This Land of Golden Kings

This Land of Golden Kings

A History of the Kingdom of Srivijaya



Introduction:
In 1988 three men fishing just off the Southern coast of Sumatra found their net caught more than they bargained for when they hauled up a chunk of metal about 3 inches in length and 2 in diameter that, while largely worn down and damaged by the sea over the centuries, showed distinctly some form of advanced metalworking. To these fishermen, uneducated in the finer parts of archaeology and conservation, this was merely a curiosity with strange markings pulled out of the ocean. It wasn't until a local historian and archaeologist saw the piece of metal and requested to be taken to the area from which it was found that this find would explode in importance. This archaeologist, and those who arrived once news got out, soon began to uncover a huge series of ships spread out over the seabed that seemed to indicate that some military engagement may have taken place here.

Nevertheless, it wasn't until 1994 that archaeologists finally got permission to actually excavate parts of the underwater site. What these archaeologists found was astounding as they could distinctly tell apart two different types of ships from two different sides of what must have been a battle and a big one at that. Excavations took place sporadically between 1994 and 2005 on and off with archaeologists facing troubles of both funding and a continued legal battle over both the ships and the right to excavate which frequently halted excavation for months or even, in the case of the 1998-2001 period, years. This meant that very little was learnt about these ships during the initial set of excavations and archaeologists were unable to definitively give an explanation for the site as a whole. Nevertheless the excavations did have a profound effect on our knowledge and understanding of the site as archaeologists were able to use dendrochronology [1] and radiocarbon dating [2] to give a tentative date of about 1030 with a range of about 40 years either side for the ships. More intriguingly, the archaeologists revealed that the ships came from two different sources only one of which was actually Indonesian. Indeed the bulk of the ships were not of Indonesian origin but were instead from India (probably the east coast) which began to lead archaeologists down a very specific road to indetifying the site.

In 2013 archaeologists picked up excavation again and began focussing more on the various human remains found within the shipwrecks and performed a number of tests including isotope analysis [3] which confirmed that many of the corpses were from the South-East of India. In particular, a number of the skeletons were found to have come the city of Kanchipura which, at the time, was under the control of the Chola Dynasty. This all but confirmed a theory that archaeologists had been formulating ever since the excavations ended in 2005 that this site was in fact the site of the legendary Battle of the Sunda Strait that was recorded by the Sumatrans. Of course the 11th Century Sumatrans didn't know the Battle of the Sunda Strait as 'The Battle of the Sunda Strait' but instead gave it the name 'Pencerobohan Indian Besar' [4] or 'The Great Indian Invasion'. It wasn't until after the discovery that the name 'The Battle of the Sunda Strait' was actually given as the Srivijayans had never specified exactly where the battle took place save for it being in the seas around southern Sumatra which led many to think it may have been the Sunda Strait. Until now, however, the location of the battle had never been found and historians frequently debated and argued about where it may have taken place.

This discovery, a fleet of ships on the seabed littered with the skeletons of the dead, did indeed attract attention worldwide and, although it soon faded from public interest as excavations got caught and trapped in legal difficulties, it led to a renewal of interest in the Srivijayans and their great empire. Indeed the Srivijayans played a massive role in world history and what is more fitting than the battle that shows their importance as a point to base our history of the Srivijayans upon in an attempt to explore Indonesian, Asian and, indeed, world history through the eyes of one of histories most fascinating civilisations?

[1] This is dating by analysing the number and width of rings on large peices of wood as trees grow rings for every year they're alive with thicker rings for better years of growth and thinner rings for worse years of growth.

[2] When an animal or plant dies, the C14 element found within it begins to degrade at a known rate allowing archaeologists to analyze when these deaths took place.

[3] Isotope analysis is the process of analyzing the isotopes found within human and animal bones and, particularly, teeth to locate a 'fingerprint' of where they may have come from.

[4] This is in modern Malay as opposed to the version that the Srivijayans actually spoke, Old Malay.
 
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Chapter 1:
Out of the Shadows

Srivijaya was by no means a new state in 1025 when the Cholans launched their famous invasion of the empire and had actually been founded 4 centuries earlier in 682 BCE by Maharaja [1] Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa the first and, quite probably, greatest king of Srivijaya. With little documentation we can't really go into significant amounts of detail on the rise of the Srivijayan state between the 7th and 11th Centuries but we do know it expanded very quickly and, by the end of the 7th Century, the empire held nearly all of Sumatra, half of Java and the Malay Peninsula under its control and was rapidly becoming an incredibly powerful state. What we have to remember is that Srivijaya was a thalassocracy, an empire built on it's mastery of the seas and sustained largely by trade. Indeed this was exactly how the Srivijayans worked as they held an extremely powerful navy backed up by a powerful army and used this military power to control trade to their advantage. With control of both the Sunda Strait, between Southern Sumatra and Java, and the Malacca Strait, between Northern Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, Srivijaya held the trade routes between East Asia and India in the palm of their hands including the very lucrative spice route. This trade was enforced heavily by the Srivijayan navy and army both of which were notable for both their strength and size allowing them to not only police the waters of Indonesia and beyond as well as control their territory but also project their power. Indeed the Srivijayans frequently indulged in this by raiding rivals and extracting tribute from states further away. Even the Khmer Empire seems to have been initially a tributary of the Srivijayans until it later became a power in its own right. Probably the most powerful evidence of this was what may have been colonisation efforts as the Srivijayans sent an expedition to settle women in Madagascar in the 9th Century as shown by mitochondrial DNA studies that prove that the majority of natives in Madagascar today are related to 30 founding mothers from Indonesia.


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The Srivijayan Empire at the start of the 11th Century
By the 11th Century, Srivijaya was seeing a golden age as they had an advanced navy that frequently undertook expeditions through Oceania, the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia with a very strong army and a very rich empire. Their influence reached as far as Manila where they had set up a client kingdom and they traded as far as Arabia with the various Arabian kingdoms but also with the Buyid Dynasty and even the Fatimids of Egypt. They had a rich culture, largely Buddhist, but very much influenced by the Indian empires such as the Gupta and Pala Empires which flourished within their towns and cities with a very cosmopolitan society. Their language, Malay, had become the lingua franca of the region based largely upon their power and they had become respected by empires as strong as China or, previously, the Arab Caliphates even being referred to as one of the 4 'Great Kingdoms' of the world by 9th and 10th Century Arab writers.

However they also had a very unique political system that was unique to Southeast Asia and didn't conform in any way to the Asian or European models of rule or state. Specifically the Srivijayans, like many Southeast Asian states, used the Mandala Model of government which was basically a federation of kingdoms or principalities (kadatuan) vassalised under a central kadatuan. In some ways it was similar to feudalism in which there were nobles who swore loyalty to the king and were controlled largely through those promises but also with the central kadatuan's military power. These outer kadatuans had various obligations in which they were expected to pay a tribute known as a Bunga Mas which wasn't necessarily made up of money so much as valuable goods or trade commodities such as slaves. But what was unique here was that the central or suzerain kadatuan and it's leader tended to give a gift back of greater value that what was given to him. However this meant that the outer kadatuans were expected to provide men and resources whenever the suzerain maharaja called upon them and the suzerain maharaja was actually allowed to control the succession of those outer kadatuans. What we have to remember is that this wasn't a state unlike say, England or China but a collection of ties between individuals and a very fluid collection at that. At it's centre was the maharaja of the central kadatuan but if that maharaja was weak and another kadatuan was stronger then the leader of that kadatuan could very easily claim to be maharaja. In many cases these kadatuans were kept close to the maharaja by personal ties because there was really no distinct border to the empire because all the empire was was a collection of personal ties. This was especially true because kadatuans weren't tied to one maharaja and could actually be tied and paying tribute to three or four or five different maharaja's which meant that there couldn't be borders because kadatuans and the territory associated with them could be dominated by multiple different people. This was like feudalism if the feudal nobles were all independent states who only paid tribute to their king and helped in war but were completely independent otherwise and if some feudal nobles weren't tied to that king but were instead tied to three or four different kings.

The Srivijayan empire was a bit more centralised than this, however, if simply because the Srivijayan kadatuan was extremely rich and powerful because of the trade and the empire itself. This meant that the Srivijayan kings were very much able to keep control over the various kadatuans because they were both extremely rich and had a strong army themselves. But at the end of the day this was local power to the extreme in which the maharaja often was really just first among equals with benefits. This was great whilst they had strong kings who could keep the empire together but it promised that, as soon as a weak king came along, the empire was almost doomed to collapse into chaos. In the long run this was untenable as it needed very little for the bhupati (the men who led the kadatuans) to rebel given that they often did try to completely go independent and it was only the strength of the maharaja himself that kept them under his domination.

Within the empire itself was a very complex series of state officials and people making up the Srivijayan empire from the maharaja at the top to the hulun haji, or king's slaves, at the very bottom. This was a very impressive and well developed government that, despite the decentralised nature of ruling, had held up very well for 4 centuries by the time the Cholan invasion took place. This was largely due to the Srivijayans themselves who held such military strength and, most importantly, wealth that they could hold on to their position despite challengers to the position of maharaja. Maybe more importantly was the ability of the Srivijayans to cultivate good relations with nearby powers which resulted in an alliance with China against one of the Javanese kingdoms in 1006 and had helped them foster very good relations with the Pala Empire and, prior to the death of Rajaraja Chola I, the Chola Kingdom of India. This meant that when the other kadatuans rebelled or challenged the Srivijayans, the Srivijayans often had help from friendly states who were willing to provide some support to retain a friendly kingdom in one of the most important regions for trade for both the Pacific and Indian oceans. Of course these relations weren't always friendly and the Srivijayans often found themselves involved in conflicts of interests or even simply military conflicts against former friends and allies. Indeed this was exactly what was going to happen with Chola in an event that would put the entire Srivijayan Empire at risk and see the careers of both Maharaja Sangrama Vijayatunggavarman and an exceptional military commander seeking to strengthen both his power and reputation, King Rajendra Chola I.

[1] Maharaja is not his name but his title effectively on the same level as a 'king'

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

Hello and welcome to my Srivijayan Empire timeline! So with the severe lack of Southeast Asian timelines on the forums, I decided it was time to try my hand at writing a timeline about a Southeast Asian state. As you can see I have settled upon the Srivijayan Empire that was based in Indonesia between the 7th and 13th Centuries AD (although being only a major power until the 11th Century). I don't think there is too much for me to explain at the moment but any questions or feedback are completely welcome and appreciated even if said feedback consists of 'You are a terrible person' or different variations on that theme. Apart from the introduction yesterday, this is the first proper update of the timeline which, for reference, will be updated on Mondays and Thursdays due to the schedule I've made up to give time to my other timelines.

RiseofBubblez
 
Chapter 2:
The Blood of India
Were you to go back to 1014, it would seem ridiculous that the Srivijayans and the Kingdom of Chola could soon be at war with one another given the very positive relations between King Rajaraja I Chola and the Maharaja of Srivijaya so much that the Srivijayans built a Buddhist monastery in the name of the Chola king. However upon the death of Rajaraja Chola in 1014, things began to change with his son Rajendra I Chola. Rajendra was a brilliant military commander, even today considered one of the greatest military commanders and rulers in Indian history. Even by the time our story really begins in 1025, Rajendra had gained a reputation based on his various conquests such as defeating the Rashtrakutas and the Western Ganga Dynasty but it seems that he had his eyes set upon the Srivijayans from an early age as a chance to gain immeasurable wealth and prestige from conquering one of the most powerful states in Southeast Asia which is shown in a marked hostility between the two. Indeed pirate raids from Chola became ever more commonplace during this period which did not help relations between the two at all as the Srivijayans began to despise the piracy that originated from Chola that may or may not have been supported by Rajendra Chola. Of course, it would be unfair to say that the Srivijayans themselves didn't practise any piracy as their MO of refusing to let anyone pass through the Malacca or Sunda straits without being plundered unless they traded at Srivijayan ports was pretty close to being piracy. However the Chola themselves were known to benefit from both piracy and foreign trade and this hostility between the two kings probably only served to cause pirates to target the Srivijayans more often as the Chola Kingdom was less likely to actually oppose them in those attacks. The conflict between the Srivijayans and the Chola in and of itself originated from a number of factors including the increased hostility and piracy between the two but also the attempts by the Srivijayans to block Chola trade and to keep a monopoly on trade in the region. In fact the Srivijayans had very much been encouraging piracy that had begun to infuriate not only the Chola but the Chinese and even Arabs as the piracy brought in a good deal for wealth for the Srivijayans and the Chola had been one of the main people involved in combating this. The immediate point that would kick off the conflict between the two actually originated to the North of the Srivijayan Empire in a conflict between the King of the Khmer Empire, Suryavarman I and the Tambralinga Kingdom [1]. Soon enough Suryavarman sent an emissary to the Chola, whom he had been trying to obtain good relations with for years now, asking for their assistance in his conflict with the Tambralinga. In response the Tambralinga sent an emissary to the Srivijayans asking for their help against the Khmer Empire, a front which would soon take a back seat to the bigger conflict between the Srivijayans and the Chola.

This gave Rajendra his opportunity to make an attempt to conquer the Srivijayans, an opportunity to gain the wealth and prestige needed to turn the Chola into one of the most powerful Indian states and to give him a legendary reputation. Almost immediately, Rajendra began formulating a plan and building a fleet with which he intended to invade the Srivijayan Empire. His plan was quite simple but it was still very risky given that Rajendra knew very well that his fleet would be slaughtered were he to go head to head with the famous Srivijayan navy and knew, therefore, that he would have to try and take the Srivijayan Empire before their navy could respond so that he would have seized their wealth and land before he could be forced to either retreat or fight a losing battle. As discussed earlier, the Srivijayans controlled two important straits known as the Malacca Strait and the Sunda Strait. Rajendra's plan was quite simply to try and fake out the Srivijayans by making it seem as if he were moving towards the Malacca Strait so that the Srivijayan Fleet would move to protect the strait against his invasion force, only to turn and make for the Sunda Strait which, if the plan went well, he would easily pass through to sack the Srivijayan capital of Palembang. This was a risky move as the Srivijayans definitely had the strength to, quite easily, crush Rajendra's invasion force should they work out his plan and intercept him. Indeed this was a plan predicated on the fact that the Srivijayans didn't actually control the Western coast of Sumatra and the areas that Rajendra to supply at in Northern Sumatra were actually controlled by the Tamil trading guilds as Rajendra was making the risky move of not sailing along the coast through the Bay of Bengal but crossing strait across the Indian Ocean to Northern Sumatra where he would resupply at the Port of Barus before making his way South along the Western coast of Sumatra to the Sunda Strait.
Initially this went very well as Rajendra, despite his very large invasion force, succeeded in reaching Barus where he resupplied before making his way South along the Western coast of Sumatra as per the plan. We don't know exactly who told the Srivijayans that Rajendra was actually travelling South, but we know that they muct have told them early enough for the Srivijayans to move from the Strait of Malacca, where they assumed Rajendra would sail through, to the Strait of Sunda. So, when Rajendra began sailing through the strait to the inner seas of the Indonesian archipelago, the invasion force came face to face with their enemy as it converged on them.

The Chola Navy was indeed a very strong navy, even compared to the Srivijayans having been built up by Rajendra's father Rajaraja I, it was a navy that was advanced, well funded and skilled. At it's base, the Chola Navy was built up of a mixture of dedicated naval forces and auxiliary forces with a general focus on boarding actions that had been carried over from the ancient traditions of the navy being little more than trade ships with boarding apparatus. As a result there was a distinct core of marines made up of trained pearl fishermen because of their ability to dive which was commonly used to sabotage enemy ships. However this was also a navy that was built to fight in another styles as shown by the records that state that their ships could withstand attacks from enemy ships up to 3 times their size due to the skill with which they were constructed. This was then maintained and directed by a distinct, developed and very capable chain of command and a standardised model of making up the fleet in which it was made up of smaller units, each with individual commanders operating under a single commander. In this case, Rajendra hadn't held back in any way and was commanding what was known as a Pirivu or fleet which composed of a very significant number of ships given that the next step down was an Ani or battle force that contained up to 500 ships. Since Rajendra knew that if he succeeded then the conflict would have paid for itself, he had made no attempt to cut back on the types of ships he intended to use and this was a fleet containing dozens of Thirisadai, the equivalent of a battleship, which contained up to 500 marines and were devastating in battle. Of course these were expensive and hard to build so that the majority of the fleet would have been made up of Dharani, similar to destroyers, or Vajra, similar to corvettes, which were actually more capable in battle as they relied less on bulk than the Thirisadai and could move faster and be more offensive whereas the Thirisadai were slow and less manoeuvrable in the heat of battle. This navy had been developed over time but mostly under Rajaraja I during his reign and Rajendra in the aftermath of his conquest of Ceylon so that this was a big test for the navy against a thalassocracy, which could not be underestimated. Bear in mind that this was a colonial navy and, to an extent, a colonial power at war with another colonial power that included the use of trade companies such as the Tamil trade guilds or privateers under many of these trade guilds such as the Nanadesa Tisaiyayirattu Ainnutruvar and others. This is what we need to recognise, the Srivijayans and, to a large extent, the Chola were colonial powers hiring privateers to attack each other's trade complete with colonisation such as was shown with the Srivijayans and Madagascar. This is why the Srivijayan navy was also a very powerful force, one to be reckoned with by the Chola.

We don't know much about the Srivijayan Navy when Rajendra invaded but we do know how fearsome it was as a navy, shown by the fact that Rajendra had made for the Sunda Strait to avoid fighting them. Granted this was just as much for the necessity of speed as a naval confrontation would have given the Srivijayans time to garrison their cities but it may also speak to the idea that Rajendra may not have felt confident in his ability to defeat them. The Srivijayans, from what we do know, had a fearsome navy that was not only bigger but more experienced than the Chola Navy given how much the Srivijayans relied upon their navy to protect their trade, lands and dominions as well to enforce and project their power. The Battle of the Strait of Sunda would become one of the biggest military disasters of Chola history for this very reason as the Chola ships, burdened down with military supplies and filled with soldiers as well as marines and naval supplies, was unable to manoeuvre nearly as well as the Srivijayans nor move as fast as the Srivijayans who soon managed to not only outmanoeuvre their enemies but surround and destroy them. The Chola Navy was unprepared to run into the Srivijayans and their arrival in the Sunda Strait took the Chola by surprise so that, by the time they were actually ready to fight the Srivijayans, they were already under attack. This negated the greater range of the Chola weapons as the Srivijayans were able to cover the distance quickly before the Chola were ready to fire and the military supplies slowed the already slow Thirisadai as well as slowing the ships relying upon speed such as the Dharani or Vajra which were also needed for some military supplies. They weren't slowed to the point of being inoperable or even inefficient but they were slowed. Most important was the expertise of the Srivijayan sailors as, unlike the Chola navy which had been undergoing changes as recently as 1017, had significant expertise and experience with their ships and with their strategies and styles of naval warfare as they had had significant amounts of time to work out any problems and to gain significant experience with them. When the smoke cleared and the battle ended, most of Rajendra's fleet had been lost along with a significant proportion of his invasion force and his hopes of conquering the Srivijayan Empire. The casualties for Rajendra were significant as his fleet had been carrying not only marines and naval equipment but also his invasion force complete with arms, supplies, men and even animals. No invasion was to take place now, especially not the quick, rapid almost plunder-like invasion that Rajendra had planned as his fleet had been scattered, his army destroyed and his plans brought to ruin. Rajendra escaped with about a third of his force remaining and made his way rapidly towards India so as to prepare Chola for the inevitable retribution from the Srivijayans. They were coming.

[1] Historians are unsure as to where the Tambralinga Kingdom actually is but it is most likely within the Malay Peninsula given the accounts and was probably one of the various kadatuans of the Srivijayan Empire, likely in the Northernmost parts of the Malay Peninsula where a conflict between them and the Khmer was most likely.
 
Chapter 3:
Revenge and Reprisals
Prior to the reign of Rajaraja Chola I, the Chola Kingdom hadn't actually been that different structurally from that of the Srivijayans and had been mostly made up of the hegemony enjoyed by the Chola with what amounted to alliances and tribute with a number of hereditary titles and lands. But after Rajaraja things changed drastically as the Chola began to exert ever more influence to the point that, under Rajendra, the hereditary princes and lords who had been in a loose alliance with the Chola had become little more than officials for an actual Chola state. What Rajendra had gone on to do then was organise the collection of revenue through various bodies who then passed it on to his government while reorganising the political makeup of the empire into what were known as valanadus. It would largely be this change in how the government was run that would save the Chola in the aftermath of the disaster at the Sunda Strait as not only was Rajendra able to keep his lands under his control as they were no longer working under his nominal authority but were parts of his kingdom but he was also able to raise soldiers much quicker due to the more centralised nature of his state and the fact that he wasn't relying upon what amounted to vassals to provide soldiers. The Srivijayans arrived on the East Coast of India in 1026 and, for the next year and a half, would rain their fury down upon the Chola as they sailed around the coastline of Rajendra's kingdom attacking shipping, sacking towns and villages and effectively putting the kingdom under siege. Maybe more crucial was that the Srivijayan attack would more or less see the end of Rajendra's fleet which was lost incrementally over the course of a number of Srivijayan attacks on harbours and cities. But in general the Srivijayan revenge would be no more than impotent fury as they failed time and again to make any headway in major towns or cities due to Rajendra having managed to ready the garrisons and fortifications before hand and the Srivijayan navy having not had enough time to actually prepare an invasion force. Indeed it seems the fleet had been sent as little more than a raiding party meant to keep the Chola down and end the possibility of another invasion for a good while to come but, while some rural land along the coasts would be devastated and the remainder of the fleet more or less wiped out, they would prove unable to do any significant damage to Rajendra as his urban centres remained strong and they made away with very little gains.

The entire affair would last from early 1026 to mid 1027 during which time the Srivijayan navy would sail up and down the coast of India raiding and attacking the Chola at any opportunity. However the raiding would ultimately bring in little in the way of actual financial gain for the Srivijayans as many people fled to the seemingly impenetrable cities with their valuables leaving little for the raiders to plunder save for food. Furthermore the natural rot experienced by wooden ships as well as mounting damage from storms and even fighting began to take a toll on the Srivijayan navy so that, with very little financial incentive for continued raids and mounting losses within the fleet, the Srivijayans left India in mid 1027 in return for a fine paid by Rajendra. That isn't to say that there had been no effect on the Chola who had seen a massive disruption in their maritime trade as many merchant ships were sunk by the furious Srivijayans and, along the coastline, much of the rural land had been devastated (although the inland regions remained unaffected). Most importantly was the effect it had on Rajendra who, while he realised that Chola itself wasn't ruined, saw that this was one of his first major defeats and this defeat and the very costly foreign adventure associated with it could work to undermine him and see people try to take his throne who may have turned to the raiding Srivijayans. Indeed it seemed that getting the Srivijayans to leave was in his best interests although his acceptance to pay a fine as reparation for his attacks and as a bribe to get the Srivijayans to go away angered some within the Chola Kingdom who felt that this was a sign of weakness and that Rajendra was actually paying tribute to the Srivijayans. Nevertheless the conflict between the Chola and the Srivijayans was over within 2 years of starting but the effects of this conflict would be far reaching for both the Srivijayans and the Chola both of whom would be changed in different ways by it. For the Chola this wasn't a war that was either economically devastating but it was a war that hurt their pride and a war they wouldn't forget while the Srivijayans came away feeling pretty good about the affair but slightly worried about Rajendra's willingness and ability to strike out in such a way against them.

But the conflict wasn't over for the Srivijayans who now moved to aid in the other theatre of the war, that of the fight between the Khmer Empire and the Tambralinga (their allies) in the Malay Peninsula. This time the Srivijayans wouldn't arrive until 1028 but would arrive with relatively significant forces to bolster those of the Tambralinga who, by 1028, were starting to fail in their war against the Khmer. The subsequent conflict would drag on until 1030 when the joint Srivijayan and Tambralinga forces were able to finally defeat the Khmer Empire. While neither the Srivijayans nor the Tambralinga would move on to seize any land from the Khmer, they did impose some heavy fines upon the Khmer in the aftermath of the war including a war indemnity to be paid to the Srivijayans. This was a war won more by the Srivijayans than by the Tambralinga as Srivijayan interference on land would be a deciding factor in helping them resist the Khmer and, maybe more importantly, the use of the Srivijayan navy would help stretch and even cut Khmer supply lines and force them into retreats. Indeed the Srivijayan navy would prove devastating to the Khmer army as they found themselves unable to advance in many cases and sometimes forced to abandon captured land as their supply lines were often cut by raiding parties sent ashore by the Srivijayan navy. Furthermore the Khmer shipping and maritime trade took a heavy hit under attacks from the Srivijayans over these two years which, in conjunction with an increasingly costly war, would not do any good to for the Khmer economy.

In the aftermath of the war, however, the Khmer would suffer the most as the disastrous foreign adventure did no good for Suryavarman's legitimacy as king given that he hadn't ascended legitimately as such but had instead usurped the throne in 1202 from King Udayadityavarman I and had then fought a length civil war against his son for the next 8 years. The costs of the war, both military and financial, would have a heavy effect on Suryavarman who, within a year of the conclusion of the war, would find himself facing rebellion himself. The problem was that his legitimacy wasn't that good to begin with and it seemed that throughout the early years of his reign Khmer was so close to rebelling and now with such a disastrous foreign campaign weighing on his legitimacy while the costs of the war as well as his war indemnities and fines bringing down the economy, it seemed that he would face opposition yet again. Indeed in 1031 Suryavarman would be drawn back into a war within his own borders as a claimant from within his own army (probably a commander of some sort) rose against him and tried to seize the throne. Suryavarman was a capable commander, however, and would successfully fend off the challenged to his throne most of which would take place in these early years. Indeed the real period of troubles for the Khmer would be between 1030 and 1040 during which time Suryavarman would face a number of rebellions few of which were really major affairs but all of which posed a threat to his throne and highlighted his weakness in the wake of the Tambralinga war. This instability was not helpful for the Khmer and indeed Suryavarman's seeming goals of expansion and would, more importantly, hinder his attempts to assert his control over Lavo. According to a legend, Suryavarman was actually born out of the relationship between a Malay Prince installed on the throne of Lavo in the 10th Century and a Khmer princess thus bringing Lavo under Khmer domination. Whether this was true or not, Suryavarman's attempts to expand his empire into the region would spend the next decade up until 1040 mostly on the back burner and even afterwards his supposed domination over Lavo through a personal union would be very tenuous. Indeed any hopes of expansion were firmly put down as he struggled throughout the 1030s to hold on to his throne and through the 1040s to re-establish control and order.

However he would see some success and by the 1050s he would have managed to succeed in at least one goal by expanding into the Mekong Basin and making some headway into the Menam Basin in the West (the region that was part of the Kingdom of Lavo). However many proposed constructions and expansions to existing buildings would never take place during Suryavarman's reign due to the costs of war and the associated indemnities as well as the very destabilising rebellions that plagued the Khmer during the 1030s. Finally in 1050 Suryavarman I would die and leave the throne to his heir (but not his son) Udayadityavarman II whose reign would be just as tumultuous.
 
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Wow.. I did not know that this TL was still alive.
It wasn't showing up on my Alerts at all.

Thanks RiseofBubblez, it's really interesting. Looking forward to how a centralized, Land focused Clola will bring on the subcontinent.
 
Wow.. I did not know that this TL was still alive.
It wasn't showing up on my Alerts at all.

Thanks RiseofBubblez, it's really interesting. Looking forward to how a centralized, Land focused Clola will bring on the subcontinent.

Still alive just quite erratic scheduling from me unfortunately.
 
The PoD, I guess, is that Srivijaya was warned of the Chola maneuver and responded in time. OTL, Chola sacked the Srivijaya capital and Srivijaya collapsed.

Is the stuff about underwater archaelogy in the Sunda Straits real?

That is indeed my POD so that Rajendra was intercepted and stopped bedore he could sack the Srivijaya. As for the underwater archaeology bit, no I made that up to trh a d tive an interesting introduction to the TL.
 

PhilippeO

Banned
This war will give massive boost to Buddhism, while Shivaism would be greatly weakened. The butterfly from this alone would be big enough that Islam spread is questionable. Malacca Strait now will be held by strong Buddhist Kingdom, and who know what religion Bengals, Malays, and Champa will hold now that strongest trade partner is Buddhism thassalocracy. ?
 
Chapter 4:
The Tamil and the Malay
(1028-1100)
In the years after the Chola War officially ended in 1028 with the defeat of the Khmer Empire at the hands of the Srivijayans and the Tambralinga the Srivijayans began to exert their influence over their outer kadatuans more fiercely than they had before, seemingly quite shaken at Rajendra's invasion. Bear in mind that the invasion of 1025 was a very unique event and it's quite probable that the Srivijayans began to worry that the attack may have caused some of their kadatuans to start breaking away from their authority. This didn't mean that the Srivijayans were at peace during this period, on the contrary they were already faced with an enemy in the form of the rising Kingdom of Kahuripan in Western Java. This kingdom was one of the recent kingdoms to rise in the wake of the fall of the Kingdom of Medang and was centred around the Brantas River in East Java. Under Raja Airlangga it had risen out of Western Java and stretched from the city of Pasuruan in Western Java to the city of Madiun in Central Java but this rise, similar to the power of the previous Medang Kingdom, was not about to be tolerated by the Srivijaya. The Medang Kingdom had launched attacks on the Srivijaya at the very beginning of the 11th Century and it was those attacks that had led to the Srivijayan retaliation that brought them down in the first place. This all exposes one big weakness in the Srivijayan system of government in which the Srivijayans couldn't afford to not fight any challenges to their authority given how fluid the kadatuan system was in which outer kadatuans could come to dominate all the rest instead of the central kadatuan. If the Srivijayans wanted to keep their dominance they had to face down every challenge whether it be from one of their kadatuans or a foreign power such as the Chola. Peace had been established between Srivijaya and Kahuripan in 1019 but by the late 1020s they were back at one another's throats and this state of conflict would last until the fall of the Kahuripan Kingdom in 1045 when Airlangga abdicated and established his sons as kings of separate kingdoms in Java. Airlangga was a skilled general, as evidenced by his successes in uniting Western Java so far and that combined with the climate of Java and it's natural jungles and tropical forests often managed to help thwart Srivijayan attacks on the kingdom. Nevertheless the conflict did more damage than may have been initially obvious as Airlangga was never able to properly consolidate his gains and this had a part to play in why neither of his sons' kingdoms would last long as the civil war exhausted both kingdoms and led to their eventual collapse during the 1050s.

Meanwhile the Srivijayans continued to cultivate their trade routes especially in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal where there seems to have been some threat to the Srivijayan trade from the Chola. Frequently it seems that there was often more competition in the wake of the Chola War, between the Srivijayans and the Tamil merchants many of whom had supported Rajendra. Indeed there were even moves against the Tamil of Northern Sumatra during the period (1028-1100) and, contrary to the hope that the Tamil may have harboured to dominate South-East Asian trade had the Chola won, they found themselves increasingly marginalised and pushed away by the Srivijayans who took the opportunity to tighten their hold on trade in the region. While some rivalry definitely did persist between the Chola and the Srivijayans, it seems that neither side saw any gain in a continued opposition and during the 1030s and 40s a number of diplomatic missions between Srivijaya and the Chola are recorded. Instead Rajendra turned his attention back to mainland India and instead sought to further increase the power of the Chola within the sub-continent itself and, to this extent, he must have realised that neither Srivijaya nor himself could afford a continued rivalry. As it was the Srivijayans controlled the vital routes to China while Rajendra could at most threaten the trade routes the Srivijayans relied upon as they worked through or around India with neither situation actually benefiting either him or Srivijaya. By the time Rajendra died in 1244 he had managed to restore relatively normal trade relations with the Srivijaya although some hostility still remained and, of course, the Tamil Guilds had lost quite decisively against the Malay merchants who had traditionally dominated trade in the region.

The Tamil Guilds seem to have been the greatest casualty of Rajendra's defeat in 1025 as those groups that had hoped to gain out of Rajendra's invasion, most notably the Manigramam, Ayavole and Ainnurruvar found that they were unable to take control from the Malay merchants and were instead more frequently targeted by the Srivijayans. Traditionally the Port of Barus had been controlled by the Tamil a fact that began to change during the 11th Century as the Srivijayans began to increasingly impose their own dominance on the port and the Tamil found themselves facing increased opposition from the Malay even there. During the attacks on the Chola in 1026 the Srivijayans had made contact with a number of Indian Kingdoms and it was here that the Malay began to take the fight for dominance of South-East Asian trade to the Tamil themselves as increasingly the Malay began to trade more frequently with these Indian Kingdoms. This was the side effect of the Srivijayan's failed attacks on the Chola in that their very presence along the coast of India had led to contact with the local Indian Kingdoms most notably the Chalukya Kingdom along the Western Coast of India and the Malwa further North. This was probably the most important part of the entire conflict, not the actual military conflict but the struggles for dominance between the Malay and Tamil Merchants. Had Rajendra succeeded in defeating the Srivijaya it seems likely that the Tamil would have come to dominate Srivijaya or whatever kingdoms succeeded it in the wake of his invasion but instead the invasion had been defeated and a stalemate had emerged. This was very different to the state of relations prior to the invasion because unlike before there would have been a marked hostility between not only the kingdoms but between the two groups and this inevitably led to what can only be described as a power struggle as the Malay merchants sought to sideline the Tamil and the Tamil in turn sought to increase their own influence and come to dominate trade in the region. The very fact that the Tamil were willing to work with the enemies of the Srivijayans such as Rajendra had been (for example he had stopped at Barus en route to Srivijaya) to try and dominate trade in the region meant that the Malay saw a threat to their interests and in turn the Tamil saw a threat to their own interests but also an opportunity to potentially increase their own influence.

Neither the Chola nor the Srivijaya saw any profit in a continued rivalry between their two states but this simply meant that the rivalry between the Chola and the Srivijaya moved from the battlefield to the marketplace. Instead of invasions and conquests there was trading and instead of naval battles or raids on India there was expansion of trade routes and networks, explorations and expansion. This would be a continuing theme throughout the 11th Century and would continue on for a long time to come but the actual rivalry started here while the factors that led to the rivalry, Malay dominance and the hopes of the Tamil to dominate South-East Asian trade came from much further back. By the late 11th Century there was a marked opposition beginning to form between the Malay and Tamil even with what could be seen as boundaries and spheres of influence for each individual group. For example the Tamil were much more powerful in India and especially in the Chola Kingdom than the Malay and in these regions there was definitely an advantage to Tamil merchants as they came to dominate local markets and attempted to sideline the Malay there as much as possible. In comparison the Malay very much dominated local markets in the Malay Peninsula and the various islands of South-East Asia most notably those under the influence of the Srivijaya and definitely held some advantage in regions further East due to the Srivijayans' control of the routes from India to China. It was in the more 'neutral' markets that the most competition between the two existed such as in places such as at Barus or in regions such as Arabia or East Africa where neither held any exceptional influence in the markets that could be exploited to their advantage. Ironically this meant that trade boomed in the region during the 11th Century as both groups sought to outdo each other and hoped to sideline and reduce the other at any possible opportunity. As the Kingdoms of Java, the successor states to the Kahuripan Kingdom, began to fall apart once again into chaos during the 1050s it was this trade that continued to push Srivijayan dominance outwards further than it had been before. As it had been since their origins the Srivijayans pushed the boundaries of their knowledge and influence largely through this trade, it had been this trade that had led them to Madagascar in the 9th Century and it was this trade that would push their dominance further East and South through the archipelagos of South-East Asia.

By the time our story began the Srivijayans had already reached as far as the Philippines and the Sulu Archipelago, regions they now continued to extend their dominance and influence over through the 11th Century. Trade from the Srivijayans began reaching as far as Taiwan by the end of the century (the earliest trade from China is from the Tang Dynasty) while their influence over islands such as Borneo and, to a lesser extent, the Philippines where they already had subject kingdoms around Manila began to increase. Ships from Srivijaya frequently travelled East as part of tribute/trade missions to Song China or as part of tribute collecting/trade missions to their own subject states and it was these trade ships that exploration could take place. Some evidence suggests that Srivijayans may have reached as far North as Manchuria during the 11th Century by working their way along the Chinese coast while it seems that the Srivijayans began to exert greater influence in Eastern Java towards the end of the 11th Century while trade increased between the Srivijaya and various states in Cambodia and Vietnam such as the Khmer and the Champa. Srivijaya's main economic interest was, quite consistently, China and the vast markets contained within to which the Srivijayans hoped to continue trading quite lucratively with. It was this market that inspired the Srivijayans to continue their control over the Sunda and Malacca Straits, the two main routes between India and China and indeed it was because of this control that the city of Srivijaya had come, by the 11th Century, to be one of the biggest trade centres in East Asia. Through this one city passed vast quantities of goods and wealth including rice, cotton, silver, indigo, resin, camphor, aloes, ivory, gold, tin Rhino's tusks, rattan, rare timber, gems and other rare minerals, rare animals, birds, iron, sappan, sandalwood, spices, Chinese goods such as ceramics, lacquerware, silks and other fabrics all of which passed through Srivijaya. Indeed China was the most lucrative deal and trade partner the Srivijayans had and it was easily the most important market the Malay merchants had, it was mostly through tribute missions that this trade was conducted as states all over Asia exploited Chinese tribute missions and the protection and importance afforded to them for simple trade.

This exploration and expansion of trade networks was accompanied by a spread of religious beliefs even further largely as a result of these conflicts between the Malay and Tamil. It has been suggested by some historians that the Tamil-Malay rivalry may have had a religious element to it given that the majority of the Tamil were Hindus and the majority of the Malay were Buddhists and as a result this worsened the relations between the two groups and made them more likely to try and defeat the other as it were. Whether this is true or not, the effects of their rivalry did have a religious element through East Asia especially with Buddhism which, as trade expanded under the Srivijayans, began to push down through the archipelago more and more. Specifically the Srivijayans seemed to export Mahayana Buddhism which during the 11th Century began to see a bit of a boom largely as a result of Srivijayan actions. Bearing in mind that Srivijaya still served as one of the main centres of Buddhist learning and expansion and so as their trade and influence boomed throughout the 11th Century, so to did Buddhism. By the end of the century there were even some very small Buddhist communities beginning to spring up as far as Manchuria as a result of the spread of Srivijayan trade throughout the century. Similarly it would spread further as Srivijayan influence spread further throughout the century and would come to have a profound effect on the religious makeup of the local communities.

As the Malay and Tamil merchants competed throughout Asia in the marketplaces and the Srivijayans spread their influence and power throughout South-East Asia, the Chola were facing their own changes under Rajendra during the decades following his failed invasion. Rajendra turned his attentions back to India itself and hoped to continue his push North against the Western Chalukya Empire having secured the fertile regions of the Vengi during the 1010s and early 20s. However by the time of Rajendra's death in 1244 the Vengi had been lost once against the Chalukya Empire and it would be left to his nephew Rajadhiraja Chola to try to reclaim the region. Rajadhiraja came to the throne of the Chola only two years after the ascension of the Chalukya King Someshvara I of Chola. Both rulers soon proved themselves very capable leaders and what followed was decades of struggle between a number of Chola and Chalukya Kings as thousands bled and died over the Vengi. Neither Someshvara nor Rajadhiraja ever managed to gain the upper hand or lose significant territory despite both winning and losing battles against one another during their reigns. Nevertheless it would be Someshvara who would succeed in expanding his territory to the North towards Gujarat even while the Chola still threatened the Vengi region. Following Someshvara's death there would be a civil war in the Chalukya Empire between Someshvara II and an ambitious prince who would eventually come out on top during the 1070s as Vikramaditya VI. It would be during his reign that the Chalukya Empire would see the end of the 11th Century and was starting to move towards finally gaining an upper hand against the Chola.

So it was that the 11th Century came to a close in South-East Asia with the Srivijayans spreading their influence ever further beyond their original empire and the Chola locked in their endless struggle with the Chalukya Empire. Meanwhile the Tamil and Malay merchants continued their struggles for dominance in South-East Asian trade right into the upcoming 12th Century.
 
Finally.
Chola seems to have end up with the much shorter stick, but then again they don't have the security of the ocean.
 
Chapter 5:
The Northern Song

(1028-1100)

Having explored in some detail the changes surrounding the Srivijaya in India and the growing rivalry and competition between the Tamil merchants of India and the Malay merchants of Srivijaya, we should turn our attention to the other side of the Srivijaya trade network: China. The Song Dynasty came to power in China in 960 AD ending the upheaval that had taken place during the period of the 'Five Dynasties' as Emperor Taizu of Song united the empire once again. Just as the Srivijaya had traded with the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) they continued to trade with the Song and it was China that formed possibly the most important part of the entire trade network of the Srivijaya. Luxury goods such as spices from the East Indies were in high demand in China and this hadn't changed under Song Dynasty but at the same time the canals and waterways that connected major ports such as Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Fuzhou or Xiamen through which goods such as Chinese silk could be sold to merchants from abroad and luxury goods from the West could be bought. Trade came from as far as the Islamic World and similarly flowed out from China to the West where silks were popular with the Europeans and were increasingly being sold in cities such as Venice. It was in the middle of this trade network that the Srivijaya came in, controlling the two main passages by sea from East to West and using that to their own benefit by having foreign merchants trade with their ports. This was why cities such as Palembang (the capital of the Srivijaya) had become so important for trade because it was where the merchants from China and those from the West often met and it was here that many of the goods from China and those from the West could be sold as well as goods from Srivijaya lands as well. Silver and Indigo, from Java; spices and sandalwood from Indonesia and gold and tin from Sumatra were among the many goods that came from Srivijaya itself alongside the masses of goods and the wealth that accompanied them that flowed through Srivijaya ports.


China was so important for this very reason because it was not only the source of goods desired in the West: Ceramics, fabrics, silks, artworks etc. but also a massive market for the Srivijaya to sell their own goods to: Spices and other goods from further West. This was why the Srivijaya dominated the seas during their time in power because if they didn't have a navy that dominated the seas then they wouldn't be able to protect their trade networks from rival ports or pirates. Long distance trade from East to West was dangerous but that made having a major naval power in South-East Asia so important because someone like the Srivijaya (or maybe even the Chola had they succeeded in 1025) could successfully deal with pirates and protect trade. Ultimately from our point of view, what matters most about the Song is not what happened between them and the Liao in the early 11th Century with some of their military defeats or them being forced to pay tribute to the Liao and later Jin but really what happened economically. With one of the most prosperous and advanced economies in the world, the Song economy boomed and so did its trade which inevitably meant that the Srivijaya trade flourished alongside it. Prominent merchant families were allowed to dominate whatever industries hadn't been monopolised by the government and this meant that industries such as the mining and iron industries boomed in China at the time. By 1100 over 100,000,000 kilograms of iron products were being mass produced in China. A lot of this iron flowed along canals and waterways towards the capital at Kaifeng but once iron left the Song Dynasty it passed through Srivijaya waters and markets and then continued West towards markets throughout the Middle East and Africa and even in Europe. Iron and weapons were exported in vast quantities alongside various fabrics and silks and ceramics that poured out of China and were facilitated by the Srivijaya en route to the West. By the end of the century this had been bolstered by the use of coal in furnaces and production throughout the Song and the improvement and expansions of waterways which allowed easier transport of goods from the production centres across the country to major ports or markets throughout China.

While talking about China we should also talk about the Liao to the North who, from 1004 onward, received vast quantities of silk and silver from China as part of the tribute they extorted from the Song Dynasty. This never really affected the Chinese economy all that badly considering how well they could produce huge amounts of silk and given that they exported more to the Liao than they imported from the Liao and so most of the silver that went North ended up back in China anyway. But it wasn't just the Chinese who benefited from the Liao as there is some evidence of the Srivijaya trading as far North as Manchuria during this period and goods such as spices were very much popular among the Liao as they were in China and so even the peoples North of China were involved in the trade networks of the Srivijaya. As the Song economy grew, so too it became more complex for all involved and increasingly featured features such as joint stock companies or even the development of guilds for artisans and workers. The market and various industries were dominated by the state or very large enterprises but this didn’t mean that smaller private enterprises didn’t exist which indeed they did and, even better, they too flourished during this boom. These smaller businesses tended to exist in suburbs or rural regions of China away from the much larger businesses or the state-dominated industries. Everything from kilns to paper making could be found through smaller businesses just as much as they could be found through larger businesses or state-owned monopolies. These smaller rural businesses were bolstered by a much greater agricultural surplus for people living in the region and the greater ability for farmers to produce other goods through crops such as wine or charcoal that could be sold in markets.

As foreign trade boomed in China and its importance to the people of the country increased alongside it, so too did the shipbuilding industry boom. As foreign trade was given more importance throughout China, it led to a much stronger industry for shipbuilding. Increasingly foreign trade had become a joint venture for people to invest in and this meant more people could be involved in maritime trade which in turn meant more ships. By 1100 the market of Palembang had become host to masses of Chinese merchants buying and selling goods at the flourishing Srivijaya markets of the day and as a result massive amounts of Chinese copper coinage as well as Chinese silks and other goods passed through the city on a daily basis. Palembang had become the gateway between East and West and it was the main port for Chinese merchants hoping to buy goods popular in China as well as the main source for Chinese goods for merchants from the West and as a result these markets boomed. As a result the risk to Chinese ships and merchants was often far less as they no longer needed to actually travel as far as Egypt or Africa since they only needed to visit Palembang to buy everything they needed or wanted that could then be sold in China. As a result vast quantities of copper coinage flowed out of China, exchanged for spices or goods in Palembang or sold to foreign merchants in Chinese ports, and by the end of the 11th Century over 6 billion copper coins were minted every year by the Song as compared to just over 320 million under the Tang Dynasty or 220 million under the Han. However this massive boom in the Chinese trade brought with it some negative effects as well as vast quantities of copper coinage were flowing out of China and this put a very real strain on the resources of copper throughout the country, even as this coinage became popular throughout Asia from Japan to the Srivijaya. Copper was being depleted in mines all throughout China and was also becoming very cautious of the Liao Empire to the North which was increasingly pursuing the exchange of their iron currency for Song copper coinage which put increasing strain on the Chinese copper resources. By the end of the century their response had been to increasingly debase the currency so that by the mid-12th Century only 54% of the currency issued in China was copper coinage. Increasingly the government was issuing paper money the first examples of which come from the early 11th Century in Sichuan. By the end of the century this paper money was equalling vast amounts of copper coinage (up to 26 million strings by the early 12th Century) and even before the 12th Century they received a lot of tribute in paper money. Meanwhile t
he copper coinage of the Song Dynasty spread throughout Asia and by the end of the century had become popular throughout Asia especially in Srivijaya where it spread throughout the marketplaces as a vital resource for buying the Chinese goods in the marketplaces.

From the mid-11th Century, the Song army was making use of the magnetic compass for navigation but it wasn't until the end of the century that this began to spread to their maritime tradition and thus it wouldn't be until the 12th Century that this would begin to spread to the Srivijaya themselves. But it was innovations like these that also spread through the Chinese trade as the markets and ports of Palembang became more than just a meeting place for merchants and their goods but also a meeting place for ideas and culture. Palembang was already one of the main centres of Buddhist culture and tradition in Asia at the time and this trade became especially important culturally as well. From the traditional Confucian or Taoist ideas of China to Islam or Buddhism, all sorts of beliefs and ideas flowed in and out of Palembang along the trade routes and with the merchants. Four centuries earlier the city of Palembang had been home to over 1000 Buddhist monks and scholars funded and supported by the state itself. By the 11th Century ideas and scholarship flowed through Palembang from East to West and West to East alongside the merchants and ships that passed through Palembang, through its port and market. Srivijaya currency from the period has been found as far as Manchuria and came in two types: Dok Chan Money, flat and round coins in gold or silver with a four-petal blossom on one side and the word 'wara' on the other, or Namo Money, similarly shaped coins with an ancient Sanskrit letter on one side and with fold marks on the other.

By the end of the 11th Century there were over 50 different countries trading with the Chinese and so much of this trade flowed through Palembang which had become a massive marketplace for both Srivijayan goods but also for goods and wealth from so many of these countries as they traded with China. All trade that came by sea from India or anywhere West of India came through Palembang and similarly any trade that went West from China went through Palembang. There was also increasing contact with peoples further East and North such as the Liao and later Jin of Manchuria and the Japanese. Since the 10th Century the Song had been establishing 'Maritime Trade Supervisorates' in various major ports along the coast which monitored the sale of imported goods, issuing permits for foreign merchants and of course taxation on goods. Until the late 10th Century it had been law that all goods imported from abroad had to be sold to the government but it had started to be relaxed so that by the end of the 11th Century it was at different levels of how much was bought by the government. For example pearls were set at 60% in which the government would buy 60% of all imported pearls (usually the higher quality pearls) and the rest could be sold privately. Tax rate meanwhile varied during the 11th Century under different emperors up to as high as about 40% on taxation until finally being lowered to just under 7% under Emperor Shanzong at the end of the 11th Century. Unlike customs duties in Western Europe, this taxation wasn't in money but in the goods being sold so that a certain amount of whatever goods being sold were levied directly by the government depending on the amount being sold. Of course it being reduced benefited the Srivijaya massively as any Srivijaya merchants selling goods in Chinese ports would have to give up far less of their goods to the government and could sell more goods for a larger profit. While the Song often did encourage private enterprise and private industries in some cases, they also focused just as heavily on nationalisation and monopolisation of certain industries. Under Chancellor Wang Anshi the Song had nationalised the manufacture and distribution of tea, salt and wine the first of which helped fund the cavalry of the Song army. One such monopoly was sulfur for making gunpowder and this was a monopoly they held so tightly for fear of their enemies getting hold of gunpowder that they forbid merchants from selling any to foreign merchants in a number of provinces.
Of course this in turn led to a black market that existed under the Song and even the later Jin for everything from cattle to silk and naturally this black market was probably most notable on goods that were held in monopoly by the Song such as sulfur.

For the first time in Chinese history, maritime trade exceeded overland trade and in a flurry of trade, of foreign investment and probably the most advanced and modern economy in the world at the time, so much wealth and so many goods flowed through Palembang. It was a golden age for the Srivijaya of trade and wealth and along with this trade came ideas and culture, beliefs and thoughts. It had become the marketplace of the world and its wealth boomed as China interacted with the rest of the world. Economy was changing in China and it changed in Srivijaya along with it and by 1100 this one city state had become one of the most connected places in the world.

 
An earlier Economic evolution? Although China only seems to rediscover it in this case as Tang was on it's way to something similar.

Africa in this TL cannot possibly remain backwater, removed from the Eurasian trade network as in OTL. Now they are literally right in the smack of it.
 
Since Srivijaya extended its influence as far as Manila and surrounding regions, where they established subject kingdoms, I sensed that the Malay tongue spoken there would be influenced by surrounding Philippine languages.
 
An earlier Economic evolution? Although China only seems to rediscover it in this case as Tang was on it's way to something similar.

Africa in this TL cannot possibly remain backwater, removed from the Eurasian trade network as in OTL. Now they are literally right in the smack of it.

Actually most of that is basically the same as OTL save for a few details:

1) Palembang was not the marketplace of the world IOTL since it had been sacked and ruined by Rajendra back in 1025 and so this means ITTL that the port cities of China aren't quite as major for international trade as they were OTL because Palembang is basically the main place people go for buying and selling goods. Hence trade is no longer as risky since Chinese merchants don't need to go to the West themselves because they can buy these goods in Palembang. IOTL from what I can tell this meant people were more likely to invest in a number of ships as opposed to buying just one but ITTL there is far less risk involved in trade with the West.

2) IOTL there was no major naval power in the region after the decline of the Chola and from what I can tell (I'd like some confirmation on this though) this helped lead to a bigger armed navy in the Song for protecting trade from pirates and dominating the seas. ITTL the Srivijaya still dominate the seas of Asia and they themselves control the trade and protect it from pirates prowling the seas.

Since Srivijaya extended its influence as far as Manila and surrounding regions, where they established subject kingdoms, I sensed that the Malay tongue spoken there would be influenced by surrounding Philippine languages.

Good point- I'll have to think about that. TBH my main focus in this timeline will probably be more economics (given it being focused on a Thalassocracy and a trade nation) but of course I'll still be putting effort and focus on all the other aspects such as culture, linguistics, politics. But since trade is so important in this circumstance, the point I want to put the most importance on is the economic side.
 
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