kingdom · Maritime Southeast Asia

Gangga Negara

200 CE – 1025 CE (approx.)

A half-legendary Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in the Beruas and Dinding area of Perak, remembered as one of the oldest polities of the Malay Peninsula.

Origins

Gangga Negara is known mainly from Malay tradition, especially the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, and from scattered archaeological finds around Beruas in Perak. Its name, Sanskrit for 'city on the Ganges', points to the Indian cultural influence that reached the peninsula's west coast in the early centuries CE. No inscription confirms a founding date.

Rule and society

Finds at Beruas and nearby sites, including Buddhist statues, beads and Chinese ceramics, suggest a riverine trading settlement exporting tin and forest products. Little is known of its government beyond what later legends say.

Decline and legacy

Tradition holds that the kingdom was destroyed during the Chola raids led by Rajendra Chola around 1025. The later Malay state of Beruas, which flourished before the Perak Sultanate, is often linked with its memory.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gangga Negara. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gangga-negara
MLA
“Gangga Negara.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gangga-negara. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Gangga Negara.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gangga-negara.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gangga Negara’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gangga-negara (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻