Bujang Valley
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The Bujang Valley or Lembah Bujang is a sprawling historical complex and has an area of approximately 224 square km. Situated near Merbok, Kedah, between Gunung Jerai in the north and Sungai Muda in the south, it is the richest archaeological area in Malaysia.
Archaeological research indicates that there was an old Hindu-Buddhist empire built here. The name itself is roughly translated into "Dragon Valley". The area consists of ruins that may date more than 1,500 years old. More than fifty ancient tomb temples, called candi, have also been unearthed, many of which were built during the Bujang Valley civilization's heyday. The most impressive and well-preserved of these is located in Pengkalan Bayang Merbok. The Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum is also located here.
Research also indicates that an ancient Hindu-Buddhist kingdom ruled here as early as 300 CE. Relics found at the site are now on display at the archaeological museum. Items include inscribed stone caskets and tablets, metal tools and ornaments, ceramics, pottery, and Hindu icons.
Presently, the Archaeological museum only has old and incomplete displays. Most of the treasures from the dig and also other chandi locations are unknown because of the systematic act of the authorities to hide the original history of the area and Kedah. Local authorities has since claimed that the valley and the Chandi are build by local aborigines before the advent of Islam. There has been rumors that most of the items from the dig are place in vaults elsewhere because of the importance of the finds. There are indication that many rare and magical items such as the giant throne chair of Raja Bersiung (about 10 feet in height) was also found and located somewhere. Inscription from India and ancient stories says many more treasures lay hidden in the deep jungles of Kedah and Gunung Jerai. There were stories of giant Hindu temples, golden chariots and vast cave systems protected by the supernatural.
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[edit] History
Early contact between the kingdoms of Tamilakkam and the Malay peninsula had been very close during the regimes of the Pallava Kings (from the 4th to the 9th Century C.E.) and Chola kings (from the 9th to the 13th Century C.E.). The trade relations the Tamil merchants had with the ports of Malaya led to the emergence of Indianized kingdoms like Kadaram (Old Kedah) and Langkasugam.[1] Furthermore, Chola king Rajendra Chola I sent an expedition to Kadaram (Sri Vijaya) during the 11th century conquering that country on behalf of one of its rulers who sought his protection and to have established him on the throne. The Cholas had a powerful merchant and naval fleet in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Three kinds of craft are distinguished by the author of the Periplus – light coasting boats for local traffic, larger vessels of a more complicated structure and greater carrying capacity, and lastly the big ocean-going vessels that made the voyages to Malaya, Sumatra, and the Ganges.[2]
[edit] Kedah Inscription
In ancient Kedah there is an important and unmistakably Hindu settlement which has been known for about a century now from the discoveries reported by Col. Low and has recently been subjected to a fairly exhaustive investigation by Dr. Quaritch Wales. Dr. Wales investigated no fewer than thirty sites round about Kedah. The results attained show that this site was in continuous occupation by people who came under strong South Indian influences, Buddhist and Hindu, for centuries.[3]
An inscribed stone bar, rectangular in shape, bears the ye-dharmma formula in South Indian characters of the fourth century A.D., thus proclaiming the Budhist character of the shrine near the find-spot (site I) of which only the basement survives. It is inscribed on three faces in Pallava script, or Vatteluttu rounded writing of the sixth century A.D., possibly earlier.[3]
In Kedah an inscription in Sanskrit dated 1086 A.D. has been found. This was left by Kulothunka Cholan I (of the Chola empire, Tamil country). This too shows the commercial contacts the Chola Empire had with Malaya.[4]
[edit] Kedah in Tanjore inscription
In the ancient city of Tanjore in Tamil Nadu are inscriptions dating from 1030 A.D. which mentions the victory of Rajendra Cholan I over the Southeastern countries. The following are the places of Rajendran conquered:[4]
- Kadaram (Kedah)
- Sri Vijaya (Palembang)
- Malaiyur (the Malayu of the 7th century, i.e. jami)
- Mayuradingan (the Je-lo-ting of the Chinese on the Malay Peninsula)
- Ilangosagam (Langkasuka)
- Mappapalam, (Papphaal, placed by the Sinhalese chronicle Mahavamsa on the coast of Pegu)
- Mevilimbangan (identified with Karmaranga or Kamalanka on the isthmus of Ligor)
- Valaippanaduru (Pandurang, in Cahampa)
- Talaittakkolam (Takkola of Ptolemy and the Milindapandha, On the isthmus of Kra)
- Madalingam (Tambralingga, Chinese Tan-ma-ling, of which The center was at Ligor)
- Ilamuridesam (Lamuri of the Arabs, Lambri of Marco Polo At northern Sumatra)
[edit] References
- ^ International Tamil Language Foundation (2000). The Handbook of Tamil Culture and Heritage. Chicago: International Tamil Language Foundation, p. 877.
- ^ Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta [1935] (2000). Cholas, fifth printing, Chennai: University of Madras, pp. 86 & 318.
- ^ a b Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (1949). South Indian Influences in the Far East. Bombay: Hind Kitabs Ltd., p. 82 & 84.
- ^ a b Arokiaswamy, Celine W.M. (2000). Tamil Influences in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, p. 41.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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