Silla Kingdom

The Silla Kingdom, which dates from the first century BCE to 676 CE, was located in the south east of the Korean Peninsula. It was one of the kingdoms that made up what is known as the Three Kingdoms (the other two being Baekje and Goguryeo). Although Silla’s origin dates to the first century BCE it was not until the middle of the fourth century that it developed into an ancient state through the incorporation of its neighbours. This period is called the Maripgan phase. Maripgan is the name given to the central ruler during the Silla Kingdom, and it was at this time that the first Maripgan appears. Some time during the sixth century a number of important events occurred. A centralised form of government was introduced, the first legal code was implemented and Buddhism was accepted as Silla’s official religion - before this time there had been no official religion. Silla was renowned for its gold and today we can see the craftmanship and beauty of that in the various gold objects that have survived, including crowns, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings and belts. Silla’s people strongly believed in the afterlife so we see a wealth of goods that were buried with the dead as well as many tombs. The present-day city of Gyeongju, which was the capital of the Silla Kingdom, has a surprising concentration of Silla dated sites including tombs, temples and shrines and these and other sites are included in the five areas that make up the UNESCO ‘Gyeongju Historic Areas’ listing. Silla was in constant competition with Baekje and Goguryeo over the course of its history and eventually made an alliance with the Tang Dynasty of China which led to the conquest of Baekje in 660 CE and Goguryeo in 668 CE. Shortly afterwards, the Silla Dynasty came to an end and the Unified Silla period began.

Unified Silla →

← Gaya Confederacy

References/Further Reading

Ham, S. (n.d.) Gold Crown and Gold Belt from the North Mound of Hwangnamdaechong Tomb. National Museum of Korea.

Korea.net. (n.d.) Unification of the Three Kingdoms under Silla. KOREA.net

Lee, J. (2000) Abstract - Characteristics of the peasant uprising in the late Silla period. International Journal of Korean History, Issue 1. Pages 113-148.

UNESCO (1995) Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/736/