The Srivijaya Empire
Drs, H.Mutawalli, M.Pdi
posted by Drs, H.Mutawalli, M.Pdi
With the flourishing of cultures in Rome, India and China at the turn of the millennium into the common era my traders in Southeast Asia became rich. This was epitomized by the Khmer kingdom of Funan. However with the fragmentation of Rome combined with civil wars in China demand dropped precipitously and the Funan kingdom languished. In the 6th and 7th century trade began to flourish again. This was after the disastrous Chinese civil wars of the Three Kingdoms era and at beginning of the Sui dynasty followed immediately by the powerful and long lasting Tang dynasty.
The Straights of Malacca
Although trade with China was beginning to grow again after their civil wars, it did not return to the Gulf of Thailand. Instead exchange of goods between East and West channeled through my islands.
Author: “Why was that? What was wrong with the Khmer kingdoms of your mainland?”
Just one big problem. They didn’t control the Straights of Malacca.
Author: “The Straights of Malacca?”
Perhaps it's time to introduce a few more of my geographical characters.
The westward side of my Gulf of Thailand is called the Malay Peninsula. Just south of this peninsula is a long and narrow island called Sumatra. The island begins midway up the peninsula and extends an equivalent distance past the end of the peninsula. Between Sumatra and the peninsula are the Straits of Malacca. The Straits of Malacca are the only way from India and the West to the Gulf of Thailand, which connects up with China and the East of Asia. It is a narrow corridor whose trade winds correspond to the alternation of the monsoons. Beyond Sumatra is another long skinny island called Java, which we shall also visit. These islands are part of the Indonesian archipelago.
Palembang
We mentioned how Hinduism and Buddhism was spread throughout my land of Southeast Asia due to the influence of Indian traders. The Buddhism that was being spread from India was mixed up heavily with Hinduism, as it preceded the Theravada purifications that were coming. Because of this Indian influence and inspiration a Indianized kingdom with maharajahs began to emerge at a trading port in southern Sumatra on the way from the Bay of Bengal to the Gulf of Thailand.
The name of the port was Palembang. As well as being an important port it was also an important religious center as well. It was an entrepôt for the spread of religious ideas between India and China. As early as the 7th century it was visited by Chinese and Indian devotees to study doctrines and copy manuscripts in institutions that rivaled those in India. Due to the importance of Palembang as a cultural and trade center wealth began to accumulate.
Capturing the China trade
Palembang supplanted Vyadhapura of Funan as the new entrepôt. There were multiple reasons behind this transformation. So as not to lose perspective in the discussion that follows India was the dominant influence in Palembang, just as it was in Funan. Chinese Buddhists were traveling to Palembang to get Indian information, not vice versa. The Indian influence on the kingdom based at Palembang on the island of Sumatra was considerable.
However in terms of trade, the Western market was still weak due to wars in and around the Mediterranean. Rome was collapsing and had yet to be replaced by anything comparable. On the other hand the China market was expanding due to an expanding economy resulting from peace and internal consolidation that occurred during the Tang dynasty. Sensitive to possibilities the traders from the East Indies were interested in capturing the growing Chinese market. That was where the money was to be made.
As mentioned earlier as a warrior culture the ruling class in China were not supposed to engage in trade. Further the Chinese considered themselves the center of the civilized world. As evidence there is no word for China in Chinese. Instead they call themselves the Middle Kingdom. What this meant was that traders from other kingdoms and cultures were meant to visit China - not the other way around.
In the Chinese imperial mind the rest of the world consisted of vassal states that were meant to pay tribute. As matter of interest this condition persisted into the modern era up until the 20th century. The Chinese were not meant to explore and trade. They were so superior that they were brought tribute and gave out presents. Hence at this point in history the Chinese were not traders although they supplied manufactured goods to traders. Shanghai and Taiwan then as now were trading ports where huge volumes of merchandise changed hands. The main difference was that all the traders were foreign barbarians because the Chinese were not allowed by custom to leave China.
The Austronesian sailors from my islands, who had spent centuries on the sea, were glad to provide this function to China. They sailed into Chinese ports with foreign goods to supply the Chinese appetite and purchased Chinese goods for resale in their ports to Indian merchants. To accommodate this big customer and capture her exclusive trade rights, the entrepôt of Palembang in Sumatra pledged obeisance to China as a vassal state. This meant that her foreign trade was treated as tribute, and the goods they received in exchange were merely considered imperial presents. By stroking the Chinese imperial ego the Palembang traders, like the Funanese before them, were able to dominate that enormous market. To further sweeten the pot and attract the Chinese pilgrims, Palembang began to stress China’s Mahayana Buddhism over Hinduism.
With this mass infusion of funds being funneled into Sumatra a great Empire began to grow. Based in Palembang it was called the Srivijaya Empire. It began in the 7th century and lasted into the 13th century. It laid many foundations for the politics and religion in Southeast Asia, which we shall explore.
One of the other causes of their growth as an Empire was that the traders of Palembang began to control the Straits of Malacca. They were the first empire to do so, but not the last. With the control of the Straits of Malacca all trade between the East and West was channeled through their hands. The Srivijaya Empire became the entrepôt between East and West.
This Palembang/Srivijaya Empire as it is sometimes called eventually grew to have a loose control over the islands of Java and Sumatra, as well as the Malay peninsula. However they ruled by prestige rather than by military power.
Western Politics determined by Force
Author: “This is very difficult to understand coming from a European/American historical background, where all political boundaries are decided on the field of battle. For our countries the state or kingdom with the greatest military prowess makes the decisions. Further the nation who wins the battle assumes that their God is most powerful, maybe even the only God. To assuage the innate guilt that emerges from exploiting other human beings the Winning Nation, the Winner, develops a religious philosophy which claims that their culture is most advanced culturally because God has allowed them to win. This, of course, is predicated on the assumption that God is good and would only allow the best things to happen.
Conquering and enslaving agricultural populations and cultures has been the modus operandi in the northern part of our Hemisphere since the Bronze Age. Indeed the Bronze Age begins for any culture when one culture dominates another through the advanced military technology based on Bronze. The Bronze military technology was based upon better weaponry and the wheeled chariot drawn by a domesticated horse. Any culture who could create this type of army was able to subjugate farmer armies everywhere.
The Bronze Age civilization is also related to the stratification of society and the subjugation of women. As such it is also related to a class society with kings and slaves. The Aryan cultures of Persia, India, and Scandinavia, which were to have a huge effect culturally on the development of politics on the Eurasian continent, were all based on this Bronze Age political model. Similarly in battles across the Central Asian steppes, the Bronze Age military technology with its Sky god institutions spread to China, Korea and Japan.
Egalitarian cultures based upon trade, art and cooperation stand in opposition to these highly stratified military cultures based upon the large concentration of people into cities. Indeed this is why these Bronze Age cultures are called civilizations - cultures based upon a collection of cities. While the egalitarian cultures have rulers, there is no separation into classes. In the egalitarian cultures the sexes, while having different roles based upon biology, are considered equal. Many farming and hunting cultures are egalitarian. These were the cultures of the Neolithic and Paleolithic Ages which preceded the Bronze Age. The proto-Bronze Age began when one military culture was able to conquer and enslave another culture, becoming their rulers. This has happened countless times throughout the millennia that humans have been around.
Southeast Asia: “You’re rambling again.”
Author: “No, I’m just attempting to set up a contrast between our way of ruling and yours.”
Southeast Asia: “But I think you’re drifting a bit far afield with your Bronze Age references which don’t apply to my cultures.”
Author: “They don’t apply to Palembang, but they start applying when the Portuguese arrive. I’m merely trying to establish the difference between the military politics of the North and the mandala politics of your part of the world.”
Southeast Asia: “Just don’t lose your focus. Remember its my story.”
Author: “Don’t worry.”
Southeast Asia: “Just trying to keep you on track.”
Bronze Age Mythology Vilifies Goddess Mythology
Author: “As mentioned the ruling Bronze Age cultures regularly developed a mythology supporting their divine right to rule. This has always included a vilification of the gods and/or goddesses of the indigenous populations which have been dominated. The most famous example of this is the story of Adam and Eve, where Eve and the Serpent are turned into Adam’s corrupters and the cause of his banishment from Paradise - the First Victim. They vilified the serpent because in many of the indigenous fertility cultures across the Eurasian land-mass, the serpent was worshipped as the symbol of knowledge and representative of the earth.
While the military cultures worship a male sky god, the fertility cultures tend to worship a female earth goddess. Frequently the Sky god culture attempts to eradicate or at least vilify the Earth Goddess culture of the subjugated. The story of Adam and Eve is typical Sky god Propaganda - “Worship me and forget her - If you know what’s good for you.” (For greater explication of this theme see my book The Fairy Tale is Over - The Bliss Can Begin).
Indra battles for reversal of wind
Similarly, the Hindu story of Indra and the Dragon is in the same genre.
The aforementioned trade winds created by the alternation of monsoons were essential to farming in India. They blew the rain in one half of the year and blew the rain out in the second half, creating an alternation of wet and dry. This annual cycle was manifested in Hindu mythology through their trio of primary Vedic gods: Indra, Agni, and Soma. They turned this natural event into a cosmic battle. Annually Indra, the Zeus-like God of War, would defeat Urta, the cosmic Serpent or Dragon, at which time the winds would turn to bring moisture to their crops. Indra needed the Fire Sacrifice symbolized by Agni and the hallucinogen represented by Soma to defeat the Serpent and turn the winds around. The Vedic sacrifice came to have paramount importance as it provided Indra with the extra energy he needed to defeat the cosmic serpent. This is akin to the idea in the story of Peter Pan where the children’s belief in fairies is necessary to keep Tinker Bell alive.
Indra like Zeus was also the god of thunder and lightening associated with rain. Because the rains came after his battle to turn the winds around Indra is also essential to the ordering of the Universe. The Serpent represents the Chaos, the chthonic forces which are defeated by the forces of Order. Hence the Sacrifices to Indra establish the Order of the Universe.
The Dragon Serpent of Chaos is vanquished by Indra the bringer of Order. This is the classic Left Brain/Right Brain battle that is still being waged. The Order that is brought is stratified and rigid, compared with the flexible Chaotic wave of Life that regularly washes over us all. Indra is in control, while the Dragon rides the currents of the wind and waves. (For more on this topic see my book Deconstructing the Verbal Reality.)”
Cooperation and Mandala Politics in Eastern Asia
Southeast Asia: “Enough advertising. Back to my story. You’re set up enough of a contrast. In your part of the world military domination combined with cultural propaganda is the rule. But not in mine.
In order to understand the political organization of the Srivijaya Empire we need to explore the mandala kingdom or empire. All the modern nation states are based upon clearly defined property boundaries. Real estate is of primary importance in terms of tax collection as well as property rights. Each modern country has clearly defined borders with a clearly defined citizenry. Alternately the mandala state of Eastern Asia has no specific territory, as its influence emanates from the center. Rather than defending the perimeter, the idea is to strengthen the center.
With this type of political organization strict boundaries don’t exist. Instead power emanates from the center. This power is based upon military and cultural prestige. The country is defined by the capital. The spheres of influence are determined by the vassal states on the perimeter who pay tribute to the king or emperor in the center. In return for tribute the supreme ruler provides military protection and certain privileges.
In the case of the Srivijaya Empire, they were provided with exclusive trading rights with the Chinese Empire in exchange by becoming one of her vassal states. In such a way the Srivijaya Empire was part of the Chinese Empire in terms of the organization. Similarly the kingdom of Funan was provided trade privileges when they pledged obeisance and tribute to China.
China: “Cooperate and acknowledge our superiority and you will be rewarded.”
Cooperating with China created the entrepôt port of Palembang and the Srivijaya Empire. This was another kingdom with vassal states, who were also rewarded for cooperating. Hence although the Srivijaya Empire had an Indianized political structure, it had the Chinese mandala system for its Empire.
“Cooperate and you will be rewarded,” seemed to be the mantra that Srivijaya used with its vassal islands. The Arab historians don’t ever mention piracy in their trading ventures in the East Indies during these times. It seems that then as now that cultures that depend on trade realize that safety is good for all. The positive side of trade is that it thrives on peace.
This maritime empire seems to have had only a limited army. They based their empire on positive reinforcement - through cultivation of business contacts, rather than the negative reinforcement of domination by military prowess.
Because power emanates in concentric circles from the center, there is a fluid, rather than fixed, field of power. This means that if the center is weak the boundaries of influence collapse. Vice versa when the center is strong the boundaries expand. This organization applies to the religious sphere as well as the political. Under the political system the theoretical boundaries are continually shifting depending on who gives the best deal and has the most prestige rather than on who has the biggest army.”
Author: “Why this huge difference? Why was military might needed to solve conflicts on the Eurasian land-mass? Or why wasn’t it necessary in the island cultures of Southeast Asia?”
Southeast Asia: “Who knows? I’ll offer the theory that military domination of the sea was extremely difficult at this time. There was no equivalent to the military technology of bronze combined with the chariot and horse - which allowed the complete domination of one culture by another in the land based cultures. Because military domination was impossible in these island kingdoms the cultures instead relied upon cooperation and bribery.
Stability of Chaos
Despite the fact that these borders and spheres of influence were incredibly fluid, or perhaps because of, these empires and kingdoms were incredibly stable. The Srivijaya Empire wasn’t urbanized, didn’t have many cities, didn’t have a big army, didn’t occupy a capital continuously, and didn’t have clearly defined territories and yet it lasted nearly 700 years. Further its influence continues to modern times. Its impact has extended itself through time as well as through geography. Indra’s Order was not able to keep our Dragon’s Chaos down.
The Empire survived by trade and agriculture rather than military prowess. It was not a territorial unit, as much as capital based. In the case of Srivijaya Palembang was its center. However when Palembang was attacked and conquered by the Chola Empire about 1000, it was in no ways the end of Srivijaya, they simply moved their capital elsewhere and continued for another 300 years. Similarly when the barbarians from the Central Asian steppes attacked and defeated the Chou dynasty of China in their own capital, they didn’t capitulate or disintegrate, they simply moved their capital south across the Yangtze River to get away. They also continued for another 300 years.
These country/empires were not based upon territory, but upon imperial influence. Similarly when Nationalist China fell to the Communists in 1948 they simply moved across the ocean to Taiwan. They claimed and still claim to be the legitimate China because this is where the royal court is centered. It is easy to see that these style kingdoms are unstable but remarkably durable. This organization was the predominant political form in my territory through to the 19th century. The British influence finally undermined it. The Brits needed to order these unstable political units in order to do business. In Malaysia they delineated boundaries amongst the caliphates so that they knew who to deal with.
China and the Mandala organization
China: “The mandala organization is quite natural. However I, the Middle Kingdom, had very practical reasons for organizing in this fashion. From earliest times our imperial government was not able to protect our perimeter from the militaristic nomadic cultures of the Central Asian steppes. These barbaric tribes, who lived just to the north of our fertile valleys surrounding the Yellow River, would either raid or conquer our villages and cities after crossing our empire’s immense northern border. Then when we counter attacked they would easily disappear into the vast deserts of the high plateau.
Our Imperial Army attempted to pacify these annoying tribes on our perimeter, but these nomadic warriors tended to be better fighters than us. In that they lived on their horses, they were better horsemen and were also able to shoot arrows as they rode. Plus they could evaporate into terrain that they knew well and counter attack from new positions. Indeed one arrogant Emperor was even captured by these barbaric nomads as he rode with his army to teach them a lesson. These punitive campaigns proved so dangerous and unproductive that our Imperial government found that it more economical to include these northern tribes in the largesse of our Empire by giving them presents to protect our perimeter from other nomadic tribes. A type of protection money but it worked better than utilizing an army to protect an indefensible border. Even our Great Wall of China was more for show than any real protection. We found that these armies were bettered used to increase the military strength of the Imperial capitol to increase its prestige and protect it from internal attack.
We really had little choice. We could not really protect our extended perimeter from these attacks. The best we could do was protect and strengthen our center. It was more expedient to just withdraw to our capital to minimize our losses. It was easier to allow these barbarians to exhaust their energy pillaging our countryside, than to deplete our Imperial Army fighting them. Better to have our army to defend our power and dominate our peasantry. As soon as these tribes retreated we would reassert control over our peasant population, which provided all the food for the cities - with our well rested Imperial Army. In effect we were just protecting our property with its livestock after it had been raided. The peasantry and their land were only treasure that we had conquered in previous generations. My Imperial culture with its military aristocracy did not belong to the agri-culture of our peasants. We conquered the Chinese breadbasket first and were merely attempting to protect our booty from the next raider. (For more on this topic see the Author’s book, Tao of China or the Way of the Middle.)
In this way the mandala political organization emerged naturally in our Chinese geography with the arid Central Asian steppes, which would only support a nomadic lifestyle, just north of our fertile agricultural valleys. Our center was not bound by a particular spot but instead was located where the Imperial court was. When the Emperor established a new capital, that is where I, China, was. More than once in my history the Emperor retreated across the Yangtze River to establish a new capital city in the South to continue the Empire after the northern barbarians became too aggressive.
My Empire, based upon centralized military might and prestige, rewarded vassal states for siding with us. This was how we controlled those pesky barbarians to the north of us. These vassal states were not agri-cultures, but instead were frequently Bronze Age cultures, where a military aristocracy had dominated a peasant agri-culture some time in the past - perhaps distant, perhaps not so distant. We military aristocracies just pass down control of the agri-cultures of our peasants from generation to generation.
The mandala style organization emerged from our geography in China. Because of our prestige and military might we enforced this organization upon our surrounding cultures. This was not a bad or evil thing. We just told them - ‘Submit to our superior culture for all the advantages that will ensue. Provide us with tribute and we will provide you with trade advantages.’
The cultures that dealt with me, China, in this way, set up their own Empires on the same model. They established their own vassal states, which paid them tribute for trade and protection privileges. My vassal state the Srivijaya Empire was one of those. That just shows how great I am. I have an actual empire as one of my vassal states.”
The Sailendra Dynasty & Borobudur
China: “I was considered an Empire because of my military and trading relations with my neighbors, who were my vassal states. I also enjoyed Empire status because of my cultural prestige. I have a rich literary tradition which included written history as well as sophisticated Confucian and Taoist thought. This written tradition was fairly overwhelming to the non-literate cultures that I encountered, for instance Japan and Korea. It was almost as if the only way to resist literacy was to be vaccinated against it by being exposed to it. Indeed in many ways Taoism is the literary reaction or antidote to the cultural values of literacy represented by Confucianism. However the literary tradition of India was a match for ours. Indeed many of my people actually went to study their Buddhist documents. Some went all the way to India, while others just went to Southeast Asia. Her collection of Buddhist documents was almost as extensive as those in India.”
Southeast Asia: “My cultures were hit from two directions because of the alternation of the monsoons. When the winds blew one way it would bring the Indian traders and their culture in and the Chinese home. When it blew the other way it would bring the Chinese and their culture back and the Indian traders home. This cycle exposed my island cultures to both Chinese and Indian culture. As we’ve mentioned one of these cultural meeting points was at Palembang, where Chinese, Hindu, and local scholars congregated to study Hindu and Buddhist thought. Another place that became a cultural spreading center of both Buddhism and Hinduism was a plateau on Java ruled by the Sailendra dynasty, a vassal state to the Srivijaya Empire.
Common culture of India binds my region
Indian influence had reached Indonesia in the 1st century AD, but the first Indianized kingdoms emerged in west Java, Sumatra and Borneo in the middle of the millennium from the 3rd to 6th centuries. There was a certain prestige associated with the adoption of Indian political forms. It was also a convenient way of shifting loyalties and energies from the clan and family to the greater nation.
Prior to this the people of my islands and my mainland all participated in a cult of ancestors. This spirit or ancestor worship seems to be a universal among your species. While we land masses are very rooted already, honoring the spirits of your forefathers allows you ephemeral humans to sink some roots into the past. It gives you a sense of continuity that extends past your short century on the planet.
Of course the problem with this clan worship is that it tends to separate you from other clans or tribes because you worship different spirits. This sense of difference frequently degenerates into aggression and warfare. One way of joining disparate tribes was through the worship of national heroes. In this way the patriotism of the nation replaces the tribalism of ancestor worship. Of course the larger nations tend to separate themselves into warring groups because they too worship different spirits.
The next globalization of this innate spirit worship has to do with worshipping the same gods. Hence the tribes of my area could all worship the same Hindu gods, This religious universality not only bound them to their nation but also to my entire territory, as well. Thus India’s maharajah system combined with their Hindu gods united my humans in a way that they never had been before. My central Java kingdom, who were speaking a Austronesian dialect, communicated directly with the contemporary Khmer kingdom of Chenla, who spoke a Austroasiatic dialect. Both these kingdoms and more were in constant cultural contact with both Sri Lanka, the Tamils of southern India, and the Burmese, who spoke respectively an Indo Aryan, Dravidian, and Sino-Tibetan language. Thus the culture of India connected clans, tribes and nations who spoke languages from 5 different language families. Note these are not dialects; they are more different than Spanish and English.
Of course the next stage of human belligerence has to do with competing universal gods connected to competing nation spirits. This is the modern state of affairs. Hence the Christian nations have been battling the Muslim nations which have been battling the Jewish nation for over a thousand years. When they stop the religious wars they revert to wars of nationalism. You humans are certainly an aggressive species. It is almost as if there is nothing to fight over, you will find something.
Unfortunately your modern cult of science has killed all the spirits of your ancestors, the spirits of nations, and the gods, which leaves you poor pathetic humans rootless, swept away by the latest fad or political idea. Your innate sense of family loyalty which connects you with past and future has been washed away by a supposedly scientific rational nationalism - which threatens to destroy my planet - for your species at least. Better to root yourself in my Earth and extend your spine to the Heavens to maintain an autonomy from the mob mentality that seems to dominate your behavior - leading you to your demise - like a moth to a flame.
The Javanese God-kings - my first Devarajas
The valley between the Progo and Opak Rivers in the central valley of Java, is one of the most bountiful on earth because of lava and volcanic ash that falls regularly from Mount Merabi and other volcanic mountains in the vicinity. The farmers have a guaranteed surplus with which to supply the needs of an Empire. And they did. While power has gradually shifted to the northwest coast, the kingdoms of Java began and extended from this agricultural center. The ancient city of Yogyakarta, noted on the map on page 211, was a locus for your human emergence.
This fertile plateau was the birthplace of my devarajas, my god-kings. In a Sanskrit inscription from 684 AD to commemorate the building of a park we have the first clear cut example of a ruler presenting himself as a divine religious leader. In this King’s prayer, he assures the reader that building this park will bring merit to all involved. He goes on to say that while disloyalty to the king brings death that obedience brings eternal bliss. In such a way these rulers aligned themselves with the gods in bringing agony or ecstasy to their populace. If the ruler manifested divine qualities then those around him were attracted to his court and kingdom. This idea was the foundation of the mandala kingdom.
The Javanese were worshippers of Shiva, called Shaivites - presumably because of the many active volcanoes on Java and on the surrounding islands. Shiva, one of the three main gods of Hinduism, was noted for being an ascetic, as well as the god of destruction. As such he was considered the consummate Yogi. Hence these Kings were also ascetics like Shiva.
The Javanese, being of a flexible mind, were also Buddhists. Under the influence of Mahayana Buddhism this god-king became a Bodhisattva, a divine being who was meant to assist people on their path to enlightenment. Whether on my mainland or my islands, my kings have regularly played the role of the compassionate one, the Bodhisattva - providing the means of personal salvation to others.
As such they attempted to maintain their country as a holy land, by providing an environment where religion could flourish. This was a huge responsibility. It meant keeping the peace, protecting religious sites, encouraging spiritual practices such as purification and scriptural study, and teaching his people about the religious significance of life on the earth. Along these lines my Bodhisattva Kings were meant to help his subjects along the spiritual path by providing them with opportunities for spiritual advancement and growth.
Borobudur - architectural Buddhism
One such ‘opportunity’ was supporting the king by helping in the construction of temples. In this way they could earn religious merit. There are even inscriptions which reveal that local Javanese princes ‘cheerfully’ participated in these projects. rather than being required to by law.
The rulers of the Sailendra dynasty manifested the concept of the devaraja on a grand scale. During their rule they constructed many religious monuments designed to instruct their people and the following generations to enter on the path to enlightenment. The most famous of these monuments is Borobudur, a Buddhist masterpiece of superior grandeur and beauty. Consisting of 1.3 million stone blocks, it was carved and constructed by 50,000 Javanese over 50 years. At 115 feet tall atop a 403 foot square, it is still the largest Buddhist stupa in the world.
This area became historical in 732 CE, when a Hindu noble, Sanjaya, established a kingdom called Mataram in one of the fertile central valleys of Java. In 775 CE his kingdom began construction on a monument to commemorate the introduction of Hinduism to Java - near the confluence of the Progo River and its tributaries. Ten years later this Hindu kingdom was replaced by the Buddhist Sailendra dynasty, vassals to the Srivijaya Empire. Accordingly they shifted the orientation of the temple to Buddhism. It took 50 more years to complete this architectural monument at Borobudur. Revered for less than 200 years, it seemed to have been buried by volcanic ash in the 11th century, possibly by an eruption of one of the many active volcanoes. It was lost until the Dutch discovered and uncovered it in 1907.
Although Borobudur is built in the style of the Indian tjandis with a pyramidal structure, the Javanese introduced their own innovations. The Indian tjandis were meant to house the gods - provide them a home - a resting spot - a sophisticated spirit house. However Borobudur was not just meant as a memorial or shrine of the gods, a place of worship. Instead it was meant to be an architectural representation of Buddhist philosophy. It was designed to represent complex metaphysical theories. At this level it was completely original. As such it provided the pattern for Angkor.
The temple mountain at Borobudur, like the Indian tjandi, was constructed from a solid mass of stone, 2 million cubic feet around small hill, with little or no interior space - certainly no internal shrines. (In contrast the Khmer temples of Angkor are noted for their vast amount of empty space created by structural pillars.)
Based upon the supreme mystical power of the mandala, Borobudur has 10 stories corresponding with the 10 stages until Buddhist Enlightenment. The first level is the entry level. The next five are associated with the 5 Buddhas which represent the entire external Universe - the vajra-dhatu - the realm of total reality. This group of 5 Buddhas is familiar in the diverse areas of Tibet, Japan, and northeast India. These levels are all squarish, having a zigzag external design on their corners which is similar to the Hindu yantra.
The next three levels are all circular terraces with stupas on top. They represent the 3 Buddhas of the esoteric tradition associated with Tantric Buddhism - the garbha-dhatu - the womb of innermost secrets. The 10th level is empty, representing the final goal of Enlightenment, the abandonment of attachment to Form. This is the Void of the Vairocana Buddha.
On the walls of each level there are sculptured relief panels, 1500 over all, which represent the trials and traps on the journey to enlightenment. The zigzag corridors and prescribed direction concealed the Buddhist statuary so that the adherent wouldn’t be dsitracted by what lay ahead and could focus upon the lesson at hand. Thus on one level the entire monument is a Buddhist teaching device.
The Sacred Mountain
On another level this enormous pyramid is meant to be viewed as a sacred mountain. The sacred mountain has many parallels in religion. The most immediate is Mount Meru of Hindu mythology. Frequently these tjandis, upon which Borobudur was based, were meant to be temporal representations of Mount Meru, a mythical mountain in the center of the Universe, which connects god and man.
This merged neatly with native beliefs. As with many early cultures the Javanese had always worshipped sacred places. Seeing as how their central plane had 6 active volcanic mountains, ranging in height from 6000 to over 10,000 feet, the Javanese had great respect for mountains. Mount Merabi, an active volcano in the vicinity of Borobudur, had already been dedicated to Shiva - the entire mountain, not just a temple.
Javanese devaraja contrasted with other god kings
Hence in constructing this mountain temple, the king was fulfilling his role as Bodhisattva. This public project established this idea on many planes simultaneously. As Bodhisattva, the king was constructing a teaching device to aid in the quest for enlightenment for his people. The king was also building this sacred mountain to establish his correspondence with the gods. Finally he was providing an external circumstance where a maximum of his subjects could earn merit towards enlightenment by service to their king, who was actually god or Buddha on earth.
The Javanese devaraja - their god/king is to be differentiated from the Pope or Mohammed who are merely meant to be God’s representatives rather than God or Allah himself. The Roman and Chinese Emperors were worshipped in their own right as divine beings. However in each of these circumstances the ruler was worshipped as one of many gods, not as the god. Indeed there has always been a tendency, even today, for humans to worship a powerful ruler as a link between the divine and temporal world. This is expressed in the idea of fulfilling manifest destiny or the divine right of kings in the West or as the Mandate of Heaven in China. These manifestations of godlike powers are on the political plane only, while my devarajas manifest on the spiritual plane.
Many god kings in the rest of the world built elaborate burial shrines as a testament to their power on earth. As examples we have the Egyptian pyramids or the burial mounds of the Chin Emperor of China. In contrast Borobudur was not meant to glorify the Javanese king in any way. It was not meant as form of king worship or as a burial shrine. As a monument it was and is merely meant to spread Buddhism.
The Javanese notion of Bodhisattva-king puts a greater spiritual responsibility upon the royalty than in the aforementioned circumstances. While in the Chinese tradition the Emperor has the duty to rule well, as expressed through Confucianism, this does not include assisting his subjects in their quest for enlightenment. The rulers in the west may have been worshipped but it was only for their manifestation of external power and nothing to do with their role as a spiritual leader. In many tribes there existed a chief and a shaman, one to deal with the political the other to do with the spiritual. In modern times we have priests and politicians. While the political and religious leader of a culture merges from time to time into one person, most of the time he is thought of as a representative of the gods rather than as a god himself. In Java this was different. The king was not just representing the gods, he was the god himself. This wouldn’t bear so much attention except that this idea of devaraja - god/king, was continued by the Khmer in Cambodia and then in Thailand, even up to the present.
Connection between devaraja and the Ramayana
Where did the idea of devaraja come from? Who knows?
We will offer one plausible explanation, which has no scholarly foundation whatsoever. Only the wealthy classes could read. Therefore the sophisticated ideas of Buddhism or Hinduism could not be read by the bulk of the people. To remedy this situation the stories of Hinduism were spread because they could be understood by all. One of the most widely disseminated stories of all time, as we’ve mentioned earlier in this lengthy tome, was and is the Ramayana. To refresh your memory Rama is a prince who is an incarnation of Vishnu, one of the supreme gods of Hinduism. Vishnu incarnates to save the world of humans as well as the world of the gods. This story told over and over, dramatized, sculpted, and painted, inculcated the consciousness of entire cultures. Inspired by this powerful literature the populace would hope that their King would be the incarnation of Vishnu and the King might think himself a divine incarnation.
In the West Either God Or Man: In the East a Continuum
Again let us stress the difference between East and West. In the Biblical West there is an unbridgeable gulf between God and human, while in the East there is a continuum between god and man. The whole Vishnu story is based on regular divine incarnation. In some ways Buddhism could be called the Way for Everyman to move up the continuum to achieve Divinity.
In the Biblical West we have an Either/Or Polarity based upon the man/god duality, while in Asian East we have a Both/And Continuum. In this Eastern sense Jesus’ statement that he was the son of God would have just meant that he was closer than the rest of us. In fact it has been suggested that he studied in the East in India, where he might been exposed to the Man/God Continuum. If this was the case then modern Christianity is based upon a colossal misunderstanding. When Jesus said that he was the son of god, he was actually only affirming humanity’s connection with divinity. God is in all of us. We are only attempting to realize our God nature - our Buddha nature. Jesus was successful.
Hinduism refers to uncovering the divinity within, Buddhism talks about realizing our own true nature, Taoism speaks about constantly purifying in order to allow our Self to manifest as purely as possible and Yoga emphasizes the need to transcend the Duality. If we can polish our Luminous Egg then we will be able to reflect Reality more accurately and experience it more directly. Ecstasy. Bliss. The Pain of Life. Hit me harder darling.
Each are referring to different aspects of the same phenomenon. Each are reflecting the human possibility of progressing towards the divine. This is different than going to heaven in the afterlife. This is referring to the perfection of our human manifestation while on the earth. It is pointing out that there is a huge difference between hanging out and helping out. Hanging out is Human, while Helping out is Divine. Thus Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Mohammed, and the rest were more divine because they devoted their lives to helping out - spreading the Light in the Darkness. Any who acts in a similar fashion - helping to clear away confusion, is also to be considered a Bodhisattva, someone who is devoted to fighting Ignorance. Again there is a continuum of none - to a little - to a lot - to an entire life. Under this way of thinking anyone who helps balance the human pain with understanding participates to some extent in Bodhisattva-hood.
The Sailendra kings who produced Borobudur were of this nature to a greater extent. On this continuum their subjects and the king himself considered that he had purified enough to have reached this sacred state. Indeed the Sailendra kings also worshipped Shiva as another manifestation of Buddha. Shiva was considered the god of the Ascetic, who was a Yogi, who had transcended the Duality. Hence the yogi/king could experience reality directly because he had transcended the Verbal Duality through a rigorous program of meditation and practicing austerities. This is Yoga - restraint. Through the practice of Yoga the king realized his Buddha nature - In the realization of his Buddha nature, he naturally manifested as a Bodhisattva in this world. This could be called the purified human or it could be called god-like. It pretty much amounts to the same thing. To reiterate the Javanese king practiced Yogic asceticism in order to cleanse his inner self of all the social accretions so that he could lead his population to the enlightenment of Bodhisattva-hood.
Mandala Self vs. Territorial Self
The mandala organization of the country and empire was further reflected in the pyramid architecture. This huge monument was the central point of the spiritual empire. The mandala conception of the self is quite different than what we will call the territorial conception of the self. The territorial sense of self is the traditional one. We are our Body. The mandala sense of self says that we are the point where our consciousness is. The body is merely one of our spheres of influence rather than really being our self. Our self is merely the point of consciousness - which is everything, rather than being the external body, which is merely an emanation from the middle. Just as the mandala empire was maintained by treating her subjects well, similarly the mandala self is maintained by treating the body well rather than by ignoring her needs. Both emanate from the center to influence those around by virtue of the personal power that it is generated internally.
In order to generate personal power, the internal self must be pruned of excess ballast that will sink the boat or prevent the balloon from rising to the Heavens. Focusing an entire culture on creating a spiritual masterpiece upon the Earth is to transform the whole culture into a Bodhisattva. Hence the Sailendra dynasty generated a Bodhisattva culture, which attempted to assist all of humanity in their quest to polish their luminous Egg of cultural accretions so that they could manifest clearly. However the more that the Self or Self-Culture grasps territoriality as the foundation of personal boundaries the greater the reduction in spiritual power because it is just too fat to resonate with the Universal harmonies.
Java’s Prambanam temple complex
While the Sailendra Dynasty lasted less than 100 years, they also built other religious monuments on this fertile mountain plateau. To indicate the direct borrowing from Indian architecture, one was called Tjandi Ngawen and the other Tjandi Mendut.
The Sailendra Dynasty, who had their roots in the Sumatran based Srivijaya Empire, were peaceful invaders. The Sanjaya family who they had replaced were not destroyed. They had simply moved to the sidelines. With the ascendancy of the Sailendra Dynasty the Sanjaya family bowed out to become a vassal state on their perimeter. With the decline of the Sumatran dynasty the Sanjaya family reasserted control over the valley in the middle of the 9th century and the Sailendra court moved to Sumatra.
Legend has it that a Sanjaya prince married a Sailendra princess to become king. Because of the paucity of historical information, it is not clear if his was a military takeover or if he were merely stepping in to fill a power vacuum. Because religious construction normally comes to a halt during times of military stress I prefer the second explanation.
The temple building frenzy continued unabated under this renewed Hindu kingdom of Mataram for another 30 years. It was not even close to being over yet. Under the Mahayana Buddhism of the Sailendra dynasty the Hindu worship of Shiva and Vishnu was not eliminated or even suppressed.
Similarly the other way around. The Sanjaya family, showing typical Javanese tolerance, created some more Buddhist temples, Candi Sari and Candi Plaoson. Close by on the same plateau they also went on to build some Hindu temples called the Prambanam complex. There was no decline in quality. They continued to create the first class art of Java. Here is a map of all the temples that were created during this century.
In opposition to the moral didacticism of Buddhism, symbolized by relatively squat Borobudur, these Hindu temples, dedicated to Shiva, Hindu literature and aesthetics, soared skyward. As contrasted with the Buddhist tjandis many of these had interior space and included sculpture in the round.
One of the most impressive of these is called Lara Janggrang. It was built about 900 CE. It is a colossal work meant to represent Mount Meru, the cosmic mountain of Hinduism. It reminds one of the temples of Angkor with its vegetal lotus structure shown below.
To give you some size perspective here is someone at one of the entryways.
Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, the three gods of Hinduism are all represented. It also includes representations of the Kala monster, which represents Time, vomiting scrolls. Plus it includes sculptural representations in stone of many Hindu stories. Including guess what? You guessed it - the Ramayana. Cambodia, Thailand, and now Java. It’s everywhere. Remember this timeless story was used to communicate to the masses, more than the religious philosophy.
Reiterating its timeless themes: a parent’s binding love of their child, combined with the necessity of breaking free to fulfill an individual destiny - the transforming power of romantic love - the necessity of seeking assistance from friends to achieve one’s ends. These universal themes are combined with some unique concepts primary of which is the possibility and perhaps probability that a god has incarnated in each of us to accomplish a divine mission. This mission has to do with driving away or conquering the dark forces. This cosmic battle not only assists the individual to accomplish his or her individual goals but also assists the rest of humanity as well as the gods themselves. Further the whole story comes to a happy ending because of forgiveness.
In many ways the Khmer temples of Angkor were more in the tradition of these Hindu temples than the Buddhist stupas of Borobudur. Further their kingdoms were contemporary with each other. They probably even shared some of the same craftsman, especially after the fall of these Java kingdoms in the early 900s due to volcanic activity.
This efflorescence of temple building in Java came to an abrupt halt with the eruption of some local volcanoes in about 930 AD. As evidence one of the temples, while covered with 3 feet of ash, is well preserved - showing no signs of decay or looting. It seems to have been suddenly abandoned, like the buildings of Pompeii. Evidence suggests that the population suddenly dropped, going to the coast. Hence from 732 CE to 930 CE, about 200 years, this culture on the Javanese plateau created multiple architectural religious masterpieces and then suddenly disappeared.
Like the Khmer of Angkor, the Malay of Java must have thought that their kingdom was destined to last forever - aligned as they were with the gods. Unfortunately for them the Universe had other plans. As always life is much more transitory than we anticipate.
Legitimization of leadership
Another function of the temple building was to legitimize leadership. Prior to the advent of the maharajah system from India my Malays had organized themselves in smaller egalitarian tribes. The hierarchical organization of Hinduism and China, with the potential for nation and empire building was foreign to the Malays. Hence to establish legitimacy for his court the devaraja hit upon the idea of employing large percentages of the population in these public works projects. This not only bound them to the new aristocracy for employment, but also was a cultural bonding experience. Previously the individual might have considered himself a part of his tribe with no need for a centralized government. However once he was involved in one of these national projects, it would increase his tendency to identify with the larger group. Hence these national temple building projects were not only to legitimize the power of the king they were actually the method of actually building a sense of nation in the populace. Participation led to a shift from tribal identification to national identification.
In many ways these massive temples created the nation rather than being a manifestation of national or religious pride. This may have been why each successive king kept building these temples, almost feverishly. It legitimized their rule and created the idea of nation as opposed to tribe. Further the emphasis upon Buddhist and Hindu mythology minimized the importance of spirit and ancestor worship, which was so prevalent in my area.
Author: “This is a global phenomenon - the replacement of pride in family heritage with national identification and patriotism. This is quite apparent in modern American society where many people have little knowledge of ancestry and could care less, while the city, state, and especially national pride and patriotism is stressed in all the cultural propaganda from our education system and media.”
Southeast Asia: “The theory that the state was created by the temple building is supported by the rapid demise of these Javanese kingships once the temple building ceased. We already saw a similar phenomenon in the Khmer civilization of Cambodia.
The Devaraja vs. the Bodhisattva king
While the art and temples of the Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms were quite different, the practical role of these rulers of Java was nearly identical. The Hindu king was considered a devaraja -a god-king, and the Buddhist king was considered a Bodhisattva, Buddha’s helper. However they both tended to the spiritual well being of their people. Both type of kings inspired their subjects to create religious monuments. And in both cases the religious monuments were meant to incorporate religious philosophy. Because the practical manifestations of the two types of kings is so similar, we use the terms interchangeably.”
Buddhist: “I object to this merger of our kings. The devaraja of Hinduism is based upon faulty understanding of human divinity. Gods and kings are both illusion. Internal growth through dispelling ignorance is the only reality. In our quest for personal enlightenment we reject the supernatural as well as worldly power.”
Hindu: “In contrast we embrace the supernatural and the caste of warrior-king.”
Southeast Asia: “Although your ideas differ, in actual practice the Hindu god-king and the Buddhist Bodhisattva king were both meant to assist the spiritual growth of their subjects by ruling wisely. The words of your two religious philosophies contain significant differences and emphases, but the end result was the same for my people.”
Hindu: “One reason that Buddhism faded out in India was that all of their teachings were already incorporated in Hinduism. While Buddhism divided humanity into two categories, those on the serious quest and the rest, called householders, Hinduism more effectively dealt with the social obligations of each class. Although Hinduism could be criticized for being too obsessive in its class distinctions, Buddhism could be criticized for its simplistic view of humanity.”
Buddhist: “We understand this criticism. This is why we Mahayana Buddhists allow for the persistence of local traditions as long as there is a Buddhist overlay. We even tolerate Hinduism as long as the practitioner acknowledges the superior ideas of the Buddha. Practical Buddhism.”
Hindu: “Alternately we easily accommodate Buddhism as one of our myriad cults.”
Buddhist: “This is why we get along so famously.”
Buddhist and Hindu Tantra
Tantra: “To further blur the distinction between Buddhism and Hinduism in Java, let me speak a little about myself. I was mentioned in association with the Mahayana Buddhism of Borobudur. However both Buddhist and Hindu statuary and relics indicate a common involvement with my tantric magic. I am associated with both Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. I also achieved prominence in India at same time indicating a regular cross cultural mixing, rather than some mystical synchronism.
I am associated with process rather than ideas. Some even say that we use magical procedures for achieving supernatural ends. For instance under my influence, Saivism, the worship of Shiva, which features the path of asceticism, developed special rites to awaken the divine energy through sex with a consort.
I am also inextricably linked with temple building. At the core of Buddhism and Hinduism there is a rejection of the external world as transitory in that it is based in materialism, which always crumbles. On the other hand I, like Saivism, with which I am associated, rejects the dualism of ideology. Because I am based in the almost instinctive quest for spiritual vitality, the method of active application is stressed rather than the manifestation of ideas. With the freedom from conceptualization the artistic urge is encouraged to flourish - as it is at the foundation of personal vitality. Thus I freed the Javanese to be themselves and create these religious masterpieces which transcend thought.”
Malay: “We Malays, the Austronesian speakers of mom’s islands, quickly perceived Tantra’s contribution to the development of personal spiritual vitality. We overlaid her principles on our local practices, which included and still includes visiting sacred mountains for power. This shows the vitality of our indigenous religious practices. Again this illustrates that we islanders were not satellites of India and China, but were instead part of our own great Austronesian civilization.”
Syncretic Fields
Southeast Asia: “In support of the uniqueness of my cultures, let me speak briefly about syncretic fields. Cultural fields containing both political and religious aspects emanated from both China and India. A mix of Buddhism and Hinduism emanated from India, while Mahayana Buddhism was emanating from China. They met in my Southeast Asian territory, where another spiritual field was already being generated. It had to do with the traditional animistic beliefs of the Malays complete with worship of ancestors and sacred places, including mountains and ocean. These three fields merged and synthesized to create an emergent set of religious beliefs which was neither one or the other, but partook of them all.
This might seems odd to those of you from the Biblical West, where your cultures used to, and sometimes still do, regularly persecute and exterminate those who do not believe the same as you do. My cultures based as they were in trade amongst myriad cultures were more interested in cooperation than domination, politically and religiously. Hence the traders from India and China were treated more as spiritual brothers and sisters on the same path with information to share rather than as competing cultures, where one needed to be exterminated for the other to survive, as it is in your Biblical religions - starting out with the Israelites and the Canaanites - and continuing presently with the Jews and the Palestinians - or the fundamentalist Christians of America and the fundamentalist Muslims of Iraq and Iran.
Anyway with all these sophisticated self selected representatives of different cultures meeting and mixing due to the alternation of monsoons in my trading islands of the East Indies, a syncretic field of religion emerged that was unique from the religions making up the field. Like companions on the path, my cultures adopted and assimilated the ideas that resonated with and extended their own religious conceptions and rejected those that contradicted their indigenous beliefs. Hence while many of the Chinese and Hindu stories and ideas found wide spread acceptance - including the story of Ramayana mentioned earlier - other beliefs, common to China and India were rejected. I’m proud to say that my cultures rejected the subjugation of women, and in similar fashion they mitigated the extreme caste and class system of India and China.”
Malaya: “Based in a relatively egalitarian culture founded in trade and crafts rather than a military culture based in domination like your Western model, we Malays took the good ideas of Buddhism/Hinduism but rejected its sexism and elitism.”
Author: “This is similar to the syncretic religious field that has been created in modern California. Due to the influence of Eastern religions combined with Mexican Catholicism, overlaid on top of our White Christian Protestantism, with sprinklings of myriad other immigrant cultures, we Californians have developed our own unique religion, which is similar, but uniquely different than the rest.”
Southeast Asia: “Exactly. Maybe that is another reason the Universe chose you to write my story - the tolerance of a multi-cultural soup.”
Malay: “Our Malay cultures blended the tenets and gods of this diverse cultural mix into one. For instance our Buddhist Sailendra kings were also Shaivites, worshippers of the Shiva, a Hindu god.
Buddhist: “This is not contradictory at all. Remember that an underlying tenet of Mahayana Buddhism was that any god or goddess could be worshipped externally as long as the worshipper understood that it was only Form, which was all illusion. For instance the Chinese worshipped their own gods under the auspices of Buddhism, not the Hindu gods.”
Malay: “On the other hand we Malays mixed up the Hindu gods, not the Chinese gods, with our Buddhism. As an example, on the central plateau of Java, there is both Borobudur which is distinctly Buddhist and also the impressive Lara Janggrang, the exquisite Hindu temple devoted to Shiva. In fact the Buddhist temple of Borobudur was completed by the same Hindu ruler who created Lara Janggrang. Our neighbors, the Khmer of Cambodia were no different than us. Their syncretic religious field, like ours, mixed Hindu gods with Buddhism rather than the Chinese gods.”
A Khmer Prince returns from his education in Java
Southeast Asia: “In the brief 100 years of the Sailendra dynasty of the Srivijaya Empire, the kings as devarajas created a series of monuments on the high mountain plateau on my island of Java. During this period a young Khmer prince had been sent to Java for upbringing and education. There had already been a long history of connection between Cambodia and Java. The Javanese even considered themselves descendants of the Funanese of Cambodia.
This Cambodian prince was exposed to the Javanese concept of the devaraja connected with their pyramid building - these god kings creating their own Mount Meru. Inspired by the great Javanese culture this young Cambodian prince, who was being held as hostage or was merely being educated abroad, escaped or just returned home to Cambodia with grandiose ideas. This was in 790 AD, when Borobudur was still in the middle of its 50 years of construction. Jayavarman II was the name of this Java educated Khmer Prince who returned to Cambodia and founded the Khmer Empire which eventually created Angkor Wat.”
Summarizing
Author: “Reflecting on what we’ve discovered.
The Khmer of Cambodia founded an Indianized kingdom, which was a mixture or blending of Hindu culture with an indigenous stone cutting culture which had already been around for over a thousand years. However, the Khmer were part of the your greater Southeast Asian cultural web. As such they were heavily influenced by the Sailendra dynasty of the Java based Srivijaya Empire, which traced its roots to the first Khmer kingdom of Funan - from which Angkor derived.
In terms of the cultural energy.
Due to the geographical location of Cambodia with its proximity to the Gulf of Thailand, the city of Vyadhapura became your first important Southeast Asian entrepôt. Because of the influx of foreign traders and the resulting wealth the native tribal culture was mixed with the Hindu culture to create the kingdom of Funan. This was symbolized by the marriage of the Naga Princess with a Hindu prince, whose child was the Khmer.
As a result of Chinese civil wars, which impoverished their best client, combined with disastrous floods which destroyed their port city of Vyadhapura, the Funan kingdom declined in economic and cultural importance. While Funan was replaced politically by the Chenla kingdom as the dominant kingdom of mainland Southeast Asia, the cultural and political energy of the Funan actually shifted to the island based Srivijaya Empire of Sumatra and Java, which had captured the China trade by controlling the trade routes and funneling the profits through Palembang in Sumatra. This new entrepôt, which supplanted the Funanese entrepôt, generated the wealth and cultural exchange which created the new mandala empire.
A Khmer prince was then educated in Java under one of the most artistic dynasties of the Srivijaya Empire, the Sailendra. He returned to Cambodia with great visions which re-energized the Southeast Asian mainland. Extending irrigation techniques that were already in place, he was able to feed a larger population due to multiple annual growing seasons. Further he inspired the local population to create great works of art which bound them together as a community. This was related with the idea of the devaraja or god king concept of the Srivijaya Empire. The Southeast Asian king as a Buddhist Bodhisattva was responsible for inspiring and educating his people - leading them to spiritual transformation and growth.
After quite a few centuries this Khmer temple building sputtered out - probably due to ecological, as well as cultural devolution. At this point the Thai people, pushed out of Southern China by Genghis Kahn and the Mongols, moved into the mainland of Southeast Asia. They conquered the Khmer but they also assumed their spiritual, cultural and political mantle. The Thai continued the tradition of the devaraja, which they maintain to this day - particularly in Bangkok, but in Thailand in general. The Thai King, named after Rama of the Ramayana, looks after the spiritual health of the country by encouraging the local culture and funding the creation and renovation of temples, which employs the artistic community as well as providing for the edification of the greater community, including the rest of the world.”
Southeast Asia: "Well put. You've connected my countries of Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia into a neat little bundle which goes back thousands of years. Now we can move into the next millenium, which wasn't as kind to me and my children."
My Intermediate Empires
Srivijaya’s Story (7th -> 11th AD)
We left the Srivijaya Empire at the point that the Khmer Empire was established at Angkor in and about 900 CE. Let Srivijaya refresh your memory about his contribution to the narrative.
Srivijaya: “I had a good life, as empires go. I lasted from the 7th to 13th centuries of the modern era. The peak of my power was about 800 AD. I dominated the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, as well as the Malay Peninsula. Although I was an Indianized kingdom with a courtly culture, my prosperity and political strength was based upon my relationship with China. She considered me her imperial representative. As such she supported me by channeling her trade through my principle port of Palembang on the island of Sumatra.
Palembang was the center of the mandala of my political power. Remember that I was a mandala empire with no real boundaries. My overlordship issued gradually. No armies. I maintained control of my vassal states through cultural and economic politics. Economically I attempted to provide a protective and mutually beneficial trading arrangement to all by enforcing a peaceful environment.
Further Palembang, my heartland for 4 centuries, until her fall to the Chola dynasty early in 2nd millennium, was a major cultural center and nexus between India and China. I -ching, a Buddhist pilgrim from China, visited me in 671 AD on a 20 day voyage from Canton in southern China on his way to India. He recommended me as an excellent Buddhist center. To indicate my international flavor the art of Palembang reveals artistic network with Mon Dvaravati kingdom of the mainland, where Thailand is now. We both made bronze Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
The Khmer Empire, who created Angkor in the Tonle Sap region of Cambodia between the 9th to the 13th centuries was inspired by me. They were the most impressive mandala empire. Their devaraja, their god-king, more than anyone else, transformed the physical environment to reflect the connection between the state and heaven. Their water system, based upon ancient Indian techniques, was most intricate. It supplied the kingdom with 3 to 4 crops of rice per year. This abundance supported 1 million people in the vicinity of Angkor. Each of Angkor’s king regularly built a new capital to reflect their flexibility. Finally however they located permanently and surrendered their mandala flexibility. My talented nephew became brittle, fell and faded quickly.
Ah, such is the life of an Empire. You feel as if you were going to last forever and then one day circumstances change and things can degenerate quickly. This also happened to me. Hoping to last forever - at the end it seems like just a day.
Anyway in my heyday the Chinese relied on my people to do all her foreign shipping - her import/export business. We had a great relation. She considered us one of her barbarian vassals and provided us with tributary trade. In exchange we provided her merchants with a safe base in the islands of Indonesia. The trade began growing in the 5th and 6th centuries, but with her civil wars, our trade dropped off in the late 6th and early 7th centuries. With the rise of the stable Tang dynasty we wanted to capture the lucrative China trade. First my rulers in Palembang pretended to be vassals to cater to the Chinese ego. Second my rulers determined to control all the harbors in the region by controlling the Straits of Malacca through Palembang. Prior to this there had been many small harbor kingdoms. This militancy is reflected in some of the old Malay inscriptions.
The power of my maharajahs depended on our alliance with those who possessed warships - the Chinese. Plus our China connection gave us lots of prestige. We must have done a pretty good job because there is no mention of piracy in the Arab accounts of the time. We all felt that our interests were the same. We governed and ruled through positive reinforcement nationally and individually. My loyal subjects were rewarded with wealth, posts of honor, and supernatural rewards for cooperating. In such a way we formed this maritime Malay grouping, which was me, the Srivijaya Empire.
I was powerful as long as Palembang was a thriving entrepôt. The bounty of my rulers depended on our tributary status with China, which needed a great and secure entrepôt. My early Malay history is one of this Sino Malay alliance. The Chinese felt that my maharajas were her imperial agents. Unfortunately our Malay unity was undermined when Chinese began doing her own shipping in the 10th century. After this there was no single entrepôt anymore. Our mandala centralization collapsed and we became prey to the next invader, which happened to be the Chola dynasty of southern India. I’ll let him tell his own story.”
The Story of the Chola Dynasty (11th->13th AD)
Chola: “Like Srivijaya, I too am a political dynasty. As such I am made up of humans - Tamils from southern India to be exact. But I have a much longer life span than they do. They are just the cells of my body.
The wave of my expansion began about 750 AD, when my dynasty established control of the southern part of the Indian peninsula. From here our maritime culture expanded into the Sea of Bengal, conquering Ceylon. We then took control of the Malay Peninsula. Intent on eliminating the middle man in the lucrative spice and silk trade between Southeast Asia and the Arabs and the Africans, we launched a naval attack on the Srivijaya Empire in 1025 AD. My political wave crashed with so much force that it washed away the entrepôt of Palembang which had been the source of wealth and prestige for Srivijaya. In typical Malay fashion they just moved to another port in Java, but this effectively sent their Empire into a long decline.
This military victory eliminated Srivijaya as the middle man and enabled my people to establish control over most of the ports of call and transit areas which were used to connect the traders of the Indian Ocean with the traders of Eastern Asia. From this point we were able to trade directly with China. We were the new middle man for the valuable spices sold at high profits in Europe. The prosperity from our trade fueled our Empire for another few hundred years. This was our golden age between the 11th and 13th centuries. Then our wave lost its forward momentum, fragmented and dissolved back into the great sea of humanity. At our peak we were invincible and then suddenly we were only traces in the sand - nothing more. Don’t laugh. It will happen to you too. I, Chola, the Tamil dynasty of southern India was replaced by the Java based Majapahit Empire. I will let Majapahit tell his own story.”
The Majapahit Empire (13th-> 16th AD)
Majapahit: “I was the last Indianized kingdom in Indonesia. In many ways I was a continuation of the Srivijaya Empire. As Chola disintegrated due to problems at home, his vassal states began to reassert themselves. Among those were remnants of the Srivijaya Empire. They had moved to Java from their Sumatran capital of Palembang when attacked by the Chola culture. Having bided their time for a few hundred years they moved to insert themselves into the power vacuum.
Unfortunately their court of humans made a fatal mistake. The Mongols, who had just conquered China under Kublai Khan sent an emissary. The court evidently didn’t treat the emissary with respect. This is a big ‘no-no’ for the Mongols. For instance, because the Muslim culture in the Middle East executed their emissary, the Mongols obliterated and overran many Muslim cities - killing millions of people.
Because Java was so far away, it took some time before the Mongols found out how their emissary was treated. However when they did they immediately organized themselves for revenge. Somehow they arranged for their famous horseman to be shipped to Java to avenge this insult to their culture. By the time they arrived a new ruler was in place who didn’t even remember what had happened.
Vijaya, a descendant of Sanjaya, who founded the Mataram kingdom of Java in the 8th century, was vying with Srivijaya’s court for power. He befriended the Mongols, got them to expel the ruler, and then convinced them to go home, leaving him in charge. This was 1277 AD, the beginning of my Golden Age.
My Majapahit Empire, while similar to Srivijaya, was actually a resurrection of the Mataram kingdom of Java. My rivalry with Srivijaya went back to the 8th century. Sanjaya, after founding our Mataram kingdom, initiated the construction of the first Hindu temple on our fertile island. Then the Sailendra dynasty of Srivijaya pushed us out and finished it as Borobudur, a Buddhist temple. A mere century later we displaced these intruders from Sumatra and then built more Hindu and Buddhist temples on our central plateau in Java. Our Golden Age was interrupted by the eruption of a volcano. To indicate the importance of each of our traditions, the Sanjaya family is still the royal family of Java to this day. And when the last Prince of Srivijaya converted to Muslim, all of the Malay followed in his lead.
While competing for political dominance we islanders shared a common culture. Our kings. like theirs, were ascetics, who were revered as Shiva-Buddhas. They had an obligation to the gods to cleanse our kingdom, the holy land of Java, and thus the world, of impurities, by permeating the world with their royal divinity. With this mission in mind they attempted to maintain the country as a literary temple.
In the typical mandala politics of the region, our kings ruled by prestige rather than by force. The king was responsible for keeping the peace so that trade could occur rather than waging war on his neighbors with a strong military. The kings of our dynasty made regular tours of the countryside to ensure that my citizens were being taken care of. The influence of my Javanese Empire was considerable although we only demanded homage and tribute. Note that this was similar to the political system of our allies, the Chinese.
Because there was very little military strength involved in maintaining our influence, the power of our Empire depended upon the prestige of our king, Accordingly the golden age of my Majapahit Empire coincided with the rule of our greatest king, Hayam Wuruk. Unfortunately he died in 1389. Everything - good and evil, great and small, is consumed by the Fire of Time. There was a power struggle to take his place. Because my power mandala weakened and shrunk during this period, our vassal states arose to fill the vacuum. My Majapahit wave swept in and now was slowly fragmenting and returning to the Ocean. I too thought that I would live forever, based as I was on such noble ideals. But my humans got lost in trivial pursuits, such as groveling after power and materialism. This ruined everything. Ah well - such is the transitory world of humans.”
