Black History and Southeast Asia

By Dannie D. Gore, Sr.

The initial kingdoms of Southeast Asia emerged in the third century; the region first attracted attention as a rich source of coral, forest, and mineral products, all of which were extremely valuable. Small colonies of Black merchants settled at strategic points throughout the area to secure regular access to these products. In addition, they brought ideas about government, architecture, literature, religion, etc.

Through the impetus of these colonies came the first Southeast Asian states. There is no evidence of large-scale migrations, armed invasions, or forced conversions. Black people played a fundamental and organic role in this history.

The First Kingdom

The first kingdom of Southeast Asia was Fou Nan, located in what is now southern Cambodia and Vietnam. Chinese historians who visited the area described the Fou Nanese men as “small and black,” and detailed a picture of the safe anchorage and large warehouses offered to the numerous merchant fleets which frequently passed through the area.

Besides Fou Nan’s commercial activities, the most crucial element to its existence and the succeeding kingdoms was an elaborate network of waterworks and canals designed to control annual flooding. All of this, of course, precedes the famed canals of Venice by centuries. Chen-La was the successor kingdom to Fou-Nan, following which the center of regional power shifted north, where stone was abundant and utilized as the primary building material for the first time. The most significant and long-lived South Asian states were centered at Angkor and Kampuchea and were much more empire than kingdom.

The impact of Angkor

Angkor was completely self-sufficient by design, filled with great stone temples and a large and thriving population. The critical factor was a magnificent irrigation project. During the more than 640 years of Angkor’s life, great rulers left their mark upon the world in the form of stunning temple islands and the temple mountains of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom and Banyon.

The fate of the Black kingdoms of Southeast Asia links to the rising influx of groups from the north. Early kingdoms of Thailand and Burma, which possessed statuary of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with Black features, were overwhelmed.

The story of the Black kingdoms of Southeast Asia is the story of the Black race in early Asian history—builders of the earliest kingdoms, only to be overwhelmed in the end. However, the early and intermittent Black influence in Asia is permanent and everlasting, and the Asian nations of today, whether conscious of it or not, still bear the mark of Black innovations.