijaya (Malaysia)

history

Malay sailors, long active in waters around Southeast Asia, opened all-sea route between India and China through Straits of Malacca

the many small ports along Malay Peninsula, coast of Sumatra began competing intensely to attract traders, travelers going through straits

control

dominated Straits of Malacca (critical chokepoint) from 670 to 1025

factors provided resources to attract supports, fund embryonic bureaucracy, create military and naval forces

plentiful supply of gold

access to source of highly sought-after spices

cloves

nutmeg

mace

taxes levied on passing ships

politics

Indians as advisers, clerks, officials

Sanskrit titles to subordinates

capital city: Palembang was cosmopolitan

parrots were said to speak four languages

religion

drew on indigenous beliefs that chiefs possessed magical powers and were responsible for prosperity of people

used imported Indian political ideas, Buddhist religious concepts

“higher level of magic” for rulers

prestige of association with Indian civilization

sponsored creation of images of Buddha and various bodhisattvas

faces resembled deceased kings

inscribed with traditional curses against anyone who would destroy them

major center of Buddhist observance and teaching

attracted thousands of Buddhist monks and students

Sailendra (central Java)

agriculturally rich

allied with Srivijaya

mounted massive building program (8th-10th) featuring Hindu temples, Buddhist monuments

Borobudur

most famous building

enormous mountain-shaped structure

ten levels

three-mile walkway

elaborate carvings illustrating spiritual journey (ignorance/illusion → full enlightenment)

largest Buddhist monument in world but distinctly Javanese creation

carved figures have Javanese features

scenes clearly set in Java, not India

shape resonated with ancient Southeast Asian reverence of mountains as sacred places, abode of ancestral spirits

represents process of Buddhism becoming culturally grounded in new place

Hinduism

Champa kingdom, Vietnam by 1000: Shiva was worshipped, cows honored, phallic imagery prominent

Khmer kingdom: Angkor Wat

prosperous, powerful Khmer kingdom of Angkor

Angkor Wat: temple complex constructed during 12th century

largest religious structure in pre-modern world

sought to express Hindu understanding of cosmos centered on mythical Mount Meru (home of gods)

later used by Buddhists as well with little contradiction

kingdom exported exotic forest products, received Chinese, Indian handicrafts

welcomed considerable number of Chinese merchants as permanent diasporic community

Islam

Sea Roads drew many Southeast Asian peoples into wider world of Islam by 1400

Southeast Asian rulers hoped to attract Muslim traders from Persia, Arabia, India by embracing Islam

blended easily with Hindu, Buddhist, shamanistic practices

rise to international maritime culture by 1200 and after

shared by individuals living in widely-separated port cities around Indian Ocean

attractiveness of faith, immense prestige, power, prosperity of Islamic world → widespread conversion → commercial transactions

non-Islamic people (e.g. Buddhist rulers in Burma) found it useful to assume Muslim names

Malacca

southeastern edge of Malay Peninsula

illustrates growing role of Islam in Southeast Asia, connection between commerce and state building, cosmopolitan quality of Indian Ocean network

established in early 14th by prince from neighbor Sumatra

quickly transformed from small fishing village to major port city

became capital of Malay Muslim sultanate until conquered by Portuguese in 1511

location on Straits of Malacca: central role in trade of entire Indian Ocean basin

population

by later 15th: ~100,000

largest city in Southeast Asia

15,000 foreign merchants established themselves in Malacca

attracted by stable government, low customs duties, openness to all merchants

spoke dozens of languages

from China, Japan, Java, Vietnam, India, Philippine Islands, Egypt, East Africa, elsewhere

diasporic communities had own neighborhoods in the city

sultan appointed four merchants from the major settlements

oversee trade

resolve disputes

intermediaries between his government and the foreign merchant communities

some also served as officials

one of the world’s first globalized cities

sold:

books from Islamic Middle East

textiles from India

spices from Spice Islands

carpets from Java

silk, porcelain from China

sugar from Philippines

gold so readily available, children used it in their games

loose imperial control over coastal Malaya, eastern Sumatra

distinctive Malay ethnic identity (15th: people began referring to selves as Malay)

rise is due to relationship with China (major economic, political power in region)

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