Timeline

Historical Dictionary

First posted on June 11th 2004, last revised on May 18th 2005

Narratives : History of South East Asia http://www.zum.de/whkmla/sat/texts/narrseasia.html

Early History South East Asia was strongly influenced by India and by China. Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism, later Islam, spread in the region. Our sources of early South East Asian history are closely related to these religions. The older monuments are temples - Angkor, Borobudur, Indrapura (Hue). Older historical accounts were often written by Buddhist monks - and, often, by foreign visitors (Chinese). SE Asia saw a number of states emerge and vanish. These states centered on the dynasty, occasionally were partitioned, saw wars over succession. The monarchs ruled absolute and occasionally changed the state religion. SE Asia had two major functions in early history - it was the main supplier of spices, the Moluccas regarded the origin of the best quality spices (and the end of civilization; traders did not sail further east). And it was a transit region, for the sea traffic between China and India. Here the Malacca Straits was most important, as control of it meant control of the India-China trade. Hence, the Empire of Srivijaya, which controlled that trade as well as the spice trade, was of such an importance that it attracted invaders from India in the early 11th century. On the mainland, the Khmer Empire with her capital Angkor, for several centuries provided political stability (802-1431). Early Modern Era Islam arrived on Sumatra in 1297, shortly after a Mongol invasion had established a new political order on Java (1292-1293, establishment of Majapahit as the dominant state). Mongol domination was temporary; the region saw the emergence of a range of new political entities. Burma in the Irawaddy valley; Thai states in what is modern Thailand; Vietnam conquering the coreland of Champa (1472), Muslim Mataram succeeding Hindu Majapahit as the dominant force on Java (16th century), Vietnam splitting into Tonkin and Annam. The Portuguese and Spanish arrived. The former conquered Malacca in 1511 and soon established their control over the pepper and China trade. In 1525 Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Zaragoza, an eastern limitation of their mutual spheres of interest. The Spanish conquered the Philippines in 1565-1571 ( de Legazpi). The Dutch arrived in 1596 (de Houtman); the Dutch V.O.C. quickly replaced the Portuguese as the power controlling the spice trade and the China trade. Until the 18th century, no other colonial power established a foothold in SE Asia (although the French sent missionaries to Annam). 19th Century The British took Penang in 1784, founded Singapore in 1819, took Burma in 1826/1852/1885, North Borneo in 1889, with Sarawak a quasi-British possession since 1842. Now Britain controlled transit trade; the British also developed Malaya's tin mining industry and the rubber plantations. The Dutch government had taken over from the V.O.C. in 1798; in 1830 the cultuurstelsel was introduced to make the colony's economy more productive. New crops - coffee, tea, tobacco - were introduced. In the 1890s, oil was produced on Sumatra. Mine and plantation owners, railway construction companies came to regard the local Malay population as lazy, unwilling to work. They brought Chinese workers (coolies) into the country to do the work. Malaysia today has an ethnic Chinese population element of c.40 %, Singapore of over 70 % - consequences of a successful colonial economy. In 1859-1893, France established French Indochina as her colony in the region; the U.S. took the Philippines from Spain in 1898. Only Siam (Thailand) managed to escape colonialism - because neither France nor Britain were willing to see it fall to the other side. The construction and opening of the Suez Canal (1859-1869) was of eminent importance, as it significantly reduced travelling time. In the early 20th century, the first political organizations representing the indigenous population were founded in the Dutch East Indies, French Indochina, Burma etc. During WW II, Thailand became a reluctant Japanese ally; Japan occupied the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Malaya-Singapore, North Borneo- Sarawak and Burma, ruling French Indochina indirectly. The Japanese claimed to liberate these peoples from colonial rule, with some success in French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies, while encountering armed resistance in Burma and the Philippines. Decolonization and Recent History The Philippines became independent in 1946, Burma in 1948, Indonesia - after a short fight - in 1949, Laos, Cambodia, North and South Vietnam - after a major fight - in 1954, Malaysia in 1957/1963, East Timor in 1975/1999. President Sukarno of Indonesia (since 1949) regarded the colonies surrounding Indonesia as objects for a potential acquisition and launched his Konfrontasi policy. On the other hand, Indonesia in the borders of 1949 was ethnically diverse, and a number of ethnic groups, most notably the Moluccans, feared the domination of the majority Javanese. The partition of Indochina, particularly of Vietnam in 1954 was regarded a diplomatic defeat; Ho Chi Minh had striven for the liberation of a unified Vietnam. He now would strive for the unification of his country. The US wanted to contain communism - the Vietnam War unfolded. Thailand in 1932 had introduced a new constitution and entered on a path of reform. The Sukarno administration in Indonesia was left-leaning, implemented the Transmigrasi policy to ease the population pressure on Java and Madura. Singapore, with her ethnic Chinese populatiin majority, was an anomaly in the region. She sought integration into the Malayan Federation, for protection against the threat posed by Indonesia's Konfrontasi policy. In Singapore, democracy took a firm hold, a non-discriminatory system was established, education emphasized. In 1967 ASEAN was founded, Singapore becoming the most advanced of the ASEAN economies. SE Asia, at Bandung in 1960 saw the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement. While Burma became isolationist, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia suffered from the Vietnam War and subsequent years of communist rule, Indonesia from dictatorship, cronyism and kleptocracy, the Philippines from dictatorship and cronyism, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei (the latter because of late independence (1984) and rich oil reserves) enjoyed the highest degree of political stability and economic prosperity. Thailand, although it experienced military dictatorship and (small-scale) communist insurrection, did comparatively well.

EXTERNAL FILES

REFERENCE

Nicholas Tarling, The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, 4 vol.s, Cambridhe : UP (1992) 1999, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959 T188c Barbara Watson Andaya, Leonard V. Andaya, A History of Malaysia, Honolulu : Univ. of Hawai'i Press 2001, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.5 A 543h Stanley Karnow, Vietnam : a History, Penguin (1985) 1991, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.704 K18v Stanley Karnow, In Our Image : America's Empire in the Philippines, NY : Random House 1989, 494 pp., KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.9 K181 Lee Kuan Yew, The Singapore Story, Vol.1, Prentice Hall 1998, 680 pp., KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.57 L485 Arthur Phayre, History of Burma, (1883) Print Foundation 1998, 311 pp., KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.1 P536h David K. Wyatt, Thailand, a Short History, (1982) Ann Arbor : Edwards Brothers 1984, 351 p., KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.3 W975t Chr.L.M. Penders (ed.), Indonesia. Selected Documents on Colonialism and Nationalism 1830-1942, Univ. of Queensland 1977, 367 pp., [G] C.M. Turnbull, The Straits Settlements 1826-1867, Indian Presidency to Crown Colony, London : Athlone Pressn 1972, 428 pp. [G] Jan M. Pluvier, Historical Atlas of South-East Asia, Leiden : Brill 1995 [G]

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