Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa () was the first

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

(Emperor) of

Srivijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...

and thought to be the dynastic founder of

Kadatuan ''Kedatuan'' (ancient or Sundanese spelling: ''kadatuan''; Javanese romanization: ''kedaton'') were historical semi-independent city-states or principalities throughout ancient Maritime Southeast Asia in present-day Indonesia, Malaysia, and the ...

Srivijaya. His name was mentioned in the series of Srivijayan inscriptions dated from late 7th century CE dubbed as the "Siddhayatra inscriptions", describing his sacred journey to acquire blessings and also to conquer neighboring areas. He reigned around the turn of late 7th century to early 8th century, more precisely in the period between 671 and 702 CE.

Biography

Yijing The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...

'', a Chinese Buddhist monk who visited Srivijaya and stayed for 6 months in 671, was impressed by the generosity, kindness and hospitality demonstrated by the king of Srivijaya. The king mentioned in Yijing's report was later linked to the king mentioned in the oldest Srivijayan inscription (dated 682 CE), the

Kedukan Bukit inscription The Kedukan Bukit inscription is an inscription discovered by the Dutchman C.J. Batenburg on 29 November 1920 at Kedukan Bukit, South Sumatra, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), on the banks of Tatang River, a tributary of Musi River. It is the ...

discovered in

Palembang Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...

. However, later historians discount the interpretation of the inscriptions as being connected to the account by Yijing.Marwati Djoened Poesponegoro, Nugroho Notosusanto, (1992), ''Sejarah nasional Indonesia: Jaman kuna'', PT Balai Pustaka, The

dated 605 saka (683 CE), mentioned a king titled ''Dapunta Hyang'' who performed a ''Siddhayatra'' (sacred journey) by the boat. He departed from Minanga Tamwan accompanied with 20,000 soldiers heading to Matajap and conquering several areas. Other inscriptions tell of the Siddhayatra journey and Srivijayan conquests on surrounding areas, such as Kota Kapur discovered in Bangka island (686 CE), Karang Brahi discovered in

Jambi Jambi is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the east coast of central Sumatra and spans to the Barisan Mountains in the west. Its capital and largest city is Jambi. The province has a land area of 50,160.05 km2, and a sea area of 3 ...

Hulu (686 CE) and Palas Pasemah discovered in southern

Lampung Lampung ( Lampung: ), officially the Province of Lampung ( id, Provinsi Lampung) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It has a short border with the province of Bengkulu to the northwest, and a ...

, all mentions the same event. From all of these inscriptions, it was concluded that ''Dapunta Hyang'' established the Srivijayan empire after defeating his enemies in Jambi, Palembang, Southern Lampung and Bangka island, and he even went further to launch a military campaign against Bhumi Java that probably contributed to the decline of the

Tarumanagara Tarumanagara or Taruma Kingdom or just Taruma is an early Sundanese Indianised kingdom, located in western Java, whose 5th-century ruler, Purnawarman, produced the earliest known inscriptions in Java, which are estimated to date from aro ...

kingdom in West Java.

References

{{reflist Srivijaya Indonesian Buddhist monarchs 7th-century monarchs in Asia 8th-century Indonesian people 7th-century Indonesian people