Sriwijaya Kingdom

Sriwijaya is one powerful maritime kingdom on the island of Sumatra and much influence in the archipelago with the territory stretching from Cambodia, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. In Sanskrit, sri means "shining" and wijaya means "victory".


Initial evidence of the existence of this kingdom from the 7th century; a minister of China, I-sing, writes that he visited Srivijaya in 671 and stayed for 6 months. Next oldest inscriptions of Srivijaya also in the 7th century, the inscription Kedukan Hill in Palembang, bertarikh 682. Srivijaya influence the decline of the area began to shrink due to subordinate some of the battle such an attack from the king of Java ditahun Apo 990, and in 1025 the attack of the Coromandel Coladewa Rajendra, 1183 next year under the control of the kingdom of Srivijaya Dharmasraya. And at the end of the period, the kingdom was subdued under the Majapahit kingdom.

After Srivijaya fell, the kingdom is forgotten and historians do not know the existence of this kingdom. Sriwijaya existence is officially known in 1918 by the French historian George Coedes of the École française d'Extreme-Orient. Around the year 1992 to 1993, Pierre-Yves Manguin proved that the center of Srivijaya in the Musi River between Bukit Seguntang and Sabokingking (located in South Sumatra province, Indonesia).

Inscriptions relating to the Sriwijaya

• Inscription Ligor in Thailand
• Inscription of Canton in Canton
• Inscription Siwagraha
• Inscription Nalanda in India
• Charter of Leiden in India
• Inscription Tanjor
• Inscription Grahi
• Inscription Padang Roco
• Inscription Sri Lanka

Golden Age
In the year 902, Sriwjaya sent tribute to China. Two years later, the last king of the Tang Dynasty conferred the title of the messenger of Sriwijaya. China envoy from the literature that has this Arabic name given the information that in those days was related to Srivijaya Arab allow Sriwijaya had entered the Islamic influence in the kingdom.

In the first half of the 10th century, between the fall of the Tang dynasty and the rise of the Song dynasty, with foreign trade is rampant, especially Fujian, Min royal and the rich countries of Guangdong, the kingdom of Nan Han. Srivijaya undoubtedly benefited from this trade. In the year 903, the Muslim writer Ibn Battuta was impressed with the prosperity of Sriwijaya. Urban areas include the kingdom of Palembang (especially Hill Seguntang), Muara Jambi and Kedah.