All religions, not excluding animism, have three things in common: the existence of gods and intercessors, the efficacy of prayer and rites, and a soteriology (URP)

VEDISM

15th-5th CBC

The Aryans, who came down into Pakistan and India from the north ca.1500, might have influenced the INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION during its decadence (after ca.2000). It is more likely that they came after its extinction. The Aryans left a unique, vast body of works, which, although not history as such, contain abundant allusions to events and places. These, in combination with archaelogy, permit sophisticated inferences about early Indian political development. Vedic literature comprises four types of texts in order of precedence: the Mantras, which are the Vedas in the strict sense of the earliest compositions and contain incantations and other ritual expressions; the Bhramanas, which describe the rituals themselves; the Upanishads, which are philosophical treatises of some obscurity; and the Sutras, which are instructions for rituals. Assuming the arrival of the Aryans ca.1700 BC, the Vedas and the Bhramanas were composed between 1300 and 800 BC. The Upanishads, whose contents influenced the Buddha, were composed ca.700 BC. These compositions were being created even as the Aryans after ca.1000 BC were making the transition between semi-nomadism and sedentarization and had occupied lands in the Indian subcontinent from the mountain passes in the north to the Ganges river basin. This transition is reflected in the epic Mahabharata, possibly composed sometime during the 8th and 7th cents.BC.

The Vedas are classified in different ways. In one classification they are the Vedas proper, the Brahmanas, the Upanishads including the Aranyakas, and the Sutras. In another classification they are the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Upanishads including the Sutras, and the Aranyakas.

The origins of castes and states

The Aryans occupied lands belonging to a dark-skinned people, known as Dravidians, whom they subjected. Dravidian languages are spoken in central and southern India. The premise is that the inhabitants of southern India are descended from the pre-Aryan inhabitants of India some of whom, but not all, were subjected by the Aryans. Apparently within Aryan society there were no castes, but the Aryans discriminated the Dravidians on the basis of color. Later caste discriminations based on social roles remained even as the skin-colour distinction was somewhat blurred. The roles were, roughly, priests or Brahmins, warriors or Kshatriyas, Vasyas or farmers and traders, and sudras, which did menial work including pottery. However, caste interdictions were not so severe that there was no racial mixing or even that a sudra could not reach the summit of power. The greatest Aryan deities were Varouna, Mitra, Indra, and Agni. Krishna, prominent in Hindu mythology, was a dark-skinned god adopted from the Dravidians.

Vedic religion (very much URP)

Life-exhalting

Polytheistic

Ritualistic

Brahmanistic > Varnas

The Vedic trinity was: Agni, fire; Indra, "a warlike god"; and Varuna, "the upholder of the cosmic and moral laws". (Britann)

ca500 BC: Upanishads

Dharma

Time is infinite

Life is craving and samsara

Karma rules samsara

Brahminical rites can affect samsara

They are karmic

"...the Upanishads question the very assumptions on which Vedism rested. The crucial idea that emerged...was that of brahman...in which the individual soul or atman is merged. The equation of atman with brahman (ultimate reality) became the basis of Hindu metaphysics. The spread in the 6th CBC of the related concepts of the reincarnation of souls, of karma, and of the attainment of release from this cycle by meditation rather than through ritual sacrifice marked the end of the Vedic period and the appearance of Hinduism...The legacy from Vedism includes the varnas, certain rites involving sacrifice...Vishnu and Shiva...also figured in Vedism though unimportantly." (Britann)

Likelier than a reaction against ritualism and Brahmanism, the Upanishads are probably a withdrawal of Vedism into itself.

The moksa doctrine or release from samsara: "The earliest statement of this doctrine is in the Brhad Aranyaka Upanishad: some one who has got rid of all desire `is brahman and goes to brahman' (at death). From this time on, while Indian soteriologies vary somewhat in the theoretical priority they assign to the emotional and intellectual aspects of salvation, they all assume that freedom from desire is the main prerequisite for gnosis." (Gom)

6th-2nd CBC

"When Vedic religion gradually evolved into Hinduism...the Vedic texts taken collectively became the most sacred literature of Hinduism. They are known as Sruti [in contrast to additions known as Smriti]..." (Britann)

History to 5 CBC

Aryanization means settlement by Indo-Aryan speakers. Roughly, Aryanization meant the displacement or in some manner  "conversion" of Dravidian speakers. Hinduization refers to the spread of Vedism in the sense in which Vedism is pre-Hinduism. Historically, northern India was Aryanized and Hinduized. Probably most of the subcontinent was Hinduized, though Aryanization reached only to the linguistic boundaries that still exist.

BUDDHISM

5th CBC

The doctrine of Buddha, who probably died after 400 BC and is the first Indian historical personage, goes counter to Aryan social and ritual practices. By the time of Buddha, originally Siddharta Gautama, a prince of Sakya, northern India had been divided into many small kingdoms (mahajanapada) the most prominent of which were (important cities in parenthesis): Kamboja and Gandhara, in northern Pakistan; Kuru, Surasena (Mathura), and Panchala, in the western part of the doab or the mesopotomia formed by the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers; Vatsa (Kausambi), in the eastern doab; Kasi (Varanasi) with Koshala (Sravasti and Saketa) to the north; Maghada (Rajagriha), south of Patna; to the east Anga (Champa), on the actual border between Bihar and Bengal; and Avanti (Ujjain), in north central India. It is from this general state of affairs--in which tribes first acquired territory and then states were founded--that sometime during the 6th cent.BC. MAGHADA, one of the mahajapanda, became the first important Indian kingdom.

Buddha came from Sakhya, part of the Kosala kingdom, a part of N India where Agni cult had not reached. Also, the varnas were not entrenched. Buddhism is significantly a reaction against castes. He was born in Kapilavastu.

400 BC: Likely reference date for time when Buddha was active.

"According to tradition his family name was Gautama and later sources called him Siddharta (he who has reached his goal). Buddha means the enlightened one."

The essense of the Buddha's early preaching was said to be the four noble truths: (1) life is suffering; (2) suffering stems from desires and fear of death; (3) to stop suffering one must stop desiring; (4) to stop desiring one must follow the Noble Eightfold Path: right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right awareness, and right concentration." (Britann)

"We must remember that eternal immutability was essential to the brahminical concept of the soul." (Gom)

"For the Vedanta, the one identification which ultimately mattered was between the essence of the individual and the essence of the world: `Thou art that'. The Buddha denied the essence of the individual and correspondingly denied an essence to the world: no creator or omnipotent god, no underlying unity to phenomena." (Gom)

Concepts from R.Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism

No soul (impermanence of awareness)

Ethics of intention leading to mental purity

Individual karma

Individuals can achieve nirvana

The karma can end in one life

Dependent origination: no creator god, no beginning

"Though awareness is primarily a cognitive activity, it has an ethical facet too: attention, carefulness, conscientiousness, diligence." (Gom)

Praxis

Sangha

No rites

"To the rulers of the kingdoms and republics arising in NE India the patronage of heteroprax sects was one way of counterbalancing the enormous political power enjoyed by brahmins in the affairs of state." (Britann)

"One ancient religion from this ascetic milieu, Jainism, survives to this day. In their desire to escape rebirth Jains hold that all karman, since it entails consequences, is undesirable; thus they arrive at the radical conclusion that the best course is to do nothing at all." (Gom)

Historical summary (4th-1st CBC

Bimbisara was the ruler who initiated the kingdom's territorial expansion. Magadha's strategic location as the crossroads of trade between the western and eastern Gangetic plain contributed to its political power. Bimbisara is said to have met the Buddha himself, whose doctrine he accepted. Bimbisara's son and successor, Ajatashatru, who reputedly starved his father to death, carried on his expansionist policy with the conclusive defeat of the Licchavis, who then removed to Nepal. The kingdom of Kosala, to the west of Magadha, was expanding to the Himalayan piedmont. The first Magadha dynasty was overthrown by the usurper Mahapadna, founder of the Nanda dynasty, son of a low-caste woman. He established his capital in Pataliputra (eastern Bihar) at the time that Alexander was campaigning in the Indus river valley (327-324). The Nanda were the precursors of the greatest dynasty of Magadha, the Maurya, closely identified with Buddhism.

It is next to impossible to separate the political history of Sri Lanka from that of Buddhism. Theravada is the branch of Buddhism predominant in Sri Lanka and South East Asia. According to Theravada tradition, the elder Tissa Moggaliputta sent out proselytizing missions to Sri Lanka ca250. According to another tradition, Ashoka's son, Mahinda, preached and converted Sri Lanka to Buddhism, which probably competed with Vedic Brahmanism. Vedic religion did not have the roots in Sri Lanka that it did in India. In any event, Buddhism first spread outside of India to Sri Lanka. During the first century BCE, Sri Lankan governance and Theravada Buddhism were closely associated. The Pali Canon, basically the Sanskrit Tripitaka or Pali Tippitaka (three baskets), the Bible of Buddhism, was probably put together under a king of Sri Lanka called Vattagamani. The Pali Canon is considered to be a reliable reflection of the earliest Buddhist doctrines. But Mahayana, a derivation from early Buddhism, also existed in Sri Lanka, for the same king that had the Pali Canon assembled also built the Mahayana Abhavagiri vihara (monastery). It was the Theravada tradition of the Mahavira vihara that became dominant in Sri Lanka from the 1st century CE.

After the Buddha his followers began to divide. Traditionally 18 schools of thought are mentioned. At this time this basically referred to two traditions rather than precise scriptural distinctions. The scriptural distinction was there in ovo.

The Pitakas are the fundamental source of Buddhism. The only complete Indian text of the Pitakas is the Pali Canon, dating from the 1st CBC. There are fragments and recensions from as early as the 2nd CBC which correspond to the Pali Pitakas but which also include texts not in the Pali Pitakas. There are probably also variants on the Pali Canon. The complete Pitakas were also written down in Chinese later. The Pitakas are the basic source for Gautama himself.

ca370 or ca350 BC: First Buddhist council at Rajagriha or Rajagaha, modern Rajgir. This is a tradition and the realization of the council is disputed by scholars. However, what is not disputed is that the contents of the Pitakas were a common Buddhist heritage. "According to legend this council was responsible for the composition of of the vinaya (monastic discipline) under the monk Upali and the dhamma (sutras) under Ananda..." (Britann)

"The Vinaya Pitaka like the rest of the Canon has survived in several recensions. All claim the authority of the First Council, but they differ in detail and arrangement...Moreover, we can be fairly sure that most of the early splits which led to the separate recensions date from the 3rd CBC; only the first one, that of the Mahasanghikas may be a bit older." (Gom)

"Scholars think that by the 3rd CBC Theravada doctrine and practice were fairly formalized...The Theravada tradition explicated necessary regulations for the community, meditative techniques and rituals, and the stages leading to arhatship." (Britann)

ca270 BC: Second Buddhist council at Vesali and conflict between Sthavirada [after Theravada] and Mahasanghika, the former strict, the latter less so, on monastic issues. Possible source of Theravada-Mahayana scission. This council was probably historical. Also the Mahasanghika had a supramundane view of Buddha in which the Bodhisattva concept was implicit. This view is called lokottara (transcending the world). "The only surviving part of the Mahasinghika canon, the Mahavastu, is derived from Lokottaravadins who stem from Masasanghikas. They assert that the things of this world do not possess reality at all." (Britann)

3 CBC-3 CAD

Although as yet not "formalized", Hinduism had evolved from Vedism: basically, changes in the Vedic pantheon, assimilation of other traditions and beliefs (including some of Dravidian origin), modification of rites, the introduction of devotionalism including istadevata, and further development of Hindu theosophy with significant Buddhist influence. Vedism was virtually synonymous with Brahmanism. It is not possible to state with precision to what extent the role of Brahmins was downgraded, although it can be assumed that they were not as influential as before in the cities and at least under Asoka in government.

Recension of Mahabharata: "The central plot concerns a great battle between the five sons of Panu, called the Pandavas (Arjuna, Yudhisthira, Bhima, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva), and the sons of Panu's brother Dhrtarastra. The battle eventually leads to the destruction of the entire race, save for one Pandava...The Vedic gods have lost importance and survive as figures of folklore. Prajapati of the Upanishads is popularly personified as the god Brahma...Of far greater importance is Krishna...He is occasionally but not significantly identified with Vishnu. Later, as one of the most important incarnations of Vishnu, Krishna undergoes a complex development as an incarnate god. In the Mahabharata he is primarily a hero, a chieftain of a tribe, and an ally of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Mahabharata." (Britann)

The Mahabharata contains the Bhagavadgita: a moral dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna.

"Three different ways of releasing the self from transmigration are set forth. There is the discipline of action (karma-yoga): against the views held by Buddhism, Jainism, and Samkhya philosophy, which holds that all acts bind and that therefore abstention from action is a condition of release, Krishna argues that it is not the acts that bind but the selfish intention with which they are performed. He argues for a self-discipline in which a person does his duties according to the dictates of prescribed tasks (dharma), but without any self-interest in the personal consequences of the acts. On the other hand, he does not deny the relevance of the discipline of knowledge (jnana-yoga)...Then...Krishna reveals himself as the Supreme God...The third and perhaps superior way of release in through a discipline of devotion to god (bhakti-yoga) in which the self humbly worhips the loving God..." (Britann)

268-233 BC: Asoka

"The kings [in an Asokan inscription] all of whom ruled in the Hellenistic world, the Near East, have been identified; from their dates we can deduce that the inscription was dictated in 256 or 255 BCE, and this gave modern scholarship they key to dating not only Asoka but the whole of ancient Indian history." (Gom)

During the 3rd cent. BC, Kalinga, in Orissa, was an important kingdom. It was as a result of the bloodshed in a war with Kalinga that the great Maurya emperor Asoka converted to Buddhism (MAGHADA). Despite its defeat, Kalinga lasted at least to the 1st cent.BC, when Kharavela became the most powerful king in the region.

Asokan inscription refers to Buddhist texts.

Third council in Theravada tradition held in Pataliputra by Asoka. The pre-Theravadins (Sthaviravada or also Vibhajyavadins) expelled a group (Sarvastivada) that held that past and future states of awareness exist although the self does not exist. "The name Sarvastivada refers to the doctrine that everything exists...Matter has aspects, hence characteristics, and therefore is definable...What does not exist is an atman, pugdala, or any other kind of underlying self or person." (Britann) The dissidents were later important in China and Japan. Doctrine based on Abhidhamma Pitaka.

"Adherents of Theravada accept as authoritative the Pali Canon of ancient Indian Buddhism and trace their lineage back to the Sthaviravadas [in the 2nd council, considered historical]." (Britann)

At the height of Asoka's empire Buddhism spread to most of the subcontinent, where it co-existed with Hinduism. In Sri Lanka Buddhism became predominant. It is not posible to say to what extent Buddhism substituted Hinduism among the masses.

"According to [Theravadin chronicles], it was the elder Tissa Moggaliputta who sent out nine missions to `border areas'. This was in ca250 BC."

"During Ashoka's reign the Theravada school traveled to Sri Lanka where it divided into three subgroups known after their monastic centers as the Mahaviravasi, the Abhayagiriviharavasi, and the Jetavanaviharavasi." (Britann)

The diffusion of Buddhism was due in great part to Asoka, king of MAGHADA in the 3rd cent.BC. From northern India Buddhism first caught on in Sri Lanka, where Mahinda, Asoka's son, preached.

"It seems that...the commmunal religion of Sri Lanka consisted of a pantheon and a ritual and social system composed of elements which had arrived from southern India..." (Gom)

3rd-1st cents.

The decadence of Magadha set in after Ashoka, who died ca233. The outlying provinces probably separated. Division was characteristic of the Indian political tradition since Vedic times. Greek Bactria conquered the Indus River valley ca200. The last Maurya ruler, Bihadraha, was murdered ca185 by a general of his army, Pushyamitra Shunga, who founded his own dynasty. As there is notice of Pushyamitra, a Brahmin himself, celebrating once again the Vedic horse sacrifice, the overthrow of the Mauryas might have been at least in part a reaction against Buddhism.

The Buddhist tradition represented by the councils, which, whether historical or not, were accepted as having been convened, had started showing certain fissures within itself and not just schismatics that could be cast out. Probably towards the end of the 3rd century, the Vatsiputriyas believed in the enduring person, based on references by Buddha to "bundles" and to "who carries the bundle". From this period also, Sautrantika is considered a direct antecessor of Mahayana. There were other deviations from the tradition of the councils.
 
Clearly, there was a tendency in Buddhism during the last two centuries BCE for monks to engage in far-ranging speculations. These tendencies were being referred to by various names. One was Prajñaparamita or the perfection of wisdom. Another was Buddhavacana (revelation of the Buddha). A famous text from these times is the "Lotus Sutra".

These polemics and unsettled political conditions in India might have had to do with that it was in Sri Lanka during the 1st century BCE that the Pitakas were set down and thus the ancient Sthaviravada or Theravadin tradition received a concrete formulation. There are fragments and recensions from as early as the 2nd-century BCE which appear in the Pitakas but which also include texts not in the Pitakas. There are also variants on the Pali Canon, but on the whole there is no fundamental disagreement on what constitute its core texts. (The complete Pitakas were written down in Chinese later, as they were in Korea, where they are conserved in wooden tablets and constitute a symbol of nationhood.)

The appelation Theravada must have come into use, at least in Sri Lanka, to designate the tradition of the councils after the Mahayana Buddhist tradition had acquired definite contours. One of the crucial differences between Theravada and Mahayana concerns the concept of boddhisatva. It is intimately related to the nature of the Buddha himself. Being the central object of devotion of the religion he founded, Buddha, however mortal he might have been at one time, could not have simply perished after his earthly death. The Mahayana solution was to make him eternal through the doctrine of infinitely many Buddhas. Theravada orthodoxy could not elude this issue. In the Pali Canon the Buddha himself claimed that upon his enlightenment he had obtained the memory of his former births. Thus, what fundamentally both Theravada and Mahayana claim in different ways is the divinity of the Buddha. If they seem radically different from a historical perspective, it is perhaps because of the "accretions of time".

Vatsiputriyas believed in the enduring person (3rd CBC). Based on reference by Buddha to "bundles" and "who carries the bundle" (probably in the Sutta Pitaka, although against the denial of soul). Sammatiya derives from Vatsiputriyas.

2nd-1st cents.BC

Dharmaguptaka (2nd-1st cents.BC) added two pitakas to Buddhist canon which tended to stress the separation of Buddha and Bodhisattvas from ordinary life and even the sangha. Also defended cult of stupa and relics.

Mahayana scriptures are probably from around this time or perhaps earlier. They are sometimes referred to as the Prajñaparamita or the perfection of wisdom. The general name is Buddhavacana (revelation of the Buddha). These texts "announce that the world as it appears does not exist, that reality is the indefinable `thingness of things', that voidness is an absolute `without signs or characteristics'." (Britann) Another famous text is the Lotus Sutra.

2 CBC

"The merger of the Gandhara school of art and the Mathura school which included `archaic' Indian elements and became the center of Indo-Kushana art finally led to the rise of the Sarnath school of art. This school then set the pattern of the classic Gupta style." (KR)

"...Theravada has co-existed with other systems of action and thought derived both from Indian and local cultures...But at a very early stage, before it expanded outside India and largely indeed before it split into sects or developed doctrinal diversity, Buddhism culture did provide somewhat more material for creative artists to elaborate and pious Buddhists to adore than the personality and biography of Gotama Buddha. This material consisted of the Buddha's former births and a multiplicity of Buddhas.

       "The beginning of both these developments are in the Canon, even in what are believed to be its oldest parts. An element of the Buddha's enlightenment was that he remembered his former births--paradoxically infinite in number, as the world has no beginning. Stories of the Buddha's former births, called jatakas, became a major genre of Buddhist literature. Some originated among the Buddhists, others were adapted from Indian folk literature...In all of them whether he is man, animal, or deity, the hero is identified with the future Buddha. The term for `future Buddha' is bodhisatta, which in Sanskrit became bodhisattva...

       "Like the Buddha Gotama's former births, the series of former Buddhas must stretch back to infinity." (Gom) Maitreya Buddha or coming Buddha. (Messiah-sort)

The early situation of Buddhism must have been approximately that there were monasteries or at least groups of monks organized around monks who taught the others. The population at large was not totally Buddhist. Brahmanism was alive and well. But the sangha did have social influence. To do so against an eminently communitarian religion that accorded with URP Buddhism had to do a lot of accepting and elaborating, mainly gods and ritual and soteriology. These elements were either implicit in or derivable from the Suttas.

While these developments were taking place in Buddhism, post-Vedic religion was evolving towards Hinduism. This evolution, which would continue until the Guptas and the composition of the Puranas (4th-5th centuries CE), included: further changes in the Vedic pantheon, assimilation of other traditions and beliefs (including some of Dravidian and of animist origin), modification of rites, the introduction of devotionalism (istadevata), and further development of Hindu theosophy with significant Buddhist infusions. Since Vedism was virtually synonymous with Brahmanism, post-Vedic religion had to affect the status of Brahmins. It is not possible to state with precision to what extent the role of Brahmins was downgraded, although it can be safely assumed that they were not as influential under the Mauryas as before in the mahajanapadas.

Under the Shunga in Magadha there was a Brahmin reaction against Buddhism: "King Pushyamitra once again celebrated the Vedic horse sacrifice." (KR)

In Magadha, the last Shunga king was murdered in 73 BCE. Vasudeva founded the Kanvas dynasty, which was overturned in 28 BCE by the Satavahana of Central India. Long before that, Northern India had reverted to the politically fragmented conditions characteristic of the mahajanapada period before the rise to eminence of Magadha.

2nd CBC-2nd CAD

"Between these centuries there appeared new Buddhist scriptures that purported to represent the Buddha's most advanced and complete teaching. The communities for which these new Sanskrit texts were important called themselves followers of the Greater Vehicle (Mahayana) in contradistinction to followers of what they regarded as the Lesser Vehicle (Hinayana). Their ideal was the bodhisattva whose compassionate vow to save all sentient beings was contrasted with the aloof self-preocupation of the Theravada arhat." (Britann)

The first inscriptional evidence of southern state-formation refers to the Pandyas of Madurai in the 2nd century BCE. The Cheras of Kerala (Malabar coast) appear in the 1st century CE. At about the same time, the Cholas formed the first prominent Tamil state, with the capital in Uraiyur. Kharavela, king of Kalinga, attacked the Pandyas. The Chola king Karikala was active ca190 CE and defeated the Pandyas and the Cheras. Subsequently the Pandya strengthened and were at war with the Cheras and the Cholas, perhaps also with the Pallavas of Andhra Pradesh. These wars marginalized the Cheras who afterwards no longer figure significantly in the history of southern India. The Cholas faded into the background for some centuries.

Recension of Ramayana: "In all but its oldest form the Ramayana identifies Rama with Vishnu..." (Britann)

1st CBC

"During this time, as a reaction to the threat posed by the south Indians, Buddhism and Sri Lankan political formations became closely intertwined. Again, it was probably because of this danger that the Pali Canon was first written down under king Vattagamani Abhava...This king also built the Abhavagiri monastery, the main centre of the various Mahayana movements in Sri Lanka." (Gom)

Pali Canon (1st CBC)

Vinaya Pitaka (Sangha)

Sutta Pitaka (five Nikayas about Buddha)

The fifth Nikaya contains the Jakatas

Abhidhamma Pittaka (doctrine)

The patimokkha (in Sanskrit pratimoksa) is not a separate part of the Canon, but it is "embedded" in the Vinaya Pittaka. Hence, it is part of the Pali Canon albeit formalized as a separate work.

1st CAD

Fourth Council in Kashmir in the Sarvastivada tradition convoked by the Kushana king Kanishka. Possibly formulation of Bodhisattva doctrine. (Tapar) "This council seems to have been limited to the composition of commentaries. Because it appears that only the Sarvastivadin viewpoint was represented...never been recognized by southern Buddhists." (Britann)

1st cent.AD

Han dynasty in China.

India-China trade (silk, porcelain, tea, camphor, and aloe from China; precious stones, gold, pearls, rhinoceros horns, tortoise shell, aromatics, and spices to China) was instrumental in the spread of both Hinduism and Buddhism to southeastern Asia. It was carried on significantly by malay traders.

"The Mahavihara form of the Theravada tradition became dominant in Sri Lanka about the beginning of the first mil.AD..." (Britann)

1st-4th cents.

"In the first centuries AD Buddhism was especially flourishing in NW India and from there it spread to C Asia and China." (Britann)

"The Vedic Brahmins had been pushed into the background by the course of historical development although Hinduism as such did not experience a decline. On the contrary, new popular cults arose around gods like Shiva, Krishna, and Vish-Vasudeva who had played only a marginal role in an earlier age. The competition between Buddhism, which dominated the royal courts and cities, and orthodox Brahminism, which was still represented by numerous Brahmin families everywhere, left enough scope for these new cults to gain footholds of their own." (KR)

Rudra called Shiva in one of the Upanishads. "In the Svetashvatara Upanishad, Rudra is for the first time called Shiva and is described as the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe." (Britann)

1st-10th cents.

Spread of Indian cultural and religious influence in SE Asia

What we know about SE Asia comes from Chinese chronicles, archaeology, and inscriptions, and mostly from likely inferences from this patchy evidence.

Inscriptions are of paramount importance for the history of the Indianized kingdoms of SE Asia. The tradition of inscriptions originates in Sumer. It was transmitted to Greece and Persia. It was adopted enthusiastically by Asoka.

What was there before? Languages and animist religions, much like most of India outside of the Aryanized north.

In lieu of precise historiographies we can rely on historical metaphors:

(a) the Bay of Bengal, the Straits of Malacca, the Gulf of Thailand, the Sunda Shelf, the Java Sea, and the South China sea are comparable to the Mediterranean;

(b) the Indianization of SE Asia can be compared to the Christianization of eastern Europe or America;

(c) all over SE Asia mostly isolated events or presumed events, like pulses from a distant galaxy suggesting a world not unlike ours.

"In one area of life Brahmins seem to have been indispensable: the court. There was no Buddhist form of coronation...Kings in Ceylon and throughout continental southeast Asia depended on Brahmins for their royal rituals--presumably they brought them from India." (Gom)

Eventually Indian culture became the common denominator for SE Asia. India and Sanskrit filled the same roles in SE Asia as Rome and Latin in the Mediterranean and Western Europe.

The Indian scripts filled a need of the pre-literate cultures of SE Asia. It wasn't so much the Brahmins as such as the knowledge they had, which wasn't exclusive to Brahmins either.

But it is next to impossible to abstract Indian religions from the formation of the ancient kingdoms of Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Champa. But it can hardly be described as an imposition. It is likely that Indian cultural influences travelled east on the back of trade relations.

Indian religions mostly travelled together. One of the crucial differences between Buddhism and Hinduism was that Hinduism was caste-based whereas Buddhism did not accept castes. However, the Brahmins did not impose in SE Asia the full-blown or fully-developed caste system of India proper. This in turn meant that eventually the Brahmin hold on SE Asia was not as strong as it was in India.

"In the cultures of continental southeast Asia to which Theravada Buddhism...migrated...observers tell us of `spirit cults'...nat cults in Burma, phii cults in Thailand--but these seem...only to be part of a communal religion which has not been classified as a single system." (Gom)

Buddhism was proselitizing, but Hinduism, with its caste-based organization, was hardly adapted to conversions. Self-evidently, then, Hinduism was sought out or it was imposed. Imposition by an enterprising minority is the Coedes thesis. Van Leur defended the view that Hinduism was co-opted by the peoples of SE Asia. Of course, Coedes view is somewhat more subtle: Indians married into ruling houses. This could facilitate the introduction of castes and the inductions of whole groups into castes. Induction is a known Hindu rite. But if this is so, conversion cannot be precluded, but conversion not as the result of preaching but of the acceptance of Hindu rites. Hinduism then filled a void in the sense in which, e.g., Islam easily displaced animism in many parts of Africa.

"Why did Buddhism spread so successfully?...When it reached the peasant societies of south and SE Asia (not only in its Theravada form), it countered no rival ideology but filled an intellectual and religious gap, for those societies had no soteriology and no literate culture of their own. Many centuries later, it was challenged in some of those societies by new soteriologies, first Hindu devotionalism and then Islam. In its struggles with them (in arenas such as Indonesia and central Asia) whether the king continued to support the Sangha must have been crucial in determining the outcome." (Gom)

How did native Indianized dynasties arise? Were they native? The evidence is that they were. This can be read in different ways, however. It might have been an Indian ruler or a mixed Indian-Bormean dynasty wanting to legitimize its rule for the locals.

KR makes it seem as if the local rulers deliberated and came up with the idea that they needed Brahmins to give their courts prestige. It was probably more like a spontaneous process in which the local cultures gained prestige by associating with cultivated Indians, in the way in which the Persian satrapies of Asia Minor were Hellenized.

In no scenario is trade dispensable. And it had to be a lot of trade for Brahmins to be travelling and settling outside of India. Then why not? Brahmins inter-married with local ruling classes. SE Asia was mare nostrum.

The filling a vacuum thesis can be reinforced with a contract with China, which did not export religion because it did not have a religion to export.

China had political might which was acknowledged or resisted. But China did not convert. However, it did export Mahayana to Vietnam.

"The innumerable statues of Siva, Vishnu, Harihara, Lakshmi, Parvati, and Bodhisattvas...are portraits of kings and magnates while their names...show a fusion of their titles and names of gods...The practice was widespread throughout SE Asia. It is found in Champa and was important in Java and Bali. It exhibits a blending of the cult of ancestor-worship with Hindu and Buddhist ideas..." (Hall)

2nd cent.

There was a Brahminical kingdom in south Vietnam extending to Cambodia. Buddhism was practiced. It was called Funan. Sailing across Funan.

Vietnam was also known as Dai Viet. It was under Chinese rule from 111 BC to 939 AD, when it became independent after the fall of the T'ANG (TANG) dynasty.

Sanskrit seals were found in Oc Eo (Funan).

Decline of Han, gives rise to Lin-yi (later Champa) north of Hue including Danang province of Quang Nam (192) cap Simhapura.

Sanskrit seals were found in Perak (Malaya). The Chinese report petty Indian kingdoms in Malaya. South Indian Brahmans in Malay harbour states.

Theories about origins of Indian influence: "...the earliest archaeological evidence for an Indian writing system in Burma is not earlier than the 2nd CAD and for Pali not older than the 4th CAD." (Gom)

Hall says that there is no archaeological evidence in the Menam and Irrawaddy before the middle of the 6th cent. and no references in Chinese sources.

2nd-3rd cents.

The Indian philosopher Nagarjuna (ca.150-ca.250 AD) based his thought on non-canonical Buddhist texts the most famous of which is the Prajñaparamita. At this time and after there were to be other texts of this sort. It appears that there were underlying beliefs and trends. The divinization and multiplicity of Buddha. The bodhisattva concept or ideal. The multiplicity of Buddha and the bodhisattva ideal are apposite to the infinity of time and diversity of revelation. Nagarjuna was very influential, a cornerstone figure in Mahayana, but Mahayana as a whole was a Buddhist tendency of belief that produced different schools which were philosophical in basic and complex and often obscure ways. Nagarjuna's philosophy is called the Madhyamika or middle path. The basic concept he propounds is shunyata or emptiness. "This led to the Madhyadamika identification of nirvana and samsara. Both are empty concepts with the truth lying beyond...Most of his polemics were directed against the explanations of existence offered by the Buddhist schools of Sthaviravada and Sarvastivada." (Britann)

2nd-4th centuries

China: Han, Three Kingdoms

India: The greatest Kushana king was Kanishka (ca100), under whose rule the empire embraced a vast territory from the upper Oxus (Amudarya) River to Varanasi (Benares). The Satavahana kingdom broke into different minor dynasties ca250. The Guptas, possibly originary of Magadha, formed a large and powerful empire in northern India (320-540). In Central India, the successors of the Satavahana came under the dominion of the Vakatakas, who formed an alliance through marriage with the Guptas. The Kushana base in Bactria dissolved under attack from the Ephthalites. The Guptas were assailed by the Ephthalites, known to the Indians as Huna (ca450), who, under a king called Toramana, acquired political organization (ca500). The Guptas held the Huna to the Punjab and Kashmir. These Huna eventually engendered the warrior aristocracy known collectively

Trade might have increased in the 3rd cent.: "...when India's trade with Rome declined in the 3rd-4th cents. India and esp. south India turned to south east Asia..." (KR)

"South Indian devotionalism produced many works in Sanskrit; the most important was the Bhagavata-Purana...[which] teaches a representative Vaishnava theology: God is transcendent...beyond understanding...universal causality...etc...thus he is all and everything and the inner self of all beings. When god is conceived as brahman he is immutable and therefore must be the purusa (cosmic person) who is not the universe..." (Britann)

The Mahayana Vijñanavada school used other non-canonical, one is tempted to call them mystical, sources. Its influence spread to Central Asia and China. In the case of Vijñanavada the source texts were possibly central Asian. "The special characteristics of Vijñanavada are its emphasis on meditation and a broadly psychological analysis. This contrasts with the other great Mahayana system, Madhyamika, where the emphasis is on logical analysis and dialectic." (Britann)

"The Yogacara or Vijañavada school is traditionally ascribed to the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu to whom may be added Sthiramati (6th cent.). These writers were systematizers of doctrines already being taught and contained in such literature as the Lankavatara-sutra and the Mahayana-shraddhotpada-shastra (attributed to Ashvaghosa but probably written in C Asia or in China). Yogacara explored and propounded basic doctrines that were to be fundamental in the future development of Mahayana and that influenced the rise of Tantric Buddhism...Its central doctrine is that only consciousness (vijñanamatra) is real, that thought or mind is the ultimate reality." (Britann)

Buddhism and Hinduism overlap and blend in Tantrism. Tantrism is in the Tantras. Tantric Buddhism is associated with yogasexual practices and the experience of death in its most offensive forms eg carrion. In Hinduism it is associated with the worship of the goddess. Consequently it is a form of Shaktism, in which the power of the god is revealed and represented in his consort (Shiva through Durga; Vishnu through Lakshmi). Certain Buddhist eg the mandala are not as common in Hinduism. But the use of mantras and bodily exercises appear to be shared.

There is a way to explain the Hindu/Buddhist convergence here. In both Hinduism and Buddhism escape is sought from samsara, called moksa in Hinduism, nirvana in Buddhism. It was Buddhism that first developed the doctrine that all is a void. But in the void it is not possible to distinguish between samsara and nirvana between spirit and flesh and this leads directly to Tantrism, in which the distinctions are confounded without renouncing enlightenment. This blending of opposites can be achieved in Hinduism through behaviour contrary to dharma, which is manifest in unorthodox sexual and sacrificial practices and in the experience of physical corruption.

"Surviving Hindu tantras were written much later than many of those of Tantric Buddhism and it may be that that the Hindus derived much from the Buddhists in this respect. Although there is evidence of Shaktism in other parts of India, the chief centers of both were modern Bengal, Bihar, and Assam." (Britann)

There are of course purely yogic and contemplative forms of tantrism. The Tibetans are tantrists, but I don't think they go in for yoga-sex, although they do expose their corpses to the animals.

"Contrary to the ascetic emancipation methods of other groups the Tantrists emphasize the activation and sublimation of the possibilities of their own body...Tantrists describe states of consciousness with erotic terminology and describe physiological processes with cosmological terminology...Tantrism though not always in its full esoteric form is a feature of much modern mystical thought...the consciousness moves--driven by repetition of the mantra and by other disciplines--from gross awareness of the material world to realization of the ultimate unity. The image is of a serpent coiled and dormant awakened and driven upward in the body through various stages of enlightentment until it reaches the brain, the highest awareness." (Britann)

"Vajrayana (diamond vehicle) or Mantrayana (path of the sacred formulas) also known as Tantric Buddhism first gained prominence in various parts of India and Sri Lanka. Scholars infer that because of its esoteric nature this school might have been developing quietly from the 2nd or 4th cents. when Buddhist tradition associates Nagarjuna or Asanga with its origins. Although a modified version of Vajrayana apparently without sexoyogic practices spread to China and then to Japan where it became known as Shingon most scholars associate the Vajrayana tradition primarily with India and Tibet." (Britann)

6th-11th cents.

"Vajrayana coincided with the spread of the mentalistic schools of Buddhism and flourished in these cents." (britann)

Sex and death are overwhelming. Tantra is characterized by its sexo-religious practices and with its obsession with corpses. There is no subtle way to get around them and the most direct access possible is the doctrine of the void and of the sameness of contraries (nirvana and samsara; the spiritual and the physical), which in itself is outrageous.

"Enlightenment arises when these seeming opposites are realized to be one. This realization which is known experientially and not through a purely cognitive process is portrayed in some type of Vajrayana imagery and practice as the union of the passive female deity and the dynamic male...it is not a satisfaction of physical impulses but a symbol of the unity of opposites that brings great bliss or enlightenment." (Britann)

This might be a case of the believer being carried away by the metaphor!

"In the Kalacakra Tantra it is written that the Buddha taught that in this age of degeneration enlightenment must be achieved through one's own body which contains the whole cosmos. This doctrine is taught in all the tantras...[This goal] is achieved with the help of mudras (meditative gestures and postures), mantras (sacred syllables and phrases), and icons...portrayed in a mandala, which represents the universe as an aid to meditation." (Britann)

3rd-6th cents.

After 200 AD, Mahayana reached central Asia and China. It is known in Korea after 400 AD, from where in the 6th cent. it spread to Japan, which also received Chinese Buddhist influence. The essence of Buddhism is the sangha, or monastic life. No matter how otherwordly, monasteries tend to accumulate land and to have political influence. The monasteries were suppressed in T'ANG (TANG) China in the 9th cent. and in Japan in the 16th cent. But Buddhism flourished in Tibet, Sri Lanka, and south east Asia.

3rd cent.

Sanskrit inscriptions found in Funan. Coedes believes they are Theravada. And there is also speculation about a Funan-Gupta connection through the Murundas (lower Ganges valley).

Chinese remit Kaudinya foundation myth about Funan. Kaudinya was a Brahmin. The tradition is known among the Pallavas. It is also mentioned in a Shiva temple in My Son (Champa) ca.400.

A Brahmin colony is reported in Kra. There were also Parsis and Hall suggests a connection between the Persian Kambojas and Kambuja (Funan).

Champa raids on Tonkin (3rd-4th cents.).

3rd-12th centuries (Champa)

There was another Indian kingdom in central Vietnam. It was called Champa
and eventually comprised:

(a) Amaravati [Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Tien (Hue), and Quang Nam (Danang)]: Quang Nam was the heart of Amaravati;

(b) Vijaya (Binh Dinh capital Qui Nhom; Phu Yen capital Tuy Hoa);

(c) Kauthara (Khanh Hoa capital Nha Trang): Po Nagar Towers;

(d) Panduranga (Ninh Thuan capital Phan Rang): Po Klong Garai and Po Ro Me Cham.

The capitals of Champa were:

(a) a capital in Amaravati near Hue in the 5th cent. (Hall);

(b) Virapura in Panduranga (near Phan Rang) to the 9th cent.;

(c) Indrapura in Amaravati (south of Danang in Quang Nam) in the 9th-10th cents.; (My Son);

(d) Vijaya in 10th cent.;

(e) Indrapura again in 10th cent.;

(f) Vijaya again 11th cent.;

(g) Panduranga (near Phan Rang) in the 12th cent.;

(h) Vijaya again the 12th cent.;

(i) finally in Kauthara.

Satyasiddhi derive from the above and was developed by Harivarman (3rd-4th cents.). A branch of Sarvastivada (see above) called Mula-Sarvastivada was widely diffused in India, C Asia, Myanmar, Thailand, Kampuchea, and Indonesia. (Britann) This is what Coedes calls Theravada that used Sanskrit. But since Theravada is Pali and there is no central authority to define Mahayana orthodoxy and finally Theravada displaced Sarvastivada, Mulasarvastivada cannot be considered Theravada, just Buddhism.

4th cent.

China: Three Kingdoms, Period of disunity

The Cholas faded into the background for some centuries. The obscure dynasty of the Kalabhras gained ascendancy over the southern states in the 4th century. The Kalabhras might have been Buddhists. They are described as "evil" because of their suppression of Brahmins. It is speculated that the Pallavas, whose capital was Kanchipuram, were Mahayana Buddhists, or alternatively that they were Hindus but extended patronage to Buddhism.

"The influence of Tamil Nadu was very strong as far as the earliest inscriptions in SE Asia are concerned showing as they do the influence of the Pallava script. The oldest Buddhist sculpture in SE Asia--the famous Buddha of Celebes--shows the marks of the sculptures of Amaravati of the 3rd to the 5th cents." (KR)

It seems likely that an intensification of Indian influence in SE Asia took place during the 4th cent. and that this influence was mixed Hindu/Buddhist.

There is evidence of increased Chinese trade with Indonesia and incipient Indianized political formations.

First Sanskrit inscriptions in Malaya (4th cent.). Buddha and Buddhist Sanskrit verses found in Kedah. NW Malaya might have actually been an outright Indian kingdom. Why it did not prosper might be because the Mon-Khmer hinterland was impervious to conquest though not to influence. This is speculative but Kra and Malaya might have been "conveyor belts".

Lembah Bujang Hindu/Buddhist temples in north western Malaya (Kedah state): "Finds in Lembah Bujang show that it was the cradle of Hindu-Buddhist civilisation on the peninsula and one of the first places to come into contact with Indian traders." (LP)

Amaravati Buddha found in Sumatra.

Singhalese Amaravati Buddha found in Celebes. Also, a Singhalese style Buddha in E. Java.

According to Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien Buddhism was much decayed in Java.

Gupta Buddha found in Khorat (Thailand).

Gupta Buddha found in Borneo.

"The earliest material evidence of Hinduism in SE Asia comes from Borneo where late-4th CAD Sanskrit inscriptions testify to the performance of Vedic sacrifices by Brahmans at the behest of local chiefs." (Britann)

Gupta Buddha found in Champa, as well as first Cham (Malay) inscription.

Coedes is of the opinion that Champa had a Sanskrit-using Buddhist ruler. This is speculation on Chinese sources.

"Bhadravarman...whoever...founded the first sanctuary to be built in the My Son area and dedicated to Siva-Bhadresvara. Such linking of a royal founder's name with that of Siva became a custom later in Shaivite SE Asia. One of Bhadravarman's inscriptions...contains the oldest extant text in any Indonesian language. It enjoins respect for the `king's naga' which seems to be a divinity guarding a water-spring...the god Siva-Bhadresvara was represented by a linga, the earliest example in SE Asia." (Hall)

"My Son in Quang Nam province (Vietnam) became a religious centre under king Bhadravarman in the 4th cent. The site was occupied until the 13th cent..." (LP) All temples were dedicated to Shiva.

Sanskrit inscriptions and Brahminical rites in W. Java.

Evidence of Pali in Myanmar. Some evidence for Arakan kingdom called Vaisali near Mrohaung.

4th-5th cents.

The Guptas, possibly originary of Magadha, formed a large and powerful empire in northern India (320-540). In Central India, the successors of the Satavahana came under the dominion of the Vakatakas, who formed an alliance through marriage with the Guptas. The Kushana base in Bactria dissolved under attack from the Ephthalites. The Guptas were assailed by the Ephthalites, known to the Indians as Huna (ca450), who, under a king called Toramana, acquired political organization (ca500). The Guptas held the Huna to the Punjab and Kashmir. These Huna eventually engendered the warrior aristocracy known collectively as Rajputs. The downfall of the Gupta empire gave way to different dynasties in Gujarat, Bengal, Nepal, Kamarupa (modern Assam), and Orissa.

"The influence of Gupta style made itself felt from the 5th cent. with the classical Buddha image of Sarnath which influenced Burma and Thailand and Funan." (KR)

Shavaite Hinduism was the principal cult associated with early states. Fusion of nature cults and shaivism. Brahmins and divine concept of kingship.

The worship of Harihara, or Siva and Vishnu united in a single body, is said to have first appeared on the rocks of Badami and Mahavellipur in the Pallava country some time before 450 BC. (Hall)

There were proto-states with varying degrees of organization and stability in Thailand and Burma. The Mons, related to the Cambodians, were dominant. Dvaravati is the first recognizable Mon entity. Dvaravati was established in Lop Buri (Lavo) and Ligor (Thailand) and Thaton (Myanmar). (Hall)

The Pallavas gain ascendancy over the Kalabhras in the 5th cent. Yet there are indications before this of Pallava influence in SE Asia. "...there is a legend that the first Pallava was a stranger who married a native Naga princess. The Nagas are a symbol of fertility and power..." (KR)

Chinese remit Kaudinya foundation myth about Funan. Kaudinya was a Brahmin. The tradition is known among the Pallavas.

Funan appears to have been organized enough to make war as far as Myanmar.

Cambodia: "A passage of the History of the Liang cited earlier speaks of images with two faces and four arms, which must have been of Harihara."

Indonesia

"The Chinese assert that Fan Shih-man died while warring...in either Lower Myanmar or Malaya. Coedes is of the opinion that he is the king referred to as Sri Mara in a Sanskrit inscription of Vo-canh in the region of Nha Trang [that would be Kauthara]...The inscription shows that he was a patron of Buddhism and used Sanskrit...Finot thinks he was a vassal of Funan." (Hall)

By the 5th cent. there were Indianized kingdoms with dynastic lines in Champa and Cambodia. This is not clear in the case of Champa but there is strong evidence of continuity.

Sanskrit Shiva inscription in Borneo.

According to Coedes Indian influence spread by marriage. According to KR it spread during formation of states from tribes: "It was at this point that chieftains and clan heads required Brahmin assistance...A good example of this kind of development is provided by the earliest Sanskrit inscription found in Indonesia (it was recorded in E Borneo around AD 400). Several inscriptions mention a ruler Kundunga, not Sanskrit...His son assumed a Sanskrit name, Ashvavarman, and founded a dynasty (vamsha). His grandson, Mulavarman, the author of the inscriptions, celebrated great sacrifices and gave valuable presents to the Brahmins."

Possible early formation of Sri Vijaya: "As for Ho-lo-tan, the question is complicated by the fact that the king who promoted the embassy of 434 bore the name Shih-li-p'i-ch'o-yeh, which transcribes perfectly into Srivijaya. Since it is customary usage in this region for kings to lend their names to their kingdoms, one wonders if the name of this king was the origin of the name of [Sri Vijaya in the 7th cent. in Sumatra]." (Coedes)

Tribute to China from Kan-t'o-li in Sumatra

"An analysis of Chinese sources for 5th, 6th, and 7th cents. indicates that Kan-t'o-li was on same coast as Sri Vijaya later...thus possibly predecessor of Sri Vijaya." (Hall)

According to local legend, the Theravada 5th cent. sage Buddhagosa, who was active in Sri Lanka, was born and died in Thaton.

Buddhist Sanskrit text found in Malaya.

Sanskrit inscriptions in Shiva temple found in My Son (Champa). One of the inscriptions alludes to Kaudinya myth. Also first royal linga.

Inscription near Jakarta by Brahmanical king Purnavarman of Taruma

Gupta style ruins exist in Thailand. The Mon Dvaravati region was Buddhist.

4th-6th cents.

Rise of the Guptas in N.India (to 6th cent.). Hinduism and Buddhism flourished side by side under the Guptas. First temples and Gupta style. However, the Brahmins were still the dominant social force.

"By the time of the early Gupta empire the new theism had been harmonized with the old Vedic religion and two of the main branches were fully recognized [the Vaishnavas and Shaivites]." (Britann) Vishnu's Krishna avatar was worshipped. Goddesses had also entered the Hindu pantheon. "But the cult of Durga, the consort of Shiva, was only beginning to gain importance in the 4th cent. and the large-scale development of Shaktism (devotion to the active, creative principle personified as the Mother Goddess) did not take place until medieval times." (Britann)

Kalabhras appear in S. India. The Kalabhras might have been Buddhists. They are described as "bad" because of their suppression of Brahmins. The Pallavas were in the horizon if not actually vying with the Kalabhras. According to Wheatley the Pallavas were Mahayana.

Puranas: "...voluminous texts that treat in encyclopedic manner the myths, legends, and genealogies of gods, heroes, and saints...At first sight the discontinuity between Vedic and Puranic mythology appears to be so sharp...Yet it soon becomes clear that they are in part continuous and that there is merely a difference between the liturgical emphasis of the Vedas and the more eclectic genres of the epics and Puranas...[eg Indra survives as the rain god]...The two principal gods of Puranic Hinduism are Vishnu and Rudra-Shiva. Both are known in the Vedas but they play minor roles...Vishnu assumes the powers of those gods who protect the world and its order, Shiva the power that are outside and beyond Vishnu's. To these two is often added Brahma, creator of the world and teacher of the gods." (Britann)

"In the Vedas Vishnu is the strider who established the three world (heaven artmosphere earth)...Rudra-Shiva is a mysterious god...In the Puranas Vishnu assumes the powers of the gods who protect the world and its order, Shiva the powers that are outside and byond Vishnu's. To these is often added Brahman, creator of the world and teacher of the gods...In the Puranic literature of 500-1000 sectarianism creeps into mythology..." (Britann)

"In the Puranas there are seven layers in heaven at the summit of which is the world of Brahma and there are also seven layers below Earth the location of hells inhabited by serpents and demons." (Britann)

Time is eternal in the Vedas. In the Puranas there is periodization in eternity which still goes on.

"Although the Vedas do not seem to conceive of an end to the world Puranic cosmogony accounts for the periodic destruction of the world as the close of an eon when the fire of time will put an end to the universe. Elsewhere the destruction is specifically attributed to the god Shiva, who dances the tandava of doomsday...Yet this end is not an absolute end but a temporary suspension after which creation begins again in the same fashion." (Britann)

Bhagavadgita + Puranas = Hinduism. But the formation is earlier than the Puranas.

5th cent.

China: Period of disunity (after Han)
Northern Wei and introduction of Buddhism

During the 5th century, the overthrow of the Kalabhras was initiated by the Chalukyas of central India and completed by the Pallavas by the 6th century. Later in the same century, the Pallavas and the Pandyas were frequently at war. In the 7th century, there was an indecisive confrontation between king Pulakeshin of the Chalukyas and king Mahendravarman of the Pallavas. The latter had a respectable naval power, which led to hostilities with Sri Lanka.

"The [Theravada] commentaries that have reached us are all in Pali, and most of them were composed in the early 5th cent. in Anuradhapura [Sri Lanka] by Buddhagosa, who according to [the main] tradition was born a Brahmin in India." (Gom)

Buddhism existed in India as the Sangha. Perhaps the states favoured it to counter the Brahmins. However, in India there were not many converts. Conversion was widespread where Buddhism spread to animist areas, such as China and Japan. By animism we refer to the popular beliefs. As to Buddhism itself it was just Buddhism ie the shared beliefs.

5th-6th centuries

"The artistic remains of Dvaravati are unmatched by anything produced in mainland SE Asia as early as the 5th-6th cents. Its influence as the earliest radiating center of Hinayana or Pali Buddhism and its art indicate a great cultural importance..."

Dvaravati: area occupied by Theravada Mon-Khmer people in Thailand. Their scant remains in Kanchanaburi and Lopburi evince elements of Theravada, Mahayana, and Hinduism. However, there are no architectural remains from Dvaravati.

According to Coedes Funan had extended to Malaya. Brahmins were playing a dominant role there. Existence of Sanskrit inscriptions referring to Vishnu and to Shiva. According to Coedes, Theravada Buddhism also flourished then and until the 6th cent.

"...The existence of Vishnuite cults is clear from the inscriptions of Gunavarman and his mother. Finally, the Theravada Buddhism that used Sanskrit, of which we have evidence from the 3rd cent., was flourishing in the 5th and 6th cents., during the reigns of Jayavarman and Rudravarman." (Coedes)

"According to a Cambodian dynastic legend preserved in an inscription of the 10th cent., the origin of the kings of Cambodia goes back to the union of the hermit Kambu Svayambhuva, eponymic ancestor of the Kambujas, with the celestial nymph Mara, who was given to him by Siva...[This myth, different from that of Kaudinya resembles one of the Pallavas of Kanchi...From this couple came Srutavarman and Sreshthaverman]...The latter gave his name to the city Sreshthapura...This city may have been founded [in Bassac] as a consequence of the taking over of the country from the Chams at the end of the 5th cent. or beginning of the 6th cent." (Coedes)

A period of Chinese domination begins in the 5th cent. which ends in the 6th cent. possibly because of Chinese disunion.

5th-11th cents.

"The history of Hinduism in the 2nd half of the 1st mil. was influenced by two tendencies which seemed to contradict each other but whose synthesis actually led to the emergence of the kind of Hinduism which exists today. On the one hand this period witnessed the rise of the great philosophical systems which were formulated in constant debates with Buddhists and Jains in what has been called a Brahmin `counter-reformation'; on the other hand the same period produced the great popular movemetns of the Bakhti cults which often explicitly rejected philosophy and Brahmin orthodoxy and were aimed at salvation by pure devotion to a personal god. There were six classical philosophical systems of which the Karma Mimansa, which addressed the theory of right conduct and the performance of sacrifices, and classical Sankhya, which postulated dualism, were of particular significance. But the most influential was Vedanta [whose greatest exponent was Shankara, very influential in the 19th and 20th cents.]." (KR)

6th cent.

As we saw, it is possible to differentiate western from eastern SE Asia on the basis of predominant religious influences. In the east Hinduism did not preclude Buddhism. What was the process in the west like? They are in constant touch with cultural developments in India and those in Nanyang have diplomatic relations with China. The tendency is for Hinduism to prevail in eastern SE Asia and Buddhism to be more influential in western SE Asia. And in Hinduism Shiva tends to overshadow Vishnu. The Indian precedent of istadevata.

China: Period of disunity, Sui, Tang

Dhyana Buddhism in Vietnam (Hall)

In the 6th cent. according to other Chinese sources, Sanskrit Buddhism was alive and well in Funan as well as the syncretic cult of Harihara. (Coedes)

Vishnu cult in Si Thep (Thailand), then part of Funan.

Coedes argues that the Sailendra were not originally from Srivijaya and that they attacked Vietnam from Funan, which was their home.

In the 6th cent. Cambodia divides: the story of Gunavarman and the brothers Bhavavarman and Chitrasena. The Lord of the Mountain and possible origin of Sailendras.

Rudravarman 514 killed Gunavarman. Brothers Bhavavarman and Chitrasena from middle Mekong 550 overthrow Funan.

"The kings of pre-Angkor Cambodia [Chenla]...adopted [Funan's Kundinya] dynastic legend; those who reigned at Angkor strove to relate their origin to the Adhirajas, or supreme kings, of Vyadhapura; and the Javanese sovereigns of the 8th cent. revived the title Sailendra, king of the mountain." (Coedes)

The change from Funan to Chenla might have had to do with "an antagonism between the Buddhism of Rudravarman and the Sivaism of Bhavavarman...The Chinese pilgrim I-Ching, who wrote at the end of the 7th cent., said indeed that formerly in Funan `the law of the Buddha prospered and spread, but today a wicked king has completely destroyed it and there are no more monks'...if we consider that the epigraphy of the conquerors of Funan...is exclusively Shivaite we are tempted to identify Bhavavarman or Chitrasena with the `wicked king'." (Coedes)

"The inscriptions indicate that Buddhism no longer held a favoured position as it had done under Funan...the linga cult of Siva was the essence of the court religion. The principal Saivite and Vaisnavite sects found in India are mentioned. The worship of Harihara, or Siva and Vishnu united in a single body, which is said to have first appeared on the rocks of Badami and Mahavellipur in the Pallava country some time before 450 BC was a marked feature of the period." (Hall)

In the 6th cent. according to other Chinese sources, Sanskrit Buddhism was alive and well in Funan as well as the syncretic cult of Harihara. (Coedes)

In the 6th cent. Cambodia divides: the story of Gunavarman and the brothers Bhavavarman and Chitrasena. The Lord of the Mountain and possible origin of Sailendras.

Rudravarman 514 killed Gunavarman. Brothers Bhavavarman and Chitrasena from middle Mekong 550 overthrow Funan. The 7th cent. century Chenla emerges in Chinese chronicles.

What we have so far is the Mon in Thaton and Lop Buri. Mon inscriptions in Thailand and Myanmar (6th cent.). They resemble Pallava script. Mon control of Irrawaddy and E Thailand.

Fragments of the Pali Canon found in Prome, settled by Pyu (6th cent.). The Pyu were a sort of advanced guard of the Burmese. Use of Sanskrit and stupas in Prome, inhabited by Pyu related to Burmans. The stupas are of Orissa origin (Coed).

The Mons were vassals of the Pyu. Center of Mon in Thaton down to Tavoy, with possible Orissa influence, because Burmese name for Mon was Talaing, derived from Telingana. But Telingana is in Andhra Pradesh, although then it was probably part of Orissa.
Another version is that Talaing indicates Pallava source.

The Pyu in Prome were Theravada (fragments of Pali Canon found ca.500).

6th-7th centuries

Bhavavarman was reigning in 598 when he inaugurated a linga. Chitrasena succeeded him ca.600 and took the regnal name of Mahendravarman. "He celebrated his conquests by establishing lingas dedicated to `Girisa', the `lord of the mountain'." (Hall) Girisa is the equivalent of Shiva (Coedes).

Basically the fulcrum of power moves inland and west.

6th-8th cents.

"Kanchipuram flourished as the royal capital of the Pallavas and though they were Hindus they also extended their patronage to the Buddhists. The Chinese monk Xuanzang who visited the Pallava kingdom in the reign of Narasimvaharman I (ca.680-720) reported that there are about 100 monasteries with 10,000 monks all studying Mahayana Buddhism." (KR)

7th cent.

China: Tang

In 606, Harsha formed a kingdom centered in Kanauj (on the Ganges River between Delhi and Varanasi). Harsha tried but could not subdue the successor states of the Huna and in his attempt to conquer the Deccan he was defeated by the powerful Chalukya king Pulakeshin. After Harsha's death in 647, Kanauj survived as a kingdom but his empire came apart.

The Vakataka dynasty was predominant in central India, at least in the early 5th century allied to the Guptas. In the 6th century, the Chalukyas, who existed since the previous century and had been active in Southern India, overthrew the Vakataka. Their greatest king, Pulakeshin (Pulakesin), contained an invasion from Harsha's Kingdom (Kanauj) in the 7th century. Pulakeshin was also in constant warfare with the Pallavas of southern India. There were three branches of the Chalukyas: in Gujarat, in Maharashtra, and in northern Andrha (southern Madhya Pradesh). The Chalukyas of Gujarat confined Arab invasion to Sind, today southern Pakistan (8th century). There existed branches of the Ganga dynasty in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa.

"By the 7th CAD stone temples, some of considerable dimensions were found in the Aryanized parts of [India]. Originally, the design of the Hindu temple may have borrowed from the Buddhist precedent for in some of the oldest temples the image was placed in the center of the shrine, which was surrounded by an ambulatory path resembling the path around the Buddhist stupa...Nearly all surviving Gupta temples are small; they consist of a cella (central chamber), constructed of thick and solid masonry, with a veranda either at the entrance or on all sides of the building. The earliest Gupta temples, such as the Buddhist temples at Sanchi, have flat roofs; however, the sikhara (spire), typical of the north Indian temple, was developed in this period and with time steadily was made taller. The massive and tall tower of the Buddhist temple of Buddh Gaya, which was in existence in the 7th cent., represents the culmination of Gupta temple architecture." (Britann)

The Advaita or monist school began in the 7th cent. with Gauapada who imbibed the Buddhist philosophy of Shunyavada (emptiness). There is no duality: "the mind moves through maya...There is ultimately no individual self or soul, only the atman or all-soul in which an individual may be temporarily delineated just as the space in a jar delineates a part of main space...Shankara built on Gauapada...Human perception of the unitary and infinite Brahman as the plural and finite is due to the superimposition by which a thou is ascribed to the I [awareness actually]...The habit from ignorance can be avoiuded only by realization of the identity of Brahman." (Britann)

"In Bengal Mahayana attained its specific Tantric form which was influenced by the cult of the mother goddess who still is predominant there in her manifestation as Kali. Mystical and magical cults also grew in SE Asia and in Tibet in this period under royal patronage and the Palas perhaps set this style. Nalanda retained its reputation and Vikramashila was founded by Dharmapala. The latter mostly attracted Tibetan monks...Nalanda was the Mecca for SE Asia. Balaputra the Sailendra monarch arranged for the construction of a monastery for monks from Sri Vijaya at Nalanda around 860..." (KR)

"But the cult of Durga [later Kali] the consort of Shiva was only beginning to gain importance...and the large scale development of Shaktism (devotion to the active creative principle personified as the Mother Goddess) did not take place until medieval times." (Britann)

"Shaktism (tantrism) in one form or other has been known since Bana (ca.650) wrote his Hundred couplets to Cani and Bhavabhuti his play Malati Madhava both of which refer to Tantric practices...The Shaiva notion that not Shiva himself but his shakti (sexual creative power) is active is taken to the extreme that without shakti Shiva is a corpse...in Malati Madhava (about the adventures of the hero Madhava and his beloved Maiati) contains a scene depicting secret rites with human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism." (Britann)

Vishnaite My Son group in Champa, where also first use of this name.

In the 7th cent. Vishnaite My Son and Tra Kieu near Amaravati in Quang Nam south of Danang and Col des Nuages. Po Nagar Hindu towers in Khanh Hoa province to 12th cent.

Chinese domination in Champa in the 7th cent.

Champa center moved from Quang Nam to Panduranga in Phan-rang and Nha Trang.

Po Nagar Hindu towers in Khanh Hoa province. Sanskrit inscriptions in Shiva temple found in My Son (Champa). One of the inscriptions alludes to Kaudinya myth.

Chenla emerges in Chinese chronicles.

"Though there is plenty of evidence for Buddhism in Burma in the succeeding centuries, it is largely in Sanskrit. There is evidence dated ca.600 CAD for Pali in the kingdom of Dvaravati in central Thailand, and this civilization might have extended into lower Burma." (Gom)

When Hindu Chenla, an offshoot of Funan, subjected Funan (7th cent.), the Sailendras went to Java, where they founded a kingdom in an island, which like Cambodia and Champa, was ruled mainly by Hinduists.

According to a Chinese monk the Shiva cult had swamped Buddhism in Cambodia. Coedes subscribes to this thesis. Ruins near Kompong Thom from this time. The Roluos group have both Khmer and Sanskrit inscriptions. Cult of Harihara alive. Champa architecture influential in Cambodia. Coedes also affirms that Gupta art was influential in Roluos.

First Khmer inscriptions (609)

"[Bhavavarman's] son Isanavarman succeeded his father ca.611 and is "credited by the Chinese with the completion of the conquest of Funan probably shortly after 627." He built his capital Isanapura north of Kompong Thom. There are impressive ruins. (Hall)

Isanavarman to 635 succeeded by Bhavarman II succeeded after 639 by Jayavarman I (Hall).

First Khmer inscriptions (609)

"[Bhavavarman's] son Isanavarman succeeded his father ca.611 and is credited by the Chinese with the completion of the conquest of Funan probably shortly after 627." He built his capital Isanapura north of Kompong Thom. There are impressive ruins. (Hall)

The Roluos group have both Khmer and Sanskrit inscriptions. Cult of Harihara alive. Champa architecture influential in Cambodia. Coedes also affirms that Gupta art was influential in Roluos.

Isanavarman to 635 succeeded by Bhavarman II succeeded after 639 by Jayavarman I (Hall).

Isanapura capital during 7th cent. (today Kompong Thom)

"The kings of pre-Angkor Cambodia [Chenla]...adopted [Funan's Kundinya] dynastic legend; those who reigned at Angkor strove to relate their origin to the Adhirajas, or supreme kings, of Vyadhapura; and the Javanese sovereigns of the 8th cent. revived the title Sailendra, king of the mountain." (Coedes)

When Hindu Chenla, an offshoot of Funan, subjected Funan (7th cent.), the Sailendras went to Java, where they founded a kingdom in an island, which like Cambodia and Champa, was ruled mainly by Hinduists.

"Briggs thinks that the evidence points to the fact that Bhavavarman did not annex Funan but that it enjoyed autonomy until 627 when it was incorporated with Chenla in the reign of Isanavarman...Thus the view long held by Coedes that the Java `kings of the mountain' were in some way connected with the Funan monarchy bearing the same title no longer appears to be ruled out by the time sequence, since the end of Funan may have coincided with the foundation of the Sailendra dynasty in Java. And indeed de Casparis has found in two Sailendra inscriptions at Kelurak and Plaosan allusions pointing to the name of the last capital of Funan, Naravaranagara.'" (Hall)

Vishnu cult in Si Thep (Thailand), then part of Funan.

Two states in Sumatra (Chinese records): Mo-lo-yeu (Jambi) and Che-li-fo-che (probably Sri Vijaya)

"The inscription of 684 the first dated evidence of Mahayana Buddhism in Farther India confirms what I-Ching said about the importance of Srivijaya as a Buddhist center...He asserts...that the Mulasarvastivada one of the great sects of Theravada Buddhism that used the Sanskrit language was almost universally adopted there, but he mentions followers of Mahayana at Malayu and records the existence in Srivijaya of the Yogacharyabhumisastra one of the major works of Asanga, founder of the mystic school Yogachara or Vijnanavadin." (Coed)

Malay inscriptions (two from Palembang): "Together with the Cham inscriptions...they form the earliest examples of the Malay-Polynesian group...These valuable record taken together attest the existence at Palembang of a Buddhist kingdom which had just conquered Malayu and was about to invade Java." (Hall)

Two states in Sumatra (Chinese records): Mo-lo-yeu (Jambi) and Che-li-fo-che (probably Sri Vijaya)

In the 7th cent. Vishnaite My Son and Tra Kieu near Amaravati in Quang Nam south of Danang and Col des Nuages. First mention of Champa. Chinese called it Lin Yi. Po Nagar Hindu towers in Khanh Hoa province to 12th cent. Sanskrit inscriptions in Shiva temple found in My Son (Champa). One of the inscriptions alludes to Kaudinya myth.

The particular situation of Champa: perhaps the challenge of Tonkin led to early development.

There was strong inter-action between Funan and Champa. Siva was the main cult in Champa but Buddhism co-existed. Sanskrit was the common language. Amaravati art is also found in Champa at this time.

Pyu occupy C Myanmar (Mahayana Sarvastivada Buddhist).

Mon influence in Pegu/S Myanmar.

7th-9th centuries

"This agitated period, which followed the accession of the T'ang emperors in China and coincided with the apogee of the Buddhist dynasty of Java, also saw the expansion of Mahayana Buddhism in Farther India under the influence of the Indian Pala dynasty and the university of Nalanda in Bengal." (Coed)

However, even as Buddhism, tinged with Tantrism, gained in Indonesia Hinduism in the Hindu Shaivite form of linga-worship consolidated in Cambodia and Champa.

695-742

Record of Sri Vijayan embassies to China (Hall)

"Early Hindu sculptures of W Java and of Kra seem to have been guided by the Pallava style of the 7th-8th cents. Early SE Asia temples show the influence of the Pallava and the Chola styles, especially on Java and Cambodia." (KR)

Record of Sri Vijayan embassies to China (Hall)

The increase of Buddhist influence in Indonesia coincides with the rise of the Pala dynasty in Bengal and especially the influence of Nalanda.

Possibly a Pyu kingdom called Lin-yang, capital Srikshetra, near Prome. Possible dates 670 to 830. Mention of varman suggests Pallava and Kanchipuram. Remains of Vishnu, Avalokitesvara, other Bodhisattvas. Also Pali texts.

"...a second Arakan dynasty one of whose members married the daughter of a Pyu king...explains the presence in Srikshetra of Mahayana Buddhism of the type practiced under the Pala dynasty...The Pyu state's Theravada though of Mon provenance was more syncretic than that of Dvaravati with not only Bramahnism in evidence but also naga-worship and animism." (Hall)

7th-10th cents.

"Many a local god then made a great career by becoming identified with one of the great gods and being served by Brahmins...Such local gods--previously often worshipped as rocks--then underwent a process of anthropomorphization culminating in the installation of fully Hinduized icons in temples...Legends grew up..." (KR)

"But the greatest builder of the Pallavas was Narasimhavarman II (ca.680-720) who is supposed to have ordered the construction of the two magnificant Shiva temples, the Shore Temple of Mahabalipuram and the Kailasanath temple of Kanchipuram. The southern style of the temple tower a steep pyramid was perfected here and was soon transmitted to SE Asia, especially to Java where temples of the Pallava style were constructed only a few decades later." (KR)

After the Guptas northern India was disunited again until HARSHA'S KINGDOM. During the 7th and 8th cents. Northern India was disputed by various warring kingdoms, among which figured prominently the Gurjara Pratiharas of Rajasthan, the Pala and Sena dynasties of Bengal, and the Rashtrakutas of CENTRAL INDIA. They were overwhelmed from the 9th to the 10th cents. by the martial but also very disunited RAJPUTS from the dry western state of Rajasthan.

"Several centuries of Hindu counter-reformation had greatly reduced the hold of Buddhism on other parts of India, but the Pala dynasty continued the tradition of royal patronage for Buddhist religious institutions. The Palas' control of the major holy places of Buddhism was very important for India's relations with Buddhist countries abroad. In Bengal Mahayana attained attained its specific Tantric form which was influenced by the cult of the mother goddess who still is predominant there in her manifestation as Kali. Mystical and magical cults also grew in SE Asia and in Tibet in this period under royal patronage and the Palas perhaps set this style. Nalanda retained its reputation and Vikramashila was founded by Dharmapala. The latter mostly attracted Tibetan monks...Nalanda was the Mecca for SE Asia. Balaputra the Sailendra monarch arranged for the construction of a monastery for monks from Sri Vijaya at Nalanda around 860..." (KR)

8th cent.

Pala in Bengal coincides with rise of Mahayana in Farther India or the Indochinese Peninsula and the archipelago (all these expressions in Coedes mean Asia from Myanmar to Indonesia). He cites sanctuary in Ligor (775), sanctuaries in Java (778), image of Bodhisattva in Cambodia. This Mahayana had a a tinge of "Tantric mysticism of the Vajrayana".

"In later centuries SE Asia was more and more influenced by the scholars of Nalanda and the style of the Pala...The influence of Mahayana in Bihar and Bengal under the Palas was so strong at the court of the Sailendras of Java that a Buddhist monk from Gaudi ie Bengal became rajaguru of a Sailendra king (8th cent.)...
       "In the same era S Indian influence emerged once more under the Chola dynasty...At Medan Sumatara there were great Buddha sculptures, a local variation of the Chola style...also in Palembang...It is presumed that the imperial cult of the Cholas centred on their enormous temples was directly influenced by the grand style of Angkor..." (KR)

By 700 there are quite recognizable political entities: Chenla, Champa, possibly Sri Vijaya (if so influential to Malaya), Dvaravati, Thaton, and Prome. They are acting and reacting among themselves.

Naland was a focus for SE Asian Buddhism. It flourished especially under the Pala (8th-12th cents.). Since Theravada or the Pali tradition is hardly documented in India during the 1st mil.AD, Nalanda must be considered Mahayana.

"Gordon Luce contrasts the art and architecture of the Dvaravati Mons with those of Burma. Dvaravati architecture and sculpture he says reflect the influence of Amaravati and Ceylon, where as those of the Burman Mons reflect the influence of north Indian models..and shows evidence of contacts with the Mahayanist, Tantric, and Brahmanic schools of Pala Bengal." (Hall)

Ligor, which was capital to the area known as Tambralinga, was named Nakhom si Thamarat (corruption of the Pali Nagara Sri Dhammaraja = city of the sacred dhamma king), the name it has today, by monks from Sri Lanka in the 8th CAD.

After 706 Chenla divides and an obscure period begins. It was a time of dynastic rivalries. (Hall)

However, even as Buddhism, tinged with Tantrism, gained in Indonesia Hinduism in the Hindu Shaivite form of linga-worship consolidated in Cambodia and Champa.

"An inscription of 791 found in Siem Reap mentions the erection of an image of Lokesvara...the most ancient epigraphical evidence of the existence of Mahayana Buddhism in Cambodia." (Coed)

Cult of linga in E Java: "Here is a new example of the cult of the royal linga that was to become the great state religion of Cambodia in the Angkor period--the cult of which Bhadresvara of My Son in Champa furnishes the first certain evidence [in the 8th cent.]." (Coed)

"Around the beginning of the 8th cent. King Sanjaya founded the kingdom of Mataram (cap Solo) which controlled much of central Java. Mataram's religion centred on the Hindu god Shiva, and the kingdom produced some of the earliest of Java's Hindu temple's on the Dieng plateau.

       "Sanjaya's Hindu kingdom was followed by a Buddhist interlude under the Sailendra dynasty; it was during this time that Mahayana Buddhism was established on Java and work began (probably around 780 AD) on Borobudur. Hinduism continued to exist alongside Buddhism, and the massive Hindu Prambanan complex was built and consecrated around 865 AD.

       "Mataran eventually fell, possibly as a result of conflict with the Sumatra-based Sri Vijaya kingdom, which invaded Java in the 11th cent." (LP)

Sanskrit inscription from Changgal SE of Borobudur about erection of Linga by king Sanjaya of Mataram (Solo) Nw of Yogja

"Java reenters the scene with a Sanskrit inscription of 732 found in the central part of the island among the ruins of the Shaivite sanctuary of Changal...to the south east of Borobudur". (Coed)

Cult of linga in E Java: "Here is a new example of the cult of the royal linga that was to become the great state religion of Cambodia in the Angkor period--the cult of which Bhadresvara of My Son in Champa furnishes the first certain evidence [in the 8th cent.]." (Coed)

According to J.G. de Casparis as told by Hall, Sanjaya founded a Hindu dynasty (732). There were two ruling dynasties side by side in C Java, one Buddhist, the Sailendra, and one Hindu, Sanjaya. The Sailendra were hegemonic until 856. The Hindu dynasty built Prambanan as a riposte to Borobudur. The Hindu kingdom moved east to have a better defensive position vis a vis Sri Vijaya. However, De Casparis does not see religious fanaticism but dynastic rivalry.

Javanese raid on Po Nagar in Nha Trang in 774.

Inscriptions from Kalsan and Kelurak mention that the Sailendra ruled centrral Java.

"One thing is certain: the coming of the Sailendras was marked by an abrupt rise of Mahayana Buddhism" in Java. (Coed)

"It was at the beginning of the establishment of the Sailendras in Java (second half 8th cent.) that the Buddhist monuments of Kedu plain were built." (Coed)

King Rakryan Panangkaran, successor of Sanjaya, whose dates are ca.760-ca.780 (de Casparis)

In the Balitung list he is Sri Maharaja but in an inscription of 778 is described as "an ornament of the Sailendra dynasty" at Chandi Kalasan, east of Yogja, commemorating the foundation of a a chandi to the female Boddhisatva Tara (this is near Prambanan)

Sailendra inscription in Nagari found in Ratubaka plateau

In Java the Hindu Mataram kingdom built the Dieng Pateau temples about the time of the Sailendra arrival.

Influence in use of script of Nalanda school in western Bengal on C Java.

A king Gajayana ruling in E Java built a sanctuary to Agastya (Coedes).

Raid on Tonkin from Java (She-p'o) (Coedes)

"In 774 and 787 raiders from probably Java raided Champa [Po Nagar in Nha Trang]. Cambodia was also attacked...a Javanese inscription claims that the country was conquered by king Sanjaya." (Hall)

Vishnu (Dharmatunga) Sailendra ruler in C Java whose dates are before 775 to 782 (de Casparis): presumably Rakryan Panagkaram was his vassal

ca782

"On the basis of the documents available at present, Java does not appear to be the native country of the Sailendras of Indonesia...who...claimed to be related to the kings of the mountain of Funan. Java is the place where they first made themselves known." (Coedes)

"...The Sailendras of Java may have had some claim over Cambodia in the 8th cent....for the founder of Angkorian royalty inaugurated his reign with a ceremony designed to completely liberate him from vassalage to Java...The Sailendras of Java did indeed take advantage of the weakness of Cambodia to assert its rights as kings of the mountain..." (Coedes)

Sanskrit 760 E. Java inscription "recording the foundation at Dinaya of a sanctuary of Agastya [the sage who Hinduized S. India] by a king named Gajayana..." (hall)

After mid-8th cent. Kedu Plain or Gendung Songo Hindu temples. Reference midway between Semarang, coast of central Java, and Yogyakarta. Architecture modest but beautiful views.

One side of the Ligor stele from 775 inscribed by king of Sri Vijaya (Coedes)

A Sailendra Sri Mahajara presumably ruler of Sri Vijaya

"It would be interesting to know what part Sri Vijaya played in the Mahayanist movement of expansion throughout SE Asia which has been described as one of the dominant facts of the latter half of the 8th cent. It coincides with the accession of the Pala dynasty in Bengal and Magadha in the middle of the cent., and has been attributed to their influence and that of Nalanda. It exhibits the same mixture of Buddhist and Hindu cults, and the tendency to to Tantric mysticism as in Bengal. Its spread also coincides with the appearance in Java of the Buddhist Sailendra dynasty bearing the imperial title of Maharaja." (Hall)

The two sides of the Ligor stele (775) in Malaya shows: (1) Mahayana in Malaya; (2) a Mahayana Sailendra ruled Sri Vijaya; (3) given that from other inscriptions the Sailendras ruled Java, Sailendra Sri Vijaya included Java.

The Burmese appear in N Myanmar.

In 777 capital Virapura in Panduranga.

Notice of Muslims in southern China

8th-9th cents.

Shankara (788-820) born in Kerala, developed Vedanta philosophy in Varanasi: "Shankara formulated an impressive theory of knowledge based on the quintessence of the philosophical thought of his age. He referred to the philosophical teachings of the Upanishads about the unity of the individual soul (atman) and the divine spirit (brahman). He taught that the indivual soul as embodied in a living being (jiva) is tied to the cycle of rebirths (samsara) because it believes this world is real although it is only illusion (maya). This belief is due to ignorance (avidya) which prevents the soul from realising its identity with the divine spirit. Only right knowledge (jnana) leads to the realisation of thios identity and to salvation (moksha) from samsara.

"Shankara's philosophy was in many ways akin to Buddhist thought in highlighting the need to overcome the attachment to the cycle of births by self-realizations." (KR)

In the 8th and 9th cents. in Champa "More stress is laid on state Saivism and the cult of the linga becomes more important even than in Cambodia. It imposes itself upon the ancient indigenous worship of upright stones symbolizing the god of the soil. There are many examples of the use of the mukhalinga, an Indian form of the cult in which the stone has a metal covering decorated with one or more human faces symbolizing as in the case of the Khmer Devaraja the identification of the king with Siva." (Hall)

In Java the Sailendras built Borobudur (8th-9th cents.). There is evidence that Chenla was a vassal of Sri Vijaya.

But the power of native Hinduist rulers was not eliminated in Java. The Hindu kingdom of Mataram built Prambanan as a riposte to Borobudur. The Sailendras suffered defeat in the course of the 9th cent. There are Buddhist religious elements in Prambanan either indicating Hindu vassalage or religious co-existence or co-habitation.

"All the temples in the Prambanan area were built between the 8th and 10th cents. when Java was ruled by the Buddhist Sailendras in the south and the Hindu Sanjayas of Mataram in the north. Possibly by the second half of the 9th cent. these two dynasties were united by the marriage of a Hindu prince and a Buddhist princess. This may explain why a number of temples, including the Prambanan Temple and the smaller Plaosan group reveal Shivaite and Buddhist elements in architecture and sculpture." (LP)

"The island of Bali from the 8th or 9th cents. shows traces of Buddhism that are perhaps of Javanese or Sumatran origin bu could also have been brought directly from India." Also first dated documents in Bali. Then ca.1000 a Javanese marriage "resulted in a greater penetration of Hinduism in Bali and the introduction of Javanese culture particularly of Tantrism". (Coed)

8th-9th cents.
Dieng Plateau Hindu temples. Simple architecture but interesting setting. Reference north west of Borobudur.

9th century

"In the reign of the Pallava king Nandivarman III (ca.844-866) a Pallava officer left an inscription at Takuapa in Kra recording that he had a tank constructed there which he then entrusted to a guild of S Indian marchants who were living in a military camp..." (KR)

Start of Angkor period (802).

"In the 9th cent. the power of the Buddhist Sailendras in Java progressively declined. This decline facilitated the revival of the Khmer kingdom in 802, its liberation from Javanese suzerainty, and the foundation of the Angkorian royal house..." (Coed)

Oligarchy ruled it over masses yet used Cambodian names. (Hall)

Coedes believed that in Cambodia there were Brahmins and Kshatriyas, hence castes, but also racial mixing because of presence of Khmer names.

Chandler emphasizes ruling class and slaves and a vague intermediate layer.

ca.800-before 819

Rakryan Warak in C Java, descendant of Sanjaya

Rakryan Garung or Rakryan Patapan in C Java, descendant of Sanjaya

"A Javanese inscription claims that Cambodia was conquered by king Sanjaya." A much later Arab story relates that a Sri Vijayan monarch beheaded a Cambodian prince. "A Khmer inscription of a later date asserts that Jayavarman II (802-850) before his accession to the throne of Cambodia visited Java. Apparently he was taken to the Sailendra court to pay homage as the succesor of the Beheaded king." Later Jayavarman performed a ceremony signifying independence. (Hall)

He established the cult of Devaraja "the god-king a form of Saivism which centered on linga worship as the king's sacred personality transmitted to him by Siva through the medium of a Brahmin chaplain...It was worshipped in the summit of a temple mountain which was the center of the capital as well as axis of the universe." (Hall)

He also set one of his capitals in Hariharalaya, the Roluos area, a center of Harihara worship. (Hall)

He built Banteay Chemar which might have been larger than Angkor Wat.

824

Possible reference to Borobudur, built by king Samaratunga

832

Death of Sailendra Samaratunga, father of Balaputra and of Pramodavardhani (de Gasparis)

Garung or Patapan proclaims his authority over C Java, which signifies independence from the Sailendra although not their final defeat (de Casparis)

Baliputra goes to Sri Vijaya, where he later becomes king

?838-?851

Rakryan Pikatan in C Java, descendant of Sanjaya, married Pramodavardhani (de Casparis)

842

Inscription assigning ricefields to upkeep of Borobudur by presumably queen Pramodavardhani (de Casparis)

In Miksic she is referred to as queen Sri Kahulunan, but he follows de Gasparis on the stem of Borobudur. According to Miksic the reference to Borobudur is not clear. The queen also participated in the erection of the Plaosan temples.

Jayavarman II succeeded by his son Jayavarman III (850-877) succeded by his cousin Indravarman I (877-889), who started irrigation works. He built Bakong temple to house linga, pyramid built from five superimposed terraces. Strong resemblance to Borobudur. Most temples of Roluos built in his time. His son Yasovarman I (889-910) built monasteries for Shiva, Vishnu, and Buddhism (Hall). He built Phnom Bakheng (the original Angkor) and city was actually called Yasodharapura. (Hall)

?851-after 882 (de Casparis)

Rakryan Kayuwani in C Java, descendant of Sanjaya

856

According to Dr Soekmono foundation of Prambanan by Pikatan of the Sanjayavamsa

"During the 2nd half of the 9th cent. the return of Shaivism to C Java has been taken as decline of Sailendras." (Hall)

863

An Old Javanese inscription mentions Balaputradeva in connection with the struggle and tells that he was finally defeated by Kumbhayoni, founder of the lingas

(It is at this point that Balaputra goes to Sri Vijaya eventually to became king there)

However, the same inscription mentions that king Jatiningrat defeated Balaputra and then abdicated handing the regalia to Dyah Lokapala, whom de Gasparis identified with Kayuwani

Thus in de Casparis Kumbhayoni and Rakryan Pikatan and Jatiningrat are the same person
A Sanskrit/Old Javanese inscription links the victor in 856 with the construction of a Shiva temple at Pereng (Ratubaka plateau?)

De Casparis interprets 856 as the culmination of Sanjaya/Sailendra struggles

Sanskrit inscriptions from 863 refer to a Hindu prince presumably a Sanjaya prince who defeats an enemy S of Prambanan (Ratubaka Plateau) and erects lingas, which de Casparis interprets as end of Sailendra hegemony

Jayavarman II (802-850)

Pre-Nagari script in Angkor

Jayavarman III (850-877)

Indravarman I (877-889) Roluos

Yasovarman I (889-910) Roluos

But he also built Phnom Bakheng (the original Angkor) and had various capitals. Angkor was known as Yasodharapura.

"The innumerable statues of Siva, Vishnu, Harihara, Lakshmi, Parvati, and Bodhisattvas...are portraits of kings and magnates while their names...show a fusion of their titles and names of gods...The practice was widespread throughout SE Asia. It is found in Champa and was important in Java and Bali. It exhibits a blending of the cult of ancestor-worship with Hindu and Buddhist ideas..." (Hall)

Champa attacks Tonkin and Cambodia.

875: Indrapura dynasty rules Champa. Indravarman II rules from Indrapura in Quang Nam, called by the Chinese Chang-cheng, or city of Champa or Champapura. Generally peaceful reign.

Mahayana monastery in Dong-duong, south east of My Son (875).

Champa inscription refers to Mahabharata.

Nan Chao destroys Prome and the Pyu disappear (830).

Nan Chao captures Tonkin in 863 with Pyu soldiers.

Pegu founded by Mon (825).

Nan Chao takes Srikshetra (832). Last of Pyu.

Burmans first encounter Mons (Thaton), who were Indianized and cultivated. Their script suggests Pallava. The Burmese called them Talaings which suggests Telingana (today in Andhra Pradesh).

9th-10th centuries

Pagan founded in 849. It was mostly Buddhist but there is an early Hindu temple in Pagan. "...the only Hindu temple remaining in Pagan. It is said to have been built in 931 by king Taunghthugyi; if so this was about a century before the southern school of Buddhism came to Pagan following the conquest of Thaton..." (LP)

Mahayana established in Pagan "and had assumed under the influence of Bengal an aspect that is sometimes said to be Tantric". (Coed)

"Balitung (898-910) whose inscriptions are the first to mention the kingdom of Mataram was the first of four Saivite kings who left inscriptions in the Kedu plain near Prambanan and represent a dynasty which had come from E. Java and was presumably the one to which Gajayana belonged...Balitung's successor Daksa (910-ca919) probably built the majestic Prambanan...[the Shivaite kings moved to E. Java]...The king who made the move was Sindok (929-947) who is regarded as the founder of a new dynasty which reigned in E. Java until 1222...The best known of Sindok's descendants Dharmavamsa (ca.985-ca.1006)...ordered a codification of Javanese law and had the Mahabharata translated into Javanese prose. Thus arose the oldest literature in the language...He designates Airlangga as successor...whose reign is celebrated for literary activity...The inscriptions of the reign mention three religious sects: Shaivites, Mahayana, and Rishi or ascetics. The return of Shaivite rule to C. Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus; their mutual relations were excellent." (Hall)

907

A king or majaraja Balitung NW of Yogja (Mataram) who traces his ancestry back to Sanjaya and mentions Rakryan Panagkaran as his successor

Inscription from 907 with names of C Javan kings preceding Balitung beginning with the famous Sanjaya. All bear the tile Sri Maharaja. However, Sanjaya's successor is described as "ornament of the Sailendra". See above. (Hall)

929-948 at least

King Sindok reigns and transfer Hindu power east (river Brantas): monuments in central Java are abandoned and monuments in the east are built. His inscriptions are found in upper Brantas river.

942

Sri Vijayan or Sumatran prince of Sunda in west Java

late-10th cent.

Dharmavamsa (ca.985-ca.1006) king of east Java at war with Sri Vijaya. In a counter attack Sri Vijaya defeats and kills Dharmavamsa.

"Late in the 10th cent. a Balinese ruler married a daughter of Sindok's grandson and thus opened the way for the introduction of Javanese culture into the island." (Hall)

In Chinese records in 904-905 Che-li-fo-che (Sri Vijaya) is named San-fo-ts'i

Coedes believes the Balitung list to refer to all the rulers of C Java

"According to a Cambodian dynastic legend preserved in an inscription of the 10th cent., the origin of the kings of Cambodia goes back to the union of the hermit Kambu Svayambhuva, eponymic ancestor of the Kambujas, with the celestial nymph Mara, who was given to him by Siva...[This myth, different from that of Kaudinya resembles one of the Pallavas of Kanchi...From this couple came Srutavarman and Sreshthaverman]...The latter gave his name to the city Sreshthapura...This city may have been founded [in Bassac] as a consequence of the taking over of the country from the Chams at the end of the 5th cent. or beginning of the 6th cent." (Coedes)

"This story which is obviously quite different from that of Kaundinya and the naga princess seems to have been invented to explain the name `Kambuja' which the Khmers adopted as a result of Indianization." (Hall)

Rajendravarman II (944-968) was schooled in Buddhism, but he was Shaivite, as was his son Jayavarman V

Indrapura (today Dong Duong) was the capital from 860 to 986.

Foundation of Dai Viet in 939. Official mix of Taoism and Buddhism. Viet attacks Indrapura. In 988 Cham reaction from Vijaya in Binh Dinh under Harivarman II. Capital back to Indrapura and under Viet counterattack back to Vijaya. (Hall)

"During the 1st mil. in Sri Lanka the Theravada tradition coexisted with various forms of Hinduism, Mahayana, and Tantrism. Beginning in the 10th cent.--as Buddhism declined in India--Sri Lanka became a major locus of a Theravada Buddhist revival. Sri Lanka became a Theravada kingdom, with a sangha that was unified and a monarch who legitimated his rule in Theravada terms. The new Theravada tradition that was established spread from Sri lanka into SE Asia..." (Gom)

10th cent.

"But [in N India] from the 10th cent. on the kings adopted the practice of granting land or its revenues of whole villages to Brahmins even in the samantas at the expense of the samantas..."

Up to this time the overwhelming evidence is for the prevalence of Mahayana in SE Asia. Coedes's claims for a more pronounced presence of Theravada probably stems from Nagarjuna (which see above).

It is about this time that Theravada ceases to be principally Sri Lankan (and Indian) and develops as the result of an interaction between Sri Lanka on one hand and Myanmar first and Thailand later on the other, on which see below.

During the 10th cent. roughly the Burmese in Pagan and the Mon in Thaton.

Dvaravati was under Khmer influence.

Harshavarman I (910-928)

"Jayavarman IV (928-942) usurper whose son Harshavarnman II was dethroned by Rajendravarman II (944-968). "[The later] was responsible for the invasion of Champa in 945-946...Although he was a Saivite there was great variety of religious practices in his reign...followed by Jayavarman V (968-1001)...dedicated Banteay Srei. (Hall)

929-948 at least

King Sindok reigns and transfer Hindu power east: monuments in central Java are abandoned and monuments in the east are built. His inscriptions are found in upper Brantas river.

"The Javanese Ramayana was composed...[but also] the work named Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan (Venerable Great Vehicle), a Tantric Buddhist treatise..." (Coed)

It was inspired in Mahavairocana, influential in E Java

937: Khmers had replaced Mon in Thailand (Ayuthya).

942

Sri Vijayan or Sumatran prince of Sunda in west Java

10th-12th centuries

Harshavarman II (942-944)

Ranjendravarman II (944-968) Phimeanakas

Jayavarman V (968-1001) Takeo and Banteay Srei

Udayadityavarman I (1001-1002)

Suryavarman I (1002-1049)..supposedly a son of king of Tambralinga (Ligor) but of the Khmer line of Indravarman I...The indications are that he landed in eastern Cambodia in 1001 and after a long civil war was installed in Angkor ca.1010. His buildings are the Phimeanakas and the Ta Keo, although they were begun under Jayavarman V. (Hall)

Dvaravati lasted until the 11th cent. take over by Angkor. But Dvaravati was never more than the general name of different sites occupied by the Mon.

"Dvaravati maintained its independence up to the reign of Suryavarman I (1011-1050) when what was then called Lavo (Lop Buri) namely the region of the Menam valley came under Khmer rule." (Hall)

"[Suryavarman's] sponsorhsip of Buddhism in no way interrupted the continuity of the worship rendered to the Devaraja..."

"An inscription of 1022-25 tells us that during Suryavarman I's reign monks belonging to two schools of Buddhism (bhikshu mahayana and sthavira) and Brahmans practicing the exercises of Yoga lived side by side in Lop Buri." (Coed)

Udayadityavarman II (1050-1065) Baphuon

"The suggestion has been made that there were revolts against Udayadityavarman's hostility to Buddhism [which had been favoured by his father Suryavarman]...he built only Saivite sanctuaries the largest of which was the gilded Baphuon". (Hall)

His son Harshavarman III (1066-1090) was deposed by a prince named Jayavarman VI (1090-1113), who was fought by the relatives of the previous king. Jayavarman VI was succeeded by his brother Dharanidavarman I (1113). His successor Suryavarman II (1113-1150) crushed the rebellion and deposed Dharanidavarman. Suryavarman II invaded Champa (1103) and attacked Tonking was not able to subject them. He retained Lopburi. He conquered mostly in the north. He built Angkor Wat. (Hall)

Angkor Wat was dedicated to Vishnu but Shiva not neglected.

His successor was Buddhist "and although the Hindu kings had been tolerant of Buddhism...the Hindu tradition was now broken." (Coed)

In 1145, Angkor takes Champa. Resistance in 1147 in Panduranga. Champa reunified.

The period from Suryavarman II to Jayavarman VII is obscure. In 1150, Suryavarman II was succeeded by Dharanindravarman II (1150-1160), cousin on wife's side, who was a Buddhist and was succeeded in 1160 by his son Yasovarman II, who reigned until 1165 and suppressed a peasant revolt, but was overthrown and killed in another revolt led by Tribhuvanadityavarman (1165-1177).

There is mention of a Harshavarman IV (1150-1152) but this is unsure.

Erection of linga in Po Klong Garai area of Ninh Thuan province (Vietnam).

"In 1167 Jaya Indravarman IV of Champa, also a usurper, began a long series of attacks on upon Cambodia...In 1177 Champa resorted to a surprise attack by sea which resulted in the capture and sack of Angkor and the death of Tribhuvanadityavarman...Jayavarman VII (1125-1218 Coedes), brother Yasovarman II, then defeated Cham." He subjected the Battambang area Cambodia, which was in a state of rebellion with the help of a Cham prince Sri Vidyananda, who also was sent to conquer Champa. Champa finally fell in 1203.  Khmer troops were active in Champa under various Cham princes against Tongking. (Hall)

In 1190 Jayavarman VII retaliates against Champa. His troops led by Cham prince Sri Vidyanandana, who is installed in Panduranga as Suryavarman. The Cham king Jaya Indravarman IV taken to Angkor. In 1191 Jaya Indravarman V resists in Vijaya. Suryavarman kills him. Apparently Jaya Indravarman IV was sent to Champa from Angkor and he was killed by Suryavarman, who in 1192 tried to throw off Angkor. In 1203 the Khmers defeat Suryavarman and Cambodia occupies all of Champa. The occupation lasts until 1220.

Jayavarman VII (1181-1201) Angkor Thom

"Like his father Dharanindravarman II Jayavarman VII was a Buddhist and under him Mahayana became for a time dominant...Suryavarman II had blended Vaisnism and Saivism  so as to substitute a Vishnuraja for a Devaraja in Angkor Wat. Jayavarman VII took the blending process a further step by the substituion of a Buddharaja cult in the Bayon." (Hall)

Jayavarman VII (1181-ca.1220) builds Bayon (Buddhism). "The great Khmer ruler Jayavarman VII saw himself as a `living Buddha' and in his inscriptions expressed Asokan sentiments on the material and spiritual welfare of his subjects and announced that he had hospitals built." (Gom) Adherent, like his father, to Mahayana Buddhism, in particular Lokesvara devotion, but Brahmins officiated in Angkor.

"The most popular Bodhisattva in SE Asia was Avalokitesvara, the lord who looks down, who under the name of Lokesvara adorns the many towers of the Bayon temple at Angkor Thom." (Hall)

Jayavarman VII = Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in Bayon.

In the 11th cent. the Chams lost Quang Binh and Quang Tri (the northernmost provinces).

Wars between Sri Vijaya and East Java. The protagonist was the E Javan king Dharmavamsa (ca.985-ca.1006), who was finally defeated by Sri Vijaya. Airlangga, a Balinese prince whom the king had designated as successor, escaped with servant and lived as hermit. Airlangga (from ca.1019) recovers territories lost to Sri Vijaya. Possibly succeeded to Bali in 1022 (he was the son of a Balinese prince). Then the Cholas weakened Sri Vijaya (1025). Airlangga built up his own kingdom hegemonic in Java and recognized in 1030 by Sri Vijaya. Dynastic marriage between Sri Vijaya and Airlangga of Java. Hinduism and Buddhism co-existed. Tantrism was gaining adherents, but Airlangga himself "claimed reincarnation of Vishnu".

In 1005 the king of Sri Vijaya builds a Buddhist temple at Negapatam in Coromandel. The king was of the Sailendra family. Tibetan monks visited Palembang.

Sri Chulamanivarmadeva, king of Sri Vijaya, built a vihara in Negapatam on Coromandel coast. He is mentioned by the Chola king Rajaraja who endowed the vihara as a Sailendra.

Sri Vijaya was a center of learning and the Buddhist monk Atisa was there from 1011 to 1023. The greatest scholar of the time was Dharmakirti who taught there.

Cholas attack Sri Vijaya (1025).

The Cholas attack Malaya in 1057. "A Chola inscription recorded that their troops conquered a large part of Malaya `at the behest of the king [of Sri Vijaya] who had asked for help and to whom the country was returned'." (KR)

Buddhism Lokesvara persisted in Sumatra. (Coed)

"Inscriptions that mention the three religious sects of Shiva, Sogata (Buddhists) and Rishi (ascetics) or, on  the other hand, of Sogata, Mahesvara, and Mahabrahmana prove the co-existence of Buddhism and Shivaite Hinduism in Java...but Airlangga represented himself as an incarnation of Vishnu." Coed)

After 1080 Hindu/Buddhist Jambi appears to be capital of Sri Vijaya. Sri Vijaya was like a network. Is this the end of the Sailendra? (Hall)

Burman Anawratha in Pagan (1044). Pagan takes Thaton (1057).

According to another interpret, Anawratha expanded but not for religious reasons but to reach the sea and contain the Khmer under Suryavarman I who had taken Lop Buri thus provoking Mon migration. "Thus was the first Union of Burma formed by a champion of Buddhism against invaders whose king was identified with Siva." (Hall)

"During his reign king Anawratha of Pagan reduced the Mon people of S Burma and took Thaton. Thai tradition asserts that he extended his conquest as far as Lop Buri and Dvaravati...Gordon Luce has shown that Suryavarman's armies attacked the Mon states of Burma and that they were defeated by Anawratha's general Kyanzittha. The Burmese did not go east of Thaton." (Hall)

Gordon Luce argues that Anawratha was Mahayanist and that it was his successor Kyazinttha that embraced Theravada influenced by Shin Arahan. "The evidence of epigraphy and archaeology shows clearly that Pagan Buddhism in Luce's words `was mixed up with Mahayanism and towards the end of the dynasty with Tantrism. It rested on a deep bed of Naga and Nat worship...the evidence goes to show that the real influence upon Thaton's Buddhism was not Ceylon but Kanchipuram which had become a famous centre in the 5th cent. under the great commentator Dhammapala." (Hall)

Be it said as a necessary nuancing here that much of Hinduism was built on similar animist practices, on which see KR, so that what is claimed for the cultural contributiion of SE Asia or its selective adoption of Indian culture can be said of Hinduism itself in its home. The best way to bury this local v foreign debate is to think of Hinduism and Buddhism as analogues of Christianity as it advanced into eastern Europe, to cite one case.

The Cholas of southern India annexed the island in the 11th cent. and ruled until the 12th cent. The Chola capital was Polonnaruwa. The Hindu Tamils settled in the north and drove the Sinhalese to the south.

In Sri Lanka Buddhism declined during the 11th-12th cents. and in 1071 the king of Ceylon asked Anawrahta "for monks and canonic texts in order to restore the ravages caused by the Chola wars". (Coed)

King Vijaya Bahu of Ceylon asked Anawratha for military help, which he did not actually use. After driving out the Cholas, he asked Anawratha to send monks for none were left to perform ordination ceremonies in his country (1071). He did and the monks "went to work with their Sinhalese colleagues in discovering and copying the Pali Tripitaka. Copies were presented and in due course--during the reign of Sawlu (1077-86) Luce thinks--the manuscripts reached Pagan and their gist was speedily translated. The impact of the new study can be seen today on the walls of the Pahtothamya temple which Luce ascribes to Sawlu's reign. They contain hundreds of paintings with Mon glosses illustrating the Pali scriptures. Here we have the earliest evidence in Burma of the great access of Tripitaka knowledge that was in time to bring her into the Theravada fold." (Hall)

Burman monks study in Ceylon. "Their return brought about a schism in the Burmese church, which had been founded by Shin Arahan, a disciple of the Kanchi school, and marked the beginning of the permanent establishment of Singhalese Buddhism on the Indo-Chinese peninsula." (Coed)

Kyanzittha's coronation in 1086 under Brahmanis ritual. Inscriptions erected in Mon. Temple building in Pagan under Mon influence.

The Burmese expanded as far as where the Khmers had expanded (Thailand).

King Kyanzittha of Pagan had repairs done in Bodh Gaya. Numerous inscriptions in Mon language. "But we still find numerous traces of Hinduism during his reign and Brahmins played a dominant role in the royal ceremonies at court." (Coed)

First mention of Mirma by Mon in 1102.

After Kyanzitta decline of Mon influence in Pagan. Alaungsithu (1113-1165). He is represented as caring Buddhist king but his kingdom was one of revolts and disorders which he faced. He built the  Thatpinnyu temple. He was murdered by hi son Narathu. (Hall)

The successor of Kyanzittha in Pagan "sent a mission to Nanchao to attempt to obtain a Buddha tooth-relic." (Coed)

"The decisive event which halted the decline of Buddhism in Ceylon was the `purification' of the Sangha and the council held by Parakkama Bahi I and the elder Maha Kassapa in 1164/65." (Gom)

Sinhalese force invades Myanmar as far as Pagan and kills king Narathu (1165). (Hall)

In 1174 Narapatisithu. End of Mon inscriptions. Predominance of Burmese. New Burmese style in Pagan (Sulamani, Htilominlo, Gawdawpalin) with large doors and more light.

"A religious movement began in Burma which was to substitute the Sinhalese form of Theravada teachings for the Conjeveram form brought from Thaton under Anawrahta." (Hall)

According to Burmese chronicle (Glass Palace chronicle) at the end of Narathu's reign [who remember was killed by Sinhalese] Shin Arahan's successor Panthagu settled in Ceylon. "After Naraptisithu's accession he returned...His successor the Mon monk Uttarajiva went to Ceylon in 1180 and returned as `first pilgrim of Ceylon'. One of his monks Chapata also a Mon remained in Ceylon and on his return in 1190 (second pilgrim) brought with him four foreign monks one of whom Tamalinda must have been according to Coedes a son of Jayavarman VII.

"At Nyaung-u they formed a chapter for ordination according to Mahavihara principles and built a pagoda of Sinhalese pattern. This caused a schism in Burmese Buddhism between those who followed the new leaders and those who remained loyal to the Thaton form. The king gave his support to the reformers but the former order continued to exist for another two centuries...Large number of monks were sent to Ceylon for ordination and Buddhism became for the first time in the Indo-Chinese peninsula a truly popular movement, not something imposed by the court. As such it spread far and wide beyond the confines of Burman embracing the T'ai peoples, the Laos states, and Cambodia." (Hall)

"A Burmese monk who had stayed about ten years in Ceylon under Parakkama Bahu I studying the scriptures returned to Burma in about 1181 with the usual four associates and set up a separate nikaya, the `Sinhalese Sangha', which became the main monastic tradition there. It is apparently through this...that Theravada reached Thailand in the 13th cent., though later the Thai also drew on direct contact with the Sangha in Ceylon. It was those contacts in turn which made possible the Thai mission to Kandy in 1753." (Gom)

"Among the companions of the Mon monk Chapata who in 1190 established a chapter of Theravada Buddhism after the Sinhalese pattern in Burma was a Khmer prince whom Coedes suspects to have been a son of Jayavarman VII. The teachings of the new sect were brought by missionary monks to the states of the Menam valley and ultimately Cambodia itself...unlike Saivism, Vaisnavism and Mahayana Buddhism which were imposed from above the new doctrines were preached to the people and stimulated a popular movement which carried the Khmers as a whole into the Hinayana fold..." (Hall)

First mention of Pagan appears in Cham (1050), according to Hall.

Then in the 11th cent. king Anawrahta. Pagan conquers Thaton. Sawlu failed to subdue the kingdom. Kyanzittha tried to fuse Burmese and Mon. The golden age of Pagan begins.

Burman Anawrahta in Pagan (1044). Pagan takes Thaton and adopts Theravada (1057). Pagan spreads Theravada influence to Cambodia.

According to another interpret, Anawrahta expanded but not for religious reasons but to reach the sea and contain the Khmer under Suryavarman I who had taken Lop Buri thus provoking Mon migration. "Thus was the first Union of Burma formed by a champion of Buddhism against invaders whose king was identified with Siva." (Hall)

After the conquest of Thaton, "Mon culture became supreme at the court of Pagan. Pali became its sacred language and the Mon alphabet was ultimately adopted for literary expression of Burmese language...However, Luce claims that "Pagan's Buddhism...was `mixed up with Mahayanism and towards the end of the cent. with Tantrism. It rested doubtless on a deep bed of naga and nat worship'. Furthermore in spite of Buddhagosa legend the evidence goes to show that the real influence upon Thaton's Buddhism was not Ceylon but Kanchipuram, which had become a famous center in the 5th cent. under the great commentator Dhammapala." (Hall)

Buddhists from Orissa influence Pagan art. (Coed)

11th cent.

Prasat Hin Phimai (prangs)

Built under Suryavarman I (1001-1049)

Reference Phimai (Thailand)

"[Suryavarman's] sponsorhsip of Buddhism in no way interrupted the continuity of the worship rendered to the Devaraja..."

ca.1040: Lavo later Lop Buri seized by Angkor from Mon.

"Dvaravati maintained its independence up to the reign of Suryavarman I (1011-1050) when what was then called Lavo (Lop Buri) namely the region of the Menam valley came under Khmer rule." (Hall)

Udayadityavarman II (1050-1065) Baphuon

"The suggestion has been made that there were revolts against Udayadityavarman's hostility to Buddhism [which had been favoured by his father Suryavarman]...he built only Saivite sanctuaries the largest of which was the gilded Baphuon". (Hall)

Persecution of Buddhism in Orissa.

11th-12th cents.

"With the collapse of the Pala dynasty Buddhism suffered another defeat and this time it did not recover...Some have maintained that Buddhism was so tolerant of other faiths that it was simply reabsorbed by a revitalized Hindu tradition...Buddhism in India having become a mainly monastic movement probably paid little heed to the laity. Some monasteries became wealthy enough to have slaves and hired labourers to care for the monks and tend the lands they owned. Thus, after the Muslimn invaders sacked the Indian monasteries in the 12th CAD Buddhists had little basis for recovery...the Buddhist laity showed little interest in restoring the way." (Britann)

"It was the export of the Theravadin ordination tradition that allowed the Ceylonese Sangha to re-import it when need arose. Vijaya Bahu I (1070-1110) was the first king to do so. Unfortunately we do not know exactly when Theravadin monks or nuns first went from Ceylon to Burma, but probably it was during the time of king Anawrahta (ca1044-ca1077). A Burmese monk who had stayed about ten years in Ceylon under Parakkama Bahu I studying the scriptures returned to Burma in about 1181 with the usual four associates and set up a separate nikaya, the `Sinhalese Sangha', which became the main monastic tradition there. It is apparently through this...that Theravada reached Thailand in the 13th cent., though later the Thai also drew on direct contact with the Sangha in Ceylon. It was those contacts in turn which made possible the Thai mission to Kandy in 1753." (Gom)

Dharmavansa was killed in Sri Vijayan onslaught. Airlangga, a Balinese prince whom the king had designated as successor, escaped with servant and lived as hermit. Airlangga (from ca.1019) recovers territories lost to Sri Vijaya. Possibly succeeded to Bali in 1022 (he was the son of a Balinese prince). Then the Cholas weakened Sri Vijaya (1025). Airlangga built up his own kingdom hegemonic in Java and recognized in 1030 by Sri Vijaya. Dynastic marriage between Sri Vijaya and Airlangga of Java. Hinduism and Buddhism co-existed. Tantrism was gaining adherents, but Airlangga himself "claimed reincarnation of Vishnu". Before dying Airlangga divided his kingdom for two heirs: Janggala in the east and Kediri. They were united by marriage under Bamesvara of Kediri (1182-1194). Kediri successor to Airlangga's successors in late 12th cent.

"The Mahabharata story of the ascetic Arjuna is used as an allegorical representation of Airlangga's own story." (Hall)

Kediri dominant in E. Java: Jayabhaya (1135-1157) produced the Bharatayuddha "an adaptation of the Mahabharata".

11th-13th cents.

Jayavarman VI (1090-1113)

Dharanindravarman I (1113)

Suryavarman II (1113-1150) Angkor Wat

In 1145, Angkor takes Champa. Resistance in 1147 in Panduranga. Champa reunified.

The period from Suryavarman II to Jayavarman VII is obscure. In 1150, Suryavarman II was succeeded by Dharanindravarman II (1150-1160), cousin on wife's side, who was a Buddhist and was succeeded in 1160 by his son Yasovarman II, who reigned until 1165 and suppressed a peasant revolt, but was overthrown and killed in another revolt led by Tribhuvanadityavarman (1165-1177).

There is mention of a Harshavarman IV (1150-1152) but this is unsure. He is not mentioned either in Coedes or Hall.

"In 1167 Jaya Indravarman IV of Champa, also a usurper, began a long series of attacks on upon Cambodia...In 1177 Champa resorted to a surprise attack by sea which resulted in the capture and sack of Angkor and the death of Tribhuvanadityavarman...Jayavarman VII (1125-1218 Coedes), brother Yasovarman II, then defeated Cham." He subjected the Battambang area Cambodia, which was in a state of rebellion with the help of a Cham prince Sri Vidyananda, who also was sent to conquer Champa. Champa finally fell in 1203.  Khmer troops were active in Champa under various Cham princes against Tonkin. (Hall)

In 1177 Jaya Indravarman IV sacks Angkor.

Jayavarman VII (1181-1201) Angkor Thom

In 1190 Jayavarman VII retaliates. His troops led by Cham prince Sri Vidyanandana, who is installed in Panduranga as Suryavarman. The Cham king Jaya Indravarman IV taken to Angkor. In 1191 Jaya Indravarman V resists in Vijaya. Suryavarman kills him. Apparently Jaya Indravarman IV was sent to Champa from Angkor and he was killed by Suryavarman, who in 1192 tries to throw off Angkor. In 1203 the Khmers defeat Suryavarman and Cambodia occupies all of Champa. The occupation lasts until 1220.

"Like his father Dharanindravarman II he was a Buddhist and under him Mahayana became for a time dominant...Suryavarman II had blended Vaisnism and Saivism  so as to substitute a Vishnuraja for a Devaraja in Angkor Wat. Jayavarman VII took the blending process a further step by the substituion of a Buddharaja cult in the Bayon." (Hall)

Jayavarman VII (1181-ca.1220) builds Bayon (Buddhism). "The great Khmer ruler Jayavarman VII saw himself as a `living Buddha' and in his inscriptions expressed Asokan sentiments on the material and spiritual welfare of his subjects and announced that he had hospitals built." (Gom) Adherent, like his father, to Mahayana Buddhism, in particular Lokesvara devotion, but Brahmins officiated in Angkor.

"The most popular Bodhisattva in SE Asia was Avalokitesvara, the lord who looks down, who under the name of Lokesvara adorns the many towers of the Bayon temple at Angkor Thom." (Hall)

Jayavarman VII = Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in Bayon.

Cambodia in E Thailand and Laos.

Indravarman VII (1201-1243)

After Jayavarman VII the Brahmins in Angkor attempted to resurge, but this eventually failed, although even the Buddha in the Bayon was knocked off its perch.

"...the mass of the people remained largely untouched by these religious upheavals. They interpreted its various forms in terms of their own animism and ancestor-worship." (Hall)

1112-1152 (Suryavarman II)

Beng Mealea (near)

Angkor Wat

Phnom Kulen (quarry for Angkor Wat; near)

Banteay Samre

1181-1201 (Jayavarman VII)

Angkor Thom

Bayon

Ta Nei

Preah Palilay

Preah Neak Pean

Banteay Kdei

Preah Khan (the reference is Kompong Thom)

Ta Prohm (south of Phnom Penh)

12th cent.

Wat Phrai Pai Luang (originally Hindu)

12th-13th cent.

Wat Si Sawai (originally Hindu)

Reference Sukhotai

11th-16th cents.

At some point Theravada Buddhism started swamping Hinduism in Thailand and Cambodia. Eventually also Islam displaced Buddhism and mostly Mahayana Hinduism in Indonesia and Malaya. What we have are different patterns of religious inter-action. These patterns are relatively unique to SE Asia. They reveal the URP underpinning all religions.

Angkor Wat built by Suryavarman II (1112-1162), dedicated to Vishnu but Shiva not neglected.

His successor was Buddhist "and although the Hindu kings had been tolerant of Buddhism...the Hindu tradition was now broken." (Coed)

Jayavarman VI (1090-1113)

In the 11th cent. the Chams lost Quang Binh and Quang Tri (the northernmost provinces) to Annam and Champa has to pay tribute.

In E Java "Ten kings are mentioned up to 1222...Jayabhaya (1135-1157) is Airlangga's best-remembered successor...His fame rests on a great masterpiece of Old Javanese literature the Bharatayuddha, an adaptation of the story of the great battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas from the Mahabharata."

Sunni Islam from India in Malaya

Burman monks study in Ceylon. "Their return brought about a schism in the Burmese church, which had been founded by Shin Arahan, a disciple of the Kanchi school, and marked the beginning of the permanent establishment of Singhalese Buddhism on the Indo-Chinese peninsula." (Coed)

Sinhalese force invades Myanmar as far as Pagan and kills king Narathu (1165). (Hall)

In 1174 Narapatisithu. End of Mon inscriptions. Predominance of Burmese. New Burmese style in Pagan (Sulamani, Htilominlo, Gawdawpalin) with large doors and more light.

"A religious movement began in Burma which was to substitute the Sinhalese form of Theravada teachings for the Conjeveram form brought from Thaton under Anawrahta." (Hall)

"In 1190 Chapata from Pagan returned to that city after having spent ten years in Sri Lanka. In Burma he led a branch of the Theravada school of Buddhism established on the strict rules of the Mahavihara monastery in Sri Lanka. This led to a schism in the Burmese Buddhist order which had been established at Pagan by Shin Arahan about 150 years ealier. Shin Arahan was a follower of the south Indian school of Buddhism, which had its center at Kanchipuram. Chapata's reforms prevailed and by the 13th and 14th cents. Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia had adopted Theravada Buddhism of the Sri Lanka school. In Cambodia this shift seems to have been part of a socio-cultural revolution." (KR)

"The decisive event which halted the decline of Buddhism in Ceylon was the `purification' of the Sangha and the council held by Parakkama Bahi I and the elder Maha Kassapa in 1164/65." (Gom)

12th-13th cents.

"We have seen how the new teaching had been introduced into Burma at the end of the 12th cent. by Mon monks. Thence it had spread to the Mon peoples of the Menam valley, where Hinayana Buddhism had already centuries of existence behind it. By the middle of the 13th cent. it was spreading northwards to the T'ai and eastwards to the Khmers." (Hall)

12th-15th centuries

Before dying Airlangga divided his kingdom for two heirs: Janggala in the east and Kediri. They were united by marriage under Bamesvara of Kediri (1182-1194). Kediri successor to Airlangga's successors in late 12th cent.

Kediri dominant in E. Java: Jayabhaya (1135-1157) produced the Bharatayuddha "an adaptation of the Mahabharata".

"Kediri fell in 1222 and Singosari took its place...In religion the symbiosis of Shaivism and Buddhism had become a marriage; and although outwardly in the sculptures their Hindu and Buddhist characters are distinguishable, their real significance must be sought in native folklore and legend...When king Vishnuvardhana (1248-1268) died his ashes were divided between two shrines. At Chandi Mleri he was worshipped as an incarnation of Shiva, while at Chandi Djago as the Bodhisattva Amoghapasa [a Tantric shrine]..The last king of Singosari Kertanagara (1268-1292) completed the process of religious unification by practising the cult of Shiva-Buddha...His orgies shocked the compiler of the Pararaton...in the poem Nagarakertagama composed in 1365 by Prapanca the head of the Buddhist clergy he is described as a saint and ascetic, free from all passion..Kertanagara was an empire-builder whose greatest aim was the conquest of Sumatra. In 1275 according to Krom he sent a great expedition known as Pamalayu to Sumatra from which it did not return until 1293, the year after his death...He was murdered at the hands of Jayakatwang prince of Kediri in a Tantric ritual...Prince Vijaya allied himself to Mongols to overthrow the usurper, became king Kertarajasa, and then threw the Mongols on their can." (Hall)

It was Singosari that built Malang temples. The temples at Panataran were started by Singosari but carried on and finished by Majapahit.

Kertanagara was a believer in Tantric Buddhism. "This form, coming from Bengal where it had been developed towards the end of the Pala Dynasty, spread to Tibet and Nepal and into the archipelago. It reached its culmination in Java because of syncretism with the worship of Siva Bhairava. The cult of Siva-Buddha by applying itself particularly to the redemption of souls of the dead found receptive ground in Indonesian ancestor worship." (Coed)

Kertanagara tried to build up alliances. Sent image of Lokesvara to Sumatra in 1286. The Mongols were repulsed by Japan in 1281. They failed to take Tonkin or Champa in 1285. They were defied by Kertanagara in 1289. Kertanagara sends expedition to conquer Malayu in 1292. Prince Jayakatwang of Kediri kills Kertanagara the same year. The Mongols arrive and become allies of Vijaya heir of Kertanagara and together they overthrow the usurper, who then kicks the Mongols out. Vijaya, as Kertarajasa, established his capital in Majapahit, east Java, where his line ruled until the early 16th cent., at first hegemonic in Java.

Thus arose Majapahit, presumably inheriting at least claims to Sumatra.

Wijaya founds Majapahit cap Trowulan (1294) successor to Kertanagara (LP).

Panataram temples in E Java to 15th CAD (Ramayana).

13th century

The 13th cent. was characterized by instability and change. Out of this emerged the ascendancy of Theravada Buddhism in Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Kediri built Malang and Panataran temples.

At the beginning of the 13th cent. Sri Vijaya was still a power. End of cent. Sri Vijaya name drops out. Malayu (Jambi) is the main state in Sumatra.

Ligor broke away from Sri Vijaya. "Tambralinga's relations with her suzerain may have been complicated by a growing antagonism between Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism, according to Coedes." (Hall)

Hall connects the decline of Sri Vijaya with Sung policies in China which favoured Chinese trade in Chinese vessels when northern China was occupied by Mongols. Sri Vijaya's network lost influence and harbour states arose in Sumatra.

Thais displace Khmer in Laos and Thailand in the 13th cent. "By the trade route through Assam joining China and India they had made contact with the Buddhism of N India and the influence of Buddhism and Sena art upon their own in the extreme north of the Menam basin is easily recognizable." (Hall)

At the beginning of the cent. the Theravada Mon were still established in Haripunjaya, in Lamphun.

The first Thai states were created early in the cent. in N Myanmar, first in Mogaung, and Assam.

"The Mahavihara form of the Theravada tradition became dominant in in Thailand in the 13th cent." (Britann)

Cambodia converted to Theravada.

Why did the Cambodians evacuate Champa? Something had happened in the area between Cambodia and Burma. But before let's retake Myanmar, and to do so we start with Sri Lanka.

"The same Mahavansa records that after some victories over the Tamils Parakkama Bahu II brought from Tamil-nadu many virtuous and learned monks to help him restore the local Sangha." (Gom)

It could be argued that it is in the inter-action between Sri Lanka and SE Asia that Theravada becomes the strong religious influence and institution that came to embrace Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia besides Sri Lanka. Consequently, in narrating the history of SE Asia it is advisable to speak of Buddhism over the period to the 11th cent. and to tell the story of Theravada when it becomes the official religion of countries in SE Asia, which would then also involve the history of Sri Lanka.

King Kyazwa (1235-1256) had a falling out with Buddhists over church lands. (Hall)

In 1238 the Thais seize Sukhotai from the Khmer.

Khmer remains at Sukhotai prove Cambodia was dominant in this region during 13th cent. until the Thai set loose, at roughly the same time as Lop Buri (Lavo).

Animism and Theravada in Sukhotai. "By the middle of the 13th cent. the Thai had already `drowned' the Khmer, Mon, and Indianized Burmese communities of the valleys of the south." (Coed)

In other words, the Thai became dominant in Menam and upper Mekong valleys.

After Indravarman VII the rest of the Cambodian 13th cent. is obscure. "Jayavarman VIII (1243-1295) had the longest reign in Khmer history...He was largely responsible for vandalism of Bayon...He was quite unable to curb the Thai. It was during his reign that they occupied Siam. A big step in this direction was taken when a Thai chieftain who had married a daughter of Jayavarman VII defeated the Khmer governor of the upper Menam and established Sukhotai, who expanded at expense of Khmers. Farther north another Thai chieftain founded Chieng Mai. The Thais had good relations with the Mongols, and the Khmer king even imprisoned a Mongol envoy." (Hall)

Thais pressure and Cambodia releases Champa. In 1252 Viets attack but pressure eases off because of Mongol threat. The Mongols pillage Tonking in 1257. However, in 1281 both Viets and Chams defeat the Mongols separately.

Po Kolong Garai in Ninh Thuan (Shiva): "...four brick towers built during the reign of the Cham monarch Jaya Simhavernam III...carving of dancing Shiva..." (LP)

Narathihapate (1256-1287) antagonized the Mongols who defeated the Burmans decisively at Kaungsin in 1283. The king fled to Bassein and Pagan disintegrated. Kyawswa, a royal prince, acepted vassalage to Mongols at Pagan at which the Shan rebelled and took over central Burma (1299).

Fall of Pagan and rise of Mandalay area.

Rebirth of Mon in S Myanmar. Wareru was a pedlar in Thaton, later a captain of the guards in the Thai Sukhotai kingdom, and later with Tarabya he expelled the Burmese from Pegu. After having Tarabya killed he ruled alone. In 1281 Wareru creates independent Pegu, but he established the capital of the Mon kingdom in Martaban, nominally vassal of Thai king. He decreed a version of the laws of Manu. The capital remained in Martaban until 1363.

Rama Khamhen (1283-ca.1317): under him Sukhotai kingdom formed. Pali Sinhalese Buddhism but also worship of P'ra Khap'ung the greatest of local spirits worshipped at Khao Luang hill outside Sukhotai. Rama conquered down to Malaya at expense of Sri Vijaya (1294). (Hall)

First extant inscription in Thai script and language in Sukhotai (1292).

The fall of Pagan and weakening of Angkor facilitated Thai penetration.

In 1290 the Thais occupied Mon Haripunjaya and founded Chieng Mai.

In the late 13th Sri Vijaya was assailed by the Thais in Malaya.

"The enthusiam for Vashnaivism which Angkor Wat manifests was the be found at the same time in Java, where the kings of Kediri, like Suryavarman, were incarnations of Vishnu." (Hall)

In the late 13th Sri Vijaya was assailed by the Thais in Malaya.

"In religion the symbiosis of Shaivism and Buddhism had become a marriage; and although outwardly in the sculptures their Hindu and Buddhist characters are distinguishable, their real significance must be sought in native folklore and legend...When king Vishnuvardhana (1248-1268) died his ashes were divided between two shrines. At Chandi Mleri he was worshipped as an incarnation of Shiva, while at Chandi Djago as the Bodhisattva Amoghapasa [a Tantric shrine]." (Hall)

Kertanagara represents the culmination of a Javanese Tantric tradition going back at least to "The 10th cent. Javanese text Sanghyan Kamahayanikan made up of Sanskrit verse with Kawi commentary..." (Hall)

("Om mani padma hum" = "Ah the jewel is indeed in the lotus")

Kertanagara was consecrated king in 1275 and appears in the eulogistic Nagarakertagama. "The consecration ceremony...took place in a cremation ground. It is thought to have been similar to that of Adityavarman of Jambi-Malayu which is described in an inscription of 1375. Adityavarman is recorded as `sitting on a high seat eating delicacies...drinking, laughing, with myriads of flowers spreading their perfume on all sides. The perfume of Adityavarman's offerings is indescribable'. Moens interprets this to mean sitting on a heap of corpses, laughing like a maniac, drinking blood while his human sacrifice flamed up and spread all around a dreadful smell." (Hall)

Panataram temples in E Java to 15th CAD (Ramayana).

The Shans beat off Mongol invasion.

The Shan invasions of C and N Myanmar provoked Burmese flight to Toungoo, a small Burmese state formed in 1280 around a village.

In 1296-1297 Indravarman III (1296-1309) was reigning, a soldier who married a daughter of Jayavarman VIII...He was still Shaivite but he supported a Buddhist monastery. He abdicated in 1309. In fact by the end of the 13th cent. Buddhism was the dominant religion of the Khmer. (Hall)

The Khmers converted to the Mahavira Buddhism of Ceylon. "We have seen how the new teaching had been introduced into Burma at the end of the 12th cent. by Mon monks. Thence it had spread to the Mon people of the Menam valley, where Theravada had centuries of existence. By the middle of the 13th cent. it was spreading north to the Thai and eastwards to the Khmer." (Hall)

Po Kolong Garai in Ninh Thuan (Shiva): "...four brick towers built during the reign of the Cham monarch Jaya Simhavernam III...carving of dancing Shiva..." (LP)

At the beginning of the cent. the Theravada Mon were still established in Haripunjaya, in Lamphun.

In Yunnan via Assam the Thai might have been influenced by Pala and Sena art of Bengal. Also Buddhism.

Khmer remains at Sukhotai prove Cambodia was dominant in this region during 13th cent. until the Thai set loose, at roughly the same time as Lop Buri (Lavo). Animism and Theravada in Sukhotai. "By the middle of the 13th cent. the Thai had already `drowned' the Khmer, Mon, and Indianized Burmese communities of the valleys of the south." (Coed)

In other words, the Thai became dominant in Menam and upper Mekong valleys.

Notices of Muslims in Champa

Muslim merchants from Cambay, Gujarat, carry on trade with Sumatra and spread Islam.

ca.1250

Perlak Sumatra Muslim

1297

Samudra Sumatra Muslim

13th-14th centuries

"In the late 13th cent. Pagan was once again exposed to influence from Bengal at that time under Islamic rule...Another influence: Chapata's reforms prevailed and by the 13th-14th cents. Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia had adopted Theravada Buddhism of the Ceylon school...

       "Even in Indonesia where Tantrist Buddhism with an admixture of Shaivism prevailed at the courts of rulers all the way from Sumatra to Bali direct Indian influence rapidly receded in the 13th cent. This was only partly due to Islam in India, its other cause being an upsurge of Javanese art which confined the influence of Indian art to the statues of deified kings erected after the death of the ruler...The Chandi Jago (13th cent.) and the temples of Panantaran (14th cent.) show this new Javanese style. It has remained the dominant Bali style." (KR)

Shans who were Tai founded Ava (1364-5), which was however thoroughly Burmese.

Toungoo tried but failed to subdue Mon.

The Mon repelled attacks from Chieng Mai and Ayutia. The Mon capital was moved to Pegu.

Lu T'ai model Buddhist king in Sukhotai.

13th-15th centuries

"The importance of the northern part of Sumatra as a centre for the diffusion of Islam stems from the fact that in the 13th cent. Pasai, neighbor of Samudra, had replaced Kedah as the commercial centre of the area. In the 15th cent. Malacca supplanted Pasai, but after the fall of Malacca Sumatra became with the rise of Achin once more the principal Muslim commercial center." (Coed)

14th cent.

"At the beginning of the 14th cent. Sanskrit culture was in full decline; the last Sanskrit inscriptions date from 1253 in Champa, from around 1330 in Cambodia, from 1378 in Sumatra. In the Menam and Mekong basins what remained of Hinduism and Mahayana gave way to the othodoxy of Singhalese Buddhism introduce by the Mons and propagated by the Thai." (Coed)

Indrajayaverman (1309)

Jayavarman Pramesvara

"The Mahavihara form of the Theravada tradition became dominant in Kampuchea and Laos by the 14th cent." (Britann)

Sanskrit inscriptions end before ca.1340, when the chronicles or vamsas begin. The official language became Pali. (Hall)

In the 14th cent. Majapahit takes Palembang and Bali.

Minangkabau in Sumatra Tantric Buddhist.

Earliest indication of Sunni Islam in Malaya.

Malacca taken by "Hindu prince".

Kertarajasa and his son Jayanagara had to suppress rebellions until the latter's death in 1328. Gaja Mada defended the dynasty and became mapatih. When the king went for Gaja Mada's wife Gaja Mada managed to have him killed in an operation. (Hall) Tribhuvana, daughter of Kertarajasa, reigned until 1350 and handed the throne to her son Hayam Wuruk, during whose reign Gaja Mada was active, mostly in foreign policy and war.

1350: Ayutthaya founded by Ramadhipatti, considered first Thai king. He united Thailand.

Fa Ngum plus Khmer found Lan Xang (1353-1371). Introduction into the upper Mekong of Theravada Singhalese Buddhisn through Khmer influence.

Islam introduced in Sumatra from Gujarat.

"The Muslim invasions in India proper and the spread of Islam in Indonesia sounded the death knell for Indian culture in Farther India. At the same time, Singhalese Buddhism introduced from Burma to Siam made rapid progress in the riverine lands of the Menam and the Mekong." (Coed)

14th cent.

"By [1365] Malayu had become part of the Minangkabau kingdom founded by Adityavarman. Thus Sri Vijaya was no longer the focus of Malay activities." (Hall)

Earliest indication of Sunni Islam in Malaya.

Malacca taken by "Hindu prince".

Indrajayaverman (1309)

Jayavarman Pramesvara

Fa Ngum plus Khmer found Lan Xang (1353-1371). Introduction into the upper Mekong of Theravada Singhalese Buddhisn through Khmer influence.

1350

Iban Batuta reports of advances in last century of Islam in Indonesia

14th-16th centuries

"[Tribhuvana's reign, which lasted until 1350, when she resigned the crown to her son Hayam Wuruk, saw the rise of Gaja Mada...In 1330 he was appointed mapatih or chief minister of Majapahit. He was the ruler of the kingdom until his death in 1364...According to de Casparis the change of policy announced by Gaja Mada in 1331 in the form of a programme of military action to impose Majapahit's dominion over nusantara must be seen as a resumption of Kernatagara's policy of conquest after an interruption of forty years during which Majapahit had been paralyzed by internal weakness and revolts...While accepting Prapanca's list of Majapahit's dependencies [Krom] made it clear that in his view they represented rather a sphere of influence than a territorial empire...Ibn Batuta who visited Samudra in 1345-1346 wrote that it had been Muslim for nearly a cent...In 1350 Hayam Wuruk ascended throne of Majapahit, but the real ruler was Gaja Mada...The reign of Vikramavarddhana (1389-1429) was a period of rapid decline...marked by the rise of Malacca in the north...the Ming admiral Cheng Ho made a remarkabale series of voyages between 1405 and 1433 visisting SE Asia, Ceylon, India, and as far as E. Africa...It is significant that Cheng Ho regarded himself in dealing with Palembang pirates as acting on behalf of Majapahit...King Singhavikramavarddhana abandoned the kraton at Majapahit in 1468. Javanese tradition asserts that Majapahit was conquered by a coalition of Mohamedan states. This however is impossible since there is clear evidence that a Hindu king Ranavijaya was reigning in 1486..[but why not in Bali?]...Krom's last king is Pateudra who was in occupation of the throne in 1516." (Hall)

14th-18th centuries

Cham king Jaya Sinhavarman cedes through marriage Thuan-chau and Hoa-chau, basically today Thua Tien, including Hué. But its inahbitants prove rebellious and Viet annexes Danang (1312). For some reason the Thai king Rama raids Champa which is defended by Viet. From 1314 to 1318 the Chams in rebellion against Vietnam. Another rebellion in 1323. Then I assume Viet control did not reach as far south as Vijaya, today Gia Lai, for a Cham king Che Bong Nga launches fierce reaction against Viets, even sacking Tongking in 1371. In 1402 Vietnam reacts. Champa loses Indrapura (Quang Nam). Vijaya is attacked. China conquers Vietnam from 1407 to 1428. Champa is left alone but in 1441 it falls into civil war. In 1446 Viet takes Vijaya, loses it, finally annexes it in 1471, when it also conquers as far as Cap Varella (Phu Yen). A Cham court exists in Ninh Thaun or below until 1720.

Ayutthaya (1351-1767) borrowed from Cambodia (actually both were Theravada)

15th century

Thais sack Angkor (1431).

In 1446 the Chinese attacked Ava.

In 1456 there were relations between Ava and Kandy.

Towards the end of the cent. the Shans in N Myanmar became restive, perhaps because of weak Chinese control.

Islam strong in Java, in harbour and inland statelets. Malacca Islamic: influence in Sumatra and Java.

End of Majapahit (1478).

The fall of the fabulous kingdoms marks the rise of Islam in the east and of Theravada in the west, the latter no longer a Sri Lankan or Indian export, but properly a SE Asian religious formation.

Hindu Sumatran prince ruling Malacca, later converts to Islam

Malacca Islamic. Malacca influence in Sumatra and Java.

After 1471 (fall of Vijaya) Islam in Champa

Fall of Champa Ninh Thuan to Dai Viet (1471)

1402

Malacca founded by Paramesvara, possibly Sailendra

1405

Chinese court recognizes Malacca

1414

Paramesvara converts to Islam as Megat Iskandar Shah. When the Chinese get visit from his son they think he is dead.

1421

Pasai Sumatra Muslim

after 1450

Malacca expands into Malaya and Sumatra. Strong trading and probably cultural links between Malacca and Javanese ports, especially Demak. These conversions to Islam were of the rulers who were also the principal merchants. Majapahit was disintegrating. Java underwent a process of gradual Islamization.

1474

Kedah Muslim

1497

The Portuguese in the Indian Ocean
South East Asian merchants forewarned and Islam spreads quickly to Borneo and the Moluccas

15th-18th centuries

The Burmese kingdom of Ava in a state of disorder, which allowed Arakan to go its own way.

Kingdom of Mrauk U in Arakan (1433) to 18th CAD (Bud/Hind/Islam). "Mrauk U (1433-1785) was a successor to two earlier kingdoms in Arakan: Dhanyawady (ca.1st to 6th cents.) and Wethali (3rd to 10th cents.), the remains of which are still visible to the north. All three kingdoms blended elements of Theravada and Mahayana with Hinduism and Islam. In the late 18th cent. the Konbaung dynasty asserted its power over the region and Mrauk U was integrated into the Burman kingdoms centered around Mandalay."

16th century

In the 16th cent. Mandalay takes Pegu.

Evidence of Thai capture of Angkor (1594).

Islamic Demak kingdom in Java after Majapahit

Banjamarsin sultanate in S Kalimantan (1521)

Brunei rival

Portuguese take Malacca (1511)

Malaccan rulers move to Johore

In 1527, the Shans, led by the sawbaw of Mohnyin sacked Ava. But in 1555 the Burmese from Toungoo, who had already captured Pegu from the Mons (1539), reconquered Ava, in the Mandalay area. Tabinshweti took Pegu.

Lan Xang at war with Thais and Burmese

Burmans capture Luang Prabang

Laotian capital in Vientiane

Malacca falls to Portuguese and Muslim traders move to Aceh, Johore, and other places.

1514

Attack by Demak on Majapahit, however Hindu kingdoms remained in Java until the 18th cent.

17th cent.

End of Champa

Aceh dominant in N Sumatra

Mataram in C Java

18th century

Myanmar destroys Ayutthaya (1767).

"Before 1753 there were no true monks left in Ceylon...this sad state of affairs probably [existed] since the reign of the Saiva king Rajasimha I (1580-1591), for he had persecuted Buddhism..." (Gom) The sangha was reconstituted with a mission from Thailand.