Southeast Asia was in the Indian sphere of cultural influence from 290 BCE to the 15th century CE, when Hindu-Buddhist influences were incorporated into local political systems. Kingdoms in the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent had established trade, cultural and political relations with Southeast Asian kingdoms in Burma, Bhutan, Thailand, the Sunda Islands, Malay Peninsula, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and Champa. This led to the Indianisation and Sanskritisation of Southeast Asia within the Indosphere, Southeast Asian polities were the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist Mandala (polities, city states and confederacies).
Indian culture itself arose from various distinct cultures and peoples, also including Austroasiatic linguistic influence onto early Indians. However some scholars, such as Professor Przyluski, Jules Bloch, and Lévi, concluded that not only linguistic but there are also some cultural, and even political Austroasiatic influence on early Indian culture and traditions. India is seen as a melting pot of western, eastern and indigenous traditions. This distinctly Indian cultural system was later adopted and assimilated into the indigenous social construct and statehood of Southeast Asian regional polity, which rulers gained power and stability, transforming small chieftains into regional powers.
Unlike the other kingdoms which existed on the Indian subcontinent, the Pallava Empire which ruled the southeastern coast of the Indian peninsula did not impose cultural restrictions on people who wished to cross the sea. The Chola Empire, which executed the South-East Asian campaign of Rajendra Chola I and the Chola invasion of Srivijaya, profoundly impacted Southeast Asia. This impact led to more exchanges with Southeast Asia on the sea routes. Whereas Buddhism thrived and became the main religion in many countries of Southeast Asia, it became a minority religion in India.
The peoples of maritime Southeast Asia — present-day Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines — are thought to have migrated southward from South China sometime between 2500 and 1500 BC. The influence of the civilization which existed on the Indian subcontinent gradually became predominant among them, and it also became predominant among the peoples which lived on the Southeast Asian mainland.
Southern Indian traders, adventurers, teachers and priests continued to be the dominating influences in Southeast Asia until about 1500 CE. Hinduism and Buddhism both spread to these states from India and for many centuries, they existed there with mutual toleration. Eventually the states of the mainland mainly became Buddhist.
Drivers of the Indianization of Southeast Asia The key drivers of the Indianisation of Southeast Asia were the Austronesian and Indian maritime trade especially the spice trade and the Maritime Silk Road- the Uttar patha and the Dakshin Patha,where major kingdoms like Mauryas and Satvahanas ruled a greater part of the route, the emissaries and the Buddhist missions of Ashoka the Great. Ashoka sent emissaries to Sri Lanka, Thailand,etc.to spread the teachings of Buddha far and wide.
Indian maritime trade with Southeast Asia
Austronesian sailors from Island Southeast Asia first established contact and trade with Southern India and Sri Lanka as early as 500 BCE. This resulted in the introduction of Southeast Asian material culture and cultigens to South Asia; as well as connecting the material cultures of India and China. These early Austronesian trade routes linking Island Southeast Asia with India also became the maritime aspect of the wider spice trade network, which were later also used by Tamil and Arab maritime trade. The sustained contact between Southeast Asia and South Asia resulted in cultural exchange, in addition to the exchange of commodities.
The first clear mention of a navy occurs in the mythological epic the Mahabharata.Chakravarti (1930) Historically, however, the first attested attempt to organise a navy in India, as described by Megasthenes (c. 350—290 BCE), is attributed to Chandragupta Maurya (reign 322—298 BCE). The Mauryan Empire (322–185 BCE) navy continued till the times of emperor Ashoka (reign 273—232 BCE), who used it to send massive diplomatic missions to Greece, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Macedonia and Epirus. Following nomadic interference in Siberia—one of the sources for India's bullion—India diverted its attention to the Malay Peninsula, which became its new source for gold and was soon exposed to the world via a series of maritime trade routes.Shaffer, 309 The Mauryan period also witnessed various other regions of the world engage increasingly in the Indian Ocean maritime voyages. Between the 1st-2nd Century BCE,Satvahanas rose a majore trader ,owning a large section of the ports,where maritime trade like spices ,textiles,sandalwood ,etc.One more examples is of Socotra island in Middle east ,where Guptas traded.
Buddhist missions In the Sri Lankan tradition, Moggaliputta-Tissa – who is patronised by Ashoka – sends out nine Buddhist missions to spread Buddhism in the "border areas" in c. 250 BCE. This tradition does not credit Ashoka directly with sending these missions. Each mission comprises five monks, and is headed by an elder. To Sri Lanka, he sent his own son Mahinda, accompanied by four other Theras – Itthiya, Uttiya, Sambala and Bhaddasala. Next, with Moggaliputta-Tissa's help, Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries to distant regions such as Kashmir, Gandhara, Himalayas, the land of the Yonas (Greeks), Maharashtra, Suvannabhumi, and Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan tradition dates these missions to Ashoka's 18th regnal year, naming the following missionaries:
Mahinda to Sri Lanka Majjhantika to Kashmir and Gandhara Mahadeva to Mahisa-mandala (possibly modern Mysore region) Rakkhita to Vanavasa Dhammarakkhita the Greek to Aparantaka (western India) Maha-dhamma-rakkhita to Maharashtra Maharakkhita to the Greek country Majjhima to the Himalayas Soṇa and Uttara to Suvaṇṇabhūmi (possibly Lower Burma and Thailand)
The tradition adds that during his 19th regnal year, Ashoka's daughter Sanghamitta went to Sri Lanka to establish an order of nuns, taking a sapling of the sacred Bodhi Tree with her.
Scholars, such as Erich Frauwallner and Richard Gombrich, believe that the missions mentioned in the Sri Lankan tradition are historical. According to these scholars, a part of this story is corroborated by archaeological evidence: the Vinaya Nidana mentions names of five monks, who are said to have gone to the Himalayan region; three of these names have been found inscribed on relic caskets found at Bhilsa (near Vidisha). These caskets have been dated to the early 2nd century BCE, and the inscription states that the monks are of the Himalayan school. The missions may have set out from Vidisha in central India, as the caskets were discovered there, and as Mahinda is said to have stayed there for a month before setting out for Sri Lanka.
According to Gombrich, the mission may have included representatives of other religions, and thus, Lamotte's objection about "dhamma" is not valid. The Buddhist chroniclers may have decided not to mention these non-Buddhists, so as not to sideline Buddhism. Frauwallner and Gombrich also believe that Ashoka was directly responsible for the missions, since only a resourceful ruler could have sponsored such activities. The Sri Lankan chronicles, which belong to the Theravada school, exaggerate the role of the Theravadin monk Moggaliputta-Tissa in order to glorify their sect.
Some historians argue that Buddhism became a major religion because of Ashoka's royal patronage.
Early Common Era—High Middle Ages
During this era, Hindu and Buddhist religious establishments of Southeast Asia came to be associated with economic activity and commerce as patrons entrusted large funds which would later be used to benefit local economy by estate management, craftsmanship and promotion of trading activities.Donkin, 67 Buddhism, in particular, travelled alongside the maritime trade, promoting coinage, art and literacy.Donkin, 69
In Java and Borneo, the introduction of Indian culture created a demand for aromatics, and trading posts here later served Chinese and Arab markets.Donkin, 59 The Periplus Maris Erythraei names several Indian ports from where large ships sailed in an easterly direction to Chryse.Donkin, 64 Products from the Maluku Islands that were shipped across the ports of Arabia to the Near East passed through the ports of India and Sri Lanka.Donkin, 92 After reaching either the Indian or the Sri Lankan ports, products were sometimes shipped to East Africa, where they were used for a variety of purposes including burial rites.
Maritime history of Odisha, known as Kalinga in ancient times, started before 350 BC according to early sources. The people of this region of eastern India along the coast of the Bay of Bengal sailed up and down the Indian coast, and travelled to Indochina and throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, introducing elements of their culture to the people with whom they traded. The 6th century Manjusrimulakalpa mentions the Bay of Bengal as 'Kalingodra' and historically the Bay of Bengal has been called 'Kalinga Sagara' (both Kalingodra and Kalinga Sagara mean Kalinga Sea), indicating the importance of Kalinga in the maritime trade. The old traditions are still celebrated in the annual Bali Jatra, or Boita-Bandana festival held for five days in October / November.
The Chola dynasty (300 BCE–1279) reached the peak of its influence and power during the medieval period.Nilakanta Sastri, A History of South India, 5 Emperors Rajaraja Chola I (reigned 985–1014) and Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1012–1044) extended the Chola kingdom beyond the traditional limits.Kulke & Rothermund, 115 At its peak, the Chola Empire stretched from the island of Sri Lanka in the south to the Godavari basin in the north.Rajendra Chola I completed the conquest of the island of Sri Lanka and captured the Sinhala king Mahinda V. Nilakanta Sastri, The CōĻas pp 194–210. The kingdoms along the east coast of India up to the river Ganges acknowledged Chola suzerainty.Majumdar, 407 Chola navies invaded and conquered Srivijaya and Srivijaya was the largest empire in Maritime Southeast Asia.The kadaram campaign is first mentioned in Rajendra's inscriptions dating from his 14th year. The name of the Srivijaya king was Sangrama Vijayatungavarman—Nilakanta Sastri, The CōĻas, 211–220. Goods and ideas from India began to play a major role in the "Indianization" of the wider world from this period.
Quilon or Kollam in Kerala coast, once called Desinganadu, has had a high commercial reputation since the days of the Phoenicians and Romans. Fed by the Chinese trade, it was mentioned by Ibn Battuta in the 14th century as one of the five Indian ports he had seen in the course of his travels during twenty-four years. The Kollam Port became operational by AD.825, allowing Desinganadu's rulers to exchange the embassies with Chinese rulers and there was flourishing Chinese settlement at Quilon. The Indian commercial connection with Southeast Asia proved vital to the merchants of Arabia and Persia between the 7th and 8th centuries CE.
The kingdoms of Vijaynagara and Kalinga established footholds in Malaya, Sumatra and Western Java.Early History (Indian Navy) , National Informatics Center, Government of India.