A Political History of the World by Jonathan Holslag

Author:Jonathan Holslag
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241352052
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2018-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

Warriors of the Buddha

In Southeast Asia, the ninth century saw new dynasties establish the outlines of nations and cultures that are still visible today in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar. The region’s inhospitable geography of numerous rivers and forested mountains formed intractable barriers to overland communication – but this merely encouraged the forging of seaborne connections that tied its peoples together through the exchange of trade, the sharing of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, and the creation of a common artistic language still visible in the remains of temples, palaces, and objects from the age. This same geography gave the region its immense strategic significance as the chief conduit for maritime commerce between China and India. The straits of Malacca and Sunda became crucial transit points, promoting the establishment of significant trading ports that, in turn, helped fuel the development of kingdoms, especially in Malaysia, Sumatra, and Java.

But trade, faith, and progress also bred war. The kingdom of Srivijaya, which emerged in the late seventh century on the island of Sumatra – strategically positioned between the straits of Malacca and Sunda – was the first to try and control the flow of trade by dominating these chokepoints.24 It curried favour with China by dispatching tributary missions and offering pepper, turtles, pearls, and ivory in exchange for iron, ceramics, and silk. It proposed to the northern Indian Pala Dynasty that it build a Buddhist temple on its territory and it offered to donate gold to temples in southern Indian cities. Its king approached the caliphate, announcing that he was eager to trade and asking the caliph to ‘send to me someone who might teach me Islam and instruct me in its Laws’.25 Srivijaya tried to prevent others from siphoning off traffic by itself conquering the Malayan Peninsula and attacking trade cities in the kingdoms of Khmer and Champa in modern Cambodia and Vietnam. Chinese sources report that ships were forced by Srivijaya to moor in the Strait of Malacca, so that they could be monitored and taxed.

Competition over commerce came with a religious dimension. In accordance with Buddhist doctrines, Srivijayan kings in the late seventh century embarked on a siddhayatra. What was meant to be a quest for spiritual enlightenment in reality involved the conquest of trade cities. Srivijayan troops destroyed Hindu temples on the Malayan Peninsula and erected Buddhist monasteries in their stead. Initially, Srivijaya extended its influence on the neighbouring island of Java through dynastic alliances. But by the ninth century, the two island states were locked in an increasingly bitter struggle for regional supremacy that simmered on into the next millennium.

On the continent, meanwhile, the threat of Srivijaya encouraged the unification of the Khmer under King Jayavarman II at the beginning of the ninth century. He relocated the Khmer political centre to the north, where it was safer for Srivijayan warships. In the process, the Khmer moved against the small kingdom of Lavo and turned it into a puppet state protecting their western border. Over the course of the

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