Srivijaya's Sandalwood Flower Coin: The Currency That Shaped Southeast Asian Trade

The Srivijaya Empire: Southeast Asia's Forgotten Maritime Superpower — Fexingo History · Jun 16, 2026 · 7m · transcript

In this episode of our series on the Srivijaya Empire, we dive into the story of the sandalwood flower coin, known as mas krisna, which became the dominant currency across Southeast Asia for centuries. We explore how these tiny gold coins, stamped with a distinctive sandalwood flower design, facilitated trade from Sumatra to the Spice Islands, and how the Srivijayan Maharajas controlled their production and purity. We also examine the coin's role in connecting the Indian Ocean trade networks with the Chinese tributary system, and how the coin's value was backed by the empire's…