Here Are Names and Designations Sumatra Island

In various inscriptions and historical sources, Sumatra is referred to in Sanskrit as Suwarnadwipa ("island of gold") or Suwarnabhumi ("land of gold"). These names have been used in Indian manuscripts before Christ.

IPHEDIA.com - Sumatra Island is the sixth largest island in the world located in Indonesia, with an area of ​​443,065.8 km2. The island of Sumatra was formerly known by several other names and designations, such as Percha Island, Andalas and Suwarnadwipa (Sanskrit, meaning "Golden Island").

The Padang Roco Inscription in 1286 carved swarnnabhumi (Sanskrit, meaning "land of gold") and bhumi Malayu ("Land of Malay") to refer to this island. Furthermore, the Negarakertagama manuscript from the 14th century also mentions "Bumi Malayu" (Malay) for this island.

The naming of Sumatra is said to have originated from the existence of the Ocean Kingdom (located on the east coast of Aceh). It begins with the visit of Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan adventurer to the country in 1345. 

He pronounced the word Samudera to Samatrah, and then to Sumatra or Sumatra, then this name was listed in Portuguese 16th century maps, to be referred to this island, so that it was known widely until now.

The original name of Sumatra, as recorded in historical sources and folklore, is "Golden Island". The term Ameh Island (Minangkabau language, means island of gold) we encounter in the story of Cindua Mato from Minangkabau. 

In Lampung folklore, the name Tanoh Mas is listed to refer to the island of Sumatra. A traveler from China named I-tsing (634-713) who lived in Sriwijaya (now Palembang) in the 7th century, called Sumatra by the name chin-chou which means "land of gold".

In various inscriptions and historical sources, Sumatra is referred to in Sanskrit as Suwarnadwipa ("island of gold") or Suwarnabhumi ("land of gold"). These names have been used in Indian manuscripts before Christ. 

One of the oldest Buddhist texts, the Jataka Book, tells of Indian sailors crossing the Bay of Bengal to Suwarnabhumi. In the Ramayana story, the search for Dewi Sinta, Rama's wife who was kidnapped by Ravana, reached Suwarnadwipa.

Arab travelers call Sumatra by the name "Serendib" (to be precise: "Suwarandib"), a transliteration name Suwarnadwipa. Abu Raihan Al-Biruni, a Persian geographer who visited Srivijaya in 1030, said that the land of Srivijaya was located on the island of Suwarandib. But there are also people who identify Serendib with Sri Lanka, who was never called Suwarnadwipa.

Among the ancient Greeks, Sumatra was known as Taprobana. The name Taprobana Insula was used by Klaudios Ptolemaios, a Greek geographer of the second century AD, precisely in 165, when he described the Southeast Asian region in his Geographike Hyphegesis. 

Ptolemy wrote that on the island of Taprobana was the land of Barousai. It is very likely that the country in question is Barus on the west coast of Sumatra, which has been known since ancient times as a producer of camphor.

The Greek manuscript of 70, Periplous tes Erythras Thalasses, reveals that Taprobana was also nicknamed chryse nesos, meaning 'island of gold'. Since ancient times traders from the area around the Mediterranean have come to the archipelago, especially Sumatra. (ip)