The 7th century is the period from 601 through 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era.
Palembang is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers 352.51 square kilometres on both banks of the Musi River in the eastern lowlands of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 1,729,546. Palembang is the second most populous city in Sumatra, after Medan, and the twelfth most populous city in Indonesia.
Old Javanese or Kawi is the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was spoken in the eastern part of what is now Central Java and the whole of East Java, Indonesia. As a literary language, Kawi was used across Java and on the islands of Madura, Bali, and Lombok. It had a sizable vocabulary of Sanskrit loanwords but had not yet developed the formal krama language register, to be used with one's social superiors that is characteristic of modern Javanese.
Srivijaya, also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th to 11th century AD. Srivijaya was the first polity to dominate much of western Maritime Southeast Asia. Due to its location, Srivijaya developed complex technology utilizing maritime resources. In addition, its economy became progressively reliant on the booming trade in the region, thus transforming it into a prestige goods-based economy.
South Sumatra is a province of Indonesia, located in the southeast of the island of Sumatra. The capital and largest city of the province is the city of Palembang. The province borders the provinces of Jambi to the north, Bengkulu to the west and Lampung to the south, as well a maritime border with the Bangka Belitung Islands to the east. It is the largest province in the island of Sumatra, and it is slightly smaller than Portugal. The Bangka Strait in the east separates South Sumatra and the island of Bangka, which is part of the Bangka Belitung Islands province. The province has an area of 91,592.43 km2 (35,364 sq mi) and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid-2022 was 8,657,008. The province is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal. The province is inhabited by many different malay sub ethnic groups, with Palembangese being largest ethnic group. Most speak the Palembang language, which is mutually intelligible to both Indonesian and local Palembang Malay. Other ethnic groups include the Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau and Chinese. Most are concentrated in urban areas and are largely immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
The Shailendra dynasty was the name of a notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century Java, whose reign signified a cultural renaissance in the region. The Shailendras were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism and covered the Kedu Plain of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, one of which is the colossal stupa of Borobudur, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Mataram Kingdom ; also known as Medang Kingdom was a Javanese Hindu–Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established by King Sanjaya, the kingdom was ruled by the Shailendra dynasty and Ishana dynasty.
By around 788 BCE, a large settlement had been established on the northern bank of the Merbok River. The settlement was one of several in the Bujang Valley, covering the Merbok and Muda Rivers, about 1000 square miles. The Merbok settlement was built near the estuary of the tributary river, the Sungai Batu. Around 170 CE groups of Hindu faith arrived at Kedah, joining them soon were peoples from nearby islands and from the northern Mon-Khmer region. At the same time traders from India, Persia and Arab, arrived the brink of the Malacca Strait, using Gunung Jerai the Kedah Peak as marking point. Ancient Kedah covered the areas of Kuala Kedah, Kuala Bara, Kuala Pila and Merpah.
The Melayu Kingdom was a classical Buddhist kingdom located in what is now the Indonesian province of Jambi in Sumatra.
The Kedukan Bukit inscription is an inscription discovered by the Dutchman C.J. Batenburg on 29 November 1920 at Kedukan Bukit, South Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, on the banks of Tatang River, a tributary of Musi River. It is the oldest surviving specimen of the Malay language, in a form known as Old Malay. It is a small stone of 45 cm × 80 cm. This inscription is dated 1 May 683 CE. This inscription was written in Pallava script.
Dharmasraya, is the capital of the 11th century Buddhist polity known as Melayu Kingdom, based on the Batanghari river system in modern-day West Sumatra and Jambi, on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The kingdom itself could be identified by the name of its capital Dharmasraya or by the name Bhumi Malayu or Suvarnnabhumi according to Padang Roco Inscription.
Malay Indonesians are ethnic Malays living throughout Indonesia. They are one of the indigenous peoples of the country. Indonesian, the national language of Indonesia, is a standardized form of Riau Malay. There were numerous kingdoms associated with the Indonesian Malays along with other ethnicities in what is now Indonesia, mainly on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. These included Srivijaya, the Melayu Kingdom, Dharmasraya, the Sultanate of Deli, the Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura, the Riau-Lingga Sultanate, the Sultanate of Bulungan, Pontianak Sultanate, and the Sultanate of Sambas. The 2010 census states that there are 8 million Malays in Indonesia; this number comes from the classification of Malays in East Sumatra and the coast of Kalimantan which is recognized by the Indonesian government. This classification is different from the Malaysia and Singapore census which includes all ethnic Muslims from the Indonesian archipelago as Malays.
Zabag is thought to have been an ancient territory located south of China somewhere in Southeast Asia, between the Chenla Kingdom and Java. Several historians have associated this kingdom with Srivijaya and thought its location was somewhere in Sumatra, Java or Malay Peninsula. Indonesian historians have suggested that Zabag is connected to the present day Muara Sabak area, the estuary of Batang Hari River in East Tanjung Jabung Regency, Jambi province. Zabag could also have been located in Java, not Srivijaya because Zabag is noted to annex Srivijaya, and the size of Zabag is only half the size of an island called Ramni (Sumatra).
Kota Kapur Inscription is an inscription discovered on the western coast of Bangka Island, off coast South Sumatra, Indonesia, by J.K. van der Meulen in December 1892. It was named after the village of the same name which is the location where these archaeological findings were discovered.
Telaga Batu inscription is a 7th-century Srivijayan inscription discovered in Sabokingking, 3 Ilir, Ilir Timur II, Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, around the 1950s. The inscription is now displayed in the National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta, with inventory number D.155. In previous years, around thirty Siddhayatra inscriptions were discovered around Southern Sumatra, all concerning the Siddhayatra journey of Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa, which, according to Kedukan Bukit Inscription took place around the year 605 Saka. Today all of these Siddhayatra inscriptions are stored in the National Museum of Indonesia.
Inscriptions and historical sources assert that the Medieval Chola Emperor Rajendra I sent a naval expedition to Indochina, the Indonesia and Malay Peninsula in 1025 in order to subdue Srivijaya. The Thiruvalangadu plates, the Leyden grant, and the Tamil stele of Rajendra I are the principal sources of information about the campaign.
The Sojomerto inscription is an inscription discovered in Sojomerto village, Reban, Batang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. Written in Old Malay using the Kawi script, it was initially dated to c. the 7th century, but later redated, on palaeographic grounds, to the early 9th century. The inscription is currently in situ or on location.
Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa was the first Maharaja of Srivijaya and thought to be the dynastic founder of Kadatuan Srivijaya. His name was mentioned in the series of Srivijayan inscriptions dated from the late 7th century CE dubbed the "Siddhayatra inscriptions", describing his sacred journey to acquire blessings and also to conquer neighboring areas. He reigned around the turn of the late 7th century to early 8th century, more precisely in the period between 671 and 702 CE.
A good number of inscriptions written in Sanskrit language have been found in Malaysia and Indonesia. "Early inscriptions written in Indian languages and scripts abound in Southeast Asia. [...] The fact that southern Indian languages didn't travel eastwards along with the script further suggests that the main carriers of ideas from the southeast coast of India to the east - and the main users in Southeast Asia of religious texts written in Sanskrit and Pali - were Southeast Asians themselves. The spread of these north Indian sacred languages thus provides no specific evidence for any movements of South Asian individuals or groups to Southeast Asia.
Grahi inscription is an inscription found in Chaiya, southern Thailand, written in Old Khmer language with Old Sumatran script, and dated to 1183 CE. This inscription is written on the pedestal of a bronze Buddha statue, that is stored at Wat Hua Wiang temple. The name Grahi, called Kia-lo-hi in Chinese record Zhu Fan Zhi, is considered to be the old name of Chaiya. The city was part of Tambralinga, once a border polity between Srivijaya and Khmer kingdoms in the Malay Peninsula.
