East Asia (820 – 963 CE): Tang Twilight, Tibetan Fragmentation, and the Maritime–Steppe Divide

Geographic and Environmental Context

East Asia between 820 and 963 CE stretched from the Pacific coastlands of Japan, Korea, and southern China to the mountain–desert worlds of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia.
It divided naturally into two great zones:

• Maritime East Asia, encompassing China’s southern provinces, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, where wet-rice agriculture and seaborne commerce shaped life.

• Upper East Asia, including Tibet, Mongolia, and the western highlands of China (Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia)—the upland and steppe frontier linking East and Central Asia.

The age witnessed the end of the Tang Dynasty, the dissolution of the Tibetan Empire, and the ascent of new polities—Goryeo in Korea, Heian Japan, and the frontier states of Nanzhao and the Khitan.

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Climate and Environmental Shifts

A relatively stable late-Holocene climate supported demographic and agrarian growth:

• In southern China, warm, humid conditions expanded rice cultivation across the Yangtze and Sichuan basins.

• The Tibetan Plateau and northern steppes remained cold and arid, favoring pastoral mobility.

• Periodic droughts in the Tarim Basin and steppe belt triggered migration and warfare.

• Along the coasts, monsoon predictability sustained maritime trade and coastal urbanization.

Despite political upheavals, the region’s ecological base remained robust.

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Societies and Political Developments

Maritime East Asia: From Tang to the Heian Zenith

• China (Tang 618–907): Southern prefectures (Fujian, Guangdong) prospered through rice and maritime trade. Tang’s authority collapsed amid rebellion and provincial warlordism; by 907, China fragmented into the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

  • In the south, Yangtze and Sichuan economies ensured continued wealth under autonomous regimes.

  • Frontier states like Nanzhao (Yunnan, 738–902) resisted Tang power, linking to Southeast Asia.

  • Northeastern garrisons in Liaoning and Jilin fell to Khitan and Mohe incursions.

• Korea: The Unified Silla kingdom waned after centuries of stability; internal unrest led to Goryeo’s foundation in 918, absorbing Silla by 935.

• Japan: Under Heian rule (794–1185), the Fujiwara clan dominated court politics. The creation of kana writing fostered vernacular literature (Kokinshū, Tale of Genji foundations). Provinces grew increasingly autonomous, foreshadowing later warrior rule.

• Taiwan: Austronesian-speaking communities cultivated taro and millet, fished coasts, and traded sporadically with Luzon and Fujian, remaining outside major state systems.

Upper East Asia: Fragmentation and Frontier Power

• Tibet: Once a trans-Himalayan empire, Tibet fragmented after Langdarma’s assassination (842). Regional warlords and monasteries divided authority; Buddhist renewal began in western and eastern enclaves.

• Mongolia and the Northern Steppes: Following the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate (840), Turkic and Mongolic tribes reorganized into shifting confederations; horse-trade diplomacy tied them to China and Central Asia.

• Xinjiang and Gansu: Chinese retreat left oases like Khotan, Turfan, and Dunhuang under local Buddhist rulers and Uyghur refugees, who maintained Silk Road commerce.

• The Hexi Corridor became a contested frontier between Chinese successor states, Tibetans, and steppe tribes.

• Khitan and Mohe: In Manchuria, the Khitan built the foundation for the Liao dynasty (907–1125), while Mohe clans in Heilongjiang forged links to emerging Jurchen lineages.

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Economy and Trade

• Agrarian bases: Yangtze, Sichuan, and southern Chinese plains achieved major rice surpluses; riverine transport via canals supported dense markets.

• Oasis economies: Wheat, barley, grapes, and cotton sustained Tarim Basin polities; irrigation canals and qanats extended arable belts.

• Pastoralism: Yaks, horses, and camels dominated plateau and steppe economies; trade of hides, wool, and livestock offset scarce grain.

• Maritime commerce: Southern Chinese ports, Guangzhou and Quanzhou, became key nodes linking India, Arabia, and East Africa.

• Overland exchange: Silk, jade, and porcelain moved westward; silver, glass, and horses returned from Central Asia.

Despite Tang’s fall, economic integration deepened through overlapping sea and land networks.

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Subsistence and Technology

• Irrigation and rice terraces transformed southern landscapes.

• Gunpowder and woodblock printing appeared in Tang–post-Tang China, reshaping military and intellectual life.

• Silk and porcelain industries expanded, establishing enduring trade commodities.

• Mounted warfare and composite bows defined steppe armies.

• Buddhist monasteries doubled as banks, granaries, and literacy centers.

• Navigation advanced with the magnetic compass’s proto-forms and larger oceangoing junks.

Technological vitality offset political fragmentation.

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Movement and Interaction Corridors

• Silk Road: The Tarim–Hexi–Chang’an axis remained vital, though fragmented among regional warlords and oasis kings.

• Maritime Routes: Chinese, Arab, and Southeast Asian ships plied between the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, creating multicultural ports.

• Tibetan Passes: Trade through Lhasa–Kathmandu–Patna connected Inner Asia to South Asia’s Buddhist centers.

• Steppe Roads: Nomadic confederations maintained east–west corridors across Mongolia and north Manchuria.

These arteries linked the economies and religions of three continents.

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Belief and Symbolism

• China and Nanzhao: Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism intertwined; Chan (Zen) Buddhism matured.

• Tibet: Buddhist revival replaced imperial cults; monasteries became both spiritual and political fortresses.

• Steppes: Shamanic traditions honored sky and ancestor spirits; Manichaeism and Nestorian Christianity persisted among Uyghurs.

• Korea and Japan: Buddhism flourished; Confucian codes regulated court ethics; Shinto remained vital in Japan’s ritual life.

• Taiwan: Austronesian animism and ancestor worship persisted, integrated with sea rituals.

Cross-cultural synthesis was the hallmark of the age—faiths traveled the same routes as silk and spices.

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Adaptation and Resilience

• Agrarian south absorbed population and wealth after northern turmoil.

• Steppe and plateau nomads survived climate variability through mobility and herding diversity.

• Oasis fortification and caravan networks ensured prosperity amid shifting powers.

• Maritime centers adapted to trade realignments, drawing new wealth from sea routes as land routes faltered.

• Cultural patronage in Heian Japan and Goryeo Korea preserved continuity through aesthetic and spiritual investment.

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Long-Term Significance

By 963 CE, East Asia had entered a transitional epoch of fragmentation and resilience:

• China’s Tang empire had fallen, yet its agrarian heartlands and ports remained engines of prosperity.

• Nanzhao and Khitan frontier powers foreshadowed new dynastic orders.

• Tibet fragmented but laid the groundwork for monastic renaissance.

• Korea unified anew under Goryeo; Japan reached cultural refinement in the Heian age; Taiwan’s Austronesians remained vital links in South China Sea voyaging.

From the steppe’s shifting alliances to the Heian court’s poetry, this was an age of continuity through transformation—the twilight of old empires and the dawn of regional autonomies that would define East Asia’s medieval heart.

Maritime East Asia (820 – 963 CE): Tang Twilight, Silla’s Last Century, Heian Flourishing, and Austronesian Taiwan

Geographic and Environmental Context

Maritime East Asia includes Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, southern China (including Yunnan and Guangxi), northeastern China (including Liaoning, Jilin, and Manchuria/Heilongjiang), and the Sichuan Basin.

• Southern China: rice-farming Yangtze basin, coastal provinces (Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang), and the upland frontiers of Yunnan and Guangxi, where hill peoples interacted with Tang garrisons and Southeast Asian polities.

• Northeastern China: Yellow River heartland, Shandong peninsula, Liaoning plain, and Jilin–Manchuria, where Tang outposts and Khitan–Mohe tribes contested control.

• Japan: Heian-period Kyoto as the political center.

• Korea: Unified Silla controlled the peninsula, though weakening internally.

• Taiwan: Austronesian villages linked coasts and rivers.

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Societies and Political Developments

• China (Tang, 618–907):

  • Southern prefectures (Fujian, Guangdong) prospered; rice expansion in Yangtze + Sichuan Basin created surpluses.

  • Yunnan and Guangxi uplands: Tang encountered frontier states like Nanzhao (738–902) in Yunnan, which resisted Tang authority and linked to Southeast Asia.

  • Northeast (Liaoning–Jilin–Manchuria): Khitan and Mohe tribes challenged Tang garrisons; frontier instability grew.

  • Collapse of Tang in 907 led to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (north vs. south).

• Korea: Unified Silla weakened, and by 918 Wang Geon founded Goryeo, replacing Silla in 935.

• Japan: The Fujiwara clan dominated court politics; kana writing systems enabled new literature.

• Taiwan: Austronesian-speaking peoples practiced swidden horticulture and coastal fishing, tied into Luzon and Fujian trade.

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Long-Term Significance

By 963 CE, Maritime East Asia stood divided:

• Tang China collapsed, but Yangtze/Sichuan surpluses and southern ports ensured prosperity.

• Nanzhao in Yunnan exemplified rising frontier powers outside Tang control.

• Khitan and Mohe pressure in Jilin–Manchuria foreshadowed the Liao dynasty.

• Goryeo Korea emerged, Heian Japan flourished culturally, and Taiwan’s Austronesians remained part of South China Sea voyaging networks.

A period of political upheaval in China, which begins in the Tang Dynasty and ends in the Song Dynasty, sees the rapid succession of five dynasties in the north, and the establishment of more than a dozen independent states, mainly in the south.

Only ten are traditionally listed, however; hence the era's name, “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.”

Tang power had ebbed by the middle of the eighth century CE.

Domestic economic instability and military defeat in 751 by Arabs at Talas, in Central Asia, had marked the beginning of five centuries of steady military decline for the Chinese empire.

Misrule, court intrigues, economic exploitation, and popular rebellions weaken the empire, making it possible for northern invaders to terminate the dynasty in 907.

The next half-century see the fragmentation of China into five northern dynasties and ten southern kingdoms, but in 960 a new power, Song (960-1279), reunifies most of China Proper.

Central Asia (820 – 963 CE): Samanid Renaissance, Oasis Roads, and Steppe Frontiers

Geographic and Environmental Context

Central Asia includes the Syr Darya and Amu Darya basins (Transoxiana), Khwarazm and the Aral–Caspianlowlands, the Ferghana Valley, the Merv oasis and Kopet Dag piedmont, the Kazakh steppe to the Aral littoral, and the Tian Shan–Pamir margins.

• A lattice of irrigated oases—Bukhara, Samarkand, Khwarazm/Urgench, Merv—was threaded by caravan tracks to Ferghana, Kashgar, and Nishapur.

• Beyond the canals rose the steppe and semi-desert zones of Oghuz and Kipchak pastoralists, linking the Aral–Caspian to the Volga and Black Sea worlds.

Climate and Environmental Shifts

• Warm–dry conditions with highly seasonal rivers (Syr/Amu); reliable irrigation made oases resilient while steppe pastures fluctuated with multi-year droughts.

• Snowmelt-fed canals in the piedmont and river deltas underwrote bumper harvests; dune movement and salinization required continuous maintenance of canals and fields.

Societies and Political Developments

• Tahirids (821–873) and Saffarids (861–1003) shaped the Khurasan–Sistan rim, but in Transoxiana the decisive power was the Samanid dynasty (819–999), ruling from Bukhara and Samarkand.

• Under Nasr II (r. 914–943) and Nuh I (r. 943–954), Samanid authority stabilized Transoxiana and Khwarazm, balancing tributary ties with steppe tribes and asserting Sunni legitimacy against Ismaʿili activism.

• Oghuz confederations along the Syr Darya gathered strength, controlling corridors toward the Caspian and brokering horses and slaves; Kimek–Kipchak groupings on the northern steppe grew more prominent.

• In the far east, Karakhanid tribal blocs in Semirechye/Ferghana began coalescing (mid–late 10th c.), foreshadowing a new Turkic sovereignty over Transoxiana after 963.

Economy and Trade

• Irrigated cereal and cotton agriculture flourished in the Zarafshan and Ferghana; orchards (apricot, grape, pomegranate) and silk weaving added value.

• Samanid mints at Bukhara, Samarkand, and Nishapur struck vast quantities of silver dirhams; these coins fueled the Volga trade to Bulghar and the Rus’, turning Central Asia into a monetary engine of the wider Eurasian economy.

• Caravan networks tied Merv–Nishapur to Rayy and the Iranian plateau, Bukhara–Samarkand to Kashgar and Khotan, and Khwarazm to the Caspian–Volga riverways.

• Exports: textiles, sugar, paper, fruit syrups, refined silver; imports: slaves, furs, amber, swords from the north; horses, jade, tea, and silk from China; aromatics and pearls via the Persian Gulf.

Subsistence and Technology

• Oases relied on canals and diversion weirs; in piedmont and delta zones, subterranean galleries (qanāt/kārīz) extended arable margins.

• Paper-making (Samarkand tradition), book copying, and dyeing workshops thrived; iron foundries produced tools and blades for both oasis and steppe markets.

• Steppe pastoralists fielded composite bows, lamellar armor, and remount herds; caravans and frontier garrisons purchased remount horses in quantity.

Movement and Interaction Corridors

• The Transoxiana–Ferghana–Kashgar arc moved silk and jade west; the Khwarazm–Volga–Bulghar route moved dirhams and slaves north; the Merv–Nishapur–Rayy road linked to Baghdad and the Gulf.

• Seasonal steppe corridors along the Syr and lower Amu carried Oghuz/Kipchak herds and raiding parties toward oasis frontiers—regulated by tribute, markets, and punitive expeditions.

Belief and Symbolism

• Sunni Hanafi Islam anchored Samanid legitimacy; madrasas, mosques, and waqf endowments expanded in the oases.

• A Persianate renaissance flourished at Bukhara: Rudakī and court poets inaugurated New Persian literature in Arabic script; Arabic scholarship (theology, medicine, astronomy) circulated through libraries and paper markets.

• Ismaʿili missionaries operated in Khurasan–Transoxiana, but the Samanids suppressed them, positioning themselves as defenders of Sunnism.

• Among Turkic steppe peoples, Tengri sky worship, ancestor cults, and shamanic practices persisted alongside growing contact with Islam.

Adaptation and Resilience

• Oasis–steppe symbiosis—grain, textiles, and coin for horses, guards, and furs—reduced conflict costs and stabilized borders.

• Canal upkeep and salt management preserved arable land; caravanserai provisioning reduced risk on long hauls.

• Monetization via dirhams cushioned shocks by integrating Central Asia into Volga–Rus’–Baltic and Persian Gulf–Indian Ocean circuits.

• Frontier diplomacy (tribute, hostage exchange, intermarriage) with Oghuz and Kipchak leaders channeled steppe pressures into trade.

Long-Term Significance

By 963 CE, Central Asia had entered a Samanid-led golden age:

• A Persianate cultural core (Bukhara–Samarkand–Merv) powered scholarship and literature,

• Irrigated oases turned river water into silk, sugar, and coin,

• Steppe gateways delivered horses and transcontinental partners, and

• The Karakhanids were poised on the Ferghana frontier, preparing to enter Transoxiana and inaugurate the next political cycle.

This age set the template for the region’s classic medieval pattern: Sunni–Persian urban courts, Turkic steppe military power, and caravan capitalism binding China, the Islamic world, and the North.

The Yenisei Kyrgyz have a mixed economy based on traditional nomadic animal breeding (mostly horses and cattle) and agriculture.

According to Chinese records, they grow Himalayan rye, barley, millet, and wheat.

They are also skilled iron workers, jewelry makers, potters, and weavers.

Their homes are traditional nomadic tents and, in the agricultural areas, wood and bark huts.

Their farming settlements are protected by log palisades.

The resources of their forested homeland (mainly fur) allow the Yenisei Kyrgyz to become prosperous merchants as well.

They maintain trading ties with China, Tibet, the Abbasid Caliphate of the Middle East, and many local tribes.

Kirghiz horses are also renowned for their large size and speed.

The tenth-century Persian text Hudud al-'alam describes the Kyrgyz as people who "venerate the Fire and burn the dead", and that they are nomads who hunt.

Zhao Kuangyin’s usurpation of the Later Zhou Dynasty throne in 960 brings to and end the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China.

The amount of registered soldiers in the Chinese army at this time is some 378,000.

This marks the end of the post-Tang military regimes known as the Five Dynasties with the seizure of the imperial throne by general Zhao Guangyin, who founds the Song dynasty.

Zhao places the military under civil administration to prevent a recurrence of the militarism that had toppled the Tang.

Under Zhao and subsequent Song rulers, the aristocrats will lose their domination of government to the emergent scholar-gentry class, who derive their power from landholding and extensive educational training.

Li Yu succeeds his father Li Jing, also a poet, to the throne of the Southern T'ang kingdom in 961 at the age of twenty-four.

Southeast Asia (964 – 1107 CE): Angkor’s Expansion, Pagan’s Rise, Srivijaya at Zenith, and the Maritime Spice Commonwealth

Geographic and Environmental Context

Southeast Asia in the Lower High Medieval Age formed one of the world’s great crossroads—linking the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea through a chain of rivers, deltas, and island straits.
It encompassed the mainland basins of the Irrawaddy, Chao Phraya, Mekong, and Red Rivers, and the insular zones of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, and the eastern archipelagos stretching to the Moluccas and Philippines.
Volcanic soils, monsoon-fed lowlands, and reef-fringed coasts sustained a mosaic of agrarian empires and maritime thalassocracies that together forged the most interconnected economy in the tropical world.

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Climate and Environmental Shifts

The Medieval Warm Period (c. 950–1250 CE) brought relatively stable monsoon regimes and abundant harvests.
Fertile floodplains enabled the hydraulic expansion of Angkor and Pagan, while volcanic soils in Java and Sumatra yielded surplus rice.
At sea, calmer inter-monsoon intervals favored navigation through the Malacca, Sunda, and Makassar Straits.
Periodic cyclones and El Niño droughts affected coastal polities, but irrigation, redistribution, and maritime trade tempered their impact.

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Societies and Political Developments

Across the region, two great systems flourished in tandem—mainland rice kingdoms and insular maritime empires—each adapting Indic and Buddhist influences to local ecologies.

Mainland Southeast Asia

• Myanmar:
  After the Pyu collapse, Burman-speaking groups founded Pagan (Bagan) in the Irrawaddy valley.
  Under Anawrahta (1044–1077), Pagan unified Upper Myanmar, institutionalized Theravāda Buddhism, and constructed thousands of stupas and monasteries.
  Vast irrigation networks turned dry plains into granaries supporting temple-based patronage.

• Thailand and Laos:
  The Dvaravati Mon states declined, absorbed by Pagan and Angkorian expansion.
  Lao uplands remained fragmented, while early Thai migrations from the north were laying future foundations.

• Cambodia (Khmer Empire):
  Under Suryavarman I (1006–1050), Angkor reached classical scale, extending control into Laos and central Thailand.
  Massive baray reservoirs and canals powered rice surpluses, while temples like Phimeanakas embodied a fusion of Hindu and Buddhist royal ideology.

• Vietnam:
  The Lý dynasty (1009–1225) centralized power at Thăng Long (Hanoi), balancing Buddhist devotion with Confucian administration.
  Southward, Champa thrived along the coast, constructing Mỹ Sơn towers and contesting borders with both Khmer and Dai Viet.

Insular Southeast Asia

• Srivijaya (Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula):
  At its zenith, Palembang’s fleets controlled both the Malacca and Sunda Straits, taxing commerce between India and China.
  Srivijaya’s Buddhist monasteries attracted international scholars, sustaining Sumatra’s renown as a center of learning.

• Java:
  Divided among rival courts, central Java maintained Shaiva-Hindu temples and rice-based prosperity, while coastal ports sought autonomy from Srivijaya’s maritime dominance.

• Borneo and Sulawesi:
  Srivijayan influence reached coastal Borneo; interior Dayak societies continued forest cultivation.
  On Sulawesi, coastal chiefdoms in Makassar, Buton, and the north served as brokers of cloves and nutmeg from the Moluccas into the Java Sea network.

• Eastern Archipelagos (Bali – Timor – Moluccas – Philippines):
  The Banda and Moluccan Islands exported cloves and nutmeg to world markets through Srivijayan routes.
  In the Philippines, barangay polities ruled by datu chiefs expanded bay settlements trading gold, pearls, forest resins, and slaves.
  The Sulu and Mindanao zones linked Philippine and Moluccan circuits, while Bali combined rice and root-crop systems with Hindu court culture.

Andamanasia: Northern Gateway of the Bay of Bengal

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Aceh, Nias, Mentawai, and nearby archipelagos formed a western threshold of Southeast Asia.

• The Andamanese preserved autonomous foraging traditions.

• The Nicobars practiced mixed horticulture and seafaring exchange.

• Nias and the Mentawais fostered stratified village societies and megalithic feasting cultures.

• In northern Sumatra, ports such as Barus and Lambri prospered from the camphor trade, attracting Indian, Persian, and Arab merchants.
  After the Chola raid of 1025, Srivijaya’s dominance waned, allowing these ports increasing independence and direct access to global commerce.

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Economy and Trade

Southeast Asia’s prosperity rested on the fusion of hydraulic agriculture and maritime redistribution.

• Mainland: Angkor’s and Pagan’s irrigated rice economies sustained monumental architecture and Buddhist institutions; the Lý and Champa realms combined agrarian surplus with coastal trade.

• Insular: Srivijaya monopolized the spice, gold, and tin routes, linking the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea.
  Java and the Philippines supplied rice and forest products, while the Banda–Moluccas produced the coveted clove and nutmeg that fueled world demand.

• Andamanasia: Barus and Lambri exported camphor and elephants, becoming vital nodes in the Indian Ocean economy.

Together, these systems created a maritime commonwealth, moving rice, metals, forest resins, and aromatics across thousands of kilometers of sea.

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Belief and Symbolism

Religion unified political authority and artistic expression throughout the region.

• Angkor: Hindu-Buddhist cosmology materialized in temple-mountain architecture.

• Pagan: Theravāda Buddhism institutionalized monastic learning and temple endowments.

• Vietnam (Lý): Buddhism intertwined with Confucian governance.

• Champa: Shaiva Hinduism merged with Austronesian ritual at Mỹ Sơn.

• Srivijaya: Buddhist scholasticism radiated influence to China and India.

• Philippines and Moluccas: ancestor and nature worship persisted within expanding trade cults.

• Andamanasia: forest and sea spirits dominated local cosmologies; in Nias, megalithic monuments expressed mana and prestige, while Barus and Lambri absorbed early Islamic and Hindu-Buddhist influences through trade.

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Adaptation and Resilience

Environmental management underpinned stability:

• Angkor and Pagan mitigated monsoon variability through monumental waterworks.

• Srivijaya redistributed goods across sea-lanes to balance local shortages.

• Dual cropping systems of rice and root crops across island groups buffered climatic stress.

• Barus and Lambri diversified trade in camphor, elephants, and aromatics, ensuring prosperity despite Srivijaya’s decline.

• Coastal and island polities rebuilt quickly after storms through kin-based labor and inter-port reciprocity.

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Long-Term Significance

By 1107 CE, Southeast Asia had matured into a dual civilization system of global reach:

• Mainland empires—Angkor, Pagan, Lý Vietnam, and Champa—anchored monumental agrarian states powered by irrigation and religion.

• Insular maritime realms—Srivijaya, Java, Sulawesi, and the Spice Islands—commanded trade networks that bridged the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

• Andamanasia linked this world to the broader Indian Ocean economy, with Barus and Lambri emerging as cosmopolitan ports.

Together, these societies made Southeast Asia the pivotal hinge of Afro-Eurasian exchange, a zone where rice fed empires, spices enriched merchants, and monumental faiths rose from the wealth of land and sea alike.

Southeastern Asia (964 – 1107 CE): Angkor’s Expansion, Pagan’s Rise, Srivijaya at Zenith, and the Maritime Spice Commonwealth

Geographic and Environmental Context

Southeastern Asia includes southern and eastern Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra (excluding Aceh and the western offshore islands), Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, and surrounding archipelagos (Bali–Timor, Banda, Moluccas, Ceram, Halmahera, and the Philippines).

• Mainland centers: Irrawaddy, Chao Phraya, Mekong, and Red River basins.

• Insular hubs: the Malacca Strait, Java Sea, Makassar Strait, and the Moluccas–Banda spice islands, supplying global aromatics.

• Stable Holocene monsoons and volcanic soils (Java, Sumatra) underpinned dense agrarian states.

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Mainland Southeast Asia

Myanmar (southern & eastern)

• The Pyu had faded by the 10th century after Nanzhao incursions.

• Burman-speaking groups founded Pagan (Bagan) in the Irrawaddy valley.

• Under Anawrahta (1044–1077), Pagan unified upper Myanmar, adopting Theravāda Buddhism from the Mon and building thousands of stupas and monasteries.

• Pagan’s irrigation networks supported expansion, integrating upland and lowland zones.

Thailand & Laos

• Dvaravati Mon polities declined in the Chao Phraya basin, many absorbed into Khmer and Pagan or reorganized into smaller Buddhist states.

• Laos uplands saw fragmented chiefdoms, gradually influenced by Khmer expansion eastward.

• The Thai-speaking migrations from the north had not yet created major polities, but foundations were being laid.

Cambodia (Khmer Empire)

• The Khmer Empire entered its classic Angkorian phase.

• Suryavarman I (1006–1050) consolidated power, extending Khmer influence into Laos and central Thailand.

• Massive baray (reservoirs) and canals expanded Angkor’s rice output.

• Temples like Phimeanakas embodied Hindu–Buddhist royal ideology.

Vietnam

• The Early Lý dynasty (1009–1225) replaced the Ngô, centralizing rule in Thăng Long (Hanoi).

• The state patronized Buddhism, built temples, and established enduring bureaucratic institutions.

• Champa (central Vietnam): expanded along the coast, building brick towers at Mỹ Sơn, consolidating as a Hindu Shaiva kingdom, and sometimes clashing with both Khmer and Dai Viet.

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Insular Southeast Asia

Malay Peninsula

• Ports like Kedah and Tambralinga remained under Srivijayan influence, channeling India–China traffic.

• These ports exported tin, forest products, and resins while importing ceramics, cloth, and beads.

Sumatra (excluding Aceh & western islands)

• Srivijaya (Palembang) reached its peak, controlling both Malacca and Sunda Straits.

• Its fleets patrolled Java Sea–South China Sea routes.

• Buddhist monasteries in Srivijaya gained international repute; Chinese pilgrim Yijing had earlier studied there, and the tradition persisted.

• Srivijaya’s suzerainty reached parts of the Malay Peninsula, western Borneo, and Java’s ports.

Java

• Java was divided among competing courts; Hindu Shaiva traditions dominated central Java while Buddhist patronage persisted.

• Rice surpluses supported temples, literature, and court culture.

• Intermittent tensions with Srivijaya reflected Java’s ambition to control its own maritime outlets.

Borneo

• Srivijayan influence reached coastal settlements; Dayak interior groups continued swidden cultivation and forest gathering.

• Camphor, resins, and forest goods remained key exports.

Sulawesi

• Coastal chiefdoms in Makassar, Buton, and northern Sulawesi expanded as maritime brokers, moving cloves and nutmeg from Moluccas into Java Sea trade.

• Navigation and outrigger technologies here were critical to connecting east–west routes.

Eastern Archipelagos (Bali–Timor, Banda, Moluccas, Ceram, Halmahera, Philippines)

• Spice Islands (Banda, Moluccas): cloves and nutmeg harvested by local chiefs entered Srivijayan trade circuits via Sulawesi and Java.

• Philippines: barangay polities grew more complex, ruled by datu chiefs. Bay settlements in Luzon and Visayas exported gold, pearls, forest resins, and slaves.

• Mindanao and Sulu archipelagos: became key links between Philippines and Moluccas.

• Bali–Timor arc: mixed rice and root crop systems tied into maritime routes.

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Economy and Trade

• Mainland: Angkor’s irrigation-driven rice economy; Pagan’s surplus-supported temple building; Lý Vietnam’s rice and handicrafts.

• Insular: Srivijaya dominated straits commerce, collecting tolls, distributing spices, resins, gold, pearls, and forest goods.

• Spice trade reached new scale: cloves and nutmeg from the Moluccas were indispensable to India and China.

• Gold from Philippines and Sumatra; tin from the Malay Peninsula; rice from Java fed expanding circuits.

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Belief and Symbolism

• Angkor: Hindu–Buddhist royal ideology expressed in monumental temples and inscriptions.

• Pagan: Theravāda Buddhism institutionalized, stupas proliferated, monks became landholders.

• Vietnam (Lý): Buddhist cosmology intertwined with Confucian administrative ideals.

• Champa: Shaiva Hinduism blended with Austronesian ritual at Mỹ Sơn towers.

• Srivijaya: Buddhist scholasticism and pilgrimage networks integrated Sumatra into trans-Asian learning.

• Philippines & Moluccas: animist–ancestor worship remained dominant; Indic influences arrived through trade shrines.

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Adaptation and Resilience

• Hydraulic management in Angkor and Pagan mitigated monsoon variability.

• Maritime redistribution in Srivijaya balanced shortages by moving surplus rice, spices, and goods across seas.

• Dual economies of root crops and rice in insular archipelagos buffered against drought and volcanic disruption.

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Long-Term Significance

By 1107 CE, Southeast Asia was a complex dual system:

• Mainland rice empires: Angkor reaching classic scale, Pagan consolidating Theravāda Buddhism, Vietnam centralizing under Lý, Champa thriving on coastal trade.

• Insular thalassocracies: Srivijaya controlling maritime choke points, Java balancing agrarian and maritime ambitions, Sulawesi and the Philippines anchoring eastern spice flows.

• This integration positioned Southeast Asia as a critical hinge in Afro-Eurasian exchange, with Angkor and Pagan as monumental agrarian states inland, and Srivijaya and Spice Island networks ensuring global demand for aromatics was met.