Contents Kedukan Bukit Inscription

Inscription Kedukan Hill had 604 Saka era (682 AD) and is the oldest inscription dates to the year in Indonesia. Consisting of ten lines, written in letters Pallawa and Old Malay language, each line read as follows:

1 Swasti, sri. 604 Sakawarsatita ekadasi su-
2 klapaksa Waisakha Dapunta Hyang quarterly rise in
3 samwau mangalap siddhayatra. In saptami suklapaksa
4 wulan Jyestha Dapunta Hyang marlapas of Minanga
5 tamwan mamawa that wala two laksa view vocabulary
6 two hundred ways in samwau, street view sariwu
7 telu hundred sapulu two wanyaknya, come on Mukha Upang
8 sukhacitta. In pancami suklapaksa wulan Asada
9 laghu Mudita marwuat Wanua come .....
10 Sriwijaya jayasiddhayatra subhiksa

Modern translation in the Indonesian language:
1 Happy, successful. Saka year 604 passed the eleventh day
2 months Waisaka paroterang Dapunta Hyang rises in
3 boats to travel. On the seventh day paroterang
4 months Jesta Dapunta Hyang innocent of Minanga
5 additional troops bring the two laksa with supplies
6 two hundred and broccoli in a boat, with a thousand runs
Seven three hundred and twelve of them, come at Home Upang
Eight joy. On the fifth day of the month paroterang Asada
9 relieved excited to come make Wanua .....
The trip lasted 10 glorious Srivijaya perfect

The inscription describes jayasiddhayatra Kedukan Hill (travel jaya) of the Kingdom of Srivijaya ruler who holds Dapunta Hyang (Yang Pertuan Hyang). Therefore Dapunta Hyang bring tens of thousands of soldiers equipped with supplies, of course, the trip was not a picnic, but a military expedition to conquer a region. From the inscriptions Kedukan Hill, we get the data:

1. Hyang Dapunta boat ride on 11 Waisaka 604 (23 April 682). There is no description of where the boat ride and where to go.
2. Hyang Dapunta departing from Jesta Minanga September 7 (May 19) by bringing more than 20,000 troops. The group then arrived at the Home Upang (until now still exist Upang village on the banks of the Musi River, east of Palembang).
3. Dapunta Hyang make 'Wanua' dated 5 Asada (June 16).
(Adjustment Saka era to our era is taken from Louis-Charles Damais, "Etude d'Epigraphie Indonesienne III: Liste des Principales Datees de l'Indonesie", BEFEO, tome 46, 1952).

Kedukan Bukit inscription mentions only Dapunta Hyang title without the king's name. In the inscription carved in Tuwo Gutters 606 Saka (684 AD) stated that the king of Srivijaya Dapunta Hyang Park of making Sri Jayanasa decree dated 2 Caitra Sriksetra 606 (March 23 684). Most likely he was the king of Srivijaya is intended in the inscription Kedukan Mount.

A bunch of questions arise: Where lies the Minanga? Really Minanga is the center of the kingdom of Srivijaya, or just the conquered area of ​​Sriwijaya? What does the phrase 'marwuat Wanua'? Is it true sentence that states the construction of a city such as the opinion of many historians? Is it true that the incident was the creation or transfer of the capital of Srivijaya's capital? Thus Kedukan Bukit inscription contain many issues that are not simple. "This text has Caused much ink to flow," says Prof. Dr. George Coedes in his book, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1968, p. 82.

Several interpretations

In 1975 the Ministry of Education and published six volumes of the National History of Indonesia is set as a standard book for history lessons in schools. Part II discusses the Ancient Period, edited by Ayatrohaedi, Edi Sedyawati, Edhie Wuryantoro, Hasan Djafar, Soan Nio Oei, Soekarto K. Atmojo and Suyatmi Satari, the editor Bambang Sumadio. Their interpretation of the content of Kedukan Bukit inscription is as follows: Dapunta Hyang start the journey from Minanga Tamwan, then founded the city that is named Sriwijaya. Maybe once a center of Srivijaya was located in Minanga Tamwan, regional meetings and Kampar Kanan river Kampar Kiri (Indonesian National History, II, Balai Pustaka, Jakarta, 1977, p. 53).

Dr. Buchari, a leading expert epigraphy, in his "An Old Malay Inscription of Srivijaya at Palas Pasemah (South Lampung)", Pre Sriwijaya Research Seminar, Center for Archaeological Research and National Heritage, Jakarta, 1979, dd. 26-28, gives a different interpretation: At first the kingdom of Srivijaya centered Minanga located in Batang Kuantan, on the banks of the River Inderagiri, by reason of the estuary Minanga = = = kuala Kuantan. Then in 682 Dapunta Hyang attacked Palembang and make the city which was then used as the new capital of his kingdom. So in 682 years occurred relocation of the capital of the Srivijaya Minanga to Palembang.

Dr. Slametmulyana, philology renowned expert, in his book Kuntala, Srivijaya and Suwarnabhumi, Idayu, Jakarta, 1981, dd. 73-74, argues that the capital of the kingdom of Sriwijaya in Palembang forever and never move. Contents Kedukan Bukit inscription has nothing to do with making the city Srivijaya, and Minanga mentioned in the inscription was a conquered area of ​​Sriwijaya. Slametmulyana locate Minanga in Binanga, located on the banks of the River Barumun, East Sumatra.

LOCATION SRIWIJAYA

Rev. I-Tsing (634-713), in a voyage from China to India in 671, stopped at the country Sriwijaya six months to learn Sabdawidya (Sanskrit grammar). When he returned home from India in 685 I-Tsing years of living in Sriwijaya to translate Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese. I-Tsing returned to China from Srivijaya in 695. Over on Srivijaya he wrote two of his famous book, Nan-hai-Kuei Chi Chuan Nei-fa (Note Buddhism is sent from the South Seas) and the Ta-T'ang Hsi-yu-fa Ch'iu Kao-seng Chuan ( Note pastors in India studying the Tang Dynasty).

Both the work of I-Tsing each translated by Junjiro Takakusu, A record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago AD 671-695, by I-Tsing, Oxford, London, 1896, and by Edouard Chavannes, Memoire compose a l'epoque de la grande Dynastie Tang, sur les Religieux Eminents allerent qui chercher la loi dans les pays d'Occident, par I-Tsing, Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1894. I-Tsing footage descriptions are also contained in the work of Gabriel Ferrand, L'Empire de Crivijaya Sumatranais, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1922, Section "Textes Chinois", and the work of Paul Wheatley, The Golden Khersonese, University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1961 , Chapter "Towards the Holy Land". Then Oliver William Wolters in his book Early Indonesian Commerce, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1967, correcting translation errors Takakusu and Chavannes.

In both I-Tsing's work provides valuable information about the location and state of Srivijaya. Because he was a long pause in Sriwijaya, his statement is certainly very reliable. I-Tsing Sriwijaya state witnessed with my own eyes. Descriptions are the source of the news first hand. There is no reason for us to doubt the statement that I-Tsing.

The story of the voyage from Canton I-Tsing, in 671 he told himself as follows: "When the wind starts blowing east, we sailed left Canton to the south .... After approximately twenty days sailing, we arrived in the country of Sriwijaya. There I stayed for six months to learn Sabdawidya. Majesty was very kind to me. He helped send me to the land of Malays, where I stopped for two months. Then I went back to Kedah cruise .... Sailing from Kedah to the north more than ten days, we arrived at The Naked Island (Nicobar) .... From here sail to the northwest for half a month, then we got Tamralipti (east coast of India). "(Chavannes, p. 119; Ferrand, p. 4; Wheatley, mm. 41-42; Wolters, dd. 207 - 208).

Way home from India in 685 by I-Tsing narrated as follows: "Tamralipti is where we boarded the ship when going back to China. Sailed from here toward the southeast, within two months we arrived in Kedah. This place now belongs Sriwijaya. When the ship arrived was the first month or two .... We stayed in Kedah until winter, then take a boat to the south. After about a month, we reached the Malay country, which now becomes part of Srivijaya. The ships typically arrive well in the first month or two. The ships were always living in Malay until mid-summer, then they sailed to the north, and reached Canton within a month. "(Takakusu, p. 34; Wheatley, mm. 41-42; Wolters, dd. 227-228 ).

From the description I-Tsing is clear that Malay is located in the middle of the voyage between Srivijaya and Kedah. So Sriwijaya located in the south or southeast of Malay. Almost all historians agree that the country is located in Jambi Malay, because the statue base found in Jambi Amoghapasa there are inscriptions bertarikh 1208 Saka (1286 AD) which mentions that the statue was a gift from the king Kertanagara (Singhasari) to the Malay kings. (See: R. Pitono Hardjowardojo, Adityawarman, A Study of the National Leaders of the XIV century, Bhratara, Djakarta, 1966, dd. 36-38). I-Tsing also say that Srivijaya is located in a large river estuary (Chavannes, p. 176; Ferrand, p. 6; Wolters, p. 226). Then the only place that qualifies as a domestic location is Sriwijaya Palembang.

Judging from archaeological data, pelokasian Sriwijaya in Palembang obtain very strong evidence. Most of the inscriptions found Sriwijaya in Palembang: Kedukan Mount Talang Tuwo, Telaga Batu inscription five fractions, and the stones of the 'siddhayatra'. On one condition that the fractional pardatuan inscription (royal palace). Even more convincing, Telaga Batu inscription mentions a variety of high dignitaries who just might be in the capital or the central government of a kingdom, such as the crown prince, the king's concubines, senapati, judges, ministers, until the cleaning and palace servants. See: George Coedes, "Les inscriptions de Crivijaya Malaises", BEFEO, tome 30, 1930, dd. 29-80; Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis, Inscriptions Indonesia II, Department of Antiquities of the Republic of Indonesia, The New, New York, 1956, dd. 1-46.

Ir. J.L. Moens, in his essay "Crivijaya, yava en Kataha", in TBG, deel 77, 1937, locate in Barelang Sriwijaya located on the equator, based on descriptions I-Tsing that the Sriwijaya person standing in the middle of the day did not have a shadow . But in Barelang no archaeological evidence that is stronger than in Palembang. I-Tsing's statement does not necessarily mean Sriwijaya at zero degrees latitude, but can be interpreted that the Sriwijaya located around the equator. Palembang was eligible, because positions are located at three degrees south latitude (still close to the equator). Keep in mind, I-Tsing China used to live in a country where the midday shadows long enough. Can be understood if he said in Sriwijaya (Palembang) there was no shadow at noon.

Sriwijaya that country does not lie in the equator, but south of the equator, it is evident from the testimony of al-Biruni who stated that the equator lies between Kedah and Srivijaya. (Abu Raihan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni, Persian geographer, visited Southeast Asia in 1030 and wrote travel notes Verification ma li l-Hind (The facts in the Indies). Paul Wheatley, p. 219, translated the description of Al-Biruni: "The equator runs the between Kedah and Srivijaya").

In 1954, by order of the Minister of PP & K Muhammad Yamin, Department of Antiquities conducted research geomorphology east coast of Sumatra. The study states that in the seventh century Jambi and Palembang is still located at the waterfront. Edinburgh has a more strategic position in the control of shipping traffic. The ships from the direction of India, China and Java must pass through Jambi, Palembang while just passed the ships that sailed between the Straits of Malacca and Java. After all, the location of the port of Edinburgh overlooking the open sea, while the port of Palembang just overlooking the Strait of Bangka.

Based on the results of the study, Dr. Sukmono in his "On Localization Criwijaya", Report of the First National Congress of Science, Volume V, Scientific Assembly of Indonesia, Djakarta, 1958, tend to locate Sriwijaya in Jambi. Presumably the opinion of Dr. Sukmono is too hasty. Although Edinburgh is more strategic, it does not mean Sriwijaya be in Edinburgh, because there are no historical sources that say Srivijaya's strategic location. Said I-Tsing, who always stop off the ships are Malays, instead of Srivijaya. So the results of geomorphological studies that proved the country as a location Jambi Malay!

When the newly established Kingdom of Srivijaya in the mid-seventh century, the country's only pastors are often called on China for religious affairs. Said I-Tsing, a Chinese priest wanted to study Buddhism in India should first dwell on Sriwijaya to practice (Takakusu, p. 34; Coedes, The Indianized States, p. 81). In terms of religious Srivijaya was prominent. But in terms of economic and trade Srivijaya and Kedah Malay left behind by the strategic location. That is why at the end of the seventh century Srivijaya waging territorial expansion to master the strategic ports in the Strait of Malacca. When I-Tsing home from India in 685, he said that the Malays have become Kedah and Srivijaya territory. It is clear that the domination of the kingdom of Srivijaya on the Strait of Malacca is not due to the strategic location of its capital, but because the kingdom was able to control the port and the Kedah Malay.

In conclusion, the terms of any type (archaeological data, description of I-Tsing, geomorphology research), there is no other suitable place as a location other than the country of Sriwijaya Palembang. As Prof said. Oliver William Wolters, "Srivijaya Had its capital at Palembang and nowhere else. In support of this location, there is an impressive consistency the between the epigraphic evidence and I-Tsing's records "(Wolters, p. 208. The same conclusion expressed by Coedes, 1968, p. 92).

"MARWUAT Wanua"

Many historians who interpret the phrase "marwuat Wanua" in the inscription Kedukan Hill with "making the city", which raised the presumption that in the year 682 Dapunta Hyang come to Palembang to make the city of Sriwijaya. Whereas in 671 I-Tsing had stopped at Sriwijaya. According to Hsin-T'ang-shu (New History of the Tang Dynasty), the kingdom of Srivijaya has sent envoys to China in the period 670-673. See: Paul Pelliot, "Deux Itineraires de Chine en a la Fin du Independent VIIIe Siecle", BEFEO, tome 4, 1904, p. 334. This means that the event "marwuat Wanua" 682 years the country was not declared the establishment of Srivijaya.

Wanua word has a double meaning: the city (country) and home (buildings). In some language areas in southern Sumatra, until now Wanua word meaning "house", often shortened to nua or Nuo. Prof. George Coedes, in his essay Les inscriptions de Crivijaya Malaises 1930, gives the meaning: Wanua = pays, royaume, forteresse (city, kingdom, home defense). See Coedes, 1930, p. 77. When Van Ronkel initially translating inscriptions Kedukan Hill, he defines Wanua the fortress (the home defense). See Van Ronkel, dd. 20-21.

So the phrase "marwuat Wanua" can mean "make the city" or "make home". If we mean to make the city, we banged on the fact that the city of Srivijaya in 671 already there. Then the only option is to interpret it to make home. In the fractional number D.161 inscriptions found in Palembang, the contents of which are similar to the contents of the inscription Kedukan Hill, writing: ... This temple, in this Wanua (JG de Casparis, 1956, dd. 14-15). It is clear that Wanua (home) made Dapunta Hyang 682 years is a temple (house of worship).

Minanga ISSUES

Inscription Kedukan Hill said on 7 Jesta 604 (May 19 682) Dapunta depart Hyang (marlapas) from Minanga. Therefore he left the army Minanga who rejoice, it is easy to conclude that Minanga a newly conquered area of ​​Sriwijaya. They left Minanga with joy because of the new win-war to return to the capital at Palembang.

Where is the Minanga? Assumption of the drafters of the Indonesian National History Volume II that Minanga situated at the confluence of rivers Kampar Kampar Kanan Left and rooted in the opinion of Prof.. Dr. R.M. Ngabehi Purbatjaraka in the tale of Indonesia, I, Jajasan Development, Djakarta, 1952, p. 35. The reason, "tamwan" comes from the word "Intersection", then Purbatjaraka interpret "the area where the rivers meet". Why should in Kampar, Purbatjaraka not give a reason. This opinion is contradicted by the sniper by prof. Dr. J.G. de Casparis which proves that "tamwan" nothing to do with "Intersection", because the last word has been used in the era of Sriwijaya. In the inscription there are six pieces Gutters Tuwo word "Intersection" (JG de Casparis, 1956, p. 13). Research linguists claim that the word "tamwan" in the inscription is not a place name Kedukan Hill, but who is now a common word "additional", as it said quarterly, sariwu, wanyak and marwuat a month, one thousand, and make a lot.

Opinions Dr. Buchari who said Minanga is Batang Kuantan (Minanga = estuary = kuala = Kuantan) also need to be in doubt. The word "Minanga" nothing to do with the "mouth", because the word "mouth" has also been used in the era of Sriwijaya. In fractions inscription A-16 rows to those found in Kilkenny have the word "mouth". See: J.G. de Casparis, 1956, p. 5. Buchari himself admits that in Batang Kuantan undiscovered archeological records which support his opinion, saying (1979, p. 28), "It has not been found in Batang Kuantan archeological record. But surely there has not been conducted excavations? Who knows there will be no surprises. "

To define a suitable area for the location Minanga, there are several requirements that must be met:
(1) The area is named similar to Minanga.
(2) The area within the Mount Kedukan according to an inscription about a month voyage from Palembang.
(3) The area was strategically located given the expansion of traffic controls aimed Sriwijaya shipping and trade.
(4) In the area there are archaeological remains which prove that the area was once played in history.

Presumably the area suitable for pelokasian Minanga is located on the banks Binanga Barumun River, East Sumatra, as the opinion of Dr. Slametmulyana. Binanga area meets the requirements in terms of all aspects:
1. In the seventh century Binanga still located at the waterfront.
2. The place is ideal for monitoring traffic Strait of Malacca.
3. Where it can be used by fleet Sriwijaya springboard to attack the Peninsula. As said I-Tsing, in 685 years (three years after the conquest Minanga, 682) Kedah was conquered Srivijaya.
4. In Padang Lawas area, near Binanga, until now there Biaro (monastery) Bahal, Sitopayan and Sipamutung. This means Binanga have played a role in history.
5. The name change became Binanga Minanga very possible, because the phoneme m and b are both letters lips (bilabial). The word in the inscription mawa and marlapas Kedukan Hill becomes a carry and unencumbered (left).

CONCLUSION

Based on the description above, the contents of Kedukan Bukit inscription can be interpreted as follows:

On 11 Waisaka 604 (23 April 682) king of Srivijaya who holds Dapunta Hyang boat ride from somewhere to join the army who had just conquered Minanga (Binanga). Then on the 7th Jesta (May 19) Dapunta Hyang Minanga to lead his army to leave the home to the capital. They rejoice because the home with a victory. They landed on the Home Upang, east of Palembang, and then towards the capital. Then on the 5th of Asada (June 16) Dapunta Hyang Wanua decreed the creation of a (building) in the form of monasteries in the capital as a manifestation of gratitude and joy.

Parks should ensure that the manufacture of Sriksetra in 606 Saka (684 AD), as stated in the inscription Gutters Tuwo, still is a series of manifestations of excitement due to the success of siddhayatra (military expeditions) two years earlier.

Therefore the contents of the inscription Kedukan Hill (also inscriptions Gutters Tuwo) recounts the key events in the development of the kingdom of Srivijaya, naturally the inscription was placed in the capital of the kingdom. Thus, inscriptions Kedukan Hill strengthens the evidence that the central government located Sriwijaya in Palembang.

Source: "Kingdom of Srivijaya" issued by the Issuer Girimukti Pasaka, Jakarta, 1983.