One of the greatest kingdoms in Indonesia history,
the buddhist Empire of Sriwijaya, prospered and grew along
the bank of the Musi River in Shouth Sumatra over a thousand
years ago. Located in the southem-most rim of the Shout China
Sea, close to one of the world's busiest shipping lanes linking
the Far East With Europe, the region's historical background
is rich and colorful.
The Sriwijaya Kingdom practiced a bustling and
lucrative trade with ancient China its era of powerful dynasties
and in 672,the Chinese scholar Tsing recorded that a thousand
monks and scholars could be seen translating and studying
Sanskrit in what is now the regional capital of palembang.
However, few relics of this memorable era remain.
Streching from the foothills of the mighty Bukit
Barisan mountain range in the West Sumatra to the island of
Bangka and Belitung in the East, the province of Shout Sumatra
is relatively flat but very fertile, with numerous rivers
cutting across the landscape and meandering their way to the
sea. Coffee and tea are grown in plantations in various parts
of the province but the area's enermous wealth comes from
oil, natural gas, coal, tin and quartz.
Palembang is still the gateway to the province,
and together with Pangkal Pinang on the island of Bangka and
Tanjung Pandan on Bilitung, provides the region with three
major airports. All three cities have direct connections with
Medan, Batam, Padang and Jakarta and the future will see the
introduction of flights to Singapore. Air-conditioned busesfrom
points north and west of Palembang are also regulary available,
as well as from major cities in Java and Bali.
The province of Jambi located on the east coast
of Central Sumatra faces the Straits of Malaka sharing borders
with four other provinces in Sumatra and has long been a melting
pot for different ethnic groups. The earliest inhabitants
were the Kubus, who were among the first wave of Malays to
migrate to Sumatra. The ancient kingdom of Melayu developed
and grew in Jambi and maintained relations with the mighty
kingdoms of Sriwijaya, Majapahit and Singasari, but was eventually
attacked and annexed by Sriwijaya in the middle of the 17th
century. Encompassing an area of 53,435 sq.kms, almost 60%
of which is forest, the province is hometo a large variety
of fauna and floraand and an exhilarating place for active
and adventurous visitors.
