Map of Southeast Asia at end of 12th century.
'Srivijaya', Sriwijaya, Shri Bhoja, Sri Boja or Shri Vijaya (
200s-
1300s[1]) was an ancient
Malay kingdom on the island of
Sumatra which influenced much of the
Malay Archipelago. Records of its beginning are scarce while estimations range from the AD 3rd to 5th centuries. The kingdom ceased to exist around 1400. In
Sanskrit, ''sri'' means 'shining' or 'radiant' and ''vijaya'' means victory or excellence.
After it fell it was largely forgotten, and Europeans had never really learned of it so never considered that a large united kingdom could have been present in South-east Asia. The existence of Srivijaya was only formally suspected in 1918 when French historian
George Coedès of
École française d'Extrême-Orient postulated the existence of the empire.
[2] Around 1992 and 1993,
Pierre-Yves Manguin proved that the center of Srivijaya was along the Musi River in between
Bukit Seguntang and
Sabokingking (situated in what is now the province of
South Sumatra, Indonesia).
[2]
Historiography and legacy
There is no continous knowledge of Srivijaya in Indonesian histories, its forgotten past has been recreated by foreign scholars. No modern Indonesians, including those of the Palembang area around which the kingdom was based, had heard of Srivijaya until the 1920s, when French scholar,
George Coedès, published his discoveries and interpretations in Dutch and Indonesian-language newspapers.
[4] Coedès noticed that the Chinese references to "Sanfoqi" previously read as "Sribhoja", and the inscriptions in
Old Malay refer to the same empire.
Srivijaya became a symbol of early Sumatran greatness, and a great empire to balance Java's
Majapahit in the east. Both empires were used by nationalist intellectuals to support an Indonesian identity within and Indonesian state prior to the
Dutch colonial state.
Formation and growth
Little physical evidence of Srivijaya remains.
[5] According to the
Kedukan Bukit Inscription, the empire of Srivijaya was founded by Dapunta Hyang Çri Yacanaca (Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa). He led 20,000 troops (mainly land troopers and a few hundred ships) from Minanga Tamwan (speculated to be
Minangkabau) to
Palembang,
Jambi, and
Bengkulu.
The empire was a coastal trading center and was a
thalassocracy. As such, it did not extend its influence far beyond the coastal areas of the islands of
Southeast Asia, with the exception of contributing to the population of
Madagascar 3,300 miles to the west. Around year 500, Srivijayan roots begun to develop around present-day
Palembang,
Sumatra, in modern day
Indonesia. The empire was organised in three main zones — the estuarine capital region centered on Palembang, the
Musi River basin which served as hinterland and rival estuarine areas capable of forming rival power centres. The areas upstream of the river were rich in various commodities valuable to Chinese traders.
[6] The capital was administered directly by the ruler while the hinterland remained under its own local
datus or
chiefs who were organized into a network of
allegiance to the Srivijaya
maharaja or king. Force was the dominant element in the empire's relations with rival river systems such as the
Batang Hari which centered in Jambi. The ruling
lineage intermarried with the
Sailendras of
Central Java.
Under the leadership of
Jayanasa, the kingdom of Malayu became the first kingdom to be integrated into the Srivijayan Empire. This possibly occurred in the 680s. Malayu, also known as
Jambi, was rich in gold and was held in high prestige. Srivijaya saw the submission of Malayu to them would increase their own prestige.
[7]
Chinese records dated late 7th century mention two Sumatran kingdoms as well as three other kingdoms on Java being part of Srivijaya. By the end of the 8th century, many Javanese kingdoms like
Tarumanagara and
Holing were under Srivijayan sphere of influence. It has also been recorded that a Buddhist family related to Srivijaya was dominating central Java.
[8] The family was probably the Sailendra.
[9] According to
Kota Kapur Inscription, the empire conquered Southern Sumatra up to
Lampung. The empire thus grew to control the trade on the
Strait of Malacca,
South China Sea and
Karimata Strait.
During the same century, Langkasuka on the Malay Peninsula became part of Srivijaya.
[10] Soon later, Pan Pan and Trambralinga, which were located north of Langkasuka came under Srivijayan influence. These kingdoms on the peninsula were major trading nations that transported goods across the peninsula's isthmus.
With the expansion to Java as well as the Malay Peninsula, Srivijaya controlled two major trade choke points in Southeast Asia. Some Srivijayan temple ruins are observable in
Thailand,
Cambodia and on the Malay Peninsula.
Sometimes in the 7th century, Cham ports in eastern Indochina started to attract traders. This diverted the flow of trade from Srivijaya. In effort to redivert the flow, the Srivijayan king or
maharaja Dharmasetu launched various raids against the coastal cities of Indochina. The city of
Indrapura by the
Mekong River was temporarily controlled from Palembang in early 8th century.
[9] The Srivijayan continued to dominate areas around modern day Cambodia until the
Khmer King
Jayavarman II, the founder of the
Khmer Empire dynasty, severed the Srivijayan link later in the same century.
[12]
After Dharmasetu,
Samaratungga became the next Maharaja of Srivijaya. He reigned as ruler from 792 to 835. Unlike the expansionist Dharmasetu, Samaratuga did not indulged in military expansion but rather, he preferred to strengthen Srivijayan hold of Java. He personally oversaw the construction of
Borobudur; the temple was completed in 825, during his reign.
[13]
By the twelfth century, it had included parts of
Sumatra,
Ceylon, the
Malay Peninsula, Western
Java,
Sulawesi, the
Moluccas,
Borneo and the
Philippines, most notably the
Sulu Archipelago and the
Visayas islands (whose people and region is named after the empire).
[14]
Srivijaya remained a formidable sea power until the thirteenth century.
Vajrayana Buddhism
A stronghold of
Vajrayana Buddhism, Srivijaya attracted pilgrims and scholars from other parts of Asia. These included the Chinese monk
Yijing, who made several lengthy visits to Sumatra on his way to study at
Nalanda University in India in
671 and
695, and the 11th century
Bengali Buddhist scholar
Atisha, who played a major role in the development of Vajrayana Buddhism in
Tibet. Yijing reports that the kingdom was home to more than a thousand Buddhist scholars; it was in Srivijaya that he wrote his memoir of Buddhism during his own lifetime. Travellers to these islands mentioned that gold coinage was in use on the coasts, but not inland.
Relationship with regional powers
Pagoda in Srivijaya style in Chaiya, Thailand
Although historical records and archaeological evidence are scarce, it appears that by the seventh century, Srivijaya established suzerainty over large areas of Sumatra, western Java and much of the
Malay Peninsula. Dominating the
Malacca and
Sunda straits, Srivijaya controlled both the
spice route traffic and local trade, charging a toll on passing ships. Serving as an entrepôt for Chinese, Malay, and Indian markets, the port of Palembang, accessible from the coast by way of a river, accumulated great wealth. Srivijaya exchanged frequent embassies with China.
The Jambi kingdom was the first rival power centre absorbed into the empire, starting the domination of the region through trade and conquest in the 7th and 9th centuries. Jambi's gold mines were a crucial economic resource and may be the origin of
Suvarnadvipa, (island of gold), the Sanskrit name for Sumatra. Srivijaya helped spread the Malay culture throughout Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and western
Borneo. Srivijaya influence waned in the 11th century. It was in frequent conflict with, and ultimately subjugated by,
Javanese kingdoms, first
Singhasari and then
Majapahit. The seat of the empire moved to Jambi in the last centuries of Srivijaya's existence.
Some historians claim that
Chaiya in the
Surat Thani province in Southern Thailand was at least temporarily the capital of Srivijaya but this claim is largely disputed. However, Chaiya was probably a regional center of the kingdom. The temple Borom That in Chaiya contains a reconstructed
pagoda in Srivijaya style. The
Khmer Empire may also have been a tributary in its early stages.
Srivijaya also maintained close relations with the
Pala Empire in
Bengal and an
860 inscription records that the maharaja of Srivijaya dedicated a monastery at the
Nalanda university in Pala territory. Relations with the
Chola dynasty of southern India were initially friendly but deteriorated into actual warfare in the eleventh century.
Golden age
After trade disruption at Canton between 820 and 850, the ruler of Jambi was able to assert enough independence to send missions to
China in
853 and
871. Jambi's independence coincided with the troubled time when the
Sailendran
Balaputra, expelled from Java, seized the throne of Srivijaya. The new maharaja was able to dispatch a tributary mission to China by 902. Only two years later, the expiring
Tang dynasty conferred a title on a Srivijayan envoy.
In the first half of the tenth century, between the fall of Tang and the rise of
Song, there was brisk trade between the overseas world and the
Fujian kingdom of
Min and the rich
Guangdong kingdom of Nan Han. Srivijaya undoubtedly benefited from this, preparatory to the prosperity it was to enjoy under the early Song. Circa
903,
Muslim writer
Ibn Rustah was so impressed with the wealth of Srivijaya's ruler that he declared one would not hear of a king who was richer, stronger or with more revenue. The main urban centers were at Palembang (especially the Bukit Seguntang area),
Muara Jambi and
Kedah.
Decline
In
1025,
Rajendra Chola, the
Chola king from
Coromandel in
South India, conquered
Kedah from Srivijaya and occupied it for some time. The Cholas continued a series of raids and conquests throughout what is now Indonesia and Malaysia for the next 20 years. Although the Chola invasion was ultimately unsuccessful, it gravely weakened the Srivijayan hegemony and enabled the formation of regional kingdoms based, like Kediri, on intensive agriculture rather than coastal and long distance trade.
Between 1079 and 1088, Chinese record shows that Srivijaya sent ambassadors from Jambi and Palembang.
[15] In 1079 in particular, an ambassador from Jambi and Palembang each visited China. Jambi sent two more ambassadors to China in 1082 and 1088.
[15] This suggests that the center of Srivijaya frequently shifted between the two major cities during that period.
[15] The Chola expedition and as well as changing trade route weakened Palembang, allowing Jambi to take the leadership of Srivijaya from the 11th century on.
[18]
In
1288,
Singhasari Palembang, Jambi as well as much of Srivijaya during the
Pamalayu expedition.
In the year of 1293,
Majapahit ruled much of Sumatra as the successor of Singhasari. Prince
Adityawarman was given responsibilities over
Sumatra in
1347 by
Hayam Wuruk, the fourth king of
Majapahit. The rebellion in 1377 was squashed down by
Majapahit but it left the area of southern
Sumatra in chaos and desolation.
In the following years, the sedimentation on Musi river estuaria cut the kingdom's capital from direct sea access. The non-strategic disadvantage crippled the trade in the Kingdom's capital. As the decline went further,
Islam made its way to the
Aceh region of Sumatra, spreading through contacts with
Arab and
Indian traders. By the late 13th century, the kingdom of
Pasai in northern Sumatra converted to Islam. At the same time, Srivijaya was briefly a
tributary of the Khmer empire and later the
Sukhothai kingdom. The last inscription dates to 1374, in a crown prince,
Ananggavarman, son of
Adityawarman, is mentioned.
By
1402 Parameswara (the great-great-grandson of
Raden Wijaya, the first king of
Majapahit), the last prince of Srivijaya founded the
Sultanate of Malacca on the Malay peninsula.
Commerce
In the world of commerce, Srivijaya rapidly rose to be a far-flung empire controlling the two passages between India and China, namely the
Sunda Strait from Palembang and the Malacca straits from Kedah. Arab accounts state that the empire of the maharaja was so large that in two years the swiftest vessel could not travel round all its islands, which produced camphor, aloes, cloves, sandal-wood, nutmegs, cardamom and crubebs, ivory, gold and tin, making the maharaja as rich as any king in the Indies.
References
1. Page 171. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
2. Page 117. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
3. Page 117. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
4. Indonesia: Peoples and Histories, , Jean Gelman, Taylor, Yale University Press, , ISBN 0-300-10518-5
5. Indonesia: Peoples and Histories, , Jean Gelman, Taylor, Yale University Press, , ISBN 0-300-10518-5
6. Page 113. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
7. Page 124. ''Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula''. Paul Michel Munoz.
8. Page 129. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
9. Page 132. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
10. Page 130. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
11. Page 132. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
12. Page 140. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
13. Page 143. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
14. Rasul, Justice Jainal D. "Agonies and Dreams: The Filipino Muslims and Other Minorities". Quezon City: CARE Minorities, 2003
15. Page 165. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
16. Page 165. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
17. Page 165. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
18. Page 167. Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Paul Michel Munoz.
Further references
★ D. G. E. Hall, ''A History of South-east Asia''. London: Macmillan, 1955.
★ D. R. SarDesai. ''Southeast Asia: Past and Present''. Boulder: Westview Press, 1997.
★ Lynda Norene Shaffer. ''Maritime Southeast Asia to 1500''. London: ME Sharpe Armonk, 1996.
★ Stuart-Fox, Martin. ''A Short History of China and Southeast Asia: Tribute, Trade, and Influence''. London: Allen and Unwin, 2003.
★
Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula, Munoz, Paul Michel, , , Editions Didier Millet, 2006, ISBN 9814155675
External links
★
Review of Srivijaya resources on the Internet - but many are dead links already
★
Review of the origin of Melayu dialectics based on Srivijayan Inscriptions; but the site was in Indonesian language
★
Timeline of Indonesia from prehistory to present: click on the time period for info
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