Srivijaya’s Core Centre

Record summary

Srivijaya was a major Buddhist-linked maritime polity known from Chinese records, inscriptions, and archaeological remains across Sumatra and the Malay world. Palembang is a leading candidate for its core centre, supported by inscriptions and settlement evidence, but scholars debate whether the polity had a single fixed capital, a shifting riverine court, or a network of ports and ritual centres. The issue matters for comparing early Southeast Asian state formation and maritime power. Verification should integrate epigraphy, Chinese travel accounts, ceramics, settlement archaeology, and environmental change.