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Early Maritime Contacts Between South and Southeast Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2011

Himanshu Prabha Ray
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Abstract

An analysis of the archaeological data available in recent years indicates the development of local maritime networks both in peninsular Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent by the middle of the first millennium B.C. By the second-first centuries B.C. these networks formed a part of the larger regional sailing circuit in the Bay of Bengal. Tangible indicators of this are carnelian and glass beads and bronze bowls with a high tin content. A demarcation of these networks is essential, before questions like the organization of trade or the channels through which religious ideology spread, can be explained.

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Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , March 1989 , pp. 42 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1989

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References

This study is part of my research as a Homi Bhabha Fellow and I am grateful for the guidance and help from Professors Romila Thapar, Oliver Wolters, Ian Glover and Stanley O'Connor. I am also indebted to several institutions and scholars in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for their hospitality and support.

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