Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c9.18

c9.18

A recent writer² has remarked, after summing up all the different views on the subject, that whereas no one doubted before 1937 that the Śailendras belonged to Śrī-Vijaya in Sumatra, not a single scholar now locates the original home of the dynasty in that island. The choice now lies between Java and Malay Peninsula, the only two regions where we have got the early records of the dynasty. As we shall see later, the great Buddhist monuments of Java like Barabuḍur and Chaṇḍi Mendut were the creations of the Śailendras, and not only two inscriptions of that dynasty have been found in Java, but a king of this dynasty is called *Yava-bhūmi-pāla*, or king of Java, in an inscription at Nālandā. These have inclined many scholars to locate their original home in Java. Some, however, hold the view that they first conquered Malay Peninsula and then settled in Java. This and further corollaries to it will be discussed later. But having disposed of the supposed connection between the Śailendras and Śrī-Vijaya, I may now proceed to discuss independently the history of the Śailendras.