Latest / The Srivijaya Empire: Southeast Asia's Forgotten Maritime Superpower — Fexingo History / Srivijaya's Buddhist Empire and the Borobudur Connection
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, we've talked a lot about Srivijaya's trade, its navy, its currency, but one thing we haven't really touched on is how deeply Buddhist this empire was. I mean, yes, we mentioned Yijing the pilgrim, but there's a whole other dimension — the Sailendra dynasty that built Borobudur in central Java. Luna: Wait, Borobudur? That's in Java, not Sumatra. Was that really Srivijaya? Lucas: Great question. Borobudur was built by the Sailendra dynasty, who ruled central Java from the mid-8th to mid-9th centuries. And the Sailendras were closely tied to Srivijaya — some historians even argue they were a branch of the same ruling family. They shared the same Mahayana Buddhist faith, and Srivijaya's wealth from the Strait of Malacca likely funded much of the construction. Luna: So Borobudur is essentially a Srivijayan monument? Lucas: In a way, yes. It's the largest Buddhist temple in the world — nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome. It's built as a giant three-dimensional mandala. Pilgrims would walk up through galleries lined with over 2,600 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues, each level representing a stage of enlightenment — from the world of desire, to the world of forms, to the formless realm. Luna: That sounds like a journey. How long did it take to build? Lucas: Decades, possibly 50 to 75 years, from about 780 to 830 CE. It required massive resources — stone quarried from nearby rivers, transported and carved by thousands of artisans. And the design itself is incredibly sophisticated. The reliefs depict scenes from Buddhist texts, but also daily life in 9th-century Java — ships, markets, musicians, even a scene of a ship with outriggers that looks exactly like the lashed-lug boats we've talked about. Luna: So it's a historical record too. But what happened to the Sailendras? Did they just vanish? Lucas: Not exactly. Around 856 CE, there was a dynastic struggle. The Sanjaya dynasty, which was Hindu, began to assert power. The Sailendra king Balaputradewa — we did an episode on him — fled to Sumatra and became the ruler of Srivijaya. He even got a grant of land from the Pala emperor Devapala in India to build a monastery at Nalanda. So the Buddhist legacy moved back to Srivijaya's heartland in Palembang and Muaro Jambi. Luna: And what about Borobudur? Did it fall into ruin? Lucas: It was abandoned sometime in the 14th century, likely after the decline of the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms in Java. The jungle overgrew it, and it was buried under volcanic ash for centuries. It wasn't rediscovered until 1814, when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles — the same guy who founded Singapore — heard about a hill covered in carvings. He sent a British engineer to clear the site, and they found this massive monument. Luna: It's amazing that something that big could just disappear. Lucas: It is, but it also shows how much we still have to learn about Srivijaya. The empire itself left few written records — most of what we know comes from Chinese and Indian sources, and from inscriptions like the Kedukan Bukit stone. Borobudur, though, is a physical testament to the wealth, artistry, and spiritual ambition of the Sailendra-Srivijaya world. Luna: So the empire wasn't just about trade — it was a major center of Buddhist learning and art. Lucas: Exactly. Yijing, the Chinese monk, spent years in Palembang and at Muaro Jambi, studying Sanskrit and copying sutras. He wrote that Srivijaya had over a thousand monks, all following the same Vinaya rules as in India. He advised Chinese monks to stop there first to study before going to Nalanda. So it was a real hub of Buddhist scholarship. Luna: And the Sailendras funded all of that? Lucas: They did. The Nalanda copper-plate grant shows that Balaputradewa asked the Pala king for permission to build a monastery, and he sent resources from Srivijaya to support it. That kind of patronage extended to Java as well — Borobudur itself is a statement of royal power and piety. The king was seen as a bodhisattva, a being who postpones his own enlightenment to help others. Luna: That's a different kind of kingship than the Hindu concept of a devaraja, or god-king. Lucas: Right. In Srivijaya and Sailendra realms, the king was a bodhisattva — a compassionate ruler. That idea spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, like Angkor, where Jayavarman VII portrayed himself as a bodhisattva. So Srivijaya's influence went beyond trade — it shaped political and religious ideas across the region. Luna: It's funny — we talk about forgotten empires, but Borobudur is one of the most visited sites in Indonesia today. Lucas: And it's a UNESCO World Heritage site. But most visitors don't know about its connection to Srivijaya. They see it as a Javanese monument, which it is, but it's also a window into a maritime empire that connected India, China, and Southeast Asia for centuries. The reliefs even show ships that are identical to those used by the Orang Laut — the sea people who served Srivijaya. Luna: Maybe we can do a whole episode just on what the Borobudur reliefs tell us about daily life. Lucas: Absolutely. There's so much there — market scenes, musical instruments, even a possible depiction of a fire lance. But for now, I think the key takeaway is that Srivijaya wasn't just a commercial power — it was a spiritual one too. And Borobudur is its most enduring monument, even if the empire itself faded away.