Srivijaya was a great Malay empire in southern Sumatra, an island that is now part of Indonesia. The empire emerged in the late 600’s and lasted until the late 1300’s.
Some historians believe that Srivijaya was based on the site of the modern city of Palembang, on the Musi River. Srivijaya became a great sea power. It profited from the increased trade between Arabia and China in the 600’s and 700’s. By 775, the kingdom of Srivijaya controlled the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda Strait. It also controlled much of the mainland of the Malay Peninsula, including Kedah, Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu.
In its early days, Srivijaya was a center for the study of Buddhism. In the mid-700’s, a line of Buddhist rulers, known as Sailendra (kings of the mountain), had come to power in Java. By the mid-800’s, a Sailendra king controlled the Srivijayan Empire. In 1025, raiders from southern India attacked the empire. The raid weakened the power of Srivijaya and it began to decline. Its decline continued into the 1100’s. By the mid-1200’s, the various Malay kingdoms began to assert their independence. By the late 1200’s, Srivijaya had almost disappeared.
