Southeast Asia: Transition among the Nagas - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 389

season

Rain all year
Rain November-February
Rain June-September

Figure 14-5
Length of dry seasons and precipitation. Note that dry seasons increase in length toward the
interior of the mainland.

THE ROLE OF W ATER
According to Jonathan Rigg (1991), “Of the environmen-
tal elements, water has possibly been the most instrumen-
tal in forging Southeast Asia' s distinctive personality .”
Fairly predictable winds, wood supplies located close to
shore for shipbuilding, and endless waterways made this
region most favorable to maritime activity . Extensive
trade existed well before the fourteenth century .
In prehistory , waves of migrants filtered southward
from the mainland to the Indonesian Islands and on to the
Pacific Islands and Australia. At the beginning of the first
century AD , there was an infusion of Hindu and Buddhist
culture when Indian sea traders ventured for gold and

spices. This Indianization of Southeast Asia peaked with
the establishment of empires centered on great complexes
such as Srivijaya on Sumatra and Angkor in Cambodia.
In the seventh century , both Arab and Indian ocean
traders brought Islam to the island realm although Islam
was not widespread until the 1200s. Meanwhile, monks
from Sri Lanka disseminated Theravada Buddhism to the
mainland.
In the modern era, colonial countries introduced
new technology and power into the region and created
conditions conducive to the immigration of large num-
bers of Indians and Chinese. Commercial interaction
ensured diffusion of products and ideas and linked the