________________
No. 36.]
NOTE ON SAILENDRA KINGS MENTIONED IN LEIDEN PLATES.
281
On the direction of the sandhivigrahin Rajavallabha Pallavaraiyan and the adhikarin Rājēndrasinga-Mūvēndavēlān, this copper-(plate) edict was written by the Nilaiyudaiya-Panaiyani Nigariliśőlap Madhurantakan,. one of the Vikramābharapa-terinda-Valangai-Vēlaikkaras of Uțkkodi : this is my signature.
No. 36.--NOTE ON THE SAILENDRA KINGS MENTIONED IN THE LEIDEN PLATES.
BY PROFESSOR R. C. MAJUMDAR, M.A., Ph.D., DACCA. The Larger Leiden Plates of Rājarāja I contain references to two Sailēndra kings, viz., Chū. ļāmanivarman and his son Sri-Māravijayottungavarman. The Sailēndra dynasty is known to have ruled over Malay Peninsula and Java towards the close of the eighth century A.D. An inscription found at Ligord in Malay Peninsula refers to a Sailēndra king named Sri-Mahārāja, and he had, perhaps, also the personal name Vishnu. There is internal evidence to show that this inscription is somewhat later than A.D. 775. An inscription found at Kalasan, in Java, dated A.D. 778, refers to the building of a temple of Tārā by Mahārāja Panamkarana, the ornament of the Sailēndra dynasty. The temple is undoubtedly the famous Chandi Kalasan, one of the finest temples in Java. Another inscription found at Keluraks, in the neighbourhood of the same locality, mentions a Sailēndra king Sri-Sangrāma-Dhanamjaya and refers to the setting up of an image of Manjusri by the royal preceptor Kumāraghosha, a resident of Gauda (Gaudi-dvīpaguru).
Arab writers, from the ninth century onwards, refer to the empire of Zābag or Zābaj, ruled over by the Mahārāja. There is no doubt that under this name they refer to the empire of the Sailēndras, which now extended over nearly the whole of Malayasia (Malay Archipelago and Malay Peninsula), including the famous kingdom of Sri-Vijaya in Sumatra. There are reasons to believe that for some time this empire also exercised some sort of suzerainty over Kāmboja (Cambodia) and Champā (Annam).
There can be hardly any doubt that the empire of the Sailēndras, referred to as Zābag by Arab writers, is the same as the kingdom of San-fo-ts'i, referred to in the Chinese Annals from the tenth century onwards.
The Chinese annals refer to no less than twelve embassies sent from San-fo-ts'i to China during the tenth century A.D. The first two embassies during the eleventh century A.D. are
The expression Nilaiyuāaiya-Panciynd might indicate a "profession, office or calling ". Its exact meaning is not clear to me and it is therefore left untranslated.
Much has been recently written in French and Dutch journals and books about the Sailendras. The fol. lowing note is intended merely to give a very brief outline of their history so far as it is necessary to elucidate the Leiden Plates. For fuller discussion of their history and reference to recent authorities the reader may consult the following articles of mine :-(1) Les Rois Sailendra de Suvarnadvipa, B.E.F.E.O., Vol. XXXIII, pp. 121. 141. (2) The Sailendra Empire, Journal of the Greater India Society, Vol. 1, pp. 11-27. (3) The struggle between the Sailēndras and the Cholas, Ibid., pp. 71-91. (4) Decline and Fall of the Sailēndta Empire, Ibid., Vol. II, Pp. 12-24. Reference may also be made to the following article by Dr. G. Coedès -15) On the origin of the Sailēndras of Indonesia, Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 61-70.
• B.E.F.E.O., Vol. XVIII, 6, App. 1, PP. 29ff.; J.A.S.B., Letters, Vol. I (1935), pp. 20ff. • T. B. G., Vol. 68 (1928), pp. 57ff. . Ibid., pp. 1ff.
• The Arab and Chinese accounts are collected by Ferrand, J. A., 11-XX, pp. Iff. They are also quoted in articles Nos. 1-4 mentioned in f. n. 2 abovo.
