The island east of Bangka, across the Gaspar strait.
A ninth-century Arab dhow found off its coast with Tang ceramics (from memory, not rechecked) shows that the sea road from China to the strait ran past it long before 1200. The Palembang claim to the tin of Bangka is on the Bangka record; we found no source that gives Belitung to Palembang or to anyone else in 1200, and its tin is a later matter. It is drawn as held by its own island communities.
Who holds it
- Title
- Headmen of the Belitung island communities, not named
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source names a holder for any date near 1 January 1200.
Overlord
None named; Palembang's claim reaches Bangka and is not shown to cross the strait.
What it holds
- The island's coast and villages
How things stand that morning
Not recorded. Island communities; no state attested.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Thin: later ethnography, the campaign board and geography; nothing dated near 1 January 1200 describes the people.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Drawn on the modern regencies (kabupaten) that match the people's later homeland; the boundaries of 1200 are not known.
Sources and studies
- Island histories and archaeology of Nias, Simeulue, the Mentawai islands and Enggano, as the OMNIA board states them; no medieval text names them, and we found none to cite
- Wikipedia (English): Orang Laut
- Nineteenth and twentieth century ethnography of the Batak, Minangkabau, Rejang and Lampung peoples (Dutch and later writers), read back to 1200 as a caution only, from memory, not rechecked
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.