In Southeast Asia, cannons were used by the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1352 during its invasion of the Khmer Empire. Within a decade large quantities of gunpowder could be found in the Khmer Empire. By the end of the century firearms were also used by the Trần dynasty in Đại Việt.
The Mongol invasion of Java in 1293 brought gunpowder technology to the Nusantara archipelago in the form of cannon (Chinese: 炮—Pào). The knowledge of making gunpowder-based weapon has been known after the failed Mongol invasion of Java. The predecessor of firearms, the pole gun (bedil tombak), was recorded as being used in Java by 1413, while the knowledge of making "true" firearms came much later, after the middle of 15th century. It was brought by the Muslim traders from West Asia, most probably the Arabs. The precise year of introduction is unknown, but it may be safely concluded to be no earlier than 1460.
Portuguese influence to local weaponry after the capture of Malacca (1511) resulted in a new type of hybrid tradition matchlock firearm, the istinggar. Saltpeter harvesting was recorded by Dutch and German travelers as being common in even the smallest villages and was collected from the decomposition process of large dung hills specifically piled for this purpose. The Dutch punishment for possession of non-permitted gunpowder appears to have been amputation. Ownership and manufacture of gunpowder was later prohibited by the colonial Dutch occupiers. According to colonel McKenzie quoted in the book The History of Java (1817) by Thomas Stamford Raffles, the purest sulfur was supplied from a crater from a mountain near the straits of Bali.