Was there ever a South East Asian civilization that was able

>>3288626
>South East Asia
Not really, the Indochina area had some interesting trade empires and fought of Mongol invasions. Thailand has also been relatively successful. Other Asian countries have been much greater then Japan like China, Japan got an edge over Asia through the Meiji restoration and being able to become a world power but for most of its history it was lesser then China.

File: 1200px-Malacca_Sultanate_en.svg.png (394KB, 1200x1362px) Image search: [Google]

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>>3288626
The Malacca Sultanate did pretty well for themselves thanks to controlling all trade through the Straits of Malacca, and became a recognized tributary of China with one of the Sultans marrying a Chinese princess and Chinese traders settling in the region, before the Portuguese conquered them (seriously pissing off Ming China in the process and ensuring that China would be hostile to Portuguese for a long time to come)

>>3288642
How Portugal conquered Malacca so easily is still a mystery
i would assume treachery would be very likely but i cant be sure

File: Majapahit_Empire.png (316KB, 1280x743px) Image search: [Google]

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>>3288626
>btfos chink mongols
>creates a vast trade empire

File: Map_of_Taungoo_Empire_(1580).png (1MB, 800x944px) Image search: [Google]

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>>3288626
Maybe This?

>>3288626
Depends when? Before the Sinocization of Japan I'd say that SEA was generally ahead.
After Japan heavily influenced their native culture to be more Chinese like in the Heian period (late twelfth century) I'd say they were about equal barring the occasional outlier states >>3288642 >>3288653


>>3288651
1. Portugal was in its golden age
2. They bribed an insider within the fortress to open the gates

>>3288626
No, East Asia in general has been on another league. In general south-east asia has been prosperous and, in my opinion, very interesting but not really "glorious" relative to the rest of the world. This is hinted by their name derivative of their neighbours "South-east" is just a way to say Indochina without saying India or China.