SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

Early Indian Influence in Southeast Asia: References on Southeast Asia in ancient Tamil literature

Date/Time: Saturday Apr 26, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Venue: Level 5 - Possibility in National Library
Language: Tamil

Dr S.P. Thinnappan, from South Asian Studies Programme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS,will talk on the early references about Southeast Asia made in ancient Tamil literature, such as Silappathikaaram and Pattinapaalai.

If you’re still interesting in attending the Introduction to Singapore lectures starting this Saturday, senior curator Cheryl-Ann Low sent me some extra info for the first session that she’ll be presenting. I made a little mistake by saying that the lecture will focus on archaeological data, but it’s actually more than that, including literary sources like the Desawarnana (Negarakrtagama) and Wang Dayuan’s memoirs.

Here’s the blurb for Saturday’s lecture:

The 14th century history of Singapore can be derived from various sources such as archaeological findings, accounts of people who witnessed Singapore centuries ago, records of neighbouring courts, and the Malay Annals (otherwise known as the Sejarah Melayu and Sulalat’ul Salatina).
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From the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore:

The Mỹ Sơn and Pô Nagar Nha Trang Sanctuaries: On the Cosmological Dualist Cult of the Champa Kingdom in Central Vietnam as Seen from Art and Anthropology by Dr Tran Ky-Phuong

Date: 23/04/2008
Time: 15:00 - 16:30
Venue: Asia Research Institute, 469A Tower Block, Level 10, Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ BTC
Organisers: Dr TRAN Thi Que Ha

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For anyone interested in underwater archaeology and the Southeast Asian ceramics trade, you might be interested in this talk at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore.

The Cargo of the East Indiaman Götheborg Shipwreck
02 Apr 2008
Wednesday, 7.00 pm
Discovery Room, ACM Empress Place
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Anyone interested in the (pre)history of Singapore might be interested in this series of lectures to be held at the National Museum of Singapore. The first lecture held on April 5 entitled Understanding Temasek - Myth and history of 14th century Singapore should deal with a lot of the archaeological data available.

(click on the image to download the brochure)

From the National Library of Singapore:
By: Associate Professor (A/P) John Miksic from the National University of Singapore’s Department of Southeast Asian Studies]

Date/Time : 29 Feb 2008, 7pm
Venue: National Library of Singapore, 100 Victoria Street, Visitors’ briefing room

If a person desires to relive the memories from ancient history, it will be impossible to ignore the importance of evidence based on archaeological research. The KaalaChakra exhibition at Level 10 of the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library showcases some artefacts, archaeological and inscriptional evidences which embark us on backward journey into time.
Come and be amazed by Associate Professor (A/P) John Miksic from the National University of Singapore’s Department of Southeast Asian Studies as he takes us through an explorative journey of archaeological traces in Southeast Asia that early Indians left behind in the region! In his talk, A/P Miksic will also touch on architectural influence in some of Southeast Asian temples, such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which evidence the ancient Indian touch in this part of Asia.

A/P John Miksic first arrived in Singapore in 1968 while in the Peace Corps in Kedah, Malaysia He has spent most of his life in Southeast Asia, namely Malaysia Indonesia and Singapore. A/P Miksic has had two types of careers: the first being a rural development adviser, the other as an archaeologist and lecturer.
His main activity over the past 20 years has been archaeological research in Singapore. He also continues research projects in Indonesia, particularly Java and Sumatra. In recent years, A/P Miksic also become deeply involved in Cambodia, especially the period leading to the foundation of Angkor, coupled with some work with graduate students on Myanmar.

A/P Miksic’s academic qualifications encompass a Ph.D. in Anthropology (Cornell University), M.A. Anthropology (Cornell University), an M.A. International Affairs (Ohio University) and B.A. Anthropology (Dartmouth College)

Registration details here. The talk is on Tuesday!

Date: 22/01/2008
Time: 16:00 - 17:30
Venue: Asia Research Institute, 469A Tower Block, Level 10, Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore

CHAIRPERSON
A/P John Miksic, Southeast Asian Studies Programme, NUS

ABSTRACT
The term ‘Indianization of Southeast Asia’ has caused more trouble than most in the Southeast Asian history business. Used in a colonial era, particularly by the Greater India school of Majumdar and Nilakanta Shastri, to imply colonial types of colonization, political domination and cultural transfer, it was reinterpreted in a nationalist era to imply selective adaptation and localization of some Indian ideas found useful to Southeast Asian rulers. Now that Southeast Asianists and South Asianists are at last resuming their interrupted conversation on a more equal basis, how can we best understand this process of cultural change? Professor Manguin will use the recent archeological finds in various corners of Southeast Asia to suggest an even-handed approach to one of the greatest turning-points in Southeast Asia’s evolution.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Pierre-Yves Manguin joined in 1970 the research staff of the Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO, French School of Asian Studies), where he now holds a position of “directeur d’études” (professor). He also teaches at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris). He obtained his PhD in History from Sorbonne University. He lived and worked in Indonesia for extended periods, and headed the Research Centre of the EFEO in Jakarta. His research focuses on history and archaeology of the coastal states and trade networks of Southeast Asia. He has lead archaeological programmes in Indonesia and Vietnam, on the archaeology of Srivijaya (South Sumatra), of Tarumanagara (West Java), and of Funan (Vietnam). He has published on themes related to maritime history and archaeology of Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and South China Sea.