Encyclopedia of modern asia III

9 Modern Asia Encyclopedia of Modern Asia Encyclopedia of Volume Iaido to Malay-Indonesian Language A Berkshire Reference Work David Levinson • Karen Christensen, Editors Editorial Board Virginia Aksan McMaster University Edward Beauchamp University of Hawaii, Honolulu Anthony Bichel Central Michigan University Rebecca Bichel Pennsylvania State University Linsun Cheng University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Gerald Fry University of Minnesota Bruce Fulton University of British Columbia Paul Hockings University of Illinois, Chicago Robert LaPorte, Jr Pennsylvania State University Associate Editors Linda Arthur University of Hawaii, Manoa Jamal Elias Amherst College Allen Guttmann Amherst College Josie Hernandez de Leon Laurentian University Gustaaf Houtman Royal Anthropological Institute, London, U.K Bruce Lockhart Singapore National University Patit Mishra Sambalpur University Anthony Smith Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Honolulu Encyclopedia of Modern Asia David Levinson and Karen Christensen, Editors Copyright © 2002 Berkshire Publishing Group Charles Scribner’s Sons An imprint of The Gale Group 300 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10010 Gale and Design™ and Thomson Learning™ are trademark s used herein under license For more information, contact The Gale Group, Inc 27500 Drake Rd Farmington Hills, MI 48331–3535 Or you can visit our Internet site at http://www.gale.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented including phootcopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from Berkshire Publishing Group Since this page cannot legibly accommodate all copyright notices, the acknowledgments constitute an extension of the copyright notice The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper) For permission to use material from this product, submit your request via Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to: Permissions Department The Gale Group, Inc 27500 Drake Rd Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Permissions Hotline: 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253, ext 8006 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Levinson, David, 1947Encyclopedia of modern Asia : / David Levinson, Karen Christensen, p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 0-684-80617-7 (set hardcover : alk paper) Asia—Encyclopedias I Christensen, Karen, 1957- II Title DS4 L48 2002 950'.03—dc21 2002008712 Printed in United States of America 11 13 15 17 19 20 18 16 14 12 10 Contents Volume Volume List of Maps ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xxi Survey of Asia’s Regions and Nations xxv Regional Maps xxxiii Reader’s Guide xxxix Abacus to China List of Maps vii Survey of Asia’s Regions and Nations ix Regional Maps xvii Reader’s Guide xxiii Malaysia to Portuguese in Southeast Asia Volume List of Maps vii Survey of Asia’s Regions and Nations ix Regional Maps xvii Reader’s Guide xxiii China-India Relations to Hyogo Volume List of Maps vii Survey of Asia’s Regions and Nations ix Regional Maps xvii Reader’s Guide xxiii Iaido to Malay-Indonesian Language ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA Volume List of Maps vii Survey of Asia’s Regions and Nations ix Regional Maps xvii Reader’s Guide xxiii Possession to Turkey Volume List of Maps vii Survey of Asia’s Regions and Nations ix Regional Maps xvii Reader’s Guide xxiii Turkic Languages to Zuo Zongtang Directory of Contributors 225 Index 271 v List of Maps Front Matter of All Volumes Hong Kong 548 Huang River 558 Central Asia China and East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia—Insular Southeast Asia—Mainland West and Southwest Asia Volume Volume Afghanistan 21 Altay Mountains 89 Amu Dar’ya 94 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 101 Aral Sea 122 Armenia 159 Azerbaijan 205 Bangladesh 237 Bay of Bengal 269 Bhutan 287 Borneo 308 Brahmaputra River 317 Brunei 329 Cambodia 408 Caucasus 449 Chang River 488 China 504 Volume East Timor Euphrates and Tigris Fergana Valley Ganges River Gobi Desert Great Wall Gulf of Thailand Himalayas ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA 314 352 375 423 438 449 461 513 India Indonesia 53 Indus River 77 Iran 96 Iraq 123 Irian Jaya 144 Irrawaddy River 147 Jammu and Kashmir 203 Japan 207 Java and Bali 267 Kalimantan 302 Karakoram Highway 317 Kara-Kum Canal 319 Kara-Kum Desert 320 Kazakhstan 337 Killing Fields—Cambodia (1999) 369 Kyrgyzstan 424 Laos 443 Luzon 530 Macao 532 Volume Malaysia Maldives 22 Mauritius 86 Mekong River and Delta 136 Mindanao 148 Mongolia 165 Myanmar (Burma) 245 Nepal 307 North Korea 348 Pakistan 424 vii LIST OF MAPS Pamir Range 457 Persian Gulf 480 Philippines 492 Volume Red River and Delta 60 Réunion 82 Sarawak 130 Siberia 195 Silk Road 208 Singapore 212 South Korea 270 Spratly Islands 314 Sri Lanka 317 Strait of Malacca 339 viii Sumatra Syr Dar’ya Taiwan Tajikistan Taklimakan Desert Thailand Tian Shan Tibet (Xizang) Tonle Sap Turkey 354 362 380 394 406 452 481 484 513 540 Volume Turkmenistan Uzbekistan 43 Vietnam 60 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA Survey of Asia’s Regions and Nations T he Encyclopedia of Modern Asia covers thirty-three nations in depth and also the Caucasus and Siberia We have divided Asia into five major subregions and assigned the thirty-three nations to each West and Southwest Asia The West Asian nations covered in detail here are Turkey, Iran, and Iraq Afghanistan and Pakistan form Southwest Asia, although in some classifications they are placed in Central and South Asia, respectively Afghanistan, on the crossroads of civilizations for thousands of years, is especially difficult to classify and displays features typical of Central, West, and South Asia Despite diversity in language (Persian in Iran, Arabic in Iraq, Turkish in Turkey) form of government (theocracy in Iran, dictatorship in Iraq, and unstable democracy in Turkey) and international ties (Iran to the Islamic world, Iraq to the Arab Middle East, Turkey to the West), there are several sources of unity across West Asia Perhaps the oldest is geographical location as the site of transportation routes between Europe and Central, East, and South Asia Since ancient times, people, goods, wealth, and ideas have flowed across the region In 2002 the flow of oil was most important, from the wells of Iran and Iraq through the pipelines of Turkey Another source of unity is Sunni Islam, a major feature of life since the seventh century, although Iran is mainly the minority Shi a tradition and there have long been Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha i minorities in the region Diversity is also evident in the fact that Turkey is a "secular" state while Iran is a theocracy, and in the conflict between fundamentalist and mainstream Islam in all the nations Another important common thread is the shared historical experience of being part of the Ottoman Empire and having to cope with British and Russian designs on their territory and, more recently, American influence And, in the twentieth century, all three nations have sought to deal with the Kurdish minority and its demands for a Kurdish state to be established on land taken from all three nations Unity across Afghanistan and Pakistan is created by adherence to Sunni Islam (although there is a Shi ite minority in Afghanistan) and the prominence of the Pashtun ethnic group in each nation Both nations also experienced British colonialism, although the long-term British influence is more notable in Pakistan, which had been ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA ix ASIA’S REGIONS AND NATIONS tied to India under British rule West Asia is the only region in the world never colonized by Britain, although some experts argue that it did experience significant British cultural influence In all nations resistance to external control—British, Russian, or United States—is another common historical experience Across the region (although less so in Afghanistan) is the stark contrast between the traditional culture and the modernity of liberation from imperial rule, still not complete across the region This contrast is apparent in clothing styles, manners, architecture, recreation, marriage practices, and many elements of daily life In 2002 all the nations faced a water crisis of both too little water and water pollution They all also faced issues of economic and social development, including reducing external debt, controlling inflation, reducing unemployment, improving education and health care, and continually reacting to the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, which exacerbates many of these problems The governments also faced the difficult task of solving these problems while resisting Americanization and also while controlling internal political unrest Political unrest is often tied to efforts at creating democratic governments and the persistence of elite collaboration with tyrannical governments Central Asia Central Asia is known by many names, including Eurasia, Middle Asia, and Inner Asia At its core, the region is composed of five states that became independent nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan Scholars sometimes include Afghanistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang province of China within the label Central Asia For this project, Central Asia is restricted to the five former Soviet countries, while Afghanistan is classified in Southwest Asia, and Mongolia and Xinjiang as part of East Asia These states have a shared landmass of 1.5 million square miles, about one-half the size of the United States The region’s unity comes from a shared history and religion Central Asia saw two cultural and economic traditions blossom and intermix along the famed Silk Road: nomadic and sedentary Nomadic herdsmen, organized into kinship groupings of clans, lived beside sedentary farmers and oasis city dwellers Four of the countries share Turkic roots, while the Tajiks are of Indo-European descent, linguistically related to the Iranians While still recognizable today, this shared heritage has developed into distinct ethnic communities The peoples of Central Asia have seen centuries of invasion, notably the legendary Mongol leader Genghis Khan in the thirteenth century, the Russians in the nineteenth and the Soviets in the twentieth century For better or worse, each invader left behind markers of their presence: the Arabs introduced Islam in the seventh century Today Islam is the predominant religion in the region, and most Central Asians are Sunni Muslims The Russians brought the mixed legacy of modernism, including an educated populace, alarming infant mortality rates, strong economic and political participation by women, high agricultural development, and environmental disasters such as the shrinking of the Aral Sea It was under Russian colonialism that distinct ethno-national boundaries were created to divide the people of the region These divisions largely shape the contemporary Central Asian landscape Today the five Central Asian nations face similar challenges: building robust economies, developing stable, democratic governments, and integrating themselves into the regional and international communities as independent states They come to these challenges with varied resources: Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have rich oil reserves; several countries have extensive mineral deposits; and the Fergana Valley is but one example of the region’s rich agricultural regions x ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA ASIA’S REGIONS AND NATIONS Finally, the tragic events of September 11, 2001, cast world attention on Afghanistan’s neighbors in Central Asia The "war on terrorism" forged new alliances and offered a mix of political pressure and economic support for the nations’ leaders to suppress their countries’ internal fundamentalist Muslim movements Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is conventionally defined as that subregion of Asia consisting of the eleven nation-states of Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam Myanmar is sometimes alternatively classified as part of South Asia and Vietnam as in East Asia The region may be subdivided into Mainland Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam) and Insular Southeast Asia (Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore) Malaysia is the one nation in the region that is located both on the mainland and islands, though ethnically it is more linked to the island nations of Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines Perhaps the key defining features for the region and those that are most widespread are the tropical monsoon climate, rich natural resources, and a way of life in rural areas based on cooperative wet-rice agriculture that goes back several thousand years In the past unity was also created in various places by major civilizations, including those of Funan, Angkor, Pagan, Sukhothai, Majapahit, Srivijaya, Champa, Ayutthaya, and Melaka Monarchies continue to be significant in several nation—Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand—today Subregional unity has also been created since ancient times by the continued use of written languages, including Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, Khmer and the rich literary traditions associated with those languages The region can also be defined as being located between China and India and has been influenced by both, with Indian influence generally broader, deeper, and longer lasting, especially on the mainland, except for Vietnam and Singapore, where influences from China have been more important Islamic influence is also present in all eleven of the Southeast Asian nations Culturally, Southeast Asia is notable for the central importance of the family, religion (mainly Buddhism and Islam), and aesthetics in daily life and national consciousness In the post–World War II Cold War era, there was a lack of regional unity Some nations, such as Indonesia under Sukarno, were leaders of the nonaligned nations Countries such as Thailand and the Philippines joined the U.S side in the Cold War by being part of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) A move toward greater unity was achieved with the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967, with the founding members being Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand Subsequently other Southeast Asian nations joined ASEAN (Brunei, 1984; Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam 1997; Cambodia 1999) As of 2002, communism was still the system in Laos and Vietnam and capitalism in Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, the Philippines Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore Political, economic, and cultural cooperation is fostered by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia Economically, all the nations have attempted to move, although at different speeds and with different results, from a reliance on agriculture to an industrial or service-based economy All nations also suffered in the Asian economic crisis beginning in July 1997 Alongside these sources of similarity or unity that allow us to speak of Southeast Asia as a region is also considerable diversity In the past religion, ethnicity, and diverse colonial experience (British, Dutch, French, American) were major sources of diversity Today, the three major sources of diversity are religion, form of government, and level of economic development Three nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA xi MADURAI ually led to the development of the discipline of Islamic jurisprudence and four prominent legal schools of interpretation within the Sunni tradition: Maleki, Shafi’i, Hanbali, and Hanafi With the expansion of Islamic civilization beyond the Arabian Peninsula, various madrasahs provided religious education following one of these traditions In addition to classical Islamic subjects (fiqh), madrasahs also offered a number of subjects in science and philosophy Western colonial expansion brought about a sizable decline in the status of madrasahs within the Muslim world, as modern education began to replace the traditional religious schools However, the success of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the growth of Islamic fundamentalism have brought about a partial renewal of traditional Islamic education in some parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia Mehrdad Haghayeghi Further Reading Eickelman, Dale (1985) Knowledge and Power in Morocco: Education of a 20th Century Notable Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press Mottaheheh, Roy (1985) The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran New York: St Martin’s Press Talas, Asad (1939) La Madrasa Nizamiyya et son histoire Paris: Paris University Press MADURAI (2001 est pop million) Madurai is ble history of some twenty-five hundred years In ancient times, it was known as Mathura, as cited in the Mahabharata One of the early descriptions, in the fifth-century Silappadigaram, is that of its fiery destruction The city lies in south central Tamil Nadu state on the Vaigai River For many centuries, the city was the capital of the Pandya kingdom The chief attraction in the city has long been the great temple of Sri Minakshi, the "fisheyed goddess," who is associated with fertility The temple compound also contains the even larger shrine of her consort, Sundareshvar Much of the temple was constructed by the ruler Tirumala Nayak (1623–1660), but parts of the interior are much older and so are some of the bronze icons they contain Although the inside of the shrines is rather dark, the outside presents a splendid view from a number of vantage points The outer walls form a parallelogram of 258 by 222 meters, surrounded by nine massive pyramidal gateways (gopuram), of which the tallest is 46.3 meters high All are elaborately decorated with hundreds of three-dimensional human figures Perhaps the most remarkable sight within the temple is the Hall of a Thousand Pillars (actually 997 pillars), nearly all of which differ from each other Today, the city does a considerable trade in tea, coffee, and cardamom, all grown on the hills to the west Local crafts include making silk cloth, woodwork items, brassware, and muslin weaving one of the oldest cities in India—it has a demonstra- Paul Hockings The Sri Minakshi Temple, c 2000 (CHRIS LISLE/CORBIS) ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA 537 MADURESE Further Reading Further Reading Michell, George, and Philip Davies (1989) "Madurai." In The Penguin Guide to the Monuments of India, Vols and New York: Viking Press, 448–452; 554–556 Wiyata, A Latief (2001) "Carok: Institusionalisasi Kekerasan Dalam Masyarakat Madura" (Carok: Institutionalization of Violence in Madurese Society) Ph.D diss Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia MADURESE The Madurese originate from the 5,304 square kilometer island of Madura, which is part of Indonesia’s East Java province There are about 10 million Madurese, making them the third-largest ethnic group in Indonesia after the Javanese and the Sundanese However, more than half of the Madurese have moved to other parts of Indonesia, particularly to mainland East Java, where they have integrated with the Javanese The harsh, arid, and unfertile land of the island of Madura, which can only be used during the rainy season, causes the migration of the Madurese to other areas Reports show that by 1994, only about million people were left in Madura Many have also transmigrated to areas such as Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Sulawesi Madurese migrants in Indonesian cities are easily identified because they stay exclusively in their own areas, maintaining their language and customs The Madurese are Muslims and are notable in their adherence to their religious leaders or kiyai (Islamic clerics), who also become their informal political and social leaders The kiyai have an elevated status for Madurese The fanatical supporters from East Java province of Indonesia’s former cleric president, Abdurrahman Wahid, counted Madurese in their numbers Madurese men are protective of their women, and should their wife or girlfriend suffer an offense from another man, then the Madurese man must settle it by carok (a life and death duel) using a clurit (a 30- to 40-centimeter half-circle knife) Madurese men must master carok as a martial art Those who fully master this martial art are called orang jago and given blater (brave man) status Traditional music and dances (remo) are regularly held in Madurese society to formally honor members of the blater group Migrant Madurese are usually small traders In west and central Kalimantan, their presence has created difficult relations with the local people such as the Dayak, Malay, and Chinese There have been a number of pogroms against the Madurese, including the brutal killings in 2001 in which thousands were beheaded in Central Kalimantan province after local Dayak people accused the Madurese of taking their land and of denigrating local customs and cultures Abubakar Eby Hara 538 MAGNETISM Among the greatest Chinese contributions to physics were the discovery of magnetism and the development of the compass Though references to magnetism in Chinese sources not date before the third century BCE, knowledge of the phenomenon was clearly widespread by this time, and experiments were being undertaken and documented by the first century CE There were many early lodestone devices, such as the "south-pointing spoon" of the first century CE (which may have been invented a century earlier), and there are several intriguing references to the use of magnets to make "automatic" chess boards But magnetism seems to have been used predominantly in geomancy until the tenth century Geomancy, or feng shui, was concerned with regulating human dwellings in relation to those currents of the spirit of the earth that affect people The fact that knowledge of the compass was reserved for imperial magicians greatly restricted its spread, and it seems that for many centuries the compass served only as a tool for divination Even when the compass passed into more general use, the primacy of canal and river traffic slowed the spread of the device to ocean-going vessels Nevertheless, there were many adaptations and improvements in the form of compasses, which culminated in their use in navigation by the eleventh century Two of the most critical components in the development of the compass were the use of a needle rather than a lodestone or piece of metal and the discovery of magnetic declination (the deviation between true or geographic north and the direction that a compass needle points) The magnetization of needles was an important step in the development of the compass, because needles could float or be suspended by a thread and turn with a great degree of freedom Also, steel holds magnetization longer than iron, and it was relatively easy at an early date to make small needles of steel; such compasses with steel needles could be used on long voyages Steel came to China from India in the fifth century, but the Chinese quickly began to produce their own supplies There is evidence to suggest that magnetized needles were used as early as the fourth century CE, and their superiority in the construction of compasses was quickly recognized The discovery of declination was also relatively early, sometime between the seventh and tenth cen- ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA MAGSAYSAY, RAMON turies While the influence of nonscientific divinatory practices was clearly prominent in the development of the compass, much research and experimentation went into magnetism from the fifth century on Paul Forage Further Reading Needham, Joseph (1986) The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China Vol Edited by Colin A Ronan Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press MAGSAYSAY, RAMON (1907–1957), Filipino statesman Ramon Magsaysay was born 31 August 1907, in Iba, Zambales Province, in the Philippines He was educated at the University of the Philippines (1927) and later transferred to the Institute of Commerce at Jose Rizal College (1928–1932), where he was awarded a degree in commerce When World War II erupted, Magsaysay—having taken an interest in auto mechanics—joined the motor pool of the Thirty-First Infantry Division of the Philippine Army When the Japanese overran the nation, he helped to organize the Western Luzon Guerrilla Forces In January 1945, Magsaysay was involved in clearing the Zambales coast of the Japanese prior to the landing of American forces After the war, he was appointed by the U.S Army as military governor of Zambales, and in 1946, Major RAMON MAGSAYSAY ON PHILIPPINES FOREIGN POLICY In the following extract from an article written in 1956 Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay set forth the basics of Philippines foreign policy that linked Philippine interests to those of the United States In shaping its foreign policy the Philippines is primarily moved by three considerations: first, the strengthening of our national security by suppressing subversion from within and building strength against attacks from without through participation in collective security arrangements with other free nations; second, the utilization of the machinery of our foreign relations for the promotion of our foreign trade and economic cooperation in order to strengthen our domestic economy and to contribute our share to the economic development of a free world; and third, the development of our political and cultural relations with countries of the free world with particular emphasis on our relations with our Asian neighbors through our membership in the United Nations and by participation in regional conferences, such as the Manila Conference of 1954 (SEATO) and the Asian-African Conference in Bandung (1955) In the pursuit of our objectives and in the choice of our methods our government finds itself closely associated with the United States of America It is an association immediately dictated by our community of objectives, the most urgent of which is the defense of our freedom against Communist aggression But our policy of close relations with the United States is not a mere artificial creation of government policy makers, and it is not dictated exclusively by the accident of common purposes It is the product of experience in serving the national interest Source: Ramon Magsaysay (1956) "Roots of Philippine Policy." Foreign Affairs 35 (October): 29–30 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA 539 MAGUEY popular with the people On 10 November 1953, having quit the Liberal Party to join the Nacionalista Party and having U.S support, he was elected the third president of the Philippines Aside from quelling the Huk rebellion, Magsaysay’s presidency is remembered for the signing of the Laurel-Langley Agreement, which maintained the economic submissiveness of the Philippines to U.S monopolies, as well as for the negotiation of the Agricultural Commodities Agreement with the United States in 1957, an accord that helped keep the nation’s economy locked into a colonial pattern Magsaysay was also responsible for establishing the Anti-Subversion Law, which limited citizens’ democratic rights Finally, he was a primary player in establishing the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Ramon Magsaysay was killed in a plane crash on 17 March 1957 Craig Loomis See also: Huk Rebellion Further Reading President Ramon Magsaysay in November 1953 (BETTMANN/ CORBIS) Magsaysay was discharged from the army and was elected representative of Zambales, serving until 1950 In 1950, Magsaysay condemned his own Liberal Party for being corrupt and insisted on acceding to the demands for social and political reform that had been responsible for sparking the rebellion by the Hukbalahap (Huk), a group of peasant-rebels fighting for democratic rights throughout the nation Magsaysay was appointed secretary of national defense in 1950, and for the next three years, with American aid, he not only cleaned up military corruption, but also launched an extensive sweep to eliminate the insurgents of the Huk rebellion Unfortunately, many labor leaders, educators, and diplomats, along with an array of innocent people, were arrested and deprived of their rights under Magsaysay’s policy In November 1951, Magsaysay was responsible for keeping national elections clean by deploying soldiers to oversee the election process During the Korean War, he also sent Philippine forces to fight under the U.N command Ramon Magsaysay enjoyed a reputation of being energetic and honest; as a result, he was immensely 540 Gray, Marvin M (1965) Island Hero: The Story of Ramon Magsaysay New York: Hawthorn Books Romulo, Carlos P., and Marvin M Gray (1956) The Magsaysay Story: A Political Biography Manila, Philippines: Solidarida Publishing House MAGUEY Maguey is a crop that produces fiber for use in clothing textiles, rope, and heavy matting The Spanish introduced the New World maguey (Agave salminae, also known as agave) and the pineapple to the Philippines Although there were small plantings throughout the country, the maguey has never flourished in the Philippines Traditionally, a number of fiber sources have been used in the home and for the handicraft industry Maguey produces a fiber similar to that of the abaca, the latter perhaps the most significant fiber crop grown in the Philippines Maguey plantings are distributed throughout most Philippine provinces, especially in those regions with pronounced dry seasons, although the plant has never developed into a major export crop The cultivation of maguey peaked in the early twentieth century, when over 50,000 acres were planted Farms growing maguey were usually small; most of these were on Cebu, an island in the central Philippines Since then acreage has dropped drastically; fewer than 10,000 acres were planted in the 1960s, and by 2000 production was so insignificant that maguey was no longer reported in any official economic statistics What lit- ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA MAHABHARATA tle fiber the crop does yield serves the domestic market; little goes to the export trade Kog Yue Choong Further Reading Wernstedt, Frederick L., and Joseph Earle Spencer (1967) The Philippine Island World Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press MAGWE DIVISION (2002 est pop 4.7 million) Magwe (Magway) Division, located in the central dry zone of Myanmar (Burma), has an area of 44,820 square kilometers The town of Magwe, 530 kilometers from the national capital of Yangon (Rangoon), is its capital The division is bordered by Mandalay Division to the east, Sagaing Division to the north, Chin State and Rakhine State to the west, and Pegu (Bago) Division to the south Magwe’s 1993 population was comprised of 3.75 million Burmans, 90,000 Chins, and 40,000 of other ethnicities Magwe Division is a center for the production of edible oils from the sesamum and groundnuts grown in the region; other crops are rice, maize, cotton, pulses, and tobacco Oil was discovered in this region, and for centuries crude earth oil was extracted from shallow wells, many held by hereditary ownership and others by royalty The Burmah Oil Company, formed in 1886, developed mechanized drilling to exploit Magwe Division’s main oil fields of Yenangyaung, Chauk, and Mann (near Minbu) Until the mid-1930s, Yenangyaung was Myanmar’s foremost oil field The division’s other industrial plants include cement, fertilizer and cigarette factories, and cotton textile mills The division’s main north-south transport artery is the Irrawaddy River, together with road, rail, and air links Patricia M Herbert Further Reading Greenwood, Nicholas (1995) Guide to Burma 2d ed Old Saybrook, CT: Globe Pequot Press Longmuir, Marilyn (2001) Oil in Burma Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus MAHABHARATA The monumental Sanskrit poem the Mahabharata, attributed to the legendary poet-seer Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa (fifth century? BCE), although perhaps not the oldest epic poem to have survived from antiquity, is certainly the longest and undoubtedly among the most influential in the world Its complex characters and its grim and invo- ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA luted plot have left a profound and indelible impression on the peoples and cultures of South and Southeast Asia for at least two millennia, influencing the arts, literature, and religious, political, and social lives of many hundreds of millions of people throughout this vast region One section of the immense text, the Bhagavad Gita, has come to be regarded as a seminal text of classical Hindu ethics The Mahabharata, as it has come down to us in a large number of manuscripts from virtually all the regions and in virtually all the indigenous scripts of South Asia, is a lengthy epic narrative ranging (depending on the textual version) from some 100,000 to perhaps 120,000 Sanskrit couplets, although a few passages are in prose The Central Narrative At its narrative heart, the poem is a political and military history recounting the origins of the ruling family (known variously as the Bharatas, the Pauravas, and the Kurus or Kauravas) of an early Indian kingdom that appears to have flourished in central northern India in the vicinity of the modern city of Delhi, probably around the beginning of the first millennium BCE The story involves a bitter succession struggle between rival claimants for the ancestral throne of this kingdom and culminates in a brutal and bloody civil war that leaves most of the aristocratic characters in the epic drama dead and the world of the Bharatas in ruins The struggle originates in a complex set of displacements and disqualifications that muddy the clear stream of dynastic succession so that the sons, respectively, of a pair of royal brothers, each of whom is forced to give up his claim to the throne, are pitted against one another in increasingly implacable rivalry and enmity The poem casts the struggle not only in political terms but also as a conflict over dharma, righteousness itself The protagonists of the poem, and the parties more clearly associated with dharma, are the sons of King Pandu, known as the Pandavas Their rivals (sometimes called the Kauravas for the sake of convenience) are their first cousins, the sons of Pandu’s older brother Dhritarashtra, who had to forgo sovereignty because of congenital blindness As a consequence of a curse, Pandu cannot father children His five heroic sons are, however, sired by a series of powerful Vedic divinities and are therefore regarded as earthly incarnations of these gods The eldest and heir apparent to the throne, Yudhishthira, is the incarnation of the god of righteousness, Dharma His brothers Arjuna and Bhima are the children of, respectively, the Vedic warrior and wind gods Indra and Vayu, and the two 541 MAHALLA youngest Pandavas, Nakula and Sahadeva, are the twin sons of the twin divinities, the Asvins Their antagonists, the sons of Dhritarashtra, are led by the eldest brother, the angry and vengeful Duryodhana, who is regarded as an incarnation of a demonic being The two parties are rivals from childhood, and the Pandavas must endure threats, abuse, and assassination attempts by Duryodhana and his allies At length a seeming resolution is reached when the kingdom is divided, with Duryodhana ruling in the ancestral capital of Hastinapura, and Yudhishthira, the eldest Pandava, building a fabulous new capital city at nearby Indraprastha This device does not, however, long appease the envy and enmity of Duryodhana He invites Yudhishthira to a rigged gambling match where he divests him of all his property, his brothers, and their common wife, the princess Draupadi This ultimate catastrophe is averted at the last moment through the wit of Draupadi, but as a consequence of a second round of dicing, the Pandavas are forced to withdraw in exile to the forest for a period of twelve years and spend a thirteenth year incognito They fulfill these conditions, but Duryodhana is obdurate in his refusal to share power with them The two sides set about securing allies and preparing for battle Complex bonds of loyalty obligate many of the epic’s most powerful and venerable figures to ally themselves reluctantly with Duryodhana; the Pandavas, through the intervention of Arjuna, the foremost hero among the five brothers, manage to secure the latter’s close friend and virtual alter ego, their cousin Krishna, as a noncombatant adviser and charioteer The long-brewing war at last breaks out, attended by massive slaughter on both sides, but at length the Pandavas, although outmatched by Duryodhana’s forces, manage to achieve a Pyrrhic victory largely by adhering to the sagacious though often ethically questionable advice of Krishna Yudhishthira reigns disconsolately over his hard-won but devastated kingdom for some years, until he and his brothers, along with their long-suffering wife Draupadi, abandon the world and trek off into the Himalayas in an attempt to enter heaven The four younger Pandavas and Draupadi fall dead on the path, with only the supremely righteous Yudhishthira managing to enter the heavenly realm in his earthly body Ultimately, however, all the heroes are reunited in paradise Cultural Significance of the Epic This spare narrative, central though it is to the work, does scant justice to the dense layering of meaning and richness of substance that characterize the text of the epic that has come down to us The core narrative was 542 used as a frame around which was attached a huge corpus of secondary texts incorporating a considerable amount of the systematized knowledge of ancient India This takes the form of discourses and stories placed in the mouths of various characters, detailing mythological, cosmological, historical, theological, philosophical, political, social, and scientific knowledge preserved by the culture Thus the Mahabharata is not merely an exciting story of treachery, intrigue, and war but a virtual encyclopedia of ancient India With its concentration on and magnification of the role of Krishna, who emerges in the poem as an earthly incarnation of the supreme Lord Vishnu, the poem has become one of the major early textual sources for Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu), one of the sectarian forms of Hinduism The triumph and salvation of the Pandavas are represented as artifacts of their (especially Arjuna’s) devotion to and faith in Krishna The Bhagavad Gita, a section of the epic’s sixth book in which Krishna exhorts Arjuna to fight his righteous war and reveals himself as the all-loving god, became one of the central texts of Hindu devotionalism Although traditional Indian culture has always been cautious about the message of the Mahabharata, with its focus on intrafamilial conflict, the text lies close to the heart of the tradition and powerfully influenced the social, religious, political, and artistic sensibility of South and Southeast Asian peoples for two millennia or more Robert P Goldman See also: Ramayana Further Reading Brockington, John L (1998) The Sanskrit Epics Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Hiltebeitel, Alf (1999) Rethinking India’s Oral and Classical Epics: Draupade among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits Chicago: University of Chicago Press Hopkins, E Washburn (1902) The Great Epic of India New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons Van Nooten, Barend A (1971) The Mahabharata, Attributed to Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa New York: Twayne MAHALLA The term mahalla is used by Uzbeks It originated in Arabic and translates as encampment, neighborhood, or community The term guzar is often used in place of mahalla among the Tajiks living in Uzbekistan; the term avlod is used by Tajiks living in Tajikistan There are many other variants in existence throughout the Muslim world Familiar institutions are not uncommon internationally, but they tend ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA MAHARASHTRA to flourish more in societies that deemphasize contractual social relations As such they are more common in Eastern societies The mahalla is a social institution, providing goods and services to its constituent members, such as tables, utensils, and other practical items A mahalla can also be considered a small economy of sorts because of the interactive nature of its activities Events such as weddings, funerals, birthdays, and so on are times where gifts are exchanged among participants Whether the gift is in the form of goods, such as food, or services, such as entertainment or religious functions, there is a constant flow of material between members This exchange of goods and services helps reinforce the members’ loyalty to their community by adding a dimension of economic necessity to the familiar basis Today the entire population of Uzbekistan belongs to one of the more than ten thousand mahalla No other institution in Uzbekistan has as much influence as the mahalla, and as such it is the definitive social, economic, and political institution of Uzbekistan Presently the government of Uzbekistan employs the mahalla as part of its means of maintaining power The mahalla is the primary site and source of state welfare assistance, with the local leader (hokim) having total control over who receives what and how much In short, mahalla are the center of Uzbek daily and economic life They are largely based upon kinship, but that is not as strict a designation as it once was They represent the basic administrative division of the country and the primary vehicle for the exercise of its power The mahalla serve as a means of surveillance and as vehicles for the construction of national identity Mahalla and their members are required to participate in all national festivals and cultural celebrations The rural mahalla have a greater degree of control over their economic fate than their urban counterparts due to their greater distance from the central power structure Anthony Bichel Further Reading Carlisle, Donald S (1991) "Uzbekistan and the Uzbeks." Problems of Communism 40, 5: 23–44 Poliakov, Sergei P (1992) Everyday Islam: Religion and Tradition in Rural Central Asia London: M E Sharpe MAHANADI RIVER The Mahanadi River, 89 kilometers long, is known as one of the "great rivers" of India, crossing the state of Orissa and cutting through the Eastern Ghats by way of a gorge some 50 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA kilomenters long The Mahanadi’s catchment area is estimated at 113,440 square kilometers, and in the rainy season it carries an immense amount of water, up to 51,000 cubic meters per second at the Naraj gorge The river rises in Raipur District of Chhattisgarh, just south of Raipur city After flowing eastward and passing the city of Cuttack (where in the rainy season it is kilometers wide), the river enters the Bay of Bengal through a number of deltaic channels and two main estuaries In the delta region is an extensive system of irrigation canals for the cultivation of rice From July to February the river is navigable by boats for 740 kilometers from the sea Paul Hockings Further Reading Mahalik, N K (2000) Mahandi Delta: Geology, Resources, and Biodiversity New Delhi: AIT Alumni Association, Indian Chapter MAHARASHTRA (2002 est pop 98.6 million) Maharashtra, the third largest state of the Indian Union in terms of area and population, lies on the west coast of India facing the Arabian Sea The state shares its boundary with Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Goa A 720-kilometer by 80kilometer coastal expanse called Konkan forms a continuous band along the coast Parallel to this runs the Western Ghats mountain range, which is flanked, on its eastern side, by the fertile plateau that forms the dominant physical environment of the state Three major rivers—Godavari, Bhima, and Krishna (Kistna)— flow through this region The soil of the plateau is rich and supports the extensive cultivation of cotton, sugarcane, peanut, and tobacco along with different varieties of mangoes, grapes, oranges, and bananas The coastal region produces rice and coconuts in abundance The state receives its rainfall mainly from the southwest monsoon which is very active in the coastal belt, but loses its vigor once it approaches the central parts Maharashtra’s early history stretches from the time of the Mauryan empire in the third century BCE to the reign of the Yadavas in the thirteenth century The high point of this history comes with the rise of Sivaji in the seventeenth century, who succeeded in establishing an independent Maratha kingdom despite repeated Muslim attacks Sivaji’s successors ruled the territory with occasional reverses till the British took control of the region in early nineteenth century At the time of independence the state was part of the 543 MAHATHIR MOHAMAD Bombay presidency under the British It got its present identity on May 1960 when all the Marathi-speaking areas from neighboring states were united to form Maharashtra The state has thirty-three administrative districts and has a bicameral legislature It has a representation of nineteen members in the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) and forty-eight members in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) of the Indian Parliament More than 60 percent of the people in Maharashtra depend on agriculture for a living In addition to a thriving agricultural sector, Maharashtra has a welldeveloped industrial base Because of its convenient location as the link between northern and southern India, it functions as a bridgehead of financial and commercial activities Mumbai (Bombay), the capital of Maharashtra, is the business capital of India and the largest stock exchange in the country It has a big textiles market and a busy port Many small and medium industries have grown around the city and it showcases products from all over India Food products, breweries, tobacco and related products, textiles, plasticware, petroleum and coal products, paper, rubber, basic chemicals and chemical products, and crude oil are some of the items manufactured and marketed from Maharashtra Major corporate houses in India are Mumbaibased The city is also well known for its film industry, which is the chief source of the popular Hindi cinema Ram Shankar Nanda Further Reading Kulkarni, A R (1999) Maharastra: Society and Culture Columbia, MO: South Asia Books Sirsikar, M (1995) Politics of Modern Maharastra Sangam Books MAHATHIR MOHAMAD (b 1925), prime minister of Malaysia Mahathir Bin Mohamad has significantly shaped his country’s political landscape while also serving as an unofficial spokesman for the so-called Third World Throughout his career, Mahathir has been an outspoken critic of the industrialized nations’ foreign policies directed at developing nations, while espousing the virtue of Asian morals Mahathir was born in Alor Setar, capital of the state of Kedah in northern Malaysia The youngest of nine children, he grew up in a stable, financially secure family, and his father held a prestigious position as schoolmaster of an English language school He studied medicine, but his passion was politics He joined the dominant United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party and aligned himself with the majority 544 Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur in October 2001 (AFP/CORBIS) Malay population’s needs His book The Malay Dilemma, published in Singapore in 1970, which criticized the then-current Malay government, promoted a strident Malay nationalism and articulated his ideological beliefs In the Malay Dilemma, Mahathir asserted that Malays were the indigenous people of Malaysia and demanded a policy of affirmative action to elevate their economic status to a level equal with the Chinese-Malaysians At the same time, Mahathir also criticized certain Malay cultural traits and presented a theory steeped in Social Darwinism to explain the Malays’ economic backwardness Mahathir’s open letter to Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1969 led to his expulsion from UMNO, but by 1972 he was reinstated After 1972, Mahathir’s political star rose rapidly Tun Abdul Razak, the second prime minister, appointed him to a cabinet position in 1974, and he became deputy prime minister in 1976 under the third prime minister, Hussein Onn By 1981, Mahathir had himself become prime minister During the 1980s, Mahathir consolidated his power and became more ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA MAHMUD SHAH authoritarian by successfully staving off political opponents through arrests and detention He also eliminated the supreme court as a source of opposition, first by altering the constitution to weaken the court’s power of review and then by forcing the resignation of several high-ranking members In the 1990s, Mahathir promoted his economic plan, The Way Forward or Vision 2020, which proclaims that Malaysia will rank as a fully developed nation by the year 2020 Mahathir’s Vision proposed a difficult economic growth rate that Malaysia has not been able to maintain Nevertheless, Malaysia has prospered under Mahathir and the country’s economic prospects remain solid Allen Reichert Further Reading Khoo Boo Teik (1995) Paradoxes of Mahathirism: An Intellectual Biography of Mahathir Mohamad Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press Milne, R S., and Diane K Mauzy (1999) Malaysian Politics under Mahathir London: Routledge Mohamad, Mahathir (1998) The Way Forward London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson MAHMUD OF GHAZNA (971?–1030), Afghan conqueror and emperor Mahmud of Ghazna was an emperor during the Ghaznavid dynasty (977–1187) in Afghanistan It was during his reign that the Ghaznavid dynasty amassed its greatest wealth and territory The son of a Turkish slave who fled to Ghazni after a failed revolt against his masters, Mahmud rose to power by defeating his elder brother for control of Afghanistan and the Khorasan region of Iran Using his military expertise, Mahmud extended his territory to the west and north of Afghanistan, as well as to the Punjab region Mahmud led several raids into India, ransacking temples and converting the natives to Islam With the wealth gained from his pillaging, he transformed his capital, Ghazni, into a cultural center, establishing universities and supporting scholars and poets; the well-known historians Al Biruni and Al Utbi, as well as the great poet Firdawsi (c 935–c 1020) were in residence at Ghazni A devout Muslim, Muhmad also built a grand mosque Mahmud died in 1130, after which the empire began a downward spiral until its dissolution in 1186 Houman A Sadri Further Reading Adamec, Ludwig W (1997) Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan 2d ed Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA Edwards, David B (1996) Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press MAHMUD SHAH (d 1528), sultan of Melaka The sudden death of Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah (reigned 1477–1488) led to the installation of Mahmud Shah, his younger son and a nephew of the influential bendahara (prime minister) Tun Perak, who sought to perpetuate his dominance in the royal court by promoting the more pliant of the late sultan’s sons Mahmud (reigned 1488–1511) was neither an able nor a forceful ruler Philandering, obstinate, and impulsive, he left the affairs of state to Tun Perak and other ministers Mahmud’s ineptness notwithstanding, Melaka remained at the peak of its power, wealth, and prestige at the beginning of the sixteenth century, which attracted the covetous attention of the Portuguese In facing the Portuguese challenge, Melaka lacked strong leadership and mass support Malay-Tamil rivalry resurfaced in court with the appointment of Tun Mutahir as bendahara in 1500, and intrigues and conspiracies led to his execution The foreign mercantile community that dominated Melaka’s trade and commerce—and hence its wealth—followed only its selfserving economic interests The Melakan aristocracy shared in this wealth but little trickled down to the common people Despite a gallant defense by Mahmud and his son Ahmad, Melaka fell to the Portuguese in August 1511 Mahmud fled, initially to Muar, then to Pahang, and finally to Bintan in 1513 Between 1515 and 1524 he launched five campaigns to recapture Melaka but failed He died in Kampar in 1528 His surviving sons, Muzaffar and Alauddin, established the Perak sultanate and the Johor-Riau empire, respectively Ooi Keat Gin Further Reading Cortesao, Armando, ed (1944) The "Suma Oriental" of Tome Pires vols London: Hakluyt Society Meilink-Roelofsz, Marie Antoinette Petronella (1962) Asian Trade and European Influence in the Indonesian Archipelago between 1500 and about 1630 The Hague, Netherlands: Nijhoff Muhammad Yusuf Hashim (1992) The Malay Sultanate of Malacca: A Study of Various Aspects of Malacca in the 15th and 16th Centuries in Malaysian History Trans by D J Muzaffar Tate Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals (1983) Trans by C C Brown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press 545 MAILIN, BEIIMBET Wheatley, Paul (1966) The Golden Khersonese: Studies in the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula before A.D 1500 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: University of Malaya Press MAILIN, BEIIMBET (1894–1938), Kazakh writer Beiimbet Mailin was not only a writer but also a poet, a dramatist, and an educator in Soviet Kazakhstan Born in the Kustanay region (now Qostanay) of Kazakhstan to a family of poor nomads, Beiimbet Mailin began his education in local religious schools when he was seven years old In 1913 he started teaching at the local madrasah (seminary) in his native village The same year he published his first poem, Musylmandyq belgisi (Notes of a Muslim) and continued to teach in various madrasahs and in the RussianKazak school in Kustanay Following the 1917 Russian Revolution he was active in the Kazakh political party Alash Orda After the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War, he published his first full collection of poetry in 1923, and in 1926 he became the editor of Qazaq Adebieti (Kazakh Literature) During the 1920s and 1930s, he published some of his best-known works, including Kommunistka Raushan (The Communist Raushan) and the screenplay Amangel’dy (For the Noted Kazak Warrior) Between 1933 and 1936 his collected works were published in four volumes In 1938 he was arrested during the Stalinist purges and executed His work was rediscovered in 1957, and a new six-volume edition of his collected works appeared between 1960 and 1964 Steven Sabol Further Reading Sarabalaev, Baqyt (1988) Beiimbet Mailin Almaty, Kazakhstan: Mektep MAJAPAHIT Majapahit was the last medieval Hindu-Javanese empire to wield much influence in Southeast Asia When emissaries from Mongol China appeared at Singhasari in 1289, the great warrior-king Kertanagara promptly arrested and expelled them This provoked a punitive Chinese expedition to eastern Java in 1292; it arrived to find that Kertanagara had been killed in an uprising engineered by a prince of the displaced house of Kadiri Kertanagara’s son Vijaya was forced to flee to a village on the Brantas River named Majapahit (bitter fruit) Vijaya enlisted the support of the newly arrived Chinese forces to drive the Kadiri usurper out of Singhasari and recover the throne He then compelled his Chinese supporters to withdraw and depart homeward 546 The village of Majapahit became Vijaya’s new capital Gajah Mada was appointed prime minister in 1331, and under his direction Majapahit filled the political vacuum left by the fall of the Srivijaya empire and the dissolution of its temporary successor, Singhasari As early as 1365, Majapahit could claim domination over most of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula Its hold on the latter extended as far north as Kedah, Langkasuka, and Pantai Majapahit’s influence extended to much of what now comprises Indonesia, extending to territories on the south and west coasts of Borneo, and to southern Celebes and the Moluccas Some even claim that Majapahit power was felt as far away as the IndoChinese peninsula, in Siam, Cambodia, and Annam, though this is doubtful The infiltration of Islam from the Straits of Malacca into the Southeast Asian archipelago gradually undermined the influence of Majapahit In 1478 the Muslim coastal state of Demak invaded Majapahit itself, and by the late fifteenth century Majapahit was reduced to little more than an eastern Javanese state with a glorious past Kog Yue Choong Further Reading Harrison, Brian (1954) South East Asia—A Short History London: MacMillan & Co Ltd Prapanca, Mpu, Rakawi of Majapahit (1995) Desawarna (Nagarakrtagama) Trans by Stuart Robson Leiden, Netherlands: KITLV (Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology) Press MAK YONG If "feminism" had been a term in the Malay court four hundred years ago, Mak Yong would have been seen as a feminist dance drama This is because, except for the comedians, all parts were played (and still are today) by young women The dance drama was meant for entertaining female royalty (queens and princesses) in the absence of their men when the latter were away at war The "female space" was necessary to protect these women from falling into disgrace because their concerned husbands and fathers feared that they might commit immoral activities with male performers in their absence The presence of women only was necessary to safeguard aristocratic honor The women were free to and say what they wanted without being conscious of male presence The dance originated in Patani (south Thailand) and spread southward into Kelantan in Malaysia Mak Yong, originally performed as soul worshipping of ancestors, combines elements of romantic drama, dance, and operatic singing There are no written texts, and hence no two performances are ever the same The mu- ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA MALAY STATES, UNFEDERATED sic that accompanies the dance is played on a rebab (bowed lute), tawak-tawak (two hanging gongs), and gendang (two double-headed drums) There is a marked Middle Eastern flavor in the combination of a solo voice, a chorus, and musical instruments in Mak Yong A pawang (shaman) initiates the rituals of stage opening prior to a performance The stories performed are from the old Malay tales, all of which are original and date back to the golden age of the Malay kingdoms of great culture and power In the past, Mak Yong was a court entertainment, and the Malay Palace was the patron Mak Yong would be performed four or five times a week at the royal residence Today, Mak Yong has become a traditional drama for the common people Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf Further Reading Harris, Mark (1990) National Museum Kuala Lumpur: History and Culture of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Syarikat S Abdul Majeed Ismail, Yahaya (1989) The Cultural Heritage of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Dinamika Kreatif Sdn Bhd Yousof, Ghulam-Sarwar (1994) Dictionary of Traditional South-East Asia Theatre Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press MAKHAMBET UTEMISOV (1804–1846), Kazakh poet Makhambet Utemisov (Maxambet Otemisuly) was a distinguished Kazakh poet and political activist He is remembered for his leading part in the insurrection of the Kazakhs against the oppressive rule of the khan of the Inner Horde, Zhangir, as well as against Russian colonialism, in 1836–1837 The rebellion was crushed, and Makhambet had to flee with a price on his head He was murdered in 1846 Although Makhambet was sent to a Russian school in Orenburg, where he learned to read and write, his poetry stands in the tradition of oral Kazakh poetry More than fifty poems attributed to him have been transmitted, some in writing, some orally The first publication of one of his poems dates from 1908 Most of Makhambet’s poems have a political and moral message, often protesting the unjustness of the khan’s rule In one directed against Khan Zhangir, Makhambet calls the khan a wolf, a snake, and a scorpion A number of poems are of a warlike and heroic nature, some addressed to his companion-in-arms Isatay Taymanov Makhambet also composed meditative poems (termed tolghau in Kazakh), on themes such as the decay of morals or the transience of human life Karl Reichl ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA Further Reading Gabdullin, M G., et al., eds (1968–1979) Istoriia kazakhskoi literaturi (History of Kazakh Literature) Vol Almaty, Kazakhstan: Nauka Makhambet (1989) Ereuwil atqa er salmay: Olengder (Put No Saddle on an Enduring Horse: Poems), edited by Qabibolla Sydyzov Almaty, Kazakhstan: Zhazuushy MAKLI HILL One of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately kilometers, Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 Sufi saints It is located on the outskirts of Thatta, the capital of lower Sind until the seventeenth century, in what is the southeastern province of present-day Pakistan Legends abound about its inception, but it is generally believed that the cemetery grew around the shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi Hamad Jamali The tombs and gravestones spread over the cemetery are material documents marking the social and political history of Sind Imperial mausoleums are divided into two major groups, those from the Samma (1352–1520) and Tarkhan (1556–1592) periods The tomb of the Samma king, Jam Nizam al-Din (reigned 1461–1509), is an impressive square structure built of sandstone and decorated with floral and geometric medallions Similar to this is the mausoleum of Isa Khan Tarkhan II (d 1651), a twostory stone building with majestic cupolas and balconies In contrast to the syncretic architecture of these two monuments, which integrate Hindu and Islamic motifs, are mausoleums that clearly show the Central Asian roots of the later dynasty An example is the tomb of Jan Beg Tarkhan (d 1600), a typical octagonal brick structure whose dome is covered in blue and turquoise glazed tiles Today, Makli Hill is a United Nations World Heritage Site that is visited by both pilgrims and tourists Kishwar Rizvi Further Reading Cousens, Henri (1929) The Antiquities of Sind, with Historical Outline Calcutta, India: Government of India Lari, Yasmeen, and Suhail Zaheer Lari (1997) The Jewel of Sindh: Samma Monuments on Makli Hill Karachi, Pakistan: Heritage Foundation and Oxford University Press Mir Ali Sher Qani Thattavi (1967 [1872]) Maklinama Reprint ed Hyderabad, India: Sindhi Adabi Board Schimmel, Annemarie (1983) Makli Hill: A Center of Islamic Culture in Sindh Karachi, Pakistan: University of Karachi MALAY STATES, UNFEDERATED Located on the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia, the Unfederated Malay States (UMS), were Johor, Kedah, Perlis, 547 MALAY SULTANATE Kelantan, and Terengganu The main difference between the five UMS and the four Federated Malay States (FMS) was that British control was somewhat looser in the unfederated states While British influence extended to all of the nine Malay states, which were ruled by sultans, internal government remained largely under the control of the traditional rulers In each state, a British adviser was responsible to the British high commissioner The four northern states of the UMS (except for Johor) were originally under the sphere of influence of Siam (now Thailand) and were among the poorest on the peninsula In 1909, the king of Siam signed a treaty transferring the states to British control, but the sultans refused to join the FSM for fear of losing their de facto executive power; hence they maintained a modicum of independence Johor also remained outside the FMS because its sultan, Abu Bakar, insisted on remaining independent The Union of Malaya, composed of the nine states of the USM and the FSM, was set up in 1946 and became the Federation of Malaya in 1948 In 1957, it achieved independence from Britain and joined the commonwealth The next year, the name was changed to the Federation of Malaysia Ho Khai Leong Further Reading Ryan, N J (1969) The Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press MALAY SULTANATE See Melaka Sultanate MALAYAN EMERGENCY The Malayan Emergency was a reaction, through legal regulations, to counter the guerrilla war initiated by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), led by Chin Peng, the party’s secretary general, against the British Commonwealth administration and Malay forces The war lasted from 1948 to 1960 The decision to undertake a guerrilla war was made by the MCP in response to British proposals for the Malayan Union Constitution and the 1948 Federation of Malaya agreement, which the MCP feared would put in place a strong anticommunist central government Political events elsewhere, such as Mao Zedong’s guerrilla tactics against Chiang Kai-shek’s forces in China, Indonesia’s war with the Dutch government to gain independence, and the beginning of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, prompted the MCP to openly revolt against the British 548 in order to achieve independence and establish a communist Malaya The MCP began attacking and terrorizing plantation workers and isolated estates, derailing trains, and burning workers’ houses and buses The Communists were jungle based and supported by the Chinese population, who lived mainly in cities and at the fringes of jungles An underground organization called Min Yuen acted as a spy network and provided supplies, food, and information to the Communists A state of emergency was declared in parts of the states of Perak and Johore on 18 June 1948 by High Commissioner Sir Edward Gent after three British planters were found murdered in Sungai Siput, Perak By 23 June, the whole country was in a state of emergency The MCP, which had been legalized by the British at the end of World War II, was banned The British also tried to thwart the Communists by establishing a national registration system Those people without an identification card were considered illegal and were seen as Communist sympathizers Furthermore, under the Briggs Plan (named for Sir Harold Briggs, a retired general appointed to coordinate and direct military and civilian operations during the emergency) to cut off interaction between the Min Yuen and the Chinese population of Malaya, the British resettled nearly 500,000 Chinese squatters from outlying areas to newly created and protected villages This deprived the Communists of their supplies and information from the Chinese population More important, the British used psychological warfare to win the "hearts and minds" of the population by seeking to unite the racially divided Malayan people to fight the Communist insurrection Other drastic measures taken by the British eventually cut off supplies and support to the Communists, who were trapped in the jungle and constantly hunted by British special forces The Communists failed largely because of lack of support from the majority Malay community, who opposed the MCP due to its predominantly Chinese-based support Eventually, the MCP tried to negotiate for peace at the Baling Talks of 1955, but the talks broke down because Chin Peng refused to dissolve the MCP The MCP finally lost its struggle when Malaya was granted independence in 1957 The newly formed Malayan government declared the end of the emergency on 31 July 1960 The MCP surrendered on December 1989 to the Malaysian government and agreed to terminate all activities Geetha Govindasamy See also: Malayan Union ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA MALAYAN UNION Further Reading Further Reading Cloake, John Templer (1985) Templer, Tiger of Malaya: The Life of Field Marshall Sir Gerald Templer London: Harrap Clutterbuck, Richard (1984) Conflict and Violence in Singapore and Malaysia, 1945–1983 Rev ed Singapore: Graham Brash Coates, John (1992) Suppressing Insurgency: An Analysis of the Malayan Emergency, 1948–1954 Boulder, CO: Westview Press Jackson, Robert (1991) The Malayan Emergency: The Commonwealth Wars 1948–1966 London: Routledge Short, Anthony (2000) In Pursuit of Mountain Rats: The Communist Insurrection in Malaya Singapore: Cultured Lotus Stubbs, Richard (1989) Hearts and Minds in Guerrilla Warfare: The Malayan Emergency 1948–1960 Singapore: Oxford University Press Andaya, Barbara Watson (2001) A History of Malaysia 2d ed Hampshire, U.K.: Palgrave Clutterbuck, Richard (1984) Conflict and Violence in Singapore and Malaysia Rev ed Singapore: Graham Brash Kratoska, Paul, ed (1995) Malaya and Singapore during the Japanese Occupation Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Special Publication Series, no Singapore: National University of Singapore Zakaria, Haji Ahmad (1977) Political Violence in Malaysia: The Malayan Emergency and Its Impact Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia MALAYAN PEOPLE’S ANTI-JAPANESE ARMY The Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) was a guerrilla army that was part of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) When Japan attacked Malaya in 1941, the MPAJA was the foremost local force carrying out guerrilla attacks against the Japanese Because the Chinese population was harshly treated during the Japanese occupation of Malaya, the MPAJA membership consisted mostly of Chinese who were anti-Japanese From 1942 onward, following their defeat in Singapore by the Japanese, the British forces in Malaya collaborated with the MCP by providing supplies and personnel with two objectives in mind: to train and equip the MPAJA to fight the Japanese and to prepare for an eventual Allied invasion of Malaya Even though the MPAJA was unsuccessful in driving the Japanese out of Malaya, it gained invaluable experience in guerrilla warfare and established a basis for future resistance against the British during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960), a successful British counter, through civil, police, and military programs, to Communist insurrections As part of the support network for independence, the fighters developed links with the rural communities on the fringes of the jungle The MPAJA also constructed bases and hideouts in the jungle and accumulated a large quantity of weapons When the war ended in 1945, the Japanese surrendered, and an Allied invasion of Malaya became unnecessary In the same year, the MPAJA guerrilla fighters emerged from the jungle, and the British who returned to Malaya legalized the MCP Unfortunately, MPAJA links with the rural community, as well as the training and weapons provided by the British, proved valuable to the MCP in fighting the British during the Malayan Emergency Geetha Govindasamy ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA MALAYAN UNION Prior to World War II, Malaya (now Malaysia) comprised three different administrative governments: the Federated Malay States (Perak, Selangor, Pahang, and Negeri Sembilan), the Unfederated Malay States (Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, Terengganu, and Johor), and the Straits Settlements (Melaka, Penang, and Singapore) During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, British authorities prepared a plan proposing a centralized government comprising these peninsular possessions, to be known as the Malayan Union The official arrangement of the Malayan Union was announced in a 1946 White Paper Under this new system the Federated and Unfederated Malay States, and Melaka and Penang, were to be centralized under a British governor Singapore, however, because of its strategic location, rapid economic development, and large Chinese population, was to remain a separate British colony The centralized government was to consist of a governor, a legislature, and an executive board The position of the Malay sultans would remain, although their sovereignty would be ceded by the British Citizenship under the scheme offered equality of rights to all irrespective of race or creed, and also allowed dual citizenship The plan received widespread criticism and opposition from the Malays, the sultans, and also British officers who had served in Malaya, including Frank Swettenham and Sir George Maxwell The Malays were reluctant to share their rights and political power with other peoples, namely the Chinese and the Indians The sultans were dissatisfied with the way Sir Harold MacMichael, the British officer in charge, handled the negotiations: the sultans were coerced, threatened, and blackmailed As a result of this opposition about two hundred Malays representing forty-one associations gathered in Kuala Lumpur and formed the United Malays National Organization to protest the proposed Malayan Union As a result of their efforts and criticism at 549 MALAY-INDONESIAN LANGUAGE home the British government decided to scrap the proposal, replacing it with a milder plan to form the Federation of Malaya The new proposal was seen as more palatable because citizenship is given to immigrants who have stayed more than ten years in Malaya Apart from that, the sultans remain as leaders of Islam and Malay society Mala Selvarju Further Reading Emerson, R (1964) Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: University of Malaya Press Ryan, N J (1974) The Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press MALAY-INDONESIAN LANGUAGE The national languages of Malaysia and Indonesia—Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, respectively—are the Malay language as spoken in those countries; Malay is also spoken in Singapore and parts of the Philippines In both Malaysia and Indonesia, knowledge of the language is necessary for gaining citizenship According to historical records, the rulers of the Srivijaya empire in Malaya used and popularized the Malay language in the seventh century, and it has remained the most important language of the archipelago ever since Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia share common words, idioms, and roots, and both belong to the Western Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian or Malayo-Polynesian, one of the world’s largest language families The Malay language is phonetic in character, with few prefixes and suffixes for verbs and nouns It does not have gender, person, number, or tense, and verbs are not conditioned on the basis of conjugation, declension, or tense Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia have been written with a common reformed spelling system since 1972 Bahasa Malaysia Malay as spoken in Malaysia—Bahasa Malaysia—is the national language and an important element in promoting nationalism and intracommunal harmony Knowledge of the Malay language is essential for becoming a Malaysian citizen, and it is now the sole official language of the country According to a census taken in 2000, in the total population of 22.3 million, Malays made up 66.1 percent, Chinese 25.3 percent, and Indians 7.4 percent The Malaysian territories are more homogeneous than Indonesia, and Malay is used throughout the country Although a significant number of Chinese and Indians speak other languages such 550 as Hakka, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil, they have increasingly learned Bahasa Malaysia The government of Malaysia has promoted English as a second language, and it is widely used in business and academic circles Britain, which ruled over the country as a colonial power, was more benevolent toward the Malays than were the Dutch toward Indonesians The first Malay printing press was established in Malaya in 1848, and it published several works in Malay: autobiographies, studies of folk traditions, poetry, court chronicles, epics, the Qu ran, other Islamic texts, and legal digests There was a resurgence of Malay nationalism during the Japanese occupation (1941–1945), when various publications in the Malay language awakened Malayans to their subjugation and repression Although some Malay authors of the era at first supported the Japanese occupation, they changed their emphasis after the end of the war and in 1948 founded an association, The Generation of 50, to promote the Malay language The publication of essays, short stories, and novels analyzing issues of social concern were given prime importance at this time When the Federated Malay States became independent in 1957 and subsequently when the Federation of Malaysia emerged in 1963, the government declared Bahasa Malaysia the sole official language This language is understood and spoken in all parts of the country, and no party or political group of significance questions its status in the national polity Bahasa Indonesia In addition to Malay, more than 250 other languages or dialects are spoken in Indonesia; these include Acehnese, Batak, Sundanese, Javanese, Sasak, Tetum of Timor, Dayak, Minahasa, Toraja, Buginese, Halmahera, Ambonese, and Ceramese, all of which were influenced by Malay Their vocabularies and idioms, like those of Bahasa Indonesia, have indigenized a number of words from Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch, and English The speakers of all these languages use Bahasa Indonesia as their lingua franca Bahasa Indonesia was systematized and organized in the twentieth century At a youth congress held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1928, delegates pledged to promote Malay and to nurture it as their national language Several political parties supported this resolution, and thereafter this language became the common medium for spreading revolutionary struggle The Japanese occupation actually fostered the acceptance of the Indonesian language The conquerors banned the use of the Dutch language and ordered the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA MALAY-INDONESIAN LANGUAGE arrest of anyone speaking Dutch The textbooks for primary and secondary education, which had previously been written exclusively in Dutch, were translated into Bahasa Indonesia The Japanese thought that the use of the Indonesian language in schools and official proceedings would promote anti-Dutch sentiments and would aid in the eventual acceptance of the Japanese language But the policy of replacing the Dutch language with Japanese was never carried out With Japanese support, scholars of the era established the Komisi Bahasa Indonesia (Commission for Indonesian Languages), which systematized the Indonesian language and published a literary magazine highlighting linguistic, cultural, and political issues The commission simplified the spelling of words borrowed from Sanskrit, Arabic, Dutch, and English, which were pronounced and spelled differently in different parts of Indonesia Article 36 of the 1945 constitution of Indonesia declared Bahasa Indonesia the language of the state, although in 1959 President Sukarno (1901–1970) explained that areas of Indonesia possessing languages of their own were entitled to use them as well Both ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA Presidents Sukarno and Suharto (b 1921) nurtured the development of Bahasa Indonesia at the literary, academic, and official levels, not only as the language of Indonesians but as a bond to forge solidarity and kinship with the Malay world According to a 1990 census by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the use of Bahasa Indonesia falls into three categories: 15 percent use it for daily communication, 68 percent can speak it but not use it every day, and 17 percent cannot understand it The Indonesian government has set 2010 as the year in which all Indonesians will understand Bahasa Indonesia Ganganath Jha Further Reading Alisjahbana, S Takdir (1976) Language Planning for Modernization: The Case of Indonesian and Malaysian The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton de Gruyter Kaidir, Anwar (1980) Indonesian: The Development and Use of a National Language Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Gadjah Mada University Press Wong Hoy Kee, Francis (1971) "The Development of a National Language in Indonesia and Malaysia." Comparative Education 7, 2: 73–80 551 ... 60 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA Survey of Asia? ??s Regions and Nations T he Encyclopedia of Modern Asia covers thirty-three nations in depth and also the Caucasus and Siberia We have divided Asia. .. Yumjaagiyn Ulaanbaatar United Party of Mongolia ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA READER’S GUIDE History and Profile East Asia Paleoanthropology—East Asia China China—Profile Han Dynasty Hongcun and Xidi... China’s influence was xiv ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ASIA ASIA’S REGIONS AND NATIONS greatest before the modern period and Chinese culture thus in some ways forms the core of East Asian culture and society