A curse stone cut in 686 in the formula of the Kota Kapur stone, far up the Merangin.
It marks how far inland the old Palembang paramountcy of the seventh century claimed to reach, and is the only hard evidence for the inland reach of any Sumatran state; it says nothing about 1200. The coordinates are approximate: the gazetteer does not have the village; the campaign board puts it at 1.90 S, and we place it at about 2.25 S on the Merangin between Bangko and Sarolangun. Check before use.
Who holds it
- Title
- Lord or headman of Karang Berahi on the Merangin: the stone of 686
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
not known: no source names a lord, governor or headman for 1 January 1200
How things stand that morning
No lord, governor or garrison is named by any source for 1 January 1200. Treat as a landing or settlement on the route whose overlord, if any, is not known.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board (karang-berahi) lists it as 'secure' under Malayu; the stone belongs to the seventh-century Palembang power, not to Malayu. Its coordinates differ from the campaign board's (1.90 S against about 2.25 S here); neither is checked against a published point.
Evidence: Fair for the stone (a dated inscription); nothing for 1200.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
Primary sources for Malayu
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
- The Leiden grants of Rajaraja I and Kulottunga I concerning the Srivijaya vihara at Nagapattinam, The Chola chancery (Rajaraja I, Rajendra I, Kulottunga I) (the Larger plates about 1005 to 1014 (completed under Rajendra I); the Smaller plates 1090). Background documents for the relations between the Cholas and the Malay world. Read online
- The Grahi (Chaiya) Buddha inscription and the Tambralinga records, Various (the officers of Grahi and the kings of Tambralinga), edited by George Coedes (the Chaiya bronze Buddha inscription 1183; the Nakhon Si Thammarat records 13th century; edited 1929, revised 1961). The peninsula in 1200 has one near-contemporary dated text: the Old Khmer inscription on the base of a bronze Buddha from Wat Hua Wiang at Chaiya, dated 1183, which records the image's casting by order of the mahasenapati Galanai, governor of Grahi, under the king Srimat Trailokyaraja Maulibhusanavarmadeva, a name that is argued to be either a Malayu (Srivijaya) overlord or a local king.
- A Description of the Foreign Peoples (Records of Foreign Nations), Zhao Rukuo (Zhao Rugua) (1225 at Quanzhou). The best single text for the island world around 1200, written by the superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou from merchants' reports a generation after the date. Read online
- Notes in Answer to Questions about the Lands beyond the Passes, Zhou Qufei (周去非) (1178, after service in Guangxi). A Guangxi official's notes, written twenty years before 1200, on the south-western frontier of the Song and the countries beyond. Read online
- The Description of the Country, called the Nagarakretagama, Mpu Prapanca (1365 at the Majapahit court). A Majapahit court poem of 1365 listed here only for its retrospect. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia (English): Srivijaya
- OMNIA board note (a lead only, checked against the sources above)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.