Jeff Scudder
World History Honors
Essay on Southeast Asia

	During the 1200's to the 1500's, Southeast Asia became one of the most popular settling and trade spots in the world. Many traders and kingdoms flocked and were created there. The are became prosperous and very rich.
	Hindu merchants arrived from India to trade and get valuable and costly items like scented wood, sandlewood, a variety of spices, and even jewels. They then took them back to other parts of the world to get money for them. The customs of the Hindu merchants influence Asian culture greatly in many aspects. It influenced the arts, religion, and many other customs.
	During this time of tradings, kings needed a good way to make money. So they used their fleets and armies to protect the merchant traders from sea pirates. In return the merchants had to pay high fees and prices for their safety at the seaports. Slowly, many Indian merchants began to settle in Southeast Asia and intermarry. This spread the Hindu culture, and helped the growing middle class.
	The Khmer empire ruled Cambosia from the 500's until arounf 1430. Many kingdoms in Southeast Asia rose and fell, but the Khmer empire seemed to be the one kingdom to unite and dominate cambodia. Their greatest time of rule was called the Angkor period and it lasted from 850 to around 1250. During this period, many temples were created to worship the Hindu gods. One specific temple is called Angkor Wat, and it is the largest religious temple of thw world. It is deemed as one of the 7 wonders of the earth. One important thing about the Khmer empire is that women had a high status. They were well educated and could run business. Many places held women very low at this time, but not the Khmer empire.
	Around the 1300's the Khmer empire slowly began to decline in power. Rival mongols threatened to attack the empire, but never became strong enough to take them down. Finally a small group called the Thais which were established from the mongols, defeated the Khmers and captured the great city of Angkor in 1430.
	Many Muslim traders between 1200 and 1400 were able to spread their culture across Southeast Asia. They began to permanently settle in Asia, and their religion spred throughout the trade routes.
	In the 1300's China conqured Vietname and made them adopt many ways of the chinese. Vietnamese never considered themselves Chinese, even though that had similar customs. When China was weak, Vietnam was able to fight back and break free, to build a nation of their own.
	Southeast Asia was a great exchange of culture and the arts, and many relgions including Hinduism and Islam spread through it's settlements and traderoutes.The Khmer empire was the greatest power in Southeast Asia, and they had a great impact on the area.