Transcript Trade Merchants often traded in southeast Asia, but up until the

The Coming of Islam to Southeast Asia
Chapter 7 (part 4 of 4)
Trade
Merchants often traded in
southeast Asia, but up until
the 700s they did so with
each other, not so much the
people of southeast Asia
By the 700s, southeast
Asians begin to get involved
in the trade (especially in
places like Sumatra and
Malaya)
The southeast Asians export
mostly luxury items
(aromatic woods and spices
like nutmeg)
It was through this trade
that Islam spreads to the
people of Southeast Asia
Srivijaya
From 600s to 1200s,
Srivijaya was biggest
trade empire in
southeast Asia
The people of Srivijaya
were Buddhist
When Srivijaya
collapsed in the
1200s, it opened door
for Islam to spread to
southeast Asia
Islam Mostly
Spreads Peacefully
Islam was
introduced
and spread by
merchants
First Sumatra
won over in
the 1200s, then
Malaya
(Malaysia now)
Malacca
Big trade city in S.E. Asia
Converting Malacca to
Islam was key to converting
much of S.E. Asia
Islam next spread to
Demak, on island of Java
Demak was most powerful
trading state in north Java
Demak (in Java)
Srivijaya
(Buddhist)
falls, opens
door to Islam
spreading
Malaya next
converted to
Islam (city of
Malacca)
Sumatra is
converted to
Islam
Demak on
Java is
converted
next
Benefits of Converting to Islam
People in trading cities benefited from converting
to Islam because most traders coming in were
Muslims, so it improved relations with them
Only the elites in southeast Asia had converted to
Indian religions (mostly Buddhism), so Muslims
were able to successfully convert the masses
Only Bali (which was
Hindu) and Mainland
southeast Asia (which
was Buddhist) didn’t
convert to Islam
Sufis Key to Spreading Islam
Sufis (Muslim mystics) played
big role in spreading Islam to
India, and now played big role
in spreading Islam to southeast
Asia
Ulama (orthodox Muslims) do
not like the Sufis because they
let people maintain pre-Islamic
traditions, but that helped
people choose to convert
Example of pre-Islamic
traditions that were allowed to
be kept is the Javanese shadow
puppet shows
Click on the image above to view shadow puppet show
Women
Women in southeast
Asia had better
status than other
Muslim areas
Women were active
traders and often
dominated markets
In many cases,
family lineage
traced through
mother’s side