High Middle Ages · Southeast Asia · Politics

1109

Srivijaya begins its long decline

1109

The great Malay thalassocracy that had dominated the Straits of Malacca for four centuries was losing its grip on the spice routes as Chola naval raids, Javanese competition from the Kediri kingdom, and the rise of smaller independent port-states along the Sumatran coast all chipped away at its authority. The old capital at Palembang slowly silted into obscurity and jungle.