History of Southeast Asia

This episode covers the latest round in the ongoing conflict between Myanmar and Thailand, or as they were called before the twentieth century, Burma and Siam. At the height of the fighting, the Burmese utterly destroyed Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam. But this wasn't the end of Siam; the Siamese kings move first to Thonburi, then to Bangkok, and the kingdom recovered with amazing speed. Do you th...

This episode covers Vietnam in the early modern era, from 1471 to 1819. Twice during this period, Vietnam was divided between rival factions, from 1527 to 1592, and then from 1592 to 1802. We will also see Champa, Vietnam's rival in Episodes 4 and 8, for the last time. Finally, one French clergyman will invent today's Vietnamese alphabet, and another will help Vietnam pull itself together again; t...

Today's episode wraps up coverage of seventeenth-century events in Burma, Siam and Laos, with some really obscure stories about two kingdoms that no longer exist: Arakan and Lan Xang. We will cover the peak years and decline of both kingdoms. And that's not all; we will also see another European try to gain control over a Southeast Asian state, this time Siam. Here is the map that was originally p...

In recent episodes we have met two European nations that explored and exploited parts of Southeast Asia, Portugal and Spain. Now this episode introduces the Dutch and tells how they got involved in Indonesia. Because the Dutch used a corporation, the Dutch East India Company (also called the V.O.C.), this will be a very different story from that of the Portuguese and Spanish empires. Do you think...

This episode finishes what we started covering last time, the wars on the Southeast Asian mainland in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Whereas we mainly looked at two Burmese kings last time, here we will concentrate our attention on Naresuan, whom modern-day Thais consider their greatest king. Also, we will see a strange adventure in which two Europeans, a Portuguese and a Spaniard,...

The last four episodes have mainly talked about events on Southeast Asia's islands, so now we will return to the mainland and the conflict that we started to cover at the end of Episode 10. Special attention is given to the two most important Burmese kings of the sixteenth century, Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung. I call this episode and the next one "The Elephant Wars" because most of the fighting wa...

In the previous episode we learned how Spain discovered the Philippines, so in this episode Spain will name and conquer the Philippine islands, making them a colony for more than three hundred years. (Note: A remastered edition of this episode was uploaded on March 24, 2017, with better sound quality than the original.) Here is a map of the Philippines so listeners can keep track of all the places...

In this episode, a second European nation, Spain, gets involved in Southeast Asia by discovering the Philippines, a part of Southeast Asia that had not gotten much attention previously. Then we will see Spain's attempts to take Indonesia and its valuable spice trade from Portugal. This map explains the Portuguese-Spanish dispute in Southeast Asia. It shows three ideas on where to put the "Tordesil...

This is the first episode of 2017, and the first episode covering events in the modern era. Here we will meet the Portuguese, the first Europeans to sail across the oceans in large numbers, see how they found Southeast Asia, and learn what they did in the region. With the European arrival, the rules of the game will change! Do you think you would like to become a podcaster on Blubrry? Click here f...

There is one more major player in Southeast Asia to introduce before the Europeans arrive, and that player is Islam. This episode will focus on how Islam came to this part of the world, with special emphasis on Malacca, the first important Southeast Asian state that converted to the new religion. And here is a map showing how Islam spread across Southeast Asia, starting with Aceh (also spelled Ach...

We're almost finished looking at Southeast Asia in the Middle Ages. This episode tells how Siam (modern Thailand) and Lan Xang (Laos) got started. And you will get to hear me mangle more names that were never meant to be pronounced by English speakers! Here is a map of the Southeast Asian mainland, around 1530. All of the nations mentioned in this episode are shown, with arrows indicating the main...

This episode covers Burma (also called Myanmar) in the Middle Ages, with special emphasis on the Bagan Empire. Visit a city with more than 2,000 pagodas!  Learn what makes Theravada Buddhism different from the other Buddhist sects.  Meet a king who ruled for 95 years, and another king who ate 300 dishes of curry every day!  Hear me mispronounce their names! It's all here for your listening pleasur...

This episode covers Vietnam from 939 to 1471. During this time two nations existed in the territory of present-day Vietnam (three if you count the Khmers ruling the Mekong delta). Those nations were the Vietnamese state, currently called Dai Viet, and the Indianized state of Champa. The Vietnamese and Chams fought on and off for most of this period, hence the episode name. Who won? Listen to find...

We're now up to the most spectacular civilization in ancient/medieval Southeast Asia. This episode covers Cambodia from 550 to 1431, the golden age of the Khmers, ancestors of today's Cambodians. Here are some maps and pictures to give you a better idea of what I am talking about: First, a map of mainland Southeast Asia, around 750 A.D. The violet-colored nation at the bottom is Srivijaya (see Epi...

This episode covers Indonesia from the year 600 to 1500, the years when historical records become available, but before most Indonesians converted to Islam (that will be a topic for a future episode). Five major kingdoms dominated the islands during this time: Srivijaya, Mataram, Kediri, Singosari, and Majapahit.  Also, we will take a detailed look at Borobudur, Indonesia's greatest monument. Here...

For this episode, the main topic is how the nation of Burma, also called Myanmar, got started. We will see the Burmese and tribes related to them settle the north, and we will take a special look at Arakan, a province that often went its own way (see the map below). Also in this episode, we will see the Mons, a tribe we met previously, move the capital of their state in southern Burma, from Thaton...

This episode will focus on the east coast of the Southeast Asian mainland, going up to 938 A.D. This timeframe covers the beginning of two nations: Vietnam and Champa. Only one of them is around today; guess which one it is. On August 30, 2016, this podcast was added to the programs available on Stitcher. Now if you have the Stitcher app on a mobile device, you have another way to listen! http://w...

The first Southeast Asian nations larger than a city-state appeared in or near the first century A.D. In other words, roughly two thousand years ago. This episode will look at Funan, the major state that arose in Cambodia, and medium-sized states like Dvaravati, Haripunjaya, Pan Pan, Langkasuka, and Tambralinga, which the Mons and Malays founded in present-day Thailand and northern Malaya. This ma...

The Southeast Asians you are familiar with came originally from China, in at least five waves of migration: the Austronesians or Malays, the Mon-Khmers, the Vietnamese, the Tibeto-Burmans and the Thais. In this episode we will follow the Malay and Mon-Khmer migrations. Then when the Mons make contact with India, we will see Indian civilization introduced to nearly all of Southeast Asia, setting th...

Our narrative begins with Southeast Asia in prehistoric times. We will look at Java Man, Solo Man, Wadjak Man, Meganthropus, Gigantopithecus, Homo floresiensis, the Negritos, and the amazing Ban Chiang village in Thailand. This episode was originally uploaded on July 15, 2016. It was edited on August 21 to remove a sentence that was later found to be in error.   Support this podcast!  

Meet the podcaster and get a geographical description of Southeast Asia, before jumping into the historical narrative that will make up the rest of this podcast series. Support this podcast!