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The operation conducted from November 1992 to May 2001 was done with the cooperation of Bujang Valley Archeological Museum, the Johore Heritage Foundation, lecturers, students and graduates from UKM, Bangi, Selangor, the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, the University of Technology, Skudai, Johore, Putra University of Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, and a few other institutions of higher learning including foreign ones such as the Udayana University, Bali, the University of Gadjah Mada, Yokyakarta, Indonesia, Kan Sai University, Okoyama, Japan, the National University of Singapore, York University, United Kingdom and local communities which had succeeded in coming up with various data. Within this period, a total of 162 squares with a total area of 324 sq. metres and to a depth of between 20 to 230 cm., had been excavated. Although the geo-physical report indicated the existence of archeological materials to a depth of 6 metres, the extent of the excavation had to be limited because of the sandy soil, which could easily collapse. Generally, at a depth of between 180 cm.-320cm., a strata of sand mixed with seashells (Andara Granosa) could be found. This level is related to the historical 'Hoabinhian' culture at Guar Kepah, Paya Keladi, Lahar Tuan Said, Seberang Perai Utara and Tok Soh, Kedah. The excavation found and revealed a ruined structure of a building complex, whose function and identity was yet to be ascertained. This structure was connected to a few others, including the sites excavated in the 1980s in the area of land lot 565 and 566. The few sections found were the floor, corridor, stairs, doorpost, and column base. The building materials used were stones and bricks, alluvial stone, granite, sandstone, river stones, laterite, wood and roof tiles. The most interesting find was a walls or defensive walls, built possibly as a protection against sea-waves. This wall, which was found towards the east, extends from the north to the south. It was made up of laterite blocks and seasoned stones to a thickness of 2 metres, which did not include sections, which had remained underground. Its length and thickness was still uncertain as activities aimed at identifying its extent had not been carried out. However, its architecture and building materials used has much in common with the defensive wall found at Simpor Tambang and Srokam. Besides the building structure, as many as 191,506 artifacts made up of pieces of foreign ceramics, pottery, glass, roof tiles, bricks and stones, metal, resin, bones, cooking tripods, money, and a few artifacts and objects which were yet to be identified. This number did not include artifacts, which was unintentionally uncovered. Broken pottery were made up of the body, base, cover, handle and the spout of vessels was the most dominant artifact. These were of two types: the undecorated and the decorated ones. Its varied decorations pointed to the creativity of the community that used and created them at that time. There were pieces of pottery on which were Sanskrit words written in the Pallava script. This kind of writing could also be found the excavation site at Chandi Bukit Pahat (8A), Mebok , which was usually used for religious ceremonies. Artifacts in the form of broken pieces of foreign ceramic were among the important proofs of the existence of Sungai Mas as an ancient port. Chinese ceramics, such as stoneware, seldom and porcelain, from the Tang Dynasty era (618-906 A.D.) and the Sung dynasty era (960-1279 A.D.), were among the foreign ceramics most prevalent. Besides these, there were 800 A.D. to 1000 A.D. ceramics from West Asia, which were either blue or green, and broken Islamic glass of various colours. In Sungai Mas, beads were among the artifacts that coloured its archeological research. At that time 21,673 beads were found through excavations and 61,680 pieces were unintentionally found. The number and its system of management were entered into the Malaysian Book of Records. These beads, which were made of such materials as glass, precious stones, onicks, cornelian, turquoise, gold, clay, terra-cotta, polished stones, and fish bones, were in all sorts of colours, decorations and forms, testifying to the grandeur of Sungai Mas. Although beads were among the items to be imported, Sungai Mas itself was centre for beads handicrafts and small industries in the Indo-Pacific region just as Kuala Selinsing in Perak was. The broken pieces of West Asian glass were reprocessed into beads. The finding of broken, flawed, incomplete, half-completed, and yet-to-be-drilled beads, and also the raw materials for the making of beads and a few types of beads, which were believed to be unique and could not be found in other areas, strengthened the data for this scenario. In other words, Sungai Mas had the same standing with other beads processing centre in the same era, such as Mantai, Sri Lanka, Khlong Thom or Kwan Likpat (Bead Hill), Thailand and Oc-eo, Vietnam. The historical development and the role of beads in the IndoPacific area was said to have begun from the early century to the 12th century A.D. Based on this development, a series of survey was carried out in few locations in Sungai Mas and its surrounding areas. These efforts resulted in the finding of new sites besides artifacts or ancient materials such as tens of granite column bases, building materials, grinding stonerollers, ceramics, glass and beads. The most important discovery is sima stones, or stones used to mark the boundary of a district or area at that time. Besides these, some of the research, which had been and would be carried out are research on geo-physics, physical and the chemistry of the bricks and stones, beads, pottery, the morphology of clay soil, vegetation and ancient flora, ethno-archeology, column bases, bricks and stone industry, historical landscape of Bujang Valley, Kota Kuala Muda and Istana Pulau Tiga. This follow-up research, which suited the status of Sungai Mas an ancient port-city, uses methods for archeological settlements, city and maritime development, are used to produce reliable data. When referred to data and facts from Chinese, Arabic, Indian and other sources and the result of this research, it is clear that Sungai Mas was an early settlement which had developed from the era of pre-history to that of historical development and had functioned as a coastal port from the 5th to the 19th century A.D., when the grandeur of Kota Kuala Kedah and Istana Pulau Tiga as a centre for administration and trade was destroyed by Siam. The position of Sungai Mas as an outstanding port was the result of its strategic location, as the Straits was the main thoroughfare for merchant ships from the Indian Ocean as well as those from the Far East and the South Seas. At the same time it exploited its position in the calm Equator, where it provided a good stopover for ships waiting for the monsoon to change. The Bay of Merbok, at the estuary of Merbok River, provided a safe harbour. The Muda River provided the network of rivers leading to auxiliary ports or remoter ports. Besides, Sungai Muda provided the connection to the trans-peninsular route between Sungai Mas or Old Kedah, to Lankasuka (Yarang, Thailand) and other states to the east of the Peninsula and vice-versa. Other contributing factors include its abundant natural resources both for the needs of its population as well as for trade, the position of the Jerai Mountain, which provided the necessary landmark for seafarers, as well as its by its sacredness as believed by its Hindu population who thought that the mountain was the domain of their gods and goddesses. The development of Buddhist and Hindu religions were important not only for Sungai Mas but also for the development of governments in nearly all of South-East Asia or South of the Asian continent at that time. This was proven by the discovery of dozens of temples in the Bujang Valley. Its decline was also closely related to the changes and development in the political, economics and social situations of the ancient Kingdoms of South-East Asia. The emergence of new ports as competitions, civil unrest, war and policies of the main foreign nations all took their toll. Sungai Mas not only faced all these problems but also problems from nature. Sungai Mas was located at a flat coastal area or at sandbars, which was open to changes in tides, flash floods and most importantly floods caused by the overflow of Muda River. This mixed stratification was proof that its destruction was the result of the movement of water. As an early conclusion, the importance of Sungai Mas is duly recognized,
but it is important continued research be carried out for the confirmation
of facts. Interpretations, based on limited data are very dangerous.
This is clear because archeological excavations at sungai Mas had
only reached O1 percent of all its historical sites. Many questions
remained unanswered, among them was, were the names synonymous with
Old Kedah, such as Kataha, Kadaram, Kalagam, Qalha, Kalah, Kaca,
Chieh-ch'a located in Sungai Mas? The attack and conquest by Kulotunga
Chola 1 in 1025 A.D. that equalize Kataha to Kadaram in Srivijaya;
was that Sungai Mas? The success of the conquest was celebrated
by the production of tokens with the tiger, bow fish and Sri Chula-narayana
emblem. |
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