Empire of the Winds

Nusantaria - often referred to as 'Maritime Southeast Asia' - is the world's largest archipelago and has, for centuries, been a vital cultural and trading hub. Nusantara, a Sanskrit, then Malay, word referring to an island realm, is here adapted to become Nusantaria - denoting a slightly wider world but one with a single linguistic, cultural and trading base. Nusantaria encompasses the lands and shores created by the melting of the ice following the last Ice Age. These have long been primarily the domain of the Austronesian-speaking peoples and their seafaring traditions. The surrounding waters have always been uniquely important as a corridor connecting East Asia to India, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. In this book, Philip Bowring provides a history of the world's largest and most important archipelago and its adjacent coasts. He tells the story of the peoples and lands located at this crucial maritime and cultural crossroads, from its birth following the last Ice Age to today.

Philip Bowring is a journalist and author based in Asia since 1973. He was formerly Editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review and correspondent for the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, columnist for the International Herald Tribune, and contributor to the Guardian and South China Morning Post. He graduated in History from Cambridge University and is a student of the history and economy of maritime Asia.

List of Maps and Illustrations Glossary Preface Introduction 1. Child of a Drowned Parent 2. Nusantaria's Defining Features and Early People 3. To Babylon and Back 4. Ghosts of Early Empires 5. Culture from India, Goods from China 6. Srivijaya: Vanished Great Mandala 7. Java Takes Centre Stage 8. Tamil Tigers of Trade 9. Champa: Master of the East Sea 10. Malagasy Genes and African Echoes 11. China Raises its Head 12. The Majapahit Good Life 13. Tremble and Obey: The Zheng He Voyages 14. Nails, Dowels and Improbable Ships 15. Malay Melaka's Lasting Legacy 16. The Northern Outliers 17. Islam's Great Leap East 18. Nusantaria: Holed near the Waterline 19. Barangays and Baybayin 20. Makassar, Bugis and Freedom of the Seas 21. Where Kings Reign but Priests Rule 22. The Sulu Factor: Trading, Raiding, Slaving 23. Nusantaria's Existential Crisis 24. Labour, Capital, Kongsi: The Power of the Chinese 25. High Noon of Occupation 26. Empty Lands No Longer 27. Freedom, Fears and the Future Notes Bibliography Index