Dharmasraya

Dharmasraya

Dharmasraya was a Malay Buddhist kingdom that existed in the 11th century on the Batanghari river system in modern-day Jambi and West Sumatra, Indonesia. The kingdom was named after its capital, which was also called Dharmasraya or Bhumi Malayu or Suvarnnabhumi according to the Padang Roco inscription. The use of the name Malayu suggests that the kingdom was located in the same area as the older Malayu kingdom before it was absorbed into the Srivijayan mandala in the late 7th century. Dharmasraya became an independent kingdom after the fall of Srivijaya in 1025 and is considered the successor to Srivijaya.

After the invasion by Rajendra, the king of Chola from Koromandel, the authority of the Sailendra dynasty over Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula weakened. This led to a new dynasty called the Mauli dynasty, which took over the role of the Sailendra dynasty. The oldest inscription bearing the name of Maharaja Mauli is the Grahi inscription from 1183, discovered in Chaiya, Malay Peninsula, Southern Thailand. The inscription ordered the bhupati (regent) of Grahi named Mahasenapati Galanai to create a statue of Buddha. The 2nd inscription from the Mauli dynasty dates back to around 1286 and mentions the name Dharmasraya and the king Srimat Tribhuwanaraja Mauli Warmadewa. This inscription, known as the Padang Roco inscription, was discovered near the headwaters of the Batanghari river.