Confusion between Sanjay and Shailedra in

Java
Dr Uday Dokras
The historical context surrounding the Mataram culture and civilization of the Mataram
Kingdom is not only interesting but a little confusing.
The Trimurthi temple of Prambanan or Rara Jonggrang is the largest Hindu temple of ancient
Java, 9th from century. Built by Rakai Pikatan to establish power of Sanjay dynasty and
dedicated to Trimūrti-Brahma Vishnu Mahesh, it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site; 2nd
largest Hindu temple in Southeast Asia.

Prambanan temple complex at night

Sanjaya (732-760) and Panangkaran (760-780)-shailendra dynasty confusion is still there?

both r related? few say Sanjay as Shaiv & Shailendra kings as Buddhist? both faiths
interlinked and overlapping too, in my opinion

Religion in the Mataram Kingdom

It played much the same role throughout much of recorded history, giving rise to early
kingdoms such as Mataram. As the population of Java continues to increase and becomes
more modern and urban, the Indonesia of today still holds strong to its cultural and historical
roots.The Mataram society was polytheistic and combined the religious beliefs of Hinduism
and Buddhism, along with native shamanism and pre-Dharmic beliefs. Under the rule of King
Sanjaya, the Mataram Kingdom favored and worshipped Lord Shiva and gave much
importance to his symbol, the Linga. The Mataram Kingdom flourished between 712 and 938
in Central Java, an island of Indonesia and lies southeast of Malaysia and west of Bali. It is
also noted to be the world’s most populous island in the world today.

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 Vande Mataram
The Mataram Kingdom, also called the Medang Kingdom, was a Javanese Hindu-
Buddhist kingdom. It was based in central and east Java and flourished between the 8th
and 11th centuries. It was ruled by the Shailendra dynasty and was established by King
Sanjaya.

Vajrasattva. Eastern Java, Kediri period, 10th–11th century CE, bronze, 19.5 x 11.5 cm

Origins of the Mataram Kingdom

Mataram means mother in Sanskrit and this mother Kingdom named itself so to give an ode
to the motherland. The first major kingdom of central Java was the Medang or Mataram
Kingdom, founded at the beginning of the 8th century. The earliest accounts of the Mataram
Kingdom are in the Canggal inscription, which dates back to 732.
The inscription gives an account of the erection of “Linga” (symbol of Lord Shiva) in the
Kunjarakunja area, which is located on the island of Yawadwipa (Java). This Linga was
raised under the rule of King Sanjaya, the lord of Mataram.
According to the inscription, the kingdom was first ruled by King Sanna, who was known for
his wisdom and knowledge. After his demise, there was a period of disunity, until Sanjaya,
the nephew of king Sanna, ascended the throne. During his reign, there was peace and
prosperity for all his subjects.
However, a Sundanese book called Carita Parahyangan gives a slightly different account of
the same story. In this book, Sanjaya is the son of Sanna. It also states that Sanna was
overthrown by the king of Galuh and was forced to retreat to Mount Merapi. His son,
Sanjaya, later avenged his father and defeated the King of Galuh. The kingdom was finally
restored to the rightful heir, and Sanjaya ruled West Java, East Java, Central Java, and Bali.
It is believed that King Sanjaya was the one who left the written records of these events on
the Canggal inscription, though it’s impossible to know for sure.

Mataram Kingdom Name Origins

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Initially, the kingdom was called “Yawadvipa,” another name for the island of Java.
Indonesian archaeologists such as Prof.Soekmono of Indonesia identify the kingdom as
Mataram, based on a geographical location called Mataram in central Java. Additionally, king
Sanjaya’s full name was “Rakai Mataram Sang Ratu Sanjaya,” which may have been another
reason for the name of the kingdom. The etymology of the name “Mataram” is derived from
the Sanskrit term for “mother.”

The name Medang was found in East Javanese inscriptions. Some historians believe that the
Central Java period (732-929) was referred to as Mataram, and the later Eastern Java period
(929-1006) was identified as Medang.
However, it is also believed that the kingdom was called Medang, and the capital was
Mataram, based on some phrases found in the inscriptions. Etymologically, the name Medang
is an ancient Javanese term that means “to gracefully appear.”

Culture and Beliefs of the Mataram Kingdom and Mataram Social Structure
The Javanese had a complex social structure and also recognized the Hindu caste system. The
ancient Javanese society was divided into four classes:
 The royal family
 The religious authorities
 The commoners
Historians have discovered that the different classes had a dress code that they strictly
adhered to. The royal family and their servants could be identified by their luxurious clothing
and intricate golden jewelry. All the priests wore robes or cloaks called “sinhels.” The
commoners, who were also described as villagers, wore very simple clothing and rarely
adorned any jewelry or ornaments.

Religion in the Mataram Kingdom

The society was polytheistic and combined the religious beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism,
along with native shamanism and pre-Dharmic beliefs. Under the rule of King Sanjaya, the
Mataram Kingdom favored and worshipped Lord Shiva and gave much importance to his
symbol, the Linga.
However, during the reign of Panangkaran, Mahayana Buddhism gained popularity. Many
temples were built to pay homage to Buddhist beliefs.
The kingdom gave importance to the priest class in both religions. The Brahmins and the
Sangha Buddhists represented their respective religions and conducted the state’s religious
ceremonies together in the temples.
There were many ardent temple construction projects in the kingdom which were possibly
motivated by the combined religious zeal of both religions.
In the 16th century, Islam became a major religion as the island of Java became a Muslim
sultanate.

Art in the Mataram Kingdom

The importance of art in the kingdom depicted through the various carvings found on the
temple walls during this era. These carvings gave rich portrayals of life during the ninth
century.
The architecture was another form of art that flourished during this period, and can still be
seen in their magnificent temples that exist even today.
There was a cultural mingling in the south-western part of Java, where the Javanese and
Sundanese cultures combined to create the Banyusaman culture. In addition to this, the most

3
famous Javanese arts were gamelan music and wayang puppet shows, which became
traditional arts.

History of the Mataram Kingdom and flip flop betweem the Hindus and the

Buyddhists:
Historians believe that there were two prevailing dynasties that ruled Central Java together;
the Buddhist Sailendra and Shivanist Sanjaya dynasties. This period of the dual dynasty
was characterized by peaceful co-operation. However, in the middle of the ninth century, the
relationship between the dynasties deteriorated. The Sailendra managed to gain full control of
Central Java and became the overlords of the Sanjayas.

There is not much information regarding the Sailendra rule, but it signified a cultural
renaissance in the region. The kingdom saw rapid growth during the 9th century.
However, the Sailendra rule was short-lived. In 852, the Sanjaya ruler, Pikatan, defeated the
Sailendra ruler’s offspring and ended their rule in Java. The Sanjaya rule lasted until the end
of the Medang Kingdom. During his reign, King Pikatan built the royal Hindu Trimurti
temple known today as Candi Prambanan.
Mataram emerged in the highlands and fertile plains of Central Java, where productivity in
rice cultivation was aided by the advent of the island’s iconic rice terraces. These high yields
created the stable food source necessary for high population growth and an organized state
society, led by those who were in control of the upland water sources.
This societal organization would later go on to become proficient builders on not only the
public infrastructure needed for water management, but the monumental Hindu-Buddhist
religious architecture that still dots much of Java, including the renowned Borobudur and
Prambanan temples.

Mataram in Eastern Java

Central Java was always the center of the Mataram Kingdom. But in 929, the center was
shifted to East Java. Historians are uncertain about the exact cause for this sudden shift, but
believe it may have been because of a natural calamity or epidemic outbreak.
They also believe that the Merapi volcano may have erupted and destroyed the Kingdom’s
capital in Mataram. This expansion took place under the rule of the last king of the Sanjaya
dynasty, Mpu Sindok.

What Happened to the Mataram Kingdom?

Mataram flouruished between the Era: 712 – 938 CE and was located in Central Java,
Indonesia. Its Capital was Yogyakarta. However there was an ongoing rivalry between the
Sumatran Srivijaya and Javanese Medang kingdoms, which became more hostile.
This rivalry may have been caused by the Srivijayan attempt to seize the Sailendra lands in
Java. This is because the Srivijaya maharajas, Balaputra and his son, belonged to the
Sailendra dynasty. The collapse of the kingdom occurred in the tenth century.

In 1006, Srivijaya attacked and destroyed the Medang palace, killing most of the royal
family. With the death of king Dharmawangsa and the fall of the capital, the kingdom finally
collapsed.

4
However, a nephew of king Dharmawangsa had escaped capture and had remained in exile.
Later on, he reunited the fallen kingdom and re-established the kingdom (including Bali)
under the name of the kingdom of Kahuripan. After many years, the kingdom was renamed
as Kediri.
Mataram Kingdom was an early Indianized kingdom emerging from native Javanese
population. Its languages wer: Old Javanese, Sanskrit; religion: Buddhism (Mahayana),
Hinduism

Decline: Fell to Srivijaya, later reemerging as the Kediri Kingdom.

Today Indonesia is administered so that at first level subdivisions of Indonesia is Province. A
province is headed by a governor (Gubernur). Each province has its own regional assembly,
called Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah (DPRD, literally "Regional People's Representative
Council"). Governors and representative members are elected by popular vote for five-year
terms. Provinces was formerly also known as Daerah Tingkat I (Level I Region).
State emblem of Indonesia is called Garuda
Pancasila. The main part of the coat of arms is the
golden mythical bird Garuda with a shield on its
chest and a scroll gripped by its leg bears the
national motto: "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika", roughly
means "Unity in Diversity".

The shield's five emblems represent Pancasila, the

five principles of Indonesia's national philosophy.
The numbers of feathers was meant to symbolize the
date of Indonesian Proclamation of Independence;
17 feathers on each wings, 8 tail feathers, 19 upper
tail feathers (under the shield, above the tail), and 45
neck feathers; all symbolize 17-8-1945; 17th August
1945. Adopted as national coat of arms on February
11, 1950.

The Bi-Polar Kingdom of Kediri

By the beginning of the 13 th Century, according to a Chinese source in the book of Chu-fan-
chi written around 1225, the Southeast Asian archipelago had two powerful and rich
kingdoms: Srivijaya and Java (Kediri). In Java he found that people adhere two
religions: Buddhism and the religion of Brahmin (Hinduism). The book of Chu-fan-
chi mentioned that Java (Kediri) was ruled by a maharaja, who ruled several colonies.
Regarding Srivijaya, Chou-Ju-Kua reported that Kien-pi (Kampe, in northern Sumatra) with
armed forced rebellion had liberated themselves from Srivijaya, and crowned their own king.
The same fate befell some of Srivijaya's colonies on the Malay Peninsula that liberated
themselves from Srivijaya domination. However Srivijaya was still the mightiest and
wealthiest state in the western part of the archipelago. According to this source, in the early
13th century Srivijaya still ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and western Java (Sunda).

Regarding Sunda, the book details that the port of Sunda (Sunda Kelapa) was excellent and
strategically located, and that the pepper from Sunda was among the best quality. The people
worked in agriculture; their houses were built on wooden piles (rumah panggung). However
the country was infested with robbers and thieves.

5
The Kingdom of Kediri is the successor of Airlangga's Kahuripan kingdom, and thought as
the continuation of Isyana Dynasty in Java. In 1042, Airlangga divided his kingdom of
Kahuripan into two, Janggala and Panjalu (Kadiri), and abdicated in favour of his sons to live
as an ascetic. He died seven years later.It existed alongside the Srivijaya empire based in
Sumatra throughout 11th to 12th-century, and seems to have maintained trade relations with
China and to some extent India. Chinese account identify this kingdom as Tsao-wa or Chao-
wa (Java), numbers of Chinese records signify that Chinese explorers and traders frequented
this kingdom. Relations with India were cultural one, as numbers of Javanese rakawi (poet or
scholar) wrote literatures that been inspired by Hindu mythology, beliefs and epics such as
Mahabharata and Ramayana.

In 11th-century, Srivijayan hegemony in Indonesian archipelago began to decline, marked

by Rajendra Chola invasion to Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. The Chola king
of Coromandel conquered Kedah from Srivijaya. The weakening of Srivijayan hegemony has
enabled the formation of regional kingdoms, like Kediri, based on agriculture rather than
trade. Later Kediri managed to control the spice trade routes to Maluku.

Airlangga's embodiment statue as Lord Vishnu riding Garuda, found in Belahan, collection of Trowulan
Museum, East Java.//// Statue of Vishnu. Kediri, East Java, circa 12th–13th century

Era of twin kingdoms

6
Period
of King/Maharaja Inscriptions and events
reign

Mentioned in inscription
Çri Samaravijaya of Pucangan (1041). Is the king
1042- Dharmasuparnawahana of the Kediri kingdom after the
1051 Teguh Uttunggadewa event of the division of the
(Çri Samaravijaya) kingdom by king Airlangga to his
two sons.

Çri Jitendrakara
1051- Wuryyawïryya Parakrama Mentioned in inscription of Mataji
1112 Bhakta inscription (1051).
(Çri Jitendrakara)

Çri Maharaja Rake sirikan Mentioned in inscription of

çri Paramecwara Padlegan I, Panumbangan
Sakalabhuwana inscription, Tangkilan inscription,
1112-
Tustikaranani waryyawïryya Besole inscription, Bameswara
1135
Parakrama inscription, Karanggayam
Digjayottunggadewa inscription, Geneng inscription,
(Çri Bamesvara) Pagiliran inscription.

Çri Maharaja Sang Mapanji

Jayabhaya çri
Mentioned in inscription
Dharmmeçwara
1135- of Hantang (1135), Jepun
Madhusudanawataranindita
1159 inscription (1144) and Talan
Suhrtsingha Parakrama
inscription (1058).
Digjayottunggadewa
(Jayabaya)

Çri Maharaja Rakai Sirikan

çri Sarwweçwara
Janardanawatara Wijaya Mentioned in inscription of
1159-
Agrajasama Singhadani Kahyunan and Padlegan II
1171
Waryawirya Parakrama inscription (1159).
Digjayottunggadewa
(Çri Sarvesvara)

Çri maharaja rakai hino çri

Aryyeçwara Madhusudand
1171- watdrdrijalyamukha Mentioned in inscription of Waleri
1181 Sakalabhuwana ritiniwiryya and Angin inscription (1171).
Parakramottunggadewa
(Çri Aryesvara)

7
 Period
of King/Maharaja Inscriptions and events
reign

Çri maharaja çri

Kroncarryadipa
Handabhuwanapalaka
1181- Mentioned in inscription of Jaring
Parakramanindita
1182 inscription.
Digjayottunggadewanama
çri Gandra
(Çri Gandra)

Çri Maharaja Rake Sirikan

çri Kameçvara
Sakalabhuvanatustikarana Mentioned in inscription of
1182-
Sarvanivaryyaviryya Semanding (1182) and Ceker
1194
Parakrama inscription (1185).
Digjayottunggadeva
(Kameçvara)

Çri maharaja çri Mentioned in inscription of Sapu

Sarwweçwara Angin inscription, Galunggung
Triwikramawataranindita inscription, Kamulan inscription,
1194-
Çrngga lancana Palah inscription, Biri inscription,
1222
Digwijayottunggadewa Lawadan
inscription, Nagarakretagama),
(Kertajaya) fall in 1144 Shaka (1222).

Jayakatwang's rebellion from Gelang-gelang or Gegelang which revived

the short-lived second dynasty of Kadiri.

1292- Çri Jayakatwang Mentioned in inscription

1293 (Jayakatwang) of Nagarakretagama (1365).[2]: 168

See also
The first king of Kediri to leave historical records was Maharaja Çri Samaravijaya. His
royal seal was Garudmukhalancana or Garudmukha, the same as Airlangga's. he reigned
from 1042-1051 and succeeded by Çri Jitendrakara Parakrama Bakta in 1051-1112.

It is not known exactly when Çri Bamesvara ascended the throne of the Kediri Kingdom.
The Lanchana (royal seal) of his reign was a skull with a crescent moon
called chandrakapala, the symbol of Shiva. During the reign of Maharaja Çri
Bamesvara himself, there were at least ten inscriptions containing the development of Java
in the eastern part around 1112-1135.

8
Jayabhaya (reigned 1135-1157) succeeded Bamesvara. His formal stylised name was Çri
Maharaja çri Dharmmeçwara Madhusudanawataranindita Suhrtsingha Parakrama
Digjayottunggadewa. The Lanchana (royal seal) of his reign was Narasinghavatara depicts
one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu, namely Narasinghavatara. His form is described as a
human with a lion's head tearing the stomach of Hiranyakasipu (King of the Giants). The
name Jayabhaya was immortalised in Sedah's Kakawin Bharatayuddha, a Javanese version
of the Mahabharata, written in 1135. This Kakawin was perfected by his brother, Mpu
Panuluh. Mpu Panuluh wrote Hariwangsa and Gatotkacasraya. Jayabhaya's reign was
considered the golden age of Old Javanese literature. The Prelambang Joyoboyo, a prophetic
book ascribed to Jayabhaya, is well known among Javanese. It predicted that the archipelago
would be ruled by a white race for a long time, then a yellow race for a short time, then be
glorious again. The Jayabhaya prophecies mention Ratu Adil, the Just Prince, a recurring
popular figure in Javanese folklore. During the reign, Ternate was a vassal state of Kediri.

Jayabhaya's successor was Sarwweçwara/Sarvesvara (reigned from 1159 to 1171) the royal
symbol is named Sarwwecwaralancana, wing-shaped numbering nine and at the end there is
a crested circle. Where everything is surrounded by three striped circles.
followed by Aryyeçwara/Aryesvara (reigned 1171-1181), who uses Ganesha the elephant-
headed god as Lanchana of his kingdom. and became the (royal seal) of his reign and the
Kingdom of Kadiri as stated in the inscription.

The next monarch was king Gandra his formal stylised name was Çri maharaja çri
Kroncarryadipa Handabhuwanapalaka Parakramanindita Digjayottunggadewanama çri
Gandra. An inscription (dated 1181) from his reign documents the beginning of the adoption
of animal names for important officials, such as Kbo Salawah, Menjangan Puguh, Lembu
Agra, Gajah Kuning, and Macan Putih. Among these highly ranked officials mentioned in
the inscription, there is a title Senapati Sarwwajala, or laksmana, a title reserved for navy
generals, which means that Kediri had a navy during his reign.
The eighth king was Kameçvara. His formal stylised name was Çri Maharaja Rake Sirikan
çri Kameçvara Sakalabhuwanatustikarana Sarwaniwaryyawiryya Parakrama
Digjayottunggadewa. He uses the (winged shell) as his royal seal under the
name Kamecwaralancana. During his reign, Mpu Dharmaja wrote Smaradhana, in which the
king was adored as the incarnation of Kamajaya, the god of love, and his capital city Dahana
was admired throughout the known world. Kameçvara's wife, Çri Kirana, was celebrated as
the incarnation of Kamaratih, goddess of love and passion. The tales of this story, known
as Panji cycle, spread throughout Southeast Asia as far as Siam.

The last king of Kediri was Kritajaya/Kertajaya (1194–1222), King Çrngga or Kritajaya
ruled Kediri, with the official name Çri maharaja çri Sarwweçwara
Triwikramawataranindita Çrngga lancana Digwijayottunggadewa. He used a Crnggalancana
picture of (Cangkha) flanked by two horns and continued with the words "Krtajaya" above.
The presence of a dominant horns makes this badge called Crnggalancana or horned badge.
In 1222 he was forced to surrender his throne to Ken Arok and so lost the sovereignty of his
kingdom to the new kingdom of Singhasari. This was the result of his defeat at the battle of
Ganter. This event marked the end of Kediri era, and the beginning of the Singhasari era.

9
Srivijaya and Kediri around 12th to early 13th century AD
According to a Chinese source in the book of Chu-f
Agastya
The Canggal inscription is a Sanskrit inscription dated to 732, discovered in the Gunung
Wukir temple complex in Kadiluwih village, Salam, Magelang Regency, Central
Java, Indonesia. The inscription is written in the Pallava alphabet. The inscription documents
an edict of Sanjaya, in which he declared himself the universal ruler of Mataram Kingdom.

10
The inscription describes the erection of a lingam (the symbol of Shiva) on the country of
Kunjarakunja, by Sanjaya's order. The lingam is sited on the noble island of Yava (Java),
which the inscription describes as "rich in grain and gold mines".Yawadwipa ("Java island"),
and had long been under the rule of the wise and virtuous king Sanna, but fell into disunity
after his death. Amid a period of confusion Sanjaya, son of Sannaha (the sister of Sanna)
ascended to the throne. Sanjaya mastered holy scriptures, martial arts, and displayed military
prowess. After the conquest of neighboring areas his reign was peaceful and prosperous.
The inscription makes reference to Kunjarakunja-desa, perhaps meaning "the hermitage land
of Kunjara", which has been identified as the hermitage of Rishi Agastya, a Hindu Maharishi
revered in Southern India. The Ramayana contains a reference to a visit to Agastya hermitage
on Kunjara by Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana.
The name Sanjaya, Sanna and Sannaha curiously was also mentioned in Carita Parahyangan,
a book from later period composed around 16th century which suggested refer to same
historical person.

The main temple of the Penataran complex took the form of a stepped pyramid.
Penataran or Panataran (Indonesian: Candi Penataran) is one of the largest Hindu
temple ruins complex in East Java, Indonesia. It is located in Penataran, Blitar Regency,
roughly 12 km northeast of Blitar, with the closest airport being farther away at Malang.
Believed to have been constructed between the 12th century to the 15th century, the temple
played a significant role in the Majapahit Kingdom, especially under King Hayam Wuruk. He
considered his favorite sanctuary. Penataran dates from the Kediri era. This temple was

11
identified in Nagarakretagama as Palah temple and reported being visited by King Hayam
Wuruk during his royal tour across East Java. The site is being considered to be put on
the World Heritage list of sites that have "outstanding universal value" to the world.
However, on 2015, the site was pulled out from the tentative list along with 11 other sites.
Candi Panataran is a Shiva (Siwa) temple. It is notable for including one of the largest
Indonesian collection of reliefs showing life stories of Hindu god Vishnu in different avatar.
In particular, the temple site include the Rama story in the Javanese version of the
epic Ramayana, as well Krishna story as depicted Triguna's Krishnayana epic poem.
Comparative studies of reliefs related to Hindu epics at Penataran and Prambanan temple
(Yogyakarta) complexes have attracted the attention of archaeologists.[

The dated temple in the Penataran complex. The Penataran Temple is a temple that is four centuries old
because it was built and developed by several kingdoms at once, from the Kingdom of Kediri to Majapahit.

12
Candi Penataran, the Largest Ancient Hindu Temple Compound in East Java
Swirling tongues of fire welcomed erstwhile royal families and priests who ascended the
stairs of Palah, a late 12th-century Hindu temple located on the southwestern slopes of Mount
Kelud. The volcano was so active and unpredictable that a temple was deemed necessary to
appease Acalapati, the mountain god, so he would spare the surrounding settlements from his
erratic wrath. Inspired by Krishnayana (Krishna’s life told in an epic poem), the upper walls
of the temple were encrusted with bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the epic. One panel
portrayed Krishna’s escape from Kalayawana (Kalayavana), a ruthless king who was killed
by Muchukunda through his burning gaze (another version of the story refers to
Wiswamitra/Vishvamitra as the killer of Kalayavana). The flames were indeed a metaphor
for Kelud’s volcanic eruptions.

More than eight centuries later, I find myself looking at the same weathered relief, carved on
andesite rock on the second level of the stone platform. The motif itself is not instantly
recognizable, but on a closer inspection the outline of the flames is clearly the centerpiece of
the ornately-carved panel. Penataran, as Palah is known today, was commissioned by the king
of Kediri, a kingdom that emerged as a prominent power in eastern Java during the mid-11th
century.

Two centuries before the construction of Penataran, Java was already home to great Hindu
and Buddhist temples, including Borobudur and Prambanan, both built by the Central
Javanese rulers of the Medang kingdom. As the center of power on the island gradually
shifted to the east in the decades that followed, new temples were commissioned around the
new capital. However, unlike most Central Javanese temples which followed a concentric
layout (also known as mandala, representing the Hindu-Buddhist universe) with the most
important structure located at the center of the temple compound, Penataran – the largest
Hindu temple in East Java – was constructed in a linear layout where the sanctum is situated
at the back of the compound. This centuries-old layout is in fact still used in Bali to build
Balinese Hindu temples known as pura.
For three centuries since its completion, new structures were added to Penataran temple
complex by different rulers of East Java. Candi Naga, ‘dragon temple’, was commissioned in
the 13th century when this part of Java was controlled by the kingdom of Singhasari. Named

13
after its distinctive serpentine carvings, held by nine figures clad in opulent costumes, the
temple is believed to have functioned as a reliquary for sacred weapons. In front of Candi
Naga lies Candi Candra Sengkala, a 14th-century tall and slender addition to the temple
compound. Constructed in a typical East Javanese architectural style, the temple was built
under the rule of Hayam Wuruk, the greatest of all Majapahit kings. Majapahit itself was the
last great Hindu kingdom to ever rule much of Java.

Candi Naga, Named after the Mythical Serpent Carved around the Structure’s Walls//
The Story of Sri Tanjung, Popular in the 13th-Century East Java

The Slender and Distinctively East Javanese Candi Candra Sengkala

14
Ever-Menacing Kala above Candi Candra Sengkala’s Doorway

Candi Naga, South Side

15
Candi Naga, North Side

Candi Penataran, the Main Structure in the Compound

Following the decline of Majapahit as more and more people on the island converted to
Islam, Penataran’s importance gradually diminished until it was completely abandoned. In
the span of centuries, neglect and natural disasters caused heavy damage to the formerly
imposing temple. The rediscovery of Penataran is credited to Thomas Stamford Raffles, a
British colonial governor at a time when Java was briefly occupied by the British. The ruins
of the temple were first mentioned in a 1815 account, although reconstruction work did not
begin in earnest until many years later.

Further studies revealed that the lower walls of the three-tiered main temple were adorned
with stories from the Ramayana, one of the greatest and most well-known Hindu epics
alongside the Mahabharata. The Ramayana had inspired ancient Javanese sculptors to
immortalize figures, animals, plants and other motifs from the epic on andesite rock – widely
available in volcanic Java – which were then used to decorate a plethora of Hindu temples on
the island. However, Penataran’s medallions – depicting real and mythical animals – are
unique to the temple as they aren’t found on any Central Javanese temple.

16
In front of Candi Candra Sengkala is Batur Pendapa, where it is believed that devotees once
placed offerings in religious ceremonies. Modern-day visitors would likely notice the strange
look of the main sanctum, Batur Pendapa, as well as Bale Agung – also located at the front
part of the compound – for they all seem to have lost their upper structures. Believed to be
made from perishable materials – possibly wood and ijuk (palm fiber) – these structures have
long succumbed to the power of nature. Fortunately some relief panels at the lower part of the
main temple suggest how the whole structure used to look, which unsurprisingly reminds me
of some Hindu temples in Bali given the fact that many Javanese royals fled to the
neighboring island following the decline of Hinduism in Java.

Candi Penataran’s Unique Medallions and Relief Panels

A Scene from the Ramayana

17
Each Panel Has Its Own Style

A Centuries-Old Masterpiece

Straight Lines and Curves

18
Ancient Javanese Architecture
Apart from the architecture, what stays the same is the activity of Mount Kelud itself. Unlike
most accounts about volcanic eruptions across the archipelago which were exclusively
written by the Europeans during the colonial period, Kelud’s eruption was mentioned in a
14th-century epic Javanese poem. The volcano erupted in the same year when Hayam Wuruk
was born, perceived by the locals as a divine sign of great things the baby would accomplish
in his life – Majapahit was in fact at its peak during Hayam Wuruk’s rule. Interestingly,
centuries after the island’s conversion to Islam and the arrival of Christianity from Europe,
the Javanese reverence toward volcanoes has barely changed.

In 1901, Kelud erupted again with a mighty explosion (heard hundreds of kilometers away)
and an ash cloud that reached as far as West Java. Two weeks later, a baby boy was born, and
as goes with tradition, the locals saw this as an omen of something great about to happen to
him. Less than five decades later, the same boy had grown up to become none other than the
first president of Indonesia. Even in the 21st century, volcanic eruptions are often interpreted
as a prelude to major political events. But when no such thing occurs following an eruption,
the locals will still tell you stories about Mount Kelud with a sense of veneration, pride and
astonishment.

“When Kelud erupted in 2014, Yogyakarta was covered in thick ash,” a local tells me in
reference to Kelud’s latest major eruption which paralyzed the city, more than 200 km away
to the west of the volcano. The ash forced the closure of major airports across Java, causing
weeks-long travel disruptions. “But strangely, Blitar was safe,” he adds, referring to the
nearest city to the volcano. As tempting it is to explain the phenomenon from a scientific
perspective, to him and many other people Penataran seems to serve its purpose after all. It
has been protecting the surrounding areas from the wrath of the mountain god, more than
eight centuries since its completion.

19
A Metaphorical Depiction of Mount Kelud///A Small Asian Elephant along with Foreign-
Looking Soldiers

Winged Lions and Serpents//An Artistic Creation during the Peak of Hinduism in East Java

A Fierce-Looking Winged Snake//A Guardian of Batur Pendapa

20
An Intricately-Decorated Pond at the Back of the Main Temple

Penataran is still not very well known among Indonesians – when we returned to Jakarta and
I told my coworkers about it, none of them had ever heard of the temple.
As for the why Penataran is not that well-known even among Indonesians, I think
it’s because of its location which is not as easily accessible from big cities as
Borobudur or Prambanan.https://harindabama.com/2017/07/30/penataran-appeasing-
the-mountain-god/

21
 CHAPTER 8
The spread of Hindu Culture and Religion to Indonesia

by Trade routes to far East (Not including Cambodia, Indonesia or Thailand)

Cambodia and Indonesia is covered in our book-Hindu temples of Bharat, Cambodia
and Indonesia. For a detailed reading of these belowgiven historicites please read our
TRILOGY Devraja I, DevrajaII and Devraja III with over 1500 pages. Also 27 papers
cover this topis. All available to read on academia.edu,scribd,researchgate.net

The Silk Roads are amongst some of the most important routes in our collective history.
It was through these roads that relations between east and west were established, exposing
diverse regions to different ideas and ways of life. Notably, these exchanges also included
the diffusion of many of the world’s major religions including Hinduism and Islam.
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages
used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade
over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route
contains long-distance arteries, which may further be connected to smaller networks of
commercial and noncommercial transportation routes. Among notable trade routes was
the Amber Road, which served as a dependable network for long-distance trade. Maritime
trade along the Spice Route became prominent during the Middle Ages, when nations
resorted to military means for control of this influential route. During the Middle Ages,
organizations such as the Hanseatic League, aimed at protecting interests of the
merchants and trade became increasingly prominent.

Early development: Long-distance trade routes were developed in

the Chalcolithic Period. The period from the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE to the
beginning of the Common Era saw societies in Southeast Asia, Western Asia, the
Mediterranean, China, and the Indian subcontinent develop major transportation networks
for trade. One of the vital instruments which facilitated long-distance trade
was portage and the domestication of beasts of burden. Organized caravans, visible by the
2nd millennium BCE, could carry goods across a large distance as fodder was mostly
available along the way. The domestication of camels allowed Arabian nomads to control
the long-distance trade in spices and silk from the Far East to the Arabian Peninsula.
Caravans were useful in long-distance trade largely for carrying luxury goods, the
transportation of cheaper goods across large distances was not profitable for caravan
operators.[9] With productive developments in iron and bronze technologies, newer trade
routes – dispensing innovations of civilizations – began to rise.

22
The dynamics of the spread of beliefs along the trade routes involves a crucial, though
little-remarked, difference between two fundamental types of religions. Generally
speaking, religions are either proselytizing or non-proselytizing. That is, they either
actively seek to recruit new members to the faith from outside the current membership
group, or they do not. In the former case, ethnicity, language, color, and other physical
and cultural differences are taken to be of relatively small importance compared with the
common humanity of all believers, and the availability of the faith (and its particular
canons of belief, forms of worship, and promises of salvation) to all humans everywhere.
In the latter case, that is, of non-proselytizing religions, membership in a religion often
coincides with membership in an ethnic group, so that religious participation is a birth
right and not a matter of conversion; conversion often occurs only when a person marries
into the faith, and in extreme cases conversion is rejected as an impossibility. Examples
of proselytizing faiths are Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Buddhism, Christianity, and
Islam; non-proselytizing faiths include Hinduism, Judaism, and Shinto. All of these were
religions of the Silk Road; some spread along the trade routes to extend their spheres of
faith enormously, while others did not travel from their native lands, or did so only to
form enclaves of the faithful in foreign lands.

Buddhism was the first of the great missionary faiths to take advantage of the mobility
provided by the Silk Road to extend its reach far beyond its native ground. From its
origins in north eastern India, Buddhism had already spread into the lands that are now
Pakistan and Afghanistan by the 1st century BCE. Buddhist merchants from those areas
built temples and shrines along the Silk Road everywhere they went; the priests and
monks who staffed those religious establishments preached to local populations and
passing travelers, spreading the faith rapidly. Buddhism’s essential message—that earthly
life is impermanent and full of suffering, but that the painful cycle of birth, death, and
rebirth can be ended through Buddhist faith and practice—had wide appeal, and its
universalism enabled it to cross boundaries of space, language, and ethnicity with ease.

Maritime trade

One of the Borobudur ships from the 8th century, they were depictions of large
native outrigger trading vessels, possibly of
the Sailendra and Srivijaya thalassocracies. Shown with the characteristic tanja
sail of Southeast Asian Austronesians.

Much of the Radhanites' Indian Ocean trade would have depended on coastal cargo-ships
such as this dhow. The Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route refers to
23
the maritime section of the historic Silk Road that connected China, Southeast Asia,
the Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, Somalia, Egypt and Europe. It flourished
between the 2nd century BC and 15th century AD. Despite its association with China in
recent centuries, the Maritime Silk Road was primarily established and operated
by Austronesian sailors in Southeast Asia, Tamil merchants in India and Southeast Asia,
Greco-Roman merchants in East Africa, India, Ceylon and Indochina, and
by Persian and Arab traders in the Arabian Sea and beyond.

Austronesian proto-historic and historic maritime trade network in the Indian

Ocean[
Historic Indosphere cultural influence zone of Greater India for transmission of elements
of Indian elements such as the honorific titles, naming of people, naming of places,
mottos of organisations and educational institutes as well as adoption
of Hinduism, Buddhism, Indian architecture, martial arts, Indian music and
dance, traditional Indian clothing, and Indian cuisine, a process which has also been aided
by the ongoing historic expansion of Indian diaspora.

The Maritime Silk Road developed from the earlier Austronesian spice trade networks
of Islander Southeast Asians with Sri Lanka and Southern India (established 1000 to 600
BCE), as well as the jade industry trade in lingling-o artifacts from the Philippines in
the South China Sea (c. 500 BCE). For most of its history,
Austronesian thalassocracies controlled the flow of the Maritime Silk Road, especially
the polities around the straits of Malacca and Bangka, the Malay peninsula, and
the Mekong delta; although Chinese records misidentified these kingdoms as being
"Indian" due to the Indianization of these regionsThe route was influential in the early
spread of Hinduism and Buddhism to the east.

24
Tang records indicate that Srivijaya, founded at Palembang in 682 CE, rose to dominate
the trade in the region around the straits and the South China Sea emporium by
controlling the trade in luxury aromatics and Buddhist artifacts from West Asia to a
thriving Tang market. Chinese records also indicate that the early Chinese
Buddhist pilgrims to South Asia booked passage with the Austronesian ships that traded
in Chinese ports. Books written by Chinese monks like Wan Chen and Hui-Lin contain
detailed accounts of the large trading vessels from Southeast Asia dating back to at least
the 3rd century CE.

Prior to the 10th century, the route was primarily used by Southeast Asian traders,
although Tamil and Persian traders also sailed them. By the 7th century
CE, Arab dhow traders ventured into the routes, leading to the earliest spread
of Islam into Southeast Asian polities. By the 10th to 13th centuries, the Song Dynasty of
China started building its own trading fleets, despite the traditional
Chinese Confucian disdain for trade. This was partly due to the loss of access by the Song
dynasty to the overland Silk Road. The Chinese fleets started sending trading expeditions
to the region they referred to as Nan hai (mostly dominated by the Srivijaya), venturing as
far south as the Sulu Sea and the Java Sea. This led to the establishment of Chinese
trading colonies in Southeast Asia, a boom in the maritime trade, and the emergence of
the ports of Quanzhou and Guangzhou as regional trade centers in China.
After a brief cessation of Chinese trade in the 14th century due to internal famines and
droughts in China, the Ming dynasty reestablished the trade routes with Southeast Asia
from the 15th to 17th centuries. They launched the expeditions of Zheng He, with the
goal of forcing the "barbarian kings" of Southeast Asia to resume sending "tribute" to the

25
Ming court. This was typical of the Sinocentric views at the time of viewing "trade as
tribute", although ultimately Zheng He's expeditions were successful in their goal of
establishing trade networks with Malacca, the regional successor of Srivijaya.

16th-century Vietnamese ceramics in Aichi, Japan.

By the 16th century, the Age of Exploration had begun. The Portuguese Empire's capture
of Malacca led to the transfer of the trade centers to the sultanates of Aceh and Johor. The
new demand for spices from Southeast Asia and textiles from India and China by the
European market led to another economic boom in the Maritime Silk Road. The influx of
silver from the European colonial powers however, may have eventually undermined
China's copper coinage, leading to the collapse of the Ming dynasty.

In Asia, the earliest evidence of maritime trade was the Neolithic trade networks of
the Austronesian peoples, who were the first humans to invent ocean-going ships, among
which is the lingling-o jade industry of the Philippines, Taiwan, southern Vietnam, and
peninsular Thailand. It also included the long-distance routes of Austronesian traders
from Indonesia and Malaysia connecting China with South Asia and the Middle
East since at least 1000 to 600 BC. It facilitated the spread of Southeast Asian spices and
Chinese goods to the west, as well as the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism to the east.
This route would later become known as the Maritime Silk Road. Many Austronesian
technologies like the outrigger and catamaran, as well as Austronesian ship terminologies,
still persist in many of the coastal cultures in the Indian Ocean.
Maritime trade began with safer coastal trade and evolved with the manipulation of the
monsoon winds, soon resulting in trade crossing boundaries such as the Arabian Sea and
the Bay of Bengal. South Asia had multiple maritime trade routes which connected it
to Southeast Asia, thereby making the control of one route resulting in maritime
monopoly difficult.[16] Indian connections to various Southeast Asian states buffered it
from blockages on other routes.[16] By making use of the maritime trade routes, bulk
commodity trade became possible for the Romans in the 2nd century BCE. A Roman
trading vessel could span the Mediterranean in a month at one-sixtieth the cost of over-
land routes
Visible trade routes

26
Evolution of Indian trade networks. The main map shows the routes since Mughal
times, Inset A shows the major prehistorical cultural currents, B: pre-
Mauryan routes, C: Mauryan routes, D: routes c. 1st century CE, and E: the "Z"
shaped region of developed roads.
The peninsula of Anatolia lay on the commercial land routes to Europe from Asia as well
as the sea route from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. Records from the 19th century
BCE attest to the existence of an Assyrian merchant colony
at Kanesh in Cappadocia (now in modern Turkey). Trading networks of the Old World
included the Grand Trunk Road of India and the Incense Road of Arabia.[5] A
transportation network consisting of hard-surfaced highways, using concrete made from
volcanic ash and lime, was built by the Romans as early as 312 BCE, during the times of
the Censor Appius Claudius Caecus. Parts of the Mediterranean world, Roman
Britain, Tigris-Euphrates river system and North Africa fell under the reach of this
network at some point of their history.
These routes – spreading religion, trade and technology – have historically been vital to
the growth of urban civilization. The extent of development of cities, and the level of
their integration into a larger world system, has often been attributed to their position in
various active transport networks.

Combined land and waterway routes

Silk Road

27
Trading routes used around the 1st century CE centred on the Silk Road.

G
T Road
The Silk Road was one of the first trade routes to join the Eastern and the Western
worlds.
Along the Silk Roads, technology traveled, ideas were exchanged, and friendship and
understanding between East and West were experienced for the first time on a large scale.
Easterners were exposed to Western ideas and life-styles, and Westerners, too, learned
about Eastern culture and its spirituality-oriented cosmology. Buddhism as an Eastern
religion received international attention through the Silk Roads.Cultural interactions
patronized often by powerful emperors, such as Kanishka, led to development of art due
to introduction of a rich variety of influences. Buddhist missions thrived along the Silk
Roads, partly due to the conducive intermixing of trade and cultural values, which created
a series of safe stoppages for both the pilgrims and the traders. Among the frequented
routes of the Silk Route was the Burmese route extending from Bhamo, which served as a
path for Marco Polo's visit to Yunnan and Indian Buddhist missions to Canton in order to
establish Buddhist monasteries. This route – often under the presence of hostile tribes –
also finds mention in the works of Rashid-al-Din Hamadani
Grand Trunk Road

For centuries, the Grand Trunk Road has served as the main artery for travel across
Northern India. The Grand Trunk Road – connecting Chittagong in Bangladesh
to Peshawar in Pakistan – has existed for over two and a half millennia. One of the
important trade routes of the world, this road has been a strategic artery with fortresses,
halting posts, wells, post offices, milestones and other facilities.[39] Part of this road
through Pakistan also coincided with the Silk Road.
This highway has been associated with emperors Chandragupta Maurya and Sher Shah
Suri, the latter became synonymous with this route due to his role in ensuring the safety
of the travelers and the upkeep of the road. Emperor Sher Shah widened and realigned the
road to other routes, and provided approximately 1700 roadside inns through his empire.
These inns provided free food and lodgings to the travelers regardless of their status.
Amber Road

28
The Amber Road was a European trade route associated with the trade and transport
of amber. Amber satisfied the criteria for long-distance trade as it was light in weight and
was in high demand for ornamental purposes around the Mediterranean. Before the
establishment of Roman control over areas such as Pannonia, the Amber Road was
virtually the only route available for long-distance trade.
Towns along the Amber Road began to rise steadily during the 1st century CE, despite the
troop movements under Titus Flavius Vespasianus and his son Titus Flavius Domitianus.
[43]
Under the reign of Tiberius Caesar Augustus, the Amber Road was straightened and
paved according to the prevailing urban standards. Roman towns began to appear along
the road, initially founded near the site of Celtic oppida.
The 3rd century saw the Danube river become the principal artery of trade, eclipsing the
Amber Road and other commercial routes. The redirection of investment to the Danubian
forts saw the towns along the Amber Road growing slowly, though yet retaining their
prosperity. The prolonged struggle between the Romans and the barbarians further left its
mark on the towns along the Amber Road.
Austronesian maritime trade network
The first true maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean was by the Austronesian
peoples of Island Southeast Asia, who built the first ocean-going ships. They established
trade routes with Southern India and Sri Lanka as early as 1500 BC, ushering an
exchange of material culture (like catamarans, outrigger boats, sewn-plank boats,
and paan) and cultigens (like coconuts, sandalwood, bananas, and sugarcane); as well as
connecting the material cultures of India and China. They constituted the majority of the
Indian Ocean component of the spice trade network. Indonesians, in particular were
trading in spices (mainly cinnamon and cassia) with East Africa using catamaran and
outrigger boats and sailing with the help of the Westerlies in the Indian Ocean. This trade
network expanded to reach as far as Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, resulting in the
Austronesian colonization of Madagascar by the first half of the first millennium AD. It
continued up to historic times, later becoming the Maritime Silk Road. This trade network
also included smaller trade routes within Island Southeast Asia, including the lingling-
o jade network, and the trepanging network.
In eastern Austronesia, various traditional maritime trade networks also existed. Among
them was the ancient Lapita trade network of Island Melanesia; the Hiri trade
cycle, Sepik Coast exchange, and the Kula ring of Papua New Guinea;] the ancient
trading voyages in Micronesia between the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands (and
possibly also New Guinea and the Philippines); and the vast inter-island trade networks
of Polynesia.[
Maritime Silk Road
The Maritime Silk Road refer to the maritime section of historic Silk Road that
connects China, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, Somalia and
all the way to Egypt and finally Europe. It flourished between 2nd-century BCE and 15th-
century CE.[80] Despite its association with China in recent centuries, the Maritime Silk
Road was primarily established and operated by Austronesian sailors in Southeast Asia,
and by Persian and Arab traders in the Arabian Sea.

29
The Maritime Silk Road developed from the earlier Austronesian spice trade networks
of Islander Southeast Asians with Sri Lanka and Southern India (established 1000 to 600
BCE), as well as the jade industry trade in lingling-o artifacts from the Philippines in
the South China Sea (c. 500 BCE). For most of its history,
Austronesian thalassocracies controlled the flow of the Maritime Silk Road, especially
the polities around the straits of Malacca and Bangka, the Malay peninsula, and
the Mekong delta; although Chinese records misidentified these kingdoms as being
"Indian" due to the Indianization of these regions. Prior to the 10th century, the route was
primarily used by Southeast Asian traders, although Tamil and Persian traders also sailed
them. The route was influential in the early spread of Hinduism and Buddhism to the east.
China later built its own fleets starting from the Song dynasty in the 10th century,
participating directly in the trade route up until the end of the Colonial Era and the
collapse of the Qing dynasty.

The fourth caste of "Sudra" or "Dasa" was formed by outsiders who were Tibeto-Burmese
and Mon-Khmer and Neolithic tribal who lived in India for ages and more likely arrived
prior to the Indo-Iranian group. They were "Mlechha" to Brahmin Arias
become a source of bitterness and exclusions that pushed Vratya and excluded natives to
embrace non-discriminatory Jainism, Buddhism, and other ascetic traditions. In Northeast
India where Tibeto-Burmese (Naga people) and Austro-Asiatic people (Munda, Khasi) of
India adopted these new religious traditions while integrating their own tradition into their
new faiths. Buddhism, Jainism, and similar non-Brahminical traditions allowed the
inclusion of tribal traditions. This made them extremely popular with this excluded group.
Even some disillusioned Brahmins Joined the movement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Historic Indosphere cultural influence zone of Greater India for transmission of elements
of Indian elements such as the honorific titles, naming of people, naming of places,
mottos of organisations and educational institutes as well as adoption
of Hinduism, Buddhism, Indian architecture, martial arts, Indian music and
dance, traditional Indian clothing, and Indian cuisine, a process which has been also aided
by the ongoing historic expansion of Indian diaspora.
Southeast Asia was under Indian sphere of cultural influence starting around 290 BC until
around the 15th century, when Hindu-Buddhist influence was absorbed by local politics.
Kingdoms in the southeast coast of the Indian Subcontinent had established trade, cultural
and political relations with Southeast Asian kingdoms
in Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Malay Peninsula, Philippines, Cambodia and Champa.
This led to Indianisation and Sanskritisation of Southeast Asia within Indosphere,
Southeast Asian polities were the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist Mandala (polities, city
states and confederacies).
Unlike the Hindu kingdoms within the Indian subcontinent, the Pallava empire of the
southeastern coast of the India peninsula did not have culture restrictions on crossing the
sea. Chola empire also had profound impact on Southeast Asia, who executed South-East
Asia campaign of Rajendra Chola I and Chola invasion of Srivijaya. This led to more

30
exchanges through the sea routes into Southeast Asia. Whereas Buddhism thrived and
became the main religion in many countries of the Southeast Asia, it died off on the
Indian subcontinent.
The peoples of maritime Southeast Asia — present day Malaysia, Indonesia and the
Philippines — are thought to have migrated southwards from southern China sometime
between 2500 and 1500 BC. The influence of the civilization of the subcontinent
gradually became predominant among them, and among the peoples of the Southeast
Asian mainland.
Southern Indian traders, adventurers, teachers and priests continued to be the dominating
influence in Southeast Asia until about 1500 CE. Hinduism and Buddhism both spread to
these states from India and for many centuries existed there with mutual toleration.
Eventually the states of the mainland became mainly Buddhist.
Indian sphere of cultural: Southeast Asia was under Indian sphere of cultural
influence starting around 290 BC until around the 15th century, when Hindu-
Buddhist influence was absorbed by local politics. Kingdoms in the southeast coast of the
Indian Subcontinent had established trade, cultural and political relations with Southeast
Asian kingdoms in Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Malay
Peninsula, Philippines, Cambodia and Champa. This led
to Indianisation and Sanskritisation of Southeast Asia within Indosphere, Southeast Asian
polities were the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist Mandala (polities, city states and
confederacies).
Unlike the Hindu kingdoms within the Indian subcontinent, the Pallava empire of the
southeastern coast of the India peninsula did not have culture restrictions on crossing the
sea. Chola empire also had profound impact on Southeast Asia, who executed South-East
Asia campaign of Rajendra Chola I and Chola invasion of Srivijaya. This led to more
exchanges through the sea routes into Southeast Asia. Whereas Buddhism thrived and
became the main religion in many countries of the Southeast Asia, it died off on the
Indian subcontinent.

The peoples of maritime Southeast Asia — present day Malaysia, Indonesia and the
Philippines — are thought to have migrated southwards from southern China sometime
between 2500 and 1500 BC. The influence of the civilization of the subcontinent
gradually became predominant among them, and among the peoples of the Southeast
Asian mainland.
Southern Indian traders, adventurers, teachers and priests continued to be the dominating
influence in Southeast Asia until about 1500 CE. Hinduism and Buddhism both spread to
these states from India and for many centuries existed there with mutual toleration.
Eventually the states of the mainland became mainly Buddhist.

1. indu-Buddhist kingdoms (? - ~1400

The history of Brunei before the arrival of Magellan's ships in 1519-1522 CE is based
on the interpretation of Chinese sources and local legends. Historians believe that
there was a forerunner Indianised Hindu-Buddhist state to the present day Brunei
Sultanate. One predecessor state was called Vijayapura, which possibly existed in
northwest Borneo in the 7th century.[a] It was probably a subject state of the powerful
Indianised Hindu-Buddhist Srivijaya empire based in Sumatra. One predecessor state
was called Po-ni (pinyin: Boni). [2] By the 10th century Po-ni had contacts with first
the Song dynasty and at some point even entered into a tributary relationship with

31
 China. By the 14th century Po-ni also fell under the influence of the Indianised
Hindu Javanese Majapahit Empire. The book of Nagarakretagama, canto 14, written
by Prapanca in 1365 mentioned Berune as a vassal state of Majahpahit. [3] However
this may have been nothing more than a symbolic relationship, as one account of the
annual tribute owed each year to Majahpahit was a jar of areca juice obtained from
the young green nuts of the areca palm. The Ming dynasty resumed communications
with Po-ni in the 1370s and the Po-ni ruler Ma-na-jih-chia-na visited the Ming capital
Nanjing in 1408 and died there; his tomb was rediscovered in the 20th century, and is
now a protected monument.
2. Indianised Islamic sultanate (~1400 - present day)
In 1402, Sultan Muhammad Shah died, he was first to convert from Hindu-Buddhism
to Islam, and his pre-conversion name was Awang Alak Betatar.

3. Mayanmar:At the western end of the South East Asian mainland, Lower Burma was
occupied by the Mon peoples who are thought to have come originally from western
China. In Lower Burma they supplanted an earlier people: the Pyu, of whom little is
known except that they practised Hinduism.
4. Arrival of Buddhism and impact of Indian literature (3rd century CE onward)
[edit]
The Mons strongly influenced by their contacts with Indian traders during the 3rd
century B.C adopted Indian literature and art and the Buddhist religion. The Mins
were the earliest known civilization in Southeast Asia. They consisted of several Mon
kingdoms, spreading from Lower Burma into much of Thailand, where they founded
the kingdom of Dvaravati. Their principal settlements in Burma were Thaton and
Pegu.
5. Tibeto-Burman Buddhist kingdoms (11th - 13th century CE )
From about the 9th century onward Tibeto-Burman tribes moved south from the hills
east of Tibet into the Irrawaddy plain. They founded their capital at Pagan in Upper
Burma in the 10th century. They eventually absorbed the Mons, their cities and
adopted the Mon civilization and Buddhism. The Pagan kingdom united all Burma
under one rule for 200 years - from the 11th to 13th centuries. The zenith of its power
occurred during the reign of King Anawratha (1044–1077), who conquered the Mon
kingdom of Thaton. King Anawratha built many of the temples for which Pagan is
famous. It is estimated that some 13,000 temples once existed within the city, which
some 5,000 still stand.
6. 13th-21st century-Funan

7. Angkor Wat

32
 The first of these Hinduised states to achieve widespread importance was
the Kingdom of Funan founded in the 1st century CE in what is now Cambodia —
according to legend, after the marriage of a Brahman into the family of the local chief.
These local inhabitants were Khmer people. Funan flourished for some 500 years. It
carried on a prosperous trade with India and China, and its engineers developed an
extensive canal system. An elite practised statecraft, art and science, based on Indian
culture. Vassal kingdoms spread to southern Vietnam in the east and to the Malay
Peninsula in the west.
8. Chenla and Angkor
In late 6th century CE, dynastic struggles caused the collapse of the Funan empire. It
was succeeded by another Hindu-Khmer state, Chen-la, which lasted until the 9th
century. Then a Khmer king, Jayavarman II (about 800-850) established a capital
at Angkor in central Cambodia. He founded a cult which identified the king with the
Hindu God Shiva – one of the triad of Hindu gods, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the
preserver, Shiva the god symbolising destruction and reproduction. The Angkor
empire flourished from the 9th to the early 13th century. It reached the peak of its
fame under Jayavarman VII at the end of the 12th century, when its conquests
extended into Thailand in the west (where it had conquered the Mon kingdom of
Dwaravati) and into Champa in the east. Its most celebrated memorial is the great
temple of Angkor Wat, built early in the 12th century. This summarises the position
on the South East Asian mainland until about the 12th century. Meanwhile, from
about the 6th century, and until the 14th century, there was a series of great maritime
empires based on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. In early days these
Indians came mostly from the ancient kingdom of Kalinga, on the southeastern coast
of India. Indians in Indonesia are still known as "Klings", derived from Kalinga.
9. The later Timorese were not seafarers, rather they were land focused peoples who
did not make contact with other islands and peoples by sea. Timor was part of a
region of small islands with small populations of similarly land-focused peoples that
now make up eastern Indonesia. Contact with the outside world was via networks of
foreign seafaring traders from as far as China and India that served the archipelago.
Outside products brought to the region included metal goods, rice, fine textiles, and
coins exchanged for local spices, sandalwood, deer horn, bees' wax, and slaves.[4]
10. Indianised Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms
11. Indianised Javanese Hindu-Buddhist Srivijaya empire (7th - 12th century)[edit]
Oral traditions of people of Wehali principality of East Timor mention their migration
from Sina Mutin Malaka or "Chinese White Malacca" (part of Indianised Hindu-
Buddhist Srivijaya empire) in ancient times.[5]
As vassal of Indianised Javanese Hindu empire of Majapahit (12th - 16th century), the
chronicles of the Majapahit empire called Timor a tributary,[6] but as Portuguese
chronologist Tomé Pires wrote in the 16th century, all islands east of Java were called "Timor".
[
Indonesian nationalist used the Majapahit chronicles to claim East Timor as part of Indonesia.
12. Trade with China
Timor is mentioned in the 13th-century Chinese Zhu Fan Zhi, where it is called Ti-
wu and is noted for its sandalwood. It is called Ti-men in the History of Song of 1345.
Writing towards 1350, Wang Dayuan refers to a Ku-li Ti-men, which is a corruption

33
 of Giri Timor, meaning island of Timor.[9] Giri from "mountain" in Sanskrit, thus
"mountainous island of Timor".
13. Chiefdoms or polities
14. Early European explorers report that the island had a number of small chiefdoms
orprincedoms in the early 16th century. One of the most significant is
the Wehali or Wehale kingdom in central Timor, to which
the Tetum, Bunak and Kemak ethnic groups were aligned. Early European explorers
report that the island had a number of small chiefdoms or princedoms in the early
16th century. One of the most significant is the Wehali or Wehale kingdom in central
Timor, to which the Tetum, Bunak and Kemak ethnic groups were aligned.
15. European colonisation and Christianisation (16th century onward)
16. Indonesia:Beginning in the early sixteenth century, European colonialists—the Dutch
in the island's west, and Portuguese in the east—would divide the island, isolating the
East Timorese from the histories of the surrounding archipelago.

An exquisite statue of Prajñāpāramitā from 13th century Singhasari, East Java,

seated in lotus position on a lotus throne performing dharmachakra-mudra./
Aerial view of 9th century Borobudur, the elaborate stupas took the form of a step
pyramid and mandala plan, built by King Samaratungga of Shailendra dynasty,
ruler of Mataram Kingdom.

Approximately for more than a millennia, between 5th to 15th centuries, the various
Indianised states and empires flourished in the Indonesian archipelago; from the era
of Tarumanagara to Majapahit. Though founded possibly by either early Indian
settlers or by native polities that adopted Indian culture, and have maintaining
diplomatic contacts with India, these archipelagic Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms
remained politically independent from the kingdoms of Indian subcontinent. Together
with Cambodia and Champa, the Hindu-Buddhist civilization of Java was one of the
most beautiful jewel of the Dharmic civilization ever flourished in Southeast Asia.
17. Srivijaya empire
The Indonesian archipelago saw the rise of Hindu-Buddhist empires of Sumatra and Java.
In the islands of Southeast Asia, one of the first organised state to achieve fame was the
Buddhist Malay kingdom of Srivijaya, with its capital at Palembang in southern Sumatra.

34
Its commercial pre-eminence was based on command of the sea route from India to China
between Sumatra and the Malay peninsula (later known as the Straits of Malacca). In the
6th – 7th centuries Srivijaya succeeded Funan as the leading state in Southeast Asia. Its
ruler was the overlord of the Malay peninsula and western Java as well as Sumatra.
During the era of Srivijaya, Buddhism became firmly entrenched there.

18.Sailendra kingdom

The expansion of Srivijaya was resisted in eastern Java, where the powerful
Buddhist Sailendra dynasty arose. From the 7th century onwards there was great activity
in temple building in central Java. The most impressive of the ruins is at Borobudur,
considered to have been the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Sailendra rule spread to
southern Sumatra, and up to Malay peninsula to Cambodia (where it was replaced by
the Angkorian kingdom). In the 9th century, the Sailendras moved to Sumatra, and a
union of Srivijaya and the Sailendras formed an empire which dominated much of
Southeast Asia for the next five centuries. After 500 Years of supremacy, Srivijaya was
superseded by Majapahit.

19.Mataram kingdom

The 9th-century Shivaistic temple of Prambanan in Central Java near Yogyakarta, the
largest Hindu temple in Indonesia
In the 10th century, Mataram to the challenged the supremacy of Srivijaya, resulting in
the destruction of the Mataram capital by Srivijaya early in the 11th century. Restored by
King Airlangga (c. 1020–1050), the kingdom split on his death and the new state of
Kediri was formed in eastern Java.

20.Kediri kingdom

Kediri kingdom, spread its influence to the eastern part of Southeast Asia and became the
centre of Javanese culture for the next two centuries. The spice trade was now becoming
of increasing importance, as the demand by European countries for spices grew. Before
they learned to keep sheep and cattle alive in the winter, they had to eat salted meat, made
palatable by the addition of spices. One of the main sources was the Maluku Islands (or
"Spice Islands") in Indonesia, and Kediri became a strong trading nation.

20.Singhasari kingdom

35
In the 13th century, however, the Kediri dynasty was overthrown by a revolution,
and Singhasari arose in east Java. The domains of this new state expanded under the rule
of its warrior-king Kertanegara. He was killed by a prince of the previous Kediri dynasty,
who then established the last great Hindu-Javanese kingdom, Majapahit.

21.Majapahit empire

With the departure of the Sailendras and the fall of Singhasari, a new Majapahit kingdom
appeared in eastern Java, which reverted from Buddhism to Hinduism. By the middle of
the 14th century, Majapahit controlled most of Java, Sumatra and the Malay peninsula,
part of Borneo, the southern Celebes and the Moluccas. It also exerted considerable
influence on the mainland.

22.Funan kingdom

The first indigenous kingdom to emerge in Indochina was referred to in Chinese histories
as the Kingdom of Funan and encompassed an area of modern Cambodia, and the coasts
of southern Vietnam and southern Thailand since the 1st century CE. Funan was
an Indianised kingdom, that had incorporated central aspects of Indian institutions,
religion, statecraft, administration, culture, epigraphy, writing and architecture and
engaged in profitable Indian Ocean trade.

23.Champa kingdom

By the 2nd century CE, Austronesian settlers had established an Indianised kingdom
known as Champa along modern central Vietnam. The Cham people established the first
settlements near modern Champasak in Laos. Funan expanded and incorporated
the Champasak region by the sixth century CE, when it was replaced by its successor
polity Chenla. Chenla occupied large areas of modern-day Laos as it accounts for the
earliest kingdom on Laotian soil.

24.Chenla kingdom

The capital of early Chenla was Shrestapura which was located in the vicinity
of Champasak and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wat Phu. Wat Phu is a vast
temple complex in southern Laos which combined natural surroundings with ornate
sandstone structures, which were maintained and embellished by the Chenla peoples until
900 CE, and were subsequently rediscovered and embellished by the Khmer in the 10th
century. By the 8th century CE Chenla had divided into “Land Chenla” located in Laos,
and “Water Chenla” founded by Mahendravarman near Sambor Prei Kuk in Cambodia.
Land Chenla was known to the Chinese as “Po Lou” or “Wen Dan” and dispatched a
trade mission to the Tang Dynasty court in 717 CE. Water Chenla, would come under
repeated attack from Champa, the Medang sea kingdoms in Indonesia based in Java, and
finally pirates. From the instability the Khmer emerged.

25.Khmer kingdom

Under the king Jayavarman II the Khmer Empire began to take shape in the 9th century
CE.

36
26. Dvaravati city state kingdoms

In the area which is modern northern and central Laos, and northeast Thailand the Mon
people established their own kingdoms during the 8th century CE, outside the reach of the
contracting Chenla kingdoms. By the 6th century in the Chao Phraya River Valley, Mon
peoples had coalesced to create the Dvaravati kingdoms. In the 8th century CE, Sri
Gotapura (Sikhottabong) was the strongest of these early city states, and controlled trade
throughout the middle Mekong region. The city states were loosely bound politically, but
were culturally similar and introduced Therevada Buddhism from Sri
Lankan missionaries throughout the region.
27.The Malay peninsula was settled by prehistoric people 80,000 years ago. Another
batch of peoples the deutro Malay migrated from southern China within 10,000 years ago.
Upon arrival in the peninsular some of them mix with the Australoid. This gave the
appearance of the Malays. It was suggested that the visiting ancient Dravidians named the
peoples of Malaysia peninsular and Sumatera as "Malay ur" meant hills and city based on
the geographical terrain of Peninsular Malay and Sumatera. Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek:
Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος; c. 90 – c. 168), known in English as Ptolemy, was a Greek
geographer, astronomer, and astrologer who had written about Golden Chersonese, which
indicates trade with the Indian Sub-Continent and China has existed since the 1st century
AD. Archeologist have found relic and ruin in Bujang Valley settlement dating back at
110AD. The settlement is believed to be the oldest civilization in Southeast Asia
influenced by ancient Indians. Today, Malaysians of direct Indian descent account for
approximately 7 per cent of the total population of Malaysia (approximately. 2 million) [
Hinduism and Buddhism from India dominated early regional history, reaching their peak
during the reign of the Sumatra-based Srivijaya civilisation, whose influence extended
through Sumatra, Java, the Malay Peninsula and much of Borneo from the 7th to the 13th
centuries, which later gradually defeated and converted to Islam in 14th and 15th century
before the erupean colonisation began in 16th century.

28.Indianised Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms (3rd century BCE to 14th century CE)

Early trade and Indian settlements

In the first millennium CE, Malays became the dominant race on the peninsula. The small
early states that were established were greatly influenced by Indian culture, as was most
of Southeast Asia.[19] Indian influence in the region dates back to at least the 3rd century
BCE. South Indian culture was spread to Southeast Asia by the south Indian Pallava
dynasty in the 4th and 5th century.

37
The Buddha-Gupta stone, dating to the 4th–5th century CE, was dedicated by an
Indian Merchant, Buddha Gupta, as an expression of gratitude for his safe arrival
after a voyage to the Malay peninsula. It was found in Seberang Perai, Malaysia and is
kept in the National Museum, Calcutta, India.

In ancient Indian literature, the term Suvarnadvipa or the "Golden Peninsula" is used
in Ramayana, and some argued that it may be a reference to the Malay Peninsula. The
ancient Indian text Vayu Purana also mentioned a place named Malayadvipa where gold
mines may be found, and this term has been proposed to mean possibly Sumatra and the
Malay Peninsula.[21] The Malay Peninsula was shown on Ptolemy's map as the "Golden
Khersonese". He referred to the Straits of Malacca as Sinus Sabaricus.
Trade relations with China and India were established in the 1st century BC. Shards of
Chinese pottery have been found in Borneo dating from the 1st century following
the southward expansion of the Han Dynasty. In the early centuries of the first
millennium, the people of the Malay Peninsula adopted the Indian religions
of Hinduism and Buddhism, religions which had a major effect on the language and
culture of those living in Malaysia. The Sanskrit writing system was used as early as the
4th century.
29.Indianised Hindu Malay kingdoms (3rd century to 7th century)
There were numerous Malay kingdoms in the 2nd and 3rd century, as many as 30, mainly
based on the Eastern side of the Malay peninsula. [19] Among the earliest kingdoms known
to have been based in the Malay Peninsula is the ancient kingdom of Langkasuka, located
in the northern Malay Peninsula and based somewhere on the west coast. It was closely
tied to Funan in Cambodia, which also ruled part of northern Malaysia until the 6th
century. In the 5th century, the Kingdom of Pahang was mentioned in the Book of Song.
According to the Sejarah Melayu ("Malay Annals"), the Khmer prince Raja Ganji Sarjuna
founded the kingdom of Gangga Negara (modern-day Beruas, Perak) in the 700s. Chinese
chronicles of the 5th century CE speak of a great port in the south called Guantoli, which
is thought to have been in the Straits of Malacca. In the 7th century, a new port called
Shilifoshi is mentioned, and this is believed to be a Chinese rendering of Srivijaya.

38
30.Indianised Hindu-Buddhist Malay kingdoms as vassal of Srivijaya empire (7th - 13th
century): Srivijaya empire
Between the 7th and the 13th century, much of the Malay peninsula was under the
Buddhist Srivijaya empire. The site of Srivijaya's centre is thought be at a river mouth in
eastern Sumatra, based near what is now Palembang. For over six centuries
the Maharajahs of Srivijaya ruled a maritime empire that became the main power in the
archipelago. The empire was based around trade, with local kings (dhatus or community
leaders) swearing allegiance to the central lord for mutual profit.
31.Relationship of Srivijaya empire with Indian Tamil Chola empire
South-East Asia campaign of Rajendra Chola I and Chola invasion of Srivijaya
Chola empire also had profound impact on Southeast Asia, who executed South-East Asia
campaign of Rajendra Chola I and Chola invasion of Srivijaya.
The relation between Srivijaya and the Chola Empire of south India was friendly during
the reign of Raja Raja Chola I but during the reign of Rajendra Chola I the Chola
Empire invaded Srivijaya cities. In 1025 and 1026 Gangga Negara was attacked
by Rajendra Chola I of the Chola Empire, the Tamil emperor who is now thought to have
laid Kota Gelanggi to waste. Kedah—known as Kedaram, Cheh-Cha (according to I-
Ching) or Kataha, in ancient Pallava or Sanskrit—was in the direct route of the invasions
and was ruled by the Cholas from 1025. A second invasion was led by Virarajendra
Chola of the Chola dynasty who conquered Kedah in the late 11th century.The senior
Chola's successor, Vira Rajendra Chola, had to put down a Kedah rebellion to overthrow
other invaders. The coming of the Chola reduced the majesty of Srivijaya, which had
exerted influence over Kedah, Pattani and as far as Ligor. During the reign of Kulothunga
Chola I Chola overlordship was established over the Srivijaya province kedah in the late
11th century. The expedition of the Chola Emperors had such a great impression to
the Malay people of the medieval period that their name was mentioned in the corrupted
form as Raja Chulan in the medieval Malay chronicle Sejarah MelayaEven today the
Chola rule is remembered in Malaysia as many Malaysian princes have names ending
with Cholan or Chulan, one such was the Raja of Perak called Raja Chulan.

Avalokiteshvara statue found in Perak, 8th–9th century bronze.

39
 Pattinapalai, a Tamil poem of the 2nd century CE, describes goods from Kedaram heaped
in the broad streets of the Chola capital. A 7th-century Indian drama, Kaumudhimahotsva,
refers to Kedah as Kataha-nagari. The Agnipurana also mentions a territory known as
Anda-Kataha with one of its boundaries delineated by a peak, which scholars believe
is Gunung Jerai. Stories from the Katasaritasagaram describe the elegance of life in
Kataha. The Buddhist kingdom of Ligor took control of Kedah shortly after. Its
king Chandrabhanu used it as a base to attack Sri Lanka in the 11th century and ruled the
northern parts, an event noted in a stone inscription in Nagapattinum in Tamil Nadu and
in the Sri Lankan chronicles, Mahavamsa.
32.Decline of Srivijaya empire and inner fights of breakup vassal states (12th - 13th
century
At times, the Khmer kingdom, the Siamese kingdom, and even Cholas kingdom tried to
exert control over the smaller Malay states. [19] The power of Srivijaya declined from the
12th century as the relationship between the capital and its vassals broke down. Wars
with the Javanese caused it to request assistance from China, and wars with Indian states
are also suspected. In the 11th century, the centre of power shifted to Malayu, a port
possibly located further up the Sumatran coast near the Jambi River.[28] The power of the
Buddhist Maharajas was further undermined by the spread of Islam. Areas which were
converted to Islam early, such as Aceh, broke away from Srivijaya's control. By the late
13th century, the Siamese kings of Sukhothai had brought most of Malaya under their
rule. In the 14th century, the Hindu Java-based Majapahit empire came into possession of
the peninsula.[27]

33.Defeat and conversion to Islamic sultanates in 14th and 15th century

In the 14th century that first Islamic sultanate was established. The adoption of Islam in
the 14th century saw the rise of a number of sultanates, the most prominent of which was
the Sultanate of Malacca. Islam had a profound influence on the Malay people.
The Portuguese were the first European colonial powers to establish themselves on the
Malay Peninsula and Southeast Asia, capturing Malacca in 1511, followed by the Dutch
in 1641. However, it was the British who, after initially establishing bases
at Jesselton, Kuching, Penang and Singapore, ultimately secured their hegemony across
the territory that is now Malaysia. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 defined the
boundaries between British Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies (which became
Indonesia). A fourth phase of foreign influence was immigration of Chinese and Indian
workers to meet the needs of the colonial economy created by the British in the Malay
Peninsula and Borneo.[37]

34.European colonisation and modern era (16th century - present day)---

Colonisation commenced form European colonisation from 16th century and ended
in 19th century.

Indianised kingdoms in Philippines

Super kingdoms spanning several present day nations

40
 Srivijaya empire: a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom also included Luzon and Visayas, rival
of Mataram who also ruled Mindanao

Kingdom of Mataram: a Hindu kingdom rival of Buddhist Srivijara, its king

was Balitung mentioned in the Balitung inscription, spread across Java in southern
Indonesia and Sulu/Mindanao in southern Philippines

Locations of the archaic polities and sultanates in the Philippines (900-1521)

Luzon

Around Manila and Pasig river were 3 polities which were earlier HinduBuddhist, later
Islamic and then subsumed and converted to Catholicism by Spanish in 16th century

Namayan polity was confederation of barangays

Maynila (historical entity)

Rajah Sulayman (also Sulayman III, 1558–1575), Indianized Kingdom of Maynila

Rajah Matanda (1480–1572), ruler of the Indianized Kingdom of Maynila, together

with Rajah Sulayman was co-ruled Maynila, their cousin Lakan Dula ruled Tondo. Rajah
Sulayman was one of three kings that ruled parts of present-day Manila, and fought against
the Spanish Empire's colonisation of the Philippines

Tondo (Historical State) on Pasig river near Manila

41
Lakan Dula, was a raja who was cousin of Rajah Sulayman and Rajah Matanda

Laguna Copperplate Inscription, earliest known written document found in the Philippines,
in Indianized Kawi script with Sanskrit loanwords

Ma-i Buddhist kingdom of Mindoro island, from before 10th century till 14th century

1406–1576 Caboloan, was a sovereign pre-colonial Philippine polity located in the

fertile Agno River basin and delta, with Binalatongan as the capital.[39] The polity of
Pangasinan sent emissaries to China in 1406–1411.

Visayas

Rajahnate of Cebu at Singhapala (Mabolo in Cebu city on Mahinga creej) capital city in
southern Cebu island was Hindu-kingdom founded by Sri Lumay or Rajamuda Lumaya, a
minor prince of the Chola dynasty of India which occupied Sumatra. He was sent by
the Maharajah from India to establish a base for expeditionary forces, but he rebelled and
established his own independent rajahnate. Subsumed by Spanish in 16th century.

King Sri Lumay was half Tamil and half Malay, noted for his strict policies in defending
against Moro Muslim raiders and slavers from Mindanao. His use of scorched earth tactics to
repel invaders gave rise to the name Kang Sri Lumayng Sugbu (literally "that of Sri Lumay's
great fire") to the town, which was later shortened to Sugbu ("scorched earth").

Sri Bantug, king and successor son of Sri Lumay

Rajah Humabon, king and successor son of Sri Batung

Battle of Mactan on 27 April 1521 between Rajah Humabon and Ferdinand Magellan in
which Lapu-Lapu fought on side of Rajah, resulting in the death of Ferdinand Magellan.

Lapu-Lapu, warrior under Rajah Humabon, Lapu-Lapu fought Spanish

Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer on hired by Spanish empire

Rajah Tupas (Sri Tupas), nephew and successor of Rajah Humabon, last to rule the
kingdom before subsumed by Spanish Miguel López de Legazpi in the battle of Cebu
during 1565.

Caste system: Below the rulers were the Timawa, the feudal warrior class of the ancient
Visayan societies of the Philippines who were regarded as higher than
the uripon (commoners, serfs, and slaves) but below the Tumao (royal nobility) in the
Visayan social hierarchy. They were roughly similar to the Tagalog maharlika caste.
Lapu Lapu was a Timawa.

A crude Buddhist medallion and a copper statue of a Hindu Deity, Ganesha, has been
found by Henry Otley Beyer in 1921 in ancient sites in Puerto Princesa, Palawan and in

42
 Mactan, CebuThe crudeness of the artifacts indicates they are of local reproduction.
Unfortunately, these icons were destroyed during World War II. However, black and
white photographs of these icons survive.

Kedatuan of Madja-as of Panay island was a supra-baranganic polity from 14th century till
16th century until subsumed by Spanish, were migrants from North Sumatra in Indonesia
where they were rulers of Buddhist Srivihayan "kingdom of Pannai" (ruled 10 to 14th
century) which was defeated by Majapahit.

Mindanao

Kingdom of Butuan in northeast Mindanao, Hindu kingdom existed earlier than 10th century
and ruled till being subsumed by Spanish in 16th century

Golden Tara (Agusan image) is a golden statue that was found in Agusan del Sur in northeast
Mindanao.

Mount Diwata: named after diwata concept of Philippines based on the devata deity concept
of Hinduism

Sultanate of Lanao of Muslims in Maguindanao in northwestern Mindanao from 15th century

till present day

Sultanate of Maguindanao in Cotabato in far west Mindanao from split from Srivijaya Hindu
ancestors in 16th century and ruled till early 20th century, originally converted by sultan of
Johor in 16th century but maintained informal kinship with Hindu siblings who are now
likely Christians

Sultanate of Sulu in southwestern Mindanao, established in 1405 by a Johore-born Muslim

explorer, gained independence from the Bruneian Empire in 1578 and lasted till 1986. It also
covered the area in northeastern side of Borneo, stretching from Marudu Bay to Tepian
Durian in present-day Kalimantan.

Lupah Su sultanate, predecessor Islamic state before the establishment of Sultanate of Sulu.

Maimbung principality: Hindu polity, predecessor of Lupah Su]] Muslim sultanate. Sulu that
time was called Lupah Sug. The Principality of Maimbung, populated by Buranun
people (or Budanon, literally means "mountain-dwellers"), was first ruled by a
certain rajah who assumed the title Rajah Sipad the Older. According to Majul, the origins of
the title rajah sipad originated from the Hindu sri pada, which symbolises authority. The
Principality was instituted and governed using the system of rajahs. Sipad the Older was
succeeded by Sipad the Younger.

Indians in Philippines during colonial era

1762–1764 British Manila

43
 Battle of Manila (1762) by the East India Company's Indian soldiers
during Anglo-Spanish War (1761–63)

Cainta in Rizal: historic colonial era settlement of escaped Indians sepoys of

British East India Company

Indian Filipino: Filipino citizens with part or whole Indian blood

Key Indianised Hindu-Buddhist artifacts found in Philippines

Luzon

Laguna Copperplate Inscription in Luzon, earliest known written document found

in the Philippines, in Indianized Kawi script with Sanskrit loanwords

Palawan Tabon Caves Garuda Gold Pendant found in the Tabon caves in the
island of Palawan, is an image of Garuda, the eagle bird who is the mount
of Hindu deity Vishnu

Visayas

Rajahnate of Cebu Buddhist medallion and copper statue of Hindu Deity: A crude
Buddhist medallion and a copper statue of a Hindu Deity, Ganesha, has been
found by Henry Otley Beyer in 1921 in ancient sites in Puerto Princesa, Palawan
and in Mactan, Cebu. The crudeness of the artifacts indicates they are of local
reproduction. Unfortunately, these icons were destroyed during World War II.
However, black and white photographs of these icons survive.

Mindanao

Golden Tara (Agusan image) from Kingdom of Butuan in northeast Mindanao is a

golden statue that was found in Agusan del Sur in northeast Mindanao.

11th to 12th century

Year Date Event

1025 The region was invaded and occupied by Rajendra Chola of the Chola empire in

13th century

Year Date Event

44
1299 According to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura is founded by Sang N

14th century

Year Date Event

1320 The Mongol court sends a mission to obtain elephants from Long Ya Men

1330 The Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan visits Temasek and records an attack by Sia

1398 Parameswara, the last Srivijayan prince, flees from Temasek.

15th century

Year Date Event

1414 Temasek becomes part of the Sultanate of Malacca established by Parameswara.

16th century

Yea
Date Event
r

15
1511 Malacca fell and was sacked by Afonso de Albuquerque of Portuguese Empire.
August

45
An artist's impression of Parameswara, who ruled Singapore in the 1390s.
The Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolemy (90–168) identified a place called Sabana at the
tip of Golden Chersonese (believed to be the Malay Peninsula) in the second and third
century. The earliest written record of Singapore may be in a Chinese account from the
third century, describing the island of Pu Luo Chung . This is thought to be
a transcription from the Malay name "Pulau Ujong", or "island at the end" (of the Malay
Peninsula).
In 1025 CE, Rajendra Chola I of the Chola Empire led forces across the Indian Ocean and
invaded the Srivijayan empire, attacking several places in Malaysia and Indonesia. The
Chola forces were said to have controlled Temasek (now Singapore) for a couple of
decades. The name Temasek however did not appear in Chola records, but a tale
involving a Raja Chulan (assumed to be Rajendra Chola) and Temasek was mentioned in
the semi-historical Malay Annals
The Nagarakretagama, a Javanese epic poem written in 1365, referred to a settlement on
the island called Tumasik (possibly meaning "Sea Town" or "Sea Port").

Hindu-Buddhist kingdom (? - ~1511

The name Temasek is also given in Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals), which contains a tale
of the founding of Temasek by a prince of Srivijaya, Sri Tri Buana (also known as Sang
Nila Utama) in the 13th century. Sri Tri Buana landed on Temasek on a hunting trip, and
saw a strange beast said to be a lion. The prince took this as an auspicious sign and
founded a settlement called Singapura, which means "Lion City" in Sanskrit. The actual
origin of the name Singapura however is unclear according to scholars.
In 1320, the Mongol Empire sent a trade mission to a place called Long Ya
Men (or Dragon's Teeth Gate), which is believed to be Keppel Harbour at the southern
part of the island.[54] The Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan, visiting the island around 1330,
described Long Ya Men as one of the two distinct settlements in Dan Ma Xi (from
Malay Temasek), the other being Ban Zu (from Malay pancur). Ban Zu is thought to be
present day Fort Canning Hill, and recent excavations in Fort Canning found evidence
indicating that Singapore was an important settlement in the 14th century. Wang
mentioned that the natives of Long Ya Men (thought to be the Orang Laut) and Chinese
residents lived together in Long Ya Men. Singapore is one of the oldest locations where a
Chinese community is known to exist outside China, and the oldest corroborated by
archaeological evidence.
46
Sometime in its history, the name of Temasek was changed to Singapura. The Sejarah
Melayu (Malay Annals) contains a tale of a prince of Srivijaya, Sri Tri Buana (also known
as Sang Nila Utama), who landed on Temasek after surviving a storm in the 13th century.
According to the tale, the prince saw a strange creature, which he was told was a lion;
believing this to be an auspicious sign, he decided to found a settlement called Singapura,
which means "Lion City" in Sanskrit. It is unlikely there ever were lions in Singapore,
though tigers continued to roam the island until the early 20th century. However, the lion
motif is common in Hindu mythology, which was dominant in the region during that
period (one of the words for "throne" in the Malay language is "singgasana", meaning
"lion's seat" in Sanskrit), and it has been speculated that the "Singapura" name, and the
tale of the lion, were invented by court historians of the Malacca Sultanate to glorify Sang
Nila Utama and his line of descent.
Different versions of its history are told in Portuguese sources, suggesting that Temasek
was a Siamese vassal whose ruler was killed by Parameswara from Palembang.
Historians believe that during the late 14th century, Parameswara, the last Srivijayan
prince, fled to Temasek from Palembang after being deposed by the Majapahit Empire.
According to Portuguese accounts, Parameswara killed the local chief with the title Sang
Aji eight days after being welcomed into Temasek.

A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th
century.
By the 14th century, the empire of Srivijaya had already declined, and Singapore was
caught in the struggle between Siam (now Thailand) and the Java-based Majapahit
Empire for control over the Malay Peninsula. According to the Malay Annals, Singapore
was defeated in one Majapahit attack. The last king, Sultan Iskandar Shah (a prince of
Srivijaya empire, his Hindu name Parameswara before he was converted to Islam) ruled
the island for several years, before being forced to Melaka where he founded
the Sultanate of Malacca.[63] Portuguese sources however indicated that Temasek was a
Siamese vassal whose ruler was killed by Parameswara (thought to be the same person as
Sultan Iskandar Shah) from Palembang, and Parameswara was then driven to Malacca,
either by the Siamese or the Majapahit, where he founded the Malacca Sultanate. Modern
archaeological evidence suggests that the settlement on Fort Canning was abandoned
around this time, although a small trading settlement continued in Singapore for some
time afterwards.

Islamic sultanate (1511 - 1613

The Malacca Sultanate extended its authority over the island and Singapore became a part
of the Malacca Sultanate.[47] However, by the time the Portuguese arrived in the early 16th
century, Singapura had already become "great ruins" according to Alfonso de
Albuquerque.In 1511, the Portuguese seized Malacca; the sultan of Malacca escaped

47
south and established the Johor Sultanate, and Singapore then became part of the
sultanate which was destroyed in 1613.

British colony and modern era (19th century - present

The Portuguese however destroyed the settlement in Singapore in 1613, and the island
sank into obscurity for the next two centuries.

Map of South-east Asia c. 900 CE, showing the Khmer Empire in red and Haripunjaya in
light green.
Thailand's relationship with India spans over a thousand years and understandably
resulted in an adaptation of Hindu culture to suit the Thai environment. Evidence of
strong religious, cultural and linguistic links abound.

Propagation of Buddhism in Thailand by emperor Ashoka (3rd century BCE

Historically, the cultural and economic interaction between the two countries can be
traced to roughly around the 6th century B.C. The single most significant cultural
contribution of India, for which Thailand is greatly indebted to India, is Buddhism.
Propagated in Thailand in the 3rd century B.C. by Buddhist monks sent by King Asoka, it
was adopted as the state religion of Thailand and has ruled the hearts and minds of Thais
ever since. Presently 58,000,000 Thais, an overwhelming 94% of the total Thai populace
adheres to Buddhism. However, direct contact can be said to have begun only in the 3rd
century B.C. when King Asoka sent Buddhist monks to propagate Buddhism in the Indo-

48
Chinese peninsula. Besides Buddhism, Thailand has also adopted other typically Indian
religious and cultural traditions. The ceremonies and rites especially as regards the
Monarchy evidence a strong Hindu influence.

Sukhothai period: Settlement of Indian traders and Brahmins in Thailand (1275–

1350

The Indians who moved into Thailand in the Sukhothai period (1275–1350) were either
merchants who came to Siam or Thailand, for the purpose of trading or Brahmans who
played an important role in the Siamese court as experts in astrology and in conducting
ceremonies. The first group of Brahmans who entered Siam before the founding of
Sukhothai as the first capital of Siam (1275–1350) popularized Hindu beliefs and
traditions. During the Sukhothai period Brahman temples already existed. Brahmans
conducted ceremonies in the court. The concepts of divine kingship and royal ceremonies
are clear examples of the influence of Brahmanism.
The Coronation of the Thai monarch are practiced more or less in its original form even
up to the present reign. The Thai idea that the king is a reincarnation of the Hindu
deity Vishnu was adopted from Indian tradition. (Though this belief no longer exists
today, the tradition to call each Thai king of the present Chakri dynasty Rama (Rama is
an incarnation of Vishnu) with an ordinal number, such as Rama I, Rama II etc. is still in
practice.)

SukhAyutthaya period: Settlement of more Indian Tamil traders in Thailand (1350–

1767 CE

In the Ayutthaya kingdom era (1350–1767), more Tamil merchants entered the South of
the country by boat as evidenced by the statues of Hindu gods excavated in the South.

Later migration of Indians to Thailand (1855 CE - present day

After the year 1855, the Tamils who migrated to Thailand can be classified into three
groups according to the religion they believed in, namely, Hinduism, Buddhism, and
Islam.

Indian cultural influence on Thailand

The Kedah Annals also gives unreliable information on the sultans of Kedah. Listing the
first sultan of Kedah as Sultan Mudzafar Shah I centuries before the partitioning of
the Abbasid Caliphate into distinct sultanates and almost three centuries prior to the
contradicting claims of the Terengganu Inscription Stone. This claim also directly
contradicts the fact that the Buddhist Srivijaya kingdom was in direct control of Kedah at
the time that Sultan Mudzafar Shah I allegedly converted the region to a sultanate. Kedah
may have remained Hindu-Buddhist until the 15th century. The list of rulers of Kedah as
given here is based to some extent on the Kedah Annals beginning with the Hindu ruler
Durbar Raja I. According to the Kedah Annals, the 9th Kedah Maharaja Derbar Raja
converted to Islam and changed his name to Sultan Muzaffar Shah, thereby started the
Kedah Sultanate. A genealogy was compiled in the 1920s, Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri
Kedah Darul Aman or Kedah Genealogy. The historicity and the dating of the list of

49
rulers however is questionable as Kedah may have remained Hindu-Buddhist until the
15th century when its king converted to Islam.
History of Kedah

Map of the early Kadaha kingdom and the Early transpeninsular routeway//Ancient
artefact found in Kedah
Around 788 BCE, a systematic government of a large settlement of Malay native of
Kedah had already established around the northern bank of Merbok River. The state
consisted a large area of Bujang Valley, covering Merbok and Muda river branches about
1000 square miles area. The capital of the settlement was built at the estuary of a branch
of Merbok River, now known as Sungai Batu river. Around d 170 CE groups of Malay
native of Hindu faith from Sumatra and Java developed settlements in Malay Peninsula,
including Kedah, joining them soon were peoples from nearby islands and from the
northern Mon-Khmer region. At the same time traders from India, Persia and Arab,
arrived the brink of the Malacca Strait, using Gunung Jerai the Kedah Peak as marking
point. Ancient Kedah covered the areas of Kuala Bahang, Kuala Bara, Kuala
Qilah and Merpah, and the inhabitants of Kedah appointed Tan Derma Dewa and Tun
Perkasa as their village chiefs.
The king from Gombroon
According to At-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah, written by Muhammad Hassan bin Dato'
Kerani Muhammad Arshad, 1928, in about 630 CE, Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gombroon
(now known as Bandar Abbas) in Persia was defeated in battle and escaped to Sri Lanka,
and he was later blown off course by a storm to the remote shores of Kuala Sungai Qilah,
Kedah.[1] The inhabitants of Kedah found him to be a valiant and intelligent person, and
they made him the king of Kedah. In 634 CE, a new kingdom was formed in Kedah
consisting of Persian royalty and native Malay of Hindu faith, the capital
was Langkasuka.
Conversion to Islam
Based on the account given in Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (also known as the Kedah
Annals), the Sultanate of Kedah when King Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam

50
and adopted the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah. At-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri
Kedah described the conversion to Islamic faith was started in 1136 AD. However,
historian Richard Winstedt, quoting an Acehnese account, gave a date of 1474 for the
year of conversion to Islam by the ruler of Kedah. This later date accords with an account
in the Malay Annals where a raja of Kedah visited Malacca during the reign of its last
sultan seeking the honour of the royal band that marks the sovereignty of Malacca Empire
on a Muslim ruler.
1. Hindu era
2. The following is a list of kings of Kadaram, nine in total. Each used the Hindu
title of Sri Paduka Maharaja. The exact dates of each king's reign are not known.
3. Durbar Raja I (330–390)
4. Diraja Putra (390-440)
5. Maha Dewa I (440-465)
6. Karna Diraja (465-512)
7. Karma (512-580)
8. Maha Dewa II (580-620)
9. Maha Dewa III (620-660)
10. Diraja Putra II (660-712)
11. Darma Raja (712-788)
12. Maha Jiwa (788-832)
13. Karma II (832-880)
14. Darma Raja II (880-956)
15. Durbar Raja II (956–1136; succeeded as Sultan of Kedah, see below)
Source for the list of sultans is the Muzium Negeri Kedah, Alor Setar, Malaysia.
"The sultans of Kedah".
Nobat
The Nobat musical instruments of Nagara and Nepiri were introduced to Kedah by
Maharaja Derbar Raja. The instrument is also called semambu. The band is led by the
king, and it consists of drums, a gong, a flute and a trumpet. Today, Nobat is a Royal
orchestra, played only during royal ceremonies such as inaugurations, weddings, and
funerals. The building which houses the instruments and where the ensemble rehearses is
known as the Balai Nobat, literally the Office of Nobat, in Alor Setar city proper.
Chi Tu (other alternative spellings include Chihtu, Chitu or Ch-ih-
t'u; Sanskrit: Raktamaritika or Raktamrittika; Chinese: 赤土国, pinyin: Chì-tǔ-
guó; Malay language: Tanah Merah) was an ancient kingdom mentioned in the history of
China. The Sui Dynasty annals describe an advanced kingdom called Chi Tu in 607,
when Chang Chun was sent as an ambassador there. The location of Chi Tu was disputed
to be around Kelantan or Pahang state in Malay Peninsula, or in Songkhla and Pattani
Province of southern Thailand. The best evidence to support the Kelantan theory was
when the envoys left Chi Tu, the sail took 10 days to reach Champa, this indicates the
kingdom was located somewhere 'red earth' around the main river of Kelantan. The
inscribed Buddhagupta Stone found in Kedah mentioned a Raktamrttika, meaning "red
earth land".
he Chi Tu kingdom is believed to have existed as early as 100 BC to the 6th century
AD.The royal family's name was Chu-dan (which means Gautama Buddha) and the king
was Li-fo-duo-se. According to Chinese records, Chi Tu was built by kit mow (Mon-

51
Khmer) peoples who sailed from the coast of Funan (southern Indochina). Centuries later,
the local inhabitants, replaced Funan peoples. "... Chi Tu is a derivation nation of Funan,
located in within the southern sea, sailing hundred days to reach, the majority terrain was
red, thus named Red Earth Kingdom (Chi means red, Tu means earth). East bordering Po-
Lo-La, West bordering Po-Lo-So, South bordering Ho Lo Tan, thousands of square miles
in land area. The king has three wives and the kingdom embraced Buddhism ..."
Chi Tu kingdom along with Langkasuka, Kedah and others were early important trade
centers (approximately 100 BC to 700 AD). During this period, ships coming
from China and Funan (from Indian Ocean as well) stop at the coast of Malay Peninsula.
They get the local porters to transport the goods, using rafts, elephants and manpower
along the Early transpeninsular routeway and part of the ancient Spice Route (Sea Route).
By the 800 AD, the Chi Tu kingdom went into decline.
Location: Scholars do not agree on the location of Raktamaritika. While some consider it
in the area of Phatthalung / Songkhla area, or Kelantan.The ruins around the Songkhla
lake such as Bang Kaeo in Phatthalung or Sathing Phra in Songkhla then might be one of
the cities of Raktamaritika.
Sources from Indian scholars
J.L. Meons (1937) believed that early Srivijaya was located in Kelantan and K.A.
Nilakanta Sastri (1949) supported the idea. The Kelantan theory may not be far-fetched,
since Chinese Sui Dynasty annals of the 7th century describe an advanced kingdom called
Chi Tu or Raktamrittika (as in Kelantanese history) as being in Kelantan, which the name
was later changed to "Sri Wijaya Mala". The founding of Sri Wijaya Mala was 667 BC
with its capital called "Valai", and it was situated along the upper Kelantan river of
Pergau, known for its rich gold mines. It was until 570 BC that the kingdom changed its
name to Sri Wijaya.[
Songkhla vicinity theory
The inscription of the Buddhagupta Stone found in Kedah mentioned a Raktamaritika, the
meaning is red earth land, to be the home town of a seafarer named Buddhagupta.
The old name of Songkhla is Singgora (City of Lions), which coincides with the fact that
according to the Chinese chronicles the capital of Chitu was Sing-Ha (means lion) and
also the nearby Singhanakhon district.
This name may also be related to Tambralinga because there is "Tam" (means red) in this
name as same as Raktamaritika and Tampapanni. And this state has appeared in 642, the
same area of the central Malay peninsula after Chitu has already faded away from the
history. The best evidence supporting this theory is the mention that when the envoys left
Chitu, the sailing took 10 days to reach Champa, which indicates the kingdom was
located at the 'red earth' areas such as Rattaphum because Rattaphum means red earth as
well.
Kedah was a kingdom on the Malay Peninsula and an important early trade centre.] Early
west-coast trade centres are few in number as they were overshadowed by Kedah. Her
nearness to the entrances to the Straits of Malacca — and more importantly — being
on latitude 6° north of the equator, the same as Ceylon to the south of India, meant that
ships sailing the Bay of Bengal in a sea lane heading due east or west between the two
52
were in little danger of becoming lost. The early transpeninsular routeway is part of
the sea trade route of the Spice Route for Arab, Persian, Tamil Nadu and India-to-China
traders, as the route through the Straits does not seem to have been in general use. Early
sea traders from the west, upon reaching the coast, engaged porters to transport goods by
raft, elephant and man-carry along the rivers (Kelantan River, Pattani River, Pahang
River, Muda River, Bernam River, Muar River, and others) to the opposite coast.
The Sungai Muda in particular favoured the development of Kedah.
After the 7th century, Srivijaya subjugated Kedah, but due to her fame, Indian sources
continue to depict Kedah. Early Kedah also supplied its own tin, and jungle products such
as rattan, resin, honey, beeswax, elephants, ivory, areca nuts, sepang wood and black
woods, as well as profiting from tax collections.
The early history of Kedah can be traced from various sources, from the prehistoric
period to the archaeological site of Bujang Valley, the early maritime trade of India,
Persia, and the Arabs to the written works of early Chinese pilgrims and early Chinese
records, the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (known as Kedah Annals) to Al-Tarikh
Salasilah Negeri Kedah.
Origins: Austronesians began migrating to the Malay Archipelago approximately 3,500
years before present. It is now accepted that Taiwan is the cradle of Austronesian
languages. Some 4,000 years ago, Austronesian began to migrate to the Philippines.
Later, some of their descendants started to migrate southwards to what is now Indonesia
and eastwards to the Pacific islands.
Ancient history

Sketch of an 8th-century seafaring ship taken from Borobodur bas relief in central
Java, Indonesia/ Map of early sea trade route (in red) and the early transpeninsula
routeways of the Malay Peninsula //Flag of Kedah in the 18th century
Austronesians were great seafarers, colonising as far as New
Zealand, Hawaii and Madagascar. In some regions they intermarried with the local
inhabitants (Orang Asli), becoming the Deutero-Malays. Possibly as early as the 4th
century BCE, Austronesians started to sail westwards in search of new markets for their

53
products. They reached the eastern coast of southern India, initiating trade. Gradually,
rulers from western Indonesia began to adopt Tamil-Indian cultural and political models.
However, the earliest evidence of such models found so far have been dated to only the
early 5th century.
Some Greco-Roman merchants in the 1st century CE described huge non-Indian ships
coming from the east with rich cargoes, possibly from the Malay Archipelago. This
would indicate that the Malay participated actively in Indian Ocean trade, and likely
handled much of the traffic between Southeast Asia and India.

Three kinds of craft are described by the author of the Periplus: light coasting boats for
local traffic, larger vessels of a more complicated structure and greater carrying capacity,
and lastly the big ocean-going vessels that made the voyages to Malaya, Sumatra, and
the Ganges.[2]
Medieval history

Early in the Medieval era, Kedah became part of Srivijaya (the dominant Malay state and
a major power in the Indian Ocean trade). This led to rivalries with the Indian states,
especially the Chola Empire from the 9th to 13th centuries CE. The Cholas had a
powerful merchant and naval fleet in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. In the early
11th century, Tamil Chola King Rajendra Chola I sent an expedition to attack Kedah (Sri
Vijaya) on behalf of one of its rulers who sought his assistance to gain the throne.
In ancient Kedah there is an important and unmistakably Hindu settlement which has
been known for about a century now from the discoveries reported 1840s by Col. James
Low, later subjected to a fairly exhaustive investigation by Dr. Quaritch Wales. Dr. Wales
investigated no fewer than thirty sites round about Kedah . The results show this site was
in continuous occupation for centuries, by people who under strong South
Indian, Buddhist and Hindu influences.
An inscribed stone bar, rectangular in shape, bears the Ye Dharma Hetu formula[nb
1]
in South Indian characters of the 4th century CE, thus proclaiming the Buddhist
character of the shrine near the find-spot (site I) of which only the basement survives. It is
inscribed on three faces in Pallava script, or Vatteluttu rounded writing of the 6th century
CE, possibly earlier.[4] One of the early inscription stones discovered by James Low, at
Bukit Meriam and in Muda River, mention of Raktamrrtika. The
word Raktamrrtika means ‘Red Earth’ (Tanah Merah).
Inscriptions, both in Tamil and Sanskrit, relate to the activities of the people and rulers of
the Tamil country of South India. The Tamil inscriptions are at least four centuries
posterior to the Sanskrit inscriptions, from which the early Tamils themselves were
patronizers of the Sanskrit language.
In Kedah, an inscription in Sanskrit dated 1086 CE has been found. This was left
by Kulothunga Chola I (of the Chola empire, Tamil country). This too shows the
commercial contacts the Chola Empire had with Malaya.
An indigenous style develops

54
The Tamils coming from Southern India and the local Malays were already using the
rounded script, or Vatteluttu writing styles which differed from the Devanagari script
of Northern India. Vatteluttu was also commonly known as the Pallava script by scholars
of Southeast Asian studies such as George Coedes and D.G.E. Hall. The Tamil
script of Vatteluttu later evolved into Old Kawi script which was used in Java,
the Philippines, and Bali as well.
There are stone inscriptions which indicate that the Kedah region at 400 CE or before was
already an established trade centre. One of the early Malay texts include the karma verses
refers to a king named Ramaunibham, who may be the first local ruler whose name is
recorded in history. The history of this period showed the influence of Indian cultures on
the region while the locals in return, influenced the Indians in their living skills on the sea
and in the hills.
Setul, officially the Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara was a traditional Malay
kingdom founded in the northern coast of Malay Peninsular. The state was established in
1808 in wake of the partition between the rulers in the Royal House of Kedah. The
partition witnessed the territory being seceded to the cadet branch of the royal family. The
sovereignty of the kingdom effectively ended in 1916, following the dissolution by
the Siamese government. Her borders was largely inherited to her successive province,
the present-day Satun, Thailand.

Liberation of Kedah

Kuban Pasu

Gua Kerbau, the historic training camp for the Kedahan militia during the Siamese
occupation of Kedah.
While slowly receiving the confidence of the Siamese administrator, Tunku Anum also
began to recruit local Malay militia in Gua Kerbau, Bukit Keplu, located in present-
day Kodiang. The regiment was trained with the aim to combat the Siamese colonial
powers. While leaving his forces behind in Gua Kerbau, he went to the Ligor court with a
recommendation letter. He managed to gain further respect and trust of the Ligor
governor during his diplomatic visit in the territory.
During his mission in Ligor, the Malay militia began to launch an offensive against the
Siamese troops in Alor Ganu, near Anak Bukit. Desperate, Nunchit sent a letter to his
father, the Governor of Ligor to request aid to qualm the rebellion. While the ruler of
Ligor mobilise its troops down south, he also offered Tunku Anum as his representative
in Kedah, hoping that his expertise in the domestic governance and politics can subjugate
the rebellion.

55
Tunku Anum politely refused the position as the Ligor representative in Kedah. Believing
that if he accepted the offer, Kedah shall be forever remained under the Siamese
occupation and he will be reduced as a mere puppet monarch. As the battle escalated in
Kedah, the Siamese again requested military assistance from Ligor. Only this time, due to
the soaring cost of war, the huge number of deaths and the spreading of deadly diseases in
the military camp, the Siamese decided to withdraw their military presence in Kedah,
with a requirement that Kedah shall send Bunga Mas and Bunga Perak procession to
Siam every 3 years. Thus, liberating the state against the Siamese occupation.
The King of Kubang Pasu

Sungai Tunku Anum in Kubang Pasu. The river was named in honour of the late king for
his efforts on developing the territory, including improving the irrigation system of the
river.
Tunku Anum also led the restoration of the monarchy system in Kedah following the end
of Siamese occupation in the kingdom.[3][6] Upon the return of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin
after his exile in Malacca, he awarded Tunku Anum with 24 districts
from Tunjang to Sendawa, with Pulau Pisang in Jitra as its capital, for his instrumental
role in liberating Kedah. He ascended the throne in 1839 and bestowed the honorific title
of Darul Qiyam "the sovereign state" to the kingdom.
Kubang Pasu was met with an unprecedented growth during his rule with the construction
of various development projects in the area, including a judicial court, fortified defence
system, prison, religious schools and land office. [7] The area then prospered as a centre for
trade and rice production. He also ordered the construction of local factory which paved
ways for the textile industry in the area now known as Pulau Kain and improved the
irrigation system of the local river, presently called as Sungai Tunku Anum (Tunku Anum
River). The land titles and grants transaction made during this era also bore the seal of
Kubang Pasu.
Reunification with Kedah
Tunku Anum ruled the kingdom for 17 years before his death in 29 May 1853 in Istana
Kota Pulau Pisang, the palatial residence of Kubang Pasu. His demise was widely
believed to caused by the devastation upon the earlier death of his son in 1848. He was
laid to rest in Kubang Pasu Royal Cemetery, Pekan Tunjang. A narration of his life was
written nearby his tomb.
In 31 May 1853, Tunku Ishak, was proclaimed as the King of Kubang Pasu, while Tunku
Muhammad Saman was appointed as the Raja Muda (crown prince) of the kingdom, both
princes are the grandsons of Tunku Anum. [6] In contrast to Tunku Anum, Tunku Ishak
was known to be a rather unpopular monarch with his subjects and other ministers due to
various bitter policy that he promulgated. Following various resistant movement by the
populace during his 10-year reign, the king was forced to abdicate his position as a
monarch and reunifying the area into Kedah on 10 November 1864, effectively marking
the end of the Kubang Pasu Kingdom.

56
 CHAPTER IX
The YING & YANG of the SANJAY& SHAILENDRA DYNASTY

Sanjaya dynasty was an ancient Javanese dynasty that ruled the Mataram kingdom in Java
during first millennium CE. The dynasty was an active promoter of Hinduism in ancient Java.
ORIGIN
According to Canggal inscription, this dynasty appears to have been founded in 732 by
Sañjaya. The Canggal inscription was discovered in Canggal village, Southwest from the
town of Magelang. This inscription was written in south Indian Tamil Pallava letters and tells
about the erection of a linga (symbol of Shiva) on the hill in Kunjarakunja area. This area is
located at a noble island called Yawadwipa (Java) which is blessed with abundance of rice
and gold. This inscription tells that Yawadwipa was reigned by King Sanna, whose long
period of reign was marked with wisdom and virtue. After king Sanna died, the kingdom fell
into disunity. Confusion was widespread due to loss of a ruler and patron. Amidst
this, Sanjaya ascended to the throne. According to this inscription, he was the son
of Sannaha, who is described as the sister of King Sanna. Sanjaya was a king who mastered
holy scriptures, martial arts, and also military prowess. He conquered neighboring areas
around his kingdom and his wise reign blessed his land with peace and prosperity for all his
subjects.[2]
According to Carita Parahyangan (a book from later period which mainly tells the history
of Sunda Kingdom), Sanjaya was instead the son of King Sanna and Sannaha. This
relationship of King Sanna and Sanjaya was not provided in the Canggal inscription. It also
mentions that King Sanna was defeated by his cousin, King Purbasora of Galuh, and so, he
had to retreat to Mount Merapi. Later, Sanjaya reclaimed Sanna's kingdom and ruled West
Java, Central Java, East Java, and Bali. He was also involved in battle
with Malayu and Keling (against their king Sang Srivijaya).
Apart from minor differences, the main theme of Carita Parahyangan corresponds to Canggal
inscription. This story suggested the links of the dynasty with West Java.
Shailendra relations
There are some theories regarding the Sañjaya-Sailendra relationship. Some scholars
suggested that there is no such things as Sanjaya dynasty, since there was only one dynasty
called Sailendra that ruled central Java. This theory was proposed by Poerbatjaraka and
suggested that there was only one kingdom and one dynasty; the kingdom is called Medang
with the capital in Mataram area, and the ruling dynasty is Sailendra. He holds that Sanjaya
and all of his offspring were belongs to Sailendra family that initially were Shivaist.

57
Another suggests that the Sañjaya dynasty then was forced to the north of Java by
the Sailendra dynasty, which emerged around 778. The evidence for this event is based on
the Kalasan inscription. During this period, the Sañjaya dynasty existed next to Sailendra
dynasty in Central Java, and much of the period was characterized by peaceful co-existence
and cooperation.

The association of Sailendra with Mahayana Buddhism began after the conversion of Raja
Sankhara (Rakai Panaraban or Panangkaran) to buddhism.[3] The later Sailendran kings,
successors of Panangkaran become Mahayana Buddhist too and gave Buddhism royal
patronage in Java until the end of Samaratungga reign. This theory was based on Raja
Sankhara Inscription (now missing), Sojomerto inscription and Carita
Parahyangan manuscript. Shivaist Hindu gain royal patronage again since the reign of
Pikatan, well until the end of the Medang kingdom.

Another evidence pointed that Sailendra family was using old Malay language in some of
their inscriptions, which suggested Sailendra dynasty's foreign origin in Sumatra and their
connections with Srivijaya. This theory holds that the Sailendras, with their strong
connections to Srivijaya, managed to gain control of Central Java and imposing overlordship
on the Rakais (local Javanese lords) including the Sañjaya, thus incorporated the kings of
Mataram Sañjaya dynasty in their bureaucracy. The center of the dynasty court seems to be
located in South Kedu (around Magelang, North of Yogyakarta).

Kingdoms of Java maintain a close relationship with Champa kingdom in mainland Southeast
Asia since at least the reign of Sañjaya dynasty . Like the Javanese, the Cham are
Indianized Austronesian people. An example of relationship can be seen in architectural
features in Cham temples, that have many similarities with architectural styles of temples in
central Java that was built during the reign of Sañjaya dynasty.
Rakai Pikatan
Rakai Pikatan, who was the crown prince of the Sañjaya Dynasty,
wedded Pramodhawardhani (833–856), a daughter of Samaratungga, king of Sailendra. From
that time onwards, the influence of Sañjaya, who was a Hindu adherer, began to emerge in
Mataram, replacing the Buddhist Sailendra. Rakai Pikatan toppled king Balaputra, son of
Samaratungga, also the brother of Pramodhawardhani. As a result, in 850, the Sañjaya
Dynasty was the sole ruler in Mataram. This ended the Sailendra presence in Central Java and
Balaputra retreated to Srivijaya in Sumatra, where he became the paramount ruler.[4]
The information about Sañjaya Dynasty is also found in the Balitung inscription dated 907.
According to the Balitung inscription – when a ruler died, they transformed into a divine
form. From this inscriptions, the scholars estimated the possible sequence of the ruling kings
of Sañjaya dynasty:[5]: 88–89, 91, 92, 108, 126–127

 Sanjaya (732—760)
 Panangkaran (760—780)
 Panungalan (780-800)
 Samaragrawira(Rakai Warak) (800—819)
 Rakai Garung (819—838)
 Rakai Pikatan (838—850)

58
 Rakai Kayuwangi (850—898), also known as Lokapala
 Balitung (898—910)
It was also during the reign of the Sañjaya dynasty, the classic Javanese literature blossomed.
The translations and adaptation of classic Hindu literatures into Old Javanese was conducted,
such as the Kakawin Ramayana. Around 850s, Pikatan initiated the construction of
the Prambanan temple in Central Java, later completed and expanded extensively by king
Balitung. Prambanan temple complex is one of the largest Hindu temple in Southeast-
Asia and its greatness rivalled Borobudur, which happened to be the biggest Buddhist
temple in the world.
The successions of Sañjaya kings after Balitung are:

 Daksa (910—919)
 Tulodong (919—924)
 Wawa (924—929)
 Mpu Sindok (929—947)
In 929, Mpu Sindok moved the court of Mataram from Central Java to East Java. It is not
entirely clear the actual reasons of the movement. There are some possible reasons; an
eruption of Merapi volcano, the power struggle, or political pressure from Sailendran based
in Srivijaya Empire may have caused the move.
The shift to East Java marked the end for the Central Javanese Sañjaya dynasty, and from
then on a new dynasty named the Isyana Dynasty emerged in East Java.

Duel Dynasty Theorey of the Structure with the SHAILENDRAS

The remarkable creators of the Borobudur Temple and Prambanan Temple and How the
Buddhist and Hindu were built

59
The bas relief of 8th century Borobudur depict a King sitting in Maharajalilasana (king's posture or royal ease) pose,
with his Queen and their subjects, the scene is based on Shailendran royal court.

The expansion of Indian civilization "to those countries and islands of the Orient where
Chinese civilization, with strikingly similar aspirations, seemed to arrive ahead of it," is
one of the outstanding events in the history of the world, one which has determined the
destiny of a good portion of mankind.

"Mother of wisdom gave her mythology to her neighbors who went to teach it to the whole
world. Mother of law and philosophy, she gave to three-quarters of Asia a god, a religion,
a doctrine, an art. She carried her sacred language, her literature, her institutions into
Indonesia, to the limits of the known world, and from there they spread back to
Madagascar and perhaps to the coast of Africa, where the present flow of Indian
immigrants seems to follow the faint traces of the past."

Sylvain Levi, L'lnde civilisatrice: Apergu historique (Paris, 1938), p. 136.

Introduction: The two most remarkable sites to visit around Yogyakarta would be
Borobudur Temple the remarkable creation of the Shailendra dynasty and Prambanan
Temple. Besides Bali, Borobudur Temple is the most visited tourist destination in Indonesia.

The Builders: Shailendra dynasty :

The Shailendra (meaning "Lord of the Mountain" in Sanskrit) dynasty was the name of a
notable Indonesian dynasty that emerged in 8th century Java whose reign marked a cultural
renaissance in the region. The Shailendras were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism and
covered the Kedu Plain of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, one of which is the
colossal stupa of Borobudur, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The name may have been
associated with the volcanic mountains of Central Java. The name of the dynasty (Sailendra-
vamsa) is first attested in the Candi Kalasan Inscription dated 778. The Sailendra practiced
intensive rice cultivation and had an administrative hierarchy which controlled the allocation
of water for irrigation. The Sailendra dynasty held the concept of the "Dewa-Raja" (God-
King), the belief that the King had divine power as a living god among his subjects. Though

60
their economy was based on rice cultivation, they had access to ports on the northern coast of
Java and maintained commercial and marital ties with the Srivijaya kingdom in southern
Sumatra. The Sailendra participated in the Spice Route trade between China and India, but
their level of participation never rivaled that of Srivijaya.

The Shailendras are considered to be a thalassocracy and ruled maritime Southeast Asia,
however they also relied on agriculture pursuits through intensive rice cultivation on
the Kedu Plain of Central Java. The dynasty appeared to be the ruling family of both
the Medang Kingdom of Central Java for some period and Srivijaya in Sumatra.

The inscriptions created by Shailendras uses three languages; Old Malay, Old
Javanese and Sanskrit, written either in the Kawi alphabet or pre-Nāgarī script. The use of
Old Malay has sparked the speculation of a Sumatran origin or Srivijayan connection of this
family; on the other hand, the use of Old Javanese suggests their firm political establishment
on Java. The use of Sanskrit usually signifies the official nature and religious significance of
the event written on the inscription.

Although the rise of the Shailendras occurred in Kedu Plain in the Javanese heartland, their
origin has been the subject of discussion. Apart from Java itself; an earlier homeland in
Sumatra, India or Cambodia has been suggested. The latest studies apparently favor a native
origin of the dynasty. Despite their connections with Srivijaya in Sumatra and Thai-Malay
Peninsula, the Shailendras were more likely of Javanese origin.

Except for its legacy of monuments, little is known of the dynasty. It apparently emanated
from the agricultural lowlands of interior Java but extended its real power to the north-
western coasts of the island, from which its emissaries traded with and raided the Malay
peninsula and Indochina.

According to the traditional account, the Sailendra kingdom came to an abrupt end when a
prince from the rival Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty, named Rakai Pikatan, displaced them in 832.
Rakai Pikatan, who was the crown prince of the Sanjaya Dynasty, married
Pramodhawardhani, a daughter of Samaratunga, king of Sailendra.

Hindu and Buddhist Kingdoms of Java: In the late 8th and early 9th centuries, Java
observed rivalries between two dynasties- one Buddhist and the other Hindu.

1.The Sailendra or Shailendra dynesty who were Hindus who had risen in Southern Java
since 779, and
2. The first four Sanjaya Dynasty lines after King Sanjaya (Panangkaran, Panunggalan,
Warak and Garung), which was known as the Amrati Kings-were Buddhists-competed over
their power and religious influences with the Sailendras princes.
3. Only an isolated kingship in the east of Java, Gajayana, appeared to have control over the
Mount Kawi region in 760 .

61
Although relationship between the Amrati Kings with Sailendra was important at that time,
the rivalries between the two is still unclear. From the Kalasan and Ratu Boko inscriptions,
there were stated that Panangkaran granted permission requested by the collective guru of the
Sailendra king to build Buddhist sculptures, shrines and monasteries in honor to the goddess
Tara. The construction was built under Panangkaran's supervision, but was supported by
Sailendra's expenses. In order to show his respect to the guru, Panangkaran consented the
building of the shrine by giving the village of Kalasan to the Buddhist community. So
apparently there was friendly give and take between the two

Shailendra dynasty produced a ruler of Mataram Kingdom between AD 760—775, King

Panangkaran whose formal regnal name was Mahārāja dyāḥ Pañcapaṇa kariyāna
Paṇaṃkaraṇa - the king of, the kingdom of which its power centralized on Java island of
Indonesia. He was Crowned as Rakai Panangkaran, and was the immediate successor of Sri
Sanjaya, the founder of Sanjaya Dynasty as mentioned in the Kalasan inscription. The name
of Panangkaran is mentioned in the Balitung charter (found in the Kedu Plain area) as the line
of kings who were named as the 'builders of ‘Krton'- which is a generic name for a palace
type structure.

The Shailendra dynasty from Sanskrit combined words Śaila and Indra, meaning "King of
the Mountain",also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) was the name of a
notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century Java, whose reign signified a cultural
renaissance in the region. The Shailendras were active promoters
of Mahayana Buddhism with the glimpses of Hinduism, and covered the Kedu
Plain of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, one of which is the

62
colossal stupa of Borobudur, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (See Dr Uday Dokras’
book Celestial Mysteries of the Borobodur Temple on academia.edu)

The Shailendras are considered to have been a thalassocracy and ruled vast territories of
maritime Southeast Asia, however they also relied on agricultural pursuits, by way of
intensive rice cultivation on the Kedu Plain of Central Java. The dynasty appeared to be the
ruling family of both the Medang Kingdom of Central Java, for some period, and
the Srivijaya Kingdom in Sumatra.
Decoding Inscriptions: To throw some light on these mysterious characters llet us examine
some inscriptions. The inscriptions created by Shailendras use three languages; Old
Malay, Old Javanese, and Sanskrit - written either in the Kawi alphabet, or pre-Nāgarī script.
The use of Old Malay has sparked speculation of a Sumatran origin, or Srivijayan connection
of this family. On the other hand, the use of Old Javanese suggests their firm political grip.

A. The Sojomerto inscription (c. 725) discovered in Batang Regency, Central Java,
mentioned the name Dapunta Selendra and Selendranamah. The name 'Selendra' was
another spelling of Shailendra, suggested that Dapunta Selendra was the progenitor of
Shailendra family in Central Java. [6] The inscription is Shaivist in nature, which
suggests that the family was probably initially Hindu Shaivist before converting
to Mahayana Buddhism.

B. The earliest dated inscription in Indonesia in which clearly mentioned the dynastic
name of Śailēndra as Śailēndravamśatilaka appears is the Kalasan inscription (778)
of central Java, which mention its ruler Mahārāja dyāḥ Pañcapaṇa kariyāna
Paṇaṃkaraṇa and commemorates the establishment of a Buddhist
shrine, Candi Kalasan, dedicated for the goddess Tara.

C. The name also appears in several other inscriptions like the Kelurak inscription (782)
and the Karangtengah inscription (824). Outside Indonesia, the name Shailendra is to
be found in the Ligor inscription (775) on the Malay peninsula and Nalanda
inscription (860) in India. It is possible that it was Paṇaṃkaraṇa that create the
Chaiya, or Ligor inscription (775), and took control over Srivijayan realm in the
Southern Thailand Malay Peninsula.

Although the rise of the Shailendras occurred in Kedu Plain in the Javanese heartland, their
origin has been the subject of discussionApart from Java itself; an earlier homeland
in Sumatra, India or Cambodia has been suggested. The latest studies apparently favour a
native origin of the dynasty. Despite their connections with Srivijaya in Sumatra and Thai-
Malay Peninsula, the Shailendras were more likely of Javanese origin.
India Connect: According to Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, an Indian scholar, the Shailendra
dynasty that established itself in the Indonesian archipelago originated from Kalinga in
Eastern India. This opinion is also shared by Nilakanta Sastri and J. L. Moens. Moens further
describes that the Shailendras originated in India and established themselves
in Palembang before the arrival of Srivijaya's Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa. In 683, the
Shailendras moved to Java because of the pressure exerted by Dapunta Hyang and his troops.

Sumatra connect: Other scholars hold that the expansion of Buddhist kingdom
of Srivijaya was involved in the rise of the dynasty in Java. Supporters of this connection
emphasize the shared Mahayana patronage; the intermarriages and the Ligor inscription. Also
the fact that some of Shailendra's inscriptions were written in old Malay, which suggested

63
Srivijaya or Sumatran connections. The name 'Selendra' was first mentioned in Sojomerto
inscription (725) as "Dapunta Selendra". Dapunta Selendra is suggested as the ancestor of
Shailendras. The title Dapunta is similar to those of Srivijayan King Dapunta Hyang Sri
Jayanasa, and the inscription — although discovered in Central Java north coast — was
written in old Malay, which suggested the Sumatran origin or Srivijayan connection to this
family.

Java Connect: Another theory suggests that Shailendra was a native Javanese dynasty and
the Sanjaya dynasty was actually a branch of the Shailendras since Sri Sanjaya and his
offspring belong to the Shailendra family that were initially the Shaivist rulers of the Medang
Kingdom. The association of Shailendra with Mahayana Buddhism began after the
conversion of Panaraban or Panangkaran to Buddhism. This theory is based on the Carita
Parahyangan, which tells of the ailing King Sanjaya ordering his son, Rakai Panaraban or
Panangkaran, to convert to Buddhism because their faith in Shiva was feared by the people in
favor of the pacifist Buddhist faith. The conversion of Panangkaran to Buddhism also
corresponds to the Raja Sankhara inscription, which tells of a king named Sankhara
(identified as Panangkaran) converting to Buddhism because his Shaiva faith was feared by
the people. Unfortunately, the Raja Sankhara inscription is now missing.

Discounted proposal: In 1934, the French scholar Coedes proposed a relation with
the Funan kingdom in Cambodia.( See further on ) Coedes believed that the Funanese rulers
used similar-sounding 'mountainlord' titles, but several Cambodia specialists have discounted
this. They hold there is no historical evidence for such titles in the Funan period.

Borobudur, the largest Buddhist structure in the world.

The Shailendra rulers maintained cordial relations, including marriage alliances
with Srivijaya in Sumatra. For instance, Samaragrawira married Dewi Tara, a daughter of
Srivijayan Maharaja Dharmasetu. The mutual alliance between the two kingdoms ensured
that Srivijaya had no need to fear the emergence of a Javanese rival and that the Shailendra
had access to the international market.

Karangtengah inscription dated 824 mentioned about king Samaratungga. His daughter
named Pramodhawardhani has inaugurated a Jinalaya, a sacred buddhist sanctuary. The
inscription also mentioned a sacred Buddhist building called Venuvana to place the cremated
ashes of King Indra. The Tri Tepusan inscription dated 842 mentioned about the sima (tax
free) lands awarded by Śrī Kahulunan (Pramodhawardhani, daughter of Samaratungga) to
ensure the funding and maintenance of a Kamūlān called Bhūmisambhāra.Kamūlān itself
from the word mula which means 'the place of origin', a sacred building to honor
the ancestors. These findings suggested that either the ancestors of the Shailendras were
originated from Central Java, or as the sign that Shailendra have established their holds on
Java. Casparis suggested that Bhūmi Sambhāra Bhudhāra which in Sanskrit means "The
mountain of combined virtues of the ten stages of Boddhisattvahood", was the original name
of Borobudur.

The received older version holds that the Shailendra dynasty existed next to the Sanjaya
dynasty in Java. Much of the period was characterized by peaceful co-existence and
cooperation but towards the middle of the 9th century relations had deteriorated. Around 852
the Sanjaya ruler Pikatan had defeated Balaputra, the offspring of the Shailendra monarch
Samaratunga and princess Tara. This ended the Shailendra presence in Java and Balaputra
retreated to the Srivijaya kingdom in Sumatra, where he became the paramount ruler.

64
Earlier historians, such as N.J. Krom and Coedes,
equate Samaragrawira and Samaratungga as the same person. However, later historians such
as Slamet Muljana equate Samaratungga with Rakai Garung, mentioned in Mantyasih
inscription as fifth monarch of Mataram Kingdom. Which means Samaratungga was the
successor of Samaragrawira, and Balaputradewa that is also Samaragrawira's son, is
Samaratungga's younger brother and ruled in Suvarnadvipa (Sumatra), and he is not
Samaratungga's son. This version holds Balaputra that reign in Sumatra challenged the
Pikatan-Pramodhawardhani legitimation in Java, arguing that his niece and her husband has
less rights to rule Java compared to his.

In 851 an Arabic merchant named Sulaimaan recorded an event about

Javanese Sailendras staging a surprise attack on the Khmers by approaching the capital from
the river, after a sea crossing from Java. The young king of Khmer was later punished by the
Maharaja, and subsequently the kingdom became a vassal of Sailendra dynasty. In 916 CE,
a Javanese kingdom invaded Khmer Empire, using 1000 "medium-sized" vessels, which
results in Javanese victory. The head of Khmer's king then brought to Java.

Shailendra in Sumatra: After 824, there are no more references to the Shailendra house in
the Javanese ephigraphic record. Around 860 the name re-appears in the Nalanda
inscription in India. According to the text, the king Devapaladeva of Bengala (Pala Empire)
had granted 'Balaputra, the king of Suvarna-dvipa' (Sumatra) the revenues of 5 villages to a
Buddhist monastery near Bodh Gaya. Balaputra was styled a descendant from the Shailendra
dynasty and grandson of the king of Java. From Sumatra, the Shailendras also maintained
overseas relations with the Chola kingdom in Southern India, as shown by several south
Indian inscriptions. An 11th-century inscription mentioned the grant of revenues to a local
Buddhist sanctuary, built in 1005 by the king of the Srivijaya. In spite the relations were
initially fairly cordial, hostilities had broken out in 1025. Rajendra Chola I the Emperor of
the Chola dynasty conquered some territories of the Shailendra Dynasty in the 11th
century. The devastation caused by Chola invasion of Srivijaya in 1025, marked the end of
Shailendra family as the ruling dynasty in Sumatra.

The last king of Shailendra dynasty — the Maharaja Sangrama Vijayatunggavarman — was
imprisoned and taken as hostage. Nevertheless, amity was re-established between the two
states, before the end of the 11th century. In 1090 a new charter was granted to the old
Buddhist sanctuary, it is the last known inscription with a reference to the Shailendras. With
the absence of legitimate successor, Shailendra dynasty seems ceased to rule. Other family
within Srivijaya mandala took over the throne, a new Maharaja named Sri Deva according to
Chinese source establishing new dynasty to rule Srivijaya. He sent an embassy to the court of
China in 1028.

CE.Shailendra in Bali: Sri Kesari Warmadewa was said to be a Buddhist king of the
Shailendra Dynasty, leading a military expedition, to establishing a Mahayana Buddhist
government in Bali. In 914, he left a record of his endeavour in the Belanjong
pillar in Sanur in Bali. According to this inscription Warmadewa dynasty was probably the
branch of Shailendras that rule Bali.

Family gtree: Traditionally, the Shailendra period was viewed to span from the 8th to the 9th
century, confined only in Central Java, from the era of Panangkaran to Samaratungga.
However the recent interpretation suggests the longer period of Shailendra family might

65
existed, from mid 7th century (edict of Sojomerto inscription) to early 11th century (the fall
of Shailendran dynasty of Srivijaya under Chola invasion). For certain period, Shailendras
ruled both Central Java and Sumatra. Their alliance and intermarriage with Srivijayan ruling
family resulted with the merging of two royal houses, with Shailendran finally emerge as the
ruling family of both Srivijaya and Medang Mataram (Central Java).

Some historians tried to reconstruct the order and list of Shailendra rulers, although there is
some disagreement on the list. Boechari tried to reconstruct the early stage of Shailendra
based on Sojomerto inscription, while other historians such as Slamet Muljana and
Poerbatjaraka tried to reconstruct the list of Shailendran king in middle and later period with
their connections to Sanjaya and Srivijaya, based on inscriptions and Carita
Parahyangan manuscript. However, there is some confusion occurred, because the Shailendra
seems to rule many kingdoms; Kalingga, Medang and later Srivijaya. As the result name of
the same kings often overlapped and seens to rule these kingdoms simultaneously.

King's or Stone inscription and

Dat
ruler's Capital source of historical Event
e
name account
The Shaivist old Malay-
speaking family began
to settle in coastal
Sojomerto inscription (c. 670 Central Java, suggested
c. 650 Santanu ?
—700) of Sumatran origin (?)
or native Javanese
family under Srivijayan
influences (vassal)
Establishing ruling
Batang
family, the first time the
Dapunta (Central Sojomerto inscription (c. 670
c. 674 name 'Selendra'
Selendra Java north —700)
(Shailendra) was
coast)
mentioned
Kalingga, Carita Parahyangan, Chinese
somewhere account on Hwi-ning visits
674— Ruling the kingdom
Shima (?) between Pek to Ho-ling kingdom (664) and
703 of Kalingga
alongan and the reign of queen Hsi-
Jepara mo (674)
Son-in-law of Shima,
703— Mandiminyak
? Carita Parahyangan ruling the kingdom
710 (?)
of Galuh
Sanna ruled Java, but
Canggal after his death the
710—
Sanna ? inscription (732), Carita kingdom fell to chaotic
717
Parahyangan disunity by usurper or
foreign invasion
717— Sanjaya Mataram, Canggal Sanjaya, the nephew (or
760 Central Java inscription (732), Carita son?) of Sanna restore

66
 King's or Stone inscription and
Dat
ruler's Capital source of historical Event
e
name account
the order and ascend to
throne, some early
historian took this event
as the establishment of
Parahyangan new Sanjaya Dynasty,
while other hold that
this only the
continuation of
Shailendras
Rakai Panangkaran
Raja Sankhara
converted from
760— Rakai Mataram, inscription, Kalasan
Shaivism to Mahayana
775 Panangkaran Central Java inscription (778), Carita
Buddhism, construction
Parahyangan
of Kalasan temple
Also ruled Srivijaya in
Sumatra, construction
of Manjusrigrha temple,
Kelurak
775— Mataram, started the construction
Dharanindra inscription (782), Ligor
800 Central Java of Borobudur (c. 770),
inscription (c. 782 or 787)
Java ruled Ligor and
Southern Cambodia
(Chenla) (c. 790)
800— Samaragrawira[ Mataram, Also ruled Srivijaya,
18]:92–93 Ligor inscription (c. 787)
812 Central Java lost Cambodia (802)
Also ruled Srivijaya,
812— Mataram, Karangtengah
Samaratungga completion of
833 Central Java inscription (824)
Borobudur (825)
833— Pramodhaward Mamrati, Shivagrha inscription (856) Defeated and
856 hani co-reign Central Java expelled Balaputra to
with her Srivijaya (Sumatra).
husband Rakai Construction
Pikatan of Prambanan and Plaos
an temple. The
successors of Pikatan,
the series
of Medang kings from
Lokapala (850—890)
to Wawa (924—929)
could be considered as
the continuation of
Shailendra lineage,
although
King Balitung (898—
910) in Mantyasih

67
 King's or Stone inscription and
Dat
ruler's Capital source of historical Event
e
name account
inscription (907) sought
ancestor only as far as
Sanjaya, thus enforced
the Sanjaya
dynasty theory.
Defeated by Pikatan-
Pramodhawardhani,
expelled from Central
Srivijaya, Shivagrha Java, took refuge in
833—
Balaputradewa South inscription (856), Nalanda Sumatra and
850
Sumatra inscription (860) rule Srivijaya, claim as
the legitimate successor
of Shailendra dynasty
from Java
Śri Srivijaya, Sending embassies,
Embassies to China (960 and
c. 960 Udayadityavar South tribute and trade
962)
man Sumatra mission to China
Srivijaya, Sending embassies,
Haji (Hia-
c. 980 South Embassies to China (980–983) tribute and trade
Tche)
Sumatra mission to China
Sending embassies,
tribute and trade
mission to China,
Srivijaya, Embassies to China (988-992- Javanese
Sri Cudamani
c. 988 South 1003), Tanjore Inscription or King Dharmawangsa in
Warmadewa
Sumatra Leiden Inscription (1044) vasion on Srivijaya,
building of temple for
Chinese Emperor, gift
of village by Raja-raja I
Sri Srivijaya, Sending embassies,
c. 1008 Maravijayottun South Embassies to China (1008) tribute and trade
gga Sumatra mission to China (1008)
Srivijaya, Sending embassies,
c. 1017 Sumatrabhumi South Embassies to China (1017) tribute and trade
Sumatra mission to China (1017)
Sangrama Srivijaya, Chola raid on Srivijaya,
Chola Inscription on the
c. 1025 Vijayatunggav South the capital captured
temple of Rajaraja, Tanjore
arman Sumatra by Rajendra Chola

Relationships: There are some theories regarding the Sañjaya-Sailendra relationship. Some
scholars suggested that there is no such things as Sanjaya dynasty, since there was only one
dynasty called Sailendra that ruled central Java. This theory was proposed by Poerbatjaraka
and suggested that there was only one kingdom and one dynasty; the kingdom is called

68
Medang with the capital in Mataram area, and the ruling dynasty is Sailendra. He holds that
Sanjaya and all of his offspring were belongs to Sailendra family that initially were Shivaist.
Another suggests that the Sañjaya dynasty then was forced to the north of Java by the
Sailendra dynasty, which emerged around 778. The evidence for this event is based on the
Kalasan inscription. During this period, the Sañjaya dynasty existed next to Sailendra dynasty
in Central Java, and much of the period was characterized by peaceful co-existence and
cooperation.

The association of Sailendra with Mahayana Buddhism began after the conversion of Raja
Sankhara (Rakai Panaraban or Panangkaran) to buddhism. The later Sailendran kings,
successors of Panangkaran become Mahayana Buddhist too and gave Buddhism royal
patronage in Java until the end of Samaratungga reign. This theory was based on Raja
Sankhara Inscription (now missing), Sojomerto inscription and Carita Parahyangan
manuscript. Shivaist Hindu gain royal patronage again since the reign of Pikatan, well until
the end of the Medang kingdom.
Another evidence pointed that Sailendra family was using old Malay language in some of
their inscriptions, which suggested Sailendra dynasty's foreign origin in Sumatra and their
connections with Srivijaya. This theory holds that the Sailendras, with their strong
connections to Srivijaya, managed to gain control of Central Java and imposing overlordship
on the Rakais (local Javanese lords) including the Sañjaya, thus incorporated the kings of
Mataram Sañjaya dynasty in their bureaucracy. The center of the dynasty court seems to be
located in South Kedu (around Magelang, North of Yogyakarta).

Campa: Kingdoms of Java maintain a close relationship with Champa kingdom in mainland
Southeast Asia since at least the reign of Sañjaya dynasty . Like the Javanese, the Cham are
Indianized Austronesian people. An example of relationship can be seen in architectural
features in Cham temples, that have many similarities with architectural styles of temples in
central Java that was built during the reign of Sañjaya dynasty.

Rulers of Central Java: who was the crown prince of the Sañjaya Dynasty, wedded
Pramodhawardhani (833–856), a daughter of Samaratungga, king of Sailendra. From that
time onwards, the influence of Sañjaya, who was a Hindu adherer, began to emerge in
Mataram, replacing the Buddhist Sailendra. Rakai Pikatan toppled king Balaputra, son of
Samaratungga, also the brother of Pramodhawardhani. As a result, in 850, the Sañjaya
Dynasty was the sole ruler in Mataram. This ended the Sailendra presence in Central Java and
Balaputra retreated to Srivijaya in Sumatra, where he became the paramount ruler.
The information about Sañjaya Dynasty is also found in the Balitung inscription dated 907.
According to the Balitung inscription – when a ruler died, they transformed into a divine

69
form. From this inscriptions, the scholars estimated the possible sequence of the ruling kings
of Sañjaya dynasty:
 Sanjaya (732—760)
 Panangkaran (760—780)
 Panungalan (780-800)
 Samaragrawira(Rakai Warak) (800—819)
 Rakai Garung (819—838)
 Rakai Pikatan (838—850)
 Rakai Kayuwangi (850—898), also known as Lokapala
 Balitung (898—910)
It was also during the reign of the Sañjaya dynasty, the classic Javanese literature blossomed.
The translations and adaptation of classic Hindu literatures into Old Javanese was conducted,
such as the Kakawin Ramayana. Around 850s, Pikatan initiated the construction of the
Prambanan temple in Central Java, later completed and expanded extensively by king
Balitung. Prambanan temple complex is one of the largest Hindu temple in Southeast-Asia
and its greatness rivalled Borobudur, which happened to be the biggest Buddhist temple in
the world.
The successions of Sañjaya kings after Balitung are:
 Daksa (910—919)
 Tulodong (919—924)
 Wawa (924—929)
 Mpu Sindok (929—947)

Decline: In 929, Mpu Sindok moved the court of Mataram from Central Java to East Java. It
is not entirely clear the actual reasons of the movement. There are some possible reasons; an
eruption of Merapi volcano, the power struggle, or political pressure from Sailendran based
in Srivijaya Empire may have caused the move.
The shift to East Java marked the end for the Central Javanese Sañjaya dynasty, and from
then on a new dynasty named the Isyana Dynasty emerged in East Java. 2
With the flourishing of cultures in Rome, India and China at the turn of the millennium into
the common era my traders in Southeast Asia became rich. This was epitomized by the
Khmer kingdom of Funan. However with the fragmentation of Rome combined with civil
wars in China demand dropped precipitously and the Funan kingdom languished. In the 6th
and 7th century trade began to flourish again. This was after the disastrous Chinese civil wars
of the Three Kingdoms era and at beginning of the Sui dynasty followed immediately by the
powerful and long lasting Tang dynasty.

The Straights of Malacca: Although trade with China was beginning to grow again after
their civil wars, it did not return to the Gulf of Thailand. Instead exchange of goods between
East and West channeled through my islands.
The westward side of my Gulf of Thailand is called the Malay Peninsula. Just south of this
peninsula is a long and narrow island called Sumatra. The island begins midway up the
peninsula and extends an equivalent distance past the end of the peninsula. Between Sumatra
and the peninsula are the Straits of Malacca. The Straits of Malacca are the only way from
India and the West to the Gulf of Thailand, which connects up with China and the East of
Asia. It is a narrow corridor whose trade winds correspond to the alternation of the
monsoons. Beyond Sumatra is another long skinny island called Java, which we shall also
visit. These islands are part of the Indonesian archipelago.

Palembang

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We mentioned how Hinduism and Buddhism was spread throughout the land of Southeast
Asia due to the influence of Indian traders. The Buddhism that was being spread from India
was mixed up heavily with Hinduism, as it preceded the Theravada purifications that were
coming. Because of this Indian influence and inspiration a Indianized kingdom with
maharajahs began to emerge at a trading port in southern Sumatra on the way from the Bay of
Bengal to the Gulf of Thailand.( See Chapter,,)
The name of the port was Palembang. As well as being an important port it was also an
important religious center as well. It was an entrepôt for the spread of religious ideas between
India and China. As early as the 7th century it was visited by Chinese and Indian devotees to
study doctrines and copy manuscripts in institutions that rivaled those in India. Due to the
importance of Palembang as a cultural and trade center wealth began to accumulate.

Capturing the China trade

Palembang supplanted Vyadhapura of Funan as the new entrepôt. There were multiple
reasons behind this transformation. So as not to lose perspective in the discussion that follows
India was the dominant influence in Palembang, just as it was in Funan. Chinese Buddhists
were traveling to Palembang to get Indian information, not vice versa. The Indian influence
on the kingdom based at Palembang on the island of Sumatra was considerable.
However in terms of trade, the Western market was still weak due to wars in and around the
Mediterranean. Rome was collapsing and had yet to be replaced by anything comparable. On
the other hand the China market was expanding due to an expanding economy resulting from
peace and internal consolidation that occurred during the Tang dynasty. Sensitive to
possibilities the traders from the East Indies were interested in capturing the growing Chinese
market. That was where the money was to be made.
As mentioned earlier as a warrior culture the ruling class in China were not supposed to
engage in trade. Further the Chinese considered themselves the center of the civilized world.
As evidence there is no word for China in Chinese. Instead they call themselves the Middle
Kingdom. What this meant was that traders from other kingdoms and cultures were meant to
visit China - not the other way around.
In the Chinese imperial mind the rest of the world consisted of vassal states that were meant
to pay tribute. As matter of interest this condition persisted into the modern era up until the
20th century. The Chinese were not meant to explore and trade. They were so superior that
they were brought tribute and gave out presents. Hence at this point in history the Chinese
were not traders although they supplied manufactured goods to traders. Shanghai and Taiwan
then as now were trading ports where huge volumes of merchandise changed hands. The
main difference was that all the traders were foreign barbarians because the Chinese were not
allowed by custom to leave China.
The Austronesian sailors from my islands, who had spent centuries on the sea, were glad to
provide this function to China. They sailed into Chinese ports with foreign goods to supply
the Chinese appetite and purchased Chinese goods for resale in their ports to Indian
merchants. To accommodate this big customer and capture her exclusive trade rights, the
entrepôt of Palembang in Sumatra pledged obeisance to China as a vassal state. This meant
that her foreign trade was treated as tribute, and the goods they received in exchange were
merely considered imperial presents. By stroking the Chinese imperial ego the Palembang
traders, like the Funanese before them, were able to dominate that enormous market. To
further sweeten the pot and attract the Chinese pilgrims, Palembang began to stress China’s
Mahayana Buddhism over Hinduism.
With this mass infusion of funds being funneled into Sumatra a great Empire began to grow.
Based in Palembang it was called the Srivijaya Empire. It began in the 7th century and lasted

71
into the 13th century. It laid many foundations for the politics and religion in Southeast Asia,
which we shall explore.

One of the other causes of their growth as an Empire was that the traders of Palembang began
to control the Straits of Malacca. They were the first empire to do so, but not the last. With
the control of the Straits of Malacca all trade between the East and West was channeled
through their hands. The Srivijaya Empire became the entrepôt between East and West.
This Palembang/Srivijaya Empire as it is sometimes called eventually grew to have a loose
control over the islands of Java and Sumatra, as well as the Malay peninsula. However they
ruled by prestige rather than by military power.

Cooperation and Mandala Politics in Eastern Asia

Southeast Asia: “Enough advertising. Back to my story. You’re set up enough of a contrast.
In your part of the world military domination combined with cultural propaganda is the rule.
But not in mine.
In order to understand the political organization of the Srivijaya Empire we need to explore
the mandala kingdom or empire. All the modern nation states are based upon clearly defined
property boundaries. Real estate is of primary importance in terms of tax collection as well as
property rights. Each modern country has clearly defined borders with a clearly defined
citizenry. Alternately the mandala state of Eastern Asia has no specific territory, as its
influence emanates from the center. Rather than defending the perimeter, the idea is to
strengthen the center.
With this type of political organization strict boundaries don’t exist. Instead power emanates
from the center. This power is based upon military and cultural prestige. The country is
defined by the capital. The spheres of influence are determined by the vassal states on the
perimeter who pay tribute to the king or emperor in the center. In return for tribute the
supreme ruler provides military protection and certain privileges.

In the case of the Srivijaya Empire, they were provided with exclusive trading rights with the
Chinese Empire in exchange by becoming one of her vassal states. In such a way the
Srivijaya Empire was part of the Chinese Empire in terms of the organization. Similarly the
kingdom of Funan was provided trade privileges when they pledged obeisance and tribute to
China.
.”
Cooperating with China created the entrepôt port of Palembang and the Srivijaya Empire.
This was another kingdom with vassal states, who were also rewarded for cooperating. Hence
although the Srivijaya Empire had an Indianized political structure, it had the Chinese
mandala system for its Empire.
“Cooperate and you will be rewarded,” seemed to be the mantra that Srivijaya used with its
vassal islands. The Arab historians don’t ever mention piracy in their trading ventures in the
East Indies during these times. It seems that then as now that cultures that depend on trade
realize that safety is good for all. The positive side of trade is that it thrives on peace.
This maritime empire seems to have had only a limited army. They based their empire on
positive reinforcement - through cultivation of business contacts, rather than the negative
reinforcement of domination by military prowess.
Because power emanates in concentric circles from the center, there is a fluid, rather than
fixed, field of power. This means that if the center is weak the boundaries of influence
collapse. Vice versa when the center is strong the boundaries expand. This organization
applies to the religious sphere as well as the political. Under the political system the

72
theoretical boundaries are continually shifting depending on who gives the best deal and has
the most prestige rather than on who has the biggest army.”
Military domination of the sea was extremely difficult at this time. There was no equivalent
to the military technology of bronze combined with the chariot and horse - which allowed the
complete domination of one culture by another in the land based cultures. Because military
domination was impossible in these island kingdoms the cultures instead relied upon
cooperation and bribery.

Stability of Chaos
Despite the fact that these borders and spheres of influence were incredibly fluid, or perhaps
because of, these empires and kingdoms were incredibly stable. The Srivijaya Empire wasn’t
urbanized, didn’t have many cities, didn’t have a big army, didn’t occupy a capital
continuously, and didn’t have clearly defined territories and yet it lasted nearly 700 years.
Further its influence continues to modern times. Its impact has extended itself through time as
well as through geography. Indra’s Order was not able to keep our Dragon’s Chaos down.
The Empire survived by trade and agriculture rather than military prowess. It was not a
territorial unit, as much as capital based. In the case of Srivijaya Palembang was its center.
However when Palembang was attacked and conquered by the Chola Empire about 1000, it
was in no ways the end of Srivijaya, they simply moved their capital elsewhere and continued
for another 300 years. Similarly when the barbarians from the Central Asian steppes attacked
and defeated the Chou dynasty of China in their own capital, they didn’t capitulate or
disintegrate, they simply moved their capital south across the Yangtze River to get away.
They also continued for another 300 years.
The Sailendra Dynasty & Borobudur
My cultures were hit from two directions because of the alternation of the monsoons. When
the winds blew one way it would bring the Indian traders and their culture in and the Chinese
home. When it blew the other way it would bring the Chinese and their culture back and the
Indian traders home. This cycle exposed my island cultures to both Chinese and Indian
culture. As we’ve mentioned one of these cultural meeting points was at Palembang, where
Chinese, Hindu, and local scholars congregated to study Hindu and Buddhist thought.
Another place that became a cultural spreading center of both Buddhism and Hinduism was a
plateau on Java ruled by the Sailendra dynasty, a vassal state to the Srivijaya Empire.
Common culture of India binds my region
Indian influence had reached Indonesia in the 1st century AD, but the first Indianized
kingdoms emerged in west Java, Sumatra and Borneo in the middle of the millennium from
the 3rd to 6th centuries. There was a certain prestige associated with the adoption of Indian
political forms. It was also a convenient way of shifting loyalties and energies from the clan
and family to the greater nation.
Prior to this the people of my islands and my mainland all participated in a cult of ancestors.
This spirit or ancestor worship seems to be a universal among your species. While we land
masses are very rooted already, honoring the spirits of your forefathers allows you ephemeral
humans to sink some roots into the past. It gives you a sense of continuity that extends past
your short century on the planet.
Of course the problem with this clan worship is that it tends to separate you from other clans
or tribes because you worship different spirits. This sense of difference frequently
degenerates into aggression and warfare. One way of joining disparate tribes was through the
worship of national heroes. In this way the patriotism of the nation replaces the tribalism of
ancestor worship. Of course the larger nations tend to separate themselves into warring
groups because they too worship different spirits.

73
The next globalization of this innate spirit worship has to do with worshipping the same gods.
Hence the tribes of my area could all worship the same Hindu gods, This religious
universality not only bound them to their nation but also to my entire territory, as well. Thus
India’s maharajah system combined with their Hindu gods united my humans in a way that
they never had been before. My central Java kingdom, who were speaking a Austronesian
dialect, communicated directly with the contemporary Khmer kingdom of Chenla, who spoke
a Austroasiatic dialect. Both these kingdoms and more were in constant cultural contact with
both Sri Lanka, the Tamils of southern India, and the Burmese, who spoke respectively an
Indo Aryan, Dravidian, and Sino-Tibetan language. Thus the culture of India connected clans,
tribes and nations who spoke languages from 5 different language families. Note these are not
dialects; they are more different than Spanish and English.
Of course the next stage of human belligerence has to do with competing universal gods
connected to competing nation spirits. This is the modern state of affairs. Hence the Christian
nations have been battling the Muslim nations which have been battling the Jewish nation for
over a thousand years. When they stop the religious wars they revert to wars of nationalism.
You humans are certainly an aggressive species. It is almost as if there is nothing to fight
over, you will find something.
Unfortunately your modern cult of science has killed all the spirits of your ancestors, the
spirits of nations, and the gods, which leaves you poor pathetic humans rootless, swept away
by the latest fad or political idea. Your innate sense of family loyalty which connects you
with past and future has been washed away by a supposedly scientific rational nationalism -
which threatens to destroy my planet - for your species at least. Better to root yourself in my
Earth and extend your spine to the Heavens to maintain an autonomy from the mob mentality
that seems to dominate your behavior - leading you to your demise - like a moth to a flame.

The Javanese God-kings first Devarajas

The valley between the Progo and Opak Rivers in the central valley of Java, is one of the
most bountiful on earth because of lava and volcanic ash that falls regularly from Mount
Merabi and other volcanic mountains in the vicinity. The farmers have a guaranteed surplus
with which to supply the needs of an Empire. And they did. While power has gradually
shifted to the northwest coast, the kingdoms of Java began and extended from this
agricultural center. The ancient city of Yogyakarta, noted on the map on page 211, was a
locus for human emergence.

This fertile plateau was the birthplace of devarajas, god-kings. In a Sanskrit inscription from
684 AD to commemorate the building of a park we have the first clear cut example of a ruler
presenting himself as a divine religious leader. In this King’s prayer, he assures the reader
that building this park will bring merit to all involved. He goes on to say that while disloyalty
to the king brings death that obedience brings eternal bliss. In such a way these rulers aligned
themselves with the gods in bringing agony or ecstasy to their populace. If the ruler
manifested divine qualities then those around him were attracted to his court and kingdom.
This idea was the foundation of the mandala kingdom.

74
The Javanese were worshippers of Shiva, called Shaivites - presumably because of the many
active volcanoes on Java and on the surrounding islands. Shiva, one of the three main gods of
Hinduism, was noted for being an ascetic, as well as the god of destruction. As such he was
considered the consummate Yogi. Hence these Kings were also ascetics like Shiva.
The Javanese, being of a flexible mind, were also Buddhists. Under the influence of
Mahayana Buddhism this god-king became a Bodhisattva, a divine being who was meant to
assist people on their path to enlightenment. Whether on my mainland or my islands, my
kings have regularly played the role of the compassionate one, the Bodhisattva - providing
the means of personal salvation to others.

As such they attempted to maintain their country as a holy land, by providing an environment
where religion could flourish. This was a huge responsibility. It meant keeping the peace,
protecting religious sites, encouraging spiritual practices such as purification and scriptural
study, and teaching his people about the religious significance of life on the earth. Along
these lines my Bodhisattva Kings were meant to help his subjects along the spiritual path by
providing them with opportunities for spiritual advancement and growth.

Borobudur - architectural Buddhism

One such ‘opportunity’ was supporting the king by helping in the construction of temples. In
this way they could earn religious merit. There are even inscriptions which reveal that local
Javanese princes ‘cheerfully’ participated in these projects. rather than being required to by
law. The rulers of the Sailendra dynasty manifested the concept of the devaraja on a grand
scale. During their rule they constructed many religious monuments designed to instruct their
people and the following generations to enter on the path to enlightenment. The most famous
of these monuments is Borobudur, a Buddhist masterpiece of superior grandeur and beauty.
Consisting of 1.3 million stone blocks, it was carved and constructed by 50,000 Javanese
over 50 years. At 115 feet tall atop a 403 foot square, it is still the largest Buddhist stupa in
the world.
This area became historical in 732 CE, when a Hindu noble, Sanjaya, established a kingdom
called Mataram in one of the fertile central valleys of Java. In 775 CE his kingdom began
construction on a monument to commemorate the introduction of Hinduism to Java - near the
confluence of the Progo River and its tributaries. Ten years later this Hindu kingdom was

75
replaced by the Buddhist Sailendra dynasty, vassals to the Srivijaya Empire. Accordingly
they shifted the orientation of the temple to Buddhism. It took 50 more years to complete this
architectural monument at Borobudur. Revered for less than 200 years, it seemed to have
been buried by volcanic ash in the 11th century, possibly by an eruption of one of the many
active volcanoes. It was lost until the Dutch discovered and uncovered it in 1907.

Although Borobudur is built in the style of the Indian tjandis with a pyramidal structure, the
Javanese introduced their own innovations. The Indian tjandis were meant to house the gods -
provide them a home - a resting spot - a sophisticated spirit house. However Borobudur was
not just meant as a memorial or shrine of the gods, a place of worship. Instead it was meant to
be an architectural representation of Buddhist philosophy. It was designed to represent
complex metaphysical theories. At this level it was completely original. As such it provided
the pattern for Angkor.

The temple mountain at Borobudur, like the Indian tjandi, was constructed from a solid mass
of stone, 2 million cubic feet around small hill, with little or no interior space - certainly no
internal shrines. (In contrast the Khmer temples of Angkor are noted for their vast amount of
empty space created by structural pillars.)

Based upon the supreme mystical power of the mandala, Borobudur has 10 stories
corresponding with the 10 stages until Buddhist Enlightenment. The first level is the entry
level. The next five are associated with the 5 Buddhas which represent the entire external
Universe - the vajra-dhatu - the realm of total reality. This group of 5 Buddhas is familiar in
the diverse areas of Tibet, Japan, and northeast India. These levels are all squarish, having a
zigzag external design on their corners which is similar to the Hindu yantra.
The next three levels are all circular terraces with stupas on top. They represent the 3
Buddhas of the esoteric tradition associated with Tantric Buddhism - the garbha-dhatu - the
womb of innermost secrets. The 10th level is empty, representing the final goal of

76
Enlightenment, the abandonment of attachment to Form. This is the Void of the Vairocana
Buddha.
On the walls of each level there are sculptured relief panels, 1500 over all, which represent
the trials and traps on the journey to enlightenment. The zigzag corridors and prescribed
direction concealed the Buddhist statuary so that the adherent wouldn’t be dsitracted by what
lay ahead and could focus upon the lesson at hand. Thus on one level the entire monument is
a Buddhist teaching device.
The Sacred Mountain
On another level this enormous pyramid is meant to be viewed as a sacred mountain. The
sacred mountain has many parallels in religion. The most immediate is Mount Meru of Hindu
mythology. Frequently these tjandis, upon which Borobudur was based, were meant to be
temporal representations of Mount Meru, a mythical mountain in the center of the Universe,
which connects god and man.
This merged neatly with native beliefs. As with many early cultures the Javanese had always
worshipped sacred places. Seeing as how their central plane had 6 active volcanic mountains,
ranging in height from 6000 to over 10,000 feet, the Javanese had great respect for
mountains. Mount Merabi, an active volcano in the vicinity of Borobudur, had already been
dedicated to Shiva - the entire mountain, not just a temple.

Javanese Devaraja contrasted with other god kings

Hence in constructing this mountain temple, the king was fulfilling his role as Bodhisattva.
This public project established this idea on many planes simultaneously. As Bodhisattva, the
king was constructing a teaching device to aid in the quest for enlightenment for his people.
The king was also building this sacred mountain to establish his correspondence with the
gods. Finally he was providing an external circumstance where a maximum of his subjects
could earn merit towards enlightenment by service to their king, who was actually god or
Buddha on earth.

The Javanese devaraja - their god/king is to be differentiated from the Pope or Mohammed
who are merely meant to be God’s representatives rather than God or Allah himself. The

77
Roman and Chinese Emperors were worshipped in their own right as divine beings. However
in each of these circumstances the ruler was worshipped as one of many gods, not as the god.
Indeed there has always been a tendency, even today, for humans to worship a powerful ruler
as a link between the divine and temporal world. This is expressed in the idea of fulfilling
manifest destiny or the divine right of kings in the West or as the Mandate of Heaven in
China. These manifestations of godlike powers are on the political plane only, while my
devarajas manifest on the spiritual plane.

Many god kings in the rest of the world built elaborate burial shrines as a testament to their
power on earth. As examples we have the Egyptian pyramids or the burial mounds of the
Chin Emperor of China. In contrast Borobudur was not meant to glorify the Javanese king in
any way. It was not meant as form of king worship or as a burial shrine. As a monument it
was and is merely meant to spread Buddhism.
The Javanese notion of Bodhisattva-king puts a greater spiritual responsibility upon the
royalty than in the aforementioned circumstances. While in the Chinese tradition the Emperor
has the duty to rule well, as expressed through Confucianism, this does not include assisting
his subjects in their quest for enlightenment. The rulers in the west may have been
worshipped but it was only for their manifestation of external power and nothing to do with
their role as a spiritual leader. In many tribes there existed a chief and a shaman, one to deal
with the political the other to do with the spiritual. In modern times we have priests and
politicians. While the political and religious leader of a culture merges from time to time into
one person, most of the time he is thought of as a representative of the gods rather than as a
god himself. In Java this was different. The king was not just representing the gods, he was
the god himself. This wouldn’t bear so much attention except that this idea of devaraja -
god/king, was continued by the Khmer in Cambodia and then in Thailand, even up to the
present.

Connection between Devaraja and the Ramayana

Where did the idea of devaraja come from? Who knows?

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We will offer one plausible explanation, which has no scholarly foundation whatsoever. Only
the wealthy classes could read. Therefore the sophisticated ideas of Buddhism or Hinduism
could not be read by the bulk of the people. To remedy this situation the stories of Hinduism
were spread because they could be understood by all. One of the most widely disseminated
stories of all time, as we’ve mentioned earlier in this lengthy tome, was and is the Ramayana.
To refresh your memory Rama is a prince who is an incarnation of Vishnu, one of the
supreme gods of Hinduism. Vishnu incarnates to save the world of humans as well as the
world of the gods. This story told over and over, dramatized, sculpted, and painted,
inculcated the consciousness of entire cultures. Inspired by this powerful literature the
populace would hope that their King would be the incarnation of Vishnu and the King might
think himself a divine incarnation.

In the West Either God Or Man: In the East a Continuum

Again let us stress the difference between East and West. In the Biblical West there is an
unbridgeable gulf between God and human, while in the East there is a continuum between
god and man. The whole Vishnu story is based on regular divine incarnation. In some ways
Buddhism could be called the Way for Everyman to move up the continuum to achieve
Divinity.
In the Biblical West we have an Either/Or Polarity based upon the man/god duality, while in
Asian East we have a Both/And Continuum. In this Eastern sense Jesus’ statement that he
was the son of God would have just meant that he was closer than the rest of us. In fact it has
been suggested that he studied in the East in India, where he might been exposed to the
Man/God Continuum. If this was the case then modern Christianity is based upon a colossal
misunderstanding. When Jesus said that he was the son of god, he was actually only
affirming humanity’s connection with divinity. God is in all of us. We are only attempting to
realize our God nature - our Buddha nature. Jesus was successful.

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Hinduism refers to uncovering the divinity within, Buddhism talks about realizing our own
true nature, Taoism speaks about constantly purifying in order to allow our Self to manifest
as purely as possible and Yoga emphasizes the need to transcend the Duality. The Sailendra
kings who produced Borobudur were of this nature to a greater extent. On this continuum
their subjects and the king himself considered that he had purified enough to have reached
this sacred state. Indeed the Sailendra kings also worshipped Shiva as another manifestation
of Buddha. Shiva was considered the god of the Ascetic, who was a Yogi, who had
transcended the Duality. Hence the yogi/king could experience reality directly because he had
transcended the Verbal Duality through a rigorous program of meditation and practicing
austerities. This is Yoga - restraint. Through the practice of Yoga the king realized his
Buddha nature - In the realization of his Buddha nature, he naturally manifested as a
Bodhisattva in this world. This could be called the purified human or it could be called god-
like. It pretty much amounts to the same thing. To reiterate the Javanese king practiced Yogic
asceticism in order to cleanse his inner self of all the social accretions so that he could lead
his population to the enlightenment of Bodhisattva-hood.

Mandala Self vs. Territorial Self

The mandala organization of the country and empire was further reflected in the pyramid
architecture. This huge monument was the central point of the spiritual empire. The mandala
conception of the self is quite different than what we will call the territorial conception of the
self. The territorial sense of self is the traditional one. We are our Body. The mandala sense
of self says that we are the point where our consciousness is. The body is merely one of our
spheres of influence rather than really being our self. Our self is merely the point of
consciousness - which is everything, rather than being the external body, which is merely an
emanation from the middle. Just as the mandala empire was maintained by treating her
subjects well, similarly the mandala self is maintained by treating the body well rather than
by ignoring her needs. Both emanate from the center to influence those around by virtue of
the personal power that it is generated internally.
In order to generate personal power, the internal self must be pruned of excess ballast that
will sink the boat or prevent the balloon from rising to the Heavens. Focusing an entire
culture on creating a spiritual masterpiece upon the Earth is to transform the whole culture
into a Bodhisattva. Hence the Sailendra dynasty generated a Bodhisattva culture, which
attempted to assist all of humanity in their quest to polish their luminous Egg of cultural
accretions so that they could manifest clearly. However the more that the Self or Self-Culture
grasps territoriality as the foundation of personal boundaries the greater the reduction in
spiritual power because it is just too fat to resonate with the Universal harmonies.

Java’s Prambanam temple complex

While the Sailendra Dynasty lasted less than 100 years, they also built other religious
monuments on this fertile mountain plateau. To indicate the direct borrowing from Indian
architecture, one was called Tjandi Ngawen and the other Tjandi Mendut.
The Sailendra Dynasty, who had their roots in the Sumatran based Srivijaya Empire,were
peaceful invaders. The Sanjaya family who they had replaced were not destroyed. They had
simply moved to the sidelines. With the ascendancy of the Sailendra Dynasty the Sanjaya
family bowed out to become a vassal state on their perimeter. With the decline of the
Sumatran dynasty the Sanjaya family reasserted control over the valley in the middle of the
9th century and the Sailendra court moved to Sumatra.
Legend has it that a Sanjaya prince married a Sailendra princess to become king. Because of
the paucity of historical information, it is not clear if his was a military takeover or if he were

80
merely stepping in to fill a power vacuum. Because religious construction normally comes to
a halt during times of military stress we prefer the second explanation.
The temple building frenzy continued unabated under this renewed Hindu kingdom of
Mataram for another 30 years. It was not even close to being over yet. Under the Mahayana
Buddhism of the Sailendra dynasty the Hindu worship of Shiva and Vishnu was not
eliminated or even suppressed.
Similarly the other way around. The Sanjaya family, showing typical Javanese tolerance,
created some more Buddhist temples, Candi Sari and Candi Plaoson. Close by on the same
plateau they also went on to build some Hindu temples called the Prambanam complex.
There was no decline in quality. They continued to create the first class art of Java. Here is a
map of all the temples that were created during this century.

In opposition to the moral didacticism of Buddhism, symbolized by relatively squat

Borobudur, these Hindu temples, dedicated to Shiva, Hindu literature and aesthetics, soared
skyward. As contrasted with the Buddhist tjandis many of these had interior space and
included sculpture in the round. One of the most impressive of these is called Lara Janggrang.
It was built about 900 CE. It is a colossal work meant to represent Mount Meru, the cosmic
mountain of Hinduism. It reminds one of the temples of Angkor with its vegetal lotus
structure shown below.

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size perspective here is someone at one of the entryways.

Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, the three gods of Hinduism are all represented. It also includes
representations of the Kala monster, which represents Time, vomiting scrolls. Plus it includes
sculptural representations in stone of many Hindu stories. Including - the Ramayana.
Reiterating its timeless themes: a parent’s binding love of their child, combined with the
necessity of breaking free to fulfill an individual destiny - the transforming power of romantic
love - the necessity of seeking assistance from friends to achieve one’s ends. These universal
themes are combined with some unique concepts primary of which is the possibility and
perhaps probability that a god has incarnated in each of us to accomplish a divine mission.
This mission has to do with driving away or conquering the dark forces. This cosmic battle
not only assists the individual to accomplish his or her individual goals but also assists the
rest of humanity as well as the gods themselves. Further the whole story comes to a happy
ending because of forgiveness.

In many ways the Khmer temples of Angkor were more in the tradition of these Hindu
temples than the Buddhist stupas of Borobudur. Further their kingdoms were contemporary
with each other. They probably even shared some of the same craftsman, especially after the
fall of these Java kingdoms in the early 900s due to volcanic activity.

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This efflorescence of temple building in Java came to an abrupt halt with the eruption of
some local volcanoes in about 930 AD. As evidence one of the temples, while covered with 3
feet of ash, is well preserved - showing no signs of decay or looting. It seems to have been
suddenly abandoned, like the buildings of Pompeii. Evidence suggests that the population
suddenly dropped, going to the coast. Hence from 732 CE to 930 CE, about 200 years, this
culture on the Javanese plateau created multiple architectural religious masterpieces and then
suddenly disappeared.
Like the Khmer of Angkor, the Malay of Java must have thought that their kingdom was
destined to last forever - aligned as they were with the gods. Unfortunately for them the
Universe had other plans.

Legitimization of leadership
Another function of the temple building was to legitimize leadership. Prior to the advent of
the maharajah system from India the Malays had organized themselves in smaller egalitarian
tribes. The hierarchical organization of Hinduism and China, with the potential for nation and
empire building was foreign to the Malays. Hence to establish legitimacy for his court
the devaraja hit upon the idea of employing large percentages of the population in these
public works projects. This not only bound them to the new aristocracy for employment, but
also was a cultural bonding experience. Previously the individual might have considered
himself a part of his tribe with no need for a centralized government. However once he was
involved in one of these national projects, it would increase his tendency to identify with the
larger group. Hence these national temple building projects were not only to legitimize the
power of the king they were actually the method of actually building a sense of nation in the
populace. Participation led to a shift from tribal identification to national identification.
In many ways these massive temples created the nation rather than being a manifestation of
national or religious pride. This may have been why each successive king kept building these
temples, almost feverishly. It legitimized their rule and created the idea of nation as opposed
to tribe. Further the emphasis upon Buddhist and Hindu mythology minimized the
importance of spirit and ancestor worship, which was so prevalent in that area.

This is a global phenomenon - the replacement of pride in family heritage with national
identification and patriotism. This is quite apparent in modern American society where many
people have little knowledge of ancestry and could care less, while the city, state, and
especially national pride and patriotism is stressed in all the cultural propaganda from our
education system and media. The theory that the state was created by the temple building is
supported by the rapid demise of these Javanese kingships once the temple building ceased.
We already saw a similar phenomenon in the Khmer civilization of Cambodia.

The Devaraja vs. the Bodhisattva king

While the art and temples of the Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms were quite different, the
practical role of these rulers of Java was nearly identical. The Hindu king was considered
a devaraja -a god-king, and the Buddhist king was considered a Bodhisattva, Buddha’s
helper. However they both tended to the spiritual well being of their people. Both type of
kings inspired their subjects to create religious monuments. And in both cases the religious
monuments were meant to incorporate religious philosophy. Because the practical
manifestations of the two types of kings is so similar, we use the terms interchangeably.
Buddhist object to this merger of their kings. The devaraja of Hinduism is based upon faulty
understanding of human divinity, they thought. Gods and kings are both illusion. Internal
growth through dispelling ignorance is the only reality. In our quest for personal
enlightenment we reject the supernatural as well as worldly power.

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Yet from a Hindu perspective and in contrast they embrace the supernatural and the caste of
warrior-king. In actual practice the Hindu god-king and the Buddhist Bodhisattva king were
both meant to assist the spiritual growth of their subjects by ruling wisely. The words of your
two religious philosophies contain significant differences and emphases, but the end result
was the same for the people.

One reason that Buddhism faded out in India was that all of their teachings were already
incorporated in Hinduism. While Buddhism divided humanity into two categories, those on
the serious quest and the rest, called householders, Hinduism more effectively dealt with the
social obligations of each class. Although Hinduism could be criticized for being too
obsessive in its class distinctions, Buddhism could be criticized for its simplistic view of
humanity.
This is why Mahayana Buddhists allow for the persistence of local traditions as long as there
is a Buddhist overlay. They even tolerate Hinduism as long as the practitioner acknowledges
the superior ideas of the Buddha. Practical Buddhism. Witness both Borobudur and the Hindu
temples standing almst “side by side.Alternately the Hindus easily accommodated Buddhism
as one of our myriad cults.This is why they got along so famously.

The Malay cultures blended the tenets and gods of this diverse cultural mix into one. For
instance the Buddhist Sailendra kings were also Shaivites, worshippers of the Shiva, a Hindu
god.This is not contradictory at all. Remember that an underlying tenet of Mahayana
Buddhism was that any god or goddess could be worshipped externally as long as the
worshipper understood that it was only Form, which was all illusion. For instance the Chinese
worshipped their own gods under the auspices of Buddhism, not the Hindu gods.

On the other hand the Malays mixed up the Hindu gods, not the Chinese gods, with their
Buddhism. As an example, on the central plateau of Java, there is both Borobudur which is
distinctly Buddhist and also the impressive Lara Janggrang, the exquisite Hindu temple
devoted to Shiva. In fact the Buddhist temple of Borobudur was completed by the same
Hindu ruler who created Lara Janggrang. Being neighbors, the Khmer of Cambodia were no
different than the Malays Their syncretic religious field, like ours, mixed Hindu gods with
Buddhism rather than the Chinese gods.

A Khmer Prince ( who created Angkor Wat) returns from his education in Java
In the brief 100 years of the Sailendra dynasty of the Srivijaya Empire, the kings
as devarajas created a series of monuments on the high mountain plateau on my island of
Java. During this period a young Khmer prince had been sent to Java for upbringing and
education. There had already been a long history of connection between Cambodia and Java.
The Javanese even considered themselves descendants of the Funanese of Cambodia.

This Cambodian prince was exposed to the Javanese concept of the devaraja connected with
their pyramid building - these god kings creating their own Mount Meru. Inspired by the
great Javanese culture this young Cambodian prince, who was being held as hostage or was
merely being educated abroad, escaped or just returned home to Cambodia with grandiose
ideas. This was in 790 AD, when Borobudur was still in the middle of its 50 years of
construction. Jayavarman II was the name of this Java educated Khmer Prince who returned
to Cambodia and founded the Khmer Empire which eventually created Angkor Wat.

Summarizing

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The Khmer of Cambodia founded an Indianized kingdom, which was a mixture or blending
of Hindu culture with an indigenous stone cutting culture which had already been around for
over a thousand years. However, the Khmer were part of the your greater Southeast Asian
cultural web. As such they were heavily influenced by the Sailendra dynasty of the Java
based Srivijaya Empire, which traced its roots to the first Khmer kingdom of Funan - from
which Angkor derived.

In terms of the cultural energy.

Due to the geographical location of Cambodia with its proximity to the Gulf of Thailand, the
city of Vyadhapura became the first important Southeast Asian entrepôt. Because of the
influx of foreign traders and the resulting wealth the native tribal culture was mixed with the
Hindu culture to create the kingdom of Funan. This was symbolized by the marriage of the
Naga Princess with a Hindu prince, whose child was the Khmer.

As a result of Chinese civil wars, which impoverished their best client, combined with
disastrous floods which destroyed their port city of Vyadhapura, the Funan kingdom declined
in economic and cultural importance. While Funan was replaced politically by the Chenla
kingdom as the dominant kingdom of mainland Southeast Asia, the cultural and political
energy of the Funan actually shifted to the island based Srivijaya Empire of Sumatra and
Java, which had captured the China trade by controlling the trade routes and funneling the
profits through Palembang in Sumatra. This new entrepôt, which supplanted the Funanese
entrepôt, generated the wealth and cultural exchange which created the new mandala empire.

Our Khmer prince was then educated in Java under one of the most artistic dynasties of the
Srivijaya Empire, the Sailendra. He returned to Cambodia with great visions which re-
energized the Southeast Asian mainland. Extending irrigation techniques that were already in
place, he was able to feed a larger population due to multiple annual growing seasons.
Further he inspired the local population to create great works of art which bound them
together as a community. This was related with the idea of the devaraja or god king concept
of the Srivijaya Empire. The Southeast Asian king as a Buddhist Bodhisattva was responsible
for inspiring and educating his people - leading them to spiritual transformation and growth.

After quite a few centuries this Khmer temple building sputtered out - probably due to
ecological, as well as cultural devolution. At this point the Thai people, pushed out of
Southern China by Genghis Kahn and the Mongols, moved into the mainland of Southeast
Asia. They conquered the Khmer but they also assumed their spiritual, cultural and political
mantle. The Thai continued the tradition of the devaraja, which they maintain to this day -
particularly in Bangkok, but in Thailand in general. The Thai King, named after Rama of
the Ramayana, looks after the spiritual health of the country by encouraging the local culture
and funding the creation and renovation of temples, which employs the artistic community as
well as providing for the edification of the greater community, including the rest of the world.
In short all countries of Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia are connected into a neat little
bundle which goes back thousands of years.

My Intermediate Empires

Srivijaya’s Story (7th- 11th AD)

We left the Srivijaya Empire at the point that the Khmer Empire was established at Angkor in
and about 900 CE. The Srivijay empire had a good life, as empires go and lasted from the 7th
to 13th centuries of the modern era. The peak of their power was about 800 AD. They

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dominated the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, as well as the Malay Peninsula.
Although theirs was an Indianized kingdom with a courtly culture, the prosperity and political
strength was based upon a relationship with China. China considered Srijijay as her imperial
representative. As such she supported channeling her trade through the principle Srivijay port
of Palembang on the island of Sumatra.

Palembang was the center of the mandala of the political power. Srivijay was a mandala
empire with no real boundaries. My overlordship issued gradually. No armies. They
maintained control of their vassal states through cultural and economic politics. Economically
they attempted to provide a protective and mutually beneficial trading arrangement to all by
enforcing a peaceful environment.
Further Palembang, was the heartland for 4 centuries, until her fall to the Chola dynasty early
in 2nd millennium, was a major cultural center and nexus between India and China. I -ching,
a Buddhist pilgrim from China, visited in 671 AD on a 20 day voyage from Canton in
southern China on his way to India. He recommended Palembang as an excellent Buddhist
center. To indicate the international flavor the art of Palembang reveals artistic network with
Mon Dvaravati kingdom of the mainland, where Thailand is now. They both made bronze
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
It is said that the Khmer Empire, who created Angkor in the Tonle Sap region of Cambodia
between the 9th to the 13th centuries was inspired by Srivijay. Theirs too wa a most
impressive mandala empire. Their devaraja, their god-king, more than anyone else,
transformed the physical environment to reflect the connection between the state and heaven.
Their water system, based upon ancient Indian techniques, was most intricate. It supplied the
kingdom with 3 to 4 crops of rice per year. This abundance supported 1 million people in the
vicinity of Angkor. Each of Angkor’s king regularly built a new capital to reflect their
flexibility. Finally however they located permanently and surrendered their mandala
flexibility

Anyway in the heyday the Chinese relied on Srivijay people to do all her foreign shipping -
her import/export business. China considered them as one of her barbarian vassals and
provided us with tributary trade. In exchange Srivijay provided her merchants with a safe
base in the islands of Indonesia. The trade began growing in the 5th and 6th centuries, but
with the Chinese civil wars, trade dropped off in the late 6th and early 7th centuries. With the
rise of the stable Tang dynasty Srivijay wanted to capture the lucrative China trade. First the
rulers in Palembang pretended to be vassals to cater to the Chinese ego. Second the rulers
determined to control all the harbors in the region by controlling the Straits of Malacca
through Palembang. Prior to this there had been many small harbor kingdoms. This militancy
is reflected in some of the old Malay inscriptions.
The power of Srivijay maharajahs depended on the alliance with those who possessed
warships - the Chinese. Plus a China connection gave lots of prestige. There is no mention of
piracy in the Arab accounts of the time. They governed and ruled through positive
reinforcement nationally and individually. The subjects were rewarded with wealth, posts of
honor, and supernatural rewards for cooperating. In such a way a this maritime Malay
grouping was formed which was the Srivijaya Empire.

They were powerful as long as Palembang was a thriving entrepôt. The bounty of the rulers
depended on the tributary status with China, which needed a great and secure entrepôt. The
early Malay history is one of this Sino Malay alliance. The Chinese felt that Srijijay
maharajas were her imperial agents. Unfortunately the Malay unity was undermined when
Chinese began doing her own shipping in the 10th century. After this there was no single

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entrepôt anymore. The mandala centralization collapsed and Srivijay were left prey to the
next invader, which happened to be the Chola dynasty of southern India.

The Story of the Chola Dynasty (11th- 13th AD)

Like Srivijaya, Chola was a political dynasty - Tamils from southern India to be exact. The
wave of Chola expansion began about 750 AD, when my dynasty established control of the
southern part of the Indian peninsula. From here their maritime culture expanded into the Sea
of Bengal, conquering Ceylon. They then took control of the Malay Peninsula. Intent on
eliminating the middle man in the lucrative spice and silk trade between Southeast Asia and
the Arabs and the Africans, they launched a naval attack on the Srivijaya Empire in 1025 AD.
The force of the attacks, like a wave, crashed with so much force that it washed away the
entrepôt of Palembang which had been the source of wealth and prestige for Srivijaya. In
typical Malay fashion the Srivijay just moved to another port in Java, but this effectively sent
their Empire into a long decline.

This military victory eliminated Srivijaya as the middle man and enabled Chola people to
establish control over most of the ports of call and transit areas which were used to connect
the traders of the Indian Ocean with the traders of Eastern Asia. From this point they were
able to trade directly with China. Now they were the new middle man for the valuable spices
sold at high profits in Europe. The prosperity from this trade fueled the Empire for another
few hundred years. This was the golden age between the 11th and 13th centuries. Then their
wave lost its forward momentum, fragmented and dissolved back into the great sea of
humanity. At our peak they were invincible and then suddenly only traces in the sand -
nothing more. The Chola, Tamil dynasty of southern India was replaced by the Java based
Majapahit Empire. The reason was that the Cholas could not hold on to the new territory but
cfreated a vassel state and most of they sailed back to Tamil lands. Theirs was a plundering
conquest- also to eliminatge the piracy of the Srivijay.

The Majapahit Empire (13th-to16th AD)

Majapahit was the last Indianized kingdom in Indonesia. In many ways it was a continuation
of the Srivijaya Empire. Once back the Chola disintegrated due to problems at home, his
vassal states began to reassert themselves. Among those were remnants of the Srivijaya
Empire. They had moved to Java from their Sumatran capital of Palembang when attacked by
the Chola culture. Having bided their time for a few hundred years they moved to insert
themselves into the power vacuum.

The Mongols, who had just conquered China under Kublai Khan sent an emissary. The court
evidently didn’t treat the emissary with respect because the Muslim culture in the Middle
East executed their emissary, the Mongols obliterated and overran many cities - killing many
of people. Because Java was so far away, it took some time before the Mongols found out
how their emissary was treated. However when they did they immediately organized
themselves for revenge. Somehow they arranged for their famous horseman to be shipped to
Java to avenge this insult to their culture. By the time they arrived a new ruler was in place
who didn’t even remember what had happened.
Vijaya, a descendant of Sanjaya, who founded the Mataram kingdom of Java in the 8th
century, was vying with Srivijaya’s court for power. He befriended the Mongols, got them to
expel the ruler, and then convinced them to go home, leaving him in charge. This was 1277
AD, the beginning of the Golden Age.

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Majapahit Empire, while similar to Srivijaya, was actually a resurrection of the Mataram
kingdom of Java. The rivalry with Srivijaya went back to the 8th century. Sanjaya, after
founding our Mataram kingdom, initiated the construction of the first Hindu temple on our
fertile island. Then the Sailendra dynasty of Srivijaya pushed them. A mere century later they
were displaced and then built more Hindu and Buddhist temples on the central plateau in
Java. This Golden Age was interrupted by the eruption of a volcano. To indicate the
importance of each of our traditions, the Sanjaya family is still the royal family of Java to this
day. And when the last Prince of Srivijaya converted to Muslim, all of the Malay followed in
his lead.

While competing for political dominance we islanders shared a common culture. Our
kings.like theirs, were ascetics, who were revered as Shiva-Buddhas. They had an obligation
to the gods to cleanse our kingdom, the holy land of Java, and thus the world, of impurities,
by permeating the world with their royal divinity. With this mission in mind they attempted
to maintain the country as a literary temple.
In the typical mandala politics of the region, the kings ruled by prestige rather than by force.
The king was responsible for keeping the peace so that trade could occur rather than waging
war on his neighbors with a strong military. The kings of the dynasty made regular tours of
the countryside to ensure that citizens were being taken care of. The influence of Javanese
Empire was considerable although only demanded homage and tribute. Note that this was
similar to the political system of our allies, the Chinese.

Because there was very little military strength involved in maintaining our influence, the
power of our Empire depended upon the prestige of our king,Accordingly the golden age of
the Majapahit Empire coincided with the rule of our greatest king, Hayam Wuruk.
Unfortunately he died in 1389. Everything - good and evil, great and small, is consumed by
the Fire of Time. There was a power struggle to take his place. Many vassal states arose to fill
the vacuum slowly fragmenting.1

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Mataram and Srivijaya

Another kingdom—Mataram— arose as Srivijaya began to flourish in the early eighth

century, in south-central Java on the Kedu Politically, the two hegemonies were probably
more alike than different. The rulers of both saw themselves and their courts
( kedatuan, keratuan, or kraton) as central to a land or realm ( bhumi), which, in turn, formed
the core of a larger, borderless, but concentric and hierarchically organized arrangement of
authority. In this greater mandala, an Indic-influenced representation of a sort of idealized,
“galactic” order, a ruler emerged from constellations of local powers and ruled by virtue of
neither inheritance nor divine descent, but rather through a combination of charisma
( semangat), strategic family relationships, calculated manipulation of order and disorder,
and the invocation of spiritual ideas and supernatural forces.

The exercise of power was never absolute, and would-be rulers and (if they were to
command loyalty) their supporters had to take seriously both the distribution of benefits
(rather than merely the application of force or fear) and the provision of an “exemplary
center” enhancing cultural and intellectual life. In Mataram, overlords and their courts do not,
for example, appear to have controlled either irrigation systems or the system of weekly
markets, which remained the purview of those who dominated local regions ( watak) and
their populations. This sort of political arrangement was at once fragile and remarkably
supple, depending on the ruler and a host of surrounding circumstances. *

Very little is known about social realities in Srivijaya and Mataram, and most of what is
written is based on conjecture. With the exception of the religious structures on Java, these
societies were constructed of perishable materials that have not survived the centuries of
destructive climate and insects. There are no remains of either palaces or ordinary houses, for
example, and we must rely on rare finds of jewelry and other fine metalworking (such as the
famous Wonosobo board, found near Prambanan in 1991), and on the stone reliefs on the
Borobudur and a handful of other structures, to attempt to guess what these societies may
have been like. (The vast majority of these remains are Javanese.) A striking characteristic of
both Srivijaya and Mataram in this period is that neither—and none of their smaller rivals—
appear to have developed settlements recognizable as urban from either Western or Asian
traditions. On the whole, despite evidence of socioeconomic well- being and cultural
sophistication, institutionally Srivijaya and Mataram remained essentially webs of clanship
and patronage, chieftainships carried to their highest and most expansive level.

REFERENCES
1. Posting Lebih BaruPosting LamaBeranda
2.Szczepanski, Kallie. "The Shailendra Kingdom of Java."Thought Co, Feb. 11, 2020,
thoughtco.com/the-shailendra-kingdom-of-java-195519.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Briggs, Lawrence Palmer. 1951. [Review of] South East Asia. Crossroad of Religions
by K.P. Landon. The Far Eastern Quarterly 9 (3): 271–277.

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  Claude, Jacques, R.B. Smith, and W. Watson. 1979. "Funan," "Zhenla." The Reality
Concealed by These Chinese Views of IndoChina. In Early South East Asia. Essays
in Archaeology, History, and Historical Geography, 371–389. New York/Kuala
Lumpur: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0197135870
 De Casparis, J.G. de. 1956. Prasasti Indonesia II: Selected Inscriptions from the 7th
to the 9th Centuries AD. Bandung: Masu Baru.
 G. Coedes. 1934. On the Origins of the Sailendras of Indonesia. Journal of the
Greater India Society I: 61–70.
 Kenneth Perry Landon. 1969. Southeast Asia. Crossroad of Religions. University of
Chicago Press. ISBN 0226468402
 K.R. Hall. 1985. Maritime Trade and State Development in Early South East
Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824809599
 M. Vickery. 2003–2004. Funan Reviewed: Deconstructing the Ancients. Bulletin de l'
Ecole Francaise d' Extreme Orient: 101–143.

The following images have specially created for this book by our well wisher and
contributing Artist Ms. Kerry Penny, Contemporary British Artist

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