Five Theories Explain Hindu-Buddhist Culture Entry into Indonesia

VIVA – In the early days of ancient trade in the archipelago, the coastal areas of Sumatra and Java became major trading centers. Many domestic and foreign traders came. This is because Indonesia is located between two continents and two oceans.

This also caused Indonesia to become an area that was passed by international trade routes and cruise ships. With the existence of international trade that occurred in the archipelago or now Indonesia, several theories emerged regarding the process of entry of Hindu-Buddhist culture into Indonesia.

So, here are five theories of the process of Hindu-Buddhist entry into Indonesia, as reported by several sources.

1. Vaishya Theory

Reported from the book Sejarah Politik dan Kekuasaan (2019) by Tappil Rambe and friends, wrote that this hypothesis was put forward by N.J Krom who mentioned the process of entry of Hindu culture through trade relations between India and Indonesia.

The Indian merchants (Vaishya) who traded in Indonesia followed the seasonal winds. If the seasonal winds did not allow them to return, for a certain time they settled in Indonesia. As long as the Indian traders settled in Indonesia, they took advantage of it by spreading Hindu Buddhism.

This theory is according to JC. Van Leur said that Indian Hindu-Buddhist culture spread through the Brahmins. His opinion is based on observations of the remains of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms in Indonesia, especially on inscriptions that use Sanskrit and Pallawa letters.

The Brahmin class is known to master Sanskrit and Pallawa letters, so it is clear that there is a role for Brahmins in the entry of Hindu-Buddhism into Indonesia.

There are three opinions regarding the process of spreading Hindu-Buddhist culture carried out by the Satria group, namely: Cornelis Christian Berg's opinion explains that the knights helped spread Hindu-Buddhist culture in Indonesia.

These Indian knights were involved in conflicts over power in Indonesia. The assistance provided by these knights more or less helped victory for one of the warring groups or tribes in Indonesia. As a reward for the victory, some of them were then married to one of the daughters of the tribal chief or group they helped.

From their marriages, the knights easily spread Hindu-Buddhist traditions to the families they married. Subsequently, Hindu-Buddhist traditions developed in the kingdoms of Indonesia.

Mookerji's opinion Just as revealed by C.C. Berg, Mookerji also said that the knights from India brought the influence of Hindu-Buddhist culture to Indonesia. These knights then built colonies that developed into a kingdom.

This opinion explains the active role of the Indonesian people who developed Hindu-Buddhist culture in Indonesia. It is regarding the activeness of these Indonesians was revealed by F.D.K Bosch, known as the Backflow Theory.

This theory states that many Indonesian youths studied Hindu Buddhism in India. After gaining a lot of knowledge, they returned to Indonesia to spread it.

This theory was presented by Von Van Faber who said that the wars that occurred in India at that time caused the Sudra group to become exiles.

Then, they left India and followed the Vaisya and suspected that the Sudra group contributed to the spread of Hindu-Buddhist culture to Indonesia. Because at that time their numbers were very large.