Latest / The Srivijaya Empire: Southeast Asia's Forgotten Maritime Superpower — Fexingo History / Srivijaya's Malayu Kingdom: The Rival Sister State
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, we've talked a lot about Srivijaya from the perspective of Palembang and the Musi River, but there's this other major center on Sumatra that we haven't really touched on yet — the Malayu kingdom, based in what's now Jambi, up the Batang Hari River. Luna: Malayu — as in the origin of the word 'Malay'? Lucas: Exactly. That's where the term 'Melayu' comes from. And for a long time, Malayu was both a rival and a key part of the Srivijayan sphere. The earliest written record we have of Malayu is actually from the Chinese pilgrim Yijing, who we covered in episode 74. He visited in 671 CE and described a place called 'mo lo yu' — which was already a thriving Buddhist center, even before Srivijaya reached its peak. Lucas: Yijing stayed there for several months to study Sanskrit, and he notes that Malayu had already become a hub for Buddhist learning. But here's the interesting part — by the time he was writing his memoirs, Malayu had been absorbed into Srivijaya. So even that early, Srivijaya was expanding its influence up the coast. Luna: So was Malayu an independent kingdom that got conquered, or was it more of a voluntary merger? Lucas: That's a great question, and the evidence is a bit mixed. We don't have a clear conquest narrative like the Chola invasion. Instead, it seems like Malayu was a kind of sister state — culturally and economically intertwined with Srivijaya, but with its own royal lineage. The Kedukan Bukit inscription from 683 CE mentions a 'siddhayatra' — a sacred journey — that some scholars think was a military expedition to bring Malayu under Srivijayan control. Lucas: But even after that, Malayu maintained its own identity. In fact, in the 11th century, when Srivijaya was weakened by the Chola raids, Malayu seems to have reasserted its independence. And that's where we get the Dharmasraya inscription, from 1183, which mentions a Maharaja Trailokyaraja — a Malayu king who was clearly ruling independently. Luna: Wait — Dharmasraya. That's in Jambi too, isn't it? Lucas: Yes, it's the name of the kingdom that emerged from Malayu around that time. Dharmasraya literally means 'Refuge of Dharma' — very Buddhist. And this kingdom became a major power in its own right, controlling the Batang Hari River trade route, which was rich in gold and forest products. In fact, by the 13th century, Chinese records like the Zhufan Zhi describe Sanfoqi — that's Srivijaya — as being in decline, while Malayu was on the rise. Lucas: And this is where it gets fascinating. The Buddhist complex at Muaro Jambi — which is the largest ancient temple complex in Southeast Asia, even bigger than Borobudur in terms of area — was built and expanded during this period. So Malayu was not just a political rival, but a major religious center in its own right. Luna: Huge — and we've barely mentioned it before. What kind of structures are there? Lucas: Muaro Jambi covers about 12 square kilometers along the Batang Hari River. There are dozens of brick stupas and temples, with the most famous being Candi Gumpung and Candi Tinggi. Unlike Borobudur, which is a single massive monument, Muaro Jambi is a sprawling complex of many separate structures — it was more like a monastic university city. Archaeologists have found evidence of multiple building phases, from the 7th to the 13th centuries, which suggests continuous occupation and investment. Luna: So while Palembang was the political capital, Jambi was the spiritual heart? Lucas: That's one way to look at it, but it's more nuanced. Palembang also had major Buddhist institutions — Yijing studied there too. But Muaro Jambi seems to have been especially important for Tantric Buddhism, which became dominant in the region by the 11th century. And the architecture reflects that — some of the statues found there are of deities like Hevajra and Heruka, which are associated with Vajrayana practices. Lucas: The rivalry between Malayu and Srivijaya really came to a head in the 13th century, when the Chinese record the Dao Yi Zhi Lue mentions that Sanfoqi was in chaos, and that Malayu had become the dominant power in the strait. But then, in 1275, the Javanese Singhasari kingdom launched an expedition called the Pamalayu — which literally means 'war against Malayu' — and conquered it. Luna: So Java took over Malayu before Majapahit even existed? Lucas: Exactly. The Pamalayu campaign was led by King Kertanagara of Singhasari, who was the last ruler before Majapahit emerged. And it's interesting — he didn't just destroy Malayu. He sent statues and gifts, and tried to integrate it into his sphere. One of the results was that Malayu's prince, Adityawarman, later became a key figure in the Minangkabau highlands, carrying Buddhist and Hindu traditions inland. Luna: Adityawarman — I've heard that name. He was a kind of king-priest, right? Lucas: Yes, he ruled in the 14th century from the highlands of West Sumatra, and he left behind inscriptions in a mix of Sanskrit and Old Malay, as well as some of the most striking statues in the region — depicting him as a Buddhist protector deity. He's often seen as the last great Buddhist king of Sumatra before Islam spread. Lucas: So Malayu's legacy is really layered. It started as a contemporary of Srivijaya, then became a rival, then a successor, and finally a bridge to the inland kingdoms. And the archaeological record at Muaro Jambi is still revealing new things — for example, recent excavations have found Chinese ceramics and Indian beads that show the site was connected to global trade networks, not just local ones. Luna: That makes me wonder — were the people of Malayu also Orang Laut, like in Srivijaya? Lucas: Some of them probably were, but the heartland of Malayu was more agrarian, based on the fertile Batang Hari valley. The Orang Laut were more associated with the coast and the strait. But Malayu certainly had its own naval strength — they controlled the river trade, which was just as important as the sea routes. And they also had their own shahbandars, or harbor masters, to manage the flow of goods. Lucas: And that's actually a good segue to something I wanted to mention. We put a lot of work into researching these episodes — reading through Chinese records, archaeological reports, and sometimes conflicting scholarly interpretations. If you've been enjoying the show and want to help keep it going, a couple of dollars a month makes a real difference. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that genuinely helps with the hosting costs and research time. And we really appreciate everyone who's chipped in. Lucas: Absolutely. Anyway — back to Malayu. One of the most intriguing puzzles is the relationship between the Buddhist and Hindu traditions there. We have evidence of both, sometimes in the same temple. At Candi Gumpung, for example, there's a statue of the Hindu god Ganesha, but it's found in a Buddhist context. That syncretism is a hallmark of Southeast Asian religion, and Malayu was a key place where it happened. Luna: So it wasn't a sharp divide — more like a spectrum. Lucas: Exactly. And that flexibility might have been part of why Malayu survived as a distinct entity for so long. When the Majapahit empire expanded in the 14th century, they didn't erase Malayu — they incorporated it. The Nagarakretagama, a Javanese poem from 1365, lists Malayu as one of Majapahit's tributaries, but it also shows that the region was still seen as culturally distinct. Lucas: So in a way, the story of Malayu is a story of resilience. While Srivijaya collapsed after the Chola raids and the rise of new powers, Malayu adapted — first as an independent kingdom, then as a Javanese ally, and later as a center of Minangkabau culture. Its legacy lives on in the language and identity of modern Malaysia and Indonesia. Luna: And the name itself — 'Malayu' — became 'Malay', which is now one of the major ethnic groups in the region. Lucas: Right. So when we think about Srivijaya, we shouldn't just imagine one monolithic empire based in Palembang. It was more like a network of ports and river kingdoms, with Malayu as one of the key nodes — sometimes cooperating, sometimes competing, but always part of the same cultural and economic world. Luna: I feel like I need to go visit Muaro Jambi now. Lucas: It's definitely on my list too. And unlike some ancient sites, it's not overrun with tourists — you can walk through the jungle and see these massive brick structures rising out of the vegetation. It gives you a real sense of the scale of these kingdoms. Lucas: One last note — there's a theory that the Malayu kingdom might have been the original 'Suvarnadvipa', or 'Island of Gold', that Indian texts refer to. That's how rich it was in gold and other resources. But we don't know for sure. It's one of those mysteries that keeps historians arguing. Luna: And that's the fun part — there's always more to uncover.