Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c9.53

c9.53

We learn from the detailed account that Rājendra Chola sent a big naval expedition and defeated (*lit.* caught) Saṅgrāma-vijayottuṅga-varman, the king of Kaḍāram. Then follow the names of thirteen countries beginning with Śrī-Vijaya and ending with Kaḍāram. Evidently these were successively over-run by the Chola forces. All the localities cannot be identified with certainty, but one of these probably refers to Nicobar islands, and of the rest, some were in Sumatra and others in Malay Peninsula. The detailed list of countries, many of which are included in the empire of San-fo-tsi by later Chinese writers, leaves no doubt that the Chola conquest cannot be taken merely as a conventional or vague boast, but was actually an historical fact.