Trade and state power in 16th & 17th century Southeast Asia

Abstract

A remarkable number of Southeast Asian peoples look back to a 'golden age' sometime in the period 1350-1650, when their kings were glorious, their laws were promulgated, religion was upheld and commerce flourished. Early European travellers tend to confirm this picture by their admiration for the wealth of many of the cities they visited and the magnificence of the kings who ruled over them. By contrast the picture presented by Southeast Asia in the 19th century is one of very diffuse power, with no indigenous centres to rival the bustling colonial entrepots and no states able to approach the European empires in bureaucratic efficiency or economic strength.