Session Name: Overlooked Mobilities in the Indian Ocean and Beyond II
Misreading ‘Indianisation’:Transregional Connectivity and Mobility between Bengal and Indonesia
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
11:15 – 13:00 (GMT+7)
Paper Abstract: George Coedès (1886-1969) used the term Hindouisés in his French treatises to denote the Hindu penetration, expansion, and their influence on the Southeast Asian people. However, scholars, including Susan Brown Cowing, translated the term into English as ‘Indianisation.’ The megalomaniac term Indianisation was popularised during the colonial period, which did not represent South Asian heterogeneous cultures and ethnicities. For example, ancient Bengal was located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, which fostered maritime trade and the mobility of peoples and cultures in Southeast Asia since the fourth century BCE. Indian traders and pilgrims embarked on their voyages using the land and seaports of Bengal territory. Thus, Bengal exposed herself to the richness of regional cultural individuality during the ancient period; however, scholars have paid less attention to Bengal’s inherent capacities. Though Bengal was a small geographical entity of India, it facilitated transregional connectivity and mobility in Southeast Asia, specifically Indonesia. In doing so, this paper will focus on several interrelated issues. First, it deals with the misreading of Indianisation. Secondly, it illustrates the transregional connectivity between Bengal and Indonesia till the early colonial era. The third aspect concerns what extent of mobility exists between the two regions. By drawing upon a variety of ancient sacred texts, archaeological evidence-based literature, and recently published books and articles, this paper aims to fill up a literature gap by exploring the capacity, strength, and components of Bengal that contributed to the Indianisation process, particularly in Indonesia and Southeast Asia as a whole.