Between 600 and 1400 CE, traders and scholars both Indian and Chinese in origin frequented island Southeast Asia, importing goods and services to the native Indonesians. And yet, only those from India also imported their culture, which would go on to form a core component of modern Indonesian culture. Rulers of the archipelago took on Sanskrit honorifics such as raja and -varman, adopted first Hinduism and then Buddhism from Indian traders, chose Pallava and other Indic writing systems for monuments. The various indigenous languages such as Melayu, Javanese, Sundanese, etc. all borrowed heavily from Sanskrit. Indonesian narratives and myths even incorporated many elements from the Sanskrit canon (e.g., Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, etc.), lifting their gods and magical creatures wholesale.
How did Hindu culture so profoundly and successfully affect Indonesian cultures, while the Chinese hardly left a mark?
How did Hindu culture so profoundly and successfully affect Indonesian cultures, while the Chinese hardly left a mark?