CONCISE ANCIENT HISTORY OF INDONESIA

C O N C I S E

A N C I E N T

H I S T O R Y

I N D O N E S I A

O F

CO N CI SE
A N CI EN T

H I ST O RY

O F
I N D O N ESI A

BY

SA TYA W A TI SULEIM AN

T H E A R C H A EO L O G I C A L FO U N D A T I O N
JA K A RT A

Co p yright by wutsronmlkjihgedcbaTN
The Archaeological

Foundation

]or
The

National Archaeological

Institute

1974

Sponsored by
The Ford

Foundation

Printed by
Djambatan — Jakarta

Percetakan End ang

C O N T E N T S
Preface
I.

II.
III.
IV .
V.
V I.
V II.

• •

VI

T h e Prehisto ry of Ind o nesia
Early man ; T h e Fo o d gathering Stage or Palaeo lithic ;
T h e Develo ped Stage of Fo o d gathering or Ep i-Palaeo lithic ; T h e Fo o d p ro d ucing Stage or N eo lithic ; T h e
Stage of Craftsmanship
or T h e Early M etal Stage.

1

T h e first contacts w ith H ind uism and Bud d hism

10

T h e first inscrip tio ns

14

Sumatra — T h e rise of Sriv ijay a

16

Sanjayas and Shailend ras

19

Shailend ras in Sumatra

• •..

Jav a fro m 860 A . D . to the 12th century

23
27

V III.

Singhasari

IX.

M ajap ahit

33

T h e N usantara : T h e o ther islands

38

X.

• •

• •

30

W est Jav a ; Bali ; Sumatra ; Kalim antan.
Biblio g rap hy

52

V

P R E F A C E
T h i s book is intend ed to serve as a framew o rk for the ancient histo ry
of Ind o nesia in a concise fo rm. Published for the first time mo re
than a decade ago as a booklet in a modest cyclostyled shape by the
C u ltu ral Dep artment of the Ind o nesian Embassy in Ind ia, it has
been revised several times in Jakarta in the same fo rm to keep up
to date w ith new discoveries and current theories. Since it seemed
to have filled a need felt by foreigners as w ell as Ind o nesians to o btain
an elementary kno w ledge of Ind o nesia's past, it has been tho ught
w ise to p ublish it now in a p rinted fo rm w ith the aim to reach a
larger p ublic than before.
T h e reader w ill find an o utline of the ancient histo ry of Ind o nesia w itho ut any d etailed discussion of histo rical events, people
and places. T h i s has been done i n o rder to av o id sho w ing controv ersial view s w hich might seem co nfusing. Fo r example the lo catio n
of Ind o nesian tow ns mentio ned in Chinese sp elling has alw ays been
a matter of dispute, for example Che- l i - fo- che, San- fo- ts'i (fo r

Sriv ijay a) , Che- P'o (Jav a) etc.
Tho u g h Palembang has been do ubted by several scholars to be
the site of the ancient seventh century Sriv ijay a, the view of Coedes,
de Casp aris and W o lters has been fo llo w ed , for the reason that most
of the seventh century inscrip tio ns have ind eed been fo und i n the
same area.
Fo r other matters the theories suggested by Kro m , Bo sch, Stutterheim and Damais have been fo llo w ed . T h e reader may find more
d etailed info rmatio n o n the ancient histo ry of Ind o nesia i n the books
and articles mentio ned in the biblio grap hy.

VI

THE

P REH I ST O RY
O F
I N D O N ESI A
EA R L Y M A N

A bo ut 1.500.000 years ago Ind o nesia w as already po pulated by one

of the earliest types of m an namely by the P I T H E C A N T H R O P U S
ER ET U S.
T h i s being has been co nsidered to be i n a p hysical
stage betw een that of a simian and of a m an as regards his brain
vo lume and w as alread y w alking erect. Fo r this reason he w as caled :
T h e erect-w alking ape-man.
Other kind s of early hum an beings, perhaps already liv ing
before Pithecanthropus Erectus, w ere M E G A N T H R O P U S P A L A E O
JA V A N I C U S and the P I T H E C A N T H R O P U S M O JO K E R T E N S I S .
Meganthro pus Palaeo Jav anicus may be classified i n the gro up of
A ustralo p ithecines w hich liv ed mainly in A f ric a, representing the
most p rimitiv e kind of m an in the w o rld .
Further develo pment in the line of hum an ev o lutio n is also
fo und in Jav a, of w hich the Pithecanthro p us kind s above is one
examp le. Mo re hig hly developed than the Pithecanthro p us Erectus w as the P I T H E C A N T H R O P U S SO L O EN SIS w hose remains
have been fo und in the Solo riv er valley, like those of the Pithecanthro pus Erectus. A s regards his p hysical structure the Pithecanthro pus Soloensis can be co mpared w ith the H o mo Neand erthalensis in
Euro p e.
W A JA K M A N w as further o n the w ay of hum an ev o lutio n.
H e began to resemble H o m o Sapiens, tho ugh he had a bigger brain
vo lume and a thicker skull.

Obvio usly, he migrated to A ustralia, fo r a skull very similar
to W ajakm an w as fo und there in a place by the name of Keilo r.

1

T H E FO O D G A T H ER I N G

STA G E

OR
PA L A EO L I T H I C

T h e questio n as to w hether Pithecanthro p us Erectus co uld speak
w hich w o uld have made him a culture-bearer and cultural transmitter has o ften been a subject of learned d ispute. Besides the
fact that his bo dily remains have never been fo und together w ith
the earliest stone implements, the so-called palaeo liths have made
many a scholar doubt the presence of a c u ltu ral backgro und . Ho w ever, as these remains belonged to the same layer as that of the
oldest palaeo liths of Jav a, the Pithecanthro p us must have been the
maker of these tools. Besides, his d istant relativ e in C hina, the
"H o m o Pekinensis" has been regarded as the pro ducer of stone

implements fo und in the same Clvou K o u T i e n Caves near Peking
w here the physical remains of the Pekinensis have been fo und .
Moreover, the Pekinensis, w ho turns o ut to have been a cannibal,
as he ate his o w n kind , roasted his v ictims first before eating them.
T h u s he knew already the use of fire w hich is an imp o rtant culture element, separating apes fro m hum an beings, as apes never
prepare their food. A s the Pithecanthro p us and the Pekinensis w ere
on the same stage of hum an ev o lutio n, Pithecanthro p us must have
been a culture bearer too.
T h e earliest types of hum an being as w ell as the earliest H o mo
Sapiens liv ed in a perio d w hich is usually called the Fo o d gathering
Stage or Palaeo lithic . T h e i r implements w ere stones, the most
imp o rtant amo ng them being the choppers held in the fist to cut
w o o d or meat w ith. These choppers w ere slightly w o rked but never
po lished. T h i s co mplex of chopper culture comprises parts of In do nesia (Pacitan, Jav a, Sumatra, Flo res, Kalim antan, Bali) and
areas of East A sia. Beside choppers there w ere also scrapers, knives,
etc- Soloensis and W ajakm an liv ed in a later perio d . T h e Solo man
already made use of flakes (small tools) of stone and bone implements. In the tro pics, w here there w as a lo t of bamboo, these types
of early man must have made extensive use of this light material.
Man had not yet a permanent abode d uring the Palaeo lithic.
W e may imagine small aggregates of families w ho led a life

of w and ering, though their w anderings w ere not aimless, as they
2

w ere restricted to their o w n territo ries. Ethno lo g ical investigatio ns
of the w and ering tribes of o ur age have sho w n bow these people
set up tempo rary huts, alw ays mo v ing w ithin one territo ry, w hich
they consider as their o w n, w hile
trespassing its borders w o uld
make them clash w ith o ther w and ering tribes or families.
Tho se w and ering tribes of the Palaeo lithic liv ed of hunting
and o n w ild vegetables co llected by the w o men. I n a tro p ical nature such as one find s in
Ind o nesia, their staple food must have
consisted of ed ible roots and fruits w hich w ere gro w ing i n abundance. A s these are seasonal, we may imagine the early Ind o nesians
mo v ing fro m area to area acco rding to those seasons.
THE

D EV EL O PED S T A G E O F FO O D G A T H ER I N G
OR
EPI - PA L A EO L I T H I C

A ttempts to settle d o w n more permanently w ere made d uring the
Ep i-Palaeo lithic, i n p articular in areas w here m an co uld expect
inexhaustible sources of food, such as on seashores
and the banks
of lakes.
In one area o n the east coast of N o rthern Sumatra, tribes liv ed
alo ng the beach. T h e people liv ed off shellmeat w hich they sucked
out of their cases. Tho se cases w ere thro w n aw ay thro ugh the interstices of the flo o r into the w ater below . I n the course of time this
"kitchen refuse" grew into a shellheap. A fter the same pheno meno n
in Denmark, these heaps are called "kjo kkenmo d d ing e" w hich
means, literally , "kitchen refuse".
It turned out that amo ng these shells w ere also the remains
of men of "A ustra-M elaneso id " race. A s their bones have been
crushed, o bvio usly to extract the marro w , it appears that the early
inhabitants of these beachhouses w ere cannibals eating their o w n
kind . In ad d itio n, they liv ed of the meat of tapirs, elephants, deer
and rhino cero s o btained by the hunting males. T h e w o men p icked
plants and leaves o n the beaches, as w ell as fruits amo ng w hich
w ere bananas.
T h e imp lement used w as the so-called "Sumatra-ad ze" w hich
had been trimmed o n one side to o btain a sharp edge, w hile the
other side had alread y been smoothened by nature. Besides this
3

they used also a "sho rt adze" (hache co urte), similar to those fo und
in H o abinh in present V ietnam . Obv io usly, this w as a centre of
culture fro m w hich this kind of adze spread to o ther places i n
So uth East A sia.
Remains of human settlements includ ing flake-blade tools and
instruments of bone and shell w ere also fo und i n caves i n East
Jav a, in Sulaw esi, Bali, Flo res, and Ti m o r. O n sites ro und the
ancient lake of Band ung in W est Jav a flakeblad e implements w ere
made of o bsid ian, w hile in o ther islands hooks, po ints and small
knives w ere made of chalcedony, jasper, and silicified limesto ne.
Ro ck paintings are an imp o rtant trait of the cave culture. Some
of these paintings have been fo und o n cavew alls in the interio r of
So uth Sulaw esi. One d raw ing in red of a leap ing bo ar decorates
a sm all w all, w hile a number of hand stencils w ere discovered on
o ther cave w alls. Ro c k paintings w ere also fo und i n parts of East
ern Ind o nesia ( Ke i island and Iri an Jay a) .
T H E FO O D PR O D U C I N G S T A G E
OR
N EO L I T H I C

M an settled d o w n and domesticated plants and animals. T h e first
agriculturalist in Ind o nesia must have gro w n kelad i (Calad ium
Escalentum) before the intro d uctio n of rice. T h i s edible ro o t is
w idespread all over Ind o nesia as w ell as over Po lynesia and Micro nesia, usually called by the name of "taro " or "tales" or o ther slight
v ariatio ns in spelling. Other early fruits and vegetables are bananas, cucumbers, yams, bread fruits, coconuts, and sugarcane, plants
o w ned by all the people of Ind o nesia and Po lynesia.
T h e animals they domesticated w ere the dog, goat, buffalo ,
chicken, and pig. Most of these animals w ere o nly ritually eaten
after the co mmunity had sacrificed them. T o supplement their
diet of vegetables and roots, the men of the tribe had to go o ut
hunting for w ild game, the meat of w hich w as equally d istributed
amo ng the families.
Chickens w ere kept for the art of augury, as their entrails
examined by a priest or shaman co uld tell w hether a certain date
was auspicio us enough for a big und ertaking like a head -hunting
exp ed itio n or a marriage.
4

T h e Ind o nesians w ho liv ed d uring the N eo lithic Stage w ere
not o nly agriculturalists but also seafarers like their Po lynesian
cousins, w ho quite pro bably spread fro m the same po int of o rig in,
an area aro und T o n k i n . Pro f. H . Kern, an eminent linguist, discovered as early as 1889 that the Ind o nesian and Po lynesian languages, w hich he called the "M alay o -Po ly nesian" languages, had
many w o rds in co mmo n w ith a little difference i n spelling. These
common w ords w ere, for examp le, the terms for sail, boat, oar, paddy,
coconut, sugarcane, batata, banana, rattan etc. and w ords for certain
animals and fishes. A l l these w ords p o inted to a centre of o rig in
lying betw een the tro pics and near the sea. Ke rn tho ught of T o n kin, ho w ever ad mitting that the ancestors of these seafaring people
must have come fro m the interio r of the A siatic M ainland .
Ind eed , the o utrigger boat is fo und among' al l seafaring Ind o nesian and Po lynesian peoples. T h i s bo at is also fo und in Mad agascar o ff the east coast of A frica, for Ind o nesians sailed there as
early as the N eo litic Perio d . T h e language of Madagascar, called :
"M alag asi" belongs ind eed to the Ind o nesian family of languages.
These early sailo rs must have had a kno w ledge of astronomy for
they had to rely o n the stars to find their w ay over the vast
stretches of sea.
D u ring the N eo lithic the specializatio n of labo ur resulted
in the emergence of craftsmen like the carpenter, w o o d w o rker, and
the makers of stone imp lements.
Ind o nesia has kno w n tw o kind s of N eo lithic implements, namely
the quad rangular adze of the w estern part of the A rchip elago and
the ro und axe of the Eastern part. Bo th adzes came to their areas
in Ind o nesia alo ng d ifferent w ays. T h e quad rangular adze o bvio usly
came fro m Yu nan in So uth C hina and migrated to Up p er Lao s
before spread ing over the A rchip elago . T h e ro und axe came obviously fro m Jap an to Tai w an , the Philip p ines, N o rth Sulaw esi, the
Mo luccas, Irian Jay a and the Melanesian island s. V o n H eine Geld ern suggested that the carriers of the quad rang ular adze w ere the
same people w ho spoke the Malayo -Po lynesian languages.
In some places of Jav a and So uth Sumatra several w o rksho ps
w ere fo und in w hich quad rangular adzes w ere pro d uced . T h e craftsmen made, how ever, o nly crud e, unp o lished adzes. Fro m there they
w ere carried alo ng far distances to their consumers w ho po lished
5

the adzes themselves. Sp ecializatio n had progressed in such a w ay
that i n some w o rksho ps o nly adzes w ere made and in o ther places
o nly arro w head s.
Some of these quad rangular adzes w ere made of precious stone
and w ere, therefore, never intented for d aily use. So they w ere most
pro bably used for ceremo nial purposes and tho ught to have supernatural pow ers, carried in the ro y al suites. Th e y w ere perhaps the
predecessors of the sacred peaks and krises till recently carried in
the suite of Ind o nesian kings.
By the end of the N eo lithic, "meg aliths"
(mo numents
built of big stones) had come into existence, places of w o rship or
tombs, as for examp le menhirs, stepped pyramid s, meeting places
and sp irit seats of stone. A ncesto r statues also became subjects of
w o rship .
A few neo lithic crafts sho uld no t be forgotten : namely, pottery,
w hich w as hand made w ith the help of a w ooden paddle and a
stone anv il tapper, and the m aking of clothes fro m fibres or treebark. Bo th crafts w ere done by w o men as it w as the case w ith, for
instance, the To rajas of Central Sulaw esi w ho practised these crafts
u ntil recently.

T H E S T A G E O F C RA FT S M A N S H IP
OR
T H E EA R L Y M ET A L S T A G E

D u ring the N eo lithic the first Ind o nesians of
Mo ngo lo id
stock had spread over the thousands of islands of Ind o nesia o ften
m ing ling w ith previo us inhabitants. A s w e have seen above, A ustro Melaneso ids w ere d o minant i n some places of the A rchip elago d uring the Ep i-Palaeo lithic Obv io usly, these o lder races w ere either
absorbed or pushed back by the Mo ngo lo id s, fo r tho ugh ind iv id uals
sometimes show traces of these races, W ed d o id s and Negritoes are
never fo und as groups in Ind o nesia. W e find them as such i n Malaysia and the Philip p ines.
T h e d iffusio n of Mo ngo lo ids, hailing fro m the m ainland of
A sia, co ntinued thro ugh the Early M etal Stage. T h e earlier Mo ngo l-

6

o id tribes w ere now pushed back into the interio r of the bigger
island s w here they iso lated themselves fro m the new comers. T h e
Dayaks of Kalim antan, T h e Bataks of Sumatra and the To rajas
of Sulaw esi are the most imp o rtant of these inland tribes.
T h e people of the Early M etal Stage made clo thing of the bark
of the Paper M ulberry tree ; they had iro n smiths, w o o d carvers,
potters, and w o rshipped the w ooden and stone images of their
ancestors.
T h e tribes w ho po pulated the coastal regions must have been
seafarers and had , therefore mo re contacts w ith o ther island s than
the inland peoples. The re w as even constant trade w ith the A siatic
m ainland . T h i s is pro ven by the d iffusio n of bronze kettled rums
and decorative designs all over Ind o nesia. A s the oldest kettled rums
and bronzes have been fo und in Dongson in Vietnam , this culture
is usually called the "Do ngso n C u ltu re".
T h e kettled rums w hich w ere bro ught to Southeast A sia belonged to a series of fo ur types called : Heger I , I I , I I I and I V , after
Heger w ho made some research o n these d rums. T h e Ind o nesian
kettled rum is of type Heger I , being the biggest of the fo ur types.
It is also the most interesting type of the fo ur, as this kind of d rum
is o ften decorated w ith figures of men, houses, barges and animals.
T h e decorations o n the bronze objects fo und in Ind o nesia travelled far, for they o riginated in Eastern Euro p e, travelled thro ugh
Siberia and C hina and arriv ed in V ietnam fro m w here they further
spread to Ind o nesia.
A sid e fro m the deco rative mo tifs, the so called "socketed celt",
used and lo cally made in Ind o nesia, w as a later develo pment of the
Euro p ean celt. These socketed celts d id not appear i n A sia M ino r
or in Ind ia. Th u s, they must have fo llo w ed the same ro ute as the
decorative mo tifs, to mentio n a few , the do uble sp iral, geometric
designs, ladder mo tifs, etc. Bro nze socketed celts w ere fo und i n
Sumatra, Jav a, Bali, Sulaw esi, Selayar, Buto n, Band a, Flo res and
even o n Iri an Jaya's no rtheast coast. T h e socketed celt developed
in such a w ay that some grew oversized and d ainty m aking them
unfit for d aily use. Th e y must have been ceremo nial celts, similar
to the adzes of precious stone of the N eo lithic.
T h e decorations o n the kettled rums are very interesting for
they show houses, men, barges and animals. T h e houses are o n

their statues, w hile o n special occasions their souls w ere called to
the earth by these shamans and priests, w ho inv ited them to enter
their statues.
There w ere auto no mo us villages w ith v illage elders to discuss
imp o rtant problems of the co mmunity. A nd there w ere tribal chiefs.
Some areas must have had p atrilineal or m atrilineal clans. In prosperous societies a no ble class developed, o w ning the rice fields and
the buffaloes. T h e co astal chiefs grew rich by their possession o l
seaw orthy vessels and their pow er over harbo urs to w hich fo reign
vessels came for trade i n Ind o nesian campho r, spices, tortoise shell,
rhino cero s ho rn, certain w oods, go ld, and silver. T h i s must have
been the situatio n at the beginning of the Christian Era w hen In donesia came under the impact of fo reign religio ns.

9

II
THE

FI RST
CO N TA CTS
W ITH
H I N D U I SM
AND
BU D D H I SM
D u ring the Early M etal Stage fo reign ships w ere alread y sailing
thro ugh Ind o nesian straits, as w as pro ven by the d iffusio n of kettled rums, and we sho uld add to this H an ceramics. A t the beginning
of the Christian Era, how ever, there w as a real rev o lutio n i n the
field of nav igatio n. Bigger seaw orthy ships w ere co nstructed in the
Persian G u lf and in the Sea of C hina. Co ncequently more fo reign
ships v isited the Ind o nesian seaports.
T h e coastal Ind o nesian chieftains w ere certainly not the last to
participate in the internatio nal trade. Li k e their Po lynesian cousins
they had alw ays been interested i n the build ing and impro vement
of ships. A s sailo rs lo o k d o w n o n agriculture, they must have concentrated o n business, m aking their ports staples for Ind o nesian
and fo reign goods.
N o t o nly trade but also relig io n w o uld benefit fro m the new
developments in sea trade. A lo ng these trade routes religio n w o uld
be spread far over the sea. W e must here first think of Bud d hism,
its missio naries being zealous mo nks w ho brav ed many perils o n
their w ay to far land s. Ind eed , the Chinese annals mentio n several
times the arriv al of Bud d hist missio naries in C hina, many of them
to uching Ind o nesian seaports o n their w ay. I n these intermed iate
ports they also spread the Bud d hist D harm a amo ng the p o p ulatio n.
It is, therefore, not surp rising that the first traces of Ind ian culture
in Ind o nesia are Bud d hist sculptures, the oldest being a Bud d ha
Dip ang kara of the A m araw ati school fo und o n a N eo lithic site i n
N o rth Sulaw esi. T h e statue w hich w as made of bronze co uld have
brought there by a co mmercial ship, w hich had Bud d hist missio na-

10

ries o n bo ard T h e Sulaw esi sculpture is similar to one fo und i n
Jember, Jav a, and to one fro m Duo ng D u o n in V ietnam .
T h e coastal chieftains came thus in contact w ith the first missionaries w ho came w ith the Ind ian traders. It has o ften been w ro ngly supposed that Ind ian culture w as bro ught to Ind o nesia by these
traders w ho m arried the daughters of chiefs w hile their half breed
child ren w ere the bearers of a half-breed " H i n d u Ind o nesian" culture.
It co uld never have been as easy as that. In Ind o nesian ports
all foreigners, includ ing those fro m other islands, liv ed in their
o w n settlements (colonies) and seldom intermarried , much less married the daughters of co astal chiefs. Fo r there w as so cially a great
distance betw een the m ilieu of a trader and that of a chief supposed
to be endow ed w ith sup ernatural pow ers.
W e w o uld rather think o f Bud d hist missio naries w ho co uld
have aroused the po pulatio n's first interest in Ind ian cultural goods.
Fo r they came w ith their Jataka stories and the stories of the life
of Bud d ha. Th e y hummed their prayers and show ed their books
w hich the people had never seen before. It w as p articularly the
script w hich must have d raw n the attentio n of the Ind o nesians, w ho
d uring the Early M etal A ge had already been materially rich and
w ere culturally highly developed, lacking o nlv a script to express
themselves and co mmunicate w ith.
A s soon as they had learned
to read and w rite, they w o uld have sho w n more interest i n Ind ian
culture and relig io n.
These contacts w ith fo reign traders took place not o nly i n
Ind o nesian seaports but also o n the A siatic m ainland w here Ind o nesian ships o w ned by coastal chiefs sailed for trade. A s Ind o nesians
had even been able to sail as far as Madagascar, it w o uld certainly
not be surp rising if they sailed also to the Bay of Bengal.
These intensive contacts must have bro ught about changes fro m
the o ld Ind o nesian religio ns to Bud d hism and H ind u ism . It is
usually said that the p re-H ind u Ind o nesians w ere mere "anim ists"
w ho believed in souls d w elling i n every tree or stone o r any other
v isible o bject. Ind o nesians must have believed in ghosts too but
this d id not exclud e their believ ing in gods also. Ethno lo g ical investigations have sho w n that the inland tribes of Ind o nesia had alw ays had a complete system of gods. Th e re w as alw ays a Creato r,
a rather vague figure i n their mythology, but he w as never w o rship
11

ped. O ther more d ynamic gods fulfilled the d aily needs of the people ; for instance, they took care of the fertility of the so il and the
pro sperity of the tribe. Many of them w ere culture heroes w ho
bro ught fire or fo o dplants to the earth. Others w ere d iv ine tricksters w ho bro ught death or disease.
Med iato rs betw een gods and men w ere their priests and shamans
and let us not forget their chiefs w ho
w ere all still co nsidered
p o w erful, even after their death. Statues of these scared men, p articularly of the chiefs, w ere made for w o rship .
T h e process of "H ind u isatio n"
(but not Ind ianisatio n) must
have been like this : the people must have regarded the Bud d hist
mo nks or H in d u priests w ith their prayers, chants, and ceremonies
id entical to their existing institute of priests, shamans, and med icine
men. Mo reo ver, their possession of books and their ability to w rite
must have made them superio r to their o w n sacred men i n the eyes
of the p o p ulatio n. T h e Bud d hist mo nks and H in d u priests must
soon have fo und a great number of fo llo w ers w ho w ished to learn
a new secret cult fro m them or a new d o ctrine, as is the case i n mod ern Ind o nesia w here sp iritual leaders can still easily fo rm a movement.
T h e next step w as the chief's inv itatio n to the Ind ian mo nk
or priest to reside at the Co urt to become the co urt priest. Soon
all the nobles w ere fo llo w ing the new religio ns.
The re is, ho w ever, a difference betw een Bud d hism and H ind u ism. Bud d hism is internatio nal, so one can be co nverted to Bud d hism. A s H ind u ism is an Ind ian relig io n meant for Ind ians, the priests
w ere no t co nv erting people. Besides, Brahm ins w ere no t allo w ed
to cross the sea. Therefo re, the priests w ho acco mpanied the traders
to give them religio us assistance as w ell as to act as scribes must have
belonged to no n-o rtho do x sects. T h e Ind ian traders w ishing to w in
the hearts of the coastal chiefs and kings must have been glad to
see their o w n Brahm ins enter the King 's ho useho ld as trusted ad v isers and Co urt priests. T h e presence of these Ind ian priests at the
Ind o nesian Co urt must have surely facilitated overseas trad e.
A s we have said, these Ind ian priests and mo nks bro ught Ind ian
culture in the shape of lo re, literature, and inscrip tio ns i n Sanskrit,
being mostly w ritten in the So uth Ind ian Pallaw a script. But, In donesian society w as not "Ind ianised ", w hich w o uld mean that the

12

people started talking Ind ian languages, built Ind ian styled houses
and ships, ate Ind ian food, and fo llo w ed Ind ian law s. Fo r proof
is plenty, i n reliefs as w ell as in inscriptio ns that the houses, ships,
and other material objects w ere Ind o nesian, and that they spoke
their o w n languages and fo llo w ed their o w n ancient customary law
acco rding to w hich the w o man had a high status.
Further, the Ind o nesian kings built temples in ho no ur of their
deceased lathers and ancestors. Insid e the m ain cellas of those temples p o rtrait statues of the dead w ere erected as H in d u gods or as
Bud d has, stand ing above a pit in w hich there w as a stone case w ith
nine co mpartments. Th u s, dead King s became the centre of w o rship
in the state represented by their sculpture, i n the same w ay that
the dead chiefs in prehisto ric times remained the sources of supernatural pow ers, being w o rship p ed by the tribe as ancestor statuesIn this w ay the Ind o nesian kings co ntinued Ind o nesian customs in
a new shape and w ith new prayers.
Briefly , the spread of H ind uism and Bud d hism sho uld be regarded not as a one-w ay traffic but rather as a tw o-w ay traffic, considering the d ynamic ro le Ind o nesians have played since prehisto ric times
as bo ld navigato rs. Mo reo ver, the new c u ltu ral traits co ming fro m
Ind ia w ere adopted not passively but selectively. Fo r examp le, In d ian w ords w hich became integrated into Ind o nesian languages w ere
fro m Sanskrit. Sanskrit w as used o nly for inscrip tio ns, poetry, and
technical purposes, w hereas Prakrit w as the term for the language
used by sailo rs and traders. A no ther examp le is that Ind o nesian
temples and sculptures o ften show several styles fro m d ifferent perio d s in Ind ia co mbined into one harmo nio us w ho le.
In Ind o nesia huge stone mo numents as w ell as sculptures had
been made since N eo lithic times, besides w hich there alread y w ere
sculptures. N o w , w ith the advent of H ind uism and Bud d hism ,
artists and craftsmen suddenly had new insp iratio ns, w hich stimulated them to create temples and sculptures of surp rising beauty.

13

Ill
THE

FI RST

I N SCRI PTI ON S

K A LI M A N T A N

T h e oldest inscriptio ns issued by a ruler w ere to und in Kalim antan
in an area w hich is now kno w n as Ku tei. W e do not kno w ho w ever,
w hat the name of the King d o m w as, for in these seven " y u p a" inscriptio ns, it w as never mentio ned . T h e ruler's name w aswutsronmlkjihge
M ulaw arman, son of A sw aw arman, the fo under of the dynasty. Bo th bo re
Ind ian names, M ulaw arman's grand father, how ever, bore the Ind o nesian name of Ku nd u ng ( g a) . Obv io usly, the grand father w as an
Ind o nesian tribal chief, w ho fo llo w ed his ancient Ind o nesian religio n. A sw aw arman had himself consecrated as a H i n d u sovereign
by H i n d u priests, thereby receiving an Ind ian co nsecratio n name.
Ind eed i n one of the inscrip tio ns priests are mentio ned , of w ho m
it is said , "w ho have come hither".
M ulaw arm an erected his yupas (sacrificial stones) o n the occasion of majo r sacrifices w hile presenting buffaloes, sesameseeds,
lamps, go ld , and o ther objects to the priests.
T h e inscrip tio ns w ere w ritten in the South Ind ian Pallaw a
script of the fifth century, w hile the language w as Sanskrit.
JA V A

T h e second ruler in Ind o nesia w hose inscriptio ns w ere of
the fifth century
w as P U R N A W A R M A N ,
king of
Taru managara in W est Jav a. Like M ulaw arm an, he w as a H in d u , issuing
his inscrip tio ns in Sanskrit and w riting them in the Pallaw a script.
H is deeds w ere a victo ry over his enemies and the co nstructio n of
a canal by the name of Go m ati d uring the 22nd year of his rule.

11

H is inscriptio ns w ere fo und in Jakarta and Banten, as w ell as in
Bogor.
A riv er in W est Jav a by the name of C i T a r u m remind s us of
the o ld kingd o m.
One early inscrip tio n o n a ro ck w all o n the slope of the Merbabu mo untain in Central Jav a mentio ns a riv er flo w ing like the Gangges. Obv io usly, a H in d u ascetic had liv ed there in seclusion since
the attributes of gods and priests w ere depicted o n the w all. T h e
shape of the Pallaw a script po ints to the fifth century.
T h e island of Jav a has been mentio ned since the beginning
of the Christian Er a by Greek autho rs fro m A lexand ria and in the
Ramay ana, its name being respectively spellpd as Yabad io u and
Yaw ad w ip a. T h e p ilg rim Fa- H ien happened to d isembark in Yepo-ti w hen he w as o n his w ay to C hina after a pilgrimage to Ind ia
in the 5th century. H e recorded that there w ere many Brahm ins
and heretics in Ye-po -ti, but the Bud d hist D harm a w as not w o rth
mentio ning.
T h e Chinese have mentio ned a kingd o m by the name of CheP'o since the fifth century. M any scholars agree that the island of
Jav a w as meant, a few ho w ever, ho ld that it w as M alaka or at least
a part of it, for it w as said that Che-P'o includ ed also Ho -lo -tan
w hich they regard as the Chinese sp elling of Kelantan o n the Malay Peninsula.
H o -ling w as usually interpreted as Kaling or Kaling g a. Damais,
how ever, show ed that H o -ling co uld o nly stand for W alaing w hich
he located in Jav a. Missio ns fro m H o -ling arriv ed in C hina in the
7th century. T h e people of H o -ling elected a Queen Si-mo betw een
674 - 675.

15

IV
SU M A T RA

— THE

RI SE

OF

SR I V I J A Y A
Ptolomeos, the Greek autho r fro m A lexand ria, mentio ned Baro usai
in ad d itio n to Yabad io u. T h i s is the Greek sp elling of Baro s, a po rt
o n the west coast of N o rth Sumatra fro m w hich campho r w as expo rted fro m the beginning of the C hristian Era.
W o lters po ints o ut i n his book o n Sriv ijay a that resins w ere
the m ain co mmo dities fro m Ind o nesia w hic h w ere much in d emand
i n W est A sia and C h in a. H e is of the o p inio n that the goods of
the so-called "Po -ssu" trade
(Persian trade) w ere transpo rted to
C h in a by ships fro m Ind o nesia, p articularly fro m Sumatra. T h e
first embassies to come to C hina fro m Ind o nesia began in the 6th
century, fro m M alay u, Kend ari and T u l an g Baw ang w hich co uld
be located in Sumatra.
In the second half of the 7th century a maritime pow er emerged
in So uth Sumatra, w hich put all the o ther kingdo ms, in p articular
M alay u, in the shade. Its name w as Sriv ijay a, spelled by the Chinese
as Che-li-fo-che before the ninth century and afterw ard s as San-fo-ts'i.
By co nquering such imp o rtant seaways as the Strait of M alaka
and the Sund a Strait, Sriv ijay a w as able to co ntro l the internatio nal
trade routes. T h e port of Sriv ijay a became a meeting place for ships
fro m the Persian G u lf , the Ind ian Ocean and the C hina Sea, as
w ell as for ships co ming fro m the o ther islands of the Ind o nesian
A rchip elago .
Perfumes, silks, chinaw are, mirro rs and jew ellery came fro m
co untries outside Ind o nesia, w hile Ind o nesian products consisted
of rhino cero s ho rn, w oods, campho r and resins. I n the harbo ur of
Sriv ijay a there existed a busy market w here these goods w ere so ld
or bartered .
16

T h e city of Sriv ijay a w as ho w ever, famous no t o nly as a nav al
base and business centre, but also as a centre for Bud d hist studies.
T h e Chinese p ilg rim , I-tsing, described Sriv ijay a as a w alled city
in w hich mo re than a tho usand Bud d hist mo nks liv ed researching
the sacred texts of Bud d hism w hile their w ay of life and d iscip line
was exactly like that of the mo nks i n Mad hyad esa (Ind ia). I-tsing,
w ho stayed for years in Sriv ijay a to do research and to w rite a couple
of books, reco mmended a stay i n this city for Chinese p ilgrims o n
their w ay to Ind ia, to learn the matters of d iscip line and Sanskrit
before proceeding to the G u lf of Bengal.
Most of the edicts of the rulers of Sriv ijay a w ere i n the o ld Malay language and w ritten in Pallaw a, a So uth Ind ian script, w hile
o nly a very few w ere w ritten in Sanskrit. T h e i r religio n w as Mahayana Bud d hism , w hile an inscrip tio n of 684 A . D . shows a terminology p o inting even to Tan trism .
N o t satisfied w ith the area aro und the present city of Palembang, Sriv ijay a even exp and ed its pow er to M alay u in Jam b i and
across the sea to the island of Bang ka. I n a Bang ka inscrip tio n of
686 A . D . in w hich possible rebels are cursed it is stated that the
edict w as w ritten at the mo ment that the army of Sriv ijay a left o n
an exp ed itio n to Jav a, diso bedient to Sriv ijay a.
W e read in o lder histo ry books that Sriv ijay a co nquered also
the M alay Peninsula and Jav a w hile the rulers belonged to the Shailend ra dynasty. Recent investigatio ns have, ho w ever, sho w n that
the p o litical situatio n i n the Ind o nesian A rchip elago w as much more
co mplicated than it seems at first sight. W e have seen above, ho w
in 686 A . D . Sriv ijay a had sent an exp ed itio n to Jav a, w hich d id
not includ e Central and East Jav a, for it w as perhaps o nly Taru m anagara i n W est Jav a w hich w as attacked. T h e Chinese ind eed , recorded, a few centuries later that Sund a (West Jav a) w as in the pow er of Sriv ijay a, but the o ther parts of Jav a have never been mentio ned as being und er the rule of Sriv ijay a. T h e co nceptio n that
the Shailend ras ruled both Sriv ijay a and Jav a together has been
caused by interp retatio ns of the "Insc rip tio n of Lig o r".
Lig o r is no w N ako n Sithamarath i n Th ai l an d . I n 775 A . D . it
belonged to the territo ry of the Ki n g of Sriv ijay a w ho that year ordered the build ing of Bud d hist edifices, acco rd ing to an inscrip tio n
in Sanskrit o n one side of the stone. N o mentio n is, ho w ever, made
17

of the dynasty to w hich he belonged. O n the backside of the same
stone slab w as ano ther inscrip tio n mentio ning Ki n g W ishnu of the
Shailend ra dynasty. Many scholars co nclud ed that this Shailend ra
king w as also the Ki n g of Sriv ijay a. Since in the same perio d inscriptio ns issued by Shailend ras began to appear i n Jav a, they even conclud ed that the Shailend ra Kin g of Sriv ijay a w as also ru ling Jav a.
Th e re are how ever o ther scholars w ho tend to the view that,
the tw o inscrip tio ns w ere issued by tw o d ifferent kings to w it the
ruler of Sriv ijay a and the Shailend ra king . T h e latter issued his
unfinished inscrip tio n o n the occasion of a marriage betw een a member of the dynasty of Sriv ijay a and a Shailend ra, w ho moreover hailed fro m Fu nan i n Cambo d ia. De Casp aris, a D u tc h scholar, has proposed this theory of the marriage, w hile Coedes suggested that the
Shailend ras came to Jav a fro m Cambo d ia. A recently discovered
inscrip tio n ho w ever, w hich w as read by Bu c hari, show ed they hailed
fro m Jav a. W e w o uld like to d raw the attentio n of the reader to
the fact that the Shailend ras of Jav a w ro te their inscrip tio ns alw ays
in Sanskrit and the N ag ari script, w hereas the 7th century rulers of
Sriv ijay a issued their inscrip tio ns in O ld Malay and in Pallaw a script
T h i s strengthens o ur lrelief that there w ere, indeed, tw o d ifferent dynasties w ho either closed a marriage alliance in 775 A .D .; or w ho w o rked together in the co nstructio n of a Bud d hist build ing , just as d id
later on the Pala-king and Balap utra.
A s regards the progress of Sriv ijay a, w e must say that its rise
fro m a small nav al statio n to a mighty kingd o m w hic h in 775 A . D . ,
already had Lig o r and perhaps o ther territo ries on the M alay peninsula in its possession w as, indeed, very quick.

IS

SA N J A Y A S
SH A I LEN

A N D
DRA S

In Central Jav a, a ruler by the name of Sanjaya erected a lingga i n
732 A . D . It is tho ught that Sanjaya erected this lingga as a symbo l
of his king ship . It is said in the inscrip tio n that hewutsrponihecaYVU
was the son of
Sannaha, a queen w ho w as the sister of Sanjaya's predecessor, Sanna.
H e co uld have erected the lingga for the king ship w hich he thus inherited thro ugh his mo ther's line. T h i s tendency of inheriting a
thro ne thro ugh a w ife or mo ther seems to have been very p ro minent
in ancient Jav a, fo r after Sanjaya many kings seem to have been
succeeded by their daughters, sons-in-law or nephew s, rather than
by their o w n sons.
Sanjaya still m aintained Ind o nesian titles : Sang Ratu Sanjaya
Rakai M ataram, w hich means : Kin g Sanjaya Lo rd of M ataram, this
M ataram being his apanage. It is remarkable that all the Sanjayas
w ere called by their apanage names.
T h e other Sanjayas, ho w ever, also carried the Ind ian title Sri
M aharaja, for instance : Sri M aharaja Rakai Panang karan, perhaps
und er the influence of their o verlo rds, the Shailend ras w ho called
themselves Sri M aharaja.
N o t lo ng after Sanjaya erected the lingga, the co untry came
under the pow er of these Shailend ras. T h a t they came fro m Fu - N an
is a suppo sitio n of George Coedes, w ho po inted o ut that the King s
of Fu - N an called themselves in their O ld Khm er language : " K u rung Bn am " w hich means exactly : " L o r d of the M o u ntain" as Shailend ra means i n Sanskrit.
A recently discovered stone inscrip tio n fro m Pekalo ngan o n the
no rth coast of C entral Jav a read by Bu c hari, the Ind o nesian epi-

19

graphist revealed a prince : D ap unta Selend ra, w ho w as, moreover
a Shiv aite. T h i s means that the o rig in of this dynasty w as i n Jav a
or at least in Ind o nesia.
I n East Jav a a state existed in the second half of the 8th century,
for i n 760 A . D . a ruler issued an edict o n the occasion of the ceremo ny for the consecration of a new stone A gastya statue i n a temple. T h e name of this dynasty is not mentio ned . There are scholars
w ho think that he belonged to a dynasty i n Central Jav a w hich w e
shall call the Sanjayas, after the first of that line mentio ned i n an
inscrip tio n of 907 A . D . A s there is no proof of any relatio n betw een
these Sanjayas and the East Javanese kings, w e w ill, for the time
being, presume that the state i n East Jav a w as an ind epend ent king do m.
T h e Shailend ras ruled Jav a d uring one century w hile the Sanjayas had to bow before them, being their apanage ho ld ers or vassals w ho , at their request, had to pro vid e them w ith gro unds and
experts w hen they w ished to b u ild a Bud d hist temple or stupa. I n
the meantime, these Sanjayas, w ho w ere H ind us, co ntinued build ing
their o w n temples i n remote and mo untaino us areas such as the
Dieng Plateau.
T h e Bud d hism fo llo w ed by the Shailend ras w as the Mahayana
w ith tantric tendencies, for the famous stupa of Barabud ur shows
not the usual system of fiv e but one of six Bud d has.
T h e temples built by the Shailend ras are of a splend o ur w hich
still arouses the aw e of the v isito r. Besides their w ealth of sculptures
and reliefs, they also show beautiful architecture. Some of these
temples are actually vast temple complexes w here one m ain temple
is surro und ed by hund red s of small shrines. T h e w ho le state seemes
to have p articip ated in the build ing of these large temple complexes,
for the names of the donors have been fo und o n several of these
temples or shrines, for example o n C and i Sew u and C and i Plao san.
T h e Shailend ra mo numents are : Kalasan, Sari, Barabud ur, Mend ut, Paw o n, N gaw en, Sew u, Plao san, Sajiw an, Bu b rah and many
o ther smaller temples.
T h e decline of pow er of the Shailend ras came ro und 830 A . D . ,
for some members of the Sanjaya dynasty started issuing edicts w itho ut any reference to Shailend ra suzerainty. A princess of the Shailend ra dynasty, by the name of Pramo d d haw ard d hani, m arried wutsrponi
a

20

prince of the Sanjaya dynasty, Rak ai Pikatan. By her marriage pow er w as transferred into the hands of the o rig inal Javanese dynasty.
A s w e w ill see hap p en i n o ther periods of the histo ry of Jav a i n particular, the prince w ho married a cro w nprincess co uld usually lay
claim to the thro ne.
Pramo d d haw ard d hani w as the daughter of the Shailend ra king ,
Samaro tungga, and the granddaughter of Kin g Ind ra w ho w as mentio ned i n an inscrip tio n of 778 A . D . She built a temple i n ho no ur
of her grand father and once she w as m arried to Rak ai Pikatan she
built the Bud d hist C and i Plao san together w ith her husband . Pramo d d haw ard d hani had how ever, a younger bro ther, Balap utra w ho ,
jealo us of his sister and bro ther-in-law , started a rebellio n against
them. A t first he w as
victo rio us, but finally he w as defeated and
ousted fro m Jav a circa 856 A . D . W e w i l l see him again, as Ki n g
of Sriv ijay a.

22

VI
SH A I LEN D RA S

IN

SU M A TRA

Balap utra became ruler of Sriv ijay a pro bably o w ing his rights to
the throne to his descendancy fro m the o ld kings thro ugh his mo ther,
as w as the case w ith Javanese kings. Besides he co uld have claimed
ad d itio nal rights to the thro ne by m arry ing the daughter of the ruler
of Sriv ijay a.
Balap utra w as o nly too glad to have become the ruler of such
a mighty state after his hum iliating defeat i n Jav a. H is territo ries
includ ed not o nly Sumatra but also the M alay Peninsula, across the
Strait of M alaka. I n Sumatra Sriv ijay a w as his cap ital w hile o n the
Malay Peninsula Ked ah w as his most imp o rtant harbo ur. Therefo re,
the rulers of Sriv ijay a and Ked ah (or Kad aram ) after these tw o
cities w ere one and the same. A s it w as no w a do uble kingd o m, w ith
a double name, the Chinese, w ho called the state Cheli-Fo -Che, no w
called it San-fo-ts'i w hich acco rd ing to Mbens co uld have been the
abbreviatio n of Sambo ja-Sriv ijaya, Sambo ja being ano ther name fo r
the area aro und Ked ah.
Soon after Balap utra had become Ki n g of Sriv ijay a, he made
friend s w ith a ruler famous thro ugho ut the Bud d hist w o rld , namely:
Kin g Dew apalad ew a of the Pala dynasty i n Beng al, in whose territory the famous N aland a Univ ersity w as situated to w hich p ilgrims
fro m all over the Far East and So uth East A sia came for study and
med itatio n. Balap utra built a monastery fo r the p ilgrims of Suw arnad w ip a (Sumatra), w hose maintanance w as to be carried o ut by
five villages by order of the Pala king . T h i s w as reco rded i n a copper inscrip tio n of circa 860 A . D . fo und i n the ruins of the N aland a
Univ ersity . I n the same copper-plate inscrip tio n is also mentio ned
Balap utra's mo ther, T ar a, daughter of Kin g Darmasetu of the So ma
dynasty, and his father, Samaragraw ira, w hile his grand father w as

23

a Shailend ra Ki n g of Yaw ab hu m i (most pro bably In d ra) .
A s the Shailend ras of Sriv ijay a no w ruled over the land s o n
bo th sides of the Strait of M alaka, they co uld at any time close this
trade ro ute to their enemies. Mo reo ver, their ships w ere p o w erful
in the surro und ing seas and co uld easily prevent fo reign ships fro m
sailing farther o n to o ther co untries.
Obv io usly, Sriv ijay a managed to prevent Javanese ships fro m
sailing to C hina, for betw een 873 till 992 A . D . no Javanese d ip lo matic missio ns v isited the Im p erial co urt of C hina. W e have to
po int o ut here that w hile Sriv ijay a sent no such missions fro m 742
to 904 A . D . , Jav a filled the gap by sending envoys fro m 767 to 873
A . D . W e have the impressio n that there w as alw ays a struggle for
hegemony o n the seas of Ind o nesia betw een Sriv ijay a and Jav a, resulting i n tempo rary victo ries for either of the tw o riv als.
To w ard s the end of the 10th century, Jav a, envio us of Sriv ijay a's
pow er over the seas, seems to have reinfo rced her fleet i n ordet
to attack Sriv ijay a i n its very heart. I n 990 A . D . Javanese tro ups
o ccupied Sriv ijay a, staying there u ntil 992 A . D . A n envoy fro m
Sriv ijay a, w ho at the time of the Javanese attack happened to be
in C hina, w as no t able to return to his co untry d uring these tw o years.
Sriv ijay a, ho w ever, revenged itself by attacking, w ith the help
of a lo cal prince, i n 1016/ 1017 A . D . the palace of the Javanese
king , Teg u h Dharmaw angsa, just w hen a sp lend id w ed d ing w as being
celebrated. T h e ro y al palace w as burnt to ashes. O n that day the
king and all his nobles perished .
The re w as also ano ther fo reign pow er w ith w ho m Sriv ijay a m aintained d ip lo matic relatio ns : to w it, the Co la kingd o m in So uth In d ia. A t the beginning of the 11th century this relatio nship w as very
good, fo r w hen the K i n g of Kataha and Sriv ijay a built a w ihara i i
Negapatam i n the territo ry of the Co la king , the latter do nated some
villages w hich w ere o rdered to m aintain the p ilgrims fro m Ind o nesia.
T h e year of this event w as 1006 A . D .
T e n years later the relatio ns betw een Sriv ijay a and the Co las
w ere strained , perhaps caused by Sriv ijay a's efforts to prevent the
Co la ships fro m sailing freely thro ugh the Ind o nesian straits. Fo r
in 1017 A . D . the Co la king attacked Sriv ijay a w ith his fleet w hich,
lio w ever, pro ved to be an abo rtive attempt. In 1023/ 1024 A . D . the
Co la king launched a big nav al campaign against Sriv ijay a in w hich
24

he w as so successful as to arrest even the ruler, afterw ard s attacking
all states und er the influence of Sriv ijay a i n Sumatra as w ell as o n
the Malay Peninsula.
In spite of this big campaign, Sriv ijay a w as tw o years later able
to send a missio n to C hina, p ro v ing its ind epend ent status. Perhaps
the Co la campaign o nly temp o rarily paralysed Sriv ijay a and w as not
fo llo w ed by an o ccupatio n w hich w o uld have lasted for years.
There are some ind icatio ns that Sriv ijay a started to fo llo w
ano ther po licy w ith regard to Jav a after the prince, A irlang g a, ascended to Jav a's thro ne i n 1019 A . D . , resulting in a peaceful relatio nship betw een the tw o co untries and a balance of pow er in the A rchipelago. Sriv ijay a's sphere
of influence w as the w estern part of
the A chip elago w hile Jav a's sphere, its eastern p art. T h e reason
fo r this po licy of peace co uld have been that Sriv ijay a realized the
threat of a Co ja attack.
A no ther clash betw een the Co las and Sriv ijay a o ccurred in
1068 A . D . w hen again a C o la king attacked Sriv ijay a. T h e name
of this Co la king w as W irarajend ra. H e o ccupied Kad aram ( Ke d ah ) ,
Sriv ijay a's most imp o rtant territo ry o n the Malay Peninsula, returning it o nly to the Ki n g of Sriv ijay a after the latter had bow ed him self before him .
I n 1089/ 1090 A . D . the Co las w ere again o n friend ly terms w ith
Sriv ijay a, for the Co la king Kulo ttung g a, freed the villages w hich
had been presented i n 1006 to the Kin g of Kataha and Sriv ijay a
of taxes, at the request o f tw o envoys sent by the Shailend ra King
of Kid ara (Kataha, Ked ah).
I n 1106 A . D . ho w ever, it w as recorded that the envoys sent by
the Co la king to the Co urt of the Chinese Emp ero r w ere treated
w ith less pro to co l than those fro m Pegu for the reason that the Co la
kingd o m w as at that time subject to Sriv ijay a.
Sriv ijay a w as fro m the 7th to the 13th century a famous co untry,
being a centre of trade and of Bud d hist studies and feared because
of its agressive fleet. Bu t the decline of Sriv ijay a's pow er began
i n the 13th century, as some states started to free themselves fro m the
centre, beco ming independent such as, for examp le, Kamp e and
M alay u in Sumatra. M alay u freed itself w i