Process of Indianisation

As the entrepot of the Chinese, Indonesian and Indian markets, Srivijaya was heavily involved in the India-China shipping business, which involved ship repairs, outfitting, storage, supplies, layovers and so on. As more and more Indian merchants frequented the port, they brought their main religion at that time (6th and 7th century) Buddhism with them to Srivijaya. As a result, the port quickly became an important religious center, and so became an entrepot for the spread of religious ideas between India and China. It was a good thing for Srivijaya as well, because the rulers felt that military power and political skill was far from enough to ensure the survival of Srivijaya, which was expanding rapidly due to its military expeditions against rival ports. Srivijaya needed a belief system that could unite the conquered regions, which had different religions and ethnicities, under a common loyalty to Srivijaya's capital, Palembang. They found this in Buddhism, and thus became a stronghold of Vajrayana Buddhism.


Through the traders, a lot of India's cultures and customs were brought over to Srivijaya and Southeast Asia, their dominant religions, their folktales and even their language, Sanskrit. As a result, Srivijaya was dominantly influenced by the Indians.


There were several theories formulated regarding the process of Indianisation, namely the Kshatriya, Vaishya and Brahman hypotheses. These will be elaborated on in the next post.