Srivijaya

Indonesia, 650 CE–1377. Draft, not yet reviewed

Srivijaya was a Buddhist empire based on the island of Sumatra that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Between the late 7th and early 11th century, Srivijaya rose to become a hegemon in Southeast Asia. The kingdom may have disintegrated after 1025 following several major raids launched by the Chola Empire upon their ports. It was not until 1918 that French historian George Cœdès formally postulated its existence.

Seat of power: Palembang

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• Srivijaya had religious, cultural and trade links with the Buddhist Pala of Bengal, as well as with the Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East.
• The Chinese monk Yijing wrote that he visited Srivijaya for six months in 671.
• Experts suggest that the ancient Palembang settlement was a collection of floating houses made from materials such as wood, bamboo and straw.
• Contemporary Indonesians had not heard of Srivijaya until the 1920s, when the French scholar George Cœdès published his discoveries.

Picture

Muaro Jambi, a Buddhist temple complex in Sumatra, has remains estimated to date from the 7th to 13th century.

Image: Ryan Wijaya, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Sources

• Srivijaya (Wikipedia)
• Srivijaya (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.