Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c8.19

c8.19

Put in a proper historical setting this second Kauṇḍinya has every claim to be regarded as an historical personality. His story undoubtedly proves that there was a fresh wave of Indian Colonization which was probably much stronger than the first and exercised greater influence upon the culture of the people. It is said of the first Kauṇḍinya that he found his wife, the Nāga princess Somā, in a nude state, and made her wear clothes. But it was long before the people gave up the old habit. The Chinese ambassador K’ang T’ai, who visited Fu-nan about the middle of the third century A.D., observed that the men went about naked but king Fan Siun stopped this indecent habit. It would thus appear that in spite of the efforts of the first Kauṇḍinya, Indian culture did not make any deep impression upon the people for nearly three or four centuries till a fresh wave of Indian colonists attained greater success about the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth century A.D. As will be noted later, a strong wave of Indian culture swept over nearly the whole of South-east Asia about this period.