'MALAYA-DVIPA THE MANDALA ISLAND OF GOLD'

ITS MYSTERY IN THE THE FABLE OF SRIVIJAYA

An 11th century gold coated bronze statue in Malayu-Srivijayan style |

The word bhūmi Mālayu (literally "Land of Malayu") is inscribed on the Padang Roco
Inscription, dated 1286, according to the inscription, bhūmi Mālayu is associated with
the Dharmasraya kingdom. On the Amoghapasa inscription, dated 1347, the
word Malayapura (literally "city of Malaya" or "kingdom of Malaya") was proclaimed
by Adityawarman, again referring to Dharmasraya. The word "Melayu" is also mentioned in
the Malay annals referring to a river in Sumatra:
"...Here now is the story of a city called Palembang in the land of Andelas. It was ruled by
Demang Lebar Daun, a descendant of Raja Shulan, and its river was the Muara Tatang. In
the upper reaches of the Muara Tatang was a river called Melayu, and on that river was a
hill called Si-Guntang Mahameru..."

The Musi River (Indonesian: Sungai Musi) is located in Southern Sumatra, Indonesia.
The river roughly flows from south-west to north-east, from the Barisan Mountains range that
form the backbone of Sumatra, in Kepahiang Regency, Bengkulu Province, to the Bangka
Strait that forms the extension of the South China Sea. It is about 750 kilometers long, and
drains most of South Sumatra province. After flowing through Palembang, the provincial
capital, it joins with the several other rivers, including the Banyuasin River, to form
a delta near the town of Sungsang. The river, dredged to a depth of about 6.5 meters, is
navigable by large ships as far as Palembang, which is the site of major port facilities used
primarily for the export of petroleum, rubber and palm oil. This river system, especially
around the city of Palembang, was the heart of eponymous 7th to 13th
century Srivijayan empire. The river mouth was the site of the SilkAir Flight 185 plane crash
which killed all 104 passengers and crew on board in 1997.

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The river flows in the southern area of Sumatra with a predominantly tropical rainforest
climate. The annual average temperature in the area is 24 °C. The warmest month is July,
when the average temperature is around 26 °C, and the coldest is February, at 22 °C. The
average annual rainfall is 2579 mm. The wettest month is April, with an average of 344 mm
rainfall, and the driest is September, with 99 mm rainfall.

TREASURE HUNT

Today within the murky depths of the River Musi, one of the world’s most polluted stretches
of water, lies a treasure trove laden with gold, jewels and historical artefacts that signify the
existence of a lost city – Srivijayapura. Described as the last great lost civilization that no
one's heard about, the ‘Island of Gold’ as it was known, was situated on Sumatra and ruled
Indonesia and much of Southeast Asia for over 600 years.

It disappeared without a trace around the 14th century. Searching through Chinese
manuscripts and stone inscriptions George Codes is said to have . Most of the information
about the city came from foreign travellers who spoke of a land of gold surrounded by
volcanoes of smoke and fire, man-eating snakes and colourful parrots that could mimic a
multitude of languages; a tantalising glimpse into a forgotten exotic world.
A short while after Coedes’ discovery, the search for the lost city officially began although
physical evidence of its existence was hard to find, mostly because Srivijaya was a floating
empire.

Apart from temples and royal abodes, most of the people of Srivijaya lived on floating
houses made of bamboo, wood and straw. They moved freely around on canoes and no
settlement was ever permanent. To make things even more difficult for archaeologists, a
volcanic event could also have buried the site of Srivijaya in the years following its demise.
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With few archaeological discoveries, pinpointing the exact location of Srivijaya proved to be
a historical needle in a haystack. However, that all changed in the past few years when
fishermen on the River Musi began discovering glittering wonders adorning their nets.
Maritime archaeologist Dr Sean Kingsley has recently released his research into their finds
and says it is like an ‘Asian Atlantis’:
‘Gold rings, jewels, merchants stamps, Chinese coins by the tons, huge amounts of pottery,
Buddhist bronze statues, even life-size, studded with gems,’ are some of the incredibly rich
and surprising material recently unearthed. These discoveries reaffirm the legend of
Srivijaya’s wealth. Situated in a strategically key location along the Silk Road, the empire was
able to control trading routes connecting east and west. No ship could reach India or China
without passing Srivijaya. Gold from the empire was stamped with the flower of the
sandalwood and inscribed with the Sanskrit word for ‘glory’.
Fat from the riches of maritime trade, the floating kingdom also sat on vast gold deposits
along both the Musi and Batang Hari rivers. The empire was said to be so wealthy that the
king of Srivijaya would wake up every morning and throw a gold brick out of the window. As
Srivijaya’s wealth grew, so did its influence, funding Buddhist temples in China and India
whilst trading throughout Southeast Asia.

The Melayu Kingdom (also known as Malayu, Dharmasraya Kingdom or the Jambi
Kingdom; was a classical Buddhist kingdom located in Southeast Asia.The primary sources
for much of the information on the kingdom are the New History of the Tang, and the
memoirs of the Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing who visited in 671, and the state was
"absorbed" by Srivijaya by 692, but had "broken away" by the end of the twelfth century
according to Chao Jukua. The exact location of the kingdom is the subject of studies among
historians. One theory is that the kingdom was established around present-
day Jambi on Sumatra, Indonesia, approximately 300 km north of Palembang. According to
this theory, it was founded by ethnic groups in the Batanghari river area and gold traders
from the Minangkabau hinterland of Pagarruyung.

There are different proposals for the origin of the word Melayu ('Malay'). One theory
suggests that it is derived from the Javanese terms melayu or mlayu (to steadily accelerate or
to run), to describe the strong current of a river in Sumatra that today bears the name Sungai
Melayu ('Melayu river') which is the right branch going upriver of Batang Hari whose
watershed reaches Pagarruyung. The name was later possibly adopted by the Melayu
Kingdom, as it is common for people in the region to be known by the name of the river on
which they settled.
Another theory holds that it originated from the Tamil words Malai and ur meaning
"mountain" and "city, land", respectively. It could possibly referred to Barisan Mountains, the
mountain range in Sumatra.

Vayu Purana
An early literary appearance where the word "Malayadvipa", which means "mountainous
island", is described in chapter 48, Vayu Purana as one of the provinces in the eastern sea that
was full of gold and silver. The Vayu Purana (Sanskrit: वायुपुराण, Vāyu-purāṇa) is a
Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. Vayu Purana is mentioned
in the manuscripts of the Mahabharata and other Hindu texts, which has led scholars to

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propose that the text is among the oldest in the Puranic genre. Vayu and Vayaviya Puranas do
share a very large overlap in their structure and contents, possibly because they once were the
same, but with continuous revisions over the centuries, the original text became two different
texts, and the Vayaviya text came also to be known as the Brahmanda Purana. It is
mentioned in chapter 3.191 of the Mahabharata, and section 1.7 of the Harivamsa, suggesting
that the text existed in the first half of the 1st-millennium CE. The 7th-century Sanskrit prose
writer Banabhatta refers to this work in his Kadambari and Harshacharita. In chapter 3 of
the Harshacharita Banabhatta remarks that the Vayu Purana was read out to him in his
native village. Alberuni (973 -1048), the Persian scholar who visited and lived in northwest
Indian subcontinent for many years in early 11th century, quoted from the version of Vayu
Purana that existed during his visit.

Some scholars equate the term with Sumatra, but several Indian scholars believe the term
may refer to the peninsula, while Sumatra is more correctly associated with Suvarnadvipa (an
ancient name referred to Sumatra) which means "The Gold Land" and the Barisan
Mountains which is the mountainous range scattered from north to the south Sumatra
hemisphere. Then, the term "Maleu-Kolon" was used in Geographia by Ptolemy which is
believed to have originated from the Sanskrit term malayakolam or malaikurram, referring to
a geographical part of peninsula. In 7th century, the first use of the term for a nation or a
kingdom was recorded by Yijing.

Ampera Bridge, Palemgang

The East Javanese Anjukladang inscription dated from 937 CE Medang Kingdom stated that
the Sima status was awarded to the Anjukladang village and a jayastambha (victory
monument) was later upgraded to a temple, the monument was erected in recognition of their
service on repelling the invading forces from Malayu. The temple mentioned here is probably
the Candi Lor (made of bricks and now in ruins) located in Candirejo village in Nganjuk
Regency. The mentioning of invading Malayu forces refers to the old term: "Sumatran
Malayu Kingdom", which probably is thought to refer to Srivijaya instead. This means that
by the 10th century, the Javanese identified their Sumatran-based enemy as "Malayu”.

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The Topography of Sumatra shows the mountainous range of Barisan Mountains scattered from north to the
south Sumatra hemisphere. Map mof Malay kingdoms.

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 An inscription on the south wall of the 11th
century Brihadeeswarar Temple also made a reference to Malaiyur, a kingdom that had "a
strong mountain for its rampart" during the Chola invasion of Srivijaya period. This referred
to Chola invaders during Rajendra Chola I's campaign.

In the later Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) and Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), the word Ma-La-
Yu was mentioned often in Chinese historical texts – with changes in spelling due to the time
span between the dynasties – to refer to a nation near the southern sea. Among the terms used
was "Bok-la-yu", "Mok-la-yu, Ma-li-yu-er, Oo-lai-yu - traced from the written source of
monk Xuanzang), and Wu-lai-yu. In the chronicle of Yuan Dynasty, the word "Ma-li-yu-er"
was mentioned in describing the Sukhothai's southward expansion against Malay.

"..Animosity occurred between Siam and Ma-li-yu-er with both killing each other..."

In response to the Sukhothai's move, a Chinese envoy arrived at the Ram Khamhaeng's court
in 1295 bearing an imperial order: "Keep your promise and do no evil to Ma-li-yu-er". [21] This
nation of "Ma-li-yu-er" that appeared in the Chinese record may also be the nation that was
mentioned by the famous Venetian traveller Marco Polo (1254–1324) who lived during the
same period. In Travels of Marco Polo, he made a reference to a kingdom named "Malauir"
in the Malay peninsula.

The word bhūmi Mālayu (literally "Land of Malayu") is inscribed on the Padang Roco
Inscription, dated 1286, according to the inscription, bhūmi Mālayu is associated with
the Dharmasraya kingdom. On the Amoghapasa inscription, dated 1347, the
word Malayapura (literally "city of Malaya" or "kingdom of Malaya") was proclaimed
by Adityawarman, again referring to Dharmasraya. The word "Melayu" is also mentioned in
the Malay annals referring to a river in Sumatra:
"...Here now is the story of a city called Palembang in the land of Andelas. It was ruled by
Demang Lebar Daun, a descendant of Raja Shulan, and its river was the Muara Tatang. In
the upper reaches of the Muara Tatang was a river called Melayu, and on that river was a
hill called Si-Guntang Mahameru..."
On his route via Maritime Southeast Asia, Yijing visited Srivijaya twice where he stayed
from 688 to 695, studying and translating the original texts in Sanskrit. Srivijaya appears to
have been flourishing around the time of Yijing's visit, which he initially called "Bogha"
during his first visit. At its greatest extent, the kingdom extended to Malayu, which seems to
have been annexed or to have come spontaneously under the realm of Bogha prince. The

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whole country as well as the capital received the name "Sribogha" or Srivijaya. The change
of the name Malayu to Sribogha is likely to have occurred before Yijing's time or during his
stay there, for whenever he mentions Malayu by name, he added that "it is now changed to
Sribogha".

The following extract from Yijing's work, A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from
the Southern Sea, further describes his route via Bogha and Malayu:

Wu Hing came to Bogha after a month's sail. The king received him very favourably and
respected him as a guest from the land of the son of heaven of the Great Tang. He went on
board the king's ship to the country of Malayu and arrived there after fifteen days sail.
Thence he went to Ka Cha, again after fifteen days. At the end of winter he changed ship and
sailed to the west.
Further for the determination of the location of Sribogha-Malayu, Yijing furnishes the
following:
In the country of Sribogha, we see the shadow of the dial-plate become neither long nor short
(i.e "remain unchanged" or "no shadow") in the middle of the eighth month (Autumnal
equinox), and at midday no shadow falls from a man who is standing on that day, so it is in
the middle of spring (Vernal equinox).

Thus it can be inferred that the country of Sribogha covered the place lying on the equator,
and the whole county therefore must have covered the north east side of Sumatra, from the
southern shore of Malacca, to the city of Palembang, extending at least five degrees, having
the equatorial line at about the centre of the kingdom.

According to Yijing, the famois Buddhist Chinese traveler and Monk who visited Nalanda,
India as well as Srivijayapura, Capital of the Srivijaya Empire, Hinayana Buddhism was
predominantly adopted in Srivijaya, represented for the most part by
the Mulasarvastivada school, however there were few Mahayanists in Malayu. Gold seems to
have been abundant in the kingdom, where people used to offer the Buddha a lotus flower of
gold and used golden jars. Moreover, people of the kingdom wear a type of long cloth and
used fragrant oil.

Further, Melayu had accessed to gold producing areas in the hinterland of Sumatra. This
slowly increased the prestige of Melayu which traded various local goods, including gold,
with foreigners.

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Candi Gumpung, a Buddhist temple at Muaro Jambi of Melayu Kingdom, later integrated as one of Srivijaya's important
urban centre.

Between 1079 and 1088, Chinese records show that Srivijaya sent ambassadors from Jambi
and Palembang. In 1079 in particular, an ambassador from Jambi and Palembang each visited
China. Jambi sent two more ambassadors to China in 1082 and 1088. This suggests that the
centre of Srivijaya frequently shifted between the two major cities during that
period. The Chola invasion of Srivijaya as well as changing trade routes weakened
Palembang, allowing Jambi to take the leadership of Srivijaya from the 11th century on.

In 1275, Kertanegara, of the Singhasari Kingdom, took advantage of Srivijaya's decline and
sent a military expedition to establish Javanese control of Melayu. Mahesa Anabrang (or
Kebo/Lembu Anabrang) was a general of Singhasari, who conquered Srivijaya and Melayu in
1288. Embassies were sent to China in 1299 and 1301.

Almost a century after taking over the role of Palembang as the centre of an empire, Jambi
and Srivijaya experienced a decline in influence. This was caused by a change of policy by
the Song dynasty to no longer accept ambassadors from Srivijaya, and Jambi's inability to
cope with the changing scenario. Instead of Jambi controlling the trade through a tributary
system, traders were allowed to trade directly.

By the beginning of the fourteenth century, Melayu "remained the only Sumatran state of
some political importance and it had become the refuge of Indian culture in opposition to the
sultanates of the north that were already Islamized or in the process of becoming so". In the
year 1347, Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi, the Queen of Majapahit,
delegated Adityawarman as the ruler of Melayu to prevent the revival of Srivijaya.
Adityawarman later conquered Tanah Datar to take control of the gold trade and founded a
kingdom in Pagaruyung. In the year 1377, the Majapahit defeated Palembang and ended
efforts to revive Srivijaya. The last prince of Srivijayan origin, Parameswara (thought to be
the same person as Iskandar Shah in the Malay Annals), fled to Temasik to seek refuge
before moving farther north, where he founded what would become the Malacca Sultanate.

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So how did this incredibly rich, vibrant and thriving floating city quite literally disappear
from the face of the earth? Historians believe that a variety of factors brought an end to the
golden age of Srivijaya, including piracy along its trade routes as well as the expansion of
rival Indonesian empires.

Flash forward 700 years and the golden wonders of Srivijaya are once again above water.
Their discovery can finally shed light on what the ancient city was like. However, it seems
that the newly discovered treasures will not be giving up the secrets of Srivijaya quite so
easily:
‘Vast swathes have been lost to the international antiquities market. Newly discovered, the
story of the rise and fall of Srivijaya is dying anew without being told,’ said Dr Kingsley an
expert. Treasure hunters, divers and fishermen are now dodging the crocodiles to strike it
rich in the River Musi. The lost treasures of the Island of Gold are being sold into the
antiquities black market to be scattered into private collectors across the globe. The lack of
resources devoted to cultural heritage in Indonesia has made it difficult for an official
archaeological study to take place.

Without any formal excavations at the River Musi, none of the important objects are being
accounted for or documented within their historical context. Artefacts sold-off piecemeal
strip them of their context, which in turn makes them hard to study.

Muaro Jambi or Candi Muaro Jambi is a Buddhist temple complex, in Muaro Jambi
Regency, Jambi province, Sumatra, Indonesia. It is situated 26 kilometers east from the city
of Jambi. The temple complex was built by the Melayu Kingdom, with its surviving temples
and other archaeological remains estimated to date from the 7th to 13th century CE. The
archaeological site includes eight excavated temple sanctuaries and covers about 12 square
kilometers, stretches 7.5 kilometers along the Batang Hari River, 80 menapos or mounds of
temple ruins, are not yet restored. It is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient temple
complexes in South East Asia.
It was suggested that Muaro Jambi Temple compound might be the initial location
of Srivijaya kingdom. This is mainly because, Muaro Jambi has far richer temple
concentration—in contrast to the scarcity of archaeological sites in South Sumatra.
The start of the rise of the kingdom of Melayu can be dated to 1025 when Indian kingdom of
Chola attacked and destroyed the capital of the Sumatran maritime empire of Srivijaya. This
allowed a number of smaller Sumatran polities to expand their political and economic
influence. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries it seems that from its river estuarine
basis along the Batang Hari, Melayu became the dominant economic power in Sumatra. The
substantial archaeological remains at Muaro Jambi suggest that this may have been the site of
the Melayu capital. The city's age of glory came to an end in 1278 when
Java's Singhasari kingdom attacked the city, even succeeding in capturing members of the
royal family. The site was rediscovered by Dutch explorers in the nineteenth century. It is
now protected as a national monument.

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 Candi Tinggi,
one of the temple within Muaro Jambi temple compound.

The temple complex of Candi Muaro Jambi is spread out over a large area along the banks of
the Batang Hari River. Eight temple complexes have been excavated but many more mounds
and sites remain to be explored within the conservation area, much of which is still covered
by thick jungle. The three most significant intact temples are known as Candi Tinggi, Candi
Kedaton, and Candi Gumpung. The temples are built from red brick and unlike the temples
of Java, feature very little ornamentation, carving, or statuary. A few pieces of sculpture are
housed in a small, on-site museum. The wooden dwellings that are believed to have housed
the city's population have all disappeared without a trace. Only 9 temples have been restored,
3 have mentioned above and the others are Candi Tinggi I, Candi Kembarbatu, Candi Gedong
I, and Candi Gedong II

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