How Did Srivijaya Control Asia’s Trade — Then Vanish?

More than a thousand years ago, Srivijaya became one of Southeast Asia’s most powerful maritime states by controlling the movement of trade through some of the world’s most important sea routes.

From Sumatra and Palembang to the Strait of Malacca, Srivijaya connected India, China, and Southeast Asia through a network of ports, rivers, merchants, rulers, and seasonal monsoon winds.

But its story is stranger than a simple rise and fall.