Indonesia like much of Southeast Asia was influenced by Indian culture. From the second century, through the Indian Dynasties like the Pallava dynasty, Gupta Empire, Pala Empire and Chola Empire in the succeeding centuries up to the 12th century, Indian culture spread across all of Southeast Asia.
References to the Dvipantara or Yawadvipa, a Hindu kingdom in Java and Sumatra appear in Sanskrit writings from 200 BCE. In India's earliest epic, the Ramayana, Sugriva, the chief of Rama's army dispatched his men to Yawadvipa, the island of Java, in search of Sita.[12] The earliest archeological relic discovered in Indonesia is from the Ujung Kulon National Park, West Java, where an early Hindu statue of Ganesha estimated from the 1st century CE was found on the summit of Mount Raksa in Panaitan island. There is also archeological evidence of Sunda kingdom in West Java dating from the 2nd-century, and Jiwa Temple in Batujaya, Karawang, West Java was probably built around this time. South Indian culture was spread to Southeast Asia by the south Indian Pallava dynasty in the 4th and 5th century. and by 5th century, stone inscriptions written in Pallava scripts were found in Java and Borneo.
A number of Hindu and Buddhist states flourished and then declined across Indonesia. Three rough plinths dating from the beginning of the 4th century are found in Kutai, East Kalimantan, near Mahakam River. The plinths bear an inscription in the Pallava script of India reading "A gift to the Brahmin priests".
One such early kingdom was Tarumanagara, which flourished between 358 and 669 CE. Located in West Java close to modern-day Jakarta, its 5th century king, Purnawarman, established the earliest known inscriptions in Java, the Ciaruteun inscription located near Bogor. On this monument, King Purnavarman inscribed his name and made an imprint of his footprints, as well as his elephant's footprints. The accompanying inscription reads, "Here are the footprints of King Purnavarman, the heroic conqueror of the world". This inscription is written in Pallava script and in Sanskrit and is still clear after 1500 years. Purnawarman apparently built a canal that changed the course of the Cakung River, and drained a coastal area for agriculture and settlement purpose. In his stone inscriptions, Purnawarman associated himself with Vishnu, and Brahmins ritually secured the hydraulic project.[14]
Around the same period, in the 6th to 7th century, the Kalingga Kingdom was established in Central Java northern coast, mentioned in Chinese account. The name of this kingdom was derived from ancient Indian kingdom of Kaling, which suggest the ancient link between India and Indonesia.
The political history of Indonesian archipelago during the 7th to 11th centuries was dominated by Srivijaya based in Sumatra, also Sailendra that dominated central Java and constructed Borobudur, the largest Buddhist monument in the world. The history prior of the 14th and 15th centuries is not well known due to scarcity of evidence. Two major states dominated this period; Majapahit in East Java, the greatest of the pre-Islamic Indonesian states, and Malacca on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, arguably the greatest of the Muslim trading empires.
1600-year-old stone inscription from the era of Purnawarman, king of Tarumanagara, founded in Tugu sub-district of Jakarta.
A number of Hindu and Buddhist states flourished and then declined across Indonesia. Three rough plinths dating from the beginning of the 4th century are found in Kutai, East Kalimantan, near Mahakam River. The plinths bear an inscription in the Pallava script of India reading "A gift to the Brahmin priests".
One such early kingdom was Tarumanagara, which flourished between 358 and 669 CE. Located in West Java close to modern-day Jakarta, its 5th century king, Purnawarman, established the earliest known inscriptions in Java, the Ciaruteun inscription located near Bogor. On this monument, King Purnavarman inscribed his name and made an imprint of his footprints, as well as his elephant's footprints. The accompanying inscription reads, "Here are the footprints of King Purnavarman, the heroic conqueror of the world". This inscription is written in Pallava script and in Sanskrit and is still clear after 1500 years. Purnawarman apparently built a canal that changed the course of the Cakung River, and drained a coastal area for agriculture and settlement purpose. In his stone inscriptions, Purnawarman associated himself with Vishnu, and Brahmins ritually secured the hydraulic project.[14]
Around the same period, in the 6th to 7th century, the Kalingga Kingdom was established in Central Java northern coast, mentioned in Chinese account. The name of this kingdom was derived from ancient Indian kingdom of Kaling, which suggest the ancient link between India and Indonesia.
The political history of Indonesian archipelago during the 7th to 11th centuries was dominated by Srivijaya based in Sumatra, also Sailendra that dominated central Java and constructed Borobudur, the largest Buddhist monument in the world. The history prior of the 14th and 15th centuries is not well known due to scarcity of evidence. Two major states dominated this period; Majapahit in East Java, the greatest of the pre-Islamic Indonesian states, and Malacca on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, arguably the greatest of the Muslim trading empires.
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