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Lamuri (or Lambri) was a kingdom in northern Sumatra, Indonesia during the Srivijaya period. The area was inhabited by Hindu population around the seventh century. There is also evidence of Buddhism. The region is also thought to be one of the earliest places of arrival of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago.
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Lamuri is generally considered to be located in the Aceh province near Banda Aceh. It has been suggested to in today's Lambaro, although many now associate Lamuri with Lam Reh where ancient tombstones are found. Accounts of Lamuri have been given in various sources from the 9th century onwards, and it is thought to have become absorbed into the Aceh Sultanate by the early 16th century.
Names
The Lamuri Kingdom was known to the Arabs from the 9th century onward, and named as Rām(n)ī, Lawrī, Lāmurī and other variants. The only mention of the kingdom in Indian sources appears in the Tanjore inscription of 1030 which named it as Ilamuridesam in Tamil. In Chinese records, it was first referred to as Lanli (藍里) in Lingwai Daida by Zhou Qufei in 1178, later Lanwuli (藍無里) in Zhu Fan Zhi, Nanwuli (喃巫哩)in Daoyi Zhilüe, and other similar variations. In European sources it appears as Lambri (for example in The Travels of Marco Polo), Lamuri, or their variants (Lamori, Lambry, etc.).
In the Javanese work of 1365 Nagarakretagama, it is named Lamuri, and in the Malay Annals, Lambri. In Acehnese, the word lam means "in, inside" or "deep", and it is also used as a prefix for many settlements around the Aceh area.
Historical accounts
The first mention of Lambri may be in the 9th century by the Arab geographer Ibn Khurdadhbih who wrote: "Beyond Serandib is the isle of Ram(n)i, where the rhinoceros can be seen. ... This island produces bamboo and brazilwood, the roots of which are antidote for deadly poisons. ... This country produces tall camphor trees." According to Akhbar al-Sin wa'l Hind (An Account of China and India), Ramni "produces numerous elephants as well as brazilwood and bamboos. The island is washed by two seas ... Harkand and that of Salahit." In the 10th century Al-Masudi wrote that Ramin (i.e. Lambri) was "well populated and governed by kings. They are full of gold mines, and nearby is the land of Fansur, whence is derived the fansuri camphor, which is only found there in large quantities in the years that have many storms and earthquakes".
Chinese historical records indicate that ancient Lambri was used as a staging post for traders waiting out the winter monsoon for favourable winds to take them westwards to Sri Lanka, India and beyond. Zhao Rugua in Zhu Fan Zhi said that the products of Lan-wu-li (Lambri) were sappanwood, elephant tusks, and white rattan, and that its people were "warlike and often use poison arrows". In the 14th century, Wang Dayuan noted in Daoyi Zhilüe there were "mountain-like waves" crashing against it, and that the natives lived on the hills and were given to piracy. He also noted that it produced the best-quality lakawood, and later records showed that its king presented the product to the Chinese emperor as tribute during the Ming dynasty.
Lambri was also mentioned by early century European travellers Marco Polo and Odoric of Pordenone. Marco Polo noted that the people were "idolators" when he passed through in the late 13th century. However, it has been argued that the inscriptions on tombstone of Sultan Sulaiman bin Abdullah al-Basr at Lam Reh may be the first documented royal conversion to Islam. It has been dated 1211 (although later date had been proposed), but it is also thought that Islam may have arrived in the area as early as the 8th century. By the time of Zheng He's voyages in the early 15th century, according to Ma Huan in his work Yingyai Shenglan, the ruler of Lambri professed the Islamic faith.
Lambri is thought to be one of the cities controlled by the Srivijaya empire. In 1025, the port was attacked in the raids on Srivijaya led by Rajendra Chola, and appeared to come under the influence of the Tamils. By the 13th century, it was again under Srivijayan control as Zhu Fan Zhi noted that it paid tribute to Sanfoqi (usually thought to be Srivijaya). Lambri also pledged their allegiance to the Kublai Khan according to Marco Polo (the Mongols had demanded the submission of various states before their failed invasion of Java). In the 14th century, Odoric of Pordenone mentioned that Lamori (Lambri) and Samudera were constantly at war with each other. The 14th century work Nagarakretagama listed Lamuri as one of the vassal states of the Majapahit. Portuguese writers such as João de Barros also mentioned Lambri in the 16th century; de Barros placed Lambrij between Daya and Achin (Aceh), but according to Suma Oriental written by Tomé Pires in 1512–1515, Lambry had by then come under the control of Achin whose king was the only ruler in the area.