The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

262 REVIEW ARTICLES
in Kedah, and also in Palembang, whither they had similarly
emigrated. This event seems to have marked the beginning of the
coming of Islam in the archipelago."
The equation San-Fu-Chi=Srivijaya=Palembang is not correct. In
671 the Chinese monk !-Ching was at Chele-foche which was Sri Vijaya,
which in turn was Chaiya on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. At
that time Chaiya was Buddhist, with a thousand monks. Between 683-
6 the king of Sri Vijaya set up inscriptions at Palembang, Djambi, Bangka
and South Lampung. The king was Buddhist, though the archaeological
remains still extant in South Sumatra consist of only a large stone image,
a few small stupas and some unbaked votive stupas. San-Fu-Chi seems
to be a mistake because the Chinese used Chele-foche in this period.
But if Attas is right, then San-Fu-Chi would be somewhere on the
Peninsula and not Palembang because at that time Sri Vijaya had not
conquered South Sumatra. This place might have been Patani, Saiburi,
Kelanton or even Trengganu though Trengganu was not a Naksat City.
The present province of Patani seems unlikely even if the people. there
have a tradition that Islam first came to their province. There was an
older site nearby called Yarang with ancient Hindu remains. This
might have been the Langasuka of Malay folklore (see below). A more
probable site was Kelanton which I have equated with Marco Polo's
Samara, though of course the four cities mentioned above, as well as the
province of Yala, might have comprised a single kingdom of Patani.
Kalab was the Arabs' name for Kedah (the Indians' Kidaram and
Kadaram). Again the ancient remains of Kedah are Hindu and Buddhist,
but this might have been another kingdom that included Perlis and Satul.
The main point is, if we accept the above evidence, by the 9th century
A.D., there were Moslem settlements on both coasts of the Peninsula.
Meanwhile to continue with Attas• records:
"There is evidence of Muslim settlement in the Phan-rang
region in south Champa in Cambodia in M.E. 431/1039 A.D. or
earlier. The Leran inscription near Gresik in east Java dated M.B.
475/1082 A.D. indicated earlier Muslim presence in the region.
· "According to the Achehnese (Malay) chronicles, Islam was
introduced into the northern tip of Sumatra sometime around M.E.