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Summary

In writing this history of early modern Southeast Asia, we have contended with two controversial concepts: “Southeast Asia” and “early modern.” We have approached Southeast Asia as a region that encompasses the current Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as certain contiguous areas now incorporated into the neighboring “world regions” of East and South Asia. We are also aware that we have located a Southeast Asia that predates the establishment of international borders or regional complexes determined by governments, funding agencies, and academic institutions. In the past many communities now included within modern nations were separated by inhospitable terrain or rough seas, and in other areas geography facilitated zones of human interaction that have little relationship to contemporary boundaries. From the outset, therefore, we have seen the physical environment as an integral element in Southeast Asian history because of its key role in determining the extent to which cultural and economic pathways could draw different societies together into larger domains of communication and interaction.

The multiple and complex connectivities that gave certain subregions in Southeast Asia their own coherence was the operative principle in our decision to structure the narrative around specific zones, regardless of their relationship to modern nation-states. As one example, the zone we called the “Northern Archipelago” includes islands and communities in the southern Philippines, northern Indonesia, Sabah (Malaysia), and Brunei that now form part of four contemporary countries. At the same time, we have constantly emphasized the interactions between the zones we have identified, particularly the cultural and economic exchanges made possible by maritime connections. Though the term “Southeast Asia” is applied anachronistically, the commonalities resulting from adaptations to the cycles of rainfall and wind patterns as well as the extensive and interactive cultural and economic links support the notion of a distinctive region. Not only Europeans but visitors from other areas of Asia repeatedly described Southeast Asia as somehow different from their own countries.

Summary

Introduction

According to Herodotus, Darius, incensed by the Persian defeat at Marathon in 490 BC and still seeking vengeance for the burning of Sardis by the Ionians in 498, had been preparing a second expedition when he died (486). Xerxes, his son, inherited the throne and, as Herodotus tells it, his father’s desire for conquest and revenge. In the earlier part of Book 7, Herodotus gives a picture of the process of decision in the court of Xerxes. Mardonios urges the expedition, while Xerxes’ uncle Artabanos argues against it. The issue is settled by a dream, which threatens Xerxes with dire consequences if he does not go. Artabanos persists in his objections, claiming that dreams are nothing but confused recollections of the day’s events (7.16b; this prompted one nineteenth-century author of a standard History of Greek Literature to assert ‘Nothing can be so frivolous and absurd as the theory of dreams propounded here.’ In the post-Freudian era, which assessment seems more modern?); but later he too sees the same dream and changes his mind. Four years of preparation follow, during which vast engineering projects are set in motion (a canal across the Mt Athos peninsula, a boat bridge over the Hellespont), and the greatest army and navy ever seen is assembled (see Figure 25, p. 90). A massive undertaking indeed: Xerxes assembled his army, of perhaps some 100,000–150,000 men (modern estimates considerably modify Herodotus’ figure of 5 million), and marched them to Athens, a distance of well over 1,000 miles.

Throughout this build-up, Herodotus takes care to show us Xerxes᾿ character. He turns savagely on Artabanos when he first argues against the expedition and just as quickly calms down again and changes his mind the next day. He whips the Hellespont and throws chains upon it when his first boat bridge is destroyed by a storm. When asked by Pythios the Lydian (who has shown him great loyalty) to spare the eldest of his five sons from the war, Xerxes replies by having this son cut in two and marching his army between the halves of his body. Now, on the eve of the invasion, Xerxes reflects on the expedition with Artabanos.

Summary

Signaling the widening global connections that characterize the early modern period, this chapter begins with the Portuguese conquest of Melaka in 1511 and traces the impact of increased international trade on the economic, political, and cultural landscape of Southeast Asia in the sixteenth century. In the island areas the names of Melaka and Majapahit were still revered, but a number of other places such as Aceh in north Sumatra, Banten in west Java, and the north coast Java ports of Demak and Ceribon emerged as important hubs for both international commerce and the dissemination of Islam. On the mainland shifts were also evident in the shrinking mandalas of the land-locked polities of Lan Na and Lan Sang, while neighboring polities with access to seaborne commerce, most notably Pegu and Ayutthaya, drew ever-increasing benefits from maritime trade. This prosperity, however, generated intense rivalry for power and status, fueling ongoing struggles and conflicts among ambitious rulers.

Global forces were now beginning to shape regional history to a far greater extent than in the past. Although the Ming dynasty did not respond to Melaka’s appeal for help against the Portuguese, China remained the unchallenged power in the East, and the Emperor’s imprimatur was highly desired. Had the Portuguese not taken Melaka, Malay rulers would no doubt have continued to dispatch envoys with local products, as they did in 1508. In 1555 the Thai ruler of Ayutthaya, in addition to the customary gifts, even sent a white elephant in acknowledgement of his tributary status. Chinese trade was an important source of revenue, while Southeast Asia also felt the effects of the voracious Chinese market for silver, fueled by population growth and requirements for tax payments in specie. From the latter part of the sixteenth century much of the silver reaching China, especially that brought by Europeans from Mexico and Peru, came via Southeast Asia, where it helped to stimulate greater monetization and furthered regional integration into the global economy.

Summary

Introduction

When the play opens, Thebes is in the grip of a disastrous plague. Oedipus has sent Iokaste’s brother Kreon to the oracle at Delphi to inquire what should be done. Kreon reports that the oracle orders that the killer of Laios (king of Thebes before Oedipus) should be expelled. Oedipus utters this solemn warning (219–75; the lines in this passage are presented in the order proposed by R. D. Dawe, Sophocles Oedipus Rex – see ‘Further reading’ above):

Summary

Concurrent reading: Burkill ch. 4 and §5.8, Courant and John ch. 5.

Further reading: Mason, Spivak chs 11, 20.

Both Rolle's Theorem and the Mean Value Theorem are geometrically transparent. Each claims, with slightly more generality in the case of the Mean Value Theorem, that for the graph of a differentiable function, there is always a tangent parallel to a chord. It is something of a surprise to find that such intuitive results can lead to such powerful conclusions: namely, de l'Hôpital's rule and the existence of power series convergent to a wide family of functions.

Rolle's Theorem

1 Sketch the graphs of some differentiable functions

f : [a, b] → ℝ,

for which f (a) = f (b).

Can you find a point c, with a < c < b, such that f′ (c) = 0, for each function f which you have sketched?

What words could you use to describe the point c in relation to the function f?

2 Must any differentiable function

f: [a, b] → ℝ

have a maximum and a minimum value? Why?

Must any such function, for which f (a) = f (b), have a maximum and a minimum value in the open interval (a, b)?

3 If f: [a, b] → ℝ is differentiable and, for some c such that a < c < b, f(x) ≤ f(c) for all x ∈ [a, b], must f′(c) = 0? Why?

4 If f: [a, b] → ℝ is differentiable,

f(a) = f(b),

M = sup{f(x)| a ≤ x ≤ b},

and m = inf{f(x)| a ≤ x ≤ b},

use qn 2 to show that there is a c with a < c < b for which f(c) = M, or a c for which f(c) = m, or possibly distinct cs satisfying each of these conditions.

Summary

By the eighteenth century the influence of three of the great empires that had for so long provided Southeast Asia with models of government and religious and cultural inspiration was declining. In the 1680s envoys from Aceh and Ayutthaya would have marveled at the magnificence of the royal court in Safavid Persia, for it had aroused wonder even among Europeans familiar with the splendor of Versailles. However, this grandeur came to an end in 1722 when the capital Isfahan was sacked by Afghan invaders and the Safavid dynasty collapsed. Though influences from Persia can still be tracked in Southeast Asia, especially in Islam, its glorious days were now past. The second great empire, Ottoman Turkey, had suffered defeats in war and territorial losses, and was now preoccupied with threats from Russia. In the Philippines rumors that the Spanish were enslaving Filipinos to pay a ransom to the “Grand Turk” could still cause panic-stricken flight, and Malay texts still stressed legendary associations with “Rum,” but Ottoman interest in Southeast Asia had faded and direct connections were only revived in the mid-nineteenth century.

This lessened influence was most apparent in the third domain, Mughal India, where Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal ruler, died in 1707 after a reign of forty-nine years. The steady decline in Mughal power after his death has been attributed to a combination of poor leadership, natural disasters, reduced revenue, and the emergence of regional power centers. A retraction of overseas Indian commerce was especially evident in island Southeast Asia, since VOC restrictions had excluded Indians from eastern Indonesia and other key ports, and thus severely undermined their participation in the textile and spice trades. In 1757 the English East India Company gained control of the rich province of Bengal and its profitable opium trade, with prices inflated by a market of addicts. Despite opposition from the Qing emperor and from individual Southeast Asian rulers, the consumption of opium, mixed with tobacco and then smoked, rapidly expanded, and in the early eighteenth century it was said that Malays were “such Admirers of Ophium that they would mortgage all they hold most valuable to procure it.”

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Conclusion: Southeast Asia and the early modern period

Summary

Introductory passages: Xerxes at Abydos (Histories 7.44–53)

Summary

Target passage: The fall of Oedipus (Oedipus Tyrannus 950–end (passim))

4 - Acceleration of change, 1511–1600

Summary

Introductory passage: Oedipus the king (Oedipus Tyrannus 300–862 (passim))

Summary

Target passages: The life and death of Socrates (Apology 30c–35d)

Frontmatter

Map

Appendix 1 - Properties of the real numbers

Introduction

7 - Continuity and completeness: Functions on intervals

List of Illustrations

Introduction

9 - Differentiation and completeness: Mean Value Theorems, Taylor's Theorem

Summary

Solutions to the problems

Acknowledgments

Index

List of Abbreviations

6 - New boundaries and changing regimes, 1690s–1780s

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