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The fourth strategic step was to establish trade and diplomatic relations with China.
In the maritime trade network between Asia and the Mediterranean Sea, the Chinese
merchants played an important role. To become part of this, the Sriwijaya ruler sent
emissaries to China, both in relation to trade and for political purposes. Dick-Read (2005)
revealed that after the Chinese rulers understood the power of the Sriwijaya Kingdom, they
rewarded “preferential trade status” on the ruler of the kingdom. Since then, Sriwijaya was
respected by both the Indian market as well as markets in China, to the extent that other
merchants strived to get a chance to trade on behalf of the Sriwijaya Kingdom.
The last step was to strengthen supervision over the territory in the sea making use
of strong and experienced human resources at sea, either as nomads or pirates, through
mutual cooperation. The king rewarded them from the tax levied on ships transiting and
conducting trade activities.
Importantly, the authorities of Sriwijaya developed a network of family connections
with vassal kingdoms, especially in the area of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The
family ties forged had helped to strengthen family relationships and unite different groups
into a strong alliance. But eventually, it came under attack in 1025. The event weakened
Sriwijaya and paved the way for Airlangga (1019-1028) from East Java to take back the
treasures taken from his father, Dharmavansa, in 1006. According to Haal (1972), in 1030
Airlangga married the daughter of SangramaVijayopungavarman. From then until 1064
nothing was heard about the kingdom of Sriwijaya.
When the ruler of the kingdom of Sriwijaya no longer exerted influence in overseeing
the activities of maritime trade in the western part of the archipelago, a new ruler emerged
who had the bold idea of a commercial sailing network linking all the commercial ports
in the archipelago. This pattern of activities established a maritime trade zone in the
archipelago known as the “maritime trade zone of the Java Sea” (Haal, 1972: 76).

Maritime trade during the Majapahit

The Majapahit Kingdom had widespread influence on the many other kingdoms, in eastern
Indonesia, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. This type of influence
led to a claim that Majapahit had built a kingdom on the territory called Indonesia at that
time with the term Nusantara or archipelago. It was clear that the Majapahit kingdom was

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