Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

29. From Mandalas to Microchips: The Indian Imprint on the Construction of Singapore

549 29 FROM MANDALAS TO MICROCHIPS: THE INDIAN IMPRINT ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF SINGAPORE Asad-ul Iqbal Latif THE CLASSICAL AGE1 The฀classical฀Indian฀influence฀on฀Southeast฀Asia฀was฀a฀largely฀benign฀one.฀ According฀to฀G.฀Coedes฀in฀The฀Indianized฀States฀of฀Southeast฀Asia,฀Indians฀ “nowhere฀ engaged฀ in฀ military฀ conquest฀ and฀ annexation฀ in฀ the฀ name฀ of฀ a฀ state฀or฀mother฀country”.฀The฀Indian฀kingdoms฀that฀emerged฀in฀“Farther฀ India”฀ enjoyed฀ only฀ ties฀ of฀ tradition฀ with฀ Indian฀ dynasties;฀ there฀ was฀ no฀ political฀dependence.2 ฀It฀is฀true฀that฀from฀the฀tenth฀to฀the฀thirteenth฀centuries฀ A.D.,฀ the฀ South฀ Indian฀ Chola฀ Kingdom,฀ a฀ great฀ naval฀ power,฀ protected฀ its฀ merchants฀ from฀ the฀ Coromandel฀ Coast฀ in฀ the฀ Strait฀ of฀ Malacca,฀ and฀ it฀is฀also฀true฀that฀Rajendra฀Chola฀attacked฀Kedah฀in฀1025,฀ransacked฀its฀ capital฀and฀carried฀its฀treasures฀back฀home.฀However,฀this฀incursion฀was฀the฀ result฀of฀rivalry฀that฀had฀developed฀between฀the฀Cholas฀and฀the฀Srivijaya฀ Empire:฀the฀Cholas฀exercised฀no฀control฀over฀the฀Malay฀Peninsula.3 ฀Unlike฀ Western฀ imperial฀ expeditions฀ to฀ Asia฀ later,฀ the฀ flag฀ did฀ not฀ follow฀ trade.฀ Instead,฀one฀form฀which฀India’s฀relationship฀with฀Southeast฀Asia฀took฀was฀ the฀ transmission฀ of฀ the฀ notion฀ of฀ the฀ mandala,฀ a฀ Sanskrit฀ term฀ featured฀ in฀ Indian฀ manuals฀ of฀ governance฀ that฀ demarcated฀ the฀ power฀ of฀ kings฀ in฀ 29฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀549 8/21/08฀฀฀5:53:19฀PM 550 Asad-ul Iqbal Latif terms฀ of฀ circles฀ forming฀ around฀ them.฀ O.W.฀ Wolters฀ reads฀ the฀ map฀ of฀ early฀Southeast฀Asia฀as฀a฀patchwork฀of฀often฀overlapping฀mandalas.฀While,฀ in฀ theory,฀ a฀ king฀ imbued฀ with฀ divine฀ and฀ universal฀ authority฀ claimed฀ hegemony฀over฀other฀rulers฀in฀his฀mandala฀who฀were฀his฀allies฀and฀vassals,฀ in฀practice,฀the฀mandala฀represented฀“an฀often฀unstable฀political฀situation฀ in฀a฀vaguely฀defined฀geographical฀area฀without฀fixed฀boundaries”.฀Smaller฀ centres฀tended฀to฀look฀in฀all฀directions฀for฀security฀as฀the฀spheres฀expanded฀ or฀contracted.฀Each฀mandala฀contained฀tributary฀rulers฀among฀whom฀some฀ would฀repudiate฀their฀vassalage฀when฀opportunity฀arrived฀and฀embark฀on฀ building฀ up฀ their฀ own฀ set฀ of฀ vassals.฀ The฀ mandala฀ system฀ did฀ not฀ stop฀ war,฀but฀victories฀rarely฀obliterated฀local฀centres,฀whether฀by฀colonization฀ or฀ through฀ the฀ power฀ of฀ centralized฀ institutions฀ of฀ government.4 ฀ Amitav฀ Acharya฀ makes฀ a฀ convincing฀ case฀ for฀ treating฀ the฀ mandala฀ system฀ as฀ one฀ of฀the฀sources฀of฀contemporary฀Southeast฀Asia’s฀regional฀state-system,฀two฀ other฀sources฀being฀Stanley฀Tambiah’s฀notion฀of฀“galactic฀polity”฀and฀Clifford฀ Geertz’s฀ “theatre฀ state”฀ in฀ Bali5 ฀ —฀ both฀ of฀ which฀ bore,฀ of฀ course,฀ India’s฀ civilizational฀imprint.฀ Singapore฀is฀an฀island-state฀shaped฀by฀the฀maritime฀edges฀of฀history.฀ It฀was฀known฀to฀mariners฀as฀early฀as฀the฀third฀century.฀By฀the฀seventh฀ century,฀the฀Srivijaya฀Empire,฀the฀first฀of฀the฀maritime฀states฀in฀the฀Malay฀ Archipelago,฀linked฀ports฀and฀cities฀along฀the฀coasts฀of฀Sumatra,฀Java฀and฀the฀ Malay฀Peninsula.฀Singapore฀was฀probably฀one฀of฀the฀outposts฀of฀Srivijaya,฀an฀ entrepôt฀and฀supply฀point฀for฀Chinese,฀Thai,฀Javanese,฀Malay,฀Indian฀and฀Arab฀ traders.฀According฀to฀an฀early฀chronicle฀which฀names฀the฀island฀Temasek,฀the฀ city฀of฀Singapura฀—฀Lion฀City฀—฀was฀established฀there฀in฀1299.฀Over฀the฀ following฀three฀centuries,฀Singapore฀came฀under฀the฀sway฀of฀several฀regional฀ powers,฀including฀the฀empires฀of฀Srivijaya,฀Majapahit฀and฀Ayuthhaya,฀and฀ the฀Malacca฀and฀Johor฀Sultanates.฀Its฀fortunes฀touched฀their฀nadir฀in฀1613,฀ when฀the฀Portuguese฀burnt฀down฀a฀trading฀post฀at฀the฀mouth฀of฀the฀Singapore฀ River฀“and฀the฀curtain฀came฀down฀on฀the฀tiny฀island฀for฀two฀centuries”.6 ฀ Kwa฀Chong฀Guan฀therefore฀positions฀Singapore฀within฀the฀cycles฀of฀Asia’s฀ trading฀world,฀which฀he฀visualizes฀as฀natural฀economic฀zones฀in฀the฀Straits฀ of฀Malacca฀in฀which฀a฀number฀of฀emporia฀competed฀to฀establish฀supremacy฀ and฀form฀a฀mandala฀to฀control฀trade฀in฀the฀Malacca฀Straits.฀Part฀of฀that฀ economic฀network฀was฀the฀Malay฀world฀spanning฀the฀Johor฀River,฀the฀Riau฀ Islands฀down฀Lingga฀and฀Singapore,฀which฀formed฀a฀“natural฀economic฀zone”฀ from฀the฀sixteenth฀to฀the฀eighteenth฀centuries.฀Political฀and฀economic฀power฀ in฀this฀zone฀shaped฀itself฀around฀a฀series฀of฀istanas,฀or฀palaces,฀which฀“shifted฀ up฀and฀down”฀the฀Johor฀River฀and฀Bintan฀before฀moving฀to฀Singapore฀in฀the฀ nineteenth฀century.7 ฀In฀another฀account,฀fourteenth฀century฀Singapore฀lay฀ 29฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀550 8/21/08฀฀฀5:53:20฀PM Indian Imprint on the Construction of Singapore 551 at฀the฀margins฀of฀the฀Tai฀and฀Javanese฀mandalas.฀“The฀most฀that฀either...