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Revisiting the Bujang Valley: A Southeast Asian entrepôt complex on the maritime trade route

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2017

STEPHEN A. MURPHY
STEPHEN A. MURPHY*
Affiliation:
Asian Civilisations Museum, SingaporeStephen_Murphy@nhb.gov.sg
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Abstract

In the early 1830s and 1840s, a British colonial official by the name of Colonel James Low uncovered evidence for an early culture with Indic traits in a river system known as the Bujang Valley. On the west coast of the Thai-Malay peninsula, the Bujang Valley is today located in the Malaysian state of Kedah. However, it wasn't until just before World War II that excavations took place, conducted by H. G. Quaritch Wales and his wife Dorothy. Their discoveries and subsequent publications led to the first real attempts to explain the origins and extent of this civilisation and its place within the larger South and Southeast Asian world. In the intervening years between Quaritch Wales's excavations and the present day, considerably more research has taken place within the Bujang Valley, though this has not been without controversy. Recently claims and counter-claims regarding the antiquity of Hinduism and Buddhism at the site have arisen in some quarters within Malaysia. It therefore seems pertinent that this material be re-evaluated in light of new scholarship and discoveries as well as the prevailing paradigms of interactions between South and Southeast Asia. This paper presents an updated reading of this material and argues that the Bujang Valley should be seen as a cosmopolitan trading port with substantive evidence for the presence of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , April 2018 , pp. 355 - 389
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 2017 

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References

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.

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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.

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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 25th 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 9th century, (ed.) Chong, Alan and Murphy, Stephen A. (Singapore, 2017), pp. 238–249.Google Scholar

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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 14th 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 15th 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 16th 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.

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44 See Murphy, Stephen A. and Lefferts, Leedom, ‘Globalizing Indian Religions and Southeast Asian Localisms: Incentives for the adoption of Buddhism and Brahmanism in 1st 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) Ve – XIVe 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

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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.

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

84 Ibid., pp. 79–90.

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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.

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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 3rd Dec. 2014.

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

111 Email received by author 25th 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.

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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.

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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.