Geography as destiny?: The role of water in Southeast Asian history

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the impact of water-borne commerce. Over thousands of years, Asian waters have been much traveled, and it has often been suggested that the central dynamic of Southeast Asian history is to be found in the interaction between peoples, primarily through trade: down the rivers, along the coasts, and across the seas and oceans. The debate on early state formation in Southeast Asia underlines the central interaction between ecology, human settlement and the development of hierarchy. The movement of goods in the wider Indian Ocean was naturally organized within sea-focused arenas. Many of the major debates in Southeast historiography involve the role of water. These include discussion of the ecological, economic and cultural foundations of early states, of settlement patterns and the role of cities, the significance of river and sea transport, hydraulic engineering and the impact of trade. Keywords: maritime trade; sea transport; Southeast Asian goods; water-borne commerce