Southeast Asian Studies

Studies of early Southeast Asia focus largely on its ‘classical states’, when rulers and their entourages from Sukhothai and Ayutthaya (Thailand), Angkor (Cambodia), Bagan (Myanmar), Champa and Dai Viet (Vietnam) clashed, conquered, and intermarried one another over an approximately six-century-long quest for legitimacy and political control. Scholarship on Southeast Asia has long held that such transformations were largely a response to outside intervention and external events, or at least that these occurred in interaction with a broader world system in which Southeast Asians played key roles. As research gathered pace on the prehistory of the region over the past five decades or so, it has become increasingly clear that indigenous Southeast Asian cultures grew in sophistication and complexity over the Iron Age in particular. This has led archaeologists to propose much greater agency in regard to the selective adaptation of incoming Indic beliefs and practices than was previously ...

In 2009 China surpassed the United States and Japan to become Southeast Asia’s most important
trade partner, comprising 14 percent of total external trade for ASEAN in 2013 ( Miller 2015 , 1).
China will become an even more important trading partner, particularly with the completion of
the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement in November 2015 ( Li and Xu 2016 ). As an immediate
neighbor, Southeast Asia represents an enormous market for Chinese trade, goods and infl uence.
The establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), spearheaded by the
Chinese government and focusing on the Asia Pacifi c region, also signals the increasing Chinese
role in fi nancing aid-related projects ( Kamal and Gallager 2016 ).
The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization of Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) comprises 24 industrialized countries and the European
Union. These countries make up more than two-thirds of external fi nance for the least developed
countries ( OECD 2015a ) and have a strong interest in promoting global norms of good
governance through the disbursement of offi cial development assistance (ODA). China is not a
member of the DAC, and although current Chinese aid levels are low compared to traditional
OECD donors, the estimated combined fi gures for Chinese preferential export buyers’ credit,
grants, interest-free or concessional loans reached US$14.1 billion in 2013 (Kitano 2014, 301).
As such, there has been increasing scholarly research on the levels and impacts of Chinese overseas
aid, particularly in Africa (Bräutigam 2009; Davies et al. 2008 ; Moyo 2009 ), and at global
and regional scales ( Brautigam 2009 , 2011 ; Kitano 2014 ). However, there is currently little data
on Chinese foreign aid to Southeast Asia and its developmental impacts within the region. The
absence of information is compelled by the lack of understanding of the different types of Chinese
aid as well as a lack of transparency and information.

The policy phrase Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is rapidly gaining ground across Southeast Asia (and beyond). Despite numerous policy reports, little is known about how vocational training and education work as sites of practice. This is especially true for informal household-based apprenticeships and privately organized, commercial classroom-based training. Yet, these latter arrangements are numerous, an integral part of the widespread informal economy, and reflecting the fact that homes have retained their productive character in much of the Global South. Combining a village-based perspective (Laos) with an urban-based perspective (Cambodia), we analyse how these informal and privately organized training spaces are situated in rural youth’s gendered lives and shaped by, but also generative of, aspirations of ‘becoming someone’. In addition, comparing informal apprenticeships with classroom-based training leads us to raise some important questions about the implications of the (global) policy emphasis on the standardization and formalization of TVET.

Japan’s strategic objective of the Quad Plus is not anti-China coalition-building, but to create an ad-hoc coalition-building device that serves the maintenance and enhancement of the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region. There is no open official discussion or declaration about the “Quad Plus”, and thus, there is no clear definition or fixed membership for such a framework. Rather, it functions as a flexible strategic tool to attract like-minded states and induce their functional and strategic cooperation, depending on their needs and demands of the day. As such, the Quad Plus is an informal cooperative security and non-traditional collective self-defence mechanism, which is not exclusive to any state, including China. At the same time, Japan has two target states to be included into the Quad Plus, the United Kingdom and France, because they are residential powers in the Indo-Pacific region. To this end, Japan has steadily strengthened its bilateral ties with them.

Despite their other theoretical differences, virtually all scholars of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agree that the organization's members share an almost religious commitment to the norm of non-intervention. This article disrupts this consensus, arguing that ASEAN repeatedly intervened in Cambodia's internal political conflicts from 1979 to 1999, often with powerful and destructive effects. ASEAN's role in maintaining Khmer Rouge occupancy of Cambodia's UN seat, constructing a new coalition government in exile, manipulating Khmer refugee camps and informing the content of the Cambodian peace process will be explored, before turning to the 'creeping conditionality' for ASEAN membership imposed after the 1997 'coup' in Phnom Penh. The article argues for an analysis recognizing the political nature of intervention, and seeks to explain both the creation of non-intervention norms and specific violations of them as attempts by ASEAN elites to maintain their own illiberal, capitalist regimes against domestic and international political threats.
[the full version is available via my website, http://www.leejones.tk]

The dislocated, deterritorialized discourse produced by repatriates from formerly European colonies has remained overlooked in academic scholarship. One such group is the Eurasian “Indo” community that has its roots in the former Dutch East Indies, today’s Indonesia. This article focuses on Tjalie Robinson, the intellectual leader of this community from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. The son of a Dutch father and a British-Javanese mother, Robinson became the leading voice of the diasporic Indo community in the Netherlands and later also in the United States. His engagement resulted in the foundation of the Indo magazine Tong Tong and the annual Pasar Malam Besar, what was to become the world’s biggest Eurasian festival. Robinson played an essential role in the cultural awareness and self-pride of the eventually global Indo community through his elaboration of a hybrid and transnational identity concept. By placing his focus “tussen twee werelden” (in-between two worlds) and identifying “mixties-schap” (mestizaje) as the essential characteristic of Indo identity, Robinson anticipated debates on hybridity, transnationalism, and creolism that only much later would draw attention from scholars in the field of postcolonial studies. This article highlights Robinson’s pioneering role in framing a deterritorialized hybrid alternative to nationalist essentialism in the postcolonial era.

Religion and Orientalism in Asian Studies analyzes the role of religion in past and present understandings of Asia. Religion, and the history of its study in the modern academy, has exercised massive influence over Asian Studies fields in the past century. Asian Studies has in turn affected, and is increasingly shaping, the study of religion. Religion and Orientalism in Asian Studies looks into this symbiotic relationship - both in current practice, and in the modern histories of both Orientalism and Area Studies

Examines convict life when Singapore was a penal colony between 1825 and 1873 and the unusual convict system where prisoners were their own warders. The magnificent buildings and construction that still stand today are a legacy of their enduring contributions.

Built in the early twelfth century, Angkor Wat is one of the world’s largest ancient religious structures. Each year thousands of visitors make the pilgrimage to Angkor Wat to witness the equinox sunrise over the temple’s lotus-shaped towers. In addition to the equinox alignment, however, there are other alignments at Angkor Wat and many of the surrounding temples. In this article multiple solstice alignments are identified for Angkor Wat and eleven nearby temples to include: Bakong, Phnom Bakheng, Phnom Bok, Phnom Krom, East Mebon, Pre Rup, Banteay Srei, Ta Keo, Baphuon, Preah Khan, and Bayon.
Subsequent to ground and aerial reconnaissance of the above sites, archaeoastronomic assessments were made using Google Earth, with solstice azimuths calculated using standard protocols. More than seventy solstice alignments were thus identified.
The multiplicity of solstice alignments combined with other data suggest that it was important for Angkor temples to be connected to the sun. If, as endorsed here, Angkor temples were microcosmic models of the cosmos, then arguably, solstice alignments connected the temples to the cyclic movement of the cosmos as manifested by the solar cycle.

Thai silver and nielloware display exquisite craftsmanship and design to rival better-known genres of silver from Asia. However, there has to date been little written about this fascinating subject. Examining the history and scope of specified Thai silver and nielloware production dating from the early 19th century to the present, as well as the various forms and designs utilised, this book provides a single reference source on the subject matter for both newcomers and seasoned collectors alike. 

This volume focuses on the various artefacts broadly termed “utensils” and “vessels”, produced for utilitarian purposes, that can still be found for sale in the domestic marketplace, while rarer artefacts, collectibles and commemorative items made for the royal court are also examined: such items were typically of the highest quality made by top artisans. The author considers the role of religious and devotional silver objects in Thailand, as these too have become popular collectibles. Although dating of Asian silverware generally remains problematic, the author provides dating indicators and the first published compilation of Chinese and other marks on silverware found in Thailand.

232 pages, 320 photographs and 2 maps

The New Global Politics of the Asia Pacific: Conflict and Cooperation in the Asian Century, 3rd Edition
©2017 Routledge: London & New York. 341pp. + x. Link: https://www.routledge.com/The-New-Global-Politics-of-the-Asia-Pacific-Conflict-and-Cooperation-in/Connors-Davison-Dosch/p/book/9781138647022

Now in its new and fully updated third edition, The New Global Politics of the Asia Pacific continues to provide a compelling analysis of a region undergoing dramatic changes. Based on new research and offering fresh interpretation, this edition evaluates the prospects for continuing US dominance in the ‘Asian Century’. Whilst presenting evidence for a multifaceted ‘Beijing Strategy’, which aims to counter the US by building an alternative regional order, it also explains Japan’s definitive departure from its limited military role. Key content includes:
- Intra-regional conflicts in the South China Sea and the Korean peninsula,
- The different responses within the Asia Pacific to globalisation and western ideas of democracy and political economy,
- The underappreciated success of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in building a regional identity
- The European Union’s soft power in the region.
A highly topical account, which offers an overview of the main actors, institutions and contemporary issues in the Asia Pacific, the book will be essential reading for students of Asian Studies, International Politics, and anyone interested in the region.

Michael K. Connors teaches at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus and is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University. He is the co-editor of Thai Politics in Translation: Monarchy, Democracy, Constitution (forthcoming).
Remy Davison holds the Jean Monnet Chair in Politics and Economics at Monash University. He is the author of The Political Economy of Single Market Europe (2011).
Jörn Dosch is Professor of International Politics and Development Cooperation at the University of Rostock, Germany, and Adjunct Professor at Monash University Malaysia. His recent publications include Malaysia Post-Mahathir: A Decade of Change (2015).

This work is a beguiling prospect for anyone who has been involved in South Asia or has an interest in the region. The idea of analysing so many distinct insurgencies and counter-insurgency (COIN) campaigns within the covers of a single book is both ambitious and tantalising. Unfortunately, and in spite of occasional good moments, this book provides few of the answers. It has a clunky structure, is peppered with editorial and factual errors and unsupported statements. The British General Templer in Malaya argued that COIN should only be 25% shooting. The remainder should be winning "hearts and minds". Sadly this has all too rarely been the case in South Asia where many of the COIN campaigns have been heavy-handed and brutal. Partly this is a function of capability; effective COIN needs excellent intelligence and highly trained and equipped Special Forces. Yet it is interesting to reflect that two "successful" COIN operations of recent years; the Indian defeat of the Khalistan movement and President Rajapaksa's suppression of the Tamil Tigers owed little to Templer or the proponents of minimum force

This book investigates the lived cultures of the individuals within collectives who are part of creative cities in Southeast Asia. Such individuals and their creative collectives are all too often rendered silent and unnoticed within the official narratives of creative city branding. This monograph examines the articulation of creative collectives in two cities: the creative city of Bandung in Indonesia and the creative, heritage city of George Town in Malaysia. The research enriches the field of urban media and communication studies, trying to understand how the tactics of individuals within the creative collectives – as the articulated voices from a bottom-up approach – disrupt, or counteract, the official narratives and the top-down strategies of Bandung and George Town as UNESCO-inscribed cities. Methodologically, this research combines ethnography and visual methodology, providing a situated and nuanced context for street-level analysis, in particular analysing how spatial and visual contexts are significant aspects of urban creative collectives. The analysis illuminates the creative politics of space and placemaking in local settings, highlighting how the collectives in this study form alternative spaces to live and work, developing an organic and dynamic interplay between the physical, social and digitally mediated spaces of creative cities. A key argument concerns the articulation of alternative voices through the form of ‘subtle resistance’ by creative collectives. Through an analysis of themes related to spatial practice in the city, cultural memory and cultural identity, the ethnographic and visual research offers a lens within which to understand and value everyday creative practices such as inventiveness and resourcefulness. The articulation of various identities, as urban dwellers, artists, craftspeople and creative collectives, offers a powerful alternative understanding of what it means to live and make do in the local streets, creative hubs and residential neighbourhoods of Southeast Asian creative cities.
The book excerpts can be seen and downloaded here: https://portal.research.lu.se/en/publications/creative-voices-of-the-city-articulating-media-space-and-cultural or here https://bit.ly/CreativeVoicesOfTheCity-Habibi2020

This interdisciplinary study allowed me to establish, on the basis of linguistic, genetic, archaeological, historical and religious data, that linguistic concordances between Gaulish and Slavic were linked with Neolithic migrations from NorthWestern India and Pakistan to Iran, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, the Caucasus, the North of the Black Sea, Danubic and Balkan Europe, Gaul and Iberia, where Neolithic farmers contributed to the formation of the megalithic civilisation which developed in Gaul from 5.000 BC and brought an archaic language stemming from a Trans-Eurasian original language. This explains the linguistic concordances I established between Gaulish and Dravidian languages-250 common words from the 500 words I studied (and 160 with Burushaski), as well as with Altaic, Uralic, Kartvelian, Anatolian and Middle-Eastern languages. This also explains similarities I have found in the organisation of the Society and religion, which lead certain researchers to suggest, on the basis of the spread of the very ancient haplogroup H2 P-96 from India to Western Europe, that first Europeans and proto-Dravidians had an ancient common origin, as macrohaplogroups F and K, from which stem all European haplogroups, and haplogroup H could appear in India.

I am in the beginning stages of establishing the Southeast Asian Numismatics Digital Archive (NOTE: An early proof-of-concept site can be found at seanda.omeka.net. A proposal currently under consideration would adopt the numisdata platform of dedalo.dev, the best example of which is monedaiberica.org). The main objective of SEANDA is to be an ever-evolving authoritative curated database of coinage produced in Southeast Asia from the fifth century CE to the beginning of the modern era. Initially, the project will focus on pre-Islamic coin series from mainland and island Southeast Asia, with Islamic and post-1400 CE material added as organizational resources become available.

SEANDA will include full descriptions of all coin series, types, and varieties produced in the region together with high-quality digital images of the best examples available to researchers. Entries will be based upon the study of institutional holdings, private collections, previous research, dealer catalogues, auction offerings, and archaeological excavation reports among other resources. A full bibliographic apparatus will be supplied, together with links to additional online resources. To assist in their detection, modern forgeries, fakes, and fantasy pieces will be included as well.

Analysis of representative coin specimens and associated artifacts will assist in understanding design choices and symbolism, weight standards and denominations, mint practice, metallurgical content, as well as their function within Southeast Asian prestige, tribute, and trading networks. The inclusion of hoards and individual coin finds will be used to determine the numismatic geography for each series, type, and variety. Seals, sealings, seal impressions, renderings of coin motifs found in various media, copper-plate and stone inscriptions, as well as other related  historical documents, will be included in the database as well.

The objectives of SEANDA are three-fold. First, to provide a standard for describing and identifying Southeast Asia's numismatic heritage by archaeologists, researchers, museum professionals and collectors. Second, to bring together in a single location all reliable information regarding coin finds in the region. And third, to present that information in a readily accessible format. For more information, see USING THIS SITE.

SEANDA is dedicated to honoring the numismatic contributions of Jan Wisseman Christie (1947-2021), Pamela Gutman (1944-2015), Vasilijs Mihailovs (1978-2015), B.N. Mukherjee (1932-2013), M. Harunur Rashid (1925-2010) and Nicholas Rhodes (1946-2011).

If you are interested in contributing to this effort, please contact me:
Robert S. Wicks, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Miami University Art Museum, Director (2000-2021)
Oxford, OH 45056
[email protected]

Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS; Oriental University, 2019. — 244 pp., ill.
The book is a collection of essays dealing with various aspects of Southeast Asian and Cambodian epigraphy and state formation. The first essay shows the decisive step to the territorial state in Southeast Asia that took place in the seventh century CE. The second essay offers English and Russian translations of the Văt Luong Kău inscription K. 365 issued in honour of the King Devānīka and found near Vat Phou in Laos. Devānīka’s kingdom had no relation to the kingdom of Zhenla, except the possibility that Zhenla conquered the kingdom of Devānīka or his successors. The third essay gives English and Russian translations of the earliest dated Old Kkmer inscription K. 557/600 of 611 CE found in Angkor Borei. The essay includes a short overview of the personal names in the inscriptions of Cambodia. The fourth essay includes English and Russian translations of the Phnom Preah Vihear inscription K. 733 and a discussion of the root vidyā in Old Khmer inscriptions. The fifth essay outlines the history and archaeology of Funan and its transition to Zhenla. The essay is written in Russian. It shows a gradual Indianization of the Lower Mekong River Delta where the kingdom of Funan emerged in the beginning of the Common Era.
Предлагаемая монография «Становление государственности в Юго-Восточной Азии: Фунань и Ченла» состоит из двух частей. Первая написана на английском языке, вторая – на русском. В первой части предлагается концепция формирования территориального государства в регионе в VII в., даны комментированные переводы ключевых ранних надписей, найденных на территории Индокитая. Это санскритская надпись царя Деваники из Ват Пху K. 365, древнейшая датированная древнекхмерская надпись из Ангкор Борея 611 г. K. 557/600 и недатированная санскритская надпись из Преах Вихеар K. 733, в которой упоминаются такие школы индийской философии, как ньяя и вайшешика. Анализ надписей показывает как множественность политических центров в ранней Юго-Восточной Азии и значительные масштабы влияния на неё индийской культуры, так и сложный характер местной антропонимики, в которой одновременно существовали санскритские, древнекхмерские и другие австроазиатские имена. Вторая часть монографии посвящена изложению сведений о древнейших царствах Индокитая – Фунани и Ченле, известных из китайской исторической традиции. Данные письменных источников сопоставляются с результатами археологических исследований в Индокитае. Дана характеристика культуры Окео. В отдельном параграфе рассматриваются царские надписи эпохи Фунани, которые могли быть изданы её правителями или в их честь. Другой параграф показывает циклический характер завоевания Фунани древнекхмерским царством Ченлой: её правители Читрасена-Махендраварман и Ишанаварман оба именуются победителями Фунани в древнекитайских источниках. Особый параграф касается положения зависимых лиц в доангкорской Камбодже – кхнюмов, которых традиционно считают рабами, но чей статус остаётся не вполне ясным.

從蔡明亮、雅斯敏、阿牛、陳翠梅、劉城達、黃明志到廖克發:探索華語電影在後馬來西亞的崛起以及處於離散與反離散間距中的不即不離

電影研究一直比較偏重以從敘事、影像或美學等幾個層面進行文本和理論分析，華語電影中的土腔、語言等聲音元素，卻少有研究觸及。《華語電影在後馬來西亞：土腔風格、華夷風與作者論》探討一批在馬來西亞出生成長的電影導演在後馬來西亞語境下如何在國內外催生一組揉合土腔風格、華夷風或作者論的華語電影。結合近年在全球興起的土腔電影和華語語系，此書探討當代馬來西亞土腔電影文化中的華語、方言和多語現象，這些交織著各種土腔、多元聲音和多元拼字的揉雜化語言景觀，如何在離散和反離散的邊界內外進行去疆界化和再疆界化的同時，也在全球化的大都會主義和本土第三世界後殖民的雙重語境下，操演諸種涉及本土、國族、文化、階級和性╱別的身分認同？這些離散電影和反離散電影又是如何在後馬來西亞語境下運用華夷風的聲音和土腔去回應或超克「國家失敗」的預兆？

作者許維賢指出，無論是從蔡明亮到廖克發不時重返馬來西亞歷史現場的離散電影，抑或從阿牛到黃明志對離散去疆界化的土腔電影，再回到本土雅斯敏、陳翠梅和劉城達對國族叩問的反離散電影，馬華的離散論述不盡然是反本土化的書寫；馬華的反離散論述也不必然就是對國家仰慕和充滿願景的國族主義。

《華語電影在後馬來西亞》同時收錄作者走訪多位導演和歐洲影展選片人的第一手資料，對華語電影在馬來西亞內外的生產、消費和傳播進行田野調查，從而更深入理解華語電影在後馬來西亞的崛起。

「許維賢教授的新書是一部不可多得的力作。本書資料詳實、理論嚴謹、視野開闊，極大地幫助人們了解在南洋乃至全球範圍內的華語、華人、和華語電影這些當今學術界的關鍵問題。 」
－－美國加州大學戴維斯校區比較文學系教授及系主任 ／魯曉鵬

「本書的最大貢獻，是以歷史的材料與東南亞的視角，回應並補充華語語系此一顯學的研究。馬來西亞新銳電影導演的作品，應當得到更大的關注。 」
－－香港中文大學文化及宗教研究系教授 ／林松輝

「本書將華語語系文化與電影的論述，推進到大馬與新加坡的史前史。聚集了中文、英文、馬來文等豐富的在地資料，本書跨出了主流華語語系論述被限制在北美與大中華圈內的視角。 」
－－國立交通大學外文系副教授 ／林建國

「本書不但從跨國、跨族、跨語言、跨文化和跨類型的角度鉅細靡遺敘述華語語系電影製作在馬來西亞電影歷史上的存在，並以新穎的理論和關鍵術語來探討和闡明馬來西亞電影多方面在美學與社會評論提出的尖銳議題，以及這些電影跟其他後殖民電影在主題上的共振回響。作者展示個別不同的電影作者如何創意性地跟國家保持不即不離的間距，以「後馬來西亞」的概念對馬來西亞電影提出極其重要的質詢，從而富有成效地質疑國屬分類的使用。 」
－－美國南加州大學東亞語言文化與比較文學系副教授／Brian Bernards

Written for the centenary year of the presence of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) in South Asia, this article looks back at their methods of communication during the pioneering years, describes  the many communication initiatives undertaken across the century, takes stock of the situation in the year of its publication, and proposes possibilities for the flourishing of SDB communication in South Asia beyond 2006.

Bhāratam Janam is a self-designation as 'metalcaster folk' in the ancient history of India from ca. 6500 BCE. The expression is used by Rishi Visvamitra in Rigveda: viśvāmitrasya rakṣati brahmedam bhāratam janam RV 3.053.12. See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/12/vedic-asurta-based-on-svarsur-sun-and.html Vedic asūrta based on svàr/sūr  ‘sun’ and Mlecchita vikalpa. Itihaasa of Asur/Bharatiyo metalcasters.
I have embedded 40 images of gold, variety electrum ore which can be rendered as a plant metaphor, consistent with all references to Soma in ancient Veda text corpora.
These images are consistent with reference to an attribute of Soma in the Rigveda as asurya varnam: RV 9.71.2 pra krstihéva susa eti róruvad, asuryàm varnam ni rinite asya tám /jáhati vavrim pitúr etiniskrtam, upaprútam krnute nirnijam tana,
प्र कृष्टिहेव शूष एति रोरुवद असुर्यं वर्णं नि रिणीते अस्य तम्
जहाति वव्रिम् पितुर एति निष्कृतम् उपप्रुतं कृणुते निर्णिजं तना (RV 9.71.2)
Translation: The powerful (Soma) advances with a roar like a slayer of men; he puts forth that asura-slaying tint of his; he abandons bodily infirmity; the food goes to the prepared (altar); he assumes a form advancing to the outstretched (filter). [asura-slaying tint: i.e., green; or varn.am means 'protecting strength'; the food: i.e., the Soma; pituh = juice or food; tana_ = in the filter outstretched by the sheep-skin].

For a commentary by Kuiper on this rica and problems of interpretation of an ancient text, see Annex. I am quoting Kuiper extensively in view of the importance attached to the gloss varnam in Rigveda which is interpreted as 'color' by Sayana in this rica RV 9.71.2. Color is an important characteristic that renders Georges Pinault's ancu (Tocharian) ~~ amśu  (Rigveda) concordance a valid framework in philology to unravel the contacts between Rigvedic people and Tusharas as traders in Soma in Rigvedic times. Pinault's views are discussed in this monograph. I suggest that ancu is Meluhha cognate of Rigveda amśu and in early use by Meluhha speakers referred to 'iron (metal ore)' from which Soma, 'electrum, gold-silver amalgam' was processed in Agnistoma atiratra prayers by Rigvedic people. This means that Meluhha (mleccha) speakers were an integral part of Rigvedic culture, as dasyu (daha, 'people'), though prone to mispronunciations and ungrammatical phonetic forms in vernacular, 'parole'.

Soma in Rigveda is NOT a drink or edible product, Soma is food for Deva and hence, a metaphor, praying for favors from the divinities to bestow the worshipper with Soma, wealth. The metaphor, Soma, tad devaanaam annam, tam devaa bhakshyanti (in Chandogya Upanishad) should be interpreted as adoration of divinities who process Soma as food.

Rigveda is emphatic with a double negative, that no one who knows Soma, never drinks it.

The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage is the first comprehensive study of the Parsi theatre, colonial South and Southeast Asia’s most influential cultural phenomenon and the precursor of the Indian cinema industry. By providing extensive, unpublished information on its first actors, audiences, production methods, and plays, this book traces how the theatre—which was one of the first in the Indian subcontinent to adopt European stagecraft—transformed into a pan-Asian entertainment industry in the second half of the nineteenth century. Nicholson sheds light on the motivations that led to the development of the popular, commercial theatre movement in Asia through three areas of investigation: the vernacular public sphere, the emergence of competing visions of nationhood, and the narratological function that women served within a continually shifting socio-political order. The book will be of interest to scholars across several disciplines, including cultural history, gender studies, Victorian studies, the sociology of religion, colonialism, and theatre.

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