Today, the Sri Vijaya Empire personifies the glory and pride of the proud past of the Malay people. But an astonishing fact is that this kingdom was virtually unknown for the past few centuries, and was erased not just from the history books but also from the memories of the Malay people till the year 1918. The Sri Vijaya Empire was located in Palembang and Bukit Seguntang functioned as its capital. The historical evidence collected so far indicates that the kingdom was powerful, and served as an important Buddhist development centre between the centuries of 7th and 12th AD. After its fall in the 13th century, almost all evidence of the kingdom’s existence were erased by time, and historians of the subsequent centuries did not know about such a large kingdom, until it was found out by George Coedès, a French historian, in the year 1918. He published his article titled ‘Le Royaume de Crivijaya’, in which he talks about the references to "Sanfoqi" in ancient Chinese literatures and other Old Malay inscriptions referring to the kingdom of Sri Vijaya.
Later many historical records were reexamined and few Malay inscriptions referring to Sri Vijaya were identified, such as the Talang Tuwo inscriptions and Kota Kapur inscription. Now there is a fair picture of the empire available with the historians, and Sri Vijaya Empire today is regarded as a testimony to the Sumatran importance as a powerful kingdom in early centuries, and as a symbol of Indonesian identity before the Dutch colonization. It also shows how history could be easily erased, when there are no proper recordings either through literature or by architectural means. The Sri Vijayan kings did not build huge monuments or temples like the other South Indian rulers of that time. The reason for this being it was mostly a maritime kingdom rather than an agriculture dependent state, and its residents spent most of their time on the sea waters, trying to control and defend their trade routes. Another reason is the multitude of names the kingdom had in many different languages. The Arabs knew it by the name Zabag, Chinese called it Sanfotsi and it also went by various names such as Yavadesh, Melayu and Javadeh. So though many references were found in historical records to this empire, till the year 1918, historians did not know all these references were about a single kingdom.
Today all that is left as a reminder of such a powerful empire is a handful of stone inscriptions, some bronze statues, and few other archaeological evidences. So the primary reason behind the delay in discovering the existence of this vast kingdom is the lack of ample archaeological evidence and the use of different names to denote a single empire. But once it was discovered by Coedès, many supporting evidences were uncovered by historians and today we have many data on this empire such as its culture, religion, boundaries, royal lineage and administrative structure etc. Despite its late discovery, the Sri Vijaya Empire today stands as a symbol of the proud past of the Sumatran people, and it would have been a big cultural loss for them if the records of this empire were not discovered.
Works Cited
K.A. Nilakanta Sastri. (1940) Sri Vijaya. University of Madras. Volume 40. Pg.239-313. Retrieved from http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/befeo_0336-1519_1940_num_40_2_4796
