The mystery of an ancient Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in Malay Peninsula

Few traces exist in contemporary Malaysia of its Hindu and Buddhist past. Unlike its fellow Muslim-majority neighbour Indonesia, which is home to some of the grandest structures of Indic religions such as the Borobudur and Prambhanan temples, peninsular Malaysia has modest archaeological remains of great kingdoms of yore. But there is still a place where that past can be found: literature. The Kedah Annals, a Malay literary work that gives a romantic account of the history of the Malay kingdom of Kedah, mentions the Langkasuka Hindu-Buddhist kingdom which is believed to have been founded between the first and third century.

“Langkasuka, according to the Kedah Annals, was the name by which the ancient settlement by the Kedah Peak in Kedah was known,” WA Linehan, an English civil servant and scholar, wrote in the April 1948 edition of the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Kedah at that time was home to settlements of traders from India. Historians suggest the kingdom was located near Pattani, which is now in southern Thailand, and at its peak, it likely covered a vast area in modern-day Malaysia and Thailand.

The name Langkasuka is, without doubt, Sanskrit in origin and means “blissful resplendent land”. One theory suggests the kingdom was originally named Lanka Asoka (after Indian Emperor Ashoka) and the name was corrupted later. However, the great Indian historian KA Nilakanta Sastri once said he knew of “no evidence, literary or epigraphical,” connecting Ashoka with Malaya.

According to the Kedah Annals, the kingdom was founded by Raja Marong Mahawangsa, a warrior prince who sailed east from India. The Annals depicts the foundation of the kingdom in a way that was meant to flatter the royalty. It narrates the episode of Raja Marong Mahawangsa sailing to an island off the western coast of the Malay Peninsula and being greeted by indigenous inhabitants referred to as the “Kaum Gergasi,” which literally means the ogre people. On reaching the island, Raja Mahawangsa greeted the Gergasi in a pleasant voice and gained their goodwill. “And all the race of the Gergasi stood in awe of Raja Marong Mahawangsa, and were amazed at his bearing which was incomparable at the time, and those who gazed on him stood in fear and trembling,” according to the Annals, which added that the raja only asked for a small bit of land. “And all the tribes of the Gergasi respectfully replied, ‘It will be even a greater pleasure to us, your humble servants, for we have no king here; and so it is better that Your Highness should be pleased to proceed to view the land that should be occupied.’”

Given the lack of written history about the early Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms of the Malay Peninsula, it’s difficult to corroborate this account, which is no doubt steeped in legend.

Chinese records

Langkasuka was a well-established kingdom by the 6th century and began to send maritime missions to southern China from 510 CE, British historian John Guy wrote in his book Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia. Chinese traders and travellers wrote accounts of the Malay kingdom. “The Nan shi (History of the Southern Dynasties, compiled 659) reports that the capital city had walls made of brick and that its multiple gates were crowned by towers and pavilions,” Guy wrote.

The Liangshu (Book of Liang), a 7th century Chinese historical text, also mentions Langkasuka, referring to it as Lang Yia Xiu. According to the book, which was completed in 635 CE, it took 30 days to travel from east to west in the kingdom and 20 days from north to south. This would suggest the kingdom comprised a large part of what is modern-day southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.

The Liangshu cites inhabitants of the kingdom as saying that it was founded before the 3rd century CE. It mentions the king riding on an elephant, shaded by a white parasol and accompanied by banners, fly-whisks and drums.

The Chinese book narrates the story of the king being jealous of a virtuous man in the royal household. When the king imprisoned him, his chains broke on their own. The king believed the man to possess supernatural abilities and exiled him from Langkasuka. The man travelled to India, where he married a princess. When the king who banished him died, the people and minister of Langkasuka invited him to return and become their ruler.

Upon his return from exile in India, the man ruled for 20 years and was succeeded by his son Pojiadaduo, which is the Chinese transcription of Bhagadatta. It was Bhagadatta who made the first contacts with southern China and started sending maritime missions to the region.

Accounts narrated by Chinese travellers suggest the Malay kingdom was Buddhist. “That Langkasuka was a Buddhist community is suggested by the fact that sometime in the seventh century, three monks from China – Yilang, Zhian and Yixuan – stopped there on their way to India and were entertained by the ruler,” John Guy wrote. In different parts of South East Asia, some kingdoms alternated between being Hindu and Buddhist depending on the ruler. The religion practised in these places had grey lines, and was often a mix of the two and indigenous Animist beliefs.

Chinese accounts suggest the kingdom was wealthy and that the men and women of Langkasuka left their hair loose, did not cover their torsos and wore sarongs. According to the Liangshu, the king and high-ranking officials covered their shoulders with a cloth, similar to the veshti worn by men in Kerala. Male members of the royalty wore gold earrings and gold belts, while the women completely covered their bodies and wore jewelled girdles.

Fourteenth century Chinese traveller Dang Wayuan, who wrote Daoyi Zhi (A Brief Account of Island Barbarians) in 1339, visited Langkasuka and wrote about the prosperity of the kingdom and its inhabitants.

Indian records

Despite Langkasuka’s strong cultural and trade links with India, the kingdom was relatively unknown in the Indian subcontinent. After the death of Bhagadatta, the kingdom went into decline and by the 8th century, it was under the control of the Sumatra-based Srivijaya Empire. The Buddhist Srivijaya Empire maintained good relations with the Pala Empire in eastern India as well as the Chola Empire in southern India. This, however, changed in 1025 when Chola Emperor Rajendra I launched naval raids to South East Asia.

The Cholas attacked several kingdoms that were ruled by the Srivijayan Empire. It is in connection with this attack that there is a mention of Langkasuka in Indian records. “The Tanjore Inscription of 1030 AD refers both to Ilangasogam and Kadaram,” Linehan wrote. Ilangasogam is the Tamil transcription of Langkasuka. The Tirukkalar Plate of Rajendra Chola I describes Ilangasogam as a place that was “undaunted in fierce battles”.

Langkasuka remained under the control and influence of the Srivijaya Empire until the 14th century when it was conquered by the Hindu Majapahit Empire. It ceased to exist by the 15th century and parts of it were probably conquered by the Muslim Pattani Kingdom. The exact circumstances under which the kingdom that lasted for at least 12 centuries ended remain shrouded in mystery. The Pasai Annals, chronicles of Pasai (which in the second half of the 13th century became the first Malay kingdom to become Muslim), state that Langkasuka was destroyed in 1370 CE. Many historians contest this and believe that Langkasuka survived until the 1470s. The remnants of the kingdom that were not under the rule of the Pattani Kingdom probably embraced Islam along with Kedah in 1474 CE.

Archaeological excavations to find about more about Langkasuka were first conducted by HG Quaritch Wales (who was an advisor to the Thai royal family) and his wife Dorothy just before the start of the Second World War and the Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula. Their discoveries provided clues about Langkasuka, but there were no follow-up expeditions for decades. When excavations did begin in the 1960s in southern Thailand and northern Malaysia, they yielded Buddhist and Hindu idols, as well as Arab and Chinese coins.

Langkasuka was one of the numerous Indianised states in the Malay Peninsula that became prosperous thanks to trade with India, China and the Arab world. Even after the Malay Peninsula became entirely Muslim, Kedah remained a major entry point for Indians seeking a better life in Malaya. One of those immigrants was a man named Iskandar, who was brought by the East India Company to teach English to the Kedah royal family. Iskandar married a Malay woman and their grandson Mahathir Mohammed became Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister.

Note: The writer relied on the English translations of the Kedah Annals that were edited by AJ Sturrock and first published in 1916 for this article.

Ajay Kamalakaran is a writer and independent journalist, based in Mumbai. He is a Kalpalata Fellow for History & Heritage Writings for 2022.