THE WORLD CIVILIZATIONS AND INDIA , PART-81

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INDONESIA ( SERIES -14 )

INDIA AND SUMATRA

Before we could come to the end of INDONESIA SERIES , we must have a brief history of intrinsic relationship between INDIA and SUMATRA since ancient period and the impact of INDIAN culture on SUMATRA . According to the GERMAN scholar , SCHMIDT , the ancient inhabitants of INDO-CHINA and INDO-ASIA ( INDONESIA ) were from the same race which were present in the middle of INDIA and in the forest of ASSAM . To him , the ancient home of the ancient people of INDO- ASIA was INDIA . From here only they went to the East and South-East ASIA to live in . According to an another historian like R.C. MAJUMDAR , when the influence/impact of races like ARYAN and DRAVIDIAN on INDIA increased intensively , then the ancient people of the land had to search for another land to live in . The FRENCH scholar SILVAN LEVI also finds the impact of the ancient INDIAN civilization on the island of South-East ASIA . Similarly , the INDIAN scholar like DASGUPTA sees similarities between the sports played in SUMATRA and that of the sports played in some parts of INDIA like MADHYA PRADESH , PUNJAB , BENGAL and ORISSA . Some stones like SHIV LINGA have been found in SUMATRA which appear to be quite ancient . In ancient INDIA , SHAVISM was an important religion and it is believed that it had gone to SUMATRA from INDIA only . Immigrant INDIANS have established their own Kingdom there . And in the books of the Kings of CHOLA DYNASTY of South INDIA , we can find the names of SRIVIJAYA Kingdom or SHAILENDRA Kingdom of South-East ASIAN Islands like SUMATRA , JAVA , MALAYA etc.

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As we know that since 4th AD , SRIVIJAYA had been ruling SUMATRA . The CHINESE traveler I CHING in his book TAKASUKU has written that the MALAYA country was also part of SRIVIJAYA KINGDOM . In the seventh century AD the Kingdom of SUMATRA flourished more and in the eighth century more than fifteen states came under the Kingdom of SUMATRA . As per a copper plate found in NALANDA , BIHAR ( INDIA ) of the King of BENGAL , PALADEV , the King of SUMATRA had requested for five villages/town near RAJGRIHA , BIHAR (INDIA) for the maintenance of a BUDDHIST MONASTERY which the then King of SUMATRA , BALPUTRA DEV had built in NALANDA . Similarly from a BUDDHIST Inscription of the CHOLA Kingdom during King RAJARAJA ( 985 AD to 1012 AD ) of the CHOLA DYNASTY of South INDIA , a King of SRIVIJAYA had requested for a piece of land to build up a BUDDHIST Temple at NAGAPATTAN . From one of the Inscriptions of King RAJENDRA CHOL II , we get information that he had defeated one of the Kings of SRIVIJAYA Kingdom but he returned the won Kingdom to the SRIVIJAYA Kingdom after taking taxes as such . That’s why the ARAB Marchants like SULEMAN ( 851 AD ) and ABU JAID HUSSAN ( 916 AD ) after traveling to these islands of INDONESIAN ARCHIPELAGO had described in their travel accounts about SRIVIJAYA KINGDOM of SUMATRA in detail .

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Historians on the subject are of the opinion that the SRIVIJAYA KINGDOM of SUMATRA was more powerful during 7th , 8th , 9th and 10th centuries AD . As in the 10th century AD , the King of SRIVIJAYA KINGDOM had sent an Ambassador to the court of the CHINESE EMPEROR . And the CHINESE EMPEROR , like the Ambassadors of other Kingdoms , used to provide him money for maintenance of his office at least for five months of the year . It shows the importance and influence of the then SRIVIJAYA KINGDOM of SUMATRA . In 724 AD , by the King SRIINDRAVARMAN of SUMATRA , with his Ambassador to the court of CHINESE EMPEROR , had sent gifts in the form of : 1. SOME DWARFS ; 2. A TEAM OF MUSICIANS ; and 3. A PARROT OF FIVE COLOURS . And the CHINESE EMPEROR had reciprocated with some gifts and titles to the Ambassador of SUMATRA as such . The Kings of SUMATRA had won over CHAMPA and ANNAM ( PRESENTLY BOTH IN VIETNAM ) and the ARAB Marchant SULEMAN had vividly described about this in his travel accounts . However after defeat of these Kingdoms , the Kings of SUMATRA had returned them to one of the princes’ of those Kingdoms . All these shows that how much powerful the Kingdom of SUMATRA that time was . But in the end of 9th century , the Kingdom of SUMATRA had started declining . As we see that how the King of CAMBODIA , JAYAWARDHANA II ( 822 AD to 839 AD ) had recovered and freed his Kingdom from SHAILENDRA DYNASTY as such . And not only from SUMATRA but from JAVA also , the SHAILENDRA DYNASTY had been vanished away in the end of 9th and in the early of the 10th century . Here one ( reader ) should not be confused with the fact that SRIVIJAYA and SHAILENDRA DYNASTY are synonymously used by the historians . And I have also in my earlier blogs described about both the DYNASTY in details . So no need to explain it here again .

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NOTE : THE SOURCES OF THE BLOG ARE TEXT BOOKS AND OTHER WRITTEN MATERIALS ON THE SUBJECT .

TO BE CONTINUED ………….

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