Srivijaya



Kingdom centered on Sumatra, recorded from the late 7th century into the 12th century. The state is believed to have been established in the third century, and to have succeeded FUNAN as controller of the Malacca Straits in the 7th century. The capital was PALEMBANG. At its height, its rule extended over Sumatra, Java, western Borneo, the Malay peninsula including the isthm of Kra. Visiting Chinese Buddhist monk I Ching observed numerous Buddhist monks at Srivijaya's capital; he recommended it as a place to learn Sanskrit. Inscriptions from the 680es report of Srivijayan conquests - Jambi, Bangka, of a planned expedition against western Java. Srivijaya was thalassocratic; it is assumed, that she controlled long coastlines and river banks, but that her influence did not extend much into the interior. Unlike the states on Java, Srivijaya did not produce major architectural sites which survived into our time.
The structure or the Srivjayan Empire seems to have been a large number of city-kingdoms based on maritime trade, which recognized the sovereignty of Srivijaya. A number of inscriptions recording military campaigns, within the sphere of power of Srivijaya, lead to the assumption that many of them were punitive expditions to force renegade rulers back into the fold rather than attempts to expand the Empire.
Srivijayan traders sailed to southern Arabia, Africa's east coast, southern China. Srivijaya long controlled the maritime trade between India and China. Srivijayan trade may have profitted from the fact, that due to the wars and raids of the Huns (7th century), the silk road had become unsafe.
Buddhism, both Hinayana and Mahayana, spread, and records describe the Srivijayan capital Palembang as a center of Buddhist learning. Buddhist and Hinduist artefacts and architecture are found on Sumatra and Java, showing a distinct style usually referred to as Javanese.
In 1025, Srivijaya was raided by the Indian Cholas. Worse, it lost control over the maritime trade connecting China with India; Srivijaya declined. Vassal princes, such as Kertanagara of Singhasari, broke off and expanded at the expense of Srivijaya. From 1088 Melayu (Jambi), a former dependance, now made (a much reduced) Srivijaya a dependance of hers; Melayu's supremacy lasted 2 centuries.
Unfortunately, south east Asian history is poorly documented. Main sources consist of reports by foreign visitors, of inscriptions, of archeological findings, of sculptures and other pieces of art and of legends.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Malay Kingdom of Srivijaya Palembang, from Network Indonesia, mainly on findings of archeological excavation near Palembang
Timeline 100-1486 A.D., from Serajah Indonesia, numerous entries on Srivijaya
indahnesia.com, click Sumatera, scroll down, click Historic Times; chapter on Srivijaya
Pre-Moslem Indonesia (Srivijaya), from A Concise History of South East Asia
DOCUMENTS List of Srivijaya Kings, from Regnal Chronologies : Southeast Asia
REFERENCE Sumatra and the Srivijaya Kingdom, in : The History Atlas of Asia, from MacMillan, edited by Ian Barnes, NY 1998, pp.78-79, KMLA Lib.Sign. 911.5 B261t
John Villiers, Südostasien vor der Kolonialzeit (South East Asia prior to the Colonial Era), Frankfurt : Fischer 1965, especially pp.93-109; in German [G]
Barbara Watson Andaya, Leonard V. Andaya, A History of Malaysia, Honolulu : Univ. of Hawai'i Press 2001, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.5 A 543h, pp.21-36
Keith W. Taylor, The Early Kingdoms : Srivijaya, pp.173-176 in : Nicholas Tarling, The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Vol.I.1, Cambridge : UP (1992) 1999, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959 T188c
Kenneth R. Hall, Economic History of Southeast Asia : The Age of the Srivijayan Maritime Empire (670-1025), pp.196-202 in : Nicholas Tarling, The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Vol.I.1, Cambridge : UP (1992) 1999, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959 T188c
Jan M. Pluvier, Historical Atlas of South-East Asia, Leiden : Brill 1995 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on May 18th 2005

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