Kathasaritsagara (the Ocean of Story)
by Somadeva | 1924 | 1,023,469 words | ISBN-13: 9789350501351
This is the English translation of the Kathasaritsagara written by Somadeva around 1070. The principle story line revolves around prince Naravāhanadatta and his quest to become the emperor of the Vidhyādharas (‘celestial beings’). The work is one of the adoptations of the now lost Bṛhatkathā, a great Indian epic tale said to have been composed by ...
Part 6 - The East Indian Archipelago
The whole of this wide area can be described as a betel-chewing region. Even if space permitted, it would be superfluous to quote most of the accounts of the custom, as they nearly all are mere repetitions of previous observers. Nearly every traveller and missionary, since the days of Raffles and Marsden, have had something to say on the subject.
I shall therefore avoid, as far as possible, quoting accounts which give us no new information.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
I use this term in preference to “Malay Archipelago,” as I mean it to exclude the Malay Peninsula, and to include Sumatra, Java, Timor, Borneo, Celebes, the Philippines, and the Moluccas. I treat both Micronesia and Melanesia under separate headings.