The Indianized states of Southeast Asia

Abstract

The British historian D. G. E. Hall has said this work of synthesis and interpretation is one "to which the highest tribute must be paid, not only as a work of rare scholarship, but also for presenting for the first time the early history of Southeast Asia as a whole." Westerners who look in vain for a thread of continuity in the actions and attitudes of Southeast Asians will find Coed{u00E8}s presents them with not a thread, but a fabric. From a lifetime of study of Chinese, Arabian, and European chronicles, and from deciphering ancient annals and inscriptions - from Burma to South Viet-Nam, and from Laos to Indonesia - Coed{u00E8}s has found the story of India's expansion woven into the cultures of Southeast Asia. Preceded by China, who had similar aspirations, India's civilizing influence beyond the Ganges "is one of the outstanding events in the history of the world." Although the peak of her influence was over by 1500, the date Coed{u00E8}s' study ends, India's heritage permeates the art, law, literature, religion, and politics of present-day Southeast Asia. It is with justifiable pride that Indian scholars refer to the history of Southeast Asia as the history of "Greater India." In his editor's note, Walter Vella states that the present work "has been universally acclaimed and - the surest proof of its impact - heavily relied on by all later scholars." First published in 1944, with a second edition in 1948, and revised by Coed{u00E8}s in 1964, Les Etats hindouises d'lndochine et d'lndonesie "remains the basic text for those who seek to understand Southeast Asia - not only its ancient past, but also its immediate present - for the Southeast Asia of today cannot be understood without a knowledge of the traditional values and institutions, which remain vital, and which present leaders seem increasingly to esteem as a guide to the future."