¹ Low, James, Marong Mahawangsa. The Keddah Annals (Bangkok: Vajiranana National Library, 1908), p. 11.Google Scholar

² The boulder is known as the Cherok Tokun inscription and is today located within the grounds of the Church of St. Anne in the town of Bukit Mertajam. It has up to seven separate inscriptions upon it and dates to ca. the fifth to sixth century. The Buddhagupta stele was found by Low in 1834 and was sent to the Indian Museum Kolkata were it is still housed today. It too dates to ca. the fifth to sixth century ce. See Low, James, ‘An account of several inscriptions found in Province Wellesley, on the Peninsula of Malacca’, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, XVII, 2 (1848), pp. 62–6Google Scholar; Jacq-Hergoualc'h, Michel, The Malay Peninsula: crossroads of the maritime silk road (100 BC-1300 AD), Hobson, Victoria (translation), (Leiden, 2002), pp. 213–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³ Formally known as Kedah Peak (Malay: Gunung Jerai).

⁴ Evans was at the time curator of the Perak Museum, Taiping.

⁵ Quaritch Wales, Horace G., ‘Archaeological researches on ancient Indian colonization in Malaya’, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society [henceforth JMBRAS], 18, (1940), pp. xiii–85Google Scholar; Quaritch Wales, Dorothy C. and Quaritch Wales, Horace G., ‘Further work on Indian sites in Malaya’, JMBRAS XX, 1 (1947), pp. 1–11Google Scholar.

⁶ Liu, Gretchen, One hundred years of the National Museum Singapore 1887-1987 (Singapore, 1987), pp. 16–20Google Scholar.

⁷ The museum and library separated in 1960. In 1965 the museum was renamed the National Museum. With the establishment of the National Heritage Board (NHB) in 1993, the museum was once again renamed, this time as the Singapore History Museum. In December 2006 the name reverted back to the National Museum of Singapore.

⁸ Saidin, Mokhtar et al., ‘Issues and problems of previous studies in the Bujang Valley and the discovery of Sungai Batu’, in Bujang Valley and early civilisations in Southeast Asia, (ed.) Chia, Stephen and Andaya, Barbara Watson (Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture, Malaysia, 2011), p. 20Google Scholar.

⁹ Hassan, Zolkurnian et al. ‘Survey and excavation of an ancient monument in Sungai Batu, Bujang Valley, Kedah, Malaysia’ in Bujang Valley and early civilisations in Southeast Asia, (ed.) Chia, Stephen and Watson Andaya, Barbara (Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture, Malaysia, 2011), pp. 40–41.Google Scholar

¹⁰ The newspaper reports in question are; P. Ramasamy FreeMalaysiatoday.com, May 25 2016 <http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2016/05/25/no-scientific-proof-of-hinduism-buddhism-in-bujang-valley/ > (accessed 16 July 2016); Arnold Loh, thestar.com, May 21 2016 http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/05/21/debate-arises-over-bujang-valley-experts-disagree-on-religion-practised-at-ruins-older-than-borobodu/ (accessed16 July 2016) and P. Ramasamy FreeMalaysiatoday.com, May 23 2016 <http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2016/05/23/religious-pluralism-a-likelihood-in-bujang-valley/> (accessed16 July 2016).

¹¹ P. Ramasamy FreeMalaysiatoday.com, May 25 2016 <http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2016/05/25/no-scientific-proof-of-hinduism-buddhism-in-bujang-valley/ > (accessed 16 July 2016).

¹² P. Ramasamy FreeMalaysiatoday.com, May 25 2016 <http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2016/05/25/no-scientific-proof-of-hinduism-buddhism-in-bujang-valley/ > (accessed 16 July 2016).

¹³ Ibid. and also see, Arnold Loh, thestar.com, May 21 2016 http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/05/21/debate-arises-over-bujang-valley-experts-disagree-on-religion-practised-at-ruins-older-than-borobodu/ (accessed16 July 2016) and P. Ramasamy FreeMalaysiatoday.com, May 23 2016

<http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2016/05/23/religious-pluralism-a-likelihood-in-bujang-valley/> (accessed16 July 2016).

¹⁴ I received an email reply to my queries from Professor Saidin clarifying his position on 25^th July 2016.

¹⁵ Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, ‘The Extensive Salafization of Malaysian Islam’, Trends in Southeast Asia no.9, 2016, pp. 9-10, 18-19.

¹⁶ Ibid. pp. 14-17.

¹⁷ Ibid. p. 4.

¹⁸ Ibid. pp. 17-18.

¹⁹ The Bujang Valley is also sometimes referred to in the scholarly literature as Lembah Bujang, “Lembah” being the Malay word for “Valley”.

²⁰ Nawawi, M. N. M. et al., ‘Application of geophysical methods in archaeology studies in Malaysia – a case study from Lembah Bujang, Kedah, Malaysia’, in Bujang Valley and early civilisations in Southeast Asia, (ed.) Chia, Stephen and Watson Andaya, Barbara (Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture, Malaysia, 2011), p. 61Google Scholar.

²¹ Note that only the third cluster, Pengkalan Bujang, is actually located on the Bujang River, with the term Bujang Valley referring more to the archaeological cultures in this area in a generic sense.

²² For a discussion of the maritime routes within Southeast Asia during the late first millennium ce and further afield, and the Bujang Valley's role within them, see Murphy, Stephen A., ‘Ports of call in ninth-century Southeast Asia: The route of the Tang Shipwreck’, in The Tang Shipwreck: Art and exchange in the 9^th century, (ed.) Chong, Alan and Murphy, Stephen A. (Singapore, 2017), pp. 238–249.Google Scholar

²³ Wade, Geoff, ‘Beyond the southern borders: Southeast Asia in Chinese texts to the ninth century’, in Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist sculpture of early Southeast Asia, (ed.) Guy, John (New York, New Haven and London, 2014), pp. 29–30Google Scholar.

²⁴ Ibid., p. 30

²⁵ G. R. Tibbetts, ‘A Study of Arabic texts containing material on South-East Asia’, Oriental Translation Fund, n.s., 44 (Leiden, 1979): 118–28; Jacq-Hergoualc'h, The Malay Peninsula, pp. 195–197.

²⁶ Research by the Centre for Global Archaeological Research is ongoing and a full discussion of their findings is beyond the scope of this paper. One major English publication has resulted to date however. Otherwise, reports and papers have been in Malay language. See Bujang Valley and early civilisations in Southeast Asia, (ed.) Stephen Chia and Barbara Watson Andaya (Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture, Malaysia, 2011).

²⁷ Saidin et al., ‘Issues and problems’, p. 20.

²⁸ Ibid., pp. 19–20.

²⁹ Nik Hassan Shuhaimi bin Nik Abd. Rahman and Othman bin Mohd Yatim [henceforth Nik Hassan and Othman], Antiquities of Bujang Valley, (Kuala Lumpur: Museum Association of Malaysia, 1990), pp. 90–4.

³⁰ Saidin et al., ‘Issues and problems’, pp. 19–20.

³¹ Ibid., Fig. 1.2.

³² Allen, Jane, ‘Trade, Transportation and Tributaries: Exchange, Agriculture and Settlement Distribution in Early Historic-Period Kedah, Malaysia’(University of Hawaii, unpublished PhD, 1988); ‘Trade and site distribution in early historic period Kedah: Geoarchaeological, historic and locational evidence’, in Indo-Pacific prehistory 1990: proceedings of the 14^th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 26 August to 2 September 1990, (ed.) Bellwood, Peter (Canberra, Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association; Jakarta Asosiasi Prehistorisi Indonesia, Bulletin 10, 1991), pp. 307–319;Google Scholar ‘Angkor, Inland, Coastal Kedah: Landscapes, subsistence systems and state development in early Southeast Asia’, in Indo-Pacific prehistory: the Chiang Mai papers : proceedings of the 15^th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 5 to 12 January 1994, (ed.) Bellwood, Peter & Tillotson, Dianne (Canberra, Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Australian National University, Bulletin 16, 1997), pp. 79–87Google Scholar; ‘In support of trade: Coastal site location and environmental transformation in early historical-period Malaysia and Thailand’, in Indo-Pacific prehistory : the Melaka papers, volume 4 : proceedings of the 16^th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Melaka, Malaysia, 1 to 7 July 1998, (ed.) Peter Bellwood (Canberra : Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, 2000), pp. 62–78; ‘Historical maps and geoarchaeological evidence for coastal change during the historical period in Kedah and around the Thai-Malay Peninsula’, in Bujang Valley and early civilisations in Southeast Asia, (ed.) Stephen Chia and Barbara Watson Andaya (Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture, Malaysia, 2011), pp. 137–156.

³³ Allen, ‘Historical maps’, pp. 142–143.

³⁴ Khoo, T. T., ‘Geomorphological evolution of the Mebok estuary area and its impact on the early state of Kedah, northwest peninsular Malaysia’, Journal of Southeast Asian Earth Sciences, 13, 3–5, (1996), pp. 347–371CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

³⁵ Research into sea level changes and coastal progradation in Southeast Asia continues to redefine the ancient coastlines within the region. See for instance a recent study of the Gulf of Thailand and its implications for the Dvaravati culture of the Chao Phraya Basin by Hutangkura, Trongjai, ‘Reconsidering the Palaeo-shoreline in the lower central plain of Thailand’, in Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology, (ed.) Revire, Nicolas and Murphy, Stephen A. (Bangkok, The Siam Society and River Books, 2014), pp. 32–67Google Scholar.

³⁶ Saidin et al., ‘Issues and problems’; Allen, ‘Historical maps’.

³⁷ Allen, ‘Historical maps’, p. 144.

³⁸ Ibid., pp. 148–149.

³⁹ Ibid., p. 149.

⁴⁰ Quaritch Wales, H.G., ‘The Exploration of Sri Deva, an Ancient Indian City in Indochina’, Indian Art and Letters, X, 2, (1936), p. 61Google Scholar.

⁴¹ Chong-Guan, Kwa, ‘Introduction’, in Early Southeast Asia viewed from India: An anthology of articles from the Journal of the Greater India Society, (ed.) Chong-Guan, Kwa (New Delhi, 2013), pp. xvi–xxxviiGoogle Scholar.

⁴² Quaritch Wales, H.G., Dvāravatī: the earliest kingdom of Siam (6^th to 11^th century A.D.) (London, 1969)Google Scholar.

⁴³ Clarke, Wesley, ‘The skeletons of Phong Tuek: Human remains in Dvaravati ritual contexts’, in Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology, (ed.) Revire, Nicolas and Murphy, Stephen A. (Bangkok, 2014), pp. 314–323Google Scholar.

⁴⁴ See Murphy, Stephen A. and Lefferts, Leedom, ‘Globalizing Indian Religions and Southeast Asian Localisms: Incentives for the adoption of Buddhism and Brahmanism in 1^st Millennium ce Southeast Asia’, in The Routledge Handbook of Globalization and Archaeology, (ed.) Hodos, T. (London, 2016)Google Scholar; also see Mabbett, Ian W., ‘The “Indianization” of Southeast Asia: reflections on historical sources’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 8, 2, (1977), pp. 143–161Google Scholar.

⁴⁵ For an in depth discussion and analysis of this excavation see Clarke, ‘The skeletons of Phong Tuek”, pp. 310–329.

⁴⁶ Quaritch Wales, ‘Archaeological researches’, p. vii.

⁴⁷ Quaritch Wales numbered his sites numerically, presumably in the order that he surveyed them. With the exception of Jacq-Hergoualc'h, Michel, La civilisation to ports-entrepôts du sud Kedah (Malaysia) V^e – XIV^e siècle, (Paris, 1992), pp. 22–31Google Scholar, this numbering system has by and large been retained by researchers who have following after Quaritch Wales. The Muzium Negara (National Museum) in Kuala Lumpur and the Lembah Bujang Archaeological Museum also follow Quaritch Wales’ numbering system.

⁴⁸ Quaritch Wales, ‘Archaeological researches’, pp. 1–85; Dorothy C. Quaritch Wales and Horace G. Quaritch Wales, ‘Further work’, pp. 1–11.

⁴⁹ A complete list of everything Quaritch Wales excavated is published in Quaritch Wales ‘Archaeological researches’ and his wife Dorothy's ‘Further work’. Also see Jacq-Hergoualc'h, La civilisation, for a systematic evaluation of the aforementioned sites and material.

⁵⁰ Quaritch Wales, ‘Archaeological researches’, pp. 6–7.

⁵¹ Mr J. Allan was at the time keeper of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum. For a more recent discussion on this formula in a Southeast Asian context see Peter Skilling, ‘Traces of the Dharma: Preliminary reports on some ye dhammā and ye dharmā inscriptions from Mainland South-East Asia,’ Bulletin de l’École française d'Extrême-Orient [henceforth BEFEO], pp. 90–91, (2003–2004): pp. 273–287; Griffiths, Arlo, ‘Written traces of the Buddhist past: Mantras and Dhārạnīs in Indonesian inscriptions’, Bulletin of SOAS, 77, 1 (2014), pp. 137–194.Google Scholar

⁵² Lamb, Alastair, ‘A note on a small inscribed stone tablet from Dr Wales’ Kedah site no. 1’, Federation Museums Journal [henceforth FMJ], VII (1962), pp. 67–68Google Scholar.

⁵³ Quaritch Wales, ‘Archaeological researches’, p. 8.

⁵⁴ Dr N. P. Chakravarti was at the time the Government Epigraphist for India.

⁵⁵ Skilling, Peter, ‘Precious deposits: Buddhism seen through inscriptions in early Southeast Asia’, in Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist sculpture of early Southeast Asia, (ed.) Guy, John (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, distributed by Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2014), p. 61Google Scholar. See also Peter Skilling ‘The Sāgaramati-paripṛcchā Inscriptions from Kedah’ (Forthcoming).

⁵⁶ The inscription has been published in Malay in the proceedings of a seminar by Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, Nik Hassan Shuhaimi, Nik Abdul Rahman, Nazarudin Zainun, Mohd Mokhtar Saidin, ‘Prasasti Sungai Mas 2: satu tinjauan paleografi’, Seminar Penanda Arasan Penyelidikan Arkeologi di UKM, Anjuran Institut Alam dan Tamadun Melayu, 12-13 Julai 2010, Bilik Senat dan Bilik Majlis Bangunan Canselori Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi.

⁵⁷ Quaritch Wales, ‘Archaeological researches’, pp. 11–5.

⁵⁸ Ibid., p. 16.

⁵⁹ Ibid., pp. 18–21.

⁶⁰ A vimana is the central sanctuary of a temple, usually with a spire. The Garbhagrha or innermost sanctum of the temple contained the cult icon or deity.

⁶¹ A snana-droni is a pedestal within which the linga is placed, while the somasutra is the channel for receiving the liquids with which a linga has been bathed.

⁶² Ibid., pp. 22–24.

⁶³ Ibid., p. 23.

⁶⁴ Ibid., p. 26.

⁶⁵ Ibid., pp. 29–30.

⁶⁶ Ibid., p. 32.

⁶⁷ Ibid., pp. 35–36.

⁶⁸ Jacq-Hergoualc'h, La civilisation, pp. 73–74.

⁶⁹ Quaritch Wales, ‘Further work’, pp. 7–8.

⁷⁰ Quaritch Wales, ‘Archaeological researches’, pp. 37–39.

⁷¹ Ibid. pp. 39–40.

⁷² Quaritch Wales, ‘The Exploration of Sri Deva’, pp. 90–96.

⁷³ Quaritch Wales, ‘Archaeological researches’, pp. 67–74.

⁷⁴ December – January 1955-56 by Michael Sullivan and July 1956 by K. G. Tregonning and P. F. de Jong. See Sullivan, Michael, ‘Excavations in Kedah and Province Wellesley, 1957’, JMBRAS, XXXI, 1, (1958), pp. 191–192Google Scholar; Lamb, Alastair, ‘Recent archaeological work in Kedah’, JMBRAS, XXXII, 1, (1959), p. 214.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ Lamb, Alastair, ‘Report on the excavation and reconstruction of Chandi Bukit Batu Pahat, central Kedah’, FMJ, V (1960), pp. x–108.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ Lamb, Alastair, ‘Research at Pengkalan Bujang: A preliminary report’, FMJ, VI (1961), pp. 21–37.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Lamb, ‘Report on the excavation’, p. 11.

⁷⁸ Ibid, p. 9.

⁷⁹ Nilakanta Sastri, K. A., ‘A note on the Sambas finds’, JMBRAS, XXII, 4, (1949), p. 18Google Scholar.

⁸⁰ Lamb, ‘Report on the excavation’, pp. 8, 74–90.

⁸¹ O’ Connor, Stanley, ‘Ritual deposit boxes in Southeast Asian sanctuaries’, Artibus Asiae, XXVIII, 1 (1966), pp. 53–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ślączka, Anna A., Temple consecration rituals in ancient India: text and archaeology (Leiden, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ślączka, Anna A., ‘Golden bulls and tortoises: temple consecration in Southeast Asia”, Orientations, 45, 3 (2014), pp. 71–75.Google Scholar

⁸² Ślączka, ‘Golden bulls’, p. 75.

⁸³ Lamb, ‘Report on the excavation’, pp. 74–75.

⁸⁴ Ibid., pp. 79–90.

⁸⁵ Treloar, F. E., ‘Chemical analysis of some metal objects from Chandi Bukit Batu Pahat, Kedah: Suggested origins and date’, JMBRAS, XLI, 1 (1968), pp. 193–198Google Scholar; Treloar, F. E., ‘The use of mercury in metal ritual objects as a symbol of Siva’, Artibus Asiae, XXXIV, (1972), pp. 232–240CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁸⁶ Lamb, Alastair, ‘Kedah and Takuapa: Some tentative historical conclusions’, FMJ, VI (1961), pp. 78–88Google Scholar.

⁸⁷ Peacock, B. A. V., ‘Pillar base architecture in ancient Kedah’, JMBRAS, XLVII, 1 (1974), pp. 66–86.Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Ibid., pp. 70–73.

⁸⁹ Lamb, ‘Report on the excavation’, pp. 50–51.

⁹⁰ Peacock, ‘Pillar base architecture’, p. 72.

⁹¹ Ibid., Fig. 7.

⁹² They are Sites 3, 5, 11, 16, 19, 21, 22 and 50. Sites 16, 21 and 50 were relocated after excavation and reconstructed in the direct vicinity of Site 8 where the Lembah Bujang Archaeological Museum is now also located. While this created a small-scale archaeological park easily accessible to visitors, it distorts the archaeological landscape and context of these monuments. It creates the false impression that Bujang Valley sites were located on the slopes of Mount Jerai while, actually, apart from Sites 8, 48, and 49, all the sites were located in the low-lying river valley. Apart from the cluster of temples consisting of nos. 19, 22 and 23, the majority of Bujang Valley sites themselves are largely inaccessible today as many of them are on privately owned land, usually oil palm plantations.

⁹³ Nik Hassan and Othman, Antiquities, pp. 43–48.

⁹⁴ Ibid. pp. 8-9. This survey took place as part of Allen's PhD fieldwork.

⁹⁵ Allen, Jane, ‘An inscribed tablet from Kedah, Malaysia: Comparison with earlier finds’, Asian Perspectives, XXVII, 1 (1986–87), pp. 35–57Google Scholar; Wisseman Christie, Jan, ‘The Sanskrit Inscriptions recently discovered in Kedah, Malaysia’, in Modern Quaternary Research in Southeast Asia, (ed.) Bartstra, Gert-Jan and Arnold Casparie, Willem, Vol. 11 (Rotterdam, 1988–89), pp. 39–53Google Scholar.

⁹⁶ Nik Hassan and Othman, Antiquities, p. 9.

⁹⁷ Ibid., pp. 90–94.

⁹⁸ Ibid., pp. 90–94; A mandapa is a pillared outdoor hall or pavilion used for public rituals. In the Bujang Valley examples they would have been constructed with wooden superstructures.

⁹⁹ Jacq-Hergoualc'h, La civilisation.

¹⁰⁰ The sites are: Buddhist; 1, 2, 10, 16A, 17, 21, 22, 37, 39. Brahmanical; 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 24, 31, 49, 50. Unidentified/unexcavated; SMM 6, 7, 9, SMM 11, 12, 18, 20, 23, 25, 26, 28, 32, 33, 35/36, 38, 40, 48.

¹⁰¹ Some are today on display at the Lembah Bujang Archaeological Museum.

¹⁰² Jacq-Hergoualc'h, La civilisation, pp. 20, 30–1, Fig. 2.

¹⁰³ Jacq-Hergoualc'h, The Malay Peninsula, pp. 451–452.

¹⁰⁴ Allen, ‘Trade, Transportation and Tributaries’, p. 369.

¹⁰⁵ Jacq-Hergoualc'h, The Malay Peninsula, pp. 454–455.

¹⁰⁶ Jacq-Hergoualc'h, La civilisation, pp. 167–173.

¹⁰⁷ Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) is a dating method employed by archaeologists to obtain a date when a mineral was last exposed to daylight. In the case of Sungai Batu this was conducted on fired brick samples. For more details on this technique see the free download summary provided by the Aberystwyth Luminescence Research Laboratory; http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/departmental/iges/pdf/english_heritage_luminescence_dating.pdf

¹⁰⁸ Zolkurnian Hassan et al. ‘Survey and excavation’, pp. 35–37.

¹⁰⁹ A certain amount of caution needs to be exercised with OSL dates. If the tested bricks were not fired at more than 400 C, an intrusion of the geological age of the clay can occur. Pers. comm. Janice Stargardt 3^rd Dec. 2014.

¹¹⁰ Zolkurnian Hassan et al. “Survey and excavation”, pp. 40–41.

¹¹¹ Email received by author 25^th July 2016.

¹¹² Statistically the sample SB1A and SB1B appears to be too small to rule out margins of error. Higham, Charles et al. ‘Cutting a Gordian Knot: the Bronze Age of Southeast Asia: origins, timing and impact’, Antiquity, 85 (2011) pp. 583–598CrossRefGoogle Scholar, for instance, give an example from Mali where the OSL and radiocarbon dates differ by as much as 400 years.

¹¹³ Chia, Stephen and Akma Mohd Mokhtar, Naizatul, ‘Evidence of iron production at Sungai Batu, Kedah’, in Bujang Valley and early civilisations in Southeast Asia, (ed.) Chia, Stephen and Watson Andaya, Barbara (Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture, Malaysia, 2011), pp. 353–355Google Scholar.

¹¹⁴ Allen, ‘Inland Angkor, Coastal Kedah’, pp. 79–87.

¹¹⁵ Allen, ‘In support of trade’, p. 66.

¹¹⁶ Allen, ‘Historical maps’, pp. 146–147.

¹¹⁷ Allen ‘Inland Angkor, Coastal Kedah’, pp. 83–85.

¹¹⁸ Guy, John, Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist sculpture of early Southeast Asia, (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, distributed by Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2014), pp. 9–10.Google Scholar

¹¹⁹ Kenneth Hall, ‘West coast 9^th-century India maritime diaspora and the Indian ocean trade: the Sthanu Ravi Plates and the multi-dimensional Kollam port-of-trade community in the 9^th century ce,’ in Trading circuits, mobile cultures: Port-cities and littoral societies of the Indian Ocean, (ed.) Elizabeth Lambourne (Mumbai, forthcoming).

¹²⁰ Yijing states that after Srivijaya he departed on a ship to India via Jietu. See Wade, ‘Beyond the southern borders’, p. 30.

¹²¹ Guy, John, ‘Rare and strange goods: International trade in ninth-century Asia’, in Shipwrecked: Tang treasures and monsoon winds, (ed.) Krahl, Regina, Guy, John, Keith Wilson, J. and Raby, Julian (Washington D.C., 2010), pp. 20–21Google Scholar.

¹²² Ślączka, ‘Golden bulls’, p. 71.

¹²³ Ibid; O’ Connor, ‘Ritual deposit boxes’, pp. 53–60.

¹²⁴ Guy, Lost Kingdoms, cat. no. 20.

¹²⁵ Ibid., pp. 75–76.

¹²⁶ Tan, Heidi, ‘Examining Early Buddhist Materials from Srivijaya’, in On the Nalanda Trail: Buddhism in India, China & Southeast Asia, (ed.) Parimoo Krishnan, Gauri (Singapore, 2008), pp. 84–85Google Scholar.

¹²⁷ Dorothy C. Quaritch Wales, and Horace G. Quaritch Wales, ‘Further work’, p. 8.

¹²⁸ See for instance Coedès, George, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, (Honolulu, 1968)Google Scholar.

¹²⁹ See for example, Pelliot, Paul, ‘Le Fou–nan’, BEFEO III, (1903), pp. 248–303CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Pelliot, Paul, ‘Deux itinératires de Chine en Inde à la fin du VIII^e siècle’, BEFEO IV, (1904), pp. 131–413CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹³⁰ Coedès, George, ‘Le royuame de Çrīvijaya’, BEFEO XVIII, 6 (1918), pp. 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹³¹ Wolters, Oliver, Early Indonesian Commerce: A Study of the Origins of Śrīvijaya (Ithaca, 1967)Google Scholar.

¹³² Jacq-Hergoualc'h, The Malay Peninsula, pp. 355–357.

¹³³ Manguin, Pierre-Yves, ‘The Archaeology of the early maritime polities of Southeast Asia’, In Southeast Asia: from prehistory to history, (ed.) Bellwood, Peter and Glover, Ian C. (London, 2004), p. 306Google Scholar.

¹³⁴ Ibid., pp. 306–307.

¹³⁵ Manguin, Pierre-Yves and Indradjaja, Agustijanto, ‘The Batujaya Site: New Evidence of Early Indian Influence in West Java’, in Early Interactions between South and Southeast Asia: reflections on cross–cultural exchange, (ed.) Manguin, Pierre-Yves, Mani, A. and Wade, Geoff (Nalanda-Sriwijaya Series 2. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2011), pp. 113–114CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹³⁶ Kulke, Hermann, ‘Kadatuan Srivijaya – empire or kraton of Srivijaya? A reassessment of epigraphical evidence’, BEFEO 80, (1993):159–81CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Wolters, Oliver, History, Culture, and Region in Southeast Asian Perspectives (Ithaca, 1999)Google Scholar.

¹³⁷ Cited in Noonsuk, Wannasarn, Tambralinga and Nakhon Si Thammarat: Early kingdoms on the isthmus of Southeast Asia (Nakhon Si Thammarat, 2013), pp. 183–184Google Scholar.

¹³⁸ Andaya, Leonard, Leaves of the same tree: Trade and ethnicity in the straits of Melaka (Honolulu, 2008), p. 62CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹³⁹ Sen, Tansen, ‘Maritime Southeast Asia between South Asia and China to the sixteenth century’, TRaNS: Trans-Regional and –National Studies of Southeast Asia, 2, 1 (2014), pp. 32–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁴⁰ John Guy, Lost Kingdoms, cat. no. 157.

¹⁴¹ Hassan Shuhaimi bin, Nik Rahman, Nik Abd. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Early History (Singapore, 1998), p. 108Google Scholar.

¹⁴² Jacq-Hergoualc'h, The Malay Peninsula, pp. 124–125, 328–331.

¹⁴³ Chaisuwan, Boonyarit & Naiyawat, Rarai, Thung Tuk: A settlement linking together the maritime silk route (Thailand, 2009), p. 42–43.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁴ Ibid., p. 52.

¹⁴⁵ Ibid., pp. 71–76.

¹⁴⁶ [Phanuwat Ueasaman], 3-4 2557 ( , 2557) [‘kankamnotayu samai lae lang phraphim dinphao khao niu changwat trang’, nai Kanprachumwichakan khwamkaona thang wichakan kanchatkan sapyakon thang watthanatum kong chat] (Bangkok, 2014), pp. 159–173.

¹⁴⁷ Chirapravati, Pattaratorn, Votive Tablets in Thailand, Origin, Styles and Uses (Kuala Lumpur, 1997), pp. 33–39Google Scholar.

¹⁴⁸ See Jacq-Hergoualc'h, The Malay Peninsula, Fig. 8.

¹⁴⁹ Lamb, Alastair, ‘The bases of glass vessels from Kedah and Takuapa compared’, FMJ, VI (1961), pp. 58–60Google Scholar.

¹⁵⁰ Noonsuk, Tambralinga, p. 57

¹⁵¹ These were originally investigated by Stanley O'Connor, Hindu Gods of Peninsular Siam (Supplementum XXVIII. Ascona: Artibus Asiae, 1972) and more recently by Lavy, Paul, ‘As in Heaven, so on Earth: The politics of Viṣṇu, Śiva and Harihara images in Preangkorian Khmer Civilisation’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 34, 1 (2003), pp. 21–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lavy, Paul, ‘Conch-on-hip images in Peninsular Thailand and early Vaisnava Sculpture in Southeast Asia’, in Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology, (ed.) Revire, Nicolas and Murphy, Stephen A. (Bangkok, 2014), pp. 152–173Google Scholar and Noonsuk, Tambralinga, pp. 74–97.

¹⁵² Noonsuk, Tambralinga, p. 103

¹⁵³ Ibid., pp. 115–117, Figs. 3.6 and 3.7.

¹⁵⁴ For Tambralinga, this is reflected by the so called Ligor inscription. See Jacq-Hergoualc'h, The Malay Peninsula, pp. 242–247.

¹⁵⁵ For instance fragments of a kendi pot in the NHB collection excavated by Quaritch Wales from the Bujang Valley and examined by the author and Professor John Miksic are of a type known to be manufactured at Nakhon Si Thammarat.

¹⁵⁶ Stargardt, Janice, Satingpra 1: The environmental and economic archaeology of South Thailand (British Archaeological Reports International Series 158, 1983), pp. 24, 32Google Scholar.

¹⁵⁷ Ibid. pp. 22-32.

¹⁵⁸ Allen, ‘In support of Trade’, p. 70.

¹⁵⁹ Jacq-Hergoualc'h, The Malay Peninsula, pp. 161–162

¹⁶⁰ Noonsuk, Wannasarn, ‘New evidence of early Brahmanical vestiges in Pattani province’, in Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology, (ed.) Revire, Nicolas and Murphy, Stephen A. (Bangkok, 2014), pp. 177–179.Google Scholar

¹⁶¹ Ibid., pp. 180–181.

¹⁶² Due to the unstable political situation in Pattani province at present, fieldwork is not possible. See Noonsuk ‘New evidence,’ p. 175. For the transpeninsula route see, ibid., Map 1.