Songket is considered to have a long history in Southeast Asia. The luxurious textile, which requires real gold leaves and gold threads to be hand-woven into fine fabrics, is presumably worn in Malay courts as early as the Srivijayan royalty in the 7th century, before spreading to other parts of the Malay Peninsula over subsequent centuries.

Wang Dayuan in Daoyi Zhilue describes the people at Pancur/Banzu (Temasek) as wering “false gold patterned satin wrapped around their heads.” This is traditionally recognised to be a version of the songket.