Image source: Didi Trowulanesia
Highly advanced Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished in Indonesia from ancient times until the 1500s. The maritime kingdoms of Dvipantara were wealthy and prosperous. The gold from Sumatra was traded in Rome. The trade controlled by the Hindu kingdoms stretched from East Africa to Japan.
Hinduism and Buddhism blended with the local customs to create a very advanced system of literature, architecture and spirituality. The fusion of Javanese culture and Buddhist ideas also synthesized, and evolved into a distinct branch of Indonesian Buddhism.
Indonesian culture in the early Hindu Kingdoms
The earliest references to Indonesia are found in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and some other ancient texts from 2000 -3000 BC.
The earliest record is found in Ujung Kulon National Park in West Java. A Ganesha statue from the 1st century AD was found on Mount Raksa in Panaitan Island.
The earliest prasasti (engraved inscriptions) are the Kutai inscriptions of East Kalimantan, from the Kutai Martadipura kingdom. These Sanskrit inscriptions were in Pallava script. Kutai was successively ruled by the kings Devawarman, Aswawarman and Mulawarman.
However, the Strait of Malacca had been the main shipping channel for seaborne trade between China, India and Indochina since human memory, and trade contacts between present-day India and the archipelago were probably already established many centuries prior to the Kutai inscriptions.
The legendary Prince Aji Caka introduced Sanskrit and the Pallawa script in Indonesia around the year 78 AD, which later became the Kawi language and script. Devanagari was also used, as shown in ancient stone inscriptions (prasasti) which are regularly been unearthed from this period.
In seven different places in the country, Aji Saka buried sacred talismans (tumbal) in order to protect Java from evil influences. Saka selected Mount Tidar for the burial place of the most powerful of his talismans, at the central point of the island of Java.
- In 132 AD, Chinese chronicles describe diplomatic relations between Java and China.
- In 144 AD, the Chinese Buddhist saint Faxian landed in Java-Dwipa, where he stayed for 5 months.
Around 502, AD Chinese annals mentioned the existence of a Buddhist Kingdom in South Sumatra, ruled by king Gautama Subhadra, and later by his son Pyrawarman of Vinyawarman.
Sumatra and Java were then named Swarna Dwipa (“the island of gold”) and Java Dwipa.
- In 671 AD, the Chinese Buddhist I Tsing visited Srivijaya to study Sanskrit, where he stayed 18 years.
- When Ptolemy of Alexandria wrote on Indonesia, he described Java as a country with a good system of government and advanced agriculture, navigation and astronomy, which used the metric system and printed coins. He even mentioned the batik cloth printing.
The Buddhist kingdoms of Srivijaya and Sailendra
At that time, the kingdoms of Srivijaya in Sumatra and Nalanda in South India had strong religious, cultural and commercial exchanges.
Srivijaya was then the center of Buddhism in Asia and hosted many famous scholars like Sakyakirti, Dharmapala and Vajabudhi. Indians came to Srivijaya to learn the art of molding bronze statues and broaden their knowledge of Buddhist philosophy.
Sailendra was another Buddhist kingdom in Central Java. During the rule of the Sailendra kings (750-850 AD) the great temple of Borobudur was built. They also built the Mendut, Kalasan and Pawon temples in Yogyakarta.
Shiva statue in Central Java
Indonesia: a Shaivite civilization
The main influence in Indonesian culture for 2,000 years however, was Shaivism.
The Tindi prasasti, created by King Sanjaya Caka in 576 AD describes the cult of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva as the Trimurti.
The most ancient major Shiva temples were built in 675 AD on the Dieng mountain plateau, southwest of Medang Kamolan, the capital of the Mataram Kingdom.
The Prambanan temple complex, which is dedicated to Shiva, was started in 856 AD and completed in 900 AD by King Daksa.
The Sukabumi inscription, dated March 25, 804, describes the construction of a dam for an irrigation canal near the river Śrī Hariñjing (nowadays Srinjing). It is the last to be written using the Pallava script – all consequent prasasti are written using the Javanese script.
Old Javanese, or Kawi, was in use from the date of the Sukabumi inscription until the founding of the Majapahit empire in 1292.
In West Java were the kingdoms of Galuh, Kanoman, Kuningan and Pajajaran. The latter was founded by King Purana with Pakuan as its capital. It replaced the kingdom of Galuh.
The kingdoms of Taruma Negara, Kawali and Parahyangan Sunda came later.
Then we have Purnavarman of Tarumanagara . He left an inscription on stone with image of Vishnupada (Lotus Feet of Vishnu) sculpted on it. His kingdom’s name Tarumanagara was placed under the protection of Lord Vishnu. Taruma in archaic Javanese is another name of Tulasi, the holy basil, beloved of Vishnu.
Image source: Didi Trowulanesia
At the end of the 10th Century (911-1007 AD) the powerful kingdom of Singasari emerged in East Java under King Dharmawangsa. He codified laws and translated the Mahabharata and its basic philosophy into Javanese, as exposed in the Bhisma Parva. He also ordered the translation of the Bhagavad Gita.
Meanwhile, the island of Bali was also ruled by King Airlangga, known as a wise ruler. He had water-works built along the Brantas River that are still in use today. Before his death in 971 AD he divided his kingdom into the kingdoms of Janggala and Daha or Kediri.
Shailendra (“Lord of the Mountain”), was a dynasty that flourished in Java from about 750 to 850 A.D. – After the fall of the Funan kingdom in Cambodia. This kingdom was marked by a great cultural renaissance associated with the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism.
Image source: Didi Trowulanesia
Bharata Yuddha – The Indonesian Mahabharata
During the golden period of the Kediri Kingdom, many literary works were produced, including the Javanese version of the Mahabharata by Mpu Sedah and his brother Mpu Panuluh, published in 1157. The Indonesian culture has a different version of the Mahabharata from the Indian version in many parts of the story.
The Mahabharata was translated into Old Javanese under the reign of King Dharmawangsa. A characteristic feature of the Indonesian Mahabharata is that it gives more autonomy to other characters apart from the main characters – Krishna, Arjuna, Bhisma, Duryodhana. In the Indonesian version of Mahabharata more is said about the character of Shalya.
The Majapahit Empire: the peak of Indonesian culture
The kingdoms of East Java were succeeded by the Majapahit Empire, first ruled by Prince Wijaya (King Kartarajasa).
Under King Hayam Wuruk the Majapahit Empire became the most powerful kingdom in the history of Indonesian culture. It had dependencies in territories beyond the borders of the present archipelago, such as Champa in North Vietnam, Kampuchea and the Philippines (1331-1364).
King Hayam Wuruk, with his premier Gajah Mada, succeeded in uniting the whole archipelago under the name of Dvipantara.
During this golden period of Majapahit, many literary works were produced. Among them was the Negarakertagama by the famous Prapancha (1335-1380). Parts of the book described the diplomatic and economic ties between Majapahit, Myanmar, Thailand, Tonkin, Annam, Kampuchea, India and China.
Other works of the time in Kawi (Old Javanese) were the Pararaton, Arjuna Wiwaha, Ramayana and Sarasa Muscaya.
Downfall of Indonesian Culture
King Jayabaya of Kediri (1135-1157) had made a prophecy in which he foretold the downfall of Indonesia.
The Golden Age of Indonesia finally came to an end when Mohammedans from Gujarat started visiting Indonesia around the 13th century. Along with trade, they propagated Islam among the Indonesian people, particularly along the coastal areas of Java, through conquests westwards to Cirebon and Banten, and eastward along the northern coast of Java to the kingdom of Gresik.
After the fall of Majapahit, Islam spread further east. North of Java, the Moslems waged ‘jihad’ to Banjarmasin in Borneo and further west to Sumatra, where Palembang, Minangkabau (West Sumatra), Pasai and Perlak also slowly converted.
The capital of the Kingdom of Pajajaran was Sunda Kelapa, located in the present capital of Jakarta. In 1527 Sunda Kelapa was conquered by the Moslems of the sultanate of Demak. After his conquest, the city was renamed Jaya Karta (“the great city” in Sanskrit), which is the origin of the present name, Jakarta.
