At around ~700M, South East Asia is home to almost 10% of the world’s population. Yet its dynamic pre-modern history isn’t very well known. This page is a high level summary of key events in the region.
A few points to note before we begin…
- I’ve included select events in taking place in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe that would ultimately affect South East Asia (through trade, invasions, colonisation etc).
- Note today’s population density distribution as this is a good proxy for historical historical and current centres of power and influence.
- A refresher on the names of the key islands of the Malay archipelago:
~60kya -50kya: African-ancestry Aboriginals settle India, SE Asia and Australia. These are the original indigenous populations of this region.
~3,500-3,000 BCE: Austronesians from southern China (modern Fujian and Taiwan) migrate into SE Asia…
… stretching as far east to Hawaii, west to Madagascar, and south to New Zealand.
300 BCE – 100 CE: First states begin to emerge. Nam-Viet in northern Vietnam. Funan in southern Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand. Pagan city-state in Myanmar. Most are coastal trading economies facilitating exchange between India and China. Meanwhile, Mauryan emperor Ashoka ends 30 year reign in 233BCE; Qin dynasty established in China in 221BCE.
1st millennium CE: Indian influence spreads in the region (cuisine, language, architecture, Hinduism and Buddhism).
68CE: Indianized Funan kingdom (68-627CE) est in modern southern Vietnam.
300 CE: Funan kingdom at peak power
500 CE: Sailors from Borneo reach east Africa, but are unable to settle due to disease, and instead settle Madagascar. Malagasy language, bananas, cattle, and iron working is introduced into sub-saharan Africa via Madagascar. Austronesian sail technology spreads into Islamic world, and eventually into Europe.
544: Van Xuan Vietnamese dynasty rebels against Chinese Liang dynasty, but surrenders to shortlived Chinese Sui dynasty in 602.
627: Chenla, a Funan kingdom vassal state, succeeds it.
650: Srivajaya founded in central Sumatra, Indonesia. Meanwhile, Tang dynasty rules over China and northern Vietnam; Muslim Arabs conquer Persia.
700s (8th century): Srivajaya expands and extends influence into mainland SE Asia. Chenla splits into: ‘Land Chenla’ and ‘Water Chenla’ in 707.
802: Khmer Empire founded by King Jayavarman I along Mekong River; outgrowing its former civilisation Chenla
825: Borobudur temple completed in Java
848: Chola empire established in southern India; Tamil arts and culture flourish
889: Angkor becomes Khmer capital
938: Vietnamese defeat Chinese at Battle of Bach Dang, ending 300 year rule; and establish Dai Viet kingdom year later.
1000s (11th century): Tai peoples migrate southwards from upper Mekong into Mon and Khmer territory. Early ripening rice leads to population boom in Song China.
1025: Chola empire allies with Khmer Empire to conquer Srivajaya Empire and Pegu buddhist kingdoms of Malaya. Chola empire dominates southern India and SE Asia for the next 2 centuries.
1044: First Burmese kingdom Pagan est. Temple construction frenzy in Bagan over next 2 centuries
1110-1150: Angkor Wat template construction
1177: Champa forces sack Angkor; exploiting civil instabilities in Khmer Empire (Kambuja); Khmer expels Champa invaders in 1181, and strikes back at Champa in 1190
1200s (13th century): Islam gradually spreads into Malay archipelago over the next few centuries. Delhi Sultanate est in 1206. While mainland SE Asia becomes increasingly Buddhist, maritime SE Asia shifts away from Indic-Hindu influence and converts to Islam
1225: Mai-a Philippine island state flourishes and attracts traders. Earliest record of Javanese Singhasari kingdom having standing army of 30K: impressive feat for SE Asia at that time.
1238: Sukhothai kingdom (predecessor state to Ayutthaya and later Siam) founded
1271: Mongol Yuan dynasty est in China; Song dynasty ends in 1279
1287: Dai Vietnamese repel Mongol invasion; Mongols sack Bagan (Myanmar) and city is permanently abandoned.
1290: Singhasari (Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in East Java) defeats Melayu/Dharmasraya kingdom in Sumatra and becomes most powerful kingdom in region (1222-1292); king Kertenegara refuses to pay Kublai Khan tribute.
1292: Singhasari usurped by its vassal state Kediri; late king’s son-in-law Raden Widjaya builds Majapahit village in lands given to him by new king Jayakatwang.
1293: Majapahit Empire (1293-1517) allies with Yuan Mongols in their invasion of Java; but after defeating Kediri, betrays the Mongols. Kublai Khan’s plans to reinvade doesn’t come to fruition after his death. First recorded use of gunpowder in the archipelago.
Majapahit Empire flourishes in early 1300s, peaks in 1350; but rapidly decays by 1400
1351: Ayutthaya kingdom established in Thailand (1351-1767), succeeding Sukhothai.
1365: Kingdom of Luzon (in Philippines) regains independence from Majapahit after Battle of Manilla
1368: Ming dynasty est in China (1368-1644)
1405: Chinese Muslim Zheng He voyages (1405-1433) to SE Asia, Middle East and East Africa; ‘treasure fleets’.
1414: Iskander Shah (king of Malacca) converts to Islam, further accelerating Islam spread into Malaysia and Indonesia
1426: Vietnamese victory against Ming China at Battle of Tot Dong – Chuc Dong; decisive battle in 14 year Lam Son uprising
1433: Sultanate of Sulu established (Philippines)
1436: 3 years after Zheng He voyages; Ming Dynasty bans overseas trade and makes construction of seagoing ships illegal (not lifted until 1567)
1431: Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom conquers Angkor, ending Khmer Empire. Cambodia est at Phnom Penh.
1508: Portugese establish Goa; first of many trading stations in coastal India and SE Asia (Malacca in 1511, Macau in 1557). Portugese more dominant than Ottomans over Indian ocean. Indonesian sultanates weakened by financing the war.
1517: Majapahit empire falls and Malayan archipelego becomes independent sultanates
1520: Magellan sails across the Pacific ocean
1526: Mughal Empire founded in India
1543: Spanish expedition to Philippines
1565: Spanish East Indies established with Manilla as capital
1578: Castillian War, Christian Spaniards (inc. native Americans, native Philippinos) defeat Muslim Bruneians (inc. Malays, Ottoman Turks, Egyptians, Swahilis, Somalias, Indians) over control over Philippines
1592: Hideyoshi unifies Japan
1595: First Dutch expedition to East Indies (Bali), gained investor confidence that Dutch can replace Portugal as main spice supplier
1600s: Dutch empire establishes colonies in Indonesia (“East Indies”)
1608: European colonial spice trade competition intensifies, Dutch VOC and British East India Company start attacking each other
1620: Dutch East Indies founds Batavia (Jakarta)
1641: Dutch take Malacca from Portuguese (1641-1825), making Dutch strongest European power in the archipelego.
1644: Ming dynasty (1368-1644) replaced by Qing dynasty (1644-1912)
1684: Dutch consolidate power over Java
1700s: British empire establishes coastal colonies in Malaya
1757: British East India company permanently est in BengalÂ
1767: Ayutthaya kingdom falls to Burmese; after 10 year war. But short-lived Thonburi kingdom re-establishes Thai control 1 year after.
1769: Burma becomes Qing tributary
1781: British capture Dutch settlements in Sumatra
1782: Chakri dynasty established in Siam kingdom (Rattanakosin era). Tay Son rebels massacre 10k Chinese settlers in Hanoi
1785: Vietnamese repel Siam invasion at Battle of Rach Gam-Xoai Mut
1788: Britain establishes Australian colonyÂ
1802: Tay Son rebellion / Vietnamese civil war ends with Nguyen lord victory; unifying Vietnam for first time.
1815: British defeat France at Battle of Waterloo, marking start of Pax BritannicaÂ
1817: First Cholera Outbreak (1817-1824); from India to Myanmar and Sri Lanka
1818: British East India Company conquers Maratha empire (1817-1818)
1819: British (Raffles) establish trading post on Singapore
1824: First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826) over northeast India control
1826: British settlements Malacca, Penang, and Singapore combine to form Colony of Strait Settlements – with Singapore becoming capital in 1832, attracting migrants.
1842: British defeat Qing in First Opium War (1839-1842)
1850: James Brooke becomes Raja of Sarawak
1851: Siam king Mongkut/Rama IV (r.1851-1868) initiates Thai modernization (depicted in Anna and King movie)
1857: First War of Indian Independence (Indian Rebellion / Indian Mutiny / Sepoy Mutiny) (1857-1859); rebellion is suppressed. British Raj est 1858.
1859: French and Spanish occupy Saigon
1868: Meiji Restoration in Japan
1869: Suez Canal opens, reducing travel time for European colonial powers to reach Asia
1879: Spanish suppress rebellion in Philippines
1887: France colonises Indochina (1887-1954)
1898: Philippines becomes US colony after Spain loses in Spanish-American War; despite short-lived Filipino resistance against US (First Philippine/Malolos Republic 1899 – 1901)
1911: Xinhai Revolution in China ends Qing dynasty; est Chinese Republic
1914-1918: World War I.
1924: Ho Chi Minh leads rebellion against French
1931: Japan invades Manchuria
1932: Bloodless coup against monarchy in Siam; Constituional monarchy and parliamentary govt introduced
1935: Philippine Commonwealth established
1937: Japan invades China
1940: Japan occupies northern French Indochina
1941:
– May41 Franco-Thai War (Oct40-May41) ends; indecisive fighting between Vichy France and Thailand over areas of Indochina
– Aug41: Japan occupies all of French Indochina
– Dec41: Thailand enters alliance with Japan after 5-hour invasion.
1942:
– Feb42: Japan captures British Singapore
– Apr42: Bataan Death March; 80k US and Filipino POW forcefully march
– May42: US victory at Battle of Coral Sea; first aircraft carrier battle
– Jun42: Battle of Midway; US sinks 4 Japanese carriers, crippling Japanese naval capabilities for rest of war
– Jul-Nov42: Kokoda Track campaign; Australia repels Japanese invasion of New Guinea
– Aug42: Japanese naval victory at Battle of Savo Island; America’s worst naval defeat
1944:
– Mar44: British and Indian Chindit Offensive against Japanese in Burma (1944-1945)
– Jun44: US victory over Japanese at Battle of the Philippine Sea, “greatest carrier battle of the war”
– Oct44: US victory at Battle of Leyte Gulf, Philippines
1945:
– Mar45: US captures Iwo Jima from Japanese with heavy casualties
– Mar45: Japan dissolves French Indochina
– Jun45: Battle of Okinawa; one of the bloodiest battles in Pacific War (12k US and 100k Japanese dead
– Jun45: Chinese Civil War resumes
– Aug45: US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japanaese unconditional surrender.
Following Japanese surrender:
– Soviet-controlled North Vietnam declares independence from US-assisted French colonial army in South.
– Indonesia declares independence; but Netherlands doesn’t recognize until after 4 year struggle. British, Australian, and Dutch troops arrive in Indonesia to retake Dutch colonial control from Japan
– Thailand returns territory seized from Laos, Cambodia, and Malaya
1946:Â
– Jul46: Philippines gains independence from US; Treaty of Manilla; president Manuel Roxas
– Nov46: Dutch recognize Indonesia authority but only in Java and Sumatra
1947:Â
– Military coup in Thailand by Songkhram; retaining power until 1973
– India and Pakistan gain independence from British empire
1948:
– Burma (Myanmar) independence from UK
– Malayan Emergency (1948-1960); Commonwealth troops defeat Communist guerilla forces
1949:
– Mao defeats Nationalists and est People’s Republic of China
– Indonesia gains independence from Netherlands
1953: Korean War ends in armistice
1954:
– May54: Communist Viet Minh (under general Vo Nguyen Giap) victory over French at Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia gain independence from France
– Jul54: Vietnam split by 17th parallel Geneva Accords
1955: Indonesia hosts Bandung Conference
1957:
– Federation of Malaya becomes independent from UK
– Indonesian president Sukarno declares martial law
1959: Singapore gains independence from UK
1963:
– Former British colonies Sabah, Sarawak (in Borneo) and Singapore join Malaya (independent from Britain in 1957) to form Malaysia.
– Indonesian president Sukarno claims presidency for life. Indonesia military attacks on Commonwealth military-defended Malaysian Borneo
1965:
– First US combat troops land in Danang, Vietnam.
– Singapore expelled from Federation of Malaya, and becomes independent republic.
– Failed alleged communist coup in Indonesia followed by genocide (1965-1966) kills 0.5-2m suspected Communists.
1966: In Indonesia, Suharto pressures Sukarno to cede authority; becomes acting president in 1967 and president in 1968 (for 30 years until 1998)
1967: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand form ASEAN.
1968: North Vietnamese Tet Offensive; turns US public against war
1972: Marcos declares martial law in Philippines (1972-1981).
1973: Paris Peace Accords; US military leaves Vietnam
1975: Communists capture Saigon and reunify Vietnam. Pol Pot establishes Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia
1978: Deng Xiaoping begins Chinese economic reforms
1979:
– Jan79: Vietnam captures Phnom Penh, ending Khmer regime; establishes puppet Heng Samrin regime; Vietnamese troops occupy Cambodia until 1988 despite China, US, ASEAN opposition supporting Khmer Rouge
– Feb79: China invades Vietnam and then withdraws; to deter Vietnamese expansionism
1981: Mahatir Mohamad becomes Malaysia PM (until 2003)
1985: Doi Moi economic reforms in Vietnam. Aquino democratically elected against Marcos regime in Philippines
1988: 8888 uprising against military Burma
1989: Tienanmen square massacre in China.
1990: Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew steps down after 31 years
1991: UN Transactional Authority in Cambodia peacekeeping force; largest and most costly UN peacekeeping mission to date (1991-1993). Dissolution of Soviet Union
1995: Vietnam admitted into ASEAN
1997:
– Thai central bank stops defending its Baht, sparking Asian Financial Crisis; Indonesia hit particularly hard.
– Myanmar and Laos admitted into ASEAN.
1998: Indonesian president Suharto resigns from 30 year dictatorship after protests and financial crisis (r. Mar68-May98)
1999: Cambodia admitted into ASEAN
2002: Bali bombings
2003: SARS virus in Asia
2004: Indian Ocean Tsunami; kills 220k in Indonesia, and other Indian Ocean communities
2010: Aung San Suu Kyi daughter of indepence hero released and becomes political figure (Myanmar)
2013: China starts building artificial islands in South China Sea
2016: Obama visits Vientam and lifts arms embargo to contain China. Thai King Adulyadej dies after 70 years on throne
2020: COVID
2021: Myanmar military coup
See also:
Visual Timeline Series