Page 21 - Chinese and Asian Ceramics from an Indonesian Collection

Ceramics from the Musi River

of its existence it maintained its dominance by force. For appeared to be centred in the central Javan court of
example, at some time during the 7th century the Cham Medang Mataram in fertile Kedu and Kewu Plains, close
ports located in modern central Vietnam began to attract to the famous Borobudur, Manjusrigrha and Prambanan
traders and hinder Sriwijaya commerce. To counter the temples. This unique period is known as the Sriwijayan
Chams, the Sriwijaya King Dharmasetu launched various Episode in Central Java, when the monarch of the Javan
raids against the coastal cities of Indochina. In the 8th Sailendra king rose to become the Maharaja of Sriwijaya.
century the Mekong River city of Indrapura and areas The centre of commerce and trade during this episode
around present-day Cambodia were also temporarily remained in Palembang.
controlled from Palembang, although Sriwijaya was rejected In 990, a force from the Javan Kingdom of Medang
by the Khmer later in that century. The Chinese author Cha sacked Palembang and looted the Sriwijayan palace.
Ju-kua (in Hirth & Rockhill 1911) wrote that even in the However, by 1006 this invasion had been thoroughly
12th and 13th centuries Palembang men were ready to fight repelled by Sriwijaya forces and the Medang royal family
and would provide their own weapons. Further, he stated executed and its Palace destroyed.
that before ‘enemy and braving death they have not their At the beginning of the 10th century, Sriwijaya was at its
equal among other nations’ (p. 60). And that if a ship tries most powerful and influential, while Java was declining in
to sail pass the mouth of the Musi River without entering importance. Sriwijaya was not just a great trading kingdom
Palembang sailors would go ‘forth to make a combined but also an important centre of Buddhist learning for
attack, and all are ready to die. This is the reason why monks from both India and China to meet and discuss
this country is a great shipping centre’ (p. 62). Manguin their religion. Arabs writing at that time mention the
(1985: 300) describes Sriwijayan vessels as large, weighing King of Sriwijaya as one of the most powerful rulers to
from 250–500 tons and 50 metres long with multiple masts dominate the wealthy maritime trade routes of the times.
and sails. In past times Cha Ju-kua (op. cit.) writes that the He was said to have also ruled over Kedah, on the Malay
estuary controlling the straits through which the foreigners Peninsula. And that his affluence and reach were such
must pass had an ‘iron chain as a barrier to keep pirates of that in the 10th century he built Buddhist temples in
other countries in check. It could be kept up or lowered both China and India (Manguin 2009).
by a cunning device’. He noted that this chain had not
been used for a long time. Further evidence that Sriwijaya GOVERNANCE OF SRIWIJAYA
enforced its authority over ships passing through the Straits Political construct
of Malacca is clear from Laffan’s (2005: 37) translation of Very early on the Sriwijayan Maharajas forged alliances
Al-IdrIsI in Liebner (2014) that the men-at-arms policing with the orang laut pirates who controlled traffic in the
the Riau Archipelago through which shipping had to pass Malacca Strait. This alliance enabled Sriwijaya to maintain
‘are a licentious and hostile people. They carry weapons control over that waterway by force. Munoz (2006) was of
with them wherever they go. At times they board [Middle the opinion that as Sriwijaya developed and expanded,
Eastern] ships and threaten the [merchant] vessels, eating the Maharajas relied more on loyalty (forged in part
their goods, hindering the people and preventing any by inter-marriage) than coercion. This may or may not
access save for those whom they have appointed. There is have been the case because historical records of dealings
no avoiding their exactions and wickedness’. between Sriwijaya and their vassals were generally lacking.
Between the 8th to 13th centuries, Sriwijaya influenced According to Munoz (2006) Sriwijayan vassal polities
and sometimes dominated for large periods maritime gained great trading benefits as a result of their association
trade between China, India, Middle East; many important with Sriwijaya and even worked on their neighbouring
trading centres in the Malay Peninsula (Langkasuka, cities to become part of the Sriwijaya ‘federation’. However,
PanPan and Trambalinga), the greater Mekong River Munoz was reticent to call Sriwijaya a traditional mandala.
Region, and a large part of Indonesia. Suzerainty was also Instead he was tempted to call it an intermediate political
maintained over the nearby Malayu Kingdom centred in entity between a mandala and an imperial state, such that
Jambi on the neighbouring sister Batang Hari River Basin it was ‘perhaps a kind of hierarchical federation whose
to its immediate north. head is chosen amongst an oligarchy of nobles and local
In the late-8th and early-9th century this close rulers’ (page 121).
relationship with the Sailendra Kingdom centred in Java,
was maintained and reflected the religious and cultural Administration of the entrepôt
influences that swept South East Asia at that time. This There appears little mystery why Palembang developed
was evidenced by technically and artistically magnificent as such a pivotally important trading port. Its position
bronze icons of Buddha and Bodhisattvas that were and political alliances enabled it to control commercial
cast in the Komering River Valley, near Palembang. An traffic through the Malacca Strait. This Strait was the
additional advantage was that Sriwijaya had easy access to shortest course for east–west trade. However, the need
Javanese rice, a food not much grown locally in the Musi for an entrepôt at Palembang had much to do with the
River Basin because the soil and environment there was strength and direction of winds which were critical for
unfavourable for rice production. ancient sailing vessels. In South East Asia the essential
In the second half of the 9th century, the capital of winds were the annual southwest (northeast summer
Sriwijaya for political, religious and ceremonial activities, winds) and northeast (southwest winter winds) monsoon

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