Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c9.28

c9.28

I cannot think of any valid ground why this natural interpretation should not be accepted, and we shall create unnecessary difficulties in the interpretation of the Nālandā charter. As matter of fact, Coedés takes Suvarṇadvīpa to include Sumatra and Malay Peninsula,⁵ and there is as much or as little reason to include the other islands of the Archipelago. Śrī K. A. N. Sastri,⁶ however, positively affirms that Suvarṇadvīpa can only mean Sumatra, as would be apparent from his statement that " Bālaputra is called king of Sumatra in so many words (*Suvarṇa-dvīpādhipa*)." Yet he does not refer in the least to the arguments I adduced in my book in favour of the use of Suvarṇadvīpa as a general designation of Malay Archipelago.