Economy and Commerce
In the world of commerce, Srivijaya rapidly rose to be a far-flung empire controlling the two passages between India and China, namely the Sunda Strait from Palembang and the Malacca strait from Kedah. Arab accounts state that the empire of the maharaja was so vast that in two years the swiftest vessel could not travel round all its islands, which produced camphor, aloes, cloves, sandal-wood, nutmegs, cardamom and cubebs, ivory, gold and tin, making the maharaja as rich as any king in India.
Other than fostering the lucrative trade relations with India and China, Srivijaya also established commerce link with Arabia. Highly possible, a messenger sent by Maharaja Sri Indravarman to deliver his letter for Caliph Umar ibn AbdulAziz of Ummayad in 718, was returned to Srivijaya with Zanji (black female slave from Zanj), the Caliph's present for maharaja. Later the Chinese chronicle mentioned about Shih-li-t-'o-pa-mo (Sri Indravarman), Maharaja of Shih-li-fo-shih in 724 had sent the emperor a ts'engchi (Chinese spelling of Arabic Zanji) as a gift.
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