Table of Contents
List of Maps and Illustrations ix
Glossary xv
Preface xvii
Introduction 1
1 Child of a Drowned Parent 7
Describes how Nusantaria's maritime world was created by the flooding of Sundaland as the sea waters rose dramatically in the years before 7000 B P and the origins of its people.
2 Nusantaria's Defining Features and Early People 17
The weather and wind patterns that shaped its land and livelihood and required its inhabitants to moue by sea and trade its own and others' diverse products.
3 To Babylon and Back 29
Finds the earliest evidence of sea links between Nusantaria and lands to the west, bringing spices to Babylon and linking to Egypt and Rome via India and the Horn of Africa.
4 Ghosts of Early Empires 38
Several trading states emerge, notably Funan, as east-west trade using a land route between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea develops.
5 Culture from India, Goods from China 46
Trade leads to the entry of new ideas: Hinduism then Buddhism, Sanskrit and Indian notions of kingship are grafted on to the existing culture and Austronesian languages.
6 Srivijaya: Vanished Great Mandala 57
Advances in ships and navigation lead to use of the Melaka straits and the emergence of the region's first large trading empire and a centre of Buddhist learning, attracting Chinese monks to Sumatra.
7 Java Takes Centre Stage 65
The Javanese kingdom, which built great monuments such as Borobudur, linked to Srivijaya to create an even more powerful entity from land and sea wealth.
8 Tamil Tigers of Trade 72
The first and last Indian military intervention in Nusantaria, by the Chola dynasty, challenges Srivijayan dominance and gets the Tamils into China trade.
9 Champa: Master of the East Sea 77
For 1,000 years this Hindu Austronesian-speaking kingdom occupied much of the coast of what is now Vietnam, playing a key role in trade between China, the Melaka straits and Borneo.
10 Malagasy Genes and African Echoes 88
Seafaring and trading skills brought Nusantarians to settle Madagascar, leave marks on the Africa, and become players in trade in three-directional trade across the Indian Ocean.
11 China Raises its Head 100
China as source and market had long been a driver of seaborne trade, but the Chinese played no role. This began to change during the Song dynasty. Kublai Khan tried force but was defeated in Java and Vietnam.
12 The Majapahit Good Life 109
The centre of power shifts to east Java, where land development and control of trade with the Spice Islands stimulate a flowering of culture and of regional commerce.
13 Tremble and Obey: The Zheng He Voyages 119
China decides to impress its neighbours, sending vast fleets around the South China Sea and Indian Ocean and offering trade in return for nominal subservience. The effort is too costly to last.
14 Nails, Dowels and Improbable Ships 123
Dubious claims for the size of Zheng He's ships obscure the differences between Chinese and Nusantarian ships and the sheer size of the Javanese vessels soon encountered by the Portuguese.
15 Malay Melaka's Lasting Legacy 136
Indian Muslim and Chinese patronage see Melaka emerge as the major port on the straits. It becomes a centre for Malay culture and laws, which spread throughout the region.
16 The Northern Outliers 147
The now Philippine archipelago was culturally part of Nusantaria but foreign trade limited. Taiwan was even more isolated despite its proximity to China and the Okinawa trading hub.
17 Islam's Great Leap East 157
Melaka's fall to the Portuguese in 1511 spurs Muslim migration, combining with Indian, Persian, Chinese and other Muslim traders to create sultanates which conquered or absorbed Hindu states.
18 Nusantaria: Holed Near the Waterline 167
The successive arrivals of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English traders had varying imparts on the region and its rulers. But everywhere they undermined Nusantarian role in commerce.
19 Barangays and Baybayin 183
Early Spanish observers provide an insight into this core Nusantarian culture of hierarchy, boatbuilding, gold and poetry.
20 Makassar, Bugis and Freedom of the Seas 194
Some states briefly gained from the European spur to trade. One was tolerant, law-abiding Makassar. Another was their Bugis neighbours, who traded the region as seamen, settlers and rulers.
21 Where Kings Reign but Priests Rule 206
Spain was the only European to start with an overtly imperial policy. It proved better at preaching than governing. Looking to Mexico left the northern archipelago further out of the regional mainstream.
22 The Sulu Factor: Trading, Raiding, Slaving 217
One local sailing and trading success not suppressed until the end of the nineteenth century was Sulu, needling the Spanish, dealing with the British and Dutch, trading anyone and anything.
23 Nusantaria's Existential Crisis 225
The nineteenth century saw western desire for commerce become desire for control. The reasons were many, the process haphazard, but by the end of it foreigners ruled almost everywhere.
24 Labour, Capital and Kongsi: The Power of the Chinese 236
The Chinese role grew very slowly until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when settlement, encouraged by foreign commerce and rule, expanded dramatically, adding wealth but undermining local networks.
25 High Noon of Occupation 245
The last 100 years of western imperialism had more impact than the preceding 400. New borders, new institutions, new industries. Growth and disruption, wealth and anger flourished.
26 Empty Lands No Longer 252
Long thinly populated but relatively healthy Nusantaria saw a dramatic rise in numbers, faster than China. The reasons were several, the consequences uncertain.
27 Freedom, Fears and the Future 256
Nationalism followed diverging ideological paths but independent states settled into accommodation, though dependent on imported skills. Sense of common identity begins to re-emerge.
Notes 273
Bibliography 289
Index 299