The identification of some of Ptolemy’s place-names in the Golden Chersonese
W. Linehan, writing in 1951, undertook a systematic re-examination of Ptolemy’s place-names for the Golden Chersonese (the Malay Peninsula) by combining archaeological evidence, historical geography, and etymological analysis rather than relying on the purely mathematical reconstruction of Ptolemy’s coordinates. The article proposes revised identifications for several key toponyms—most notably locating the Khrysoanas in the Perak-Bernam river system, Sabara at ancient Klang, and Tharra at Bukit Treh on the Muar estuary—grounded in material finds and the geography of ancient land-river routes.
Summary
Linehan’s central methodological argument is that Ptolemy’s latitudes and longitudes, as transmitted through centuries of manuscript copying, are too unreliable for a purely mathematical approach to identification. Following Braddell and Coedes, he advocates a combined method: working back from Ptolemy’s descriptions to the information Ptolemy himself likely received, then checking results against archaeological and historical facts. The article proceeds place-name by place-name through Ptolemy’s Book VII, comparing the identifications proposed by Gerini, Berthelot, Braddell, and Douglas before offering his own.
The most substantial argument concerns the Khrysoanas, which Linehan identifies not as a single river but as the combined Perak-Bernam system, whose lower reaches may have formed a single waterway in Ptolemy’s day. He supports this by documenting two ancient land-river routes linking Perak and north Pahang—the Bernam-to-Lipis route (via the Berseh and the Changkat Perangin pass, marked by the Batu Gajah boulder) and the Kinta-to-Telom route (via the present Cameron Highlands)—and showing that these routes provided access to gold-working sites (Tersang, old Selinsing) and to the concentration of bronze-age, iron-age, and slab-grave finds in the region. The convergence of these routes on the west coast at the Perak-Bernam estuary makes that point a logical terminus for Ptolemy’s “Khrysoanas.”
For the southern peninsula, Linehan identifies Sabara with ancient Klang, citing the Dongsonian bronze drum, three bronze elephant bells, and iron-age implements recovered there, together with the Cham etymology of “Klang” (from klo’ng or galang, meaning storehouse or market) which matches Ptolemy’s designation of Sabara as an emporium. He identifies Tharra with Bukit Treh at the Muar estuary, drawing on the 1916 find of a hammered gold sheet bearing an inscription (possibly in a script related to Nabataean), the etymological link between treh, tera, and Sanskrit tamra (copper, inscription), and the fact that the Muar estuary was the western terminus of the Penarikan portage route. The Palandas is identified with the Johore river on the strength of Roman-period beads found along its course, and Palanda with Kota Tinggi for the same reason.
Key Findings
- A hammered gold sheet bearing an inscription (possibly in a script related to Nabataean) was excavated at Bukit Treh, Muar, in 1916 during water-pipe laying; the finder sold it to a goldsmith for its bullion value before it could be examined (p. 93).
- Roman-period beads (first two centuries A.D.) were found along the Johore river, supporting the identification of Ptolemy’s Palandas with that waterway (p. 95).
- The Klang site yielded a bronze drum, three bronze elephant bells, and numerous iron-age implements evidencing a Dongsonian culture, with the bronze objects likely imported from Funan by sea (p. 94).
- Two ancient land-river routes linked Perak and north Pahang: the Bernam-to-Lipis route (via the Berseh river and Changkat Perangin pass) and the Kinta-to-Telom route (via the present Cameron Highlands), both converging at Kuala Lipis (pp. 89–91).
- No neolithic, bronze-age, or iron-age implements have been recorded from the lower reaches of the Pahang river in Pekan District, which Linehan notes as significant for the identification of the Attabas (p. 98).
- Potsherds, one stamped with a frieze of elephants, were found on the sea-shore near Sepang, Selangor, suggesting associations with an ancient coastal trade from the north of the Indo-Chinese peninsula (p. 95).
Conclusion
Linehan’s definitive takeaway is that a combined archaeological-historical-etymological method, applied with attention to the physical geography of ancient river courses and overland routes, yields more reliable identifications of Ptolemy’s toponyms than either mathematical reconstruction or etymology alone. His most confident identifications—Khrysoanas as the Perak-Bernam system, Sabara as Klang, and Tharra as Bukit Treh—are those where material evidence, route geography, and linguistic analysis converge.
Context
- The article draws on unpublished material including a 1928 memorandum by Sir Hugh Clifford describing the Bernam-Lipis route and the Batu Gajah boulder, as well as Linehan’s own field experience travelling the Pahang side of the Kinta-Telom route (pp. 89–91).
- The study contributes to the historiography of Ptolemaic geography in Southeast Asia by extending Braddell’s programme of identification with new archaeological data (particularly the Klang bronze finds and the Muar gold object) and by introducing Proto-Malay terumba (tribal epic) as a source for ancient place-names (pp. 95–96).