Langkasuka
Encyclopedia
Langkasuka was an ancient Hindu
Malay
kingdom located in the Malay Peninsula
. Another possible source of its name could be the combination of (-langkha Sanskrit
for "resplendent land" - and Asoka in tribute to the legendary Mauryan Hindu warrior king who eventually became a pacifist after embracing the ideals espoused in Buddhism), the ancient kingdoms of the Malay Isthmus - Langkasuka having been one of them - believed by some scholars to have been first founded or rebuilt by emissaries or descendants of Asoka from Magadha in India. (Citation required)
The kingdom along with Old Kedah
are probably among the earliest kingdoms founded on the Malay Peninsula. According to tradition the founding of the kingdom happened in the 2nd century. Malay
legends claim that Langkasuka was founded at Kedah
, and later moved to Pattani
. (Name the Legend)
record (c. 500 AD) refers to the kingdom of "Lang-ya-xiu" as being founded in the 1st century AD. As described in the Chinese chronicles, Langkasuka was thirty days' journey from east to west, and twenty from north to south, 24,000 li
in distance from Guangzhou
. Its capital was said to be surrounded by walls to form a city with double gates, towers and pavilions. The Buddhist monk Yi Jing
mentioned encountering three Chinese monks who lived in Lang-chia-su.
The kingdom's designation in Chinese records changed over time: it was known as "Lang-ya-se-chia" during the Song dynasty
(960-1279); "Long-ya-si-jiao" during the Yuan Dynasty
(1279-1368); and "Lang-se-chia" during the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644), as evidenced by the Mao Kun map of Admiral Zheng He
.
The name "Langkasuka" was also mentioned in Malay
and Javanese
chronicles. Tamil
sources name "Ilangasoka" as one of Rajendra Chola
's conquests in his expedition against the Srivijaya
empire. It was described as a kingdom that that was "undaunted in fierce battles".
In 515 AD King
Bhagadatta
first established relations with China, with further embassies sent in 523, 531 and 568. In the 12th century Langkasuka was a tributary to the Srivijaya
empire, and around the 15th century it was replaced by the Pattani Kingdom
.
In 1963, Stewart Wavell led a Cambridge Expedition to locate Langkasuka and Tambralinga
. The details of this expedition can be read in The Naga King's Daughter, published by Antara Books.
or The King With A Fangs directed by Jamil Sulong was made from the initiative of Malaysia's Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman
.
A Thai movie entitled Queen of Pattani or Queens of Langkasuka
, directed by Nonzee Nimibutr
and loosely based on a south Pattani myth, was released in 2008.
A 2011 Malay movie entitled The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines
was directed by Yusry Abdul Halim. The film is loosely based the origin of Merong Mahawangsa
, the first King of Langkasuka.
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
Malay
Malay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
kingdom located in the Malay Peninsula
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
. Another possible source of its name could be the combination of (-langkha Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
for "resplendent land" - and Asoka in tribute to the legendary Mauryan Hindu warrior king who eventually became a pacifist after embracing the ideals espoused in Buddhism), the ancient kingdoms of the Malay Isthmus - Langkasuka having been one of them - believed by some scholars to have been first founded or rebuilt by emissaries or descendants of Asoka from Magadha in India. (Citation required)
The kingdom along with Old Kedah
Early history of Kedah
Kedah is one of many early Malay Peninsula trade centres that have been found, many have yet to be identified. Its location at the entrance to the Straits of Malacca, on the same latitude as south India provided a natural sailing route between the two points, ships could sail due east or due west...
are probably among the earliest kingdoms founded on the Malay Peninsula. According to tradition the founding of the kingdom happened in the 2nd century. Malay
Malay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
legends claim that Langkasuka was founded at Kedah
Kedah
Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...
, and later moved to Pattani
Pattani Province
Pattani is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Narathiwat, Yala and Songkhla.-Geography:...
. (Name the Legend)
Records
The historical record is sparse, but a Chinese Liang DynastyLiang Dynasty
The Liang Dynasty , also known as the Southern Liang Dynasty , was the third of the Southern dynasties in China and was followed by the Chen Dynasty...
record (c. 500 AD) refers to the kingdom of "Lang-ya-xiu" as being founded in the 1st century AD. As described in the Chinese chronicles, Langkasuka was thirty days' journey from east to west, and twenty from north to south, 24,000 li
Li (unit)
The li is a traditional Chinese unit of distance, which has varied considerably over time but now has a standardized length of 500 meters or half a kilometer...
in distance from Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
. Its capital was said to be surrounded by walls to form a city with double gates, towers and pavilions. The Buddhist monk Yi Jing
I Ching (monk)
Yijing was a Tang Dynasty Chinese Buddhist monk, originally named Zhang Wenming . The written records of his travels contributed to the world knowledge of the ancient kingdom of Srivijaya, as well as providing information about the other kingdoms lying on the route between China and the Nālandā...
mentioned encountering three Chinese monks who lived in Lang-chia-su.
The kingdom's designation in Chinese records changed over time: it was known as "Lang-ya-se-chia" during the Song dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
(960-1279); "Long-ya-si-jiao" during the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
(1279-1368); and "Lang-se-chia" during the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
(1368-1644), as evidenced by the Mao Kun map of Admiral Zheng He
Zheng He
Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...
.
The name "Langkasuka" was also mentioned in Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
and Javanese
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
chronicles. Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
sources name "Ilangasoka" as one of Rajendra Chola
Rajendra Chola I
Rajendra Chola I was the son of Rajaraja Chola I and was one of the greatest rulers of Tamil Chola dynasty of India. He succeeded his father in 1014 CE as the Chola emperor...
's conquests in his expedition against the Srivijaya
Srivijaya
Srivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...
empire. It was described as a kingdom that that was "undaunted in fierce battles".
In 515 AD King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
Bhagadatta
Bhagadatta (Langkasuka)
Bhagadatta was a King of the Langkasuka empire who established contacts with China in 511 C.E....
first established relations with China, with further embassies sent in 523, 531 and 568. In the 12th century Langkasuka was a tributary to the Srivijaya
Srivijaya
Srivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...
empire, and around the 15th century it was replaced by the Pattani Kingdom
Pattani kingdom
Pattani or Sultanate of Pattani was a Malay sultanate that covered approximately the area of the modern Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and much of the northern part of modern Malaysia. The King of Patani is believed to have converted to Islam some time during the 11th century...
.
In 1963, Stewart Wavell led a Cambridge Expedition to locate Langkasuka and Tambralinga
Tambralinga
Tambralinga was an ancient kingdom located on the Malay Peninsula that at one time came under the influence of Srivijaya. The name had been forgotten until scholars recognized Tambralinga as Nagara Sri Dharmaraja. Early records are scarce while estimations range from the seventh to fourteenth...
. The details of this expedition can be read in The Naga King's Daughter, published by Antara Books.
Langkasuka in popular culture
In 1968, Malay film called Raja BersiongRaja Bersiong
Raja Bersiong is a 1968 Malaysian historical epic film in Malay directed by Jamil Sulong and based on a story by former Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman...
or The King With A Fangs directed by Jamil Sulong was made from the initiative of Malaysia's Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, AC, CH was Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955, and the country's first Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He remained as the Prime Minister after Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore joined the...
.
Queens of Langkasuka
Queens of Langkasuka is a 2008 Thai historical fantasy adventure film directed by Nonzee Nimibutr, and written by two-time S.E.A. Write Award winner Win Lyovarin.Known as "Pirates Of Langkasuka" in the UK.-Plot:...
, directed by Nonzee Nimibutr
Nonzee Nimibutr
Nonzee Nimibutr is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. Best known for his ghost thriller, Nang Nak, he is generally credited as the leader among a "New Wave" of Thai filmmakers that also includes Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong...
and loosely based on a south Pattani myth, was released in 2008.
A 2011 Malay movie entitled The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines
The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines
The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines is a 2011 Malaysian epic action film loosely based on the 16th century document Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. Released in Malaysia under the Malaysian language title Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, the film is directed, co-written, and co-produced by Yusry Abdul Halim...
was directed by Yusry Abdul Halim. The film is loosely based the origin of Merong Mahawangsa
Merong Mahawangsa
Merong Mahawangsa is a legendary warrior and a ruler who is said to be the first king of Langkasuka and later became the modern day, Kedah. The tale of Merong Mahawangsa is mentioned in the Kedah Annals...
, the first King of Langkasuka.
See also
- Kota GelanggiKota GelanggiKota Gelanggi is an archaeological site reported in 2005 as potentially the first capital of the ancient Malay Empire of Srivijaya and dating to around 650–900 and one of the oldest pre-Islamic Malay Kingdoms on South East Asia's Malay Peninsula...
- Naksat cityNaksat cityThe Naksat cities are a chain of twelve inter-linked cities or muangs of the ancient Malay Kingdom of Tambralinga. The cities acted as an outer shield, surrounding the capital Nakorn Si Thammarat, and were connected by land so that help could be sent from one city to another in the event of...
- Bujang ValleyBujang ValleyThe Bujang Valley or Lembah Bujang is a sprawling historical complex and has an area of approximately 224 square km. Situated near Merbok, Kedah, between Gunung Jerai in the north and Muda River in the south, it is the richest archaeological area in Malaysia.These archaeological remains show that...
- Nakhon Sri Thammarat
- Ligor