The pre-Indic political and social systems in Southeast Asia were marked by a relative indifference towards lineage descent. Hindu god kingship enabled rulers to supersede loyalties, forge cosmopolitan polities and the worship of Shiva and Vishnu was combined with ancestor worship, so that Khmer, Javanese, and Cham rulers claimed semi-divine status as descendants of a god. Hindu traditions especially the relationship to the sacrality of the land and social structures indicates that Hinduism was characterized by transnational features. The epic traditions of the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa further legitimized a ruler identified with a god who battled the demonic forces that threaten the ethical order of the world.

Hinduism does not have a single historical founder, a centralized imperial authority in India proper and a bureaucratic structure ensuring relative religious independence for the individual ruler. It also allows for multiple forms of divinity, centered upon the Trimurti the triad of Brahma, Visnu, and Siva, the deities responsible for the creation, preservation and destruction of the universe.

Butuan, Champa, Dvaravati, Funan, Gangga Negara, Kadaram, Kalingga, Kutai, Langkasuka, Pagan, Pan Pan, Po-ni, Tarumanagara and Tondo had by the 1st to 4th centuries CE. adopted Hindu cosmology, the devaraja concept of kingship, and Sanskrit as official writing. Despite the fundamental cultural integration, these kingdoms remained independent from the Indian mainland states.

Shared traditions
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