How Trade, Kingship, and Rural Society Reshaped Hinduism’s Fortunes in Southeast Asia
The source explains Hinduism’s early prominence in Southeast Asian state formation as a product of agrarian political economy and royal legitimacy needs, alongside parallel Buddhist transmission through trade. It argues Hinduism later receded due to Islam’s mercantile spread in maritime Southeast Asia and Theravada Buddhism’s rapid rural penetration on the mainland, while heritage sensitivities continue to influence modern diplomacy.