| Abstract: |
The paper focuses on an aspect of the ancient history of Java, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, namely the role of the Śailendra dynasty. It analyses the main sources mentioning this clan, i.e. Central Javanese and Indian inscriptions, and contemporary debates on the number of dynasties on Central Java in the eighth‐to‐ninth centuries and the relations between the Śailendras and Srivijaya. There are three main questions: What role did the Śailendras play in Central Java
what were their relations with Srivijaya
and what was the origin of this dynasty? The paper argues that the dynasty of Śailendras was of Javanese origin and the first ruler who was undoubtedly a Śailendra was Panankarana. In fact, there was no difference between the so‐called Sañjaya dynasty and the Śailendras. The expansion of Panankaranas power reached the Malay Peninsula where he left the famous inscription from Chaiya (also known as the Ligor stele). The relatives of the Śailendras also held sway over Kedah in Malaysia in the later tenth‐to‐early eleventh centuries.
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