Early Port Cities in the Malay Peninsula

Joachim Schliesinger

Digitized works by the same author (original publication date): Kambodscha—Ein Land sucht Anschluss an die Welt (1992). Hill Tribes of Vietnam 1—Introduction and Overview (1997). Hill Tribes of Vietnam 2—Profile of the Existing Hill Tribe Groups (1998). Ethnic Groups of Thailand—Non-Tai-Speaking Peoples (2000). Tai Groups of Thailand 1—Introduction and Overview (2001). Tai Groups of Thailand 2—Profile of the Existing Groups (2001). Ethnic Groups of Laos 1—Introduction and Overview (2003). Ethnic Groups of Laos 2—Profile of Austro-Asiatic-Speaking Peoples (2003). Ethnic Groups of Laos 3—Profile of Austro-Thai-Speaking Peoples (2003). Ethnic Groups of Laos 4—Profile of Sino-Tibetan-Speaking Peoples (2003). Ethnic Groups of Cambodia 1—Introduction and Overview (2011). Ethnic Groups of Cambodia 2—Profile of Austro-Asiatic-Speaking Peoples (2011). Ethnic Groups of Cambodia 3—Profile of Austro-Thai and Sinitic Speaking Peoples (2011). Elephants in Thailand 1—Mahouts and their Cultures Today (2010). Elephants in Thailand 2—Through the Ages (2012). Elephants in Thailand 3—White Elephants in Thailand and Neighboring Countries (2012).

Geisha—The Mysterious Japanese Entertainer (2012). Tortures and other Amenities in Asia—From the Himalayas to the Pacific Isles: From Medieval Times to Modern Days (2013). Sexuality in Asia—From South Asia to Japan (2013). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 1—Early Migration and Trade routes (2015). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 2—Early Dominant Peoples of the Mainland Region (2015). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 3—Indianization and the Temples of the Mainland; Part 1: Funan, Champa and Chenla (2015). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 3—Indianization and the Temples of the Mainland; Part 2: Early States of Angkor (2015). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 3—Indianization and the Temples of the Mainland; Part 3: Pre-Modern Thailand, Laos and Burma (2015). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 4—Early Dominant Peoples of the Maritime Region (2015). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 5—Part 1: Indianization of the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago (2015). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 5—Part 2: Hindu Temples in the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago (2015). Origin of the Tai People 1—Historical Approach (2016). Origin of the Tai People 2—Linguistic Approach (2016). Origin of the Tai People 3—Genetic and Archaeological Approaches (2016).

William C. Dodd’s ‘The Tai Race’—Annotated and Illustrated (2016). The Kingdom of Phamniet—An Early Port State of Modern Southeastern Thailand (2017). Chanthaburi City—An Ancient, Multiethnic and Significant Municipality in Southeastern Thailand (2017) The Chong People—A Pearic-Speaking Group of Southeastern Thailand and Their Kin in the Region (2017). Traditional Cannibalism in Southeast Asia and Beyond (2017). Traditional Headhunting in Southeast Asia and Beyond (2017). Traditional Human Sacrifices in Southeast Asia and Beyond (2017). Traditional Human Funerals in Southeast Asia and Beyond (2017). Traditional Slavery in Southeast Asia and Beyond (2017). Early Seafaring and Maritime Trade in India and Southeast Asia (2017). Early Port Cities in the Malay Peninsula (2017). Picture front cover: Sketch of Sungai Batu Bujang Valley (2nd - 13th century) Picture back cover: Sketch of Chola navy in the Malay Peninsula (11th century)

Early Port Cities in the Malay Peninsula

Copyright © 2017 Joachim Schliesinger.

Early Port Cities in the Malay Peninsula

Digitized by White Elephant Press in 2017.

All rights reserved.

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Contents

Introduction 1

‘Externalist’ view on history versus ‘internalist’ approach 8

Dispersions between South Asia and Southeast Asia 16

Hinduization of Funan 21

Oc Eo port of Funan 31

Maritime vs. agrarian polities (or kingdoms) 39

Southeast Asia’s maritime environment 53

The Golden Chersonese 60

Ancient Tamil people of southern India 64

Ancient scripts concerning the Malay Peninsula 71

Strategic location of the Malay Peninsula 88

Takuapa port of western Malay Peninsula 93

Chaiya city and Laem Pho port 102

Tun-sun kingdom 111

Land route across the Isthmus of Kra 116

Pan-Pan city port 122

Phu Khao Thong port 128

Khao Sam Kaeo port 133

Khuan Lukpat (Khlong Thom) 138

Tambralinga and its capital Ligor 144

Langkasuka 155

Kelantan 165

Terengganu and Tan-Tan 170

Chi Tu kingdom 175

Old Pahang or Inderapura kingdom 180

Bujang Valley port of Kedaram kingdom 183

Gangga Negara (in modern Perak state) 196

Introduction

Recent archaeological discoveries in the Malay Peninsula and intensive research in the shipbuilding, navigation and seafaring skills and capabilities of the early seafarers in the region of Southeast Asia changed the long existing opinion by historians that not the Indian seafarers with Indian ships were the first who crossed the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia, but Southeast Asians who crossed the Bay of Bengal in their own constructed vessels to arrive on the Indian coast. The Austronesians have a well-developed maritime past since 5000 BC and had the monopoly for maritime trade in the Southeast Asian region until the mid- or end-1st millennium BC. Even though the Indians had also established in the area of the Indus

Ptolemy's map of Asia, showing the Golden Chersonese (Malay Peninsula)

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a well established naval history, they concentrated their maritime trade activities to the civilized countries in the western direction of the Middle East and Egypt. The ancient Chinese, as we know now, retrained for a long time from voyaging the Southeast Asia seas but used the Austronesians with their vessels to distribute Chinese wares across the regions as far as India, where it was reloaded to Indian or Middle Eastern ships to continue the voyage across the Arabian Sea as far as the Mediterranean Sea. The Chinese were in fact latecomers in maritime history and developed a substantial and strong naval presence in the South China Sea and beyond only since the 13th century AD. Contemporary historians follow now the new perception that not only in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BC but also in the first centuries AD the Austronesian-speaking peoples of Southeast Asia, especially the ethnic Malay and Cham peoples, were the dominant seafarers in this region of the globe. For detailed information see Jaochim Schliesinger, Early Seafaring and Maritime Trade in India and

Locations of some ancient sites and museums in the Malay Peninsula

Locations of some ancient sites and museums in the Malay Peninsula

Chola navy in the Malay Peninsula (11th century)

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Early Port Cities in the Malay Peninsula is a work about the historical spread of Indian (or better Tamil) culture from southern India across the Bay of Bengal to the Malay Peninsula and from there to other parts of mainland Southeast Asia (Funan, Champa, Chenla and Dvaravati) and finally to maritime Southeast Asia (especially the islands of Sumatra and Java). It was an export of first Hindu and later Buddhist values and concepts from India to Southeast Asia, designated by Western scholars as Indianization. As this paper will show, in reality it was not an Indianization but a Tamilization, since the ethnic Tamil people of the southernmost region of India—or modern state of Tamil Nadu—played the active part to transfer their religious and cultural traits from their homeland to Southeast Asia. Recent archaeological finds in the region have proven that the ancient port cities in the Malay Peninsula are much older than until lately postulated by experts and that their importance within the Southeast Asian region was much more relevant as for a long time believed. The new discoveries will drive contemporary historians to change their common view about prehistoric and early Common Era developments and to rewrite the history of Southeast Asia in the 1st millennium AD. The text is complemented with many applicable illustrations.