Melayu Kingdom

The Melayu Kingdom (also known as Malayu, Dharmasraya Kingdom or the Jambi Kingdom; , reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation mat-la-yu kwok) was a classical Buddhist kingdom located in Southeast Asia and western Nusantara. The primary sources for much of the information on the kingdom are the New History of the Tang, and the memoirs of the Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing who visited in 671, and the state was "absorbed" by Srivijaya by 692, but had "broken away" by the end of the twelfth century according to Chao Jukua. The exact location of the kingdom is the subject of studies among historians. One theory is that the kingdom was established around present-day Jambi on Sumatra, Indonesia, approximately 300 km north of Palembang. According to this theory, it was founded by ethnic groups in the Batanghari river area and gold traders from the Minangkabau hinterland of Pagarruyung. There are different proposals for the origin of the word Melayu ('Malay'). One theory suggests that it is derived from the Javanese terms melayu or mlayu (to steadily accelerate or to run), to describe the strong current of a river in Sumatra that today bears the name Sungai Melayu ('Melayu river') which is the right branch going upriver of Batang Hari whose watershed reaches Pagarruyung. The name was later possibly adopted by the Melayu Kingdom, as it is common for people in the region to be known by the name of the river on which they settled. Another theory holds that it originated from the Tamil words Malai and ur meaning "mountain" and "city, land", respectively. It could possibly referred to Barisan Mountains, the mountain range in Sumatra. An early literary appearance where the word "Malayadvipa", which means "mountainous island", is described in chapter 48, Vayu Purana as one of the provinces in the eastern sea that was full of gold and silver. Some scholars equate the term with Sumatra, but several Indian scholars believe the term may refer to the peninsula, while Sumatra is more correctly associated with Suvarnadvipa (an ancient name referred to Sumatra) which means "The Gold Land" and the Barisan Mountains which is the mountainous range scattered from north to the south Sumatra hemisphere.