The Old kingdoms and the Coming Of Is

about 100
"Dvipantara" or "Jawa Dwipa" kingdom is reported by Indian scholars to be in Java and Sumatra. Prince Aji Saka intAoduces writing system to Java based on scripts of southern India. Hindu kings rule the area around Kutai on Kalimantan. "Langasuka" kingdom founded around Kedah in Malaya.

about 130
Salaka or Salanka kingdom, Salakanegara, is founded in West Java.


about 400
Taruma kingdom or Tarumanegara flourishes in West Java.
In these early days, mamy new plants were introduced into Indonesia, including pepper and teak. The Naskah Wangsakerta, a document written in Cirebon many years later, mentions the first king of Tarumanegara as taking power in the year 358, and lists a line of kings through 669.

about 425
Buddhism reaches Sumatra.
Records from these days in Indonesia are scarce, but we do know that sophisticated cultures already existed. The kings and cities of Sumatra and Java are mentioned in records from China, because ambassadors were sent thers. Arabs and Persians knew about the area from traders, and even the Greeks and Romans had very distant reports.

Records from inside Indonesia are very few, though, since writing was done on palm leaves and other materials that did not surcice well. Much of our knowledge comes from stone buildings and inscriptions. By the time we start to get a clear history of Java and Sumatra, there are already great buildings in stone, fine sculptures, classical music and dance, mush as we know them today.

about 600
Melayu kingdom flourishes aroung present -day Jambi on Sumatra
Chinese records from aroung this time mention kingdoms at Jambi and Palembang on Sumatra, and three kingdoms on Java, a western kingdom related to the Taruma of inscripitions, a central kingdom called "Kalinga", and an eastern kingdom with a capital perhaps near Surabaya or Malang.

about 670
Chinese traveller I Ching visits Palembang, capital of Srivijaya. Hindu temples built in the high Dieng plateau of central Java. About this time, the first Sunda kingdom rises after the end of the Tarumanegara kingdom.

about 686
Srivijaya takes the Melayu kingdom at Jambi, and sends an expedition against the kingdoms in Java.
Stone tablets dated 683 and 686 from southern Sumatra and Bangka describe the military campaigns of Srivijaya against Melayu and Java. They are the oldest known writings in any Malayo-Polynesian language.

about 700
Suwawa kingdom flourishes in North Sulawesi. By now, Srivijaya had also conquered Kedah, on the Malay peninsula.

about 732
Sanjaya founds the Sanjaya line of princes in central Java.

about 770
Sailendra King Vishnu (or Dharmatunga) begins building Borobudur. Beginning of building activity on the plain of Prambanan.

about 790
Silendra kingdom attacks and defeats Chenia (today Cambodia); rules over Chenia for about 12 years. The Sailendra kings remembered that teir ancestors came from what is now Thailand or Cambidia.

about 812
Sailendra king Indra is succeeded by Samaratunga.

about 825
Borobudur is finished under king Samaratunga.
Note: Borobudur is a huge Buddhist monument covering a volcanic hill a few miley between present-day Magelang and Yogyakarta. It is in levels representing the stages to enlightenment. The large central stupa is empty. The many beatufil relief sculptures may have been used to educate young monks.

about 835
Samaratunga passes away. His young son Balapatura has the throne taken from him by the father of his sister's husband, Patapan of Sanjaya, who replaces Buddhism on Java with Hinduism.

about 850
Pikatan defeats forces of Balaputra, then resigns the throne to become an ascetic. He is succeeded by Kayuwani. Balaputra, claimant to the Sailendra thore, escapes to Sumatra and takes power in Sriwijaya. King warmadewa rules on Bali.
Note: From about this time we have a version of the Ramayana epic in the Old Javanese languange. The wordk is sophisticated, and there were probably many earlier such works in Old Javanese that have not survived.