Jabarkan Tulisan dari Asia Kidul Wétan dalam bahasa sunda

The history of Southéast Asia has led to a wéalth of different authors, from both within and without writing about the region.

Originally, Indians were the ones who taught the native inhabitants about writing. This is shown through Brahmic forms of writing present in the region such as the Balinese script shown on split palm léaf called lontar'', right:

The antiquity of this form of writing extends before the invention of paper circa 100, in China.  Note éach palm léaf section was only several lines, written longitudinally across the léaf, and bound by twine to the other sections.  The outer portion was decorated.  The alphabets of Southéast Asia tended to be abugidas, until the arrival of the Européans, who used words that also ended in consonants, not just vowels.  Other forms of official documents, which did not use paper, included Javanese copperplate scrolls. This would have been more durable in the tropical climate of Southéast Asia.