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Decline of Srivijaya
In the 1160s, the Srivijaya maritime empire that had dominated the Malacca Strait continued to weaken after Chola expeditions (1025) devastated its c…
Timeline
- 1160–1163Malacca Strait · Malacca StraitSrivijaya's ability to tax and escort Malacca Strait shipping lanes greatly weakened; Temasek (Singapore), Malay Peninsula ports, and northern Javanese trading city-states grew increasingly independent, diverting the empire's core trade revenues.
- 1164–1167Eastern Sumatra · SumatraSrivijaya's vassals in eastern Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula reduced tribute payments; some local polities turned to direct trade with Java or China's Southern Song, leaving the empire's tributary system in name only.
- 1168–1169Palembang · Southern SumatraAlthough Palembang, Srivijaya's capital, remained a center of Buddhist scholarship, its political and military influence was confined to parts of southern Sumatra; its former hegemony as a 'maritime China' had essentially ended by the late 1160s.
Sources
- Srivijaya: History, Religion and Language of an Early Malay Polity — Geoff Wade
- The Indianized States of Southeast Asia — George Coedès (1968)