One of the indigenous religions in Suvarnadvipa was Malim. The faith combined the worship of deities with an animistic belief of the spirits of the dead as well as objects with supernatural powers. The followers of the faith—Permalim—mainly lived in remote areas and hinterlands north of the island but some of them lived humbly in urban villages in Palembang vicinity. They could be easily distinguished from other people by their outfit: black clothings and white turban, though they did not have any relation with Muslims.
During the religion restriction policy of Maharaja Sumatrabhumi, the Permalim were fortunately uninterrupted since they didn’t have any public worship place—they practiced their faith at home. But their peace was then smeared by the visit of the palace’s messenger. The palace accused the Permalim of Palembang of treason; the palace believed that they somehow help the Mongol in the Battle of Indrapura by supplying the Mongols Srivijayan’s battle strategies. The chiefs of the Permalim were ordered to attend the court of Palembang to stand trial.
The Permalim were obviously outraged toward the accusation since none of its people ever had any contact with the mentioned empire. They did not even know such empire existed. Therefore, believing they did not commit any act of betrayal, the Permalim did not abide the order. Instead, they secretively armed their people to anticipate any clash. The refusal to cooperate and the hostility initiated a siege of the villages by the rakshin. Considering the situation, the chiefs understood that any clash will turn ugly for the Permalim as thousands of rakshin surrounded the villages—thus they surrendered unconditionally.
The Permalim chiefs agreed to attend the trial but the rakshin leader said that Maharaja had passed his judgment. That day, almost nine hundred Permalim men were massacred by the rakshin. The weapons that had been prepared by the Permalim proved useless to match the more superior rakshin. The city watch hunted every Permalim who hide and try to run; killed the ones who resisted and dragged the ones who plead for mercy. They were then gathered in the square and beheaded one by one. The killing began early in the day, ended in torchlight. To separate men from boys, the rakshin examined each person. Those who had begun to grow pubic hair were killed, and those who had not were spared. The women and the children were spared too, but some were reported raped and beaten. They were also forced to convert to Srivādism and served as slaves in the Candi construction.
To lose hundreds of men in a battlefield was something; but having hundreds of men killed by their own king was another thing. On that sorrowful day, every Srivijayans shivered though obviously they did know what that was all about. The smell of fear hung in the air of Palembang since every one of the common folks thought they could unluckily stumble upon the same fate as the Permalim. The bitter truth had become undeniable: their enemy was closer than they thought.