The Mandala Political Model : South East Asia and India co-evolution of trade and centres of power .
The Mandala Political Model : South East Asia and India co-evolution of trade and centres of power : Not Western-State Model : But Diffused Power System built on personal relationships.
Is the State-System as imagined and incepted by the Western Europeans the only model possible ? Or were there other models and where can we go from the Nation-State European model we have now ?
With increasing number of failed , failing , ungovernable states and regions , non-state actors , the world will have to evolve methods of dealing with such regions , with multiple levels of engagement and collaboration.
Ma??ala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". The mandala is a model for describing the patterns of diffuse political power distributed among Mueang or Kedatuan (principalities) in early Southeast Asian history.
In the words of O. W. Wolters who further explored the idea in 1982:
The map of earlier Southeast Asia which evolved from the prehistoric networks of small settlements and reveals itself in historical records was a patchwork of often overlapping mandalas.
Oliver William Wolters OBE (8 June 1915 – 5 December 2000) was a British academic, historian and author. He was also a Malayan civil servant and administrator. At his death, he was the Goldwin Smith Professor of Southeast Asian History Emeritus at Cornell University.
The term draws a comparison with the mandala of the Hindu and Buddhist worldview ; the comparison emphasises the radiation of power from each power center, as well as the non-physical basis of the system.
Other metaphors such as S. J. Tambiah 's original idea of a " galactic polity" describe political patterns similar to the mandala.
The historian Victor Lieberman prefers the "solar polity" metaphor, referencing the gravitational pull the sun exerts over the planets.
The emphasis on personal relationships was one of the defining characteristics of the mandala system. The tributary ruler was subordinate to the overlord ruler, rather than to the overlord state in the abstract. This had many important implications. A strong ruler could attract new tributaries, and would have strong relationships over his existing tributaries. A weaker ruler would find it harder to attract and maintain these relationships.
It is employed to denote traditional Southeast Asian political formations, such as federation of kingdoms or vassalized polity under a center of domination. It was adopted by 20th century European historians from ancient Indian political discourse as a means of avoiding the term "state" in the conventional sense.
Not only did Southeast Asian polities not conform to classical Chinese and European views of a territorially defined state with fixed borders and a bureaucratic apparatus, but they diverged considerably in the opposite direction: the polity was defined by its centre rather than its boundaries, and it could be composed of numerous other tributary polities without undergoing administrative integration.
In some ways similar to the feudal system of Europe, states were linked in suzerain–tributary relationships.
Contrasted with feudalism, however, the system gave greater independence to the subordinate states; it emphasised personal rather than official or territorial relationships, and it was often non-exclusive.
Any particular area, therefore, could be subject to several powers, or none.
The overlord-tributary relationship was not necessarily exclusive. A state in border areas might pay tribute to two or three stronger powers. The tributary ruler could then play the stronger powers off against each other in order to minimise interference by either one, while for the major powers the tributaries served as a buffer zone to prevent direct conflict between them.
For example, the Malay kingdoms in Malay Peninsula, Langkasuka and Tambralinga, earlier were the subject to Srivijayan mandala, and in later period contested by either Ayutthaya mandala in north and Majapahit mandala in south, before finally gain its own gravity during Malacca Sultanate.
Mueang (Thai: ????? m??ang, pronounced [m?a??]), Muang (Lao: ????? m??ang, pronounced [m?a??]), M??ng (Vietnamese pronunciation: [/m??? ??/]) or Mong (Shan: ?????? m???, pronounced [m???]) were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principalities in Indochina, adjacent regions of Northeast India and Southern China, including what is now Thailand, Laos, Burma, Cambodia, parts of northern Vietnam, southern Yunnan, western Guangxi and Assam.
Mueang was originally a Thai term for a town having a defensive wall and a ruler with at least the Thai noble rank of khun (???), together with its dependent villages.
The Mandala model of political organisation organised states in collective hierarchy such that smaller mueang were subordinate to more powerful neighboring ones, which in turn were subordinate to a central king or other leader. The more powerful mueang (generally designated as chiang, wiang, nakhon or krung — with Bangkok as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon) occasionally tried to liberate themselves from their suzerain and could enjoy periods of relative independence.
Mueang large and small often shifted allegiance, and frequently paid tribute to more than one powerful neighbor — the most powerful of the period being the Ming of Imperial China.
Kedatuan (ancient spelling: Kadatuan; Javanese romanization: Kedaton) were historical semi-independent city-states or principalities throughout ancient Maritime Southeast Asia in present-day Indonesia, Malaysia, and parts of the Philippines. In a modern Malay and Indonesian sense, they could be described as kingdoms or polities.
The earliest written record mentioning the term kadatuan was the 7th-century Srivijayan Telaga Batu and Kota Kapur inscription.
The term Kadatuan in Old Malay means "the realm of Datu" or "the residence of Datu". Constructed from old Malay stem word Datu with circumfix ke- -an to denote place. It derived from Datu or Datuk, an ancient Austronesian title and position for regional leader or elder that is used throughout Maritime Southeast Asia.
Smaller Kedatuan were often become subordinate to more powerful neighboring Kedatuan, which in turn were subordinate to the central king (Maharaja). The more powerful Kedatuan, sometimes grew to become powerful kingdoms, and occasionally tried to liberate themselves from their suzerain and sometimes enjoyed times of independence, and in turn might subjugate neighboring Kedatuan.
Kedatuan, large and small often shifted allegiance, or paid tribute to more than one powerful neighbor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala_(political_model)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mueang
The Maritime history of Odisha known as Kalinga in ancient times, started before 350 BC according to early sources.
The people of this region of eastern India along the coast of the Bay of Bengal sailed up and down the Indian coast, and travelled to Indo China and throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, introducing elements of their culture to the people with whom they traded.
The 6th century Manjusrimulakalpa mentions the Bay of Bengal as Kalingodra (Kalinga Sea), indicating the importance of Kalinga in the maritime trade.
Sri Vijaya, which means "glorious victory", emerged during the 6th century around present day Palembang on Sumatra. Sri Vijaya was originally one of several small riverine kingdoms athwart the trading route on the coast of Sumatra. For five centuries the Srivijaya controlled the China trade, with goods such as porcelain, jade and silk from China, textiles from India, and sandalwood, spices, and resins from the Moluccas. One ancient traveler's account of Sri Vijaya says that the kingdom was so rich, every year the king's subjects would throw bricks of gold into the river as an offering (2). Sri Vijaya was an important center for Mahayana Buddhist learning, and monks from as far away as China and India came there to study.
https://keith-travelsinindonesia.blogspot.in/2011/07/ancient-kingdoms-of-indonesian.html
The old traditions are still celebrated in the annual Bali Jatra, or Boita-Bandana festival held for five days in October / November.
Palur, near the Rushikulya River in the Ganjam district, was an important port in the 2nd century AD. Archaeological exploration has unearthed fragments of Chinese celadon ware, Roman rouletted pottery and amphora pieces, showing that the port carried out significant international trade. An unusual medallion has a Kushan-style king with a Brahmi inscription on one side, and a Roman head with a Roman inscription on the other.
A Roman coin of the emperor Tiberius has been found at Salihundam, and other Roman coins have been found at other sites, giving further evidence of trade with the Roman Empire.
Champa Po Nagar Temple in Nha Trang, present-day Vietnam.
Champa established a kingdom in 192 AD. The people initially coming to this region are thought to have come mainly from Borneo, descended from people classified as Malayo-Polynesians. They settled, in the main, in the Mekong River Delta. Over time, there was a major Indian influence on the region. The people here became mightily involved in the trade of silk and spices between China, India and the Indonesian islands, even extending westward to Baghdad, Iraq. Champa was in her heyday from the 7th to the 10th century because of this silk and spice trade.
According to a 6th-century AD source, Kalinga was famous for its elephants, for which it found a market in Ceylon, along with precious stones, ivory, pepper, betel nuts and fine textiles. In return, Kalinga imported pearl and silver from Ceylon.
Corn and rice were also exported. Traders imported spices and sandalwood from the east, some if it destined for onward transport to the Mediterranean market.
A boat depicted in the Sun Temple of Konarak in the 13th century contains a giraffe, indicating trade with Africa, presumably carried on Arab vessels.
Burma went by the name of Kalingarat (Kalinga Rastra) in the 7th century BC, and there is evidence of very early settlement in the southern Mon portion.
By the 2nd century AD, the Kalingans were ruling Kalaymyo, the Arakan River valley and Pegu, around the gulf of Martaban. The remains of a ship excavated at Tante, near Yangon is thought to have belonged to Kalingan traders. Place names and similarities in architecture also indicate close contacts across the gulf of Bengal.
The Buddhagat, the sacred scripture of Burma, describes trade with the Buddhist merchants of Kalinga, leading to missionaries coming to propagate the faith, and then to political domination of parts of coastal Burma by Kalinga during the 4th to 7th centuries AD. Coins with Hindu symbols found in Pegu confirm this contact.
According to R.D. Banerjee, Hindus from Kalinga took a leading role in establishing Hindu culture in Java. An expedition from Kalinga established a colony in Java in 75 BC.
According to legend, there were 20,000 colonists, although this number seems implausible.
These immigrants may have introduced the Hindu religion, which was established throughout the island by the 4th century AD.
Chinese historians use the name Ho-Ling (Kalinga) for the leading kingdom of Java in the Tang period (618–906 AD). This kingdom may have been founded by new colonists, or may reflect the rise of the earlier colony to power.
Arab historians described the 8th century AD Sailendra dynasty of Java as originating from Kalinga, and said that Sailendra was also powerful in Cambodia and Champa (Annam).
A copper plate inscription dated 840 AD says the servants of the inner palace of King Kuti of Java came from Champa and Kalinga. An inscription of the King Airlangga of Java (1019–1042 AD) says people came to his kingdom from Kling (Kalinga) among other places.
https://www.wisconsincentral.net/People/People/People/HmongEastAsiaHistory.html
East , Southeast and South Asia about 12th century CE .
Trade with Bali appears to have started before the Christian Era. Bali had many products that were attractive to Kalinga's traders, including cinnamon, long pepper, white pepper and cardamon, pearls and gems, silk, camphor, bees wax and sandalwood. Traders from Kalinga brought muslin and other fine cloths, rugs, brocade, armour, gold and jewellery. There is a tradition that the first ruler of Bali was an Indian named Kaudinya, around 600 AD, and this name later became the title for future rulers.
Emigrants from Kalinga came to Cambodia in the 3rd century BC, fleeing from the emperor Ashoka. However, after Ashoka had converted to Buddhism and sent missionaries to Cambodia, they accepted the teachings and helped establish the religion in the region.
The early monuments of the Khmers (of modern Cambodia) appear to be of Andhra origin rather than from Kalinga.
However, although some of the inscriptions at Angkor Wat in Cambodia are in Sanskrit, others are in the Kalinga script.
The design of the Angkor Wat temple shows influences from Orissa and the Chola of Tamil Nadu.
The Khmer Empire at its height in the 13th century.
In 1586, the Muslim ruler of Bengal, Sulaiman Khan Karrani succeeded in conquering the land, ending its independence. Orissa was subsequently ceded to the Marathas in 1751, and came under British rule during the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805).
Sulaiman Khan Karrani (reigned: 1566–1572) was a ruler of Bengal since the death of his elder brother Taj Khan Karrani.
According to the Riyaz-us-Salatin, he shifted the seat of government from Gaur to Tanda.
Sulaiman, his brother Taj and Sulaiman's sons Bayazid and Daud Khan Karrani ran a short-lived Afghan vassal state of Mughal emperor Akbar in Bengal. They dominated the area while Sulaiman paid homage to the Akbar. The Afghans defeated by Akbar began to flock under his flag.
The Afghans were not technically the rulers of Bengal, the post was primarily nominal.
Though northern India and parts of southern India were ruled by the Muslim rulers, they had not yet been able to conquer Odisha. In 1568 Sulaiman Khan sent his son Bayazid Khan Karrani and the famous general Kalapahad (Kala Pahar) against the last Odia Gajapati king Mukunda Deva.
After a few major battles against the Odias, and aided by civil war elsewhere in Odisha, Sulaiman was able to bring the entire area under his rule. Kalapahad sacked the Jagannath temple and took Puri under control. Sulaiman Karrani appointed Lodi Khan and Qutlu Khan Lohani governors of Odisha and Puri respectively.
Sulaiman Khan Karrani then sent general Kala Pahar against the Kamata (later Koch Bihar under the Mughals) king Vishwa Singha. Kala Pahar crossed the Brahmaputra River and advanced as far as Tejpur (modern-day Dinajpur District, Bangladesh). Kala Pahar defeated and captured the Kamata general Shukladhwaja, third son of Bishwa Singha.
The coastline is unstable. The southwest monsoon carries sediment along the coast, at times forming bars and spits that protect the harbours, at other times eroding the protective breakwaters.
The rivers carry silt, extending their deltas and filling the former harbours. For this reason, some of the ports named in ancient times are no longer in existence, or have greatly declined.
For example, Chilika Lake was an important harbour, but later became unusable by deep water vessels due to silting.
Some of the ports mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD were Nanigaina (Puri), Katikardama (Kataka) and Kannagara (Konarak).
Ptolemy did not refer to the important ports of Manikapatna, Palur, Chelitalo, Kalingapatnam, Pithunda and Khalkatapatna.
Writing later in the 9th and 10th centuries CE, Arab sources mention Orissa, Ganjam, Kalinganagar, Keylkan, Al-Lava and Nubin.
After the 15th century, ports included Balasore, Pipili, Ganjam, Harishapur, Chandabali and Dhamra.
Excavations at Golbai Sasan have shown a Neolithic culture dating to as early as ca. 2300 BC, followed by a Chalcolithic (copper age) culture and then an Iron age culture starting around 900 BC. Tools found at this site indicate boat building, perhaps for coastal trade.
Fish bones, fishing hooks, barbed spears and harpoons show that fishing was an important part of the economy.
Some artefacts of the Chalcolithic period are similar to artefacts found in Vietnam, indicating possible contact with Indochina at a very early period.
Rules and regulations regarding construction of ships were recorded in the Sanskrit Juktikalpataru.
The Madalapanji records that king Bhoja built many ships with local wood.
The recovery of many woodworking adzes and other artefacts from Chilika Lake shows that Golabai was a boat-building center.
Terracotta seals from Bangarh and Chandraketugarh (400 BC to 100 BC) depict seagoing vessels carrying containing corn.
The ships have a single mast with a square sail.
The earliest depiction of ships in Orissa is in a sculptured frieze showing two ships, found near the Brahmeswar temple, Bhubaneswar, and now preserved in the Orissa State Museum. The first ship has standing elephants in the front part, two people seated in the center and two sailor with oars at the rear steering the ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_history_of_Odisha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulaiman_Khan_Karrani