An excavated riverside settlement inland of the bay with a large scatter of Song trade ceramics and Chinese coin (board).
The English page 'Brunei-China relations' reports over fifty thousand sherds of the tenth to fourteenth centuries at Kampong Limau Manis. No text names it. It shows how far up the rivers the China trade reached, and that the trade of Po-ni was not confined to one wharf.
Who holds it
- Title
- Headmen of the place (no one named)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source names anyone who holds this place for 1200.
Lord in 1200
Under the king of Po-ni if the realm reached this far (King of Po-ni); nothing says so.
What the town holds
- A landing on a side river
- The goods that came to it from the bay
Allies and rivals
Nothing is recorded; neighbours are the villages and ports along the same coast.
How things stand that morning
Not described for 1200.
Wealth
Chinese stoneware and coin arrive; forest goods leave (inference).
Threats
- A poor monsoon or a failed season
- Raiders from the next coast
Council
No council or court is recorded; headmen and elders decide (inference).
Fairs and markets
Not known; the trade follows the monsoons.
Militia
Not known. No numbers.
Walls and castle
No wall or fort is recorded.
Trade and crafts
Chinese stoneware and coin arrive; forest goods leave (inference).
Places of note
- Sungai Limau Manis: Riverside settlement with Song trade ceramics (position as the campaign board gives it).
Where the sources disagree
- The Wikipedia page's span (tenth to fourteenth century) is not narrowed to 1200 by any source we could reach.
Evidence: Excavated sherds and coin only; the campaign board marks it 'likely'. The span of the sherds (tenth to fourteenth century) is wider than 1200.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: A place marker; the ground round it, if any, is drawn in the lord and province records.
Primary sources for Po-ni
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
- 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
- Description of the Foreign Peoples (Chau Ju-kua), Zhao Rukuo (趙汝适) (about 1225, while superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou). The Song customs officer's survey of the overseas world, compiled from merchants and from Zhou Qufei, a generation after 1200 but describing trade routes that were the same in 1200. 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, 'Brunei-China relations' (read in this pass): over 50,000 sherds of the tenth to fourteenth centuries at Kampong Limau Manis
- Wikipedia, 'Brunei Empire' (read in this pass): the 977 embassy, the Song-era description of Boni, the western Borneo reading (Kurz 2013, 2014)
- The OMNIA board (September 2026) note for this place: a lead only, not a source
- Background knowledge of Southeast Asian history (Wolters; Hall; Bellwood; Scott; Junker; Reid), recalled and not re-read in this pass
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.