Latest / The Srivijaya Empire: Southeast Asia's Forgotten Maritime Superpower — Fexingo History / Srivijaya's Buddhist Luminaries and the Nalanda Connection
Transcript
- Lucas: So far in this series we've talked a lot about Srivijaya's trade — camphor, tin, gold coins — but one of the things that really sets this empire apart is that it was also a major center of Buddhist learning. And I want to focus today on the scholars and monasteries that made that happen. Luna: You mean like the monks who studied there? Lucas: Exactly. The most famous figure is probably the Chinese pilgrim Yijing, who we've touched on before. He arrived in Srivijaya in 671 AD and stayed for six months to study Sanskrit before continuing on to the great Nalanda monastery in India. But what a lot of people don't realize is that when he came back from India around 685, he spent another four years in Srivijaya — in Palembang — translating Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese. He wrote that Srivijaya had over a thousand monks and that the curriculum was exactly the same as at Nalanda. Luna: Wait, so Srivijaya was basically a branch campus of Nalanda? Lucas: That's a great way to put it. And it wasn't just a one-way street. The Srivijayan kings actively sponsored Buddhism abroad. The most famous example is King Balaputradewa, who we covered in episode 75. He was a Sailendra ruler who built a monastery at Nalanda itself. We know this from a copper-plate inscription — the Nalanda Charter — issued by the Pala king Devapala of India around 860 AD. The charter records that Devapala granted five villages to support the monastery built by Balaputradewa. So you have a Srivijayan king funding a monastery in India. Luna: That's incredible. So Srivijaya was like a patron of Buddhism across the whole region. Lucas: Exactly. And the connection went both ways. There's also the story of the Tibetan translator Atisha, who traveled to Srivijaya in the early 11th century. Atisha is a huge figure in Tibetan Buddhism — he later helped revive Buddhism in Tibet. But before that, he spent twelve years in Srivijaya studying under a teacher named Dharmakirti. Atisha's biographies say he studied Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism there, and that Dharmakirti was considered one of the greatest scholars of the age. Luna: So Srivijaya was a destination for advanced Buddhist study, not just a stopover. Lucas: Right. And the center of all this was likely in the Muaro Jambi temple complex on the Batang Hari River in Sumatra — which we've mentioned before. Recent archaeological work there has uncovered Buddhist inscriptions, statues, and even what look like monastic dormitories. Muaro Jambi was probably a major university city, maybe even larger than Palembang as a religious center. Some scholars now think that when Yijing talked about 'Srivijaya' he might have meant Muaro Jambi rather than Palembang. Luna: Oh, that's a good point — the geography is still debated. Lucas: It is. But either way, the intellectual life was remarkable. Srivijaya was a hub for translating texts between Sanskrit, Chinese, and later Tibetan. Monks from all over Asia came to study and teach. And this wasn't just about religion — it was part of the empire's soft power. By being seen as a center of learning, Srivijaya attracted scholars and diplomats, which reinforced its prestige and trade networks. Luna: So the monks were almost like ambassadors for the empire. Lucas: In a way, yes. And the Buddhist connection also explains some of the art and architecture we see from the Srivijaya period — like the Sailendra-built Borobudur in Java, though that's technically a different kingdom. But the shared Buddhist culture tied together many parts of the Malay world. For example, the Sailendra kings who built Borobudur also ruled Srivijaya for a time, and they were the same family that sponsored Nalanda. Luna: That ties a lot of things together. So when did this intellectual golden age end? Lucas: It declined along with the empire. The Chola invasion in 1025 was a big blow, and then the rise of Majapahit in the 13th century shifted power. But even after Srivijaya faded, the Buddhist tradition continued in places like the Malay kingdom of Dharmasraya and later in the Thai kingdoms. The manuscripts and ideas that monks like Atisha brought back to Tibet survived for centuries. Luna: It's amazing that an empire we usually think of as traders was also a beacon for scholarship. Lucas: If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it really helps keep the show going. Lucas: So back to the story — one of the most enduring legacies of Srivijaya's Buddhist learning is actually in Tibet. Atisha's teachings, which he developed during his years in Srivijaya, became foundational for the Kadam school of Tibetan Buddhism. And Dharmakirti, his teacher in Srivijaya, is remembered in Tibetan texts as a master of logic and debate. So in a way, the intellectual traditions of Srivijaya ended up shaping Buddhism in the Himalayas. Luna: That's a much bigger impact than I expected from a trading empire.