TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE KHALIFAH

Islamic Studies (Islamabad) 2:1 (1963)
TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA
TO THE KHALIFAH
A STUDY IN THE EARLY HlSTORY OF ISLAE4 IN THE EAST
S. Q. FATIMI
I
Al-Jahiz, 'Amr b. Bahr (1631783-2551869). has devoted a long
and entertaining chapter on elephants in his magnificent work, Kit&
al-uavawiin, in which we come across the following quotation :-
: Jb- a Ul*, 3 &!I ">i+ dl 3 ~ * 3 5 ;dl (j
: G) '*ell & 64 6 L 5 ( 4 ~ ~ A!) 4 & jlu i)& 3 j C?
("Al-Hayham b. 'Adi has narrated from Aba Ya'qab al-mqafi,
he from 'Abd al-Malik b. 'Umayr that he (the last-mentioned) saw
in the secretariat (diwcin) of Mu1%wiyah (after his death) a letter
from the king of al-Sin, (in which it was written : "From the
King of al-$in), in whose stables are a thousand elephants, (and)
whose palace is built of bricks of gold and silver, who is served by
a thousand daughters of the kings, and who possesses two rivers
which irrigate aloes plants, to Mulawiyah . . .").
Al-Hay&am b. 'Adi (1141732-3-2071822-3), who has been
quoted by al-J~hiz, was one of the founders of the science of
historiography in Islam. He is reported to have written as many as
fifty books on the history, genealogies, biographies and folklore of
tbe Arabs, and on the topography of their new settlements. One
of the titles: Kitab aLTaii& 'aln al-Sinin (A Book of History
according to Years) seems to suggest that he was the first annalist
among the Muslims. Unfortunately none of his works seems to have
sumived, but some of their extracts have been preserved in tbe
famous histories of al-Balaauri, al-Tabari and othem2
Not much is known about Aba Ya'qilb (Ishaq b. Ibrihirn) &
- Thaqafi (al-Kufi), the second link in the chain of transmission 4 -

isniid) of the above story. But he is well-recognised as a reliable
rawT (transmitter of traditions), whose authority has been accepted
by Abil Dswiid, al-Tirmihi, and al-Nasa'i, compilers of three out
of the six Canonical Collecticns of tradition^.^ The original
narrator of this report, 'Abd al-Malik b. 'Umayr (33!653-4-1361753-
4). was one of the learned luminaries, an imam, of the Umayyad
reign and was envied for his prodigious mem~ry.~
Thus, there appears to be no reason to doubt the credentials of
the narrators of this interesting report. What a pity that al-J%hi?;
has cut his quotation short at the crucial point ! Of course, in the
context of his discussions the only relevant portion of this historic
letter was the claim of its writer to be the owner of stables of a
thousand elephants. But how much more important, from the
historical view-point, was the main body of the epistle that was
sent by the ruler of al-Sin (al-Hind ?) to the Arab Caliph at such
an early date in the history of Islam !
I1
Before we try to identify this ruler it should be borne in
mind that the term 'al-Hind' as used by the Arab writers of
the early mediaeval period signified the region known to Western
writers as the Indian Peninsula and Insular India (Insulinde)
and not the Indian mainland. Arabs knew their Indian neighbours
from the earliest times, but only through their maritime trade.
The busy ports of the fertile, fragrant and rich peninsula
and the archipelago ascribed to India by ancient and mediaeval
writers. had in themselves great attraction for the Arab sailors
and traders, and were at the same time their ports of call
on the traditional eastern trade route extending from the Mediter-
ranean to the South China Sea. After the advent of Islam and the
subsequent political expansion of the Arabs the north-western area
of this sub-continent, which is now West Pakistan, came within the
Arab vortex. but was distinguished by them from the rest of
India as 'al-Sind', Thus their traditional concept of al-Hind. being
the Peninsular and Insular India, was retained even after these
early conquests. The unique first-hand accounts of the strange
experiences of the early Muslim sailors have been collected by the
captain-navigator Buzurg b. &ahrip& (fl. 3421953). Sailors'
stories of Kawlam (Kollam) on the Malabar coast ; Sarandib (Sin-
hdadvipa). i.e. Ceylon ; Lanjab~lils (Nakkavaram). i.e. Nicobar
Islands; Lamuri (Umbri), Fanstir, Siribizah (Sri Vijaya), in

TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE KHALIFAH 123
-
Sumatra, Kalah (Kalang) on the western coast of the Malapan
Peninsula ; and of the legendary Arab El Dorado in the southern
seas, i.e. the islands of al-W%qw~q,-are all narrated under the
title of 'Aja'ib al-Hind Barrihi wa Babrihi wa JazEr'irthi. 'Marvels
of al-Hind : her land, sea. and island^.'^ Mutahhar b. T~hir al-
Maqdisi (died after 3551966) in his Kitiib al-Bad' .wa '2-Ta'rZ&
gives the farthest limits of al-Hind of the early Arab conception, as
("To the east of &Hind are al-Sin (China) and Qahmir
(Chamorris) (i.e. modern Philippines), to the north is al-Sind, to
the south are charred (volcanic ?) and unknown lands and seas, and
to the west are al-Zanj (i.e. the Negro-land). al-Rsnij (lit. 'the
Coconut Islands') Ob and al-Yaman (Yemen)." He appears to be
emphatic on extending the eastern limits of al-Hind right up to the
borders of China for, in another place, he writes,
("As for the torrid zone of al-Hind, it consists of islands and
coastal lands which meet the territory of al-Sin"). But all the
Arab writers are not agreed on this point. Abo Dulaf Mis'ar b.
Muhalhal, who came to the East in 942 A.C. as an emissary of the
Samanid ruler Nasr b. Ahmad to the court of China and whose
memoirs of the voyage have been preserved only in the excerpts
quoted by Yaqiit (57611178-62611229) and al-Qazwini (60511208-
68211283)~ would extend the eastern limit of al-Hind only up to the
Malayan Peninsula for, according to him Kalah was the first of the
cities of al-Hind. on the way from China, whife Multan was the
last8. But most other writers. like Ibn Khurradz&bih (d. circa
280/893), Ibn al-Faqih (fl. 290/903), Ibn Rustah (fl.IIIIXth century),
Yaqiit and ai-~azwini, include Qamiir. or Qim~r, (Khmer, modem
Cambodia) in the region of al-Hind.g Reinaud has perhaps best
summed up this position when he says, "the Arabs extended India
as far as the Java archipelago".1°
The Gangetic Valley, which was the heart of India and the
historic centre of her civilization, was almost a terra incognita for
the Arabs of the period under discussion. They seem to have
hovered around the periphery of the vast Indian world far cen-

124 S. Q. FATIMI
tnriei without penetrating inland for fear of danger to their lives
and wealth. The above-mentioned al-Qazwini. writing at the time
when the Muslim arms had started sweeping across the mainland
of India, has expressed these fears which appear to have persisted
up to his day. Writing about the rich trade of al-Hind he says,
("The traders reach only its coasts, or borders (lit. 'the beginnings*).
Rarely do the people of our country reach its extremities.
because the inhabitants are infidels who kill and plunder.") The
very name of the great river Gangs, after which the valley is named,
rarely occurs in Arab literature before Mahmiid Ghaznawi's invasion
of India in the eleventh century. Among those few who
did not fail to mention it, is al-Mas'ildi, "a man of the tenth
century with a fifteenth-century renaissance mind", who himself
had visited al-Hind in 303/915. and stayed there for some months.
But it appears quite significant that the name of the river in his
writings takes its Greek form ext;t (Janjis) i.e. Ganges, which fact
is an evident pointer to its origin.12 Even al-Idrisi, "the most
distinguished geographer and cattogtapher of the Middle Ages",
writing a century and a half after Mahmad's invasion, appears to be
ignorant about this river which he too calls by its Greek name.
On his map it flows down southwards and passing through the
peninsula (nearer to the western coast) discharges itself into the
sea near Jirb~ttan, not very far from Cape Comorin !Is
Of coutse, after Mahmad's invasion and the subsequent establishment
of the Muslim Empire on the Indian mainland, the situaation
radically changed : the Gangetic Valley and its extension,
Northern India. monopolised Muslims' attention and the Peninsular
and Insular Indias, especially the latter, fell into oblivion. Consequently.
the connotation of the term 'al-Hind' changed and became
the soutce of much confused thinking on the subject.
But that is not the only difficulty that we encounter in the
course of our enquiries on the subject. It is well known that the
Arab historical writers do not take notice of the happenings outside
the confines of the Muslim Empire. Even the activities of their
own co-religionists and compatriots, which, we know from other
sources. were very extensive especially in the field of international

TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE KHALTFAH - 125
commerce, are totally ignored by them. On the other hand, the
Indian, whether he lived in his homeland or colonised in the islands
overseas, cared little about recording history, for the world was to
him an illusion (mayii). But fortunately for these Indian islands,
they had the Chinese as their eastern neighburs. The great
Chinese dynastic histories and Chinese travel accounts contain
valuable bits of information about the history of these islands in
spite of the general disdain of the Chinese for the foreign "bar-
barians". And in the official history of the T'ang dynasty (618-907
A.C.) we get an important clue.
Hsin T'ang Shu (The New T'ang Annals) records that in the
Shang-yiian period, i.e. in 674-5 A.C. Kha-lang14 %f 7% which
was the leading state of Insular India of those days, elected a lady
Si-mo or Sira-maka as its ruler. The country, we are told. was so
peaceful and prosperous under her rule that even things dropped
on the road were not lifted. The contemporary Arab ruler.
who was evidently no other than Mu'swiyah I (411661-61/680),
the founder of not only the Umayyad dynasty but also of the
Muslim navy. heard of this and sent a bag of gold to be laid
within her frontiers. It lay there for three years untouched.
The passersby avoided it like an evil thing. But one day the young
prince, the heir to the throne. accidentally stumbled on it. When
this was reported to the queen she was so angry that she wanted to
kill the prince. Her ministers interceded and then the queen said,
"Your fault lies in your feet, therefore. it will be enough punishment
if thzy are cut off." The ministers interceded again and she was
finally persuaded to have only the toes of the Crown Prince cut
off. According to the Chinese chronicler. when the ruler of the
Arabs heard this he "became afraid" and dared not attack her
country.15
The above story, in spite of its anecdotal character. adds a new
dimension to our conception of the history of Islam and, for that
reason, deserves our keen attention. This writer has discussed it at
some length elsewhere.la For the purposes of the present investiga-
tion the Chinese story raises a number of questions. Was the letter
of the ruler. presumably, of al-Hind in any way connected with
the event recorded in the Chinese chronicles? Probably yes.
But most probably Queen Si-mo or Sira-maka did not write
that letter, because it was from a certain king. Was the writer,
then. in any way related to her? Was he the poor Crown Prince

126 S. Q. FATIMI
who lost his toes, but must have gained his2hrone after the death
of his mother? Or, was he a rival king of one of the neighbouring
Malaysian states who incited the ambitious Caliph to invade Kha-
lang ? Did Mu'gwiyah send those gold-bearing emissaries to make
preliminary reconnaissance of the country? Did he give up the
idea as he was favourably impressed by the justice of the Malaysian
Queen? We do not have satisfactory answers to these
questions. We are just left guessing on these and similar other
points, till the missing portions of the letter are found in some
other writings of al-J~hiz, only a few of the 128 books from whose
facile pen have so far been published.17 And would that the
writings of al-Hayham b. 'Adi himself could be retrieved !
However, the extract from al-Haytham's lost book, notwith-
standing its mutilation, and the Chinese story, in spite of its
anecdotal style, both fit in the pattern of Muslim navigational
activities which even in those early days of Islam extended from
the Mediterranean to the South China Sea.
111
At this stage of our enquiry it is worth recalling that a letter
with a very similar form of address was written by a malik al-amhk
('the king of kings'), i.e. the MahHraja of al-Hind to another
Umayyad Caliph, 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz (991717-1021720). Foau-
nately this letter has fared better. Its main body, too, has been
preserved by Ibn 'Abd Rabbih (2461860-3281940). the Spanish
versatile genius, in his b3ok al-'lqd al-Farid ('The Unique Neck-
lace'), which "contains something on every subject".le In the
chapter on the Royal Epistles Ibn 'Abd Rabbih quotes an earlier
writer, Nu'aym b. Hammsd (d. 2881842-3). as follows :-

TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE KHALBAH - 127
("Nu'aym b. Hammad wrote, 'The King of al-Hind sent a letter
to 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz, which ran as follows : From the King
of Kings, who is the descendant of a thousand kings, whose consort,
too. is the descendant of a thousand kings, in whose stables are
a thousand elephants, and in whose territories are two rivers which
irrigate plants of aloes, odoriferous herbs, nutmeg, and camphor,
whose fragrance spreads to the distance of twelve miles,--to the
King of the Arabs, who does not associate other gods with God. I
have sent to you a gift, which is not much of a gift but (just) a
greetings and I wish that you may send to me someone who might
teach me Islam and instruct me in its Laws [or as in another
version : 'might teach me Islam and explain it to me.']" Peace)!
Nu'aym b. Hamm~d, who is quoted by Ibn 'Abd Rabbih, was
one of the founders of the hadZ&-movement in Islamic literature.
He is reputed to be the first scholar who arranged the Traditions
according to their riiwis (transmitters) and, thus, compiled the first
al-Musnad. He was one of the champions of orthodoxy and died
in prison for refusing to accept the Mu'tazilite (Rationalist)
doctrine that the Qur'an was not the Uncreated Word of God
but was only His created work. The original writings of NuaaYm
b. Hammnd, too, have been lost. As far as our present knowledge
goes, only one of his numerous works, viz, Kit& al-Fitan wa
'2-Maliihim ('On Civil Disorders and Battles'), has been preserved,
and that, too, in an abridged form.20
The above letter has been quoted also by Ibn Taghri-Berdi
(813/14lO -8741 1470) in his excellent work a2-Nu jii m a2-Ziihirah
fZ Muliik Misr wrr 'I-Q~kirah, on the authority of a very reliable
Traditionalist of comparatively later times. Ibn 'As~kir (49911105-
571/1176). In Ibn Tahri-Bzrdi's version there is the interesting
addition of one more sentence in the b3dy of the letter. which is as
follows :-
\+ti &3I 3 GI~~=-!~ 3~~~ ipk~ta LU +AC.~ s 3
("I have sent you a present of musk, amber, incense and
camphor. Please accept it. for I am your brother in Islam.")
This careful historian also helps us in ascertaining the date of
this letter. He records it under the events that took place in the
year of the Hiirah 99, i.e. 717-8 A.C.. Now, 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz
acceded to the Caliphate in $afar (the second month), 99 A.H.,

September-October 717. and. though he acted as the one in a hurry
and, as we shall see later. met with extraordinary success in a
surprisingb short time, yet his missionary activities must have taken
at least some time to become mature; we can, therefore, safely
assume that the letter was written sometime in the later half of
716 A.C.
The above document throws some new light on the history of
the propagation of Islam. To appreciate its significance in this
regard we must briefly recapitulate the well-known facts, as well as
the widely-circulated fiction. concerning this rather controversial
subject.
The phenomenal growth of Muslims' political power in the first
century of their era is generally equated with the spread of Islam
in those dominions. This fallacious presumption has further led to
the myth of Islam being spread by the sword. But the facts of
history seem to tell us an altogether different story.
The Umayyads (41/661-133/750) to whom after the great
'Umar (131634-231644) goes the distinction of spreading the Muslim
empire far and wide. were mainly interested in the Arabianization
rather than the Islamization of their conquered peoples. Under
their rule acceptance of the faith was not sufficient for a non-Arab
to enjoy the privileges of a Muslim citizen. He had to find for him-
self a place in the Muslim society by becoming affiliated as a client
{mawlci) to one of the Arab tribes. Under strong viceroys like
Hajjaj b. Yosuf the derogatory poll-tax (jizyah) was levied on
them, and they were asked to pay heavier land-revenue, &arcij. in
place of the specified tithe. 'udr, that a Muslim had to pay.22 The
question of the administrative necessity and the fiscal wisdom, or
otherwise, of these measures is not relevant to the subject under
discussion. But we must admit that these measures were remark-
ably efficient in achieving the objectives of the Umayyad Caliphs.
The Levant, which was the seat of the Umayyad government and
the source of their support and strength, was fully Arabianized very
early in their reign, but to this day among its constituent states are
Lebanon, with a non-Muslim majority; Syria. Iraq. and Egypt
having powerful non-Muslim minorities, and Palestine, which had a
strong Jewish nucleus that was turned into the Zionist state of

TWO LETTERS PROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE KHAL~AH - 129
It was only during the short reign of 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz
(September-October 717-February 720) that those impediments to
Islamization were removed and the pent-up missionary zeal of the
early Muslims was released. The pious Caliph seemed bent
upon making amends for the shortcomings of his dynasty in as short
a time as possible. The extent and speed of his proselytisation
work is amazing. In the Far West. mass conversion to Islam took
place in the Mag4rib (Morocco, Algeria and Tunis) among the
Berbers. In the North-West, attempts were made to convert the
Byzantine Emperor Leo 111, himself. In the North-East, missions
were sent beyond the Oxus which achieved remarkable success
among the Turks. Remote and isolated Tibztans themselves sent a
deputation asking for Muslim missionaries for their country.24
South-East could not be neglected. The rulers of al-Sind and al-
Hind were invited to accept Islam. The ruler of al-Sind. Jay Siva
(or Jay Sinha, according to Chach N~rnah)?~ son of thefamousD~hir,
who had valiantly fought Muhammad b. Qgsim, accepted this invitation
and so did some other rulers of the East. Reporting this last
incident al-Bal~dhuri (d. 2791892) writes as follows :-
d JG \islbJl j tX-YI J l pap+ c I ~ I JI L;G
+.ti +mi j i2, p& S.;~A j L +L j ~ d L d ,,d,
YHe ('Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz) wrote to the kings inviting them to
accept Islam and owe allegiance (to the Muslim state), on the condi-
tion that they would retain their kingship (over their respective
territories) and would be entitled to all the rights enjoyed by the
Muslims and bound by the obligations that are laid on them. These
kings had already received reports of Caliph 'Umar's good disposi-
tion and of his religion. Jay Siva and other kings, therefore, became
Muslims and took Arab names."]
Al-Baliihuri does not specify who were "the other kings". and
over what countries they ruled. But as he mentions this event in
the context of the Sind campaigns, it has been przsumed that all
"the other kings", too. balonged to the Indus Valley. Fivz years
before 'Umar's accession to the Caliphate, Sind was conquered by
Muhammad b. Qgsim, and Dzhir whose kingdom appears to have
extended up to the borders of Kashmir was killed fighting against
the young Arab general. Therefore, it may be presumed that after

the conquest the Arabs had parcelled out the vast territories among
several local chiefs, and had kept only the central control in their
hands. However, as al-Sind (the Indus Valley, in its broader sense,
almost comprising the territory that is now West Pakistan) and al-
Hind (the rest of the Indian continent including the "Indian" Archipelago)
are geographically contiguous and culturally close to each
other (at the period under discussion the Indian Archipelago was
ruled by the Indian colonisers), they were sometimes confused with
each other in Arabic writings. It may, therefore, be surmised that
when al-Bal%&uri talked of the "other kings" he meant to include
not only the chiefs of the Indus Valley but als3 the remoter eastern
monarchs among whom must be our Malaysian Maharajs, whose
letter was quoted by al-Balii&urils senior contemporary, Nu'aym
b. Hamm~d. But there is another hitch in such a surmise. Ibn al-
Abirz7 (555j1160--630i1233) and Ibn Taghri-BerdiZ8 have recorded
this incident in the same words as those of al-Bal%&uri, but with
the important addition that they have placed it in the year of the
Hijrah 101, while as we already know the Malaysian Maharsjs had
accepted Islam in A.H. 99.
However, the conversion of Jay Siva and other eastern kings as
reported by al-Baldhurl, Ibn al-Athir, and Ibn Ta&ri-Berdi, and
of the Malaysian Maharsija as demonstrated by the document under
discussion, emphasise the thoroughness with which the pious Caliph
pursued his policy of proselytization.
But how is it that the process of Islamization that got started
in South and Southeast Asia so early as at the turn of the first
century of the Hijrah seems to have petered out without leaving any
visible trace behind? It is a complex problem and at the same time
vital for the clear understanding of the history of Islam in the
regions of the Indian Ocean, i.e. Pakistan, India-Bharat. Indonesia
and Malaya. At the moment we can only raise the question and at
the most give very broad hints on the lines of which, we feel.
further investigation can be pursued.
The immediate reason for this setback must be sought in the
reversal of 'Umar's policy by his successxs and their resumption
of their old ways with renewed vigour. In the case of Jay Siva al-
Bal~dhuri and Ibn al-Athir state that during the reign of Hidam
(1051724-1251743). in the year of the Hijrah 107, the local Arab
governor, al-Junayd b. 'Abd al-Rahmzn, betrayed him and broke the
solemn pledges given by 'Umar 11. Jay Siva was disgusted, he

TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE KHALfFAH 131
denounced Islam, fought against al-Junayd and was killed in the.
battle.29 The fate of the other faithful monarchs of the East is not
recorded by any Arab historian. However, their silence is itself
quite eloquent. Neglected and betrayed by their disdainful coreligionists
and isolated and removed from the centres of Islam by
natural factors, they were lost to Islam.
These events clearly show that the propagation of the Faith
cannot be the business of the State. for. it (State) is mainly a
coercive force. it cannot convert the people's mind. 'Umar's short
reign was the exception that proved the general rule.
It is also evident that pr~sel~tization is a hard job demanding
the harnessing of specialised skills, supreme determination, devotion
and dedication to a single mission in life, that of redeeming
a "lost soul". To expect all this from an average soldier or saiIor,
statesman, or salesman, is asking too much from him. It is the work
of a missionary, a muballi&. In the history of Islam there were two
powerful, efficiently organised, and highly successful missionary
movements : the 'Alid da'wah and the Siifi tarZqah. For the mass
conversion to Islam al-Sind and al-Hind had to wait for the maturing
of these movements in their area. In due course of time first
the 'Alid daswah and then the Safi tariqah played their proselytizing
r61e in the whole region of the Indian O ~ean.~
The form of address used in the two letters, which appears to
have evoked the special interest of the Arab writers. is typical of
the epistolary style of the Malaysian monarchs. It reminds us of
the letters written by the powerful rulers of Acheh in North
Sumatra to Queen Elizabeth I and to King James 11. As the power
of these Malaysian kings shrank, the claims made by them in these
introductory parts of their letters grew, till by the nineteenth
century these used to run into several pages ! The verbosity. bom-
bast and pagan exaggeration of these royal letters have been
condemned by the English historian of Sumatra in these, rather
exaggerated, terms, "It is difficult to conceive how any people so far -
advanced in civilization as to be able to mite. could display
such evidence of barbari~m."~~
But in the present case this rather naive epistolary style is
likely to prove helpful to the students of history. Let us, therefore,
have a second look at these letters and try to analyse some of their

characteristics.
(1) The first characteristic that demands our attention is the
remarkable similarity that exists between the forms of address in the
two letters. The few apparent differences, too, can be ascribed to
the Arab copyists of the manuscripts in question rather than to the
original writers of these letters. It appears that some expressions
were left out by the copyists, more so in the mutilated letter that
has reached us through al-Jahi?. There is only one structural
difference: in place of jll fik :!as &dl ('who is served by a
thousand daughters of the kings") of the first letter, we find
& ~1 G:! ('whose consort is the daughter of a thousand
kings') in the second letter. This difference. too. can be traced
back to the copyist. In the Arabic script and u, and .;r! and
I
fib or G:?, are easily interchangeable. Obviously the adjectival
clause as used in the second letter is the more plausible and correct
version.
(2) The title 'malik al-amliik' (the king of kings) used in the
second letter is evidently the translation of the Sanskrit title
mahiiriijti. which figures prominently in the Ligor Inscription of
North Malaya, dated A.C. 775, and which was made famous by the
Arab geographical writers who usually call the Malaysian regions,
Mamlakat al-Maliriij or Jazii'ir al-Mahraj, i.e. the territory or
the islands of the Maharajz. They seem to know the meaning of
the Sanskrit term and would like to show their knowledge of it. For
instance, Ibn Rustah says,-let us quote him a little extensively, for
this statement of the tenth century en~~clopaedist throws some
light on the subject under discussion-,
s
32bj IL.&-&. rd+$ jd & LJ3~lJ~ ~ ~ 3Jb9 3 1
s
("And al-Mahraj means 'the king of kings'. None of the kings of
al-Hind is greater than he, because he rules over (extensive)
islands. None of the kings is reputed to have greater prxperity or
power. or more revenues than he. It is said that the revenues from
the tax on cock-fighting reaches to fifty maunds of gold per day!")
Malik (meaning 'the King') has two plural forms: amliik and
muliik. The former is used in Mah~rajz's letter, which reminds us
of the following hadi& :

TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJAH TO THE KHAL~FAH - 133
("The vilest and most abasing of names for man and the effectual
to bring him into a state of humility and humiliation, in the
estimation of God, is malik al-amliik, "king of kings".) Evidently
this hadith refers to &ahanshah, the title of the Persian Emperors,
which is synonymous with the Sanskrit Maharaja. (Vide Lane's
Lexicon and Ttij aL'Ariis, S.V. and 4).
(3) The Malaysian MahHrfijas took special pride in their stables
of a thousand elephants. This reminds us of the experience of a
modern archaeologist, Dr. F. M. Schnitger, who has done extensive
excavation on the Sumatran sites of the early mediaeval period.
The spirit of al-J~hi? tempts us to quote from Dr. Schnitger's
valuable report at some length. He writes, "The temples of
Muara Takus are probably the graves of royal personages. Malays
say the Hindoo ruler was transformed into an elephant, and for
this reason great herds of elephants regularly visit the ruins to do
homage to the spirit of their departed ancestor. Close to the
temples is a shallow ford, which these elephants cross whenever
they descend from Mount Suligi to the plains. It is remarkable that
since time immemorial the stupa court has been their favourite
playground, where they walk about and disport themselves all
night long by the light of the moon. During the excavations of
April, 1935, we were able to verify this strange phenomenon from
personal experience.
(4) The island of Sumatra and the Malayan Peninsula have
been famous for their gold and silver since antiquity. Ptolemy
and other Greek geographers talk of the Golden Chersonese
in this region, and of Argyre ('the city of silver') in the neighbouring
Yava island. Ramiiyana, ~ahabharata, and KathHsaritsHgara
wax eloquent when they describe the riches of these islands, which
they call Suvarnadwipa (Island of G~ld).~ Arab writers of the
tenth century, Abti Zayd al-Sirsfi (fl. 3031916) and al-Mas'adi tell
us about the "golden bricks", which the Mahsrajg of Zabaj used to
throw every day in the ponds of his palace?'
In view of the above evidence we can say that the Mah~r~j~
was perhaps not exaggerating too much when be boasted of a palace
built of gold and silver bricks.
(5) Aloes, nutmeg, camphor, and other odorifero~ s herbs and
spices are indigenous to Malaysia. Their fragrance spread as far as

134 S. Q. FATIMI
the Iberian Peninsula and attracted the Portuguese and Spanish
adventurers to these distant islands.
(6) The two rivers mentioned in these letters must be the
Jambi and the Musi rivers of Sumatra. On these rivers stood the
c~ties of Jambi and Sri Vijaya (Palembang), which at different times
served as the capitals of the great empire known as Sri Vijaya. and
which are mentioned by the Arab geographers under the names
Jabah and Siribizah, respecti~ely.~"
VI
References in the Chinese dynastic histories, the travel accounts
of the Chinese pilgrims collected by I-Ching. and the stone
inscriptions found at different places in South Sumatra. the
neighbmring island of Bangka and North Malaya-all this evidence
shows that the Sri Vijayan Empire of Sumatra and Malaya was
at the height of its glory and power in the period extending from
the second half of the seventh to the end of the eighth century A.C."
According to I-Ching, who visited this part of the world in 671
A.C., and again in 685, when he stayed here for four years, Sri
Vijaya and Kha-lang were not only great centres of maritime trade,
but were also great seats of learning. He recommended that if a
Chinese pilgrim wished to go to Nalanda (Bihar) to acquire
knowledge, he should first stay at Sri Vijaya for one or two years
and learn the proper rules before proceeding to India. From his
memoirs. it appears that many Chinese pilgrims were already acting
likewise.%
Though the high stage of civilization reached by Sumatra and
Malaya of the seventh and eighth centuries has a bearing on the
composition of the letters under discussion. yet what is of
particular interest to us in the context of our subject, is their
religious life.
The archaeological evidence and the Chinese writings show
that from the first or second up to the beginning of the fifth century
A.C. Hinduism, especially of the Saiva cult, was universally
accepted in these islands, when Hinaygna Buddhism was introduced
here by Gunavarman. By the time I-Ching visited this part of the
world Hinayanism had become the dominant religion here. as is
evidenced by I-Ching's own statement and corroborated by the
inscriptions of the period. In I-Ching's times, i.e. the close of the
seventh century A.C., there were only a few followers of the
Mahaysna. But the great change-over to the Mahayana started

TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE KHAL~FAH - 135
early in the eighth century. when Vajrabodhi, the great South
Indian preacher of this faith, went from Ceylon to China along
with his disciple. Amoghavajra, and on his way stopped for five
months at Sri Vijaya.=@ Thus, Malaysia must be seething with
religious controversy between the Hinayana and the Mahzyiina,
when Islam appeared on the scene. The spirit of religious enquiry
thus germinated by this controversy is eloquently evident in the
letter sent by the Malaysian monarch to 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz.-
and at this stage of our investigations we can safely conclude that
this monarch was no other than the ruler of Sri Vijaya.
This must be the time of intenee activity in Sri Vijaya, not
only in the religious but also in the diplomatic field. In 716 A.C.
an embassy from She-li-fo-she (Sri Vijaya) visited China. We
have seen above that in 718 a letter with gifts of amber. musk and
camphor was sent to the Arab Caliph. In 724 and again in 728
embassies were sent to the Chinese court. The account of the
embassy of 724 is significant for us in more than one way. We are
told that among the presents sent to the Chinese Emperor was a
Ts'eng-ch'i 33 @ (from Arabic Zanji, meaning 'a
~egro')slave-girl." Evidently the Sri Vijayan ruler got this African
slave-girl through his newly found Arab relationship, and the
Arabic word used by the Chinese chronicler is an unmistakable
evidence of this Arab link.
This Chinese chronicler also records the name of the ruler of
Sri Vijaya who sent these precious gifts. He is called She-li-t'o-lo-
pa-mo (Srindra~arman).~' Does it mean that in 724 A.C. the Sri
Vijayan MahBrizjzi had already renounced Islam like his contem-
porary RBja of Sind ? This is not at all improbable. It is
well-known to the students of Southeast Asian history that during
the second half of the eighth century A.C. Mah~yZna Buddhism
swept through the length and breadth of Malaysia. It found its
most beautiful expression in the blossoming-forth of the Javanese
art during the period between 760 and 820 A.C., which culminated
in the building of the magnificent vihiira of Borobudur. Where
Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra, and a host of other monks coming from
Nalanda and other centres of Mahayana Buddhism in India,
succeeded. Islam's case went by default.
VII
Al-Haybam b. 'Adi's report of a letter sent by a monarch of

Insular India to. Mu'zwiyah (411661-611680). and Hsin T'ang
Shu's story of the Arab ruler's intention (in about 674 A.C.)
of invading Kha-lang. an important state in Nan-yang (South Seas),
show the farthest extent of Muslim political ambitions and
diplomatic activities in the first century of the Hijrah. They also
demonstrate the strength of their newly formed navy. The
resx,~nding victories won by their Mediterranean-based western
fleet against the mightiest naval power of those times is not
unknown.@The above two reports coming from two opposite
directions give us a glimpse of their hitherto elusive eastern fleet,
which must have been based in their home-waters of the Red Sea
and the Persian Gulf.
But the spread of Islam was not at all concomitant with the
expansion of Arabs' political power and the growth of their armed
strength. The apostasy of Rslja Jay Siva (or Jay Sinha) of Sind, in
10717%. and the apparent failure of the attempt made by MahSrsljB
Srindravarman. in 991718. to spread Islam in his fabulously rich
dominions of Sri Vijaya. show the weakness of Muslim missionary
activities.
The two letters, in spite of their gross inadequacies. tell us
quite a bit about the early history of the Muslims-their victories
as well as their failures. The present study of these two letters is
still more inadequate. But it is hoped that these very shortcomings
will arouse enough interest among the scholars of Islam, and of
Southeast Asia, to pull the history of Islam in the East out of the
quagmire of insolent indifference. Up till now Islamic history has
meant the history of Muslim kings building empires over the
territories west of the Bay of Bengal. The meeker Muslims living
east of this tempestuous bay, numbering more than one-third of the
total Muslim population of the world. and having the proud
possession of such lands as the eastern wing of Pakistan, the
Malayan Peninsula and the Indonesian Archipelago, which are
destined to play increasingly important r61e in the world of to-
morrow, are up till now forgotten by the historian and sxiologist of
Islam, and forsaken. This lop-sided view of Islamic history (and
sociolog~) has lasted too long. It has to come to an end. The
sooner it comes the better it will be.

LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE - KHAL~FAH 13?
NOTES
1. Al-Jahi?. Kitiib al-Hayariin. ed. 'Abd al-Salam M$ammad HarJn. VII:
113 (Cairo, 1344-1358 A.H.). The text has 4 1 (al-Sin) instead of 41
(al-Hind). which is obviously the copyist's mistake. See Section V of this
paper for further arguments on the subjzct.
2. Ibn al-Nadim. Kitiib al-Fihrist. 145. (Cairo. 1348 A.H ); Yaqiit. Ir&d al-Arfb
ilii Ma'rifat al-Adib, ed. D. S. Margoliouth. VII ; 261-266 (Gibb Memorial
Series, VII, 1926) : Ibn Qallikan. Wafayzt al-A'yiin, ed. Muhammad Muhy
al-Din 'Abd al-Hamid. V : 357-165. (Cairo. 1948) : Rosenthal. F.. A History
of Muslim Historiography. 62-64. (Leyden. 1952) ; 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Dtiri.
BahJ fi Naaah 'Ilm al-Ta'ri& 'rnd al-'Arab. 42. (Beirbt. 1960).
3. Al-Dijlsbi. Muhammad b. Ahmad. Kitcib al.Kunii wa 'I-Asmii'. 11. 158.
(Hyderabad. 1322 A.H.) : Ibn Hajar. Tahaib al-Tahaib, I : 221-222.
(Hyderbad, 1325 A.H.).
4 Ibn Sa'd. al-Tabaqiit al-Kubrii. V1: 315-316. (Beirut. 1957) ; al-mahabi,
Ta&hirat al- HuffZ?;. I : 135. (Hyderabad. 1955).
5. Kitiib 'Ajii'ib al-Hind. Livre des merveilles de 1 'Inde par le capitaine Bozorg bin
Sahriyar de Ramhormoz, trads. Marcel Devic. Arabic text ed. P.A. van der
Lith, (Leyden. 1883-86).
6. Al-Maqdisi. Kitiib al-Bad' wa 'I-Ta'ri&, ed. M. C1. Huart, IV : 63, (Paris.
1907).
(a) Qa&mir, or Quhmir, or Qishmir &.i should not be confused with im
homonym. Ka&mir (also written as Qa&mir in Arab geographical
literature), the famous valley in the Himalayas. In the present context
it appears to be a metathesis of Chamorris or Kamor~is. which was the
title of the ancient chiefs of the Philippine Islands. (vide Pigafetta's
Memoirs in A Htstory of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean.
by James Burney. 111: 281. London. 1803). Hamd Allah Mustawfi
describing the WBqwHq islands says. .is(_); & IJ L 3T J.&JQ
(The king of that country is known by the name of Kahmir). Nuzhat
al-QulZb, ed. and trans. G. Le Strange. 222, 229. GMS XXIII. I and I&
1915 and 1919. The identification of al-Waqweq. the Arab El Dorado.
needs a thorough research ; and the present writer will shortly publish the
resuits of his own investigations on this vexed question However, it can
be safely surmised here that the Philippine Islands formed a part of this
Arab El Dorado. In a long list of royal titles Ibn fiurrad~abih (op. cit..
18) has one Qa&miran &ah o k dl&-, which is probably the same
Kamorris. Al-Dimahqi has a statement in his valuable book on Cosmo-
graphy. Kitiib Nu&bat al-Dahr fi 'A jii'ab abBaw wa'l-Bahrz. (ed. M. Fraehn
and M. A. F. Mehren. Leipzig. 1923 ; French translation by M. A. F.
Mehren. Copenhagen. 1874), which can help us in identifying this
toponym with a certain degree of certitude. Among "the remoter islands
of the Southern Encircling Ocean h+dl A, lying beyond the
equator rl+)'l h; 3 &I l.i&l&4", he includes "the island of

al-Qahmir" d J 1 i$;t. (p. 149). which puts it quite unmistakably
in the region of the modem Philippine Islands.
(b) ALRiinij is an Arabic loan-word meaning 'coconut', and the term
probably refers to Coca Islands in the Indian Ocean, vide al-Mas'lidi.
MuGj al-aahab, les prairies d'or, ed. and trads. C. Barbier de Meynard
and Pavet de Courteille. I : 338. (Paris. 1861). also. al-Jaweliqi.
al-Mu'awab. 162. Cairo. 1361 AH.. and Tiij al-'AYES, S.V. $,.
7. Al-Maqdisi. op. cit.. 62.
8. Yaqfit. Mu'jam al-Bulhn. ed. Muhammad Amin al-Banji, V : 415 and 418
(Cairo, 1906) : al-Qazwini, Xt&ir al-Biliid wa Ak&iir al-'Zbiid, 105 and 121,
(Beirut. 1960).
9. Ibn aurradafibih, Kitiib al-Masiilik wa '1-Mamiilik, ed. and trans. M.J. de
Goeje. 67. (Bibliotheca geographorum arabicorum. henceforth B.G.A.. VI.
Leyden, 1819) : Ibn al-Faqih, Mu@t+ar Kitiib al-Buldiin ed M.J. de Goeje.
15 and 16. (B.G.A.. V. Leyden. 1885) ; Ibn Rustah, al-A'liiq al-Naffiah, ed.
M.J. de Goeje, 132. (B.G.A.. VII. Leyden. 1892) ; Yaqat, Mu'jam. op. cit.,
VII : 258 ; al-Qazwins. op. cit.. 105. For more references on the Arab Qimir
(Khmer) see Ferrand. G.. Relations de voyages et textes relatif d 1 'E~trZme-
Orient. 2 vols.. Index. (Paris. 1913-14).
10. Reinaud. J.T.. La gzographie d' Aboulfeda. Introduction. cccxxxi. (Paris. 1820).
11. 81-Qazwini, op. tit.. 127.
12. Al-Mas'iidi, op. cit . I ; 204 and 214.
13. Al-Idrisi. WM al-Hind wa mii yujiiwiruhii min al-Biliid. extracts from Kitiib
Nuzhat al-Mu&tiiq. ed. and trans. S.Maqbu1 Ahmad, 68 and 69 (Text). 65
and 66 (Trans.). and 91 (Commentary). (Aligarh. 1954 and Leiden 1960).
14. This is the Annamese pronunciation of the Chinese characters. Their Amoy
pronunciation is Ka-ling. while the Pekinese is Ho-ling. For the transcription
of the earlier Southeast Asian toponyms the Annamese pronunciation is more
acceptable. vide Gerini. G.E.. Researches on Ptolemy's Geography of Eastern
Asia. 461. and 472. note I. (London. 1909).
15. Hsin T'ang Shu, Chap. 222, folio 3b ; Groenveldt, W.P,, Notes on the Malay
Archipelago and Malacca, in Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Indo-China. ed.
E. Rost. Second Series. I: 139-140. (London. 1887) ; Pelliot. P.. 'Deux
itinbraires de chine en inde a la fin du VIlIe siCcle', in Bullentin de I'Ecole
Francaise d' ExtrZme-Orient. Hanoi, (henceforth B.E. F.E. 0.). Vol. IV, 1904.
p. 297 ; Ferrand. G., 'L' empire sumatranais de Crivijaya'. in Journal Asiatique.
Paris. Series 11, Vol. XX, 1922. pp, 37-38.
- -
I6 'Mu'~wiyah's Attempt at the Invasion of Malaya'. a paper read at the Twelfth
Pakistan History Conference. Dacca. East Pakistan. February. 1962.
17. YaqUt. Ir&iid. op. cit.. VI : 75-78 : Aba '1-Mu~affar YOsuf Qiz-O&li alias
Sib$ Ibn al-Jawzi wrote in his Mir'Et al-Zam7in that a1-Jabi~ compiled as
many as 370 books most of which Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi himself read at the
mausoleum of Imam Abii Hanifah (quoted by 'Abd al-Sal~m Muhammad HBrh
in his Introduction to KitTib al-Hayawiin, op. tit.. pp. 5-6).
18. Ibn Qallikan, op. cit.. I : 92 ; Nicholson, R.A.. A Literary History of the Arabs,
347. (London, 1923).

TWO LETTERS FROM THE MAHARAJA TO THE - KHALEAH 139
19. Ibn 'Abd Rabbih. al-'Iqd al-Fartd. ed. Ahmad Amin, Abmad al-Zayn and
Ibrahim al- Abyari. I1 : 202 ; I11 : 404-405. which has a shortened version,
(Cairo. 1940).
20. Ibn Hajar. op. cit.. X : 458-63 aa@b al-Ba&didi. Ta'rfa &&dad.
XI11 : 306-314. (Cairo. 1931) ; Hajji bllfah. Ka&f al-Zuniln. I1 : 1445,
(Istambol. 1360-1361 A.H.) ; Brocklemann. C.. Geschichte der Arabisckn
Litteatur. Supplement. I1 : 929. (Leyden. 1938).
21. Ibn Taghri-Berdi. al-Nuj-m al-Z~hirah fi Mullk Mip wa 'I-QZhirah. I: 240.
(Cairo. 1929).
22. Wellhausen's history of the Umayyad reign has become a classic on
the subject (English translation : The Arab Kingdom and Its Fall. by Margret
Graham Weir. Calcutta University Publication. 1927). The very title of the
book speaks for this eminent Onentalist's conclusions. On the impact
of this Arabist policy on the Arabic literature and the Muslim society
Goldziher made a pioneering study (Muhammedanische Studien. 1 : 101-146,
Halle. 1888). This study has been brought up-to-date by Mubmmad
al-Tayyib al-Najjar. al-Mawali fi 'I-'A2r al-Umawi, Cairo. 1949, and Ahmad
Amin. Du&i 'I-Islam. 1 : 18-80, (Cairo. 1956).
23. Hazard. H. W.. Atlas of Islamic History. (Princeton University Press. 1951).
has the following figures :- Lebanon : Sunni Muslims. 21% ai'ah Muslims.
18% ; Syria: Sunni Muslims. 67%. ai'ah Muslims. 13%; Iraq : Sunni
Muslims. 36%. ayah Muslims. 57% : Egypt : Muslims. 92% : Jerusalem :
Muslims. 40%, Israel : Muslims, 7%. (Cf. Iran : Sunni Muslims, 5%. &i'ah .
Mudims. 93% : Turkey; Muslims. 98% : Afghanistan : Sunni Muslims, 90%.
&'ah Muslims. 9% ; and Indonesia. Muslims. go%.)
The history of Islam in the Pakistan-India sub-continent does not present
a very dissimilar picture. It appears that the farther a region was removed from
the centre of Muslim imperial power the more chances Islam had to spread
its message. Consequently, we now find that after more than six centuriee of
Muslim rule over Delhi and more than thirteen centuries of Arab contacts
with the Indian Peninsula. Muslim homeland had to be found in the outer and
far-flung wings of the sub-continent. These facts need a cool-headed and
dispassionate analysis. I
24. For the removal of impediments to Islamization: Ibn Sa'd. op. cit.. V; 345, 350,
and 384; Ibn al-Jawzi. Sirat 'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz. 99. (Maktabat al-Manure
Cairo. n.d.1; Abti YBsuf Kitab al-=r~j. 75, (Bul~q. 1302 A.H.). For
Maghrib - : al-Bal@ud. Futiib al-Buldiin. ed. M.J. de Goeje. 231. (Leyden,
1866). For Byzantine Emperor : Arnold, Sir Thomas, The Preaching of Islarn.4
83, (Lahore.). For Transoxiana : al-BalHaur?, op. cit . 426. For Tibet ;
al-Ya'qnbi. T5'riM 11 : 306. (Beirut, 1960).
25. Ibn al-Aair. Ta'rifi aLKEmil. V: 54. (Cairo. 1290 A.H.) ; al-Bala&uri.
op. cit., 441. In these Arabic texts the Sindhi king's name reads as Jayshibah
++ which the present writer would like to read Jay Siva, for obvious
reasons. But the Persian text of Fatb Niimah-i Sindh, known as Chach
- -
Niimah, which is a translation of an Arabic history of the conquest of Sind
written most probably in the early third century Hijrah, has Jaysiyah &

140 S. Q. FATIMI
(ed. U. M. Deudpota Delhi. 1939). which the present writer would prefer to
read Jay Siaha *. because on p. 234 of the book there is a story how the
king was named after the lion, in Sanskrit 'sinha', which was
bmvcly killed by his father. D~hir.
26. Al-Balu&uri. op. cit.. 441.
27. Ibn al-A&ir. op. tit.. V : 32.
28. Ibn Ta&ri-Berdi, op. cit.. 1 : 243.
29. Al-Bal@uri. op. cit.. 422 : Ibn a1 A&ir, op. cit.. V : 54.
30. The question has been further discussed by the present writer in his book.
Coming of Islam to Malaysia: A Historical Perspective (in Press). Some aspects
of the problem have been discussed in his paper on China's Role in the Spread
of Islam in Southeast Asia, read at the First International Conference of
Southeast Asian Historians. Singapore. January. 1961.
31. Marsden. W., The History of Sumatra. 338. (London, 1811).
32. Ibn Rustah, op. cit.. 137-8. For Ligor Inscription : Coedes, G.. 'Le royaume &
Crivijaya'. B.E.F.E.O.. Vol. XVIII, No. 6. 1918, pp. 29-32. For more
references on the Arab Mamlakat aLMahriij see Ferrand, op. cit.. Index.
33. Schnitger. F.M.. The Archaeology of Hindw Sumatra. 12. (Leyden. 1937).
34. For a detailed bibliography on the subject: Majumdar. R.C., Ancient Indian
Colonies in the Far East. Vol. 11. Suvarnadvipa. Calcutta. 1937.
35. Abti Zayd al-Sirafi. Silsilah al-Tawiiri&. Relations des voyage9 faits par les
arabes et les persans dans Plnde et a la Chine, ed. & trads. J. T. Reinaud. 11: 91,
(Paris, 1845) : al-Mas'Edi, op. cit. I. 175-77. It is interesting to note that
Abii Zayd uses the word s" (taDj) for 'pond', which is the Malay telaga,
B
from the Sanskrit, tatiika.
36. For Jabah and Siribizah: Ferrand, op. cit.. Index.
37. For the history of Sri Vijaya: Nilakanta Sastri, K.A., A History of Sri Vijaya,
Madras. 1949 : Majumdar. R.C.. Suvarnadvipa. op. cit . Coedes. G.. Les dtats
hindouisds d'lndochine et d'lndonesia. Paris. 1948; Schnitger. F. M.. Forgotten
Kingdoms of Sumatra. Leyden, 1939.
38. I-Ching (I-Tsing). A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in lndia and
the Malay Archipelago (A .D. 671-695). trans. J. Takakusu. xxxiv. (Oxford.
1896): Ibid.. Mdmoire composd ci l'dpogue' de grande dynastie T'ang sur les
religieux eminents gui allirent chercher la loi dans les pays d'omident, trads. E.
Chavannes, 60.63. 159.182 and 187. (Paris. 1894).
39. For Gunavarman story: Pelliot, op. n't.. 274-75: For I-Ching: see the preceding
note. For Vajrabodhi: Pelliot, op. tit ,336. and Sylvain Levi. 'Les missions
de Wang Hiuen-ts'e dans I'Inde'. Journal Asiatigue. Series IX. Vol. XV.
1900, p. 421. For a general discussion and bibliography: Majumdar, op. dt..
138-44.
40. Pelliot. op.. cit. 334-35.
41. Ibid.
42. Al-Bal~_dri. op. cit.. 235-36 : al-Tabari, Ta'ria al-Umam wa'l-Muliik. V :
68-70, (Cairo, firat edition, n.d.); Ibn al-Aeir, op. cit., 111: 48-49.