Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c9.26

c9.26

These and similar other views rest on the assumption that Suvarṇadvīpa and Yava-bhūmi, mentioned in the Nālandā plate, refer to two distinct localities or kingdoms. I do not think there is any valid reason for this assumption. I have discussed the question at length in my book entitled *Suvarṇadvīpa*, and have tried to show that while this name was applied to different localities like Burma and Sumatra, it was also used as a general designation for the islands of the Malay Archipelago. Thus it is definitely asserted by Alberuni that “the islands of the Zābaj are called by the Hindus Suvarṇadvīpa.” Ibn Said also says that Zābag is an archipelago consisting of a large number of islands which produce excellent gold, and that Sribuza (*i.e.* Śrī-Vijaya) is the greatest of the islands of Zābag. There is no doubt, therefore, that Zābaj or Zābag, by which the Arabs writers denote the Malay Archipelago, was also called by the Hindus Suvarṇadvīpa.