Western Java's history written on stones

Western Java's history written on stones

By Ida Indawati Khouw

Many may be unaware that flood problems in the capital date
back to ancient times. The evidence is on ancient boulders, which
also show that Jakarta was part of the Tarumanagara kingdom. This
is the 32nd article in a special series on Jakarta and its
historical sites and buildings, appearing in the Saturday edition
of The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): The capital, along with neighboring Bogor and
the Banten area, once formed part of Tarumanagara, the oldest
kingdom in Java.

Jakarta was the site of the most important ancient monument,
the Tugu, one of seven stone monuments dating back to the
kingdom.

Tarumanagara existed between the fifth century and the seventh
century. The area where the substantial monument was found was a
village of Batu Tumbuh in present-day Tugu subdistrict in North
Jakarta.

Besides praising the revered Tarumanagara King Purnawarman,
the opal-shaped Tugu boulder told of the digging of a water
channel, called Gomati, near the place where the monument was
found.

The stone also described another water channel, Candrabhaga,
also built during the era of the kingdom. It is believed the two
channels were near the present Cakung River in the Tugu area.

The story, which was written in the South Indian Pallava
script of the Sanskrit language, said the digging of the 11-
kilometer Gomati "river" which passed through the Brahman
priests' lodgings was completed within 21 days and the priests
were rewarded with 1,000 sheep.

The boulder does not tell the purpose of the project, but
experts surmise it was to cope with flooding or an irrigation
system for crops.

Experts say the historical evidence makes it unsurprising that
modern-day Jakarta is drenched by devastating floods during the
annual rainy season.

The evidence is slim, but archeologist Hasan Djafar from the
University of Indonesia said the two ideas about the use of the
channels seemed the most reasonable.

"The surface of Jakarta's land is one meter to two meters
lower than the sea level, compared to centuries ago when some
areas were equal to the level. So, it's reasonable to assume that
flooding also occurred in the fifth century like this year."

He speculated that residents were also involved in farming
during the kingdom era.

"Hulls of rice used as a mixture for bricks of ancient temples
were found at the archeological sites of Cibuaya and Batujaya
villages in Bogor (West Java)," he said.

"It indicates that hulls of rice were abundant, meaning that
paddy fields existed at that time."

Historian Adolf Heuken questioned whether the original
construction was a river.

"It's so surprising that an 11-kilometer river could be built
within only 21 days, or it is just a ditch?" he said in his book
Sumber-sumber Asli Sejarah Jakarta (The Original Sources of
Jakarta History).

But the king's prize of 1,000 sheep indicated that the project
was a great achievement, he said.

Heuken said the project showed that people at the time had the
capability of digging long water channels, and were also able to
breed livestock.

Besides the Pallava scripts, a picture of a priest's trident
rod was also carved in the monument, functioning to separate the
beginning and the end of lines, Heuken said.

"It could be that the rod has symbolic or magical meaning," he
said.

The stone was found in 1879 at Batu Tumbuh, which literally
means "emerging stone".

"It is said that the stone appeared suddenly after a monthlong
period of rain. I think the monument appeared after the soil was
eroded by rain," said a resident of the Tugu area, Samuel Quico.

Hasan said Tugu subdistrict, and thus the present Jakarta
area, was only part of the kingdom, which spanned over much of
present day Jakarta -- ranging from Banten in the west, Karawang
in the east and Sukabumi in the south.

Experts are still searching for the kingdom's capital as no
archeological proof has been uncovered. Many believe it was at
the Tugu area but others consider the likely site in Bekasi,
about 40 kilometers east of Jakarta.

It is also notable that the seven monuments dating back to the
third century only mention one king, Purnawarman.

Four other monuments at Bogor's Ciaruteun, Kebon Kopi and
Jambu, and Cidanghiang in the Pandeglang area about 120
kilometers southwest of Jakarta, also praise Purnawarman as a
great and powerful king.

Images on two other stones, the Muara Cianten and Pasir Awi
monuments of Bogor, remain indecipherable up to the present.

The eight-ton Ciaruteun stone was named after the river where
it was found in 1863. It is now well protected by the Bogor
administration, which built a structure to protect the stone from
the elements.

It is not easy to reach remote Kampung Muara village --
visitors must use a muddy, unpaved road, and pass along a wooden
bridge with some of its slats missing.

The four lines written in Pallava tell of two footprints
carved in it, and note their similarity to those of the Hindu god
Vishnu, "These are the footprints of His Majesty Purnawarman, the
brave king," the inscription reads.

Unfortunately, inscriptions bearing no relation to history --
such as "Ina, I love you" -- have been written on the stone.

Located nearby is the Kebon Kopi stone with the engraving of a
couple of big footprints of Purnawarman, akin to those of the
strong Airwata elephant.

Footprints and more praise of Purnawarman are also at the
Jambu monument. The Cidanghiang stone bears only two lines of
inscription about Purnawarman, who is proclaimed the standard for
rulers around the world.

Hasan said the footprints found at almost of the monuments
have been interpreted by some as a seal, while others believed
they were a fertility symbol.

He said Purnawarman's identification with Vishnu showed that
the king was Hindu.

"Based on reports from China, written by traveler Fa Hsien, it
was known that the Tarumanagara people followed Hindu and
Buddhist teachings. But he also found some professed 'dirty'
religion, probably referring to prehistoric beliefs."

Another interesting aspect is that the scripts were written in
Pallava/Sanskrit, proving that Tarumanagara was exposed to
foreign cultures.

It is unclear what language was used by the local population,
of Mongoloid and Australoid-Melanoid extraction.

"The local language is probably what developed into the
Sundanese or Javanese languages," Hasan said.

Research has failed to reveal exactly when Tarumanagara came
to an end.

"At present it is believed that the kingdom finally related to
the expansion of the Buddhist Sriwijaya kingdom from Sumatra, as
shown by Kota Kapur monument of Bangka island," Hasan said. "It
dates back to year 686 and says that Sriwijaya did its utmost to
subjugate Java which did not bow to Sriwijaya."