Kalingga ( jv, Karajan Kalingga; 訶陵 ''Hēlíng'' or 闍婆 ''She-pó / She-bó'' in Chinese sources) was a 6th-century
Indianized kingdom on the north coast of
Central Java
Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. It was the earliest Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in Central Java, and together with
Kutai,
Tarumanagara,
Salakanagara, and
Kandis are the oldest kingdoms in
Indonesian history
The history of Indonesia has been shaped by geographic position, its natural resources, a series of human migrations and contacts, wars of conquest, the spread of Islam from the island of Sumatra in the 7th century AD and the establishment of ...
.
Historiography
The archaeological findings and historical records from this period are scarce, and the exact location of kingdom's capital is unknown. It is thought to be somewhere between present-day
Pekalongan
Pekalongan ( jv, ꦦꦼꦏꦭꦺꦴꦔꦤ꧀) is a city of Central Java, Indonesia. It was formerly the seat of Pekalongan Regency on the northern coast of the province, but is now an independent municipality within the province. The city is Ce ...
or
Jepara. A place named
Keling subdistrict is found in northern coast of
Jepara Regency, however some
archaeological findings near Pekalongan and Batang regency shows that Pekalongan was an ancient port, suggests that Pekalongan might be an altered name of Pe-Kaling-an. Kalingga existed between the 6th and 7th centuries, and it was one of the earliest Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms established in Java. The historical record of this kingdom is scarce and vague, and comes mostly from Chinese sources and local traditions.
Kalingga appeared in the 5th century which is thought to be located in the north of Central Java. Information about the Kalingga Kingdom is obtained from inscriptions and records from China. In 752, the Kalingga Kingdom became Sriwijaya's conquered territory because this kingdom was part of a trading network, along with the
Dharmasraya and Tarumanagara Kingdoms which Srivijaya had previously conquered. The three kingdoms became strong competitors of the Srivijaya-Buddhist trading network.
[ Mengenal Kerajaan Kaling]
/ref>
History
The Chinese sources come from China and date back to the Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
. In book 222 of the New history of the T’ang dynasty (618–906), it is stated that: ''Ka-ling'' is also called Djava, it is situated in the southern ocean, at the east of Sumatra and at the west of Bali. At its south it has the sea and towards the north lies Cambodja.
The people make fortifications of wood and even the largest houses are covered with palmleaves. They have couches of ivory and mats of the outer skin of bamboo.
The land produces tortoise-shell, gold and silver, rhinoceros-horns and ivory. The country is very rich; there is a cavern from which salt water bubbles up spontaneously. They make wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...
of the hanging flowers of the cocoapalm, when they drink of it, they become rapidly drunk. They have letters and are acquainted with astronomy. In eating they do not use spoons or chopsticks.[Groeneveldt, Willem Pieter (1876).]
Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca, Compiled from Chinese Sources
. Batavia: W. Bruining.
It is stated that the king lives in a town called Djava, Djapa, or Djapo (闍婆). There is also a district called Lang-pi-ya on the mountains, identified by Groeneveldt as Dieng. Groeneveldt argues that Djapa may be referring to Japara, but he does not hold a firm belief in that.
According to the Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zh ...
, in 664 a Chinese Buddhist monk named Huining (會寧 ''Huìníng'') had arrived in Heling and stayed there for about three years. During his stay, and with the assistance of Jnanabhadra, a Heling monk, he translated numerous Buddhist Hinayana
Hīnayāna (, ) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "small/deficient vehicle". Classical Chinese and Tibetan teachers translate it as "smaller vehicle". The term is applied collectively to the '' Śrāvakayāna'' and '' Pratyekabuddhayāna'' ...
scriptures.
In 674 the kingdom was ruled by Queen Shima, notorious for her fierce law against thievery, which encouraged her people to be honest and uphold absolute truth. According to tradition, one day a foreign king placed a bag filled with gold on the intersection in Kalingga to test the famed truthful and honesty of Kalingga people. Nobody dared to touch the bag that did not belong to them, until three years later when Shima's son, the crown prince, accidentally touched the bag with his foot. The queen issued a death sentence to her own son, but was over-ruled by a minister that appealed the queen to spare the prince's life. Since it was the prince's foot that touched the bag of gold, so it was the foot that must be punished through mutilation. According to Carita Parahyangan, a book composed in later period, Shima's great-grandson is Sanjaya
Sanjaya or Sanjay (Sanskrit: सञ्जय, meaning "victory") or Sanjaya Gavalgana is an advisor from the ancient Indian Hindu war epic ''Mahābhārata''.
In ''Mahabharata''—An ancient story of a war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas ...
, who is the king of Sunda Kingdom
The Sunda Kingdom ( su, , Karajaan Sunda, ) was a Sundanese Hindu kingdom located in the western portion of the island of Java from 669 to around 1579, covering the area of present-day Banten, Jakarta, West Java, and the western part of Cen ...
and Galuh Kingdom, and also the founder of Mataram Kingdom
The Mataram Kingdom (, jv, ꦩꦠꦫꦩ꧀, ) was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu–Buddhism, Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established b ...
.
Between 742 and 755, the kingdom had moved further east from the Dieng Plateau, perhaps in response to the Buddhist Sailendras.[
]
Inscriptions
The Tukmas inscription was estimated to be originated from Kalingga period. It was discovered on the western slope of Mount Merapi
Mount Merapi, ''Gunung Merapi'' (literally Fire Mountain in Indonesian and Javanese), is an active stratovolcano located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active ...
, at Dusun Dakawu, Lebak village, Kecamatan Grabag, Magelang Regency, Central Java, and is written in Pallava script
The Pallava script or Pallava Grantha, is a Brahmic script, named after the Pallava dynasty of South India, attested since the 4th century AD. As epigrapher Arlo Griffiths makes clear, however, the term is misleading as not all of the relevant ...
in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
tells about a clear spring water that is so sacred that adored as the analogue of holy Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
's source in India. The inscription also bears Hindu signs and imageries, such as '' trisula'', '' kamandalu'' (water jar), '' parashu'' (axe), ''kalacengkha'' (shell), ''chakra
Chakras (, ; sa , text=चक्र , translit=cakra , translit-std=IAST , lit=wheel, circle; pi, cakka) are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or ...
'' and '' padma'' (red lotus), those are symbols of Hindu gods
Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati.
The deities of Hinduism have evol ...
.[IPS Terpadu Kelas VII SMP/MTs, Penerbit Galaxy Puspa Mega:Tim IPS SMP/MTs.]
Another inscription dated from around the same period is Sojomerto inscription, discovered in Sojomerto village, Kecamatan Reban, Batang Regency, Central Java. It is written in Kavi script in Old Malay
Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian language family. Over a period of two millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development that derived from different layers of foreign influen ...
language, estimated dated from 7th century. The inscription tell about a ruler named Dapunta Selendra, son of Santanu and Bhadrawati, and husband of Sampula. Indonesian historian Prof. Drs. Boechari suggested that Dapunta Selendra was the ancestor of Sailendras that later rule in Mataram Kingdom
The Mataram Kingdom (, jv, ꦩꦠꦫꦩ꧀, ) was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu–Buddhism, Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established b ...
.
Both inscriptions suggest that c. 7th century on the northern coast of Central Java, once flourish a Hindu Shivaist kingdom, today identified as Kalingga kingdom. Some oldest Javanese candi
Candi may refer to:
* Candi of Indonesia, an Indonesian word for ''stupa'' (Buddhist temple, also used for Hindu temples in Indonesia)
* Candi, Sidoarjo, a subdistrict of Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia
* Candi & The Backbeat, a Canadian dance band ...
s are also can be found in mountainous surrounding areas on northern Central Java, such as the Hindu temples of Dieng Plateau, and Gedong Songo temples, but they are probably built in later period, during the early Mataram Kingdom. Historian suggested that there was a link between this old kingdom with later kingdom flourish in Southern Central Java Kedu Plain, the Sailendra of Mataram Kingdom
The Mataram Kingdom (, jv, ꦩꦠꦫꦩ꧀, ) was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu–Buddhism, Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established b ...
.
References
{{Precolonial states in Indonesia
Former countries in Indonesian history
History of Central Java
Indianized kingdoms
Precolonial states of Indonesia
Medieval Hindu kingdoms
Hindu Buddhist states in Indonesia
7th century in Indonesia
6th century in Indonesia
Former kingdoms