Blog 4: India Discovers Southeast Asia
Updated: Jul 28
JOURNEY 4 - SERIES 2 - BLOG 4 - A PART OF 10 BLOGS IN SERIES 2 - Reading time: 9 Mins
The Search for Suvarnabhumi — The Legendary Land of Gold
“History remembers the empires that conquered by force. It often forgets the civilizations that transformed the world through commerce, curiosity and ideas.”
As Rome’s demand for Indian luxury goods weakened, Indian traders increasingly looked east towards an even greater opportunity. Beyond the Bay of Bengal lay the legendary Suvarnabhumi—the “Land of Gold.” Drawn first by commerce and later by curiosity, Indian merchants crossed to Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra and Java, where they established trading communities that would eventually reshape the political, religious and cultural landscape of Southeast Asia.
This was the beginning of one of history’s most remarkable examples of peaceful cultural exchange—the Indianisation of Southeast Asia.
By the first century BC, India had become one of the world’s great commercial powers. To the west, Roman merchants eagerly purchased Indian pepper, cotton and gemstones. Yet India’s greatest opportunities increasingly lay to the east, beyond the Bay of Bengal, where an immense region of extraordinary natural wealth stretched across what is now Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. At the time, this vast region consisted of hundreds of kingdoms, tribal societies and trading communities.
Leaving ports on India’s Coromandel Coast, ships crossed the Bay of Bengal and could reach the coast of Myanmar within two or three weeks. From there, experienced sailors continued south through the Straits of Malacca into one of the richest maritime environments on Earth.
One word appears repeatedly in ancient Indian literature to describe the promise of this region: Suvarnabhumi. Literally translated from Sanskrit, it means “The Land of Gold.”
Exactly where Suvarnabhumi was located remains debated by historians, and different ancient writers applied the name to different parts of Southeast Asia. Gold certainly existed throughout the region, with important deposits in Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo and mainland river systems. Yet merchants sought much more than precious metals. They found forests producing camphor, one of the ancient world’s most valuable aromatic products; cloves and nutmeg from eastern Indonesia; resins used in perfumes and medicines; rare hardwoods; tin; ivory; exotic birds; tortoiseshell; and pearls.
The search for gold opened the door to a much larger world of commerce.
Many Indian merchants established permanent communities throughout Southeast Asia. Commercial settlements gradually evolved into multicultural towns where Indian traditions blended naturally with indigenous customs. As I researched this period, one question became increasingly important to me: why did Southeast Asian rulers welcome Indian merchants so enthusiastically?
The answer was practical. Trade generated prosperity. Indian merchants connected local kingdoms with the largest commercial network in Asia. Ports handling international trade became wealthier, kings collected customs duties, farmers found new markets and craftsmen obtained foreign customers. Everyone benefited. Local rulers adopted those Indian elements that strengthened their own kingdoms while preserving their indigenous traditions.
This is the key to understanding what followed. Indian influence did not spread simply because Indians arrived. It spread because Southeast Asian rulers and societies recognised value in particular Indian ideas and chose to adopt them. What emerged was not an Indian empire, but a long process of selective cultural adaptation.
Perhaps the most influential export was not a physical object at all. It was a language. Sanskrit had already become India’s language of learning, religion, literature and royal authority. Like Latin in medieval Europe, Sanskrit became the prestige language of educated elites, and across Southeast Asia rulers began commissioning inscriptions in Sanskrit.
Its adoption gave rulers access to a sophisticated language of government, religion, literature and political legitimacy. It connected royal courts with a wider intellectual world while allowing local elites to express new ideas of authority and civilization. Yet Sanskrit did not erase local languages. Instead, it became part of a wider process in which Indian concepts were absorbed into existing societies and reshaped to meet local needs.
Indian political philosophy also introduced more elaborate concepts of monarchy. Many Southeast Asian societies had previously been organised around local chiefs or regional rulers. Under Indian influence, the king was no longer simply a tribal leader. He became a guardian of cosmic order. His authority carried religious significance, ceremonies legitimised his rule and royal courts adopted Indian court rituals.
These concepts offered ambitious rulers practical advantages by providing frameworks through which larger and more complex states could express political authority. Once again, Indian influence spread not because it was imposed, but because local rulers found it useful.
Religion formed another powerful element of this cultural exchange. Indian merchants rarely travelled without priests, and temples often appeared soon after permanent trading communities became established. Initially, Hinduism seems to have spread most strongly among ruling elites. Buddhism followed a somewhat different path, with teachings that appealed across broader sections of society. Monasteries welcomed travellers, monks established educational centres and pilgrims carried manuscripts between India and Southeast Asia.
Importantly, neither religion simply replaced indigenous beliefs. Local people incorporated Indian gods into existing spiritual traditions, creating new religious cultures that were influenced by India but rooted in Southeast Asian societies. This pattern of adaptation rather than replacement became one of the defining characteristics of India’s influence across the region.
Over time, these commercial and cultural relationships contributed to the emergence of kingdoms displaying strong Indian influence. Among the earliest was Funan, centred in the Mekong Delta. Chinese records describe Funan as an important commercial state with close connections to India. Further north, Champa, in present-day central Vietnam, developed into another remarkable Indianised kingdom whose rulers built magnificent Hindu temples. Across the islands of Indonesia, Indian influence spread through Java and Sumatra, where merchant settlements evolved into prosperous kingdoms controlling vital maritime trade routes.
This was no longer simply a story of visiting merchants. Indian ideas had become embedded within political systems, religious traditions and court cultures.
Perhaps no evidence illustrates this transformation more vividly than architecture. The earliest temples built in Southeast Asia closely resemble Indian designs. Stone carvings depict Hindu gods, Buddhist sculptures reflect Indian artistic styles and sacred geometry follows Indian principles. Centuries later, this process would produce some of humanity’s greatest monuments: Angkor Wat, Borobudur and Prambanan.
Over the following centuries, Southeast Asia witnessed the construction of magnificent temple complexes, the flowering of extraordinary kingdoms and the emergence of unique cultures that blended Indian and indigenous traditions in ways that continue to shape the region today. The forests of Cambodia, the plains of Myanmar and the volcanic landscapes of Java became home to some of the greatest monuments ever built by human hands. Each owes an intellectual debt to India while remaining unmistakably Southeast Asian.
As I travelled through Southeast Asia after my journey through India, I found evidence of this remarkable story almost everywhere I looked. It appeared in temples, languages, place names, royal ceremonies, mythology, architecture and religious festivals. The influence of ancient India had become woven into the fabric of Southeast Asian civilization.
Nothing illustrates this transformation more magnificently than Angkor Wat. Hidden for centuries beneath the forests of Cambodia, Angkor Wat is today recognised as the world’s largest religious monument. When I first stood before its immense sandstone towers, I realised I was looking at far more than a spectacular archaeological site. I was witnessing the greatest architectural expression of Indian civilization ever constructed outside India.
Built during the early twelfth century by King Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Its layout reflects the sacred geography of Hindu cosmology. The five central towers represent Mount Meru, the mythical home of the gods, while the surrounding moat symbolises the cosmic ocean. Its galleries are covered with extraordinary carvings depicting scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Yet Angkor Wat is not an Indian temple. It is unmistakably Cambodian. Its builders adapted Indian religious concepts to Khmer engineering, artistic traditions and political aspirations. Angkor Wat is one of the major monuments in Angkor Archaeological Park.
Equally impressive is Borobudur. Completed during the ninth century under the Sailendra dynasty, Borobudur remains the largest Buddhist monument ever built. Rather than resembling a conventional temple, it takes the form of a giant stone mandala. Pilgrims ascend through nine terraces, symbolically progressing from the earthly world towards enlightenment. More than 2,600 carved relief panels illustrate Buddhist teachings, while hundreds of Buddha statues overlook the surrounding volcanic landscape.
Indian Buddhist philosophy provided the inspiration.
Javanese architects created the masterpiece.
Unlike most of Indonesia, where Islam later became dominant, the island of Bali preserved its Hindu traditions. Today, Bali offers perhaps the clearest example of India’s enduring cultural influence. Daily offerings decorate homes and businesses, ancient Hindu ceremonies remain central to community life, traditional dance retells stories from the Ramayana, Sanskrit names continue to appear and temples dominate village landscapes.
Yet Balinese Hinduism is distinctly Balinese. It incorporates indigenous ancestor worship, local spirits and unique ceremonial practices developed over centuries. Once again, the pattern is clear: Indian traditions were not simply copied. They were transformed.
The same pattern appeared across the region. The maritime empire of Srivijaya became one of the greatest centres of Buddhist learning in Asia, and Chinese monks stopped there to study Sanskrit before continuing to India. In Myanmar, the kingdom centred on Bagan constructed more than ten thousand Buddhist temples across its central plains.
In Thailand, the ancient kingdom of Ayutthaya Historical Park took its very name from Ayodhya, the legendary birthplace of Lord Rama. It was a former capital city with richly carved prangs—reliquary towers—and monasteries. Throughout Vietnam, the rulers of Champa built elegant Hindu sanctuaries that still survive today.
Across an immense region, Indian ideas had been absorbed into distinctive local civilizations. The remarkable aspect of this story is not simply that it happened. It is that it still surrounds us today.
Modern Thailand still uses many Sanskrit-derived words. Indonesia’s national airline is named Garuda, after the mythical bird that carries Vishnu. Thailand’s principal international airport bears the Sanskrit name Suvarnabhumi, meaning “Land of Gold.” Cambodia’s national flag proudly displays Angkor Wat. The Ramayana continues to be performed in dance, theatre and shadow puppetry throughout Southeast Asia. Millions of Buddhists continue to make pilgrimages to India’s sacred sites.
The Golden Road may belong to ancient history, but its cultural consequences remain alive.
The story of India’s relationship with Southeast Asia fundamentally changes our understanding of world history. It demonstrates that civilizations do not always expand through military conquest. Sometimes they spread because others freely recognise the value of their ideas.
This peaceful cultural partnership lasted for more than fifteen centuries. During that time, Indian civilization helped shape the political systems, religious beliefs, artistic traditions and intellectual life of societies stretching from Myanmar to Indonesia. Importantly, this was never a process of simple imitation. Southeast Asian peoples did not become Indian. Instead, they selected, adapted and transformed Indian ideas into distinctive local civilizations.
The magnificent monuments of Angkor Wat and Borobudur are not copies of Indian architecture. They are creative expressions of Southeast Asian genius inspired by Indian thought.
As I travelled through both India and Southeast Asia, this became one of the most powerful lessons of the journey for me. Military empires rise and fall. Political borders change. Dynasties disappear. But ideas that are freely adopted can become part of another civilization’s identity.
Perhaps the greatest lesson is that soft power can outlast military power.
Key Takeaways
Indian merchants transformed Southeast Asia through commerce rather than conquest. Trade established enduring relationships that encouraged the voluntary adoption of Indian ideas, institutions and religious traditions.
Southeast Asian civilizations creatively adapted Indian culture. Rather than copying India, kingdoms such as Funan, Champa, Srivijaya and the Khmer Empire blended Indian concepts with indigenous traditions to create unique civilizations.
India’s greatest export was civilization itself. Religion, language, mathematics, political thought, architecture, literature, astronomy and education travelled together along the Golden Road, leaving an enduring legacy visible throughout Southeast Asia today.
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