The Kings Who Bring Fame to The Kingdom of Sriwijaya

With the monarchical government that was run, making the Kingdom of Srivijaya had a very good government. In addition, the ruling kings were also able to make this kingdom have broad powers up to the Southeast Asian region.

INDEPHEDIA.com - The fame of the Kingdom of Srivijaya (Sriwijaya) on the island of Sumatra is recorded in history in Indonesia. Apart from being the center of the spread of Buddhism in the 8th century to the 12th century AD, the glory of the kingdom was also a result of the influence of the bustling sea trade.

In the meantime, this kingdom also became the only kingdom that controlled the Malacca Strait so that it had trade relations with India, China and the Malaysian Islands, known as countries with strong trade influences. The first king of the Srivijaya Kingdom was Sri Jayanaga. However, the glory of this kingdom during the reign of Balaputra Dewa.

In Sanskrit, Srivijaya has a meaning. Sri means "glowing" or "brilliant" while Wijaya means "victory" or "glory". When combined the meaning of Srivijaya is "glorious victory".

In the Kingdom of Srivijaya, the religion adopted by the people was Vajrayana Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Hinayana Buddhism and Hinduism. Although there is Hinduism in it, but the influence of Hinduism is not too large. Meanwhile, the language used by the Srivijaya community is Old Malay Language and Old Javanese Sanskrit.

With the monarchical government that was run, making the Kingdom of Srivijaya had a very good government. In addition, the ruling kings were also able to make this kingdom have broad powers up to the Southeast Asian region.

The success in controlling trade and having wide powers certainly cannot be separated from some great kings who ruled the Srivijaya Kingdom. Here are some famous kings of Srivijaya who were able to make the kingdom have very broad powers and have glory in his time.

King Daputra Hyang

Daputra Hyang was one of the kings of Sriwijaya who was able to make the kingdom spread its wings. This one king even aspires to make the Srivijaya Kingdom an Maritime Kingdom. In his power too, he was able to expand the power of Srivijaya to Jambi.

The story of King Daputra Hyang was found in a Kedukan Bukit Inscription (683 AD). During his reign, of course King Daputra Hyang had a huge influence.

King Dharmasetu

During the reign of King Dharmasetu, it turned out that the Kingdom of Srivijaya had expanded to the Malay Peninsula. This is what makes this one kingdom to build a base in the Ligor region. Various achievements turned out to have been achieved by King Dharmasetu as having successfully established relations with China and India.

With this partnership, it has succeeded in making China and India always stop at the Sriwijaya airports when sailing. This is what makes the kingdom benefit very much from the trading activities carried out.

King Balaputra Dewa

King Balaputra Dewa was the king who was able to make Sriwijaya become the biggest kingdom at that time. This one king served in the 9th century. Cerota of King Balaputra Dewa itself comes from an inscription called the Nalanda Inscription.

Because of the leadership greatness of King Balaputra Dewa himself who made the Kingdom of Srivijaya the kingdom with the largest Buddhist center in Southeast Asia. In fact, he was able to establish a very good collaboration with several kingdoms in India such as the Kingdom of Cola and Nalanda.

Balaputra Dewa itself is a descendant of the Syailendra Dynasty, the son of King Samaratungga and Dewi Tara from the Srivijaya Kingdom. Because of his achievements and prowess in governing, King Balaputra Dewa became the king who brought Srivijaya to victory.

King Sri Sudamaniwarmadewa

During the reign of King Sri Sudamaniwarmadewa, it turned out that the Kingdom of Srivijaya had received an attack from King Darmawangsa who came from East Java. However, the attack that was launched could be thwarted by the Srivijaya army.

King Sanggrama Wijayattunggawarman

During the reign of King Sanggrama it turned out that Srivijaya had been attacked by the Chola Kingdom led by King Rajendra Chola. Unlike the attacks that occurred during the time of King Sri Sudamaniwarmadewa. Apparently, the Srivijaya army was unable to defeat the attack from the Chola Kingdom.

This made King Sanggrama arrested. However, during the reign of King Kulotungga I of the Chola Kingdom, King Sanggrama Wijayattunggawarman was later released.

That's the famous kings who made this one kingdom have the glory at the same time destroyed by an attack from another kingdom. The glory of the Srivijaya Kingdom is certainly not far from the religious, cultural, commercial and political life of his government.

Of course, these various factors are very important in developing the glory of one of the largest kingdoms in the archipelago. For more details, the following will be explained about several factors that make the Kingdom of Srivijaya have extensive power and glory long enough.

Religion and Social Culture of The Sriwijaya Kingdom

Srivijaya became a kingdom that was already well known as a center for teaching Buddhism. Being a center of Buddhist teaching turned out to make Srivijaya attract many pilgrims and scholars from various countries in Asia.

One of the pilgrims, among them I Tsing who is a priest from China and has made an expansion to the island of Sumatra during his study trips at a university called the University of India Nalanda in the years 671 to 695.

There is also a Buddhist scholar from Bengal named Atisha and came in the 11th century. He was a Buddhist scholar who was very influential in the development of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet.

When I Tsing visited this one kingdom, he reported that the Kingdom of Srivijaya was a home for Buddhist scholars, so it was no doubt that the kingdom became the largest center of Buddhist learning in Southeast Asia.

Not only that, even travelers who come to this kingdom claim that gold coins have been used for buying and selling activities on the coast of the kingdom. Several other Buddhist teachings also flourished in this one kingdom, such as Hinayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism.

In addition to his religious life, it turns out that the cultural life that exists in the Sriwijaya Kingdom is much influenced by cultures originating from India. This was preceded by Hinduism which was then followed by Buddhism which spread widely.

In addition, the ability of some Srivijaya kings who were able to dominate the Malay Islands through a trade in the 7th to the 9th centuries apparently also influenced Malay culture and language in the archipelago.

Being a trading center in Southeast Asia, of course, allows Sriwijaya to work with traders and scholars in the Middle East. This is the forerunner to the founding of several Islamic empires in Sumatra after the collapse of the Srivijaya Kingdom.

One source revealed, at that time many Arabs also visited Sriwijaya. This is what made Raja Sri Indrawarman convert to Islam in 718. So it is very possible if at that time the social community in the Kingdom of Sriwijaya consisted of Muslim and Buddhist communities as well.

The development of Islam was even stronger in Srivijaya after it was noted several times that the king of Srivijaya sent a letter to the Islamic caliphate in Syria to be willing to send a preacher into the Srivijaya court. The letter was apparently addressed to the Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz in 717 to 720 AD.

Sriwijaya Kingdom Trade

Aside from being the center of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, the triumph of Srivijaya was also a result of its trading power. In the world of trade itself, the Kingdom of Srivijaya apparently controlled and even controlled the trade routes between India and China, namely by controlling the Sunda Strait and the Malacca Strait.

The Arabs also noted that Srivijaya had various kinds of commodities to sell to traders such as gold, tin, ivory, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, camphor, agar wood and many others. Of course, various kinds of commodities are needed by traders. No wonder, if the Kingdom of Srivijaya has enormous wealth.

With his wealth, it allows Sriwijaya to buy loyalty from several vassals in the Southeast Asian region. This is the reason why Srivijaya has a very big influence in Southeast Asia.

During the first half of the 10th century, when the rise of the Song Dynasty and the decline of the Tang Dynasty, trade in foreign countries was quite intense. Some rich countries and kingdoms such as Fujian, Nan Han Kingdom, Min Kingdom and Guangdong State have a considerable influence. Because of this situation, the Srivijaya Kingdom could reap huge profits from the trade.

The Influence of Sriwijaya Kingdom Politics

In addition to religion and trade that made the Sriwijaya Kingdom advanced, the political life of the Srivijaya Kingdom also had a profound influence. It turned out to strengthen its position in regional power in Southeast Asia, Sriwijaya conducted diplomatic relations with the Chinese empire. In fact, the diplomatic relations went very well as evidenced by the graciousness of delivering messengers and tribute.

One of the powers of the Srivijaya Kingdom was the Khmer Kingdom. In fact, Srivijaya ruled the kingdom since the kingdom was first established. Historians say that much of Srivijaya's influence is seen in the Borom pagoda building. The building is influenced by Sriwijaya architecture.

In addition, Srivijaya also had very close relations with several other kingdoms, such as the Pala Kingdom of Bengal. This is evidenced by a note from the Nalanda Inscription that King Balaputra Dewa gave a piara to Nalanda University.

Besides having relations with several countries and kingdoms earlier, Srivijaya also had good relations with the Chola Dynasty who were in the Indian Strait. The relationship between Srivijaya and the dynasty was recorded in a Leiden inscription.

In the inscription recorded, the king of Srivijaya had established a monastery called the Culamanivarmma Vihara. However, after Rajendra Chola I ascended the throne, relations between Chola and Sriwijaya became worse. this happened around the 11th century during the reign of Balaputra Dewa.

Then, during the reign of Kulothunga Chola I, relations between the two kingdoms began to improve. King Sriwijaya who was in Kadaram sent an envoy intending to request a pledge from the announcement of the exemption of excise in the area around the Culamanivarmma Temple. However, at this time Srivijaya was later labeled as part of the Chola Dynasty. It is said, Kulothunga Chola I as King of San-fo-ts'I in 1709 participated in helping repair the temple that is near Canton.

Sriwijaya Kingdom Government Structure

A kingdom is certainly not far from a government structure in it. For the government structure of the Srivijaya Kingdom itself it turns out that it can be known from several inscriptions found. Where the inscriptions contain various kinds of information about samaryyada, kadatun, mandala, vanua and bhumi.

Kadatun itself can be interpreted as the area of ​​datu (house land) where people live, where the gold is stored and the results of excise (drawy) as an area that must be well guarded. Well, the Kadatun itself was apparently surrounded by vanua which is also considered an area of ​​the City of Srivijaya. Inside there is a monastery and is used for worship by the surrounding community.

Kadatun and vanua itself is also a core area for the Srivijaya Kingdom. While samaryyada is an area that is opposite to Vanua and is connected by a special road (Samaryyada-patha) and can be said to be one of the inland areas.

Meanwhile, for the mandala itself an area that stands alone from the earth but still gets control of the power that comes from the Srivijaya unity. The ruler of the Srivijaya Kingdom is called Maharaja or Dapunta Hyang.

In addition, in the king's genealogy there are also several sequences such as Yuvaraja (crown prince), Pratiyuvaraja (second crown prince) and Rajakumara (the next heir). Various kinds of government arrangements and positions in the kingdom are listed in the Telaga Batu Inscription.

With its glory, now "Srivijaya" itself has been made and enshrined as a street name in several cities in Indonesia. In fact, the name Sriwijaya itself is very attached to the city of Palembang and South Sumatra, one of which is the name of a well-known university in South Sumatra, namely Sriwijaya University (Unsri).

The university was founded in 1960 with a name based on the Srivijaya unity. At present, the Unsri campus stands majestically in Inderalaya, Ogan Ilir Regency (OI), South Sumatra Province.

Not only that, there are also others, such as Sriwijaya Post (daily newspaper in Palembang), Sriwijaya Air (airline), Kodam II Sriwijaya (Military Command Unit) and many other names that use the name of the Sriwijaya Kingdom. (SJ.IN/ENG/**)