Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c9.60

c9.60

The kingdom of San-fo-tsi continued for more than three hundred years till it was destroyed by Java in the fourteenth century A.D. We get a reference to it in the Chinese Chronicles, and Arab writers refer to the glory and power of Zābag throughout this period. We have a detailed account of San-fo-tsi from a Chinese text written by Chau-ju-kua, Inspector of Foreign Trade, in 1225 A.D. We learn from it that San-fo-tsi was master of the Strait of Malacca and thus controlled the maritime trade between China and the western countries. The author also gives a list of fifteen states dependent upon it.