Srivijaya 3.0 (21): The Language of Jāba – I Can’t Figure It Out
I have recently been writing a lot about a place that I refer to as “Jāba,” a kingdom that I argue was based in the area of what is now…
Srivijaya 3.0 (20): “Jāba” in the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư
By now I think that I have clearly established the fact that there was a kingdom located in the area of what is now Songkhla that was at the center…
Srivijaya 3.0 (19): A Vietnamese Encounter with “Cha Ba” in the Early 19th Century
In 1810, two Vietnamese officials presented to Emperor Gia Long a map of the routes to, and within parts of, Siam with an accompanying text based on information they had…
Srivijaya 3.0 (18): The Burma-Jāba Connection
In many recent posts, I have been writing about a place that I call “Jāba.” This was the center of a major trans-peninsular trade empire, and it was located around…
Srivijaya 3.0 (17): The “Chola Invasion of Srivijaya”
In the eleventh century, a place in Southeast Asia called “Srivishaya” was attacked by a kingdom from southern India known as the Chola kingdom.We know about this from inscriptions in…
Srivijaya 3.0 (16): The “Thai” Origin of the Mongol Invasion of Java
In early 1292, Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor of the Yuan Dynasty in China, gave orders to three of his officials to lead troops to attack the island of Java.Why…
Srivijaya 3.0 (15): Marco Polo Visited Thailand
Yes, you read that correctly. Marco Polo visited Thailand.Ok, I know that there was no place called “Thailand” in the late thirteenth century when Marco Polo traveled across Southeast Asia…
Srivijaya 3.0 (14): I Found “Malayu / Malaya / Malāyur”!!!
Ok, I think I have finally found “Malayu”!!!The term, “Malayu,” and the related terms of Malaya and Malāyur appear in several historical sources before the 1400s, and they clearly refer…
Srivijaya 3.0 (13): The Description of Jāba/Zābaj in Arabic Texts
Having shared the translations of some of the information in Arabic texts about Southeast Asia in the last post, let’s take a look at what they have to say about…
Srivijaya 3.0 (12): The Arabic Texts about Southeast Asia
In recent posts, I have been talking about information in Arabic texts. There are a group of texts in Arabic that provide information about Southeast Asia starting in the ninth…