Gangga Negara (literally City of the Ganges) was a semi-legendary Malay-Hindu kingdom mentioned in the Malay Annals. Researchers believe that the kingdom was centred at Beruas and it collapsed after an attack by King Rajendra Chola I of Tamilakam, between 1025 and 1026. According to another Malay annals, the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa known as the Kedah Annals, Gangga Negara may have been founded by Merong Mahawangsa's son Raja Ganji Sarjuna of Kedah, allegedly a descendant of Alexander the Great or by the Khmer Empire royalties no later than the 2nd century.
Origin
Gangga Negara means "City on the Ganges" in
Sanskrit,
[ S. Durai Raja Singam Printed by Liang Khoo Printing Co., 1962 -Language Arts & Disciplines -253 pages] the name derived from
Ganganagar in northwest India where the
Kambojas peoples inhabited. The Kambujas are an Indo-Iranian clan of the Indo-European family, originally localised in Pamirs and Badakshan. Commonly known as Hindu traders, they built their colonies in
Southeast Asia around 2,000 years ago
at the Mekong valley and also at the Malay archipelago in Funan,
Chenla,
Champa,
Khmer Empire,
Angkor,
Langkasuka,
Sailendra,
Srivijaya, etc. Historians found that the Kambuja traders travelled from Gujarat to Sri Lanka and then to Ligor (Nakhon Sri Thammarat) of the northern
Malay Peninsula, overland to Thailand and Cambodia.
Beruas
The first research into the Beruas kingdom was conducted by Colonel James Low in 1849 and a century later, by H. G. Quaritch Wales. According to the Museum and Antiquities Department, both researchers agreed that the Gangga Negara kingdom existed between 100 and 1000 CE
[ Research on the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore, By Faridah Abdul Rashid] but could not ascertain the exact site. For years, villagers had unearthed artefacts believed to be from the ancient kingdoms, most of which are at present displayed at the
Beruas Museum. Artefacts on display include a 128 kg cannon, swords, kris, coins, tin ingots, pottery from the
Ming dynasty and various eras, and large jars. They can be dated back to the 5th and 6th century.
[ Neutron radiography: proceedings of the second world conference, Paris, France, June 16-20, 1986 John Penrose Barton, Commission of the European Communities, D. Reidel, 1987 -928 pages] Through these artefacts, it has been postulated that Pengkalan (
Ipoh),
Kinta Valley,
Tanjung Rambutan,
Bidor and
Sungai Siput were part of the kingdom. Artefacts also suggest that the kingdom's centre might have shifted several times. Gangga Negara was renamed to Beruas after the establishment of
Islam there.
Beruas tree
The district of Beruas has found some royal Acehnese gravestones and this evidence has it linked to another historical source that a
Samudera Pasai prince from
Aceh named Malik rested at a
Beruas tree, this tree gave the area its name where it can still be found in the nearby villages of Pengkalan Baru
and Batang Kubu.
Gallery
File:GanggaNegaraStatue001.jpg|A photo taken from the National History Museum of Kuala Lumpur. An 8th-9th century bronze standing 8-armed Buddhist Avalokitesvara statue found at Anglo Oriental, Bidor, Perak tin mine in year 1936. 79 cm height.
File:GanggaNegaraStatue002.jpg|A 6th century Buddha statues (left) found at Ipoh. A 9th century Hindu priest teacher statue (right) found at Jalong, Perak.
See also
External links
