Srivijaya, also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th to 11th century AD. Srivijaya was the first polity to dominate much of western Maritime Southeast Asia. Due to its location, Srivijaya developed complex technology utilizing maritime resources. In addition, its economy became progressively reliant on the booming trade in the region, thus transforming it into a prestige goods-based economy.

Palembang is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers 352.51 square kilometres on both banks of the Musi River in the eastern lowlands of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 1,729,546. Palembang is the second most populous city in Sumatra, after Medan, and the twelfth most populous city in Indonesia.