Kedah, Malaysia – Until six months ago, residents of the village of Bukit Choras, nestled among rice fields near the steep, green hills of the same name in northwest Malaysia, realized that they had lived next to the archaeological wonder all their lives. I had no idea there was. .
Only after a team of 11 researchers cleared the dense brush and secondary jungle from the top of the hill and gently scraped away the soil did the missing piece of Southeast Asia's history become clear.
The 1,200-year-old Bukit Choras pagoda was discovered in Malaysia's Bujang Valley in August last year. Bujan Valley is a river basin dotted with primitive historical sites in the northwestern state of Kedah in the country.
The pagoda is the best preserved in the country and experts say it could hold the key to Malaysia's long history of multiculturalism.
“This site is unusual because it exists on its own,” Nasha Rojiadi Kar told Al Jazeera. Nasha is the lead researcher on the team from the Center for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) at Universiti Sains Malaysia in northwestern Penang Island, and oversaw the excavation from August 28 to September 12 last year.
Bukit Choras is located near the small town of Yan on the southern coast of Kedah state, about 370 km north of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Unlike the 184 sites previously identified in the Bujang Valley in the south, the pagoda is isolated on the north side of Mount Jerai. Mount Jelai was once a headland and an important navigation point for the seafaring traders who settled in the area. From all over the world, as far away as the Arabian Peninsula.
“The role of Bukit Choras is still not well understood. It could have been a military garrison or a coastal trading outpost, but further excavations need to be done. [to assess]. “Based on our preliminary findings, they show many similarities to other sites found on the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra,” Nasha said, adding that the team plans to explore the site throughout the first half of 2024. I plan to continue working on it.
lonely discovery
Nasha said Bukit Cholas was first reported in 1850 by a British officer searching for treasure, and then briefly studied in 1937 by another British scholar, H.G. Quaritch Wales. Wales conducted some small excavations, but he only recorded measurements and reported finding a square pagoda. He has never provided any illustrations or plates for this site.
Almost 50 years later, in 1984, the then director of the Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum returned to Bukit Choras to clean and document the site, but the site remained largely untouched.
“I realized that no one was doing a proper investigation. [since then] And in 2017, we were able to raise funds to investigate the site,” Nasha told Al Jazeera.
“We used electronic waves to physically detect what was hidden underground and found that there were several large structures underground.”
Mr Nasha has received additional funding from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to carry out proper excavations in 2022, and his team will compare them with archaeological sites excavated in the Bujang Valley from the 1930s to the 1950s. I was surprised to discover how well-preserved the ruins are (and some had deteriorated) due to erosion, human activity, and even accidental destruction.
“Initially, we excavated only 40 percent of the entire Bukit Cholas site and discovered a pagoda about 9 meters long,” Nasha said. “But the most important discovery was two stucco Buddha statues in good condition, never before found in this area.”
At the time, Nasha explains, stucco was thought to be found only in Java and the neighboring Indonesian island of Sumatra, as well as in India.
ancient bond
The two Buddha statues by Bukit Cholas, with inscriptions in Pallava (the language of the Pallava dynasty, which ruled southern India from the 3rd to the 8th century AD), are placed in two niches and are unique to other parts of the Srivijaya kingdom. It has architectural features similar to ancient artifacts. From the 7th century AD to the 11th century AD, it flourished in the region from southern Thailand through the Malay Peninsula to the island of Java. These statues are currently being studied and restored at his CGAR on Penang Island.
“The discovery of two intact human-sized statues and inscriptions is of great importance for future research,” Mohd Azmi, director-general of Malaysia's National Heritage Board, told Al Jazeera. “This shows that the site has not been disturbed and could provide new evidence about the history of ancient Kedah.”
The discoveries in Bujang Valley testify to an ancient civilization that archaeologists refer to as the “Ancient Kingdom of Kedah”. It flourished from the 2nd century AD to the 14th century AD, and spread across the northwest coast of the Malay Peninsula into Thailand, even before the arrival of Islam in the region.
Ancient Kedah became rich with international trade and the production of iron and glass beads, becoming a multi-ethnic and multi-religious ancient Southeast Asian city where residents and foreign merchants lived together.
Nasha said the findings in the region are evidenced by the centuries-old history of merchants from China, India and even the Middle East visiting the region for business and returning to their hometowns by ship during the harsh monsoon season. points out that this suggests that he was forced to stay for a long time in Kedah. impossible.
Temples and artifacts were built by local workers combining two main influences with foreign architectural motifs and knowledge.
“The first was Buddhism, divided into areas such as Semering, Sungai Mas, Kuala Muda and Sungai Batu, and the most recent is the temple ruins of Bukit Cholas,” said senior archaeologist and institute director Ashaari Muhammad. explained. Malay World and Civilization, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Mentions some of the ruins in Bujan Valley.
“Other ruins, such as the Pengkalan-Bujang ruins.” [near the village of] Melbok was influenced by Hinduism. This classification is [based on] “It's the discovery of artifacts and temple structures that symbolize the religious beliefs and influences of the time,” he said.
The temples of ancient Kedah all served as places of worship for a mixed population of mainly immigrant traders and workers.
“in [the area of] For example, in Sungai Bujang, most temples were clustered near major trading areas and were used to serve the religious needs of merchants, whereas in Sungai Muda, temples were clustered near major trading areas and were used to serve the religious needs of merchants, while in Sungai Muda, temples were clustered near major trading areas and were used to cater to the religious needs of merchants and local It was catering to pottery workers. I’m building a website,” Nasha said.
“It is similar at Sungai Batu, a major site of iron smelting furnaces in ancient Kedah, where we believe we have found evidence of a community and its temples.However, at Bukit Choras, we believe that evidence of economic activity and industry has not been found yet,” he said.
Archaeological discoveries show that ancient Kedah prospered for centuries, but climatic influences reduced the vast coastal bays and accessible river channels leading to the iron smelters of Sungai Batu, resulting in mangrove forests and tidal waters. It is suggested that the area declined because it turned into a wetland and became impassable for ships.
“Multiculturalism is not new in the Malay Peninsula or in the ancient state of Kedah,” Nasha added. “This trade began in the second century AD, when connections between China, India, and Southeast Asia increased, and continued all the way to the Kingdom of Malacca. We know that the Kingdom of Malacca was also a multicultural society, and continues to exist today. it is continuing.”
Malaysia in the 21st century is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Southeast Asian nation where Malay Muslims make up the majority, followed by Chinese, Indians, and over 50 other ethnic groups living on the peninsula and the northern half of Borneo. . Sarawak and Sabah.
Mr Ashaari said it was important for researchers to work together to better understand the origins of civilizations within and beyond the Malay Peninsula.
“Any statements regarding new or previous discoveries should be considered carefully. […] “Theories, discoveries, and research results are not inherently problematic or controversial,” he said.