This volume makes five large and, I believe, quite novel claims. First, during roughly a thousand years each sector of mainland Southeast Asia experienced a sustained trend towards political consolidation which was punctuated by periodic collapse but which by the early 19th century had yielded an unprecedentedly powerful and extensive formation. Second, during this thousand years, eras of political collapse and consolidation across the mainland, especially in the western and central sectors, substantially coincided. Third, within each sector, most particularly the lowlands, wider political unity reflected and encouraged easier cultural exchange and a growing standardization of ethnicity and cultic practice. Fourth, political and cultural integration derived from fluid synergies between demographic, agricultural, military, and foreign commercial pressures, all of which, including maritime stimuli, remained potent throughout the period under review. Finally, and in more preliminary fashion, I suggest that integration in mainland Southeast Asia correlated in basic chronology and dynamics to changes in other outlying sectors of Eurasia.

Chapter 1 set forth the argument for the mainland as a whole. The introductions and conclusions to Chapters 2-4 applied the thesis in summary fashion to each sector of the mainland, while calling attention to local idiosyncracies. Rather than offer another recapitulation, I conclude on a cautionary note by emphasizing the elements of contingency and causal uncertainty that are intrinsic to my narrative, and by suggesting how these issues can shape future research.