Srivijaya's Linguistic Legacy: Old Malay as Southeast Asia's Lingua Franca

Long before the Melaka Sultanate made it a regional language, Old Malay was spreading across Southeast Asia thanks to the Srivijaya Empire. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the linguistic legacy of the maritime empire, from the Kedukan Bukit inscription—the earliest known Old Malay text—to the Telaga Batu curse tablet that reveals Srivijaya's political structure. They discuss how the Pallava script, derived from Indian Brahmi, was adapted to write Old Malay, and how this language became the lingua franca for trade and diplomacy across the archipelago. The episode also touches on the influence of Old Malay on later scripts like Kawi in Java and Baybayin in the Philippines, and how the language's adaptability carried it through the Islamic period into the Jawi script used today. For listeners curious about how an empire that left few stone monuments could still shape modern culture, this episode offers a fresh perspective on the power of language. #Srivijaya #OldMalay #KedukanBukit #TelagaBatu #PallavaScript #KotaKapur #MalayLanguage #Linguistics #SoutheastAsianHistory #Palembang #OrangLaut #Kawi #Baybayin #JawiScript #BujangValley #MaritimeHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo