Editing Sumatra (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Malay Kingdoms en.svg|thumb|Before it was known as Sumatra, the region was referred to as ''Melayu'' (also known as Malay in [[English language|English]]), named after the ancient [[Melayu Kingdom]] based in [[Jambi]]. The name Melayu appeared in early historical records, including inscriptions and Chinese chronicles, before being replaced by Sumatra in the 14th century.<ref>{{citation | last = Milner | first = Anthony | title = The Malays (The Peoples of South-East Asia and the Pacific) | pages = 18–19| publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-1-4443-3903-1 }}</ref>]]
Sumatra was known in ancient times by the [[Sanskrit]] names of {{lang|sa-Latn|Svarṇadvīpa}} ('Island of Gold') and {{lang|sa-Latn|Svarṇabhūmi}} ('Land of Gold'), because of the gold deposits in the island's [[Highland|highlands]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Kingdom of Words: Language and Power in Sumatra|last=Drakard|first=Jane|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=983-56-0035-X}}</ref> The earliest known mention of the current form "Sumatra" was in 1017, when the [[Srivijaya|local]] king [[Haji Sumatrabhumi]] ("king of the land of Sumatra")<ref>{{Cite book|last=Munoz|first=Paul Michel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NqwuAQAAIAAJ&q=+Sumatrabhumi|title=Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula|date=2006|publisher=Continental Sales, Incorporated|isbn=978-981-4155-67-0|language=en}}</ref> sent an envoy to [[China]]. [[Arab]] geographers referred to the island as {{lang|ar-Latn|Lamri}} (''[[Lamuri]]'', ''Lambri'' or ''Ramni'') in the tenth through thirteenth centuries, in reference to a kingdom near modern-day [[Banda Aceh]] which was the first landfall for traders. The island has also been known by other names, including ''Andalas''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marsden |first=William |title=The History of Sumatra |publisher=Longman |year=1783 |location=Dutch |pages=5}}</ref> or ''Percha Island''.<ref>{{Cite book | title=Historical Atlas of Indonesia| last=Cribb| first=Robert| publisher=Routledge| year=2013| pages=249}}</ref> Scholars suggest that mention of Suwarnadwipa in the Hindu Epic the ''[[Ramayana]]'' may be a reference to Sumatra. According to experts on ''[[Ramayana|The Ramayana]],'' the epic is one of the first sources to document the relationship between India and the Indonesian archipelago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Putrawan |first=I Nyoman Alit |date=April 20, 2023 |title=THE VALUE OF RELIGIOUS MODERATION IN THE RAMAYANA EPIC |url=https://conference.uhnsugriwa.ac.id/index.php/icohis/article/view/2 |journal=International Conference on Hindu Studies |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=8 |via=Google Scholar}}</ref>

In the late 13th century, [[Marco Polo]] referred to the kingdom as {{lang|vec|Samara}}, while his contemporary fellow Italian traveller [[Odoric of Pordenone]] used the form {{lang|it|Sumoltra}}. Later in the 14th century the local form "Sumatra" became popular abroad due to the rising power of the kingdom of [[Samudera Pasai Sultanate|Samudera Pasai]] and the subsequent [[Aceh Sultanate|Sultanate of Aceh]].<ref name=sneddon>{{Cite book| last = Sneddon| first = James N.| title = The Indonesian language: its history and role in modern society| publisher = UNSW Press| year = 2003| page = 65| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A9UjLYD9jVEC&pg=PA65| isbn = 9780868405988| access-date = 16 December 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160529081804/https://books.google.com/books?id=A9UjLYD9jVEC&pg=PA65| archive-date = 29 May 2016| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Macdonell |first=Arthur Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laIPgMQF_XsC&pg=PA347 |title=A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary with Transliteration, Accentuation, and Etymological Analysis |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publications |year=1924 |isbn=9788120820005 |page=347 |access-date=16 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506234650/https://books.google.com/books?id=laIPgMQF_XsC&pg=PA347&lpg=PA347 |archive-date=6 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

From then on, subsequent European writers mostly used ''Sumatra'' or similar forms of the name for the entire island.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8lYJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA86 |title=Cathay and the Way Thither: Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Issue 36 |year=1866 |editor=Sir Henry Yule |pages=86–87 |access-date=21 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221114105/https://books.google.com/books?id=8lYJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA86 |archive-date=21 February 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Marsden |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yx5MAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA10 |title=The History of Sumatra: Containing an Account of the Government, Laws, Customs and Manners of the Native Inhabitants, with a Description of the Natural Productions, and a Relation of the Ancient Political State of That Island |date=1811 |pages=4–10 |access-date=21 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222054646/https://books.google.com/books?id=Yx5MAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA10 |archive-date=22 February 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>