ARTHUR AHISTORYOF COTTERELL SOUTHEAST AHISTORYOF ASIA SOUTHE A HISTORY OF OF HISTORY About the Author A History of Southeast Asia is a sweeping and wide-ranging SOUTHEAST Arthur Cotterell was formerly principal of Kingston narration of the history of Southeast Asia told through historical College, London. He has lived and travelled widely anecdotes and events. in Asia and Southeast Asia, and has devoted ASIA much of his life to writing on the region. In 1980, Superbly supported by over 200 illustrations, photographs and he published !e First Emperor of China, whose maps, this authoritative yet engagingly written volume tells the account of Qin Shi Huangdi’s remarkable reign was history of the region from earliest recorded times until today, translated into seven languages. Among his recent covering present-day Myanmar, !ailand, Cambodia, Laos, AS books are Western Power in Asia: Its Slow Rise and Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia Swift Fall 1415–1999, and Asia: A Concise History, and East Timor. T A published in 2011, the "rst ever coverage of the entire continent. “Arthur Cotterell writes in a most entertaining way by putting a human face on the history of Asia. Far too often, “Arthur Cotterell writes in a most entertaining history books are dry and boring and it is refreshing SIA way by putting a human face on the history of Asia.” to come across one which is so full of life. - to be changed” – Peter Church, OAM, author of A Short History of South East Asia, on Arthur Cotterell – Professor Bruce Lockhart xxxxxxxxxx Marshall Cavendish Marshall HISTORY Editions ISBN 978 981 4361 02 6 A R T H U R ,!7IJ8B4-dgbacg! COTTERELL AHISTORYOF SOUTHEAST ASIA ARTHUR COTTERELL © 2014 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited Text © Arthur Cotterell Project editor: Lee Mei Lin Design by Lynn Chin Nyuk Lin Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. Tel: (65) 6213 9300, fax: (65) 6285 4871. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.marshallcavendish.com/genref Th e publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifi cally disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fi tness for any particular purpose, and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profi t or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Other Marshall Cavendish Offi ces Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA • Marshall Cavendish International (Th ailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Th ailand • Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited National Library Board Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data Cotterell, Arthur. A history of Southeast Asia / Arthur Cotterell. – Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2014. pages cm ISBN : 978-981-4361-02-6 (paperback) Southeast Asia--Civilization. 2. Southeast Asia--Antiquities. 3. Southeast Asia--History. I. Title. DS525 959 -- dc23 OCN864455899 Printed in Singapore by Fabulous On the cover: a seventeenth-century Dutch map by William Janzsoon Blaeu. For Yong Yap contents preface xi introduction xvii list of maps xxv photo credits xxvi part one: Early Southeast Asia chapter 1 early burma 3 Th e Earliest States 7 Th e Rise of Pagan 15 City of Virtue and Merit 21 Pagan’s Fall 29 chapter 2 early cambodia 37 Funan 38 Zhenla 42 Th e Founding of Angkor 45 Th e Great Kings 51 From Angkor to Lovek 65 chapter 3 early vietnam 67 Southern Yue 69 Ma Yuan’s Legacy 72 Th e Protectorate of Annam 78 Vietnamese Independence 81 Champa 88 chapter 4 early indonesia 97 Chinese Tributary Relations 100 Srivijaya 103 Java and Bali 114 Mongol Intervention 122 Th e Empire of Majapahit 124 part two: Medieval Southeast Asia chapter 5 medieval burma 131 Th e First Toungoo Dynasty 134 Th e Restored Toungoo Dynasty 142 Th e Konbaung Dynasty 149 chapter 6 medieval thailand and cambodia 155 Ayudhya 157 Siam 170 Lovek 176 chapter 7 medieval vietnam 179 Th e Le Dynasty 180 A Divided Country 186 Th e Nguyen Dynasty 198 chapter 8 medieval island powers 205 Malacca and Aceh 206 Mataram 213 Brunei 224 Th e Philippines 227 part three: Modern Southeast Asia chapter 9 the colonial era 239 Th e British Possessions 241 Th e Dutch East Indies 256 French Indochina 259 Th e American Colony of the Philippines 265 chapter 10 the greater east asia co-prosperity sphere 269 A Sudden Rampage 270 Th e Failure of Japan’s New Order 280 Post-War Decolonization 286 chapter 11 independence: the mainland nation states 295 Myanmar 298 Th ailand 305 Vietnam 317 Laos 329 Cambodia 332 chapter 12 independence: the maritime nation states 341 Malaysia 343 Singapore 354 Brunei 357 Indonesia 358 East Timor 368 Th e Philippines 372 postscript: present-day southeast asia 379 chronology 383 further Reading 393 index 401 preface “You lost, sir,” a Land Dyak student informed me one Monday morning at the Anglican school where I taught in Kuching, capital of newly independent Sarawak and one of the states in the Federation of Malaysia. Th e previous Saturday in mid-1967 I had travelled to his longhouse at Giam, some 30 kilometres into the jungle. Th e local art club had arranged for its members to sketch there, and so we were expected. Unexpected though was our reception because, across the rapids which gave the longhouse its name, and beneath a large Union Jack, stood the headman wearing a smart blue suit. Once ferried safely across to the opposite bank, the headman expressed his joy at our arrival, for the good reason that assistance was urgently required with a debate taking place that evening. He told me his suit was a present from a departing district offi cer, while the fl ag dated from 1946, the year in which the last white rajah ceded Sarawak to Britain. Both were obviously intended to make my wife and I feel welcome, over and above the generous hospitality shown to longhouse visitors. After checking that we had no objection to ceremonies involving the ritual slaughter of several chickens, the consumption of their blood and an elaborate sword display, we settled down to a meal of rice and arak, an extremely strong rice wine. At a distance from this traditional reception of guests, I noticed a group of young men clustered around one who was playing a guitar. When I asked about their absence from the meal, the headman told me that it formed the subject of the debate. Th e young men had said that such traditional customs were out of date and the longhouse should convert to Christianity, and this was the issue to be settled by a vote of all the inhabitants after our departure. But the headman was uneasy. He feared the debate would be too one- sided, since not enough reasons could be found to oppose the adoption xii A “spirit” carving. For Dyaks birds are messengers of Christianity. He wondered if I might help with suggestions as to why conversion should be rejected. In this Lord Jim situation, I racked my brains for Dyak examples of wise inaction. Pointing out how indigenous plants grew better than imported varieties, the story of Foolish Alois came to mind. Th is comical character is renowned for always making the wrong decisions. Off ered a half share in a banana plant, he chose to cut off the leaves at the top, entirely ignoring the main stem and the roots. How could anyone be certain then that the Christian faith was not unlike Foolish Alois’ leaves? If it failed to transplant successfully and withered as they had done, the longhouse would have given up its traditional beliefs for nothing. xiii On the way back to Kuching, I refl ected on the impact that evangelical preachers were having on isolated longhouses. Th e Sarawak government had sanctioned missionary activity provided it was accompanied by social benefi ts—an American hospital had opened close by. But what struck me most about the visit to Giam was the thoroughly democratic nature of the longhouse. Its spokesman, the besuited headman, possessed no hereditary privilege; his chief concern was to ensure fair and open discussion. Th e Land Dyaks living in the longhouse would decide its future, once everyone who wished to express an opinion had done so. Th ey did and Foolish Alois was consigned to history. Conversion hardly changed, however, the longhouse’s relationship with the spirit world. Even though Christianity provided an additional defence against the malignant spirits lurking in the jungle, it still left plenty of scope for the unseen powers that haunt Southeast Asia. Whether they are called nats in Myanmar, nak ta in Cambodia, ba in Vietnam, tujul in Java or hantu in Borneo, belief in their infl uence on human aff airs is unshakeable. Th at they existed in Kuching was A Balinese lady offers flowers at a garden shrine xiv confi rmed when a Sea Dyak clergyman informed me how he was often molested by ghosts in the school’s grounds.