THEORY OF THE BRAHMINS
Brahmins are the top caste in India’s caste system, and this theory credits them with the transmission of Indian culture in Southeast Asia.
They had extensive knowledge, and were highly revered by the people. This highly extensive knowledge included sanskrit codes regarding the law, the art of government, architecture, and the cosmic universe. The locals would then have more readily accepted the practices of the Brahmins, to develop their own systems. The Brahmins also had wide religious knowledge, which would appeal strongly to those in Southeast Asia who were animistic, because the Brahmins thus played a central role in royal rituals and were thus even more readily accepted in Southeast Asia. As can be observed through the practice of reverence to rulers, which spread region-wide, the homogeneity of the impact of the Brahmins then makes the theory of the Brahmins the most plausible amongst the three to most. The reverence to the god-king was only possible through the Brahmins.
According to Sanskrit scriptures:
Everything that exists is in the power of the gods.
The gods are in the power of magical conjurations.
Magical conjurations are in the power of the Brahmins,
Therefore, the gods are in the power of the Brahmins.
From these scriptures, it can thus be assumed that the Brahmins were the ones responsible for such a structure of government to take place.
They had extensive knowledge, and were highly revered by the people. This highly extensive knowledge included sanskrit codes regarding the law, the art of government, architecture, and the cosmic universe. The locals would then have more readily accepted the practices of the Brahmins, to develop their own systems. The Brahmins also had wide religious knowledge, which would appeal strongly to those in Southeast Asia who were animistic, because the Brahmins thus played a central role in royal rituals and were thus even more readily accepted in Southeast Asia. As can be observed through the practice of reverence to rulers, which spread region-wide, the homogeneity of the impact of the Brahmins then makes the theory of the Brahmins the most plausible amongst the three to most. The reverence to the god-king was only possible through the Brahmins.
According to Sanskrit scriptures:
Everything that exists is in the power of the gods.
The gods are in the power of magical conjurations.
Magical conjurations are in the power of the Brahmins,
Therefore, the gods are in the power of the Brahmins.
From these scriptures, it can thus be assumed that the Brahmins were the ones responsible for such a structure of government to take place.
WHY THIS THEORY MIGHT NOT BE TRUE
From another perspective, it is unlikely that it was only the Brahmins, who were involved in spreading Indian culture. Although knowledgeable, they were elitist, and would have brought the rigid Indian caste system with them, which favoured religious figures like the Brahmins. The caste system was, however, never present in Southeast Asia, because Southeast Asians were flexible and adaptive, and therefore could not be confined to such a rigid caste system that heavily limited their social mobility in society.