The Kingdom of Srivijaya

On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, directly to the west of the city of Palembang, are ruins and artifacts that appear to date back to the Kingdom of Srivijaya. Indications are strong that the Palembang region of south Sumatra formed the heartland of the kingdom.

Srivijaya (Sri Vijaya) as a kingdom developed around 500 CE, although it possibly had roots going back as far as 200 CE. In Chinese contemporary writings, the kingdom is referred to as Sribhoja. "Jaya" as a root means "excellence". Srivijaya influence waned in the 11th century. Sumatra was then subject to conquests from Javanese kingdoms: the Singhasari and then the Majapahit. The last vestiges of Srivijaya as a national entity were gone by 1400. Through much of its history, the kingdom was a group of coastal and maritime entities, under the control of the seat at Palembang, similar to Phoenicia in its heyday.

Religion of the kingdom was initially Indic, then Hindu, then, circa 425, Buddhism arrived. By the late 13th century, Islam became the domininant religion.

Most records of its history are foreign, although from the period 682-686 CE, internal records in Old Malay have been recovered. These stone inscriptions are the oldest extant instances of Malay writing. This was a tulmultuous time; many of those writings concerned loyalty, and loyalty oaths, and campaigns against other kingdoms.

The teachings of the Tantric school of Mahayana Buddhism heavily influenced governance at that time. From language used in the inscriptions, archaeologists conclude that this religion fit in well with the previous indigenous spiritual/magical ways. This school of Buddhism reached India and Sumatra at about the same time (600's), which also indicates a vibrant and active trade route. Indeed, the earliest influences on language and culture were from India.

One of the surviving texts indicates that the ruler considered himself a bodhisattva, on the path to becoming Buddha -- the earliest recorded instance in this part of the world that temporal rulers were also responsible as religious rulers.

Circa 700, it had also conquered Kedah, on the Malay peninsula.

Most of the information we have about the early days of Srivijaya is due to the writings of Y