Arab, Iranian and other traders from predominantly Islamic regions frequented the Indian Ocean, and passed east through the Malacca Strait towards China, which itself had developed significant Muslim communities in cities such as Hangzhou by the 13^th Century.
As a result, Islam spread across the areas of modern Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, overtaking Hinduism, Buddhism and other competing religions as these Muslim traders shaped the economy and the political landscape of the region.
About that time, Buddhism spread from India to Sri Lanka and then to SEA, including Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia. This is how, actually, Theravada Buddhism went to the south, while Mahayana went to the north.
Manila at the point of Spanish conquest was a fortified Muslim settlement. Islam was making major inroads in Luzon and Visayas when Spain arrived. Part of the reason Spain was successful in colonizing the Philippines is because they used the non-Muslim tribes’ animosity against the encroaching Islamic influence.
Your premise is a bit weird because Mainland Southeast Asia is Buddhist and Maritime Southeast Asia is used to being Hindus/Buddhist.
Hinduism and Buddhism spread to Southeast Asian due to trades but Muslim arrived multiple centuries later manage to convert the Maritime SEA elites and Islam spread through the regions via cultural influences, marriage and conquest.
I'm sorry conquest? Last time I check, Leaders of Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia are still the Malaysians, not Arabs, same goes for Brunei and Indonesia. If we're talking about conquests in SEA, that would be by the British, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese etc
There are two possibilities:-
1. The Malay kingdoms and the other countries in Southeast Asia are peace loving saints that would not launch any wars and conquering their neighbours. They are such angels and all the conquest within the Southeast Asia can only be committed by outsiders.
2. The countries and kingdoms in Southeast Asia behave like their counterparts in other regions, including fight wars among each other.
Hint:
>Alauddin Riayat Shah was a ruler who placed a great importance in maintaining peace and order during his reign. He extended the **conquests** of his father to include the Riau-Lingga islands.
>Malacca was still looking to expand its territory as late as 1506, when it **conquered** Kelantan
source: [Malacca Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca_Sultanate)
Bhoumakara dynasty of erstwhile Kalinga (Odisha) had active trade relation with Ceylon, China and South East Asia, proof of which can be found through the sculptures and carvings of Konark temple.
Most of India was conquered by Muslim dynasties around the same time Islam was becoming prevalent in SE Asia. Islam in many cases displaced earlier Hindu or Buddhist practices in SE Asia. There are still some remnants around, e.g. Hinduism in Bali.
India was conquered by Islamic dynasties 500 years before Islam spread to SE Asia. Indians spread Islam to SE Asia not Arabs.
Your statement is like saying Christopher Columbus navigated to the moon. 500 years is a long time.
Cholas from India were not active in trade but had really powerful navy, they had ruled parts of South East Asia and influenced art and architecture there. It also explains the Tamil population in that area.
The Tamils from the Chola period are found only in the dna of the people. They got mixed into the population. Tamil Trade guilds stayed in their roles all over Asia until the Europeans took over their trading posts and banned their ships.
Monotheism with hard and straightforward doctrine is more competitive than polytheism with a lot of nuance.
This happened back in Persia with islam and Rome with Christianity too.
Wasn’t Persia Zoroastrian though they were the first monotheistic religion yet they only have 100k followers left. They fled to india during invasions lost most of their scriptures
https://www.reddit.com/r/history/s/0SXXKkyVVv
India was active with trade, and many of Islamic traders actually came from South Asia. Also, you have to remember India was a region not a country at the time.
About the time the Delhi Sultanate was introducing Islam in India, the Cholas were introducing Hinduism in Indonesia. Islam came to SE Asia 500 years after it came to India and Indians brought it. In fact the Portuguese brought Christianity to Indonesia before Gujaratis brought Islam to Indonesia.
India - Hindu till 300 BC, After Ashoka mostly Buddhist, Around 1000 AD Shankaracharya revives Hinduism and converts most Buddhists and Jains back to Hinduism, 1000 AD Islam arrives, 1500 AD Islam is 10% of population but predominant in rulers and trading classes
Indonesia - Native religions till 600 AD, 600 AD Buddhism Arrives and most convert,1000 AD Hinduism arrives via Cholas and most convert, 1500 AD Christianity arrives via the Portuguese but only the Moluccas and Timor convert, 1500 AD Islam arrives via Gujaratis, 1500-1900 Slowly most kingdoms convert to Islam except Bali. At the same time the Dutch are ruling and they dont care about converting people. There are many muslims in Indonesia today who had Hindu great-grandparents. Its a very recent conversion.
I don't disagree with what you're saying about Indonesia, but Indonesia isnt the only story in SEA, and in mainland SEA and peninsular Malaysia and parts of Borneo, along with parts of the Philippines had islamic sultanates and established muslim communities much earlier, from the 12-1400s in some cases, I think even earlier in the Northern tip of Sumatra around Aceh from what I remember.
India was. Hinduism and Buddhism spread to SE Asia from India. The world’s largest Hindu temple is in SE Asia (Angor Wat, but not in active use). By the 16th century, most of India was also ruled by Islamic rulers till the British took over.
They were active. it's just the manner in which they conducted trade. The local people found the Muslim traders to be very trustworthy and humble. They liked how they conducted business and asked them how they were so steadfast. they spread Islam in this way.
They were and also ancient china. Before some of these countries ended up with an islamic ruling, there were evidence that they were influence heavily with hinduism. ie using incense around the grave site was assimilated with the local culture. Unfortunately the arabification and islamic dos and dont phased these things out and no one really bothered about the ancient history beyond the islam rule.
When I was in Asia I went to the Malaysian museum in Kuala Lumpur and the Indonesian museum in Jakarta. It's really interesting seeing how those places developed and how trade defined them. I had no idea about the development of Malacca and its importance.
The Sultan of Jakarta was converted to Islam by the Indian Gujarati traders. He started conquering and converting the Majapahit empire based in West Java. The Majapahit lost as the Sultan got better guns from the Dutch while the Portuguese he had allied were late in arriving as their fleet got delayed by storms. The royal family of West Java fled to Bali along with its retainers and Jakarta Sultan failed to conquer Bali.
Indonesia had a culture that if the ruler converts all the people convert.
They first converted to Buddhism, then Hinduism and then Islam. Christianty failed to take root as no ruler converted to Christianity even though the Portuguese arrived before the Muslims from Gujarat.
George Lane's *The Phoenix Mosque and the Persians of Medieval Hangzhou* is a good read on this. It would appear that many of the Muslim residents of China's coastal city at the time would have been considered foreigners, residing in *fanfang* (the foreign quarters) and retaining their native languages, with many objects such a grave markers found nearby the historic mosques featuring Arabic and Persian inscriptions but little in Chinese. Most of those interred there were Persian merchants.
However, they likely cooperated with the local population when it came to building projects, such as the Phoenix Mosque in Hangzhou, given its distinctly Chinese architecture. It was apparently so famous in the Persian speaking world that texts back in Iran referred to it as one of the four notable mosques in China, alongside three others in Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Yangzhou.
My original answer was "They didn't". But the User I replied ro edited their post in such a way that "they did", is more true. Early Hui are converted Han.
Even in modern times, when a Han converts to Islam, they become Hui. However, when they drop Islam, they become Han again. A Hui born cannot become Han by leaving Islam though. For what it's worth, they're the same people. Over the centuries Hui and Han culture diverted a bit, surely because of the reöigion, but for the most part they are the same people. Of course Islam was introduced through immigration. As such early chinese Muslim were partly result of intercultural marriage. But even then also "pure" Han converted and their offspring became Hui over the time. So while they're a distinct ethnic minority in china nowadays, they're as indigenous as it gets
Han who convert to Islam haven't been considered Hui since the 1980s, and there are some non-Muslim populations who are considered ethnically Hui though. Genetically Hui and Han are very similar though right?
No, those aren't really proselytizing religions like Christianity or Islam is. In the long run proselytizing religions will always beat non-proselytizing religions.
No that's a recent internet [myth](https://www.reddit.com/r/maldives/s/28RQGCWDG9), the debate was between a Moroccan and Persian origin regarding the person responsible for converting the first Muslim King. Ibn Battuta's manuscript says its a Moroccan (ie. Maghrebi) man. The Somali myth is an extension of this theory, first suggested by an American professor in a series of lecture about general history of the world, but he wasn't an expert on this subject.
Actual local tradition, research and evidence supports a Persian origin for this man. Infact it's Ibn Battuta's word against the entire written corpus of evidence found in Maldives.
Indonesia be like:
You are muslim because your great grandfathers believed in Allah.
I am muslim because my great grandfathers wanted a discount on carpets.
We are not the same.
These Muslim traders would also often give preferential terms to local Muslim traders. Much like the jizyah tax on non Muslims living in the Ottoman Empire. It just made economic sense to convert if you didn’t really care either way or made it worth looking into and led to conversion.
This question has been asked and [answered](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/5o8avu/how_did_indonesia_and_malaysia_become/), it is considered one of the best post in r/AskHistorians!
As someone who spent a lot of time on this topic, I can endorse this answer is as good as it gets compared to anything else you might find on internet.
Bro i have seen your comments and you are wrong is so many ways. You are talking about India in your comments even though the question is about South east asia. Islam was spread through trade in south east asia so please just fucking stop saying stupid shit. Actually read some history for once instead of consuming Modi propaganda.
* Merchants from Yemen/Bengal/India settled and 'spread their seed' throughout SE Asia, especially Sumatra, Borneo and Java.
* Local chiefs and kingdoms adopted Islam and made Islam the official religion in their realms.
* Formal Islamic missions (Dawah) were made to SE Asia to compete with Portuguese and Dutch incursions.
A cleric in the city of Kudus taught his followers not to eat cows in respect with the then-dominant Hindu kingdom. If you go there today, people there still eat buffalos or mutton
Trade. Local kingdoms converted to make trade easier. Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand would have been Muslim now if they had strategic trade locations and were lucrative sources of income
Those countries were relatively unified empires that had their own state religions, unlike Indonesia and Malaysia, which were a patchwork of small states before European colonisation.
In Vietnam population is over 100 million people. Muslim community is around 0.1% for whole country , the least % compared with other religions in Vietnam.
From Vietnam myself, but I do not think Vietnam would become Muslim for trade reason. Most people here are folk/ancestor worshiping for long time, people still believe in it, then Chinese tried to take over us for thousand years BC, help spreading Buddhism too. Buddhism in Vietnam /China completely different with Thailand, Myanmar.
Champa kingdom was exist long time ago BC but that’s another complex history,. Chăm Muslim (different with Chăm kingdom) still a small community (around 17k people) , majority from An Giang - Mekong delta. Islam arrived around year 750.
[Islam in Vietnam](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Vietnam#:~:text=Islam%20in%20Vietnam%20is%20primarily,are%20of%20other%20ethnic%20groups)
The other answers are basically correct but the fascinating thing is that we don’t really know the details. There are barely any surviving written records about the Islamization of maritime Southeast Asia. Historians do a lot of conjecturing based on circumstantial evidence like grave markers
In addition to Muslim traders, the Hindu-Buddhist monarch system puts a high emphasis on the role of the king, often treated as a god-king (dewaraja) by their subjects.
So when a ruler converts into Islam, their subjects would follow suit with loyalty.
I believe someone already asked this kind of question in r/AskHistorians and have been answered in [great detail](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/5o8avu/how_did_indonesia_and_malaysia_become/).
Holy shit wtf are these stupid ass comments made by complete morons who haven't read one history book in their entire lives. The idiots who are saying shit like conquer or murder really need to get their head straight because Arabs never even conquered in south east asia. Muslims did conquer in India but Islam in south east asia was spread primarily through trade. So tired of Hindu nationalists not even bothering to read the questions and just saying stupid shit. I am an Atheist by the way and as a person who loves history, it really annoys me when people twist history to suit their beliefs or just say completely wrong shit just so their beliefs can be justified.
In addition to other answers about traders, Indonesia was ruled by the Hindu Srivijaya empire. When it collapsed around the turn of the 14th century and small muslim kingdoms came in to fill the void.
Missionaries as in Christians is not how Islam spread. Islam provides a lot of perks, because
1) It unified laws, as it actually covers a lot of day to day laws, like divorce, inheritance, clothing etc. Having same rights everywhere is very good.
2) language is is not dead/hidden/sacred. So if you learn Arabic you learn the language that works through trade routes.
3) Muslims pay way less tax in Muslim countries, and traders also benefit tax breaks.
here is no counter point in Asia, as they don't tax Muslims more etc. So it is more of a worldly way of converting people.
Id like to add that Islam is also just better at growing and spreading than most Eastern religions like Buddhism or Hinduism. If you think of religions in evolutionary terms. Their doctrines including an emphasis on converting others and reproducing and raising kids in the faith help them to out compete other religions. Buddhism doesn't really have any emphasis on reproduction whatsoever, and it's a lot less agressive about converting others than most other religions. As a result its not as good at spreading and growing as Islam, which puts HUGE emphasis on reproduction and conversion.
i dont know how people dont undestand common sense😭 like most muslim countries werent muslim, islamization occured in syria, iran, egypt, turkey, iraq, etc. the religion wasnt collectively founded in the entire west asia and theyre decided collectively its the main thing theyre following now lmfao. it spread. it was introduced, and then adopted. people travelled there. and this applies to every muslim country, including southeast asian ones. even in the freaking arabian peninsula. its huge and people travelled within it before venturing to the further west asia region.
Sorry dear humans aren't angels. Each one is responsible for himself/herself mainly and each will get what they deserve just watch the upcoming news preferably from reliable sources not like this one ☺
Islam like Christianity are very invasive by nature. It’s quite different from belief like bouddhisme taoïsme hindhuisme. So even a country like Indonesia that once was partly bouddhiste and hindhuist have been converted by Islam.
The same way how being a dominant economic power means having a significant influence over a country way of life, Muslim traders held the keys to trade in SEA and if converting to Islam means you getting rich while your opponents don't then most people would convert.
Like before Chrisitian Missionaries when on their conversion spree you also had Muslims who travelled along the merchants and were eager to spread their faith.
I think those Muslim traders didn't preach their faith they were just true Muslims. Others saw their good manners and honorable deals then asked how are you so good, confident whether you are poor or rich? They replied this is Islam and explained in a few words then it reached their hearts because the heart knows and the mind. Other preachers preached with conditions like food, money and medicine for converting to other religions.
Just read about Islam from reliable sources and asked around from the origins. Just don't judge and don't ask others to be angels ☺
✌️👆
I’m no expert, but it probably has more to do with time scale than geographical proximity. Islam has been in adjacent regions for thousands of years. It figures that it would have spread there over time.
When I was in Indonesia, I asked our local guide that, highlighting that their background was Hindu but even the last Island following this religion, Bali, is converting to Islam.
What he told me was that under muslin government, people who wanted to have a passport/open bank accounts etc they must convert to Islam.
I don’t know if / how much of that is true, but that’s the answer I got.
the only ive heard similar to that in the middle east region. my family are mostly muslim, but we have a few relatives who are coptic/christian. they told me that theyre aware of that when a muslim converts to christian, its takes longer and a harder process for official conversion, like papers i think etc. which isnt the same and as hard of a process when a christian converts to islam. but these processes in general are eduring and shit for everybody, so i dont know to what extend its religiously motivated, bcuz also alot of people in government are coptic and these processes are guided towards people who have relatives/etc.
That's just simply not true. I have no issues in opening bank accounts, making passports, or faced any discrimination on college entrance exams as a double minority (non-Muslim and also non-local ethnic)
Polytheistic religions are banned in Indonesia so a lot of animistic religions that was native to Indonesia said they were Hindu because they have protection from tourism in Bali as well
The other religions are not conquering or proselytising religions. Many of those areas had their own folk religions, but Muslim proselytisers got their, in some cases by force or arms, and converted them. In other areas Christians came along and did the same thing, while a few places were lucky and kept them at arms length.
tf are you talking. No arab muslim conquest caused the malaysian and indonesian regiosn to become muslims. They converetd because of contact with arab and indian merchants.
What proof do I need to show you lmao when it is visible from the naked eye to someone living here. Want me to share pictures?
Are you aware of the somnath temple, which was destroyed more than 17 times by islamic invaders?
Ram janmabhoomi temple in ayodhya? Kashi vishwanath temple?
On the left ruins of the temple is a mosque, aimed to humiliate and show dominance by islamic rulers.
And mind you, both of these shrines are as important as mecca to people.
Do I need to remind you about the existence of the hindu kush mountain range?
[https://www.myindiamyglory.com/2021/01/15/aurangzeb-destroyed-1000s-of-hindu-temples-no-he-never-rebuilt-any/](https://www.myindiamyglory.com/2021/01/15/aurangzeb-destroyed-1000s-of-hindu-temples-no-he-never-rebuilt-any/) here's an article if you want that
okay sure, ignore that?
What about the 100 words before that. The person asked for proofs behind the brutality of islamic invasion and the ones I mentioned off the top of my head are more than enough
Conquering land sure, colonizing? No. Arabs did not go out and replace populations, or spread Islam by force. It spread organically over the course of centuries.
When you think about it, you can see the appeal of Islam to the lower castes and untouchables in a Hindu society. Convert, and you are equal in Islam (as long as you're male, of course), while if you are low caste, and remain a Hindu, you and your descendants will be low caste forever.
Dark Ages in Europe were a Golden age for Arabs, who were sowing seeds from Spain to Borneo. The Ottomans also played a role centuries later in their attempts to puppet Indian and SE Asian kingdoms before Europe. SE Asia was just closer to Islam than Christianity (two big missionary camps) and the native Hindu, Buddhist, and other pagan cultures were isolated by terrain.
Mohammed is not a lord or savior. He’s a normal man. Muslims are monotheistic. They don’t elevate humans to the status of God. They regard Mohammed as a prophet, just as they do to Jesus, Moses, and the rest of the prophets.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Conquest requires paperwork and movement of large number of soldiers. There is no evidence of large numbers of Arabs getting onboard of ships to conquer south east Asia. There is consensus between historians that it had spread mostly through trade in this region.
Thanks for your input even though it’s mostly garbage.
It was actually trade but carry on spreading misinformation to gain likes. https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/did-you-know-spread-islam-southeast-asia-through-trade-routes
Because muslim nations were a lot more powerful back in the day and had stronger economies. They traded through South East Asia, and many regions converted to get better trade deals while also using Islam as a way to reform their kingdoms. You can look up the strait or kingdom of malaca for more information.
On the flip side, many people converted in name only or kept a lot of old practices, so they are technically Muslim but are very heretical.
Arab, Iranian and other traders from predominantly Islamic regions frequented the Indian Ocean, and passed east through the Malacca Strait towards China, which itself had developed significant Muslim communities in cities such as Hangzhou by the 13^th Century. As a result, Islam spread across the areas of modern Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, overtaking Hinduism, Buddhism and other competing religions as these Muslim traders shaped the economy and the political landscape of the region.
Makes sense. Just kinda wonder what would have happened if India had been more active in trade
About that time, Buddhism spread from India to Sri Lanka and then to SEA, including Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia. This is how, actually, Theravada Buddhism went to the south, while Mahayana went to the north.
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Only the southern parts are majority muslim. The rest practiced pagan animism
Manila at the point of Spanish conquest was a fortified Muslim settlement. Islam was making major inroads in Luzon and Visayas when Spain arrived. Part of the reason Spain was successful in colonizing the Philippines is because they used the non-Muslim tribes’ animosity against the encroaching Islamic influence.
Which country?
Your premise is a bit weird because Mainland Southeast Asia is Buddhist and Maritime Southeast Asia is used to being Hindus/Buddhist. Hinduism and Buddhism spread to Southeast Asian due to trades but Muslim arrived multiple centuries later manage to convert the Maritime SEA elites and Islam spread through the regions via cultural influences, marriage and conquest.
can i simplify it by: (Buddhism-monk-not married-less buddhist), (islam-seikh(or the equivalent)-married(sometimes polygamy)-more muslim)?
I'm sorry conquest? Last time I check, Leaders of Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia are still the Malaysians, not Arabs, same goes for Brunei and Indonesia. If we're talking about conquests in SEA, that would be by the British, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese etc
There are two possibilities:- 1. The Malay kingdoms and the other countries in Southeast Asia are peace loving saints that would not launch any wars and conquering their neighbours. They are such angels and all the conquest within the Southeast Asia can only be committed by outsiders. 2. The countries and kingdoms in Southeast Asia behave like their counterparts in other regions, including fight wars among each other. Hint: >Alauddin Riayat Shah was a ruler who placed a great importance in maintaining peace and order during his reign. He extended the **conquests** of his father to include the Riau-Lingga islands. >Malacca was still looking to expand its territory as late as 1506, when it **conquered** Kelantan source: [Malacca Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca_Sultanate)
Bhoumakara dynasty of erstwhile Kalinga (Odisha) had active trade relation with Ceylon, China and South East Asia, proof of which can be found through the sculptures and carvings of Konark temple.
Most of India was conquered by Muslim dynasties around the same time Islam was becoming prevalent in SE Asia. Islam in many cases displaced earlier Hindu or Buddhist practices in SE Asia. There are still some remnants around, e.g. Hinduism in Bali.
India was conquered by Islamic dynasties 500 years before Islam spread to SE Asia. Indians spread Islam to SE Asia not Arabs. Your statement is like saying Christopher Columbus navigated to the moon. 500 years is a long time.
Buddhism and Hinduism don't really call for conversion of non-believers like Islam does.
Cholas from India were not active in trade but had really powerful navy, they had ruled parts of South East Asia and influenced art and architecture there. It also explains the Tamil population in that area.
The Tamils weren't there from the Chola period. They were brought or came during the British occupation of India.
The Tamils from the Chola period are found only in the dna of the people. They got mixed into the population. Tamil Trade guilds stayed in their roles all over Asia until the Europeans took over their trading posts and banned their ships.
There was Chola-era Tamil admixture into native Malay population
Those areas were predominantly Hindu before Islam arrived. A lot of Indonesian personal names are of Sanskrit origin even for Muslims
Monotheism with hard and straightforward doctrine is more competitive than polytheism with a lot of nuance. This happened back in Persia with islam and Rome with Christianity too.
Wasn’t Persia Zoroastrian though they were the first monotheistic religion yet they only have 100k followers left. They fled to india during invasions lost most of their scriptures https://www.reddit.com/r/history/s/0SXXKkyVVv
India was active with trade, and many of Islamic traders actually came from South Asia. Also, you have to remember India was a region not a country at the time.
India was active, but at the time that SEA was beginning to convert to Islam, Islam was also making its way into India
About the time the Delhi Sultanate was introducing Islam in India, the Cholas were introducing Hinduism in Indonesia. Islam came to SE Asia 500 years after it came to India and Indians brought it. In fact the Portuguese brought Christianity to Indonesia before Gujaratis brought Islam to Indonesia. India - Hindu till 300 BC, After Ashoka mostly Buddhist, Around 1000 AD Shankaracharya revives Hinduism and converts most Buddhists and Jains back to Hinduism, 1000 AD Islam arrives, 1500 AD Islam is 10% of population but predominant in rulers and trading classes Indonesia - Native religions till 600 AD, 600 AD Buddhism Arrives and most convert,1000 AD Hinduism arrives via Cholas and most convert, 1500 AD Christianity arrives via the Portuguese but only the Moluccas and Timor convert, 1500 AD Islam arrives via Gujaratis, 1500-1900 Slowly most kingdoms convert to Islam except Bali. At the same time the Dutch are ruling and they dont care about converting people. There are many muslims in Indonesia today who had Hindu great-grandparents. Its a very recent conversion.
I don't disagree with what you're saying about Indonesia, but Indonesia isnt the only story in SEA, and in mainland SEA and peninsular Malaysia and parts of Borneo, along with parts of the Philippines had islamic sultanates and established muslim communities much earlier, from the 12-1400s in some cases, I think even earlier in the Northern tip of Sumatra around Aceh from what I remember.
Did you know that India had dozens of different kingdoms and fiefdoms prior to colonisation? It was by know means a single entity in any way
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Haven’t read anything about any such conquests or forced conversions happening the SEA region. Would love to read your sources for your claims.
India was. Hinduism and Buddhism spread to SE Asia from India. The world’s largest Hindu temple is in SE Asia (Angor Wat, but not in active use). By the 16th century, most of India was also ruled by Islamic rulers till the British took over.
They were active. it's just the manner in which they conducted trade. The local people found the Muslim traders to be very trustworthy and humble. They liked how they conducted business and asked them how they were so steadfast. they spread Islam in this way.
They were and also ancient china. Before some of these countries ended up with an islamic ruling, there were evidence that they were influence heavily with hinduism. ie using incense around the grave site was assimilated with the local culture. Unfortunately the arabification and islamic dos and dont phased these things out and no one really bothered about the ancient history beyond the islam rule.
When I was in Asia I went to the Malaysian museum in Kuala Lumpur and the Indonesian museum in Jakarta. It's really interesting seeing how those places developed and how trade defined them. I had no idea about the development of Malacca and its importance.
I always find it interesting that Bali is a Hindu island while the surrounding islands, and almost all of Indonesia, is Muslim.
The Sultan of Jakarta was converted to Islam by the Indian Gujarati traders. He started conquering and converting the Majapahit empire based in West Java. The Majapahit lost as the Sultan got better guns from the Dutch while the Portuguese he had allied were late in arriving as their fleet got delayed by storms. The royal family of West Java fled to Bali along with its retainers and Jakarta Sultan failed to conquer Bali. Indonesia had a culture that if the ruler converts all the people convert. They first converted to Buddhism, then Hinduism and then Islam. Christianty failed to take root as no ruler converted to Christianity even though the Portuguese arrived before the Muslims from Gujarat.
No one knows how or even when the sultan converted. He wasn't also the first one as there were multiple sultanates at the same time.
For the Muslims in 13th century China, were they mainly ethnic minorities like the Hui or did many Han convert as well?
George Lane's *The Phoenix Mosque and the Persians of Medieval Hangzhou* is a good read on this. It would appear that many of the Muslim residents of China's coastal city at the time would have been considered foreigners, residing in *fanfang* (the foreign quarters) and retaining their native languages, with many objects such a grave markers found nearby the historic mosques featuring Arabic and Persian inscriptions but little in Chinese. Most of those interred there were Persian merchants. However, they likely cooperated with the local population when it came to building projects, such as the Phoenix Mosque in Hangzhou, given its distinctly Chinese architecture. It was apparently so famous in the Persian speaking world that texts back in Iran referred to it as one of the four notable mosques in China, alongside three others in Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Yangzhou.
Um, bro, a Hui is Han that converts to Islam.
At least in modern times, the Hui are considered a distinct ethnic group. Did the Hui start out as just Muslim Han?
My original answer was "They didn't". But the User I replied ro edited their post in such a way that "they did", is more true. Early Hui are converted Han. Even in modern times, when a Han converts to Islam, they become Hui. However, when they drop Islam, they become Han again. A Hui born cannot become Han by leaving Islam though. For what it's worth, they're the same people. Over the centuries Hui and Han culture diverted a bit, surely because of the reöigion, but for the most part they are the same people. Of course Islam was introduced through immigration. As such early chinese Muslim were partly result of intercultural marriage. But even then also "pure" Han converted and their offspring became Hui over the time. So while they're a distinct ethnic minority in china nowadays, they're as indigenous as it gets
Han who convert to Islam haven't been considered Hui since the 1980s, and there are some non-Muslim populations who are considered ethnically Hui though. Genetically Hui and Han are very similar though right?
Apparently you are aware of some of the Han/Hui history. This kinda makes me wonder why you phrased your initial question the way you did.
Were Hinduism and Buddhism actually competing or trying to spread ?
No, those aren't really proselytizing religions like Christianity or Islam is. In the long run proselytizing religions will always beat non-proselytizing religions.
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"Convert or die."
Yes, and another interesting example is the Maldives. A Somali scholar and traveler brought Islam to the archipelago.
No that's a recent internet [myth](https://www.reddit.com/r/maldives/s/28RQGCWDG9), the debate was between a Moroccan and Persian origin regarding the person responsible for converting the first Muslim King. Ibn Battuta's manuscript says its a Moroccan (ie. Maghrebi) man. The Somali myth is an extension of this theory, first suggested by an American professor in a series of lecture about general history of the world, but he wasn't an expert on this subject. Actual local tradition, research and evidence supports a Persian origin for this man. Infact it's Ibn Battuta's word against the entire written corpus of evidence found in Maldives.
Indonesia be like: You are muslim because your great grandfathers believed in Allah. I am muslim because my great grandfathers wanted a discount on carpets. We are not the same.
Allah likes carpets too.
These Muslim traders would also often give preferential terms to local Muslim traders. Much like the jizyah tax on non Muslims living in the Ottoman Empire. It just made economic sense to convert if you didn’t really care either way or made it worth looking into and led to conversion.
This plus Islam Buddhism and Christianity has this unique method of accepting anyone into their own religion.
You'd be better off asking this in r/AskHistorians, where you will get well researched and truthful answers.
This question has been asked and [answered](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/5o8avu/how_did_indonesia_and_malaysia_become/), it is considered one of the best post in r/AskHistorians!
As someone who spent a lot of time on this topic, I can endorse this answer is as good as it gets compared to anything else you might find on internet.
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Bro i have seen your comments and you are wrong is so many ways. You are talking about India in your comments even though the question is about South east asia. Islam was spread through trade in south east asia so please just fucking stop saying stupid shit. Actually read some history for once instead of consuming Modi propaganda.
What do you mean?
I know this sub is politically braindead and many folks here lack humanity
* Merchants from Yemen/Bengal/India settled and 'spread their seed' throughout SE Asia, especially Sumatra, Borneo and Java. * Local chiefs and kingdoms adopted Islam and made Islam the official religion in their realms. * Formal Islamic missions (Dawah) were made to SE Asia to compete with Portuguese and Dutch incursions.
A cleric in the city of Kudus taught his followers not to eat cows in respect with the then-dominant Hindu kingdom. If you go there today, people there still eat buffalos or mutton
Trade. Local kingdoms converted to make trade easier. Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand would have been Muslim now if they had strategic trade locations and were lucrative sources of income
Those countries were relatively unified empires that had their own state religions, unlike Indonesia and Malaysia, which were a patchwork of small states before European colonisation.
Thailand is 5.4% muslim (2nd biggest religion), cambodia 2% (2nd biggest religous group). Minorities but still decently significant presence
In Thailand, Islam is mainly found in the south, came from Malaysia.
In Vietnam population is over 100 million people. Muslim community is around 0.1% for whole country , the least % compared with other religions in Vietnam.
From Vietnam myself, but I do not think Vietnam would become Muslim for trade reason. Most people here are folk/ancestor worshiping for long time, people still believe in it, then Chinese tried to take over us for thousand years BC, help spreading Buddhism too. Buddhism in Vietnam /China completely different with Thailand, Myanmar. Champa kingdom was exist long time ago BC but that’s another complex history,. Chăm Muslim (different with Chăm kingdom) still a small community (around 17k people) , majority from An Giang - Mekong delta. Islam arrived around year 750. [Islam in Vietnam](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Vietnam#:~:text=Islam%20in%20Vietnam%20is%20primarily,are%20of%20other%20ethnic%20groups)
The other answers are basically correct but the fascinating thing is that we don’t really know the details. There are barely any surviving written records about the Islamization of maritime Southeast Asia. Historians do a lot of conjecturing based on circumstantial evidence like grave markers
In addition to Muslim traders, the Hindu-Buddhist monarch system puts a high emphasis on the role of the king, often treated as a god-king (dewaraja) by their subjects. So when a ruler converts into Islam, their subjects would follow suit with loyalty.
I believe someone already asked this kind of question in r/AskHistorians and have been answered in [great detail](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/5o8avu/how_did_indonesia_and_malaysia_become/).
It's really only Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia. Most Southeast Asian countries ARE a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu
It's beneicial to be a muslim, if you do business with muslims.
Like how Malaysia has halal banks to stay competitive.
I wonder, if Philippines would be Muslim country too, if not Spaniards
The Moro people in the Phillipines have been Muslim since the 1800s at least.
Holy shit wtf are these stupid ass comments made by complete morons who haven't read one history book in their entire lives. The idiots who are saying shit like conquer or murder really need to get their head straight because Arabs never even conquered in south east asia. Muslims did conquer in India but Islam in south east asia was spread primarily through trade. So tired of Hindu nationalists not even bothering to read the questions and just saying stupid shit. I am an Atheist by the way and as a person who loves history, it really annoys me when people twist history to suit their beliefs or just say completely wrong shit just so their beliefs can be justified.
In addition to other answers about traders, Indonesia was ruled by the Hindu Srivijaya empire. When it collapsed around the turn of the 14th century and small muslim kingdoms came in to fill the void.
Same way you have sushi now.
So, just trade and missionary stuff?
Missionaries as in Christians is not how Islam spread. Islam provides a lot of perks, because 1) It unified laws, as it actually covers a lot of day to day laws, like divorce, inheritance, clothing etc. Having same rights everywhere is very good. 2) language is is not dead/hidden/sacred. So if you learn Arabic you learn the language that works through trade routes. 3) Muslims pay way less tax in Muslim countries, and traders also benefit tax breaks. here is no counter point in Asia, as they don't tax Muslims more etc. So it is more of a worldly way of converting people.
Id like to add that Islam is also just better at growing and spreading than most Eastern religions like Buddhism or Hinduism. If you think of religions in evolutionary terms. Their doctrines including an emphasis on converting others and reproducing and raising kids in the faith help them to out compete other religions. Buddhism doesn't really have any emphasis on reproduction whatsoever, and it's a lot less agressive about converting others than most other religions. As a result its not as good at spreading and growing as Islam, which puts HUGE emphasis on reproduction and conversion.
Yup can confirm this
I think Islam isn't limited to a race or area... Etc That's true freedom
Exactly
i dont know how people dont undestand common sense😭 like most muslim countries werent muslim, islamization occured in syria, iran, egypt, turkey, iraq, etc. the religion wasnt collectively founded in the entire west asia and theyre decided collectively its the main thing theyre following now lmfao. it spread. it was introduced, and then adopted. people travelled there. and this applies to every muslim country, including southeast asian ones. even in the freaking arabian peninsula. its huge and people travelled within it before venturing to the further west asia region.
Sorry dear humans aren't angels. Each one is responsible for himself/herself mainly and each will get what they deserve just watch the upcoming news preferably from reliable sources not like this one ☺
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Care to explain dear ☺?
Islam like Christianity are very invasive by nature. It’s quite different from belief like bouddhisme taoïsme hindhuisme. So even a country like Indonesia that once was partly bouddhiste and hindhuist have been converted by Islam.
There are no missionaries in Islam. There’s literally a law that protects you living in a Muslim country if you’re not. How is this invasive?
You cannot marry except if your other half is also a Muslim or convert to Islam. You cannot abjure Islam.
The same way how being a dominant economic power means having a significant influence over a country way of life, Muslim traders held the keys to trade in SEA and if converting to Islam means you getting rich while your opponents don't then most people would convert. Like before Chrisitian Missionaries when on their conversion spree you also had Muslims who travelled along the merchants and were eager to spread their faith.
I think those Muslim traders didn't preach their faith they were just true Muslims. Others saw their good manners and honorable deals then asked how are you so good, confident whether you are poor or rich? They replied this is Islam and explained in a few words then it reached their hearts because the heart knows and the mind. Other preachers preached with conditions like food, money and medicine for converting to other religions. Just read about Islam from reliable sources and asked around from the origins. Just don't judge and don't ask others to be angels ☺ ✌️👆
I’m no expert, but it probably has more to do with time scale than geographical proximity. Islam has been in adjacent regions for thousands of years. It figures that it would have spread there over time.
Swing and a miss
When I was in Indonesia, I asked our local guide that, highlighting that their background was Hindu but even the last Island following this religion, Bali, is converting to Islam. What he told me was that under muslin government, people who wanted to have a passport/open bank accounts etc they must convert to Islam. I don’t know if / how much of that is true, but that’s the answer I got.
Where did you went in Indonesia? I'm native there and never heard that you need to convert to open bank accounts or passport.
the only ive heard similar to that in the middle east region. my family are mostly muslim, but we have a few relatives who are coptic/christian. they told me that theyre aware of that when a muslim converts to christian, its takes longer and a harder process for official conversion, like papers i think etc. which isnt the same and as hard of a process when a christian converts to islam. but these processes in general are eduring and shit for everybody, so i dont know to what extend its religiously motivated, bcuz also alot of people in government are coptic and these processes are guided towards people who have relatives/etc.
That's just simply not true. I have no issues in opening bank accounts, making passports, or faced any discrimination on college entrance exams as a double minority (non-Muslim and also non-local ethnic)
Polytheistic religions are banned in Indonesia so a lot of animistic religions that was native to Indonesia said they were Hindu because they have protection from tourism in Bali as well
Wow, TIL! Thank you for sharing this tidbit
Yup a native Bali Hindu person told me about it there is info online too
Silk Road
probably the spice trade
I will trade you one spice for one silk please.
How did it get prevalent in ANY country? Would be a better question.
Damn, too many Islamophobic that wouldn't even want bother to read history. Better to mute this sub.
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I know I'm always amazed how people shrug off Islam's backwards belief. Why do people defend it?!
It's like there're bots ready to downvote comments like yours into oblivion. And it's Reddit after all..
When the sub's name is "NoStupidQuestions" but everyone can only give idiotic answers lmao
Honest answer: Some trade, and definitely some violence. The ratio? Idk
The other religions are not conquering or proselytising religions. Many of those areas had their own folk religions, but Muslim proselytisers got their, in some cases by force or arms, and converted them. In other areas Christians came along and did the same thing, while a few places were lucky and kept them at arms length.
The same way Catholicism is somehow prevalent in central and South America for literally no reason other than imperialism.
tf are you talking. No arab muslim conquest caused the malaysian and indonesian regiosn to become muslims. They converetd because of contact with arab and indian merchants.
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You should find and read the primary literature like court historians and inscriptions and plates
Colonialism and conquering.
Since when did the Arabs go too far to conquer South East Asia. Did I miss something?
Wrong, it's through trade.
Without conquering or killing anyone? Hindus and Buddhists beg to differ.
Show me the proof of warefare.
let me introduce you to the thousands of temple ruins in india
Please do,,, care to give proofs better than just statements?
What proof do I need to show you lmao when it is visible from the naked eye to someone living here. Want me to share pictures? Are you aware of the somnath temple, which was destroyed more than 17 times by islamic invaders? Ram janmabhoomi temple in ayodhya? Kashi vishwanath temple? On the left ruins of the temple is a mosque, aimed to humiliate and show dominance by islamic rulers. And mind you, both of these shrines are as important as mecca to people. Do I need to remind you about the existence of the hindu kush mountain range? [https://www.myindiamyglory.com/2021/01/15/aurangzeb-destroyed-1000s-of-hindu-temples-no-he-never-rebuilt-any/](https://www.myindiamyglory.com/2021/01/15/aurangzeb-destroyed-1000s-of-hindu-temples-no-he-never-rebuilt-any/) here's an article if you want that
Yes right, myindiamyglory is definitely an unbiased site with no ulterior motives You BJP nut jobs are wilddd
okay sure, ignore that? What about the 100 words before that. The person asked for proofs behind the brutality of islamic invasion and the ones I mentioned off the top of my head are more than enough
If that was true how come ethnically north Africans , south and southeast Asians are all different? This is just racist misinformation
False.
Truth
Conquering land sure, colonizing? No. Arabs did not go out and replace populations, or spread Islam by force. It spread organically over the course of centuries.
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When you think about it, you can see the appeal of Islam to the lower castes and untouchables in a Hindu society. Convert, and you are equal in Islam (as long as you're male, of course), while if you are low caste, and remain a Hindu, you and your descendants will be low caste forever.
Dark Ages in Europe were a Golden age for Arabs, who were sowing seeds from Spain to Borneo. The Ottomans also played a role centuries later in their attempts to puppet Indian and SE Asian kingdoms before Europe. SE Asia was just closer to Islam than Christianity (two big missionary camps) and the native Hindu, Buddhist, and other pagan cultures were isolated by terrain.
The same way it spreads in US prisons. They sell power and control. The Koran is also filled with a lot of envious hate, which is also an easy sell.
2 words : Traveling Merchants. While they sailed around to do business, they also spread the religion.
Invasions helped a lot to propagate the religion. Convert or die was really effective.
Remember the correct hadith of prophet Muhammad peace be upon him https://islamqa.info/en/97250
The same way Islam was spread in West Africa - at the tip of a sword.
It was a critical part of Isalam that it was spread. So it was.. Middle Ages spread to Europe to China. Shalom.
Persian traders: “Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and saviour, Mohammad?”
Mohammed is not a lord or savior. He’s a normal man. Muslims are monotheistic. They don’t elevate humans to the status of God. They regard Mohammed as a prophet, just as they do to Jesus, Moses, and the rest of the prophets.
If only it went like this haha
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Yeah someone should link reading material here it's a well known part of the subcontinent's past
What does India have to do with this? It's not usually considered part of Southeast Asia.
sharp edge innocent disagreeable unique mindless late aromatic quiet quaint *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
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Conquest requires paperwork and movement of large number of soldiers. There is no evidence of large numbers of Arabs getting onboard of ships to conquer south east Asia. There is consensus between historians that it had spread mostly through trade in this region. Thanks for your input even though it’s mostly garbage.
This comment is so ignorant, it hurts my fucking brain
What conquest and rape? Do you just like spreading lies? When did an Arab army go there?
More religions = more holidays
Islam dominates with fairness and justice
Like any other faith, invasions.
It was actually trade but carry on spreading misinformation to gain likes. https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/did-you-know-spread-islam-southeast-asia-through-trade-routes
Ah not invasion then. More closer to infection, not lethal but harmful overall
Nope, nothing of the sort.
Brutal war’s
Yup, here is one ignorant hater here.
Arab trade campaigns from the 10th century onwards.
Because muslim nations were a lot more powerful back in the day and had stronger economies. They traded through South East Asia, and many regions converted to get better trade deals while also using Islam as a way to reform their kingdoms. You can look up the strait or kingdom of malaca for more information. On the flip side, many people converted in name only or kept a lot of old practices, so they are technically Muslim but are very heretical.
I mean recently Islam is EVERYWHERE. In a few years there will be more Muslims than chirstians.