Suvarnabhumi

Suvarṇabhūmi (Sanskrit: सुवर्णभूमि, IPA: [suʋɐrɳɐbʰuːmi]; Pali: Suvaṇṇabhūmi, IPA: [suʋɐɳːɐbʰuːmi]; lit. 'golden land') is a toponym that appears in many ancient Indian literary sources and Buddhist texts such as the Mahavamsa, some of the Jataka tales, the Milinda Panha and the Ramayana. Though its exact location is unknown and remains a matter of debate, Suvarṇabhūmi was an important port along trade routes that run through the Indian Ocean, setting sail from the wealthy ports in Basra, Ubullah, and Siraf, through Muscat, Malabar, Ceylon, the Nicobars, Kedah and on through the Strait of Malacca to fabled Suvarṇabhūmi. Ian Glover, Emeritus Reader in Southeast Asian Archaeology at the University of London, has said: “It is widely accepted in the 21st century that Suvarnabhumi as reported in early Indian literature was not a specific location which can be marked on a map. Rather, it was an idealised place, perhaps equivalent to Atlantis in Western history, a distant somewhere to the east of India where traders, sailors, and Buddhist and Hindu teachers went to make their fortunes and spread their teachings and bring back gold and other exotic products desired by a rising elite and the wealthy classes at home.”