maritime trade that centred around Kuala Berang, the place where the stone was discovered. The inscribed stone alludes to regional trade that flourished in the course of Islamisation, with its trading pattern and movement of peoples during that time. While the Islamisation of Terengganu was pursued effectively with the rise of the new way of thinking, it did not completely put an end to the old way of life. The inscribed stone still contained a number of Sanskrit terms, a memorial to Southeast Asia's Hindu past. Discovery The inscribed stone was first discovered by villagers at a steep sloping riverbank of Tersat river, Kampung Buluh, Kuala Berang, Hulu Terengganu in 1887, and was later brought to a nearby surau, known as Surau Tok Rashid. From there, the stone was further moved to Surau Kampung Buluh. In 1902, a Terengganuan nobleman, Pengiran Anum Engku Abdul Kadir bin Engku Besar and his Tin-prospector friend, Syed Husin bin Ghulam Al-Bokhari, came to Kampung Buluh. While they were at Surau Kampung Buluh to perform the Zuhr prayer, they noticed a stone with inscriptions used as a pedestal by the villagers, to step onto before entering the main prayer hall. After the prayer, they requested Penghulu Ali and his villagers to carry the stone on a raft to be brought to the capital, Kuala Terengganu. When it reached Kuala Terengganu, the stone was presented to Sultan Zainal Abidin III who ordered it to be placed atop of Bukit Puteri ('princess hill'), near to the royal palace. The stone remained on top of the hill for 20 years, until July 1922, when the Deputy British adviser of Terengganu, Major H.S Peterson asked a Japanese photographer, N. Suzuki, to take images of the inscription and send them to C.O Bledgen to be analyzed. In 1923, British adviser to Terengganu, J.L Humphreys acquired approval from the Government of Terengganu to lend the stone to Raffles Museum, Singapore. The stone remained in Singapore for 37 years until 1960, when it was relocated to the National Museum of Malaysia. The State Government of Terengganu have been lobbying for the repatriation of the Inscribed Stone to its home state since 1979. On 12 February 1987, the Terengganu officially wrote to the administration of the National Museum, seeking permission to relocate the Inscribed Stone to their State Museum. Only in 1991, the Federal Cabinet granted approval to the request and the Inscribed