Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

Silat practice in
Japanese-style
uniforms and belts
illustrates the
influence of non-
Indonesian martial
arts on contemporary
silat. (Courtesy
of Joe Svinth)
540 Southeast Asia
lapse of empires such as the Pagan and realignments such as those in Indonesia
that gave rise to other states such as the Majapahit political entity
of eastern Java, which retained preeminence in the area through the fifteenth
century. The growth of the Islamic sphere of influence on the Malay
peninsula, especially in centers such as Malacca, and into Java led to Majapahit’s
demise in the sixteenth century.
On the mainland, the thirteenth century saw the development of the
Thai into a major political force. By the end of the next century, unification
of Siam (now Thailand) and the establishment of the kingdom of Laos had