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.