Suvarnabhumi

Suvarṇabhūmi (Sanskrit: सुवर्णभूमि; Pali: Suvaṇṇabhūmi)[a] is a toponym, that appears in many ancient Indian literary sources and Buddhist texts[1] such as the Mahavamsa,[2] some of the Jataka tales,[3][4] the Milinda Panha[5] and the Ramayana.

[6] Though its exact location is unknown and remains a matter of debate, Suvarṇabhūmi was an important port along trade routes that run through the Indian Ocean, setting sail from the wealthy ports in Basra, Ubullah, and Siraf, through Muscat, Malabar, Ceylon, the Nicobars, Kedah and on through the Strait of Malacca to fabled Suvarṇabhūmi.

[7] Ian Glover, Emeritus Reader in Southeast Asian Archaeology at the University of London, has said: “It is widely accepted in the 21st century that Suvarnabhumi as reported in early Indian literature was not a specific location which can be marked on a map.

Rather, it was an idealised place, perhaps equivalent to Atlantis in Western history, a distant somewhere to the east of India where traders, sailors, and Buddhist and Hindu teachers went to make their fortunes and spread their teachings and bring back gold and other exotic products desired by a rising elite and the wealthy classes at home.”[8] Suvarṇabhūmi means 'golden land' or 'land of gold' and the ancient sources have associated it with one of a variety of places throughout the Southeast Asian region.

[13] Josephus speaks of the “Aurea Chersonesus”, which he equates with the Biblical Ophir, whence the ships of Tyre and Israel brought back the gold for the Temple of Jerusalem.

[18] Due to many factors, including the lack of historical evidence, and the absence of scholarly consensus, various cultures in Southeast Asia identify Suvarṇabhūmi as an ancient kingdom there, and claim ethnic and political descendancy as its successor state.

These finds belong to the period of Funan Kingdom or Nokor Phnom, present-day Cambodia, and South Vietnam including part of Burma, Laos, and Thailand, which was the first political centre established in Southeast Asia.

In December 2017, Dr Vong Sotheara, of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, discovered a Pre-Angkorian stone inscription in the Province of Kampong Speu, Basedth District, which he tentatively dated to 633 AD.

[27] The fifteenth century legend of Shwedagon Pagoda enshrining a few hairs of the Buddha brought back by Mon merchants highlights the cultural significance placed on early Buddhist missionaries in Myanmar.

[15] In modern Thailand, government proclamations and national museums insist that Suwannaphum was somewhere on the coast of the central plain, especially at the ancient city of U Thong, which might be the origin of the Mon Dvaravati Culture.

[28] These claims are not based on any historical records but on archaeological evidence of human settlements in the area dating back more than 4,000 years and the findings of 3rd-century Roman coins.

Both later created a new kingdom, Dvaravati; however, the new capital together with the other nearest settlement, Pong Tuek (พงตึก, present-day Ratchaburi) were sacked by Chenla 300 years later, around the 8th-9th centuries.

[42] The eighth-century Indian text Samaraiccakaha describes a sea voyage to Suvarnadvipa and the making of bricks from the gold rich sands which they inscribed with the name “dharana” and then baked.

[44] The Chinese pilgrim and Buddhist scholar Yijing (義淨), visited the kingdom of Srivijaya on Sumatra in 672 and identified it with Suvarnadvipa, the Island of Gold (金洲 jin-zhou).

[47] The Padang Roco Inscription of 1286 CE, states that an image of Buddha Amoghapasa Lokeshvara was brought to Dharmasraya on the Upper Batang Hari - the river of Jambi - was transported from Bhumi Java (Java) to Suvarnabhumi (Sumatra), and erected by order of the Javanese ruler Kertanegara: the inscription clearly identifies Sumatra as Suvarṇabhūmi.

[48] Butuan on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao was so rich in treasures that a museum curator, Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, stated it was even richer than the more well-known western maritime kingdom of Srivijaya; “The astonishing quantities and impressive quality of gold treasures recovered in Butuan suggest that its flourishing port settlement played an until recently little-recognized role in early Southeast Asian trade.

[49] A popular interpretation of Rabindranath Tagore's poem Amar Shonar Bangla serves as the basis for the claim that Suvarṇabhūmi was actually situated in central Bengal at Sonargaon.

Bengal has also been described in ancient Indian and Southeast Asian chronicles as a "seafaring country", enjoying trade relations with Dravidian kingdoms, Sri Lanka, Java and Sumatra.

Marco Polo spoke, in the most exaggerated language, of the wealth of gold in Zipangu, situated at the extremity of this part of the world, and had thus pointed out where the precious metals should preferably be sought.