ofthe SAME TREE

tices. The founder underwent a ceremony known as siddhiyatra, a voyage or
a pilgrimage from which one returns endowed with magical powers. Coedès
cites the following phrases from the Kedukan Bukit inscription as evidence
that a new dynasty was being founded: “His Majesty boarded a ship to go in
search of magic powers” and “Sriwijaya, endowed with magic powers.” The
discovery of the inscription at the foot of Bukit Siguntang, the sacred hill of
the Sriwijaya rulers, reinforces Coedès’ argument that the dynasty was following
the well-documented practice of “kings of the mountain” in Southeast
Asia. 18 A new reading of the inscription in 1986 by Boechari suggests that an
army had left “Binanga,” conquered the enemy at the site where the inscription
was found, and there established a new center that became Sriwijaya. 19
This interpretation has not found wide acceptance, but the Kedukan Bukit
inscription itself demonstrates that communities were competing with one
another in response to the new economic opportunities presented by direct
Chinese involvement in the maritime trade to Southeast Asia.
The Sabokingking (Telaga Batu) inscription, whose twenty-eight lines
makes it the longest of all the extant Sriwijayan inscriptions, begins with a
curse against a number of individuals, ranging from princes to shippers and
“washermen” of the ruler. The list is not comprehensive, and the occupations
are those that could pose a danger to the ruler: princes who could lead
rebellions in the realm, shippers who could be subject to foreign influence,
or washermen who had access to the ruler’s person. In order to assure their
loyalty, the oath was administered in a ceremony involving the drinking of
the water that had been poured over the inscription containing the imprecation.
There is also a reference to the use of military force. Five inscribed stone
fragments dating from the late seventh and early eighth centuries recount
victories in battles and the shedding of much blood. Such force was necessary
against the elite groups who may have been less intimidated than the commoners
by sacred oaths. 20
The location of the inscriptions at Karang Brahi in the upper Batang
Hari, Kota Kapur in the southwest corner of Bangka, Palas Pasemah in southern
Lampung, and Ligor in the vicinity of Nakhon Sithammarat in southern
Thailand is important. It suggests that they were placed carefully at strategic
crossroads. The upper Batang Hari was one of the major interior trading
centers, where goods from the Minangkabau highlands could be traded
for external goods going upriver. The headlands of the Musi, the major river
in Palembang, do not link up with the Minangkabau highlands, unlike the
upper Batang Hari River in Jambi. For this reason Karang Brahi may have
been essential for the protection of the land route between Palembang-
Jambi and the Minangkabau highlands. Kota Kapur was ideally placed on the
Bangka Straits where it could monitor ships moving between Palembang and
Emergence of Malayu 55