Revisiting Swarnabhumi/dvipa:

Indian Influences in Ancient Southeast Asia

Joefe B. Santarita, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

India’s civilizational connections with Southeast Asia for thousands of years are unavoidably
invoked in various speeches of Indian officials every time they visited Southeast Asian countries.
These references were inspired by the long history of lucid Indian interactions with inhabitants
of Southeast Asia whom Indian writers and travelers called as Further/Greater India and/or
Swarnabhumi (land of gold).

This paper revisits the various literatures written primarily by Indians and other prominent
scholars that discuss the Indian influences in ancient Southeast Asia particularly the framing of
Swarnabhumi with special reference from 9th to 12th centuries. In particular, this paper will look
at the advent of Indian traders and migrants in early times and the vestiges they created and/or
contributed to the present civilization as reflected in religion, arts, architecture, traditions,
languages, vocabularies and many more.

KEYWORDS

Ancient Southeast Asia, Indianization, Architecture, Culture

INTRODUCTION

In most recent times, India’s civilizational links with Southeast Asia over a millennium are
consistently invoked by Indian officials in their speeches when visiting Southeast Asian
countries.1 Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh, for instance, stated in the 3 rd India-ASEAN
Business Summit in October 2004 that India wished to look east because of centuries of
interaction with the region. Fifty years ago, then PM Jawaharlal Nehru also made a similar
observation that ‘each blade of grass here breathes of Indian culture’ during his visit in
Cambodia.2

Invoking this historical connection is undoubtedly rooted to the history of Indian expansion
in ancient times by referring to Southeast Asia as Further or Greater India. This was even
cemented by specifically calling the area as Swarnabhumi, Sanskrit word for ‘land of gold’, a
reference that is corroborated by Chinese annals when ancient Chinese called the place ‘kin-lin’
(kin for gold). This Chinese saga is, however, not discussed in detail in this paper.

The primary objective of this paper is to revisit Indian influences in ancient Southeast Asia
particularly the framing of Swarnabhumi through the various literatures written primarily by
Indians and other prominent scholars. In particular, this paper will look at the advent of Indian
traders and migrants in early times with special reference from 9th to 12th century links and the
vestiges they created and/or contributed to the present civilization as reflected in religion,
arts, architecture, traditions, languages, and vocabularies, among others.

1
Santarita, 2013. 129.
2
Nehru, 1951.
 Swarnabhumi and Swarnadvipa are two interesting terminologies for historians and scholars
of ancient Southeast Asia. Their etymology originates from the Sanskrit words such as the prefix
swarna for gold and suffixes bhumi for land as well as dvipa for island. Thus, Swarnabhumi
simply refers to the land of gold while Swarnadvipa means island of gold. These references
obviously imply that the places constituting the present Southeast Asia were producers of gold
and metallurgy was already practiced by early inhabitants. Furthermore, these references also
prove extensive trading contacts between Indian traders, sailors and even brahmins (priests) with
the local populations. Given the Sanskrit origins, there is no doubt that the areas under study are
greatly influenced by the coming of Indians from Indian sub-continent.

Swarnabhumi, as concept and a reality, was captured in the works of prominent scholars on
ancient Southeast Asia. Many of them have written numerous manuscripts on the early
development of the region. It is, however, interesting to revisit the works of Indian authors such
as Dhirendra Nath Roy, 1929 ‘The Philippines and India’; Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, 1929
Suvarnadvipa, Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East, Vol.II.; Jawaharlal Nehru, 1946
‘Discovery of India’; Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, 1947 ‘The Survey of India’; Sisirkumar
Mitra, 1949 The Vision of India; Nilakanta Sastri and G. Srinivasachari, 1971, An Advanced
History of India; Amartya Sen, 2005, Argumentative Indians; and D. Sardesai, 2010, Southeast
Asia: Past and Present.

The works of these authors, their perspectives and views will be the basis of the discussion, a
fresh look in understanding ancient Southeast Asia against the usual interpretation of prominent
western scholars such as Oliver Wolters, D. Hall, Higham, Arthur Basham, and others.

INDIAN ADVENT TO ANCIENT SOUTHEAST ASIA

Majumdar stated in his book Swarnadvipa that ‘it is not known precisely when contact began
between India and Southeast Asia.” There are enough references in Indian books, accounts of
Arab travelers, Chinese historical accounts, old inscriptions, as well as the magnificent ruins of
ancient monuments, like Angkor and Borobudur. The old stories in Sanskrit contain many
accounts of perilous sea voyages and of shipwrecks. Both Greek and Arab accounts show that
there was regular maritime intercourse between India and the Far East at least as early as the first
century B.C.3

Sar Desai observed that Indians came in Southeast Asia almost the same time with the
Chinese. Large-scale penetration by Indians and Chinese cultures began around the
commencement of the Common Era (1 CE), 2 or 3 centuries after the first major political
consolidations in those countries in the 3rd century BCE – China under Shi Huang Ti and India
under Ashoka Maurya.4

When Indians migrated to SEA in 1st millenium BCE, the people in the area discovered
among the Indian immigrants a similar cultural base, a shared substratum, some of whose traits
were pre-Aryan and common to all peoples of Monsoon Asia. However, the large scale
acculturation of SEA elite on the Indian pattern could not have been the work of Indian traders
(Vaisha) or of sailors (Sudra) but of the Brahmans, priestly class, who had monopolized
knowledge of the sacred lore, the rites and rituals, customs and laws. This initiative for the

3
Majumdar.
4
Sar Desai, 2010. 14.
Indianization process came from the region’s ruling class who invited Brahmans to serve as
priests, astrologers and advisers.

The influence of India across the land frontier was cultural and religious. Across the sea, it
was also political. Communication by sea between the ports of South India and the islands in the
Pacific was well established many centuries before Common Era. It is good to quote at length the
observations of Panikkar on Indian movements in Southeast Asia and the establishment of
communities he called as Further India or Suvarnabhumi and Suvarnadvipa.

By about the 1st century C.E., small waves of colonists began to establish
themselves on the coastal regions of the Indonesia islands and Indo-China. They
established small principalities, married locally and their States became the
centers of flourishing trade with India, carried on through the east coast ports
from Tamralipti to Negapatam. Indian colonies which exploited tin and gold
mines also existed in Selensing, Panga, Puket and Takuopa. The region around
the Bay of Bandom was the great center from which Indian influence radiated.5

Furthermore, Panikkar even believed that the actual migration happened in the 1st century
C.E. by land across Malaya and by sea through the Straits of Singapore. The discovery and
colonization of Sumatra, Java and Borneo were the results of oceanic navigation. The earliest
evidence of an actually flourishing Hindu community on the Pacific coast comes from Funan. 6 It
is also to the credit of Panikkar in using a map about the expansion of Indian influence in the Far
East. The old names of Southeast Asian places in Indian literature including the Swarnabhumi for
mainland Southeast Asia, Swarnadvipa for Sumatra and interestingly Panyupayana for the
Philippines are indicated in the map.7 Similar but more pronounced map on ancient Southeast
Asia is also found in Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India8 (See Figure 1).

FIGURE 1. Map of Ancient Southeast Asia

Courtesy of Jawaharlal Nehru, Discovery of India.

G. Coedes also shared a similar observation regarding the establishment of Indian influence
in the region as mentioned by H.G. Wales. Coedes opined that the introduction of Hindu cultural
pattern was a gradual process, beginning with the arrival of a few merchants and adventurers
who later became more numerous and were accompanied by Brahmans. He further believed that
the superior cultural endowments of the migrants, often basically similar to those of the local
people, assured the newcomers of a welcome. They frequently intermarried and were often
employed by the local rulers. Indianized kingdoms soon came into being, either as a result of an
Indian imposing himself on the native population or else through a native chief adopting the
foreign civilization.9

VESTIGES

5
Panikkar, Kevalam. A Survey of Indian History. New Delhi: Asia Publishing House, 1971. 83.
6
Panikkar, 78-79.
7
Panikkar, 75-76.
8
Nehru.
9
Wales, 1961. 25-26.
 For several millennia, the presence of Indian communities in Southeast Ramayana and the
creation of Swarnabhumi left considerable imprints in the present civilizations. It ranges from
infrastructure to arts, cultural artifacts and traditions.

In terms of infrastructure, the early polities commissioned monumental projects to include

the establishment of today’s great landmarks such as Angkor. Its power extended far and beyond
the boundaries of modern Cambodia, to Laos and Thailand, where about 300 Khmer sites have
been identified. Most are located near the northern border of Cambodia in south Khorat; some lie
in the Chao Phraya Valley, and some are near the Three Pagodas Pass, which leads to the modern
border between Thailand and Burma.10 Angkor Thom, for instance, or ‘Great Capital’ is a royal
complex at the center of the empire built at the end of the 12 th century. It is a walled complex
containing religious and administrative officials and religious sanctuaries. Angkor Wat, on the
other hand, is a huge complex of religious significance. The principal shrine is located at the
eastern end of the square enclosure. To reach the main temple, guests have to follow an axial
pathway in the form of a stone bridge half a kilometer in length. This pathway is fringed with
balustrades in the form of a giant serpent and is flanked by rectangular baray. Branches off the
main walkway lead to pools, stone structures called libraries and other now-vanished structures. 11
Barabudur, on one hand, is a Buddhist monument in central Java. The basic ground plan, a
hilltop partly leveled to provide a flat space around the monument, partly covered with stone,
was constructed in the mid-8th century. Four staircases led from the ground level to the top of the
monument; these were modified several times due to the structure’s instability. The retaining
walls on both sides of each gallery on the four square terraces are decorated with reliefs. Most of
the scenes are depicted from the Jataka tales, stories from the previous lives of Buddha.12

In terms of literature, Indian Ramayana was adapted in other national epics in the region. The
Ramayana, according to Santosh Desai, seems to have traveled from India to Asia in the early
centuries C.E. It was transmitted along 3 routes: by land, the northern route took the story from
the Punjab and Kashmir into China, Tibet, and East Turkestan; by sea, the southern route carried
the story from Gujarat and South India into Java, Sumatra, and Malaya; and again by land, the
eastern route delivered the story from Bengal into Burma, Thailand, and Laos. Vietnam and
Cambodia obtained their stories partly from Java and partly from India via the eastern route.13

Almost all countries of Southeast Asia have the Rama story. In Indonesia for
instance, Kakawin Ramayana is an old Javanese rendering; Yogesvara Ramayana is attributed to
the scribe Yogesvara circa 9th century CE, who was employed in the court of
the Medang in Central Java. It has 2774 stanzas in manipravala style, a mixture of
Sanskrit and Kawi language. The most influential version of the Ramayana is the Ravanadham
of Bhatti, popularly known as Bhattikavya. The Javanese Ramayana differs markedly from the
original Hindu prototype. The 9th century Javanese Kakawin Ramayana has become the reference
of Ramayana in the neighboring island of Bali. The bas reliefs of Ramayana and Krishnayana
scenes are carved on balustrades wall of 9th century Prambanan temples in Yogyakarta. In
Indonesia, Ramayana has been integrated into local culture especially those of Javanese,
Balinese and Sundanese, and has become the source of moral and spiritual guidance as well as
aesthetic expression and also for entertainment. Cultural performances such as Wayang shadow
puppet and traditional dances often took their story from Ramayana. In Bali as well as in Java,

10
Miksic, 2007. 18.
11
Miksic, 23.
12
Miksic, 51.
13
Desai, 1970. 5.
the dances based on the episode of Ramayana often performed in temples such as Prambanan in
Java and Pura in Bali.

Phra Lak Phra Lam is a Lao language version, whose title comes from Lakshmana and
Rama. The story of Lakshmana and Rama is told as the previous life of the Buddha. In Hikayat
Seri Rama of Malaysia, Dasharatha is the great-grandson of the Prophet Adam. Ravana receives
boons from Allah instead of Brahma. In many Malay language versions, Lakshmana is given
greater importance than Rama, whose character is considered somewhat weak.

The Cambodian version of Ramayana, the Reamker, is the most famous story of Khmer
Literature since the Funan era. It adapts the Hindu concepts to Buddhist themes and shows the
balance of good and evil in the world. The Reamker has several differences from the original
Ramayana, including scenes not included in the original and emphasis on Hanuman and Sovanna
Maccha, a retelling which influences the Thai and Lao versions. Reamker in Cambodia is not
confined to the realm of literature but extends to all Cambodian art forms, such as
sculpture, Khmer classical dance, theatre known as Lakhorn Luang (the foundation of the royal
ballet), poetry and the mural and bas reliefs seen at the Silver Pagoda and Angkor wat.

Thailand's popular national epic Ramakien (from Sanskrit rāmakīrti, "Glory of Rama") is
derived from the Hindu epic. In Ramakien, Sita is the daughter of Ravana and Mandodari
(Thotsakan and Montho). Vibhisana (Phiphek), the astrologer brother of Ravana, predicts
calamity from the horoscope of Sita. Ravana has her thrown into the water, who, later, is picked
by Janaka (Chanok). While the main story is identical to that of the Ramayana, many other
aspects were transposed into a Thai context, such as the clothes, weapons, topography, and
elements of nature, which are described as being Thai in style. It has an expanded role for
Hanuman and he is portrayed as a lascivious character. Ramakien can be seen in an elaborate
illustration at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok.

Other Southeast Asian adaptations include Ramakavaca of Bali (Indonesia), Yama Zatdaw
(Myanmar), and Maharadia Lawana as well as Darangen of Mindanao (Philippines).

One of the prominent legacies of Indian early contacts in Southeast Asian region is the
existence of Ramayana. In the Philippines, the Rama story is popularly known as Maharadia
Lawana which Dr. Juan Francisco discovered in 1968 as a Maranaw narrative. This version is in
condensed form in comparison to the Indian Ramayana but still contains the major episodes of
the latter such as winning of Sita, her abduction, the search for Sita and her return. These four
episodes as they are narrated in the Maharadia Lawana correspond to the five kanda (songs or
chapters of Ramayana) such as Balakanda, Aranyakanda, Kiskindhakanda, Sundarakanda and
Yuddakanda.14

In Maharadia Lawana story, Rama is Radia Mangadiri, Laksmana is Radia Mangawarna, Sita
is Tuwan Potre Malano Tihaia, Kusa/Lava is Laksmana, who in the story assumes the character
of Hanuman. Ravana is Maharadia Lawana. The story’s setting is in the legendary island of Pulu
Agama Niog.15

14
Francisco, 1994b. 117.
15
Pulu means island, Agama for village and Niog for coconut. Hence, Pulu Agama Niog simply means coconut
grove village. Francisco, 1994b, 68.
 Aside from Maharadia Lawana, people of southern Philippines still observe the darangen as
part of their cultural milieu especially in rural areas. It is still customary to invite the onor
(singer) during the kalilang or feast, whether it is for the dead or for any other occasion. The host
includes darangen singing as part of the activities. If the darangen sung as Princess Gandingan,
the audience gets a triple treat: kulintang playing, bayok (antiphonal singing by the two
characters) and singkil dancing.16 In Darangen, similar episodes of the abduction and subsequent
recovery of Princess Lawanen are chanted only on special occasions.17

In particular, this pre-Islamic epic consists of 17 cycles and a total of 72,000 lines, telling the
stories of heroes as well as episodes of Maranao history and tackling the immortal themes of life,
death, courtship, politics and love. Darangen contains Maranao social values, customary law,
ethics and aesthetics.18

Other than Ramayana, it is interesting to point out the other vestiges of Indian influences in
the Philippines which early travelers referred as Panyupayana. These cultural links between
India and the Philippines include the presence of Singkil, hundreds of Sanskrit words in Filipino
languages and the discoveries of various Hindu-Buddhist artifacts among others.

Singkil, for instance, is an elegant, stylized performance dance usually involving performers
interpreting archetype characters inspired by and interpreted from the thread of storylines found
similarly in the Indian epic Ramayana. They include those of a princess, her faithful assistant,
friends, as well as ardent suitors who would be stepping in and out, sitting or standing on 2 sets
of bamboo poles crossed, and being thumped on the floor and hit together by men to make
percussive music for the dance. Native music instruments like the agung (gong) and the
kulintang (made of 8 small gongs set on a rack) complete the ensemble of musical instruments in
the dance. The Maranaw people in southern Philippines even before the arrival of the Spaniards
in 16th century and the arrival of the Islam religion in the Philippines by the 12th century observed
these oral traditions by re-telling similar stories found in the Indian epic Ramayana into
‘Darangen.’ This re-telling is the basis of the story being interpreted and performed whenever the
singkil is danced.

The body, arms, and hand swaying and movements in this dance remind those who have
studied ancient dance forms from many countries of the Hindu-style of dancing, which in the
singkil can be explained by the extensive influences made by the Sri-Vijaya and Majapahit
empires that reached Indonesia as well as the many islands of the Philippines. In the
performance, the main dancer-Princess Gandingan interprets the movements after learning the
rituals from her mother, the powerful healer in the village, in gathering medicinal plants and
herbs from the forest. Movements that interpret Gandingan’s sojourn in the forest, either alone or
with her friends and faithful assistant that usually bear a beautiful parasol for the princess
wherever she goes during the dance.19

16
Ma. Delia Coronel, ICM. Introduction. Darangen Volume 1. Marawi City: Mindanao State University, 1986. 6.
17
Francisco, 1969. 4.
18
Manipon.
19
In the story, a powerful spirit named ‘Makalinug,’ (thunder) who would represent himself like a handsome prince-
like creature, would be waiting for Gandingan in the forest, and would try to entrap her with his charms and magic.
Depending on the choreography design, the storyline would then be followed by having Makalinug creating havoc
and confusion to Gandingan and her company. She then danced, jumped, swayed, ran, stepping in and out of the
performance area as the audience continues to hear percussive music from the bamboo poles, the agung and the
kulintang. She is supposed to be exquisitely able to overcome the challenges of the vines and other natural traps
found in the forest, which are represented by the bamboo poles. Using shawls, scarves and the apir (the large pair of
fans on the dancers’ hands) or just bare hands, Gandingan and her company would be shown performing elaborate
 Aside from performing arts, the most extensive evidences of Indian influences in the
Philippines are Sanskrit elements in the languages of the country. These have persisted since
their introduction in the Philippines between the 10 th and 15th centuries and have been fully
assimilated into these speech systems. There appear to be about 336 words in Philippine
languages that are recognizably Sanskrit in origin and 50% of these have definitive provenance
in Sanskrit.20 William Henry Scott even gave actual statistical count of Sanskrit words in
Philippine languages. He found out that some 150 separate Sanskrit words are identified as the
origin of Philippine terms majority are in Tagalog and the rest in Bisaya, Ilocano and Sulu 21
(Tausug).

In terms of concrete manifestations of Indian presence in the Philippines, Francisco identified

some artifacts that are housed either in the National Museum of the Philippines or abroad. 22
These include the Buddhist Tara of Agusan, votive stamp of Calatagan, Golden Garuda of
Palawan and other glass beads.

In Agusan, a Golden Tara, an eight-inch tall image of a woman in pure gold at Maasin,
Esperanza, was discovered in the early 1920's and a Molten Jar unearthed at Bahbah, Prosperidad
in the early 1960's, marks Agusan's pre-Hispanic cultural history which was greatly influenced
by India. The icon, a 21-karat gold figurine, is presently kept at the Gem Room of the Chicago
Field Museum of National History, Chicago, United States of America. The said Buddhist image
of the Sailendra Period during the Sri-Vijaya History (900-950 AD) is the earliest known image
of Indian origin, depicting early Indian-Philippine relations.

In Calatagan, Batangas, clay medallion or votive stamp on whose obverse face is an image of
the Avolokitesvara Padmapani in bas-relief was discovered. The image stands in the classic
Indian pose known as ‘tribhanga’, three bends and appears to hold a padma, lotus in his right
hand. This object was associated with 14th – 15th century and is now stored in the National
Museum of the Philippines.

Furthermore, the Golden Garuda pendant was found in Brookes point Palawan. Such image
is now stored in the National Museum of the Philippines and is believed to be the vehicle of the
Hindu God, Vishnu at the height of power of the Hindi-inspired Majapahit Empire. This image
along with other artifacts such as glass beads of various colors and the Filipino words of Sanskrit
origin are testaments of Hindu influence in pre-colonial Philippine society.23

Moreover, an ivory stamp seal associated with a shell midden dated 9th-12th century was
found in Libertad, Butuan City in Agusan del Norte (southern Philippines). Inscribed on the seal
is the word Butban in stylized Kavi. The script has a similarity to the Tagalog script. Butban, was
presumed to stand for Butwan or Butuan since the letters “b” and “w” were frequently
interchanged.

body movements all throughout the performance. They would also create chime-like music from the anklets and
bracelets that they usually don for the performance, and which served as the basis why this dance is called singkil
(or how the anklets are called in Maranao). Baladad February 2012.
20
Francisco. 1988, 31.
21
Scott. 1968. 52-53 as cited by Francisco, 1988.
22
Francisco, 1988, 31-32.
23
www.philippine-trivia.com.
 Lastly, a golden statuette of the Hindu-Buddhist mythical beings Kinnari found in an
archeological dig in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur. In Buddhist mythology and Hindu mythology,
a kinnara is a paradigmatic lover, a celestial musician, half-human and half-horse (India) or half-
bird (Southeast Asia). She is renowned for her dance, song and poetry, and is a traditional
symbol of feminine beauty, grace and accomplishment. Thus, the discovery of kinnari only
proves that a civilization of Indian influence had existed before the Spanish conquest.

CONCLUSION

The concept of Swarnabhumi has important implications to Southeast Asian history and to
the development of the present civilization. This ancient connection has contributed to the
enrichment of Southeast Asian historical memory and became the source of pride and inspiration.
Although Swarnabhumi is a manifestation of colonization, the cultural expansion was never
confused with colonial domination and commercial dynamism far less economic exploitation.
Instead, the process has had been a welcoming development for early Southeast Asians either in
land mass or archipelagic. It proves that water is not a barrier but facilitator of changes and
exchanges. The presence of Swarnabhumi is a tangible manifestation of Asianization of Indian
Culture in this part of the world. The Swarnabhumi’s vestiges left indelible marks to the present
civilization of Southeast Asia. At the same time, the celebration of Indian civilization can go
hand in hand with an affirmation of India’s active role in the global world. As Amartya Sen
rightly pointed out that ideas and people have moved across India’s borders over thousands of
years, enriching India as well as the rest of the world.24

REFERENCES

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University, 1986.
Desai, Santosh. Ramayana-An Instrument of Historical Contact and Cultural Transmission
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Copperplate_Inscription
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24
Sen.
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