Kuala Lumpur, March 6 (ANI): Archaeologists in Malaysia have discovered the main site of an ancient kingdom that predates the Angkor temples of Cambodia and could be the oldest civilization in the region.According to a report in Taipei Times, archeological team leader professor Mokhtar Saidin said the find, which could lead to a rewriting of history books on the region, was made in two palm oil plantations in northern Kedah State last month.
He said that buildings found at the site indicate it was part of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Bujang which existed in the area some time in the third century, predating the Angkor civilization of Cambodia which flourished from the 12th to 14th centuries.
“We have dated artifacts from what we believe are an administration building and an iron smelter to 1,700 BP (250AD), which sets the Bujang civilization between the third and fourth century AD,” Saidin said.
“We have only one date so far so we can say it is one of the earliest civilizations in the region, but with more dates, we will be able to verify whether it is the oldest civilization in the region,” he added.
Mokhtar said the iron smelter was a surprise find as it showed that such an early civilization was already quite advanced technologically. “We have 30 more mounds at the site that have to be excavated and we are hoping to also find the port area for the kingdom as it was near the sea,” he said.
“This will give us a clue to how the civilization was trading and influenced by China and India, who would have been the two main powers back then to have influenced development in this region,” he added.
Malaysian archeologists last month also announced the discovery of stone tools they believe are more than 1.8 million years old and the earliest evidence of human ancestors in Southeast Asia. The stone hand-axes were discovered last year in the historical site of Lenggong in northern Perak State, embedded in a type of rock formed by meteorites. (ANI)
Source: http://www.duniyalive.com/?p=4935
I think this is a very good article which has more truth than what appeared in the Malaysian press. As it is most of the time, the government- controlled media will conveniently omit any reference to non-islamic discoveries. As far as I know it is a commonly known fact that the state of Kedah was originally a Hindu kingdom called Kadaram and that there are still some pre-historic sites preserved but kept at low profile. I hope that this time the authorities are honest and transparent to reveal the real findings as they unearth more of this kingdom. I think malaysia should be proud of this heritage or any heritage for that matter regardless of what religion or culture it is from. History is something we should all be proud of !
ReplyDeleteYes,we the Kedah Malays are also very excited about the findings because much has been said about it in the original Malay Chronicles (Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa), not those ‘deliberately misinterpreted’ by the British during their colonization to erase any clues on King Solomon(Muslim’s Prophet Sulaiman a.s.). Furthermore, Sultan Mudzafar Shah’s grave( the 1st Sultan of Kedah to convert to Islam) is just walking distance from Prof Mokhtar’s site! His Hindu name was Raja Durbar Raja (Durbar as in Durbar Pattan Square, Nepal) and his Buddhist name was Phra Ong Mahawangsa.
ReplyDeleteSome help for those who’d like to know more on this;
CGAR’s blog on the recent sungai batu site;
www.arkeosungaibatu.blogspot.com
A blog with some informations on the original HMM;
hmm-asal.blogspot.com
Its advisable to start reading from ‘Mengapa HMM asal perlu didedahkan’ to ‘HMM; Senjata Dakwah yang difitnah penjajah’
I think the word WANGSA is derived from Sanskrit WAMSA meaning clan or tribe
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