Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3Eliot, Charles
Religion
Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3
Eliot, Charles
Asia -- Religion; Buddhism; Hinduism
The most important records of this period are three Sanskrit
inscriptions found at Koetei on the east coast of Borneo[408]. They
record the donations made to Brahmans by King Mûlavarman, son of
Aśvavarman and grandson of Kuṇḍagga. They are not dated, but Kern
considers for palæographical reasons that they are not later than the
fifth century. Thus, since three generations are mentioned, it is
probable that about 400 A.D. there were Hindu princes in Borneo. The
inscriptions testify to the existence of Hinduism there rather than of
Buddhism: in fact the statements in the Chinese annals are the only
evidence for the latter. But it is most interesting to find that these
annals give the family name of the king of Poli as Kauṇḍinya[409]
which no doubt corresponds to the Kuṇḍagga of the Koetei inscription.
At least one if not two of the Hindu invaders of Camboja bore this name,
and we can hardly be wrong in supposing that members of the same great
family became princes in different parts of the Far East. One
explanation of their presence in Borneo would be that they went thither
from Camboja, but we have no record of expeditions from Camboja and if
adventurers started thence it is not clear why they went to the _east_
coast of Borneo. It would be less strange if Kaundinyas emigrating from
Java reached both Camboja and Koetei. It is noticeable that in Java,
Koetei, Champa and Camboja alike royal names end in _varman_.
5
The architectural monuments of Java are remarkable for their size,
their number and their beauty. Geographically they fall into two chief
groups, the central (Boroboedoer, Prambanan, Dieng plateau, etc.) in
or near the kingdom of Mataram and the eastern (Tjandi Djago,
Singasari, Panataran, etc.) lying not at the extremity of the island
but chiefly to the south of Soerabaja. No relic of antiquity deserving
to be called a monument has been found in western Java for the records
left by Pûrnavarman (_c_. 400 A.D.) are merely rocks bearing
inscriptions and two footprints, as a sign that the monarch's
triumphal progress is compared to the three steps of Vishṇu.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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