Civilizations in Embrace: The Spread of Ideas and the Transformation of Power; India and Southeast Asia in the Classical Age (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9789814379731)

This study revisits one of the most extensive examples of the spread of ideas in the history of civilization: the diffusion of Indian religious and political ideas to Southeast Asia before the advent of Islam and European colonialism. Hindu and Buddhist concepts and symbols of kingship and statecraft helped to legitimize Southeast Asian rulers, and transform the political institutions and authority of Southeast Asia. But the process of this diffusion was not accompanied by imperialism, political hegemony, or "colonization" as conventionally understood. This book investigates different explanations of the spread of Indian ideas offered by scholars, including why and how it occurred and what were its key political and institutional outcomes. It challenges the view that strategic competition is a recurring phenomenon when civilizations encounter each other.

Author: Amitav Acharya
ISBN-10: 9814379735
ISBN-13: 9789814379731
Publisher: Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute
Language: English
Published: 12/17/2012
Pages: 128
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.76lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.38d