India and the Southeast Asian region share a long history of cultural and commercial ties. India’s oldest Sanskrit and Pali language texts contain references to this region using various names such as Katakosha (Land of the Gods), Suvarnabhumi or Suvarnadvipa (Island of Gold).
During his visit to Thailand for the Ninth India-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited the Devasthanam in Bangkok on Thursday. This Devasthanam is the Royal Brahmin Office of the Royal Court of Thailand and the official center of Hinduism in Thailand. He offered morning prayers at the Bangkok Devasthanam today (Thursday). Phra Maharajaguru was blessed by fate. It underscores our shared religious and cultural heritage,” he tweeted, emphasizing the long history of cultural ties between India and Thailand.
Creation of ‘Greater India’ in Southeast Asia
India and the Southeast Asian region share a long history of cultural and commercial ties. Texts in India’s oldest languages, Sanskrit and Pali, refer to the region using various names such as Katakosha, Suvarnabhumi (Land of the Gods) or Suvarnadvipa (Island of Gold). Indicates that the region attracted Indian traders. The region is known to have flourished trade in perfumes, aromatic wood and most importantly gold.
In recent times, European and Indian scholars have referred to Southeast Asia as ‘Far India’, ‘Greater India’ or ‘Hinduized or Indianised states’.
The first person to deeply study the process of ‘Indianization’ in Southeast Asian countries was a French scholar named Georges Godes. He coined the term ‘Distant India’ to refer to the states that experienced the civilizing activity of India. Geographically, it refers to the states of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaya.
Sanskrit, Buddhist and Jain texts refer to contacts between the two regions going back two thousand years. It mainly played an important role in sea voyages and trade. Historian Karmveer Singh, in a study titled ‘Cultural Dimensions of India-Thailand Relations: A Historical Perspective’ (2022), notes that “traders brought Indian religion, culture, traditions and philosophies with them to the shores of Southeast Asia”. “They were accompanied by Brahmin priests, Buddhist monks, scholars and adventurers. Also, all of them played an important role in transmitting Indian culture to the indigenous people of Southeast Asia. Some merchants and Brahmin priests married local women. They were often employed by local rulers,” writes Karmveer Singh.
In his 1968 book ‘The Indianized States of Southeast Asia’, Godes writes that since the beginning of the Common Era, these relations led to the creation of Indian kingdoms. However, he cautions that Indian expansion into Southeast Asia cannot be equated with European colonialism. For, Indians are not entirely strangers to the population of Southeast Asia; They had business relations from the beginning.” He says.
In the early 20th century, nationalist historians of India often referred to ancient Indian states in Southeast Asia as its ‘colonies’. For example, historian RC Majumdar has mentioned
“The Hindu colonizers brought with them the whole structure of their culture and civilization. It was completely transplanted among peoples who had not emerged from their primitive savagery.” mentioned that.
More recently, however, this colonial theory has been rejected on the grounds that there is little evidence of conquest or direct political influence in ancient Southeast Asian states.
Funan was the first Indian state to emerge in Southeast Asia. It is the precursor of modern Cambodia and Lin-Yi in southern Vietnam. Both of these date back to the second century AD.
Contemporary Southeast Asian society bears abundant evidence of the cultural impact of these interactions. Many local languages in the region, including Thai, Malay and Javanese, contain significant proportions of words from Sanskrit, Pali and Dravidian languages. The ‘Thai’ language was written in a script derived from the South Indian Pallava script.
India was the most important influential religion in Southeast Asia and Saivism, Vaishnavism, Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism and later Sinhalese Buddhism came into practice in the region. “Political and administrative systems, concepts, especially the concept of divine authority and kingship, were largely shaped by Indian practices. For example, the King of Thailand is considered an incarnation of Vishnu,” writes Karmveer Singh.
Stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata are regularly featured in puppet shows and theatrical events. In terms of architecture, monuments like Borobudur Stupa in Java, Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia and My Son Temple in Vietnam are good examples of Indian influence in this region.
In the early centuries of the common year, Thailand, historically known as Siam, was under the rule of the Funan Empire. Following the fall of the Funan Empire in the sixth century, it came under the rule of the Buddhist king Dwarvati. In the 10th century, the region came under Khmer rule. It is known to have links with India.
In his essay, Karmveer Singh writes that archeological, epigraphic and other evidence indicates that Indian cultural penetration in Thailand dates back to the early centuries of the Common Era or earlier. A Tamil inscription found at Takua-pa testifies to trade contacts between the Pallava region of southern India and southern Thailand. A trading company of South Indians called Manikarramam established a settlement here and built their own temple and pond, living as a ‘self-contained’ colony,” he wrote.
It is noteworthy that Brahminism and Buddhism coexisted in Thailand in the pre-Sukhothai period of the 13th century. The Mon kings of Dwarvati and the Khmers supported Buddhism and built many Buddhist buildings. But at the same time they adopted Brahmin customs and practices. While Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country today, the country has many temples that house Buddhist and Brahman deities side by side, reflecting the thriving coexistence of the two religions. Apart from the popular Brahmanical deities like Ganesha, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, those largely absent from the Indian socio-religious landscape like Indra are worshiped in Thailand.
Writer S.N. Desai, in her book ‘Hinduism in Thai People’s Lives’ (2005), notes that nothing of Hindu origin influenced the tone of Thai life more deeply than the epic Ramayana. The Ramayana – known in Thailand as Ramakriti (Glory of Rama) or Ramakyen (Life Notes of Rama) – has provided an outlet of cultural expression for elites and commoners alike in Thailand. Episodes from the epic are painted on the walls of Buddhist temples and plays and songs are composed.
Although there is no archaeological evidence for the story of Rama in Thailand, some cities in the country have legends related to Rama’s life. For example, Ayutthaya in central Thailand, which originated in the 10th century, derives from Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama. “Since the 13th century, many Thai kings have adopted the title Rama. It became hereditary during the present dynasty.” Desai points out.
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