Page 18 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

in Nalanda (India), the most important center of thoughts and teaching of Buddhism.
However, unlike Majapahit which left so many memories on record, Sriwijaya hardly left
any scripts which could tell the dynamics of its political life—especially on the romanticism
of the situation of the kingdom, such as those told on the kings of Majapahit—and also
not on the wide area of its influence. Yet, the foreign report also said that Sriwijaya was
a kingdom which once ruled the maritime waters of Nusantara. Perhaps this rare news
was caused by, allegedly in the 11th century to start with, the Chinese sources gave the
impressions that this maritime kingdom which originally centralized in Palembang, moved
to Melayu or Jambi. Since then, Sriwijaya was mixed up with the name Melayu or even
was likely to be forgotten, but the historicity blur of internal dynamics once experienced
turned to strengthen the mythical values attached. Therefore it could be understood also
that later a maritime kingdom which succeeded in becoming itself as one of the centers
of world trading, Malaka, stated that the origin came from the arrival and the success of
Prameshwara, a descendant of Sang Sapurba who got the support from Demang Lebar
Daun, the ruler of Palembang, after going down from Bukit Seguntang. The incident
allegedly happened in the beginning of the 15th century.
But who were the immigrants from Bukit Seguntang supported by this ruler of
Palembang? If the claims considered authentic were to be used then it could be said that
its origin was Sriwijaya—a kingdom which declared its existence in the three inscriptions
from 17th century (as can be read and interpreted for the first time by Coedes, in 1913. So
Palembang is the relic of the old Sriwijaya kingdom, whos historical existence is always
remembered but its name once forgotten. This kind of origin of Malaka is the one told by
Sulalatus Solihin or more known as Sejarah Melayu, written by Tun Sri Lanang, the former
treasurer of Johor, who then became the head of district, Uluebalang, Samalanga, in the
Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam, in the ruling era of Sultan Iskandar Muda (1581-1636).
Whether it was fate or just a coincidence of history, but in almost the same time with
the fall of Malaka (1511) to the Portuguese, Majapahit was also in a critical situation of
authority and power. An Islamic kingdom, Demak, which allegedly came from the family
of Majapahit, had declared its existence and even expanded its influence to the outskirts
and outside Java (among others was Banjarmasin in Kalimantan island). Since the fall of
Malaka and Majapahit, the Nusantara world was not only the area of trade and political
competition of some Islamic kingdoms which kept growing—such as Aceh-Darussalam,
Banten, Mataram, and then Goa-Tallo (Makasar) as well as Ternate and Tidore—but also

18 Introduction

MELANESIA BOOK FA LAYOUT 051216.indd 18 2/10/17 2:10 PM