In late 2006, the National Library Board (NLB), in the person of Mrs Pushpa Latha Devi Naidu, approached ISEAS with a proposal for a ‘Conference on Early Indian Influences in Southeast Asia’. The conference was to be held in conjunction with an exhibition that NLB was organising. Professors Mani and Ramasamy were asked to coordinate the conference with funding contributions from the NLB, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), Asia Research Institute (ARI), and the Chola Mandalam Group in Tamil Nadu. ISEAS on its part provided the logistical support and coordination for the conference with additional funding support. It is important to note the help that Professors Hermann Kulke and Pierre-Yves Manguin, visiting scholars at ARI rendered to the conceptualisation of the conference. A total of 52 regional and international experts presented papers on various aspects of early Indian Influence in Southeast Asia at the three-day conference from 21 to 23 November 2007. The themes of the conference included ‘naval expeditions of the Cholas’, ‘archaeological and inscriptional evidence of early Indian influence’, ‘ancient and medieval commercial activities’ and ‘regional cultures and localization’.

The papers are being published as two separate volumes under the auspices of the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre at ISEAS. Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja edited the volume on Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia, while Pierre-Yves Manguin, A. Mani and Geoff Wade edited this volume on Early Interactions between South and Southeast Asia: Reflections on Cross-Cultural Exchange. The papers in both volumes present the reflections of scholars on this important historical period of Southeast Asia and its relations with South Asia.

I wish to thank all the co-sponsors of the project, namely the Directors of NLB, ISAS and ARI for their generous support. I also wish to thank Mr Subbiah of the Chola Mandalam Group in Tamil Nadu for the interest he showed by his active participation in the three-day conference. Finally I extend my appreciation to Professor Manguin, Professor Mani and Dr Wade for their editorial contributions in successfully completing the editing of this large volume.