History of Southeast Asia | Facts, Kingdoms, & Maps

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text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509">history of Southeast Asia</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref52410"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509#ref52410">Early society and accomplishments</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52411"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509#ref52411">Origins</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52412"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509#ref52412">Technological developments and population expansion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52413"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509#ref52413">Influence of China and India</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52414"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509#ref52414">Rise of indigenous states</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref52415"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/The-classical-period">The classical period</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52416"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/The-classical-period#ref52416">Components of a new age</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52417"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/The-classical-period#ref52417">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52418"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/The-classical-period#ref52418">Religion and culture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52419"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/The-classical-period#ref52419">Chinese and Western incursions</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref52420"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Patterns-of-a-colonial-age">Patterns of a colonial age</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52421"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Patterns-of-a-colonial-age#ref52421">Crisis and response</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52422"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Patterns-of-a-colonial-age#ref52422">Western dominance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52423"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Patterns-of-a-colonial-age#ref52423">Transformation of state and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52424"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Patterns-of-a-colonial-age#ref52424">Japanese occupation</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref52425"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Contemporary-Southeast-Asia">Contemporary Southeast Asia</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52426"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Contemporary-Southeast-Asia#ref52426">Struggle for independence</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52427"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Contemporary-Southeast-Asia#ref52427">Defining new states and societies</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52428"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/Contemporary-Southeast-Asia#ref52428">Reappearance of regional interests</a></li></ul></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/images-videos">Images & Videos</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/48793-004-AC5E0BC1/map-Southeast-Asia.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/41348" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/48793-004-AC5E0BC1/map-Southeast-Asia.jpg" alt="Historical map of Southeast Asia" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/2004-004-7102F813/divisions-Austronesian-languages.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/2108" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/2004-004-7102F813/divisions-Austronesian-languages.jpg" alt="Austronesian languages" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/7493-050-2729B310/China-emperor-Han-Wudi-Chunqiu-Period.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/1004" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/7493-004-596B98E8/China-emperor-Han-Wudi-Chunqiu-Period.jpg" alt="China" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/153388-050-EC91957A/Sculptures-Borobudur-Java-Indonesia.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/162551" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/153388-004-F6F3D159/Sculptures-Borobudur-Java-Indonesia.jpg" alt="Sculptures at Borobudur, central Java, Indonesia." height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/61412-050-A4FCE8CE/Ruins-pagodas-shrines-Buddhist-Myanmar-Pagan.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/108738" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/61412-004-6321A5A9/Ruins-pagodas-shrines-Buddhist-Myanmar-Pagan.jpg" alt="Pagan, Myanmar" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/5674-050-57803272/temples-complex-Angkor-Thom-Cambodia.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/4218" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/5674-004-F623CF7E/temples-complex-Angkor-Thom-Cambodia.jpg" alt="Angkor, Cambodia: Angkor Thom ruins" height="50" /> </a> <a href="/video/Overview-temple-complex-Angkor-Wat-Cambodia/191707" data-href="/media/1/556509/191707" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <div class="position-relative --aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/65/179565-138-7E019A96/Overview-temple-complex-Angkor-Wat-Cambodia.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="The mystery and preservation of Angkor's temple complex" class="col-100" /> <div class="btn btn-sm btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%)"> <em class="material-icons font-14" data-icon="play_arrow" > </em> </div> </div> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/4030-050-F7A9E49A/Khmer-empire-1200.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/3395" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/4030-004-48FAE49C/Khmer-empire-1200.jpg" alt="Khmer empire c. 1200" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/31/22431-050-D2EAD756/Ayutthaya-kingdom.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/3398" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/31/22431-004-D57B9B65/Ayutthaya-kingdom.jpg" alt="Ayutthaya kingdom" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/32/4032-050-5ADE5E60/Malacca-empire-1500.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/3396" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/32/4032-004-FE00CECD/Malacca-empire-1500.jpg" alt="Malacca empire in 1500" height="50" /> </a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Previous"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span> </button> <button disabled class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Next"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span> </button> </div> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-questions"> <div 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Nevertheless, it seems clear that the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/region-geography" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">region</a> has been inhabited from the earliest times. Hominid fossil remains date from approximately 1,500,000 years ago and those of <em>Homo sapiens</em> from approximately 40,000 years ago. Furthermore, until about 7000 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> the seas were some 150 feet (50 metres) lower than they are now, and the area west of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Makassar-Strait" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Makassar Strait</a> consisted of a web of watered plains that sometimes is called Sundaland. These land connections perhaps account for the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="coherence" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherence" data-type="MW">coherence</a> of early <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/human-development" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">human development</a> observed in the <span id="ref509065"></span>Hoabinhian <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="culture" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture" data-type="MW">culture</a>, which lasted from about 13,000 to 5000 or 4000 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/stone-tool-industry" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">stone tools</a> used by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/hunter-gatherer" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">hunting and gathering</a> societies across Southeast Asia during this period show a remarkable degree of similarity in design and development. When the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/sea-level" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">sea level</a> rose to approximately its present level about 6000 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, conditions were created for a more variegated <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="environment" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment" data-type="MW">environment</a> and, therefore, for more extensive differentiation in human development. While migration from outside the region may have taken place, it did not do so in a massive or clearly punctuated fashion; local evolutionary processes and the circulation of peoples were far more powerful forces in shaping the region’s cultural landscape.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span></section> <section data-level="2" id="ref52412"><h2 class="h2">Technological developments and population expansion</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Perhaps because of a particular combination of geophysical and climatic factors, early Southeast Asia did not develop uniformly in the direction of increasingly complex societies. Not only have significant hunting and gathering populations continued to exist into the 21st century, but the familiar cultural sequences triggered by such events as the discovery of agriculture or metallurgy do not seem to apply. This is not to say that the technological capabilities of early Southeast Asian peoples were negligible, for sophisticated <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/metalwork" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">metalworking</a> (bronze) and agriculture (rice) were being practiced by the end of the 3rd millennium <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> in northeastern <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Thailand" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Thailand</a> and northern <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Vietnam</a>, and sailing vessels of advanced design and sophisticated navigational skills were spread over a wider area by the same time or earlier. Significantly, these technologies do not appear to have been borrowed from elsewhere but were <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="indigenous" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indigenous" data-type="MW">indigenous</a> and distinctive in character.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="2108" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/2004-004-7102F813/divisions-Austronesian-languages.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/556509/2108"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/2004-004-7102F813/divisions-Austronesian-languages.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/2004-004-7102F813/divisions-Austronesian-languages.jpg?w=300" alt="Austronesian languages" data-width="630" data-height="298" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/2004-004-7102F813/divisions-Austronesian-languages.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/2108">Austronesian languages</a><span>Major divisions of the Austronesian languages.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">These technological changes may partially account for two crucial developments in Southeast Asia’s later prehistory. The first is the extraordinary seaborne <span id="ref509066"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/human-migration" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">expansion</a> of speakers of Proto-Austronesian languages and their descendants, speakers of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Austronesian-languages" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Austronesian</a> (or Malayo-Polynesian) languages, which occurred over a period of 5,000 years or more and came to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="encompass" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encompass" data-type="MW">encompass</a> a vast area and to stretch nearly half the circumference of Earth at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Equator" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Equator</a>. This outward movement of people and culture was evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the result of societal preference for small groups and a tendency of groups to hive off once a certain population size had been reached. It began as early as 4000 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, when <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Taiwan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Taiwan</a> was populated from the Asian mainland, and subsequently it continued southward through the northern <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Philippines</a> (3rd millennium <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>), central <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Indonesia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Indonesia</a> (2nd millennium <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>), and western and eastern Indonesia (2nd and 1st millennia <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>). From approximately 1000 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> on the expansion continued both eastward into the Pacific, where that <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="immense" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/immense" data-type="EB">immense</a> region was populated in a process continuing to about 1000 <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span> as voyagers reached the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Hawaii-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hawaiian Islands</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-Zealand" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">New Zealand</a>, and westward, where Malay peoples reached and settled the island of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Madagascar" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Madagascar</a> sometime between 500 and 700 <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>, bringing with them (among other things) bananas, which are native to Southeast Asia. Thus, for a considerable period of time, the Southeast Asian region contributed to world cultural history, rather than merely accepting outside influences, as frequently has been suggested.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The second development, which began possibly as early as 1000 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, centred on the production of fine <span id="ref509067"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Bronze-Age" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">bronze</a> and the fashioning of bronze-and-<span id="ref509068"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Iron-Age" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">iron</a> objects, particularly as they have been found at the site in northern Vietnam known as <span id="ref509069"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dong-Son-culture" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Dong Son</a>. The earliest objects consisted of socketed plowshares and axes, shaft-hole sickles, spearheads, and such small items as fishhooks and personal ornaments. By about 500 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> the Dong Son culture had begun producing the bronze drums for which it is known. The drums are large objects (some weigh more than 150 pounds [70 kg]), and they were produced by the difficult <span id="ref509070"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/lost-wax-process" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">lost-wax</a> casting process and decorated with fine geometric shapes and depictions of animals and humans. This metal industry was not derived from similar industries in China or India. Rather, the Dong Son period offers one of the most powerful—though not necessarily the only or earliest—examples of Southeast Asian societies transforming themselves into more densely populated, hierarchical, and centralized <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="communities" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communities" data-type="MW">communities</a>. Since typical drums, either originals or local renditions, have been found throughout Southeast Asia and since they are associated with a rich trade in exotics and other goods, the Dong Son culture also suggests that the region as a whole consisted not of isolated, primitive <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="niches" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/niches" data-type="MW">niches</a> of human settlement but of a variety of societies and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="cultures" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cultures" data-type="MW">cultures</a> tied together by broad and long-extant trading patterns. Although none of these societies possessed writing, some displayed considerable sophistication and technological skill, and, although none appears to have <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constituted" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituted" data-type="MW">constituted</a> a territorial centralized state, new and more complex polities were forming.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span></section> <section data-level="2" id="ref52413"><h2 class="h2">Influence of China and India</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="1004" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/7493-050-2729B310/China-emperor-Han-Wudi-Chunqiu-Period.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/556509/1004"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/7493-050-2729B310/China-emperor-Han-Wudi-Chunqiu-Period.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/7493-050-2729B310/China-emperor-Han-Wudi-Chunqiu-Period.jpg?w=300" alt="China" data-width="1600" data-height="934" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/7493-050-2729B310/China-emperor-Han-Wudi-Chunqiu-Period.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/1004">China</a><span>China under the Han emperor Wudi (c. 100 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) and (inset) at the end of the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn) Period (c. 500 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>).</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Between approximately 150 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> and 150 <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>, most of Southeast Asia was first influenced by the more mature cultures of its neighbours to the north and west. Thus began a process that lasted for the better part of a millennium and fundamentally changed Southeast Asia. In some ways the circumstances were very different. <span id="ref509071"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-China" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">China</a>, concerned about increasingly powerful chiefdoms in Vietnam disturbing its trade, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="encroached" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encroached" data-type="MW">encroached</a> into the region and by the end of the 1st century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> had incorporated it as a remote province of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Han-dynasty" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Han empire</a>. For generations, the Vietnamese opposed Chinese rule, but they were unable to gain their independence until 939 <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>. From <span id="ref509072"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-India" class="md-crosslink ">India</a>, however, there is no evidence of conquests, colonization, or even extensive migration. Indians came to Southeast Asia, but they did not come to rule, and no Indian power appears to have pursued an interest in controlling a Southeast Asian power from afar, a factor that may help to explain why only the Vietnamese accepted the Chinese model.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Yet, in other ways the processes of Indianization and Sinicization were remarkably similar. Southeast Asia already was socially and culturally <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="diverse" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diverse" data-type="MW">diverse</a>, making accommodation easy. Furthermore, indigenous peoples shaped the adaption and adoption of outside influences and, indeed, seem to have sought out concepts and practices that <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="enhanced" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enhanced" data-type="MW">enhanced</a> rather than redirected changes already underway in their own societies. They also rejected some components: for example, some of the vocabulary and general theories related to the Indian notions of social <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="hierarchy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy" data-type="MW">hierarchy</a> were borrowed but much of the specific practices were not, and neither Indian nor Chinese views of women as socially and legally inferior were accepted. In the later stages of the assimilation process—particularly in the Indianized areas—local syncretism often produced exuberant variations, which, despite familiar appearances, were expressions of local genius rather than just inspired borrowings.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div 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data-type="other"><div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex"><div class="rw-track d-flex align-items-center"><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="162551" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/153388-050-EC91957A/Sculptures-Borobudur-Java-Indonesia.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/556509/162551"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/153388-050-EC91957A/Sculptures-Borobudur-Java-Indonesia.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/153388-050-EC91957A/Sculptures-Borobudur-Java-Indonesia.jpg?w=300" alt="Sculptures at Borobudur, central Java, Indonesia." data-width="1600" data-height="1067" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">1 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/153388-050-EC91957A/Sculptures-Borobudur-Java-Indonesia.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/162551">Sculptures at Borobudur, central Java, Indonesia.</a><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="108738" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/61412-050-A4FCE8CE/Ruins-pagodas-shrines-Buddhist-Myanmar-Pagan.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/556509/108738"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/61412-050-A4FCE8CE/Ruins-pagodas-shrines-Buddhist-Myanmar-Pagan.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/61412-050-A4FCE8CE/Ruins-pagodas-shrines-Buddhist-Myanmar-Pagan.jpg?w=300" alt="Pagan, Myanmar" data-width="1600" data-height="968" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">2 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/61412-050-A4FCE8CE/Ruins-pagodas-shrines-Buddhist-Myanmar-Pagan.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/108738">Pagan, Myanmar</a><span>Ruins of ancient Buddhist shrines and pagodas, Pagan, Myanmar.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Still, Chinese and Indian influences were anything but superficial. They provided writing systems and literature, systems of statecraft, and concepts of social hierarchy and religious belief, all of which were both of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intrinsic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intrinsic" data-type="MW">intrinsic</a> interest and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="pragmatic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pragmatic" data-type="MW">pragmatic</a> significance to Southeast Asians of the day. For elites seeking to gain and retain control over larger and more complex populations, the applications of these ideas were obvious, but it would also seem that the sheer beauty and symbolic power of Hindu and Buddhist arts tapped a responsive vein in the Southeast Asian soul. The result was an imposing array of <span id="ref509073"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/architecture" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">architectural</a> and other cultural wonders, at first very much in the Indian image and hewing close to current styles and later in more original, indigenous interpretations. The seriousness and profundity with which all this activity was <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="undertaken" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/undertaken" data-type="EB">undertaken</a> is unmistakable. By the 7th century <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Palembang" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Palembang</a> in southern Sumatra was being visited by Chinese and other Buddhist devotees from throughout <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Asia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Asia</a>, who came to study doctrine and to copy manuscripts in institutions that rivaled in importance those in India itself. Later, beginning in the 8th century, temple and court complexes of surpassing grandeur and beauty were constructed in central Java, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Myanmar</a>, and Cambodia; the <span id="ref509074"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Borobudur" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Borobudur</a> of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shailendra-dynasty" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Śailendra dynasty</a> in Java, the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="myriad" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myriad" data-type="MW">myriad</a> temples of the Burman dynastic capital of <span id="ref509075"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Pagan-Myanmar" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Pagan</a>, and the monuments constructed at <span id="ref509076"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Angkor" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Angkor</a> during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Khmer-Empire" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Khmer empire</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cambodia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Cambodia</a> rank without question among the glories of the ancient world.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span></section> <section data-level="2" id="ref52414"><h2 class="h2">Rise of indigenous states</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the realm of politics, Indian influence accompanied the rise of new political entities, which, since they do not readily fall under the Western rubric of “states,” have been called <em><span id="ref509077"></span>mandala</em>s. The <em>mandala</em> was not so much a territorial unit as a fluid field of power that emanated, in concentric circles, from a central court and depended for its continued authority largely on the court’s ability to balance alliances and to influence the flow of trade and human resources. Such a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conception" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conception" data-type="MW">conception</a> of political organization already had surfaced among Southeast Asians, but Indian civilization provided powerful <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="metaphors" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphors" data-type="MW">metaphors</a> for the change underway and for ways of extending it. The <em>mandala</em> was the predominant form of the Southeast Asian state until it was displaced in the 19th century.</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Between approximately the 2nd century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> and the 6th century <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>, <em>mandala</em> polities appeared throughout Southeast Asia in the major river valleys and at strategic landfalls for sea traffic—generally, locations where routes for local and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/international-trade" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">international trade</a> crossed. These communities took different forms, depending on their physical setting. For example, walled and moated settlements predominated in much of the mainland but do not seem to have been constructed in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/East-Indies" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">insular Southeast Asia</a>. <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="Yet" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/Yet" data-type="EB">Yet</a> they served similar purposes to and frequently shared characteristics with <em>mandala</em>s in the same immediate region. <em>Mandala</em> sites have been located in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mekong-River" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mekong</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Chao-Phraya-River" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Chao Phraya</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Irrawaddy-River" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Irrawaddy</a> river valleys; along the coasts of central Vietnam, western and northern <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Java-island-Indonesia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Java</a>, and eastern <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Borneo-island-Pacific-Ocean" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Borneo</a>; and on the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Isthmus-of-Kra" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Isthmus of Kra</a>. One of the most intriguing sites, called <span id="ref509078"></span>Oc Eo, is in the Mekong delta region of southern Vietnam. This port settlement, which flourished between the 1st and 6th centuries <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span> amid a complex of other settlements connected by canals (some up to 60 miles long), was not only an extraordinarily rich emporium dealing in articles from as far as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Rome" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rome</a> and inner Asia, but it was also a local manufacturing centre producing its own jewelry, pottery, and other trade goods. Almost certainly it also fed itself from wet-rice agriculture practiced in the surrounding <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="delta" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/delta" data-type="EB">delta</a>. Little is known, however, about the nature of state structure in Oc Eo, although it seems to have been one of—and perhaps was prime among—an assemblage of local <em>mandala</em>-type principalities.</p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD11 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">After the 6th century there emerged a number of larger and more powerful <em>mandala</em> states, principally in Cambodia, Myanmar, Sumatra, and Java. Often designated kingdoms or empires, these states nevertheless functioned and were structured upon the same principles that had governed their predecessors. They were, in some respects, unstable and prone to fluctuation because of shifting relations with outside powers and constant internal struggles for the position of overlordship, but they also were remarkably durable. No two states were exactly alike, each occupying a particular ecological <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="niche" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/niche" data-type="MW">niche</a> and exploiting a particular combination of opportunities to survive by trade, agriculture, and war. The cultural impact of their courts long outlasted their political grasp and continued to inform their societies until modern times.</p><span class="marker MOD11 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD12 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Perhaps the outstanding example of this durability is <span id="ref509079"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Srivijaya-empire" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Srivijaya</a>, the great <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sumatra" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sumatran</a> trading empire that dominated much of Southeast Asian commerce from about the 7th to the 13th century. Srivijaya does not appear to have been heavily urbanized or to have had a continuously occupied capital during its roughly 700 years of existence, nor does it seem to have possessed boundaries and clearly <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="delineated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delineated" data-type="MW">delineated</a> territories. Its armies, while they could be mustered and quickly dispatched overseas, were weapons of limited use. Instead, Srivijaya maintained its authority in a shifting and extremely varied trading world largely by means of a shrewd brand of cultural and economic politics that involved, among other things, offering a protective and mutually <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="beneficial" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beneficial" data-type="MW">beneficial</a> trading environment to all comers and maintaining a courtly culture from which the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="idiom" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idiom" data-type="MW">idiom</a> of overlordship issued grandly and convincingly. Srivijaya was ruled by a formula supple enough to attract trade from all quarters and to exploit it at the same time.</p><span class="marker MOD12 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD13 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies multiple medialist slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100" data-type="other"><div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex"><div class="rw-track d-flex align-items-center"><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="4218" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/5674-050-57803272/temples-complex-Angkor-Thom-Cambodia.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/556509/4218"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/5674-050-57803272/temples-complex-Angkor-Thom-Cambodia.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/5674-050-57803272/temples-complex-Angkor-Thom-Cambodia.jpg?w=300" alt="Angkor, Cambodia: Angkor Thom ruins" data-width="1600" data-height="1067" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">1 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/5674-050-57803272/temples-complex-Angkor-Thom-Cambodia.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/4218">Angkor, Cambodia: Angkor Thom ruins</a><span>Ruined temples at the Angkor Thom complex, Angkor, Cambodia.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="191707" data-asm-type="video"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="video" video-id="179565"><a data-id="179565" class="gtm-assembly-link d-flex justify-content-center" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9" href="/video/Overview-temple-complex-Angkor-Wat-Cambodia/-191707"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/65/179565-138-7E019A96/Overview-temple-complex-Angkor-Wat-Cambodia.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop" alt="The mystery and preservation of Angkor's temple complex" loading="lazy"><script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/6qkfv80o.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/65/179565-138-7E019A96/Overview-temple-complex-Angkor-Wat-Cambodia.jpg" ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/A4IqXvVp", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/NKj6hMgi.m3u8" } </script><div class="btn btn-xl btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%)"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_arrow"></em></div><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">2 of 2</div></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><span class="md-assembly-title font-weight-bold mr-5 d-inline font-sans-serif md-video-caption" video-control="179565">The mystery and preservation of Angkor's temple complex</span><span>Overview of Angkor Wat, a temple complex in Angkor, Cambodia.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><a class="font-14 mt-10 d-inline-block" href="/place/history-of-Southeast-Asia-556509/images-videos">See all videos for this article</a></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Whatever the achievements of Srivijaya, the <span id="ref509080"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Khmer" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Khmer</a> (Cambodian) state that flourished in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Tonle-Sap" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Tonle Sap</a> region roughly between the 9th and mid-13th centuries is widely regarded as the most impressive of the concentrically arranged ancient Southeast Asian states. This admiration largely stems from the state’s extensive architectural remains, including the renowned Angkor Thom and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Angkor-Wat" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Angkor Wat</a> temple complexes. In many respects, however, the Angkorian imperial achievement was singular. Though informed by the <em>mandala</em> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="paradigm" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paradigm" data-type="MW">paradigm</a>, the Khmer carried it further and shaped it more distinctively than other Southeast Asians before or since.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD13 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD14 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="3395" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/4030-050-F7A9E49A/Khmer-empire-1200.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/556509/3395"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/4030-050-F7A9E49A/Khmer-empire-1200.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/4030-050-F7A9E49A/Khmer-empire-1200.jpg?w=300" alt="Khmer empire c. 1200" data-width="1446" data-height="2000" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/4030-050-F7A9E49A/Khmer-empire-1200.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556509/3395">Khmer empire c. 1200</a><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">At its zenith, <span id="ref509082"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Angkor" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Angkor</a> may have supported a population of one million in a relatively small area, with an elite apparatus and a population of bondsmen far greater than any of Cambodia’s neighbours. In achieving this, however, the Khmer state surrendered the flexibility and balance critical to the <em>mandala</em> pattern and eventually fell victim to its own brittleness. Other concentric states in early Southeast Asia rose and fell; the Khmer proved unable to revive theirs once it had fallen.</p><span class="marker MOD14 mod-inline"></span></section></section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":4,"pageId":556509,"pageLength":2264,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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