South Sumatra

Lore & Background

South Sumatra has been settled by humans since the Palaeolithic era, evidenced by discoveries of Palaeolithic tools in the riverbed of Saling and Kikim rivers in Bungamas Village, Lahat Regency, and seventy-eight skeletons dating back 3,000–14,000 years, presumably of Austronesian and Austromelanesoid origins, excavated from Harimau Cave in Padang Bindu Village, Ogan Komering Ulu Regency. Around the 7th century AD, the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya was established in an area that is now Palembang. The Kedukan Bukit inscription of 682 CE, reputed to be the oldest inscription written in Malay, records that Dapunta Hyang departed on the siddhayatra holy journey with 20,000 soldiers and 312 people on board with 1,312 soldiers on foot from Minanga Tamwan to Jambi and Palembang. Srivijaya controlled maritime trade routes in the Straits of Malacca, the Sunda Strait, the South China Sea, the Java Sea, and the Karimata Strait. In 1025, the empire was defeated by the Chola Empire of southern India, which captured the ruling king Sangrama Vijayottunggavarman. Srivijaya's capital eventually moved northward to Jambi. According to the Chinese Song dynasty book Zhu Fan Zhi, written around 1225 by Zhao Rugua, Srivijaya and Java (Kediri) were the two most powerful and richest kingdoms in the archipelago, with the western part under Srivijaya's rule.

Reader's Guide

South Sumatra's significance lies in its role as the heartland of the Srivijaya empire, a dominant maritime and Buddhist kingdom from the 7th to the 13th centuries. The empire controlled key trade routes, and its power was noted by Chinese, Arab, and Indian sources. In the 7th century, the Chinese noted that Malayu and Kedah were part of the Srivijaya empire. The Kota Kapur Inscription from 686 CE, found on Bangka island, states that the empire dominated the southern part of Sumatra, the islands of Bangka and Belitung, to Lampung, and that Emperor Sri Jayanasa launched a military expedition to punish the Bhumi Jawa kingdom. In 955 CE, Arab historian Al Masudi described Srivijaya as a large, rich kingdom with many soldiers, producing camphor, agarwood, cloves, sandalwood, nutmeg, cardamom, and gambier. The kingdom faced challenges from the Javanese Medang kingdom, which captured Palembang in 992 for a while, but Srivijaya forces repelled them. After the Chola defeat in 1025, Srivijaya's capital moved northward to Jambi, and its decline was also due to sedimentation of mud on the Musi River, which diminished merchant ships and tax revenue. The province's modern identity is shaped by its Malay heritage, with the Palembang language and diverse ethnic groups including Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau, and Chinese, mostly concentrated in urban areas as immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.

Did You Know?

• The Kedukan Bukit inscription of 682 CE is the oldest known inscription written in the Malay language.
• Seventy-eight skeletons dating back 3,000–14,000 years, of Austronesian and Austromelanesoid origins, were excavated from Harimau Cave in Ogan Komering Ulu Regency.
• In 1025, the Chola Empire of southern India defeated Srivijaya and captured its king, Sangrama Vijayottunggavarman.
• The Chinese Song dynasty book Zhu Fan Zhi (c. 1225) described Srivijaya as one of the two most powerful and richest kingdoms in the Southeast Asian archipelago, alongside Java (Kediri).
• Sedimentation of mud on the Musi River contributed to Srivijaya's decline by reducing merchant ship access and tax revenue.