Sukarno (1901- 1970) Indonesian nationalistleader and the first President of Indonesia. He helped the country win itsindependence from the Netherlands. Heechoed the same sentiments.
In a special article in The Hindu on 4 January 1946,Sukarno wrote:
"Inthe veins of every one of my people flows the blood of Indian ancestors and theculture that we possess is steeped through and through with Indian influences.Two thousand years ago people from your country came to Jawadvipaand Suvarnadvipa inthe spirit of brotherly love. "They gave the initiative to found powerfulkingdoms such as those of Sri Vijaya, Mataram andMajapahit. We then learnt to worship the very Godsthat you now worship still and we fashioned a culture that even today is largelyidentical with your own. Later, we turned to Islam: but that religion too wasbrought by people coming from both sides of India."
(source:Prospectsfor a Bay of Bengal community - By V. Suryanarayan).
Norodom Sihanouk, Head of the State of the Royal Government of Cambodia (1954-1970 and, again, since 1993) had on the occasion of the inauguration of the Jawaharlal Nehru Boulevard in Phnom Penh, on 10 May 1955, traced the cultural evolution in Southeast Asia to the pervasive Indian cultural influence:
揥hen we refer to thousand year old ties which unite us with India, it is not at all a hyperbole. "
"In fact, it was about 2000 years ago that the first navigators, Indian merchants and Brahmins brought to our ancestors their gods, their techniques, their organization. Briefly India was for us what Greece was to Latin Orient."
(source: The Fossilized Indian Culture of Southeast Asia - By Y Yagama Reddy).
Amaury de Riencourt (1918 - ) was born in Orleans, France. He received his B.A. from the Sorbonne and his M.A. from the University of Algiers. He is author of several books including The American empire and The Soul of India, wrote:
"The brightest sun shining over Southeast Asia in the first centuries A.D. was Indian Civilization. Waves of Indian colonists, traders, soldiers, Brahmins and Buddhist beat upon one Southeast shore after another. Great military power based on superior technical knowledge, flourishing trade fostered by the remarkable increase in maritime exchanges between India and these areas, the vast cultural superiority of the Indians, everything conspired to heighten the impact of the Indian Civilization on the Southeast Asian. Passenger ships plied regularly between the Ganges, Ceylon and Malaya in the middle of the first millennium A.D. Indian settlers from Gujarat and Kalinga colonized Java, for instance, while others set out for Burma or Cambodia. Old Indian books
I'm moving this thread to the History board. Please, I've said this so many times, do not post anything not related to the board here. Just because one is a regular here doesn't mean he should open all of threads here.
Post time 27-10-2007 07:41 AM
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