An outline, era by era

Southeast Asia

Khmer Empire (Angkor), Srivijaya, Majapahit, Dai Viet

Medieval / Post-Classical Era · ~500 – ~1500 CE

Between about 500 and 1500 CE, mainland and island Southeast Asia saw the rise of several large states shaped by trade, rice farming and the borrowing of Indian religion and court culture. Srivijaya, based on Sumatra, controlled shipping through the Strait of Malacca from the 7th century. The Khmer Empire, centred on Angkor in present-day Cambodia, ruled much of the mainland from the early 9th century. Majapahit, on Java, became the greatest power of the islands in the 14th century. Dai Viet, in the Red River region of northern Vietnam, emerged after independence from Chinese rule in the 10th century.

These states mixed Hindu and Buddhist traditions with local beliefs, and left monuments such as Angkor Wat and Borobudur, as well as inscriptions in Sanskrit and local languages. They traded with India, China and the Islamic world, and they fought, allied and borrowed from one another. By the 15th century the Khmer royal capital had moved away from Angkor, though Angkor remained a religious site and was never wholly deserted. Majapahit had faded, Srivijaya was long gone, and Dai Viet had grown southward. Islam and Theravada Buddhism spread widely, shaping the region that European ships reached soon after.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Srivijaya and the Strait of Malacca

    Event

    What happened

    In 671 the Chinese monk Yijing sails to a place he calls Shili Foshi, and later stays there to study and copy Buddhist texts. The Kedukan Bukit inscription, in Old Malay and dated 683, found near Palembang in Sumatra, records an expedition led by a ruler named Dapunta Hyang. The Kota Kapur inscription of 686, from the island of Bangka, threatens curses on those who disobey the ruler of Srivijaya. Over the following centuries Srivijaya grows into a maritime power taking in ports on both sides of the strait.

    The rest is history

    Historians generally see Srivijaya as a network of ports under a Palembang-centred ruler, rather than a land empire with fixed borders. It profited from the China-India sea trade and was a known centre of Buddhist learning. In 1025 the Chola king Rajendra I raided its ports, and the kingdom declined in the following centuries. The Kedukan Bukit inscription is dated 683.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryKedukan Bukit inscription. Old Malay stone inscription, dated 683 CE, found near Palembang, Sumatra.
    2. PrimaryYijing. A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago. Chinese travel account, c. 691 CE. Translated by J. Takakusu, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896.
    3. BookCoedès, George. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1968.

  2. Jayavarman II and the founding of the Khmer Empire

    Event

    What happened

    Around 802 CE a ruler named Jayavarman II is, according to a much later inscription, consecrated in a ceremony, traditionally placed on Mount Kulen northeast of Angkor, that is read as asserting Khmer kingship free of outside overlordship, possibly that of Java. The details of the ceremony, its place and its meaning are reconstructed from that later text and are debated. Jayavarman II and his successors are credited with uniting the small Khmer polities of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap region.

    The rest is history

    Our knowledge of Jayavarman II comes mainly from the Sdok Kak Thom inscription of 1052, written long after his time, so details are uncertain. His successors built Hariharalaya, then around 889 Yasovarman I founded Yasodharapura, the first city at Angkor. The Khmer kings kept their capital in the Angkor area for most of the next five centuries. The Sdok Kak Thom stele is dated 1052.

    Sources

    1. PrimarySdok Kak Thom inscription (K. 235). Sanskrit and Old Khmer stele, dated 1052 CE, from present-day Thailand.
    2. BookHigham, Charles. The Civilization of Angkor. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001.
    3. BookCoedès, George. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1968.

  3. The Shailendras and Borobudur

    Event

    What happened

    In central Java in the 8th and 9th centuries, rulers known from inscriptions as the Shailendra dynasty support Mahayana Buddhism. During this period the great stepped monument of Borobudur is built, with finishing work usually dated to about 825. Nearby, the Hindu temple complex of Prambanan is built in the mid-9th century.

    The rest is history

    The relationship between the Shailendras, Srivijaya and the Hindu rulers of Mataram is still debated by scholars. Borobudur shows how closely Java was linked to Indian Buddhist art and thought. After the 10th century the centre of Javanese power shifted east, toward the Brantas valley. Borobudur was later abandoned, and was cleared and studied under British and Dutch administration in the early 1800s.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryKalasan inscription. Sanskrit stone inscription, dated 778 CE, central Java.
    2. BookMiksic, John N. Borobudur: Golden Tales of the Buddhas. Boston: Shambhala, 1990.
    3. BookCoedès, George. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1968.

  4. Dai Viet gains independence from China

    Event

    What happened

    After about a thousand years of Chinese rule in the Red River region, Ngo Quyen defeats a Southern Han fleet at the Bach Dang River in 938 by using sharpened stakes set in the riverbed. He takes the title of king. After a period of unrest, Ly Cong Uan becomes emperor in 1009, founding the Ly dynasty, and in 1010 moves the capital to Thang Long, now Hanoi.

    The rest is history

    The Ly rulers built a centralised state with Buddhist and Confucian elements, and in 1075 to 1077 fought a war with Song China. The state was named Dai Viet in 1054. Later, the Tran dynasty repelled Mongol invasions in the 13th century, and Dai Viet expanded south against Champa under the Tran and the Later Le. The founding of Thang Long dates to 1010.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryDai Viet su ky toan thu. Vietnamese court chronicle, compiled 15th century from earlier records.
    2. BookTaylor, Keith W. The Birth of Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

  5. Suryavarman II and the building of Angkor Wat

    Event

    What happened

    Suryavarman II takes the Khmer throne in the early 12th century and rules to about 1150. He builds Angkor Wat as a temple to Vishnu, with miles of carved reliefs. He fights campaigns against Dai Viet and Champa and sends an embassy to China.

    The rest is history

    Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world and remains a place of worship. After his death the Khmer state suffered conflict, and in 1177 the Chams raided Angkor by water. The temple later became a Buddhist site. Its reliefs include historical scenes of Suryavarman's army, and it appears on the Cambodian flag.

    Sources

    1. BookHigham, Charles. The Civilization of Angkor. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001.
    2. BookJacques, Claude, and Philippe Lafond. The Khmer Empire: Cities and Sanctuaries from the 5th to the 13th Century. Bangkok: River Books, 2007.

  6. Jayavarman VII and the Bayon

    Event

    What happened

    After the Cham sack of Angkor in 1177, Jayavarman VII defeats them and is crowned around 1181. He builds a new walled city, Angkor Thom, with the Bayon temple at its centre, and founds hospitals and rest houses across the empire. He favours Mahayana Buddhism.

    The rest is history

    His reign marks the Khmer Empire at its greatest extent, but the huge building programme strained the kingdom. After his death around 1218 later kings turned away from his style, and Theravada Buddhism spread. The Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan visited Angkor in 1296 to 1297 and left a valuable account of daily life. The Bayon's many stone faces are among the best-known images of Angkor.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryZhou Daguan. The Customs of Cambodia. Chinese account, written c. 1297. Translated by Michael Smithies, Bangkok: Siam Society, 1993.
    2. BookHigham, Charles. The Civilization of Angkor. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001.

  7. The Mongol invasions and the Tran

    Event

    What happened

    The Mongol Yuan armies invade Dai Viet in 1257 to 1258, 1285 and 1287 to 1288. The Tran dynasty, led by the commander Tran Hung Dao, withdraws, then counterattacks. In 1288 Tran forces again use stakes in the Bach Dang River to destroy the Mongol fleet.

    The rest is history

    The Tran accepted nominal tribute to the Yuan court after the wars, but kept their independence. Some historians see the wars as strengthening a sense of Vietnamese identity, though this is an interpretation. A Mongol expedition to Java in 1293 also failed, and Majapahit emerged from it. The 1288 Bach Dang victory is still commemorated in Vietnam.

    Sources

    1. BookTaylor, Keith W. The Birth of Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
    2. BookRossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

  8. Founding of Majapahit

    Event

    What happened

    In 1293 a Mongol fleet lands in Java to punish King Kertanagara of Singhasari, who had insulted the Yuan envoy. Kertanagara has already been killed by a rival, Jayakatwang. Kertanagara's son-in-law Raden Wijaya allies with the Mongols against Jayakatwang, then turns on them and drives them out. He founds Majapahit and rules as Kertarajasa.

    The rest is history

    Majapahit rose to its height under Hayam Wuruk (r. 1350 to 1389) and his minister Gajah Mada. The poem Nagarakretagama of 1365 lists tributary lands across the archipelago, though the real extent of control is debated. The kingdom declined after the 1400s, and its last remnants fell by the early 16th century. The Nagarakretagama was completed in 1365.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryNagarakretagama (Desawarnana). Old Javanese court poem by Prapanca, completed 1365 CE.
    2. BookRicklefs, M. C. A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1200. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.

  9. Prince Sang Nila Utama and the lion of Singapura

    Origin story

    The legend

    A Srivijayan prince, Sang Nila Utama, sails from Palembang and lands on an island. He sees a strange beast with a red body, black head and white breast, and is told it is a lion. He names the place Singapura, the lion city.

    The rest is history

    The tale comes from the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu), compiled in the 15th to 17th centuries. There are no lions in Southeast Asia, and the animal may have been a tiger. Archaeology shows that Temasek, as the island was known, was a real trading settlement in the 14th century. Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan described it around 1330. The Annals were compiled long after the events.

    Sources

    1. PrimarySejarah Melayu (Malay Annals). Malay court chronicle, compiled 15th to 17th centuries.
    2. BookMiksic, John N. Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800. Singapore: NUS Press, 2013.

  10. The leper king of Angkor

    Folk tale

    The legend

    In Cambodian tradition a Khmer king contracts leprosy after a fight with a snake or a dragon, and the disease marks his body. A statue at Angkor Thom, the Terrace of the Leper King, is said to show him. The tale explains why he is shown naked and covered with moss.

    The rest is history

    The terrace is real, and its statue is probably Yama, god of death, or possibly Shiva. The moss and stains on the stone gave rise to the name. Tradition attached the story to Yasovarman I or Jayavarman VII, and the Cambodian chronicles give differing versions. Zhou Daguan did not mention it. The terrace dates to the late 12th or early 13th century.

    Sources

    1. BookJacques, Claude, and Philippe Lafond. The Khmer Empire: Cities and Sanctuaries from the 5th to the 13th Century. Bangkok: River Books, 2007.
    2. BookHigham, Charles. The Civilization of Angkor. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001.

  11. Lac Long Quan and Au Co, the dragon and the fairy

    Origin story

    The legend

    The dragon lord Lac Long Quan marries the mountain fairy Au Co, who bears a hundred eggs from which a hundred sons hatch. The couple part, with fifty children going to the sea with the father and fifty to the mountains with the mother. The eldest becomes the first Hung king of Van Lang.

    The rest is history

    The story is recorded in Vietnamese texts such as the Linh Nam chich quai, compiled in the 14th and 15th centuries, and the Dai Viet su ky toan thu. There is no contemporary evidence for the Hung kings as described. The archaeology of the Dong Son culture in the Red River valley, with bronze drums from around 500 BCE, shows a real early society. The legend is honoured in Vietnam on Hung Kings Commemoration Day.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryLinh Nam chich quai. Vietnamese collection of tales, compiled 14th to 15th century.
    2. BookTaylor, Keith W. The Birth of Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

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