Ancient Civilizations of Southeast Asia. History of Southeast Asia: a region in the Middle Ages

For millennia, the relationship between the developed centers of world civilization and the barbarian periphery was complicated. Actually, the very principle of the relationship was unambiguous: more developed cultural agricultural centers usually influenced the backward periphery, gradually drawing it into their orbit, stimulating the acceleration of the sociopolitical, economic and cultural development of its peoples. However, this general principle worked differently under different conditions. In some cases, the near periphery was gradually annexed by a successfully expanding empire. In others, the energetically developing people, especially the nomads, having received a certain impetus to move forward, then began to pursue an active policy and, in particular, invaded the zones of a thousand-year-old civilization, subjugating foreign countries (Arabs, Mongols, etc.). Finally, the third option could be the gradual accumulation of useful borrowings and some acceleration of our own development due to this without active foreign policy, but taking into account mutual contacts and movements, migrations of peoples and diffusion of cultures. The third way was typical for many peoples of the world, whether it was Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia or Far East.

Southeast Asia is an interesting and in many ways unique region, a crossroads of many world routes, migration flows and cultural influences. Perhaps, in this sense, it can only be compared with the Middle East region. But if the Middle Eastern lands were at one time the cradle of world civilization, if the origins of almost all the most ancient peoples of the world, the most important inventions and technological discoveries, are drawn to them in one way or another, then the situation with the Southeast Asian region is somewhat different, although somewhat similar . The similarity is that, like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, at the dawn of the process of anthropogenesis, was the habitat of anthropoids. It was here that science back in the early 1890s. discovered traces of archanthropes (Javanese Pithecanthropus), and at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. made a number of other similar discoveries. In addition, if there are independent centers of the Neolithic revolution on Earth, in addition to the Middle East, then in Eurasia it is precisely the Southeast Asian one. Here, archaeologists have found traces of early agricultural cultures, perhaps more ancient than those of the Middle East. However, a significant difference is that agriculture in this region was represented by the cultivation of tubers and roots (especially taro and yams), but not cereals.

It would seem that the difference is not so great, because the main thing is still in principle. The peoples who lived here, and independently, reached the art of growing plants and picking fruits! As, by the way, before the art of pottery making (although there may be grounds for doubt). And yet this difference is not only colossal, but in a sense fatal in terms of results. The cultivation of cereals in its time led the Middle East region to the accumulation of excess product, which made it possible for the emergence of the primary centers of civilization and statehood, while the cultivation of tubers with their much less useful properties did not lead to this. Unlike grain, tubers cannot be stored for a long time, especially in a hot climate, and this food is in many respects inferior to grain in its composition. And although several decades ago, experts found traces of a very ancient culture of the Bronze Age in the caves of Thailand, which introduced a lot of new ideas about the development and distribution of bronze products, this did not play a decisive role in revising views on the place of the Southeast Asian region in world history. Neither local agriculture, nor - later - bronze products led here to the emergence of the most ancient centers of civilization and statehood, which would be comparable to those of the Middle East.

Quite early, as early as the 4th millennium BC, perhaps not without outside influence, the Southeast Asian peoples nevertheless switched to the cultivation of cereals, in particular rice, but only relatively late, shortly before our era, in this region the first proto-state formations began to emerge. The reasons for such a delay in the development of a region that started so long ago and achieved so much in ancient times are not entirely clear. Perhaps, not very favorable for the formation of large political organisms played their role. natural conditions including a hot tropical climate. Or the geographical environment with the predominance of mountainous regions with narrow and closed valleys, with islands separated from each other, affected. But the fact remains that only shortly before the beginning of our era, the first states emerged in this region under the strong influence, and sometimes under the direct influence of Indian culture.

Indian cultural influence (Brahmanism, castes, Hinduism in the form of Shaivism and Vishnuism, then Buddhism) determined the social and political development of the proto-states and early states of the region, both its peninsular (Indo-China) and the island part, including Ceylon (although this island is in a strictly geographical sense is not included in Southeast Asia, in terms of historical destinies it closely adjoins it, which we will take into account, not to mention the convenience of presentation). The impact of Indian culture was most immediate. It is known that many ruling houses in the region they built their clan to immigrants from India and were very proud of it. In religious beliefs and socio-political structure, including caste division, this impact is visible, as they say, with the naked eye. Over time, the influence from India weakened, but other streams of cultural interaction intensified. First of all, we mean China. Eastern regions

Indo-China and especially Vietnam have been a zone of Chinese influence since the time of the Qin dynasty, when the first Vietnamese proto-states were subjugated by the Qin army and then for many centuries, despite the sometimes heroic resistance of the Vietnamese, remained under the rule of China. And after Vietnam gained independence, Chinese influence in the region did not weaken, but, on the contrary, increased. It is worth recalling the Chinese migrants huaqiao and their role in the development of the economy and culture of the southeastern countries. Even later, a third powerful stream of cultural influence appeared in the region, the Muslim one, which began to decisively displace Indian influence.

In this way, the countries and peoples of Southeast Asia were under the influence of the three great eastern civilizations. Naturally, this could not but leave its mark on the region and affect the complexity of the cultural and political situation. If, moreover, we take into account that migration flows were constantly coming to Indo-China from the north and that this peninsula with its mountain ranges, narrow valleys, turbulent rivers and jungles was, as it were, prepared by nature itself for the existence of numerous scattered and closed population groups here, it becomes obvious that the ethnic, including linguistic, situation in this region is rather complicated. Let us now turn to the history of the main countries and peoples of Indochina, touching upon Ceylon as well.

Geographical environment and problems of ethnocultural unity of the Ancient South

Chapter 43. STATES OF SOUTH-EAST ASIA IN ANCIENT

Southeast Asia is characterized by rugged relief, alternation of high mountains, usually overgrown with tropical rainforest, where small fast mountain rivers flow, with swampy valleys of large and medium rivers. High temperatures and humidity, wealth flora led to an increased role of agriculture and gathering and a relatively small role of hunting and especially cattle breeding. One of the most ancient settlements of people who practiced already in the VIII millennium BC was found here. e. producing agricultural economy (cultivation of legumes and melons). The type of rice farming that developed later in the Neolithic was more or less the same for ancient Southeast Asia, whose territory, which had similarities in the economy, and partly in the cultural and anthropological appearance of its inhabitants, was somewhat larger in antiquity than now. It included the valleys of the Xijiang and the Yangtze with right tributaries, its periphery was the Ganges valley, where peoples related to the Mon-Khmers still live. The main ancient peoples of Southeast Asia are the Austroasians (Mons, Khmers and Tai) in its continental part and the Austronesians (Malays, Javanese, etc.) in the island; together they are referred to as the Austrian peoples. The most developed were the Austroasiatic

sky areas of the plains of South Indochina, where already in the III millennium BC. e. the population independently switched to the manufacture of tools from copper, and soon from bronze. This ancient center of metallurgy had a profound influence on the western periphery and on the development of metallurgy in the Yellow River basin. But by the II millennium BC. e. economic development Southeast Asia began to lag behind the development of neighboring regions. Hard Mode big rivers Southeast Asia made it difficult to create large irrigation systems on them as one of the most important conditions for the development of a specific rice crop. Such systems learned to create later. long time the basic unit of society remained small rural communities engaged in rice cultivation.

Only in the late Bronze Age, during the famous Dongshon civilization of the 1st millennium BC. e.1,

in the valleys of large and medium rivers of Ancient Southeast Asia, quite extensive areas of a compact agricultural population arose, which became the base of early states. The development of plow farming and complex crafts led to an increase in labor productivity and the complication of the social structure of society. Fortified settlements appeared, the first states began to take shape.

1 It is named after the Vietnamese village of Dong Son, where the burial ground of this culture was first excavated. Its center is

Northern Vietnam.

The oldest written sources, written in peculiar hieroglyphs, typologically close to the early writings of Western Asia (although they arose millennia later), were discovered only recently, and their number is negligible. Valuable information is contained in ancient epigraphy in Sanskrit and in early medieval inscriptions in the languages ​​of the peoples of Southeast Asia. An important role in recreating the history of this region is played by the early medieval chronicles (Viet, Mon, etc.), as well as the testimonies of ancient Chinese, ancient Indian and ancient authors.

The states that arose earlier than anything else among the ancient Austroasiatics and the ancient Viet, related to them in language, stretched from Western Indochina through modern North Vietnam to the lower reaches of the Yangtze. Among them, four groups of states can be distinguished: the states of Northeast Indochina and the North Coast

Southern (modern South China) Sea; the states of Southern Indochina; states of the ancients

the Indonesians in the Malacca Peninsula and the Archipelago; states of the central part of the North

Indochina and adjacent northern regions inhabited by Tai-speaking peoples.

East Asia - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "East Asia" 2017, 2018.

The content of the article

SOUTH-EAST ASIA CIVILIZATION. South of China and east of India lies the peninsular and insular region of Southeast Asia comprising Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Indochina (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam), Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Brunei and Singapore. In this territory, in the first centuries of the new era, an original civilization grew up, giving rise to large cities, giant temples, complex irrigation systems, as well as vast powerful states. The most famous of them is the power created by the Khmers on the lands of Cambodia with its capital in the heart of the jungle, in the Angkor region.

ORIGIN OF THE HINDU-BUDDHIAN CIVILIZATION

History of Southeast Asia before the 2nd c. AD remains a blind spot in science. The earliest information about it is contained in the Chinese written sources of that time and the finds of archaeologists. The Chinese dynastic chronicles mention states whose rulers bore Indian names in Sanskrit, and the clergy were representatives of the highest caste - the Brahmins. Buddha images of the same style as at Amaravati on the Krishna River in South India, characteristic of the period between 150 and 250 AD, have been found in Thailand, Cambodia and Annam (Central Vietnam), and on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.

The earliest texts - in Sanskrit - have been found in West Java, East Kalimantan, northern Malaya and Cambodia. These inscriptions are written in an ancient alphabet from the time of the Pallavas, a Tamil dynasty that ruled from the 3rd to the 8th century. in Kanchipuram, southeast India. More recent times include evidence reflecting cultural influences from other parts of India. From the northeast came one of the branches of Buddhism - the Mahayana. It bore the imprint of the mystical, Hindu-influenced doctrine of Tantrism, which originated in the Buddhist monastery of Nalanda in Bihar. From the 11th century the authority of the Ceylon (Lankan) branch of Buddhism begins to affect. This branch of Buddhism - Hinayana (Theravada) - gradually replaced the Mahayana and Hinduism from Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Ancient culture of Southeast Asia.

Origin of the peoples of Southeast Asia.

Little is known about the genesis and early migration of peoples who, under the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism, developed their own cultures. Today, the most civilized peoples inhabit the plains, especially the river valleys and deltaic lowlands, as well as the sea coasts. Economically relatively backward peoples lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle in the mountains and other elevated areas. The cultures of the Neolithic, as well as the Bronze and Iron Ages, were brought to Southeast Asia by the Malay tribes from Southwest China, which are subdivided into Proto-Malay and Pre-Malay respectively. They became the ethnic substratum of the current population of the region. Both of these groups probably migrated down the river valleys towards the deltaic and coastal regions. The South China Sea, the Gulf of Thailand and the Java Sea formed a kind of inland basin, contributing to the community of cultures of the peoples living on the coast and the banks of the rivers flowing into them.

material culture.

The material well-being of the peoples of Southeast Asia was based on the cultivation fruit trees, intensive rice cultivation and fishing. Artificial irrigation systems required relatively high density population: irrigation facilities were built with the participation of large masses of people, organized either under the rule of a strong leader, or, in some cases, within rural communities. Apparently, the appearance of pile buildings and the use of domesticated buffalo for plowing the fields date back to this time.

There was also a "boat" civilizational culture, characterized by an amazing variety of ships used. different types and sizes. Many families spent their lives on their boats, and until recently, communication between settlements in Southeast Asia was carried out mainly by water. Especially high art of navigation was possessed by the inhabitants of the coasts, who made long-distance sea voyages.

Religion.

The religion was a mixture of three elements: animalism, ancestor worship, and worship of local fertility gods. The water gods of fertility were especially revered in the form of a naga - a mythical cobra with several human heads. For the inhabitants of Southeast Asia, the world was filled with mysterious forces and spirits, ideas about which were reflected in dramatic mysteries and in works of art that have survived to this day. The construction of megaliths was associated with the cult of ancestors, in which the remains of dead leaders were placed.

penetration of Indian culture.

The penetration of Hinduism and Buddhism into Southeast Asia, apparently, began even before the 2nd century BC. AD Hinduism was implanted by the rulers of local states, who sought to imitate the splendor of Indian courts. Buddhism was brought with them by mendicant Buddhist monks (bhiksu), who founded monasteries.

The rulers who adopted Hinduism invited Indian brahmins to perform rituals of deification of monarchs by identifying them with one of the highest Hindu gods - Shiva, Vishnu or Harihara, (a deity that combines the features of the first two). The new names of the rulers often indicated the gods with whom they were identified (Isanavarman - "Shiva's Favorite", Indravarman - "Indra's Favorite" and Jayavarman - "Favorite of Victory"). The widespread use of the suffix "-varman" in names seems to have its roots in the Pallavas. At first it was a ritual suffix of the Kshatriyas - the class (varna) of warriors and leaders in Ancient India, but later it lost its class meaning and was used to designate members of the ruling class. In addition to the Brahmins, the rulers had to invite specialists in the construction of appropriate sanctuaries for the worship of the god-king.

Gradually, Sanskrit became the sacred court language. Over time, the Indian script was adapted for the first literary works in local languages. Excellent examples of this are the earliest extant inscriptions in Javanese, Malay, Mon and Khmer.

To legitimize the rulers of Southeast Asia, the Brahmins used mythical images taken from epic poems. Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as well as from the Puranas (collections of religious myths and hymns) and other texts containing the mythical genealogy of the royal families of the Ganges region. They also promoted the system of government set forth in the Arthashastra (Treatise on Politics and State), Indian astrology and Indian calendars. The inhabitants of Southeast Asia themselves made an important contribution to this process, many of whom made a pilgrimage to India to study the sacred texts.

Early Shaivite inscriptions indicate that the state religion was based on the cult of the royal linga (phallic symbol), in which, it was believed, the magical power of the god-king was concentrated, which ensured the welfare of the state. Thus, the autochthonous cult of fertility was dressed in Indian clothes.

EARLY INDUISE STATES

Funan.

The first royal courts known to historians under Indian influence appeared towards the end of the second century. AD in three areas: a) in the Mekong Delta, b) on the coast of modern Vietnam, south of Hue, and c) in the north of Malaya. The name "Funan", by which the state located in the Mekong Delta is known, is found in Chinese sources and is a derivative of the ancient Khmer word "mountain". For the Chinese, Funan meant the country of the "king of the hill." Chinese sources report that its ruling dynasty was founded by a Brahmin named Kaundinya, who married the leader of one of the local tribes. This legend was based on the local version of the Pallava dynastic myth, in which the founder of the clan was the princess Naga - the mythical nine-headed cobra, the goddess of water. Later, the Naga was adopted as a sacred symbol from Funan by the Khmers, and it became an indispensable attribute iconography of the Khmer capital Angkor. It was believed that the prosperity of the country was supported by the nightly conjunction of the Khmer kings and the princess Naga.

In the first half of the 3rd c. Funan developed into a powerful empire under the rule of a king whose name is mentioned in Chinese chronicles as Fang Shiman. The ships of this monarch dominated the seas, and the states on the lands of the lower reaches of the Mekong up to the northern regions of the Malay Peninsula were his vassals. Fang Shiman assumed the title of maharaja, or "great ruler", sent one embassy to the court of Murunda in India, and another to China. A certain Kang Tai, whom the Chinese emperor sent with a return embassy, ​​left the first description of Funan. Its subsequent rulers expanded the territory of the state and its overseas trade. As follows from the surviving inscriptions, one of the tasks of the tsarist government was the development of irrigation. Large-scale works on the creation of irrigation systems were often associated with sanctuaries where traces of Vishnu were kept.

Like Rome in Europe, Funan left many elements of its culture as a legacy to the states that succeeded it, but in the middle of the 6th century. under the pressure of the Khmers gaining strength, the influence of Funan itself is waning. The Chinese called the Khmer state Chenla and reported that at first it was a vassal of Funan. No explanation for this name has been found. During the century preceding the accession to the throne of the Khmer king Jayavarman II in 802, Chinese sources mention two states: Chenla of the Earth and Chenla of the Water. Until now, little is known about their history. The name "Chenla" was mentioned long after the founding of the great Khmer city of Angkor.

Tyampa (Champa).

The historical Vietnamese region of Annam is rich in archaeological sites of the people known as Chams (Chams). For the first time in history, they are mentioned as lin-i in the reports of the Chinese governor to the north of Nam Viet: a high-ranking official complained about the raids of the Chams. Until now, it remains unclear how Indian trends penetrated them. The earliest inscriptions, dated c. 400 AD, testify to the fact that their court religion was Shaivism. One of the inscriptions is related to the most ancient linga discovered in Southeast Asia.

The early history of the Chams is a continuous series of attempts to expand northward by both land and sea routes, which forced the Chinese to undertake punitive expeditions against them. The Vietnamese at that time inhabited the lands, the border of which in the south only slightly extended beyond the Tonkin region, which occupies the northern part of modern Vietnam. After the liberation from Chinese rule in 939, a long struggle began between the Vietnamese and the Chams for possession of lands south of Tonkin. Ultimately, after the fall of Tyampa in the 15th century. Vietnamese culture, which experienced a strong Chinese influence, supplanted the Hinduized Cham culture.

States on the Malay Peninsula.

There is scant information about these states in Chinese sources. More valuable information is contained in inscriptions made in the most ancient Pallavic script, the earliest of which date back to the end of the 4th century BC.

Early Indonesian states.

The earliest Java inscriptions known to us date back to about 450. They were made by the king of Taruma in West Java, Purnavarman, who began the construction of irrigation systems and erected a temple dedicated to the god Vishnu. In the east of Kalimantan, in the Kutei region, on the Mahakam River, dating back to the beginning of the 5th century were found. inscriptions of a certain king Mulavarman, but nothing is known about the further fate of his state. Chinese sources mention the existence of Hinduized states in Sumatra starting from the 5th century;

Inscriptions in Myanmar and Thailand.

There is evidence that from the middle of the 4th c. in Arakan, on the western coast of Burma (Myanmar), north of the delta of the Irrawaddy River, the Chandra dynasty ruled, but this information is known only from inscriptions of a later period. At Shrikshetra, near present-day Pyu (Proma), in Central Myanmar, inscriptions have been found that probably date back to 500. Shrikshetra was the capital of the state of the Pyu people, who are believed to have been the vanguard of the Burmese (Myanmar) migrating into the country. The Pyu occupied the Irrawaddy valley as far north as Khalinji, near present-day Shuebo. To the east of them, from Chaushe to present-day Molamyine in the south, and in the Irrawaddy Valley, were the states of the Mons Pegu and Thaton. The Mons also inhabited the Menama Chao Phraya Valley (Thailand). The earliest discovered Mon inscriptions date back to about 600. They were found in Phrapaton, where the oldest known capital of the Mon state of Dvaravati, located in the basin of this river, was located. Subsequently, the Mons had a strong cultural influence on their kindred Khmers, as well as on the Burmese and Tai (Siamese), about whose history little is known until the 11th century.

Rise of Srivijaya State.

After the fall of Funan in the 6th c. its place was taken by Srivijaya, which developed around Palembang, in the southeast of Sumatra. This vast trading empire owed its prosperity to the control of the Straits of Malacca and Sunda, as well as to the goodwill of China, where it sent numerous embassies. Srivijaya existed from the 7th to the 13th century. She did not leave behind such monumental monuments as are found in Central Java, but Palembang has long been an important center of education for the Mahayanists. In 671, in order to study Sanskrit grammar, he was visited by the Chinese Buddhist monk I Ching, who then went to India. After several years of study in Nalanda, he returned in 685 to Palembang, where he translated the Sanskrit texts into Chinese and left his description of the Buddhist religion of that time. The close ties of Srivijaya with the Indian regions of Bengal and Bihar explain the strong influence that Tantric Buddhism had on the rulers of the Indonesian states. In the 9th century Nalanda was visited by so many pilgrims from Sumatra that a special house was built for them.

THE AGE OF THE TEMPLE BUILDERS

In the period from 650 to 1250, wonderful works of art and architecture were created in the states of Southeast Asia, in no way inferior to the best world examples. Among the Chams, this flourishing in the artistic sphere began in the middle of the 7th century, when the Tang dynasty in China stopped the expansion of Tyampa to the north for a long time. Very little is known about significant changes in the lower Mekong region since the Khmer conquest of Funan. Sufficiently complete and reliable information on the history of this territory appears only since the founding of the Khmer capital on the northern shore of Lake Sap (or Tonle Sap - "Great Lake"), founded in 802 by King Jayavarman II. But even earlier, those grandiose changes in art and architecture began, which eventually led to the creation of such masterpieces as the ensembles of Angkor. In Java, a similar process begins ca. 730 in its central regions, and on Burmese soil, in the state of Pagan, much later - approx. 1100. (However, on the site of the capital of the Pyu state Shrikshetra, the ruins of buildings of the 8th century have been preserved, which were the prototypes of the temples built later in Pagan.)

Javanese kingdoms.

The historical information we have about these kingdoms is often inaccurate. The development of the art of Central Java was associated with two local dynasties: the Mahayanist Shailendra and the Shaivite Sanjaya. Information about these dynasties until the 8th c. missing. In Sanskrit, Shailendra means "king of the mountain", and it is possible that this indicates the connection of the dynasty with the "kings of the mountain" of Funani of an earlier period. Under the Shailendra, wonderful Buddhist monuments and temple complexes were erected, of which the most impressive are the huge Borobudur ensemble and the Chandi (Hindu temple) Mendut. In the 9th century the construction of such structures in Java stops, but it begins in the state of Srivijaya. Probably, the Sanjaya dynasty prevailed in Central Java, and one of its rulers married a princess from the Shailendra dynasty. Her brother Balaputra fled to Sumatra, married a Srivijaya heiress and gave the name Shailendra to the Srivijaya dynasty.

An outstanding monument of the Sanjaya dynasty remains the magnificent Shaivite temple complex Lara Jonggrang in Prambanan, built at the beginning of the 10th century.

Shortly thereafter, for unknown reasons, the center of power moves to East Java. In Central Java, the construction of monumental architectural objects is being stopped. Nothing similar was created in East Java until the 13th century. On the other hand, it was an important period in the development of original Javanese literature. Sanskrit epic Mahabharata had a strong influence on Javanese literature and the wayang shadow theater, as well as on the sculptural reliefs that began to decorate East Javanese temples of a later period. One of the most famous works of ancient Javanese literature Arjunavivaha (Arjuna's wedding) is based on that contained in Mahabharata the story of the ascetic Arjuna. This poem was written by the court poet Mpu Kanwa in honor of the marriage of the most revered of the East Javanese kings Erlang (r. 1019-1049), presenting the king's life in allegorical form. The heyday of the Erlanga kingdom falls on a short period of decline in Srivijaya, when the Sumatran state was weakened by a war with the South Indian state of the Cholas.

In the next century, during the heyday of the East Javanese kingdom of Kediri, another masterpiece of Javanese literature was created - Bharathayuddha. It is also based on the Sanskrit epic, but in its spirit it is a purely Javanese work. The heyday of Kediri continued until 1222, when she became a vassal of another Javanese state - Singasari.

In the religious sphere, there was a close fusion of Buddhism and Hinduism, which by that time had absorbed local magical rites and the cult of ancestors. At that time, there was a custom according to which kings after death were identified with the god Vishnu. A magnificent expression of this tradition is the sculpture of King Erlang, originally installed in his mausoleum in Belahan and now kept in the Mojokert Museum. The cult that developed around her was a variation of the Javanese ancestor cult.

Khmer and Angkor Cambodia.

Creation of the state.

In 802, Jayavarman II founded the state of Kambujadesh (in the historical literature, Angkor Cambodia) in the area of ​​Lake. Sap (modern Cambodia). The choice of location was determined by a number of conditions that explained the power that the new empire achieved, which arose at the crossroads of sea and land routes. The lake abounded with fish, and the alluvial plain allowed for up to four crops a year with irrigation techniques developed by the Khmer. The richness of the forest was combined with the ability to extract sandstone and clay from the Dungrek mountain range, located to the north, necessary for the construction of gigantic architectural structures.

Jayavarman II spread the cult of the god-king among the Khmers, which formed the basis of the branched religious system developed by his successors. A linga was erected on the top of the mountain, and the brahmins, who became the high priests of the cult, through meditation began to identify the king with Shiva, and the linga became the receptacle of his sacred soul. The sanctuary, around which the capital grew, personified the mythical Hindu Mount Meru, the center of the universe, while the monarch, as the "king of the mountain", declared himself the ruler of the universe.

Pre-Indian roots of the cult of the god-king.

Closer examination reveals that under the cover of Hindu terminology and mythology, ideas and concepts that originated in an earlier period were hidden. So, in Cambodia, Tyampa, Java and Bali, there was a belief that the erection of a temple-image fixes the essence, or the vital principle of the immortalized person in stone. The temple was built as a future tomb-sanctuary of the king, who, laying it down, left an inscription instructing his descendants to continue this tradition, and with it to maintain the established order - “dharma”. Thus, the ruler linked himself, his ancestors and descendants together in a single cult of ancestors. A remarkable example is Borobudur, the temple-mountain of the Shailendra dynasty in Central Java. This Buddhist monument, which includes hundreds of bas-relief images, is a real textbook of the Mahayanist trend in Buddhism, which developed in Nalanda, in Bihar, at the time when Borobudur was being built. However, its full name Bhumisambarabhudhara - the mountain of accumulation of virtue on the ten steps of the bodhisattva - has another meaning, which is revealed only with the ancestor cult. Each of the ten steps, with the exception of the lowest, symbolizes one of the Shailendras, the predecessors of the creator of the temple of King Indra. The lower step was deliberately left unfinished in anticipation of the death of the monarch and his transformation into a bothisattva, the future Buddha.

Khmer conquests.

The kingdom of Jayavarman II was small. The construction of large reservoirs and a system of canals, which became the basis of the prosperity of the state, was started by Indravarman II (r. 877–889). Under him, the place of natural heights, from where the universal king showered blessings on the population of his miniature universe, is occupied by man-made temple-mountains. The first city of Angkor was founded by Yasovarman I (r. 889–900). Somewhat later, the Khmer capital was moved for a short time to Chzhok Gargyar (Kohker), northeast of Angkor, but already Rajendravarman II (r. 944-968) returned it back to Angkor, which since then remained the seat of the Khmer kings until 1432, when the city was completely abandoned.

Little has been studied about the history of the Khmer conquests. The first of the Khmer wars with Tyampa was fought in the reign of Rajendravarman II, but it did not bring visible success. In the 10th century Angkorian possessions probably extended up the Mekong valley to the border of China. Suryavarman I (r. 1002-1050) expanded his lands to the west, conquering the Mon state of Dvaravati, in the Menama Valley, and part of the Malay Peninsula, which is now part of Thailand. Since that time, the Mon influence on Khmer art and architecture has been clearly traced.

By the beginning of the 12th century. Khmer civilization and statehood reached its pinnacle. Suryavarman II (r. 1113-1150), under whom Angkorwat was built, which was the culmination of the development of temple-mountains, was the most powerful monarch in Khmer history. However, his endless wars against the Mons, Tai, Vietnamese and Cham did not produce lasting results. His unsuccessful campaign in Tyampa led to several retaliatory strikes, during one of which, in 1177, the Tyams unexpectedly captured and plundered Angkor. Jayavarman VII (r. 1181–1219) retaliated by occupying their country in 1203 and holding it until the end of his reign.

Jayavarman VII, the last of the Great Builders.

Jayavarman VII carried out the most extravagant building project in Khmer history. He redesigned the capital, making it smaller in size, but at the same time turning it into the fortified city of Angkor Thom. In the center of the city stood the temple of Bayon, and around the perimeter monumental gates were built with towers crowned with gigantic heads with four colossal faces. It was already the time of the expansion of Mahayana Buddhism: in the central temple of Angkor Thom there was an image of Buddharaja - the king as the incarnation of Buddha, and in the radially located temples there were images with the names of the highest court nobles of Jayavarman, who thus joined the process of his deification. The faces on the towers were his portraits in the form of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara - "the god who looks down", with compassion, at suffering humanity.

Even Suryavarman II replaced in Angkorwat Devaraja, the Shaivite god-king of his predecessors, Vishnuraja. In essence, there was a merging of the two cults, similar to what happened in East Java. Jayavarman VII, having approved the cult of Buddharaja, whose main temple was Bayon, took another step in this direction, just as it happened in contemporary Java, under the rulers of the state of Singasari. And just like in Java, Hindu and Buddhist elements intertwined with traditional Khmer magic and ancestor worship: mythology, terminology and rituals were Hindu, but expressed purely Khmer ideas about the universe. The cults were dedicated to the material prosperity of the country and the earthly salvation of people. Buddaraja's compassion was also expressed in the construction on the roads radiating from the capital, more than 100 hotels for pilgrims and the same number of hospitals open to all subjects.

The state could not endure such a policy, which constantly demanded forced laborers and soldiers, for a long time, and it ended with the death of Jayavarman. New grandiose buildings were no longer built. On the history of the Khmers in the remaining years of the 13th century. so little is known that it is difficult to judge the situation created after the death of Jayavarman VII. The Khmers had to leave Tyampu, and the lands in the upper reaches of the Menam passed to the Thai tribes. The Chinese traveler Zhou Daguan, who visited the area at the end of the century, wrote about the magnificent city and prosperous countryside. In his notes there is a new, exclusively important point: Hinayana Buddhism became the religion of the people. Thus, the state religion of the god-king was to lose its significance.

Pagan: Mon-Burmese Synthesis.

Rise of Pagan.

The great era of temple building among the Burmese is associated with the city of Pagan, which united them into the first state that existed from 1044 to 1287. The Burmese, who ruled in Pagan, migrated to the arid central part of the country from the Shan Highlands in the second half of the 9th century. At first they concentrated in the Chauskhe region, not far from modern Mandalay, and then settled in other lands, which they gave their name to. The earlier Mons were the first to grow rice and pulses in Myanmar. The Burmese adopted from them the technique of artificial irrigation, vital for Pagan. The foundations of the Hindu-Buddhist culture, including writing, were also adopted from the Mons.

The Pyu state Shrikshetra collapsed under the onslaught of Nanzhao, the Thai state in Yunnan, just before the arrival of the Burmese, while the Pyu people themselves gradually lost their identity and were assimilated. The Mon states of Lower Burma were subjugated by King Anorate (r. 1044–1077), the founder of Pagan. This led to an increase in Mon cultural influence in Pagan, where Hinayana Buddhism was the state religion. Pali became the canonical language, replacing Sanskrit. In essence, Pagan Buddhism was the same combination of Buddhism, Hinduism and local cults as in other places, but the official religion was Hinayana, which gradually took the leading position with the help of royal power.

Mon influence.

Mon influence in Pagan becomes predominant under King Chanzit (r. 1084–1112). Under him, the temple of Ananda was built, the first and perhaps the most beautiful of the religious buildings. Unlike Angkor, then Bagan was not the center of an extensive irrigation network.

Before the end of Pagan's prosperity, which, as in the case of Angkor, fell in the first half of the 13th century, a change of cultures was observed, accompanied by a change in the language of inscriptions from Mon to Burmese. Much more important, however, were the shifts in local Buddhism that took place as a result of the development of ties with Ceylon (Sri Lanka). New trends were brought by Mon pilgrims who visited this island at the end of the 12th century. They culminated in a movement to purify the Hinayana according to orthodox teaching, which preached personal salvation through poverty, meditation, total detachment. Missionary monks spread this doctrine throughout the country and far beyond its borders.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA AFTER THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY

The thirteenth century proved to be an important turning point in the history of the region. In Angkor and Pagan, the construction of huge temples ceased, and Hinayana Buddhism took over the minds of the people who inhabited the vassal possessions of these two centers. He was destined to gain a foothold on the religious map of the mainland of Southeast Asia. There were also major political changes. The maritime power of Srivijaya disappeared, although the available data do not give a clear picture of how this happened. After the conquest of China by Kublai Khan, the Mongols invaded Burma, Vietnam, Tyampa, and even penetrated Java. Pagan collapsed in 1287, even before the invasion of the Mongols, the same happened with the East Javanese state of Singasari in 1293.

Thai conquests.

By the end of the 13th century. outside the islands, the Thai peoples come to the fore. The Shans, one of them, sought to establish control over Upper Burma, and the state of Sukhothai, founded by King Ramkhamhaeng (r. 1283–1317), subjugated the Mon-Khmer tribes inhabiting the western outskirts of Angkor Cambodia and adopted the Hinayana.

Thai expansion decisively changed the balance of power in the region. In 1350, Ayutthaya was founded, which marked the beginning of modern Thailand, and already in 1378 she conquered Sukhothai. Three years later, the state of Lan Xang arose in the middle and upper reaches of the Mekong. After 1350, under the pressure of the Thai tribes, the Khmer state quickly disintegrated. In 1431 they ravaged Angkor Thom, which as a result ceased to be the capital the following year. The Khmers moved the capital to the south, to Phnom Penh, but their state did not manage to revive its former power. In 1471, the Vietnamese captured Thiampa, and its Hindu-Buddhist culture gradually disappeared as the Vietnamese penetrated further south, into the Mekong Delta.

Burmese and Mon states.

In Burma, the struggle between the Burmese and Thai tribes continued until the middle of the 16th century. and ended with a decisive victory for the Burmese. During this confrontation, Burmese culture took a big step forward. Ava, founded in 1364, became its center. To the south, the settled Mons, who gained freedom after the fall of Pagan, created their own independent state Pegu, which existed until 1539. Its capital was the city of the same name, and the ports of Siriam, Martaban and Basin turned into centers international trade. Pegu made an important contribution to the development of Burmese Buddhism through the extensive reforms carried out by the Mon king Dammazedi (1472–1492). Once again, Ceylon was the initiator of change. In 1472 the king sent a mission of monks and novices to the island to the Mahavihara monastery on the Kelani river. Upon their return, they consecrated the ordination center in Pegu, where all the monks were invited to undergo the rite in accordance with the Sri Lankan Hinayana rules. Dissent among the monks was strongly condemned, and orthodoxy was enforced everywhere.

Indonesia: sunset of Singasari and rise of Majapahit.

The state of Singasari in East Java, which collapsed on the eve of the Mongol invasion in 1293, completed the process of religious unification. Kertanagara (r. 1268-1292), one of the most controversial figures in Indonesian history, introduced the cult of Shiva-Buddha, a mixture of local magic and Tantrism, which developed the demonic aspects of the Kalachakra (Wheel of Time). For this cult, his followers held secret vigils. The purpose of the obscene rituals was to give the king the necessary magical abilities to fight the demonic forces threatening the kingdom: an internal schism and an external threat. Kertanagara tried to create under his leadership a confederation of the Indonesian islands to organize a rebuff to the Mongol invasion, the threat of which turned out to be real for Southeast Asia after the aggressive campaigns launched by Kublai Khan in 1264. The challenge thrown by Kertanagara did not go unanswered, and in 1293 the Mongol armada was sent against him. But even before her invasion of Java, one of the vassals of Kertanagara rebelled, who captured the capital, and killed the king himself when he, along with a group of close associates, performed secret tantric rituals. The confederation, or "holy alliance" as it was called, broke up. But Mongolian army, who defeated the forces of the usurper after her landing on the island, fell into the trap set by the direct heir of Kertanagara, Prince Vijaya, and was able to avoid defeat only by abandoning her intended goal and returning to her homeland. After that, Vijaya was crowned under the name of King Kertarajas.

Under Kertarajas, whose policy was a continuation of the expansionist line of Kertanagar, Majapahit became the new capital of the East Javanese kingdom. However, for many years the state was torn apart by civil strife. Majapahit owes its rise to the talent of the chief minister, Gaja Mada, who held this post from 1330 until the end of his life in 1364. Scholars disagree about how far Majapahit's conquests extended beyond Java. His power was undoubtedly recognized by the neighboring islands of Madura and Bali, but it is unlikely that Majapahit's possessions extended to the entire territory that in the first half of the 20th century. constituted the Netherlands Indies. The decline of the kingdom began shortly before the end of the 14th century, although in the next century it still maintains a dominant position in Java. However, with the strengthening of the Islamic Sultanate on the Malay Peninsula and the penetration of Islam into the northern regions of Java, the territory of Majapahit decreased. In the end, the state disappeared from the political arena in the first half of the 16th century, and its history in the 15th century. so vague that it gave rise to a lot of guesses about the reasons for the death of the state.

Monuments of Majapahit.

While the reliefs on the structures of Central Java are realistic, the reliefs of East Java depict heroes and their servants in the bizarre form of puppets of the “wayang” theater, as if belonging to the world of ancestral spirits. Most of Java's monuments are known as "chandi". This name, applied to temple-sanctuaries related to the dead, is derived from one of the names of the Hindu goddess of death, Durga. In Javanese folk tradition However, these temples took on a slightly different meaning. They were Hindu-Buddhist only in outward appearance, and they were seen more as places of spirit release and resurrection, which clearly goes back to the local ancestor cult.

Bali.

The conquest of Bali by Chief Minister Gaja Mada was a major milestone in the cultural life of the island. For hundreds of years, there was a form of Hindu-Buddhist culture, which later became completely Javanese. Among other things, Old Javanese literature had a strong influence on Balinese literature, into which it was incorporated. At present, it is Bali that remains the repository of Javanese literary works of the Hindu-Buddhist period, since in Java itself much of the historical heritage was lost as a result of subsequent Islamization.

Spread of Islam in Malaya and Indonesia.

At the end of the 13th century in Southeast Asia, the results of the activities of Islamic preachers began to be felt. Marco Polo, who visited the Sumatran port of Perelak in 1292, noted that its population had already been converted to the religion of the Prophet. Under the influence of North Sumatra, the monarch of Malacca converted to Islam, with the strengthening of its power in the 15th century. Islam was adopted by the Malacca vassals in the mainland and in Sumatra. Trade relations of Malacca contributed to the penetration of Islam into the northern ports of Java and Brunei, on Kalimantan, whose rulers joined the ranks of supporters of the new faith. Just before the conquest of Malacca by the Portuguese in 1511, the rulers of the Spice Islands (Moluccas) followed suit. By the end of the 16th century Most of the Indonesian rulers were already adherents of Islam, but in East Java the struggle between the defenders of the old faith in the old state of Pajajaran and the Muslim elite of the new state of Mataram continued into the 17th century. Bali has withstood all attempts at conversion and has retained its Hindu-Buddhist culture to the present day.

However, the adoption of Islam by the rulers did not mean the extension of this process to their subjects. The situation that was observed in former times, when Hinduism and Buddhism were introduced at the royal courts, was repeated with Islam. The adoption of Islam did not violate the integrity of the cultural history of Indonesia. Social relations were still determined by local "adat" (customary law). There were no mass conversions, there was no break in cultural life either. It's just that the Indonesian and Malay civilizations absorbed elements of Islam over the centuries, just as they absorbed elements of Hinduism and Buddhism earlier, and later - the beginnings of Western culture.

Spread of Hinayana Buddhism in Mainland Southeast Asia.

In this territory, where the Hinayana occupied a leading position, in particular in Arakan, Burma, Siam (Thailand), Cambodia, Laos, a long process of interaction of cultures also took place. At the same time, their early traditional forms of religion showed amazing vitality, and Buddhism showed a magnificent spirit of tolerance. It is noteworthy that neither Islam nor Christianity left a noticeable mark on the peoples who professed the Hinayana. The most peculiar feature of this process of acculturation is not just a tolerant attitude towards animism, but actually its inclusion in Buddhist mythology. Pagoda festivals and national celebrations are excellent examples of this. Among them are New Year(tinjan or Water Festival) in April, the First Furrow ceremony in May, the Festival of Lights (tarinjut), usually in October, and the Swing Festival, celebrated in December or January, at harvest time. New Year's celebration water in these Buddhist countries marks the annual return of the king of spirits (among the Burmese "Taja Min", among the Thai "Phra In") to Earth, and the very moment of this return is determined by the Brahmins. Young boys and girls solemnly sprinkle water on the images of the Buddha. The Festival of Lights, which marks the end of the Buddhist Lent (and the monsoon season), is an even greater mixture of Buddhism, animism, and remnants of Hinduism. At this time, ritual meals are organized for the monks, who are given new robes. Buildings are decorated with illuminations and fireworks are arranged.

In Burma, the process of mixing beliefs took on an extreme form of celebration in the context of the legend of how Gautama Buddha ascended into the land of spirits in order to explain to his mother, who became their queen, the commandments of the teaching he created.

Orthodox Hinayana is essentially an atheistic doctrine that denies the existence of the spirit world. Nevertheless, in all the Hinayana-dominated countries of Southeast Asia, every phase of a person's life, from birth to death, from plowing to harvesting, is accompanied by rites of propitiation for the spirits. Everywhere there are numerous cult objects, where fresh offerings come. On the territory of the Shwezigon stupa, in Pagan, famous for its Buddhist relics, there are temples of the Thirty-seven nats (spirits), which testify to their respect for shrines.

Socio-economic conditions of the Hindu-Buddhist civilization.

Information about the socio-economic conditions of life during the existence of the Hindu-Buddhist civilization is extremely fragmentary. This is due to the fact that only buildings made of brick and stone have survived to this day, while all dwellings, starting with the royal ones, built of wood, have long disappeared from the face of the earth. Inscriptions, a valuable potential source for the study of social relations, have not been studied enough. Latest Methods archaeological excavations and aerial photography can be of great help to specialists, but so far the only successful attempt to analyze the economic system that gave rise to the temple building boom was undertaken by Bernard P. Groslier in Angkor. He described the city in detail as the center of a powerful system of reservoirs and canals, which provided constant irrigation and intensive cultivation of vast rice fields, but at the same time required a strictly centralized management of the life of a close-knit community. The Khmer created a government apparatus to suit their own needs, but the administrative structures of all the other leading states in the region were also based on the cult of water and fertility. Thus, the god-king among the Khmers, Chams, Burmese, Mons or Indonesians performed almost the same function everywhere, and their cities were most closely connected with the areas of irrigated rice cultivation. Even Pagan, located in the arid zone of Burma, owed its existence to the Chaushe irrigation network and was so located on the Ayeyarwaddy River to control the irrigation facilities downstream. Its fall at the end of the 13th century. was mainly due to the loss of control over Chauskh, and the fall of Angkor in the 15th century. was due to the destruction of its waterworks during the Siamese invasions.

Cities did not turn, however, into purely urban settlements. Aerial photographs show that Angkor was cut by channels and included cultivated land. It was a real garden city, in the center of which stood the palace city, the administrative heart of the country. A special quarter was assigned to merchants, and representatives of various countries had their own farmsteads. Around the city, along the banks of canals and rivers, there are villages, fields and plantations of fruit trees.

Local Varieties of Southeast Asian Culture.

Throughout their early history, the various peoples of Southeast Asia developed highly individually. This is especially clearly seen in the patterns of fabrics, for example, on batiks - both made in Malaya and imported from India. The importer had to have an excellent idea of ​​the specific needs of the population of different areas, since what sold well in one of them might not be in demand in another. In all countries of the region, clothing consisted of the same elements: a long piece of cloth was wrapped around the hips, a shorter one was thrown over the shoulder, and a third was tied around the head. But between the Burmese "loungi", the Khmer "kampot", the Thai "panung" and the Malay or Indonesian "sarong", there were noticeable differences in patterns and style of wearing. The same applies to other types of costume. The official attire worn at the courts of the Burmese Ava and the Siamese Ayutthaya differed greatly from each other. Everything that came from abroad was quickly absorbed by the local culture. Thus, for example, the shadow theater borrowed from India merged with the Javanese puppet theater and acquired a completely distinct Javanese character. The Pali Jataka stories of Buddha's reincarnations, common in Burmese prose and drama, were completely Burmanized. Motives of Sanskrit epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata used everywhere: shadow theater, national literatures, other forms of art, in each case acquiring, however, local flavor and local interpretation. Similarly, traditional musical ensembles, called "gamelan" in Java, and related forms of dance and singing, were widespread throughout Southeast Asia, but had significant local characteristics.

Literature:

Hall D. History of Southeast Asia. M., 1958
Peoples of Southeast Asia. M., 1966
Bartold V.V. Compositions, vol. 6. M., 1966
History of Asia and Africa in the Middle Ages. M., 1968
Tatar-Mongols in Asia and Europe. M., 1970
Southeast Asia in world history. M., 1977
Southeast Asia: problems of regional community. M., 1977
Shpazhnikov S.A. Religion in Southeast Asia. M., 1980
Berzin E.O. Southeast Asia in the 13th–16th centuries. M., 1982

Favorable environmental conditions in this region (high temperatures and humidity, rich flora) led to an increased role of gathering, and already in the Mesolithic (8 thousand BC), people switched to a productive economy (cultivation of legumes and melons). In the Neolithic, a type of rice-growing economy developed here, which was more or less the same for ancient Southeast Asia. The territory of this region in ancient times occupied the region of the Xijiang and Yangtze valleys with right tributaries, its periphery was the Ganges valley. The main ancient peoples are the Austroasiatics (Mons, Khmers) in its continental part, the Austronesians (Malays, Javanese) in the countryside. The most developed were the Autroasiatic regions of Southern Indochina, where already in 5 thousand BC. the population passed to the Eneolithic, and in 4 thousand. - to the Bronze Age. However, by 2 thousand BC. the economic development of this region began to lag behind neighboring ones. The difficult regime of the rivers made it difficult to create the irrigation systems necessary for the cultivation of rice. For a long time, the population lived in small rural communities engaged in rice cultivation.

Only in the late Bronze Age, during the Dong Son civilization (along the village of Dong Son in North Vietnam), fortified settlements began to appear and the first states began to take shape.

The oldest written sources, written in peculiar hieroglyphs, were discovered not so long ago, and their number is negligible. The main information is contained in the ancient epigraphic literature in Sanskrit. An important role is played by medieval chronicles (Viet, Mon), as well as the evidence of ancient Chinese, ancient Indian and ancient authors.

The early class states of this region can be divided into 4 groups:

1. States of Northeast Indochina and the northern coast of the South China Sea.

2. States of Southern Indochina.

3. The states of the ancient Indonesians on the Malay Peninsula and the Archipelago.

4. States of the central part of Northern Indochina and adjacent regions.

Of the states in North Vietnam, the more northern states were best known, primarily the kingdom of Yue (Viet). Own written sources have not been preserved, however, archaeological data indicate the presence in this region (Northern Vietnam, the lower reaches of the Hong River) of a very ancient and original state. The Kingdom of Yue arose in the 7th century. BC. in the lower reaches of the Yangtze. The main occupation of the population is irrigated rice growing. In the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. 5 states are known on this territory (they probably arose much earlier): Vanlang (then Aulac) in the lower reaches of Hong, further to the east Teiau, Nam Viet, etc.

The most developed in the 3rd century. BC. were the states of Au Lak and Nam Viet. the bulk of the exploited population are small community producers; there were also slaves, which is confirmed by the sources. The head of state is the vyong (monarch). The beliefs of the ancient Viet are based on the cult of ancestors, the spirits of the earth, they revered the crocodile-dragon and waterfowl.

In 221-214. BC. Au Lac, Teiau and Nam Viet fought against the Qin Empire, during which only Aulac retained its independence, annexing part of Teiau. Nam Viet regained its independence only after the fall of the Qin Empire; Both countries merged into one Nam Viet-Aulak. In the 2nd century BC. in East and Southeast Asia, this state was second in strength only to the Han Empire. The basis of the economy was rice-producing farms. There was a craft, trade played an important role, there were large cities. The social and class structure is becoming more complex, slavery is being further developed, and the state apparatus is becoming more complex. From the beginning of the 2nd c. BC. rulers strive to unite neighboring states under their rule, wage successful wars with the Han Empire. However, in 111g. BC. the country was captured by Emperor Wudi, but the establishment of Han domination was not accompanied by significant interference in internal life.

A special group of ancient states in Southeast Asia in the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC. made up the mountainous ancient Thai states of Dien and Elan. Animal husbandry plays a significant role here. The processes of formation of a class society led to the emergence of early slave-owning societies here. The class of slaves was replenished from among the subordinate ethnic groups.

At the beginning of the 1st century AD The administration of the Han Empire attempted mass assimilation of the population of North Vietnam, but ran into resistance. In 40-44 years. In the course of the uprising of the Two Sisters (led by the Chyng sisters), independence was restored within the boundaries of the ancient Aulak. However, attempts to restore political control continued and only in the 1st-2nd centuries. AD the Han Empire began the gradual transfer of power to the local nobility.

In 3-5 centuries. AD Buddhism spread here, which became the main religion until the 12th-13th centuries. In the same centuries, Chinese culture also spread.

At the turn of our era, class societies took shape in all the major river valleys of Indochina and Indonesia. The leading social unit is a small rural community. Each of the states (Aulak, Bapnom (Funan), Shrikshetra, the small Mon states in Southern Burma, the Malay states of the Malay Peninsula, the early Javanese states) were located around a certain political and economic core - a densely populated rice-growing region and its capital. As a rule, the capital was the largest city and port. Many states conducted maritime trade.

There is no division into varnas, castes or ranks in the structure of the ruling class. The class of small community members depended on the state or a particular landowner. The main branch of production is agriculture. The state was closely connected with the priesthood, which depended on the state. The supreme power appropriated many religious functions. The main form of exploitation was rent-tax in favor of the state or representatives of the highest aristocracy (with the consent of the state).

Most of the Mon and Khmer states arose around the 1st century. AD The largest one - Bapnom - united the entire southern Indochina in its heyday. At the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries. ancient Khmer monarchs (Kurungs) switched to wars of conquest. The most famous of the monarchs was Fanshiman, who built a strong fleet and captured a number of neighboring states and tribal territories. Bapnom increased to 4v. AD, irrigation and temple construction was carried out, Hinduism and Buddhism spread, the power of the monarch was strengthened. However, in the 5th - early 6th c. the state ceased to exist due to the strengthening of the northern groups.

In the island world in 1-4 centuries. AD 2 groups of states were formed: western (Malay) and eastern (Javanese). Western - Sumatran states and state formations of the Malacca Peninsula. Foreign trade (mainly spices) plays an important role in them. The most famous states are Lankasuka, Kataha and Tambralinga. Travelers noted the splendor of their courtyards, the strength of their armies. The level of culture was also high (Sanskrit literature, writing and language, Hindu and Buddhist beliefs).

Among the Javanese states, the most famous are Taruma in West Java and Mulavarman in Kalimantan (4th-5th centuries). Them social structure similar to the Bpnom structure.

On the eastern coast of the Indochinese peninsula, the state of Thiampa was located, which, in terms of agrarian structure, resembled the Vietnamese society. It is a maritime trading power with a strong navy and regular trade links. Culturally, it was part of the Indonesian world, and the Khmers influenced them in many ways. Relations with the Han Empire were characterized by alternating warfare with diplomatic missions and contacts.