 |
| Muaro Jambi Buddhist Temple |
There was an ancient Melayu kingdom based in Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia between the 600s and 1300s. Knowing the history of the Melayu kingdom helps us better understand the roots of Malay cuisine.
Melayu could also come from the Tamil word malai which means "mountain" referring to the Bukit Barisan mountain range that runs along the entire west coast of Sumatra island.
The Melayu kingdom was Buddhist, likely founded by settlers from India in the sixth century. Traders from India already came to Sumatra in the first century for pepper, silver and gold.
In Palembang, the Chinese pilgrims would learn Sanskrit language and other preparations to maximise their pilgrimage to India. Much of what we know about the Srivijaya empire were from accounts written by these Chinese Buddhist pilgrims.
Sirivijaya empire control of the East - West sea routes irritated the Hindu Chola empire (300 BC - 1279 AD) of south India. Chola traders were forced to use Srivijaya ports and pay exorbitant tariffs. In 1025 AD, king Rajendra I of the Chola empire led a naval expedition to the Sirivijaya empire.
With Palembang razed, Jambi presided over the final years of the Srivijaya empire.
The name Melayu could come from the Sungai Melayu river in Jambi, Sumatra where the Melayu kingdom was located. Melayu in Javanese means "strong current (of a river)".
 |
| Gunung Kerinci, highest mountain (active volcano) in the Bukit Barisan range |
The Melayu kingdom was Buddhist, likely founded by settlers from India in the sixth century. Traders from India already came to Sumatra in the first century for pepper, silver and gold.
The Melayu kingdom either expanded or became part of the Srivijaya empire that existed from 650 to 1275 AD. The capital of Srivijaya empire seemed to shift between Palembang and Jambi (nearly 300km apart).
By Gunkarta at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
The Srivijaya empire was Buddhist. Indian traders brought Buddhism to Sumatra in the first century AD. Palembang was a centre of Buddhist scholarship. Buddhist pilgrims from China would stopover for months in Palembang during their journey between China and India.
 |
| A stone slab dated from the seventh century AD with Sanskrit inscriptions excavated in Palembang. |
In Palembang, the Chinese pilgrims would learn Sanskrit language and other preparations to maximise their pilgrimage to India. Much of what we know about the Srivijaya empire were from accounts written by these Chinese Buddhist pilgrims.
![Map showing the greatest extent of the Chola empire c. 1030 under Rajendra Chola I, shaded in blue represent territories, shaded in pink shows subordinates and areas of influence.[1]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rajendra_map_new.png#/media/File:Rajendra_map_new.png)
By Venu62 at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
The Srivijaya empire based in Jambi and Palembang controlled both the Malacca Straits and Sunda Straits - its domain stretched from south Thailand to north Sumatra, through the Malay peninsula down to most of Java. During its heyday, the Srivijaya had total control of the East - West trade routes between China, India and Arabia.
King Rajendra I sent a diversionary force to attack Kedah, drawing the Srivijaya navy into the north of the Malacca Straits. He then led the main force to round the Sunda Straits and attacked Palembang from the south. The undefended Palembang was sacked and king Rajendra I then went on to decimate the Srivijaya navy bottled in the Malacca Straits between the Chola diversion force and main force.
The Srivijaya empire never recovered from this debacle of 1025, and went into decline till it was dissolved in 1275 AD.
As the Srivijaya empire faded, the Hindu Majapahit empire emerged in 1293 based in Trowulan in east Java. It swiftly filled in the power vacuum left by the Srivijaya empire. At its height the Majapahit controlled the entire Malay archipelago except for west Java under the Sunda kingdom.
One of the princes of Srivijaya, Sang Nila Utama fled the advancing Majapahit with his followers to Temasek island and established the kingdom of Singapura in 1299. The kingdom of Singapura prospered as a trading post facilitating trade between India, China, Arabia and the Malay archipelago. But, in 1398, the Majapahit empire caught up with their old rivals and sacked the kingdom of Singapura.
(Portuguese sources said it was the Thai Ayutthaya empire that sacked Singapura.)
The last king of Singapura, Parameswara, fled to Malacca where he established the kingdom of Malacca in 1400. He converted to Islam on marrying a princess from the sultanate of Pasai (north Sumatra) and renamed himself sultan Iskandar Shah. The kingdom of Malacca became the Malacca sultanate.
The Malacca sultanate developed a close relationship with the Ming dynasty of China thus staving off any designs from the Javanese Majapahit empire and the Thai Ayutthaya empire. Left in peace, Malacca prospered as the centre for East - West trade.
![Map showing the partition of the Johor Empire before and after the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, with the post-partition Johor Sultanate shown in the brightest purple, at the tip of the Malay Peninsula[1]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Partition_of_the_Johor_Empire.png#/media/File:Partition_of_the_Johor_Empire.png)
This ended in 1511 when the Portuguese sent a fleet to conquer Malacca. The last sultan of Malacca, Madmud Shah fled south and established the Johore sultanate based on the Sungai Johore river. The Johore sultanate controlled Johor, Pahang, central east Sumatra and the Riau islands.
In 1641, the Dutch enlisted the help of the sultanate of Johore and sultanate of Aceh (in north Sumatra) to expel the Portuguese from Malacca. Thereafter, the Dutch focussed on Batavia (today's Jakarta) and only wanted to control Malacca to prevent other European powers from dominating the Malacca Straits. The Dutch left the Johore sultanate in peace to conduct its business.
In 1819, Stamford Raffles of the British East India Company established a trading post in Singapore under an agreement with sultan Hussein and Temenggong Abdul Rahman of the Johore sultanate.
In 1824, the Dutch and British divided the Malay world (peninsula and archipelago) between themselves with the British ruling over today's Malaysia and the Dutch over today's Indonesia. Johore, Pahang and Malacca became part of British Malaya.
British Malaya and Dutch East Indies fell to the Japanese empire from 1942 to 1945.
Like the disintegration of the Srivijaya empire after the brief Chola invasion in 1027, the European empires were dismantled after the Japanese occupation. Indonesia gained independence from Dutch rule in 1949 and Malaysia from British rule in 1963. Singapore and Malaysia separated in 1965.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments submitted with genuine identities are published