Impacts of Indianisation

There was a limited quantity of objects that were actually traded between the Indians and the Southeast Asians. This was because the items which the Indians desired could be easily obtained through the routes already established by the Roman State, the Arabian and East African Ports and the other traders of the western subcontinent. The items that the Southeast Asians desired could be obtained by local manufacturing. This included beads and iron, which have been incorrectly viewed as evidence of Indian-Southeast Asian trade for a long time.

However, there was definitely evidence of a gradual widespread adoption of Indian religious and political traditions in Southeast Asia. There was architecture which was influenced by Buddhist and (later on) Hindu religious beliefs, such as the religious temples, the adoption of Sanskrit for official inscriptions, such as the name Srivijaya itself. 'Sri' means prosperous in Sanskrit and 'Vijaya' means victorious. A picture of Sanskrit inscription can be found here.

Another visible impact of Indianisation in Southeast Asia is the use of the term 'Gupta Dynasty' to mark the period of time from 400 CE to 600 CE. This term was used by all the Southeast Asians, thus showing how the people in Southeast Asia, though they were of different countries and ethnicities shared a common trait through Indianisation. The Guptas had control throughout a large part of India and retained that control for 2 centuries. India was ruled by the Gupta Dynasty, hence the changes implemented by the Gupta rulers had a great effect on India and subsequently, had a domino effect on Southeast Asia.

Some of these impacts included the revival of Sanskrit as the official language used for inscriptions, land grants, seals and coins and the shifting away from Buddhism to Hinduism. Out of these impacts, the shifting away from Buddhism to Hinduism is the most important and monumental in my opinion. This is because the change in dominant religion of India brought about the change of dominant religion in Southeast Asia. Along with Hinduism came the various Indianised empires in Southeast Asia, one of which is Srivijaya.

Another impact of Indianisation is the introduction of the 2 famous Sanskrit epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Ramayana was especially popular in Srivijaya, as it was the fountain source of a great tradition of culture, language and religion. Indonesian versions of Ramayana was created and it was called Kahawin Ramayana. This version of Ramayana was a good example of how Indian traditions and culture were assimilated into the original beliefs in Southeast Asia. It showed syncretism because Javanese beliefs were mixed into the original story of Ramayana, such as the inclusion of the all powerful Javanese indigenous deity Dhayana. This Indonesian version was performed in all Wayang performances. In Srivijaya, Wayang Kulit and Wayang Wong performances were normally held. Wayang Kulit is a form of shadow puppetry, where shadow puppets are made with fine tools and are supported with buffalo horn handles and control rods. Wayang Wong, on the other hand, was a type of theatre performance, with the use of masks dependent on the storyline. A video of this can be found here

Indianisation also influenced the art pieces, sculptures and architecture produced during that time. The art pieces were mostly influenced by the dominant religion of Srivijaya at that time, which was of course influenced by India. An example would be the gold coated bronze statue of 4 handed Avalokitecyara in Srivijayan style. This Srivijayan style/art was inspired by both Indian Amaravati style and Javanese Sailendra art. The picture of this statue can be found here Religious architecture is also found in Srivijaya, the remnants of the dominant religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. This is especially evident in a very famous temple, Borobudur. This temple is in a 3 dimensional form of a mandala and it was designed during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, which Srivijaya ruled with Sailendra. This design blends the Indonesian cult of ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana. It also demonstrates the influences of Gupta art and thus India's influence on Southeast Asia. There is syncretism in the design of the temple as it incorporates both Indian and Indonesian elements. The picture of this temple can be found here. An inscription that is found at the temple also provides a description of how Srivijayan vessels looked like. It can be found here. This shows a possible link between religion and trade, where vessels are most commonly used for, hence supporting the theory that trade was an important cause for the spread of Indian ideas, especially religious ideas.