The primary sources for much of the information on the kingdom are the New History of the Tang, and the memoirs of the Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing who visited in 671.

[7] Another theory holds that it originated from the Tamil words Malay and ur meaning "mountain or cave" and "city, land", respectively.

[8][9][10] An early literary appearance can be found in chapter 48, Vayu Purana, where the word "Malayadvipa", which means "mountainous island", is described as one of the provinces in the eastern sea that was full of gold and silver.

[20] An inscription on the south wall of the 11th century Brihadeeswarar Temple also made a reference to Malaiyur, a kingdom that had "a strong mountain for its rampart" during the Chola invasion of Srivijaya period.

Among the terms used was "Bok-la-yu", "Mok-la-yu" (木剌由), Ma-li-yu-er (麻里予兒), Oo-lai-yu (巫来由 — traced from the written source of monk Xuanzang), and Wu-lai-yu (無来由).

The word "Melayu" is also mentioned in the Malay annals referring to a river in Sumatra: "...Here now is the story of a city called Palembang in the land of Andelas.

In the upper reaches of the Muara Tatang was a river called Mĕlayu, and on that river was a hill called Si-Guntang Mahameru..." CC Brown [29]"...There is a country in the land of Andalás named Paralembang, which is at present denominated Palembang, the raja of which was denominated Damang Lebar Dawn, (Chieftain Broad-leaf,) who derived his origin from Raja Sulan, (Chillan ?)

[4] On his route via Maritime Southeast Asia, Yijing visited Srivijaya twice where he stayed from 688 to 695, studying and translating the original texts in Sanskrit.

At the end of winter he changed ship and sailed to the west.Further, for the determination of the location of Sribogha-Malayu, Yijing furnishes the following in his work A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea(南海寄歸內法傳): In the country of Sribogha, we see the shadow of the gnomon(圭) become neither long nor short (i.e "remain unchanged" or "no shadow") in the middle of the eighth month (Autumnal equinox), and at midday no shadow falls from a man who is standing on that day, so it is in the middle of spring (Vernal equinox).Thus it can be inferred that the country of Sribogha covered the place lying on the equator, and the whole county therefore must have covered the north east side of Sumatra, from the southern shore of Malacca, to the city of Palembang, extending at least five degrees, having the equatorial line at about the centre of the kingdom.

[citation needed] According to Yijing, Hinayana Buddhism was predominantly adopted in Srivijaya, represented for the most part by the Mulasarvastivada school, however there were few Mahayanists in Malayu.

[33] The Chola expeditions as well as the changing trade routes weakened Palembang, allowing Jambi to take the leadership of Sanfoqi from the 11th century onwards.

The inscription bears the order of Maharaja Srimat Trailokyaraja Maulibhusana Warmadewa to the bhupati (regent) of Grahi named Mahasenapati Galanai to make a statue of Buddha weighing 1 bhara 2 tula with a value of 10 gold tamlin.

According to the Chinese Song dynasty book Zhu Fan Zhi,[35] written around 1225 by Zhao Rugua, the two most powerful and richest kingdoms in the Southeast Asian archipelago were Sanfoqi and Java (Kediri), with the western part (Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and western Java/Sunda) under Sanfoqi's rule and the eastern part was under Kediri's domination.

Zhu fan zhi also states that Java (Kediri) was ruled by a maharaja and included the following "dependencies": Pai-hua-yuan (Pacitan), Ma-tung (Mataram), Ta-pen (Tumapel, now Malang), Hi-ning (Dieng), Jung-ya-lu (Hujung Galuh, now Surabaya), Tung-ki[i] (Jenggi, West Papua), Ta-kang (Sumba), Huang-ma-chu (Southwest Papua), Ma-li (Bali), Kulun[ii] (Gurun, identified as Gorong or Sorong in West Papua or an island in Nusa Tenggara), Tan-jung-wu-lo (Tanjungpura in modern-day West Kalimantan, Borneo), Ti-wu (Timor), Pingya-i (Banggai in Sulawesi) and Wu-nu-ku (Maluku).

[36]: 186–187  Additionally, Zhao Rugua said that Sanfoqi "was still a great power at the beginning of the thirteenth century" with 15 colonies:[37] Pong-fong (Pahang), Tong-ya-nong (Terengganu), Ling-ya-si-kia (Langkasuka), Kilan-tan (Kelantan), Fo-lo-an (Dungun, eastern part of Malay Peninsula, a town within state of Terengganu), Ji-lo-t'ing (Cherating), Ts'ien-mai (Semawe, Malay Peninsula), Pa-t'a (Sungai Paka, located in Terengganu of Malay Peninsula), Tan-ma-ling (Tambralinga, Ligor or Nakhon Si Thammarat, South Thailand), Kia-lo-hi (Grahi, (Krabi) northern part of Malay Peninsula), Pa-lin-fong (Palembang), Sin-t'o (Sunda), Lan-wu-li (Lamuri at Aceh), Kien-pi (Jambi) and Si-lan (Cambodia or Ceylon (?)).

[4]: 198, 203–204 According to George Coedes, by the beginning of the 14th century, Melayu "remained the only Sumatran state of some political importance and it had become the refuge of the Buddhist Dharmic Indian culture in opposition to the sultanates of the north that were already Islamised or in the process of becoming so".

[4]: 231–232 The History of Ming in 1371 mentions three kings that divided the ancient territory of Srivijaya, whose center was then Jambi and according to their titles were heir to Malayu.

The last prince of Srivijayan origin, Parameswara (thought to be the same person as Iskandar Shah in the Malay Annals), fled to Temasik to seek refuge before moving farther north, where he founded what would become the Malacca Sultanate.