The Sunda Kingdom (, ) was a Sundanese Hindu kingdom located in the western portion of the island of Java from 932 AD to around 1579, covering the area of present-day Banten, Jakarta, West Java, Lampung, and the western part of Central Java. The capital of the Sunda Kingdom moved several times during its history, shifting between the Galuh (Kawali) area in the east and Pakuan Pajajaran in the west.
The Sunda Kingdom reached its peak during the reign of King Sri Baduga Maharaja, whose reign from 1482 to 1521 is traditionally remembered as an age of peace and prosperity among Sundanese people.
According to primary historical records such as the Bujangga Manik manuscript, the eastern border of the kingdom was the Pemali River (Ci Pamali; the present-day Brebes River) and the Serayu River (Ci Sarayu) in Central Java. Most accounts of the Sunda Kingdom come from primary historical records from the 16th century AD. The kingdom's inhabitants were primarily the eponymous ethnic Sundanese, while the majority religion was Hinduism.
Etymology
The name Sunda derives from the Sanskrit prefix su- which means "goodness" or "possessing good quality". The example is suvarna (lit: "good color") used to describe gold. Sunda is also another name for Hindu God Vishnu. In Sanskrit, the term Sundara (masculine) or Sundari (feminine) means "beautiful" or "excellence". According to Reinout Willem van Bemmelen, a Dutch geologist, the name Sunda was derived from Sanskrit term Shuddha, which means 'white' and 'pure'. The term Sunda also means 'bright, light, purity, cleanness, and white'.
The name Sunda is also known in Hindu mythology of Sunda and Upasunda, as one of the powerful Asura brothers that received the boon of invulnerability from Brahma. It is not clear, however, whether the eponymous Sunda was derived from this Hindu myth.
It seems that by the 10th century, the name Sunda was used by foreigners, possibly by early Indian explorers, Malay Srivijayan traders and colonizer, as well as Javanese neighbours, as a toponym to identify the Western parts of Java. The Juru Pangambat inscription, dated from 854 Saka (932 AD), confirmes this. The name is similarly used by the Javanese to identify their western neighbour, also rival and enemy, as mentioned in Horren inscription (c. 11th century) from Kediri.
An early 13th-century AD Chinese account reported the pepper port of Sin-t'o (Sunda), which probably referred to the port of Banten or Sunda Kalapa. By the 15th to 16th century AD, after the consolidation of the kingdom by Sri Baduga Maharaja, the name Sunda had shifted from a toponym, into a name that identified a kingdom and its people. The Sunda Strait is named after the Sunda Kingdom, the latter having once ruled the area on both coasts of the strait.
Historiography
Knowledge of the kingdom among Sundanese people has been kept alive through Sundanese Pantun oral tradition, the chant of poetic verses about the golden age of Sunda Pajajaran, and the legend of Prabu Siliwangi, the most popular king of Sunda.
Several stone inscriptions mention the kingdom, such as Juru Pangambat, Jayabupati, Kawali, and Batutulis. Most account and records of the Sunda Kingdom are derived from manuscripts dated from a later period circa 15th to 16th century, such as Bujangga Manik, Sanghyang Siksakanda ng Karesian, Carita Parahyangan, and Kidung Sunda.
Local account
The earliest reference to the name "Sunda" being used to identify a kingdom is the Kebon Kopi II inscription dated 854 Saka (932 AD). This inscription is in the Kawi script, but the language used is Old Malay. It translates as follows:
Another reference to the kingdom is the Jayabupati inscription which consists of 40 lines written on four pieces of stone, found on the Cicatih river bank in Cibadak, Sukabumi. This inscription is again written in Kawi script, and mentions the establishment of a protected sacred area called Sanghyang Tapak by the King Jayabhupati of Sunda. The inscription is dated to 1030 AD.
Copperplate letters dating to the 15th century AD, including royal instructions, also support the existence of the Sunda Kingdom. The copperplate inscription of Kebantenan I (Jayagiri) reads that Raja Rahyang Niskala Wastu Kancana sent an order through Hyang Ningrat Kancana to the Susuhunan of Pakuan Pajajaran to take care of dayohan in Jayagiri and Sunda Sembawa, banning the collection of collecting taxes from the residents, because they would be knowledgeable about the Hindu religion and worshipped the gods.
The Kebantenan II (or Sunda Sembawa I) copperplate inscription announces Sri Baduga Maharaja (1482–1521), the king in Pakuan, approved an already delineated sacred estate (tanah devasasana) put at the disposal of the wiku (priests), which must not be split as it houses facilities for worship, which belong to the king. The Kebantenan III (Sunda Sembawa II) copperplate inscription announces the king of Sunda's sanctions of holy construction in Sunda Sembawa. The Kebantenan IV inscription details that Sri Baduga Maharaja, who ruled in Pakuan, sanctioned a similar sacred estate at Gunung Samya (Mount Rancamaya).
The Batutulis inscription is still in situ at its original location. This inscription commemorates the great king of the Sundanese kingdom named Prabu Guru Dewata Prana who was later crowned as Sri Baduga Maharaja Ratu Haji at Pakuan Pajajaran Sri Sang Ratu Dewata. The king's genealogy states that he was the son of Rahyang Dewa Niskala who died in Gunung Tiga, and the grandson of Rahyang Niskala Wastu Kancana who died in Nusa Larang. It was stated that Sri Baduga had made several works, including making defensive ditches to protect the city of Pakuan, making memorials, making gugunungan (mountains, perhaps punden terraces), making paving halls with rocks, samida forests or making ceremonial places, as well as create telaga warna.
The Bujangga Manik] manuscript is the primary source on the daily life of the Sunda Kingdom in the late 15th to early 16th century. Detailing place names, culture and customs, in great detail, it is considered one of the important specimens of Old Sundanese literature. The manuscript tells the story of Jaya Pakuan alias Bujangga Manik, though a prince at the court of Pakuan Pajajaran, preferred to live a solitary life as a devout Hindu. As a hermit traveller, the book details two journeys from Pakuan Pajajaran to central and eastern Java and back, the second journey including a visit to Bali. It is concluded that Jaya Pakuan practised asceticism on a mountain in western Java until his death. As manuscript dates from the pre-Islamic Sunda era, it is written in an older form of Sundanese. It does not contain any words traceable to Arabic. Islamic influence is absent from the content of the story as well. The specific mention of Majapahit, Malacca, and Demak, allow us to date the writing of the story in the 15th century AD, probably the latter part of this century, or the early 16th century at the latest.
Chinese account
According to F. Hirt and W.W. Rockhill, there are Chinese sources concerning the Sunda Kingdom. At the time of the Southern Sung dynasty, the inspector of trade with foreign countries, Chau Ju-kua, collected reports from sailors and merchants who had visited foreign countries. His report on far countries, Chu-fan-chi, written from 1178 to 1225, mentions the deepwater harbour of Sin-t’o (Sunda). Chu-fan-chi reported that:
According to this source, the kingdom of Sunda produced high-quality black pepper. The kingdom located in the western parts of Java near Sunda Strait, corresponds to today Banten, Jakarta, and the west part of West Java province. According to this source, the port of Sunda was under Srivijaya mandala domination. This Port of Sunda was highly possible to refer to Old Banten instead of Kalapa (present-day North Jakarta). Its capital is located 10 kilometres inland southward in Banten Girang near Mount Pulosari.
The Chinese book “Shun-Feng Hsiang-Sung" from around 1430 relates:
According to this source, the port of Sunda was located west of Kalapa and later identified as the port of Old Banten.
European account
European explorers, mainly Portuguese based in Malacca, also reported the existence of the Sunda Kingdom. Tomé Pires (1513) mentioned a Western Java kingdom that had established trade relation with them as Regño de Çumda, which means "Kingdom of Sunda". Also the report of Antonio Pigafetta (1522) that mentioned Sunda as a pepper producing region.
Tomé Pires from Portugal wrote in his report Suma Oriental (1513–1515):
The Portuguese report is dated from a later period of the kingdom, shortly before its fall to forces of the Sultanate of Banten.
History
The history of the Sunda Kingdom spanned for almost a millennium, between the 7th to 16th century AD. One of the few remnants is the 7th century Bojongmenje Hindu temple near Bandung. It was one of the earliest temple structures in Java, older than temples of Dieng in Central Java, and linked to the Sunda Kingdom.
The earlier period is unclear, much owed to only two manuscripts dated from a much later period, the Carita Parahyangan. Its relations to Tarumanagara, a previous kingdom in western Java is unknown. The history of later period, however, after the late 14th century, is clearer especially following the reign of King Wastu Kancana and Sri Baduga Maharaja. This is contributed mainly to the availability of historical sources, including numbers of foreign reports, especially Portuguese's Suma Oriental, several stone inscriptions (prasasti) especially Batutulis, and native primary historical manuscripts of Bujangga Manik and Sanghyang Siksakanda ng Karesian.
Rakryan Juru Pangambat According to Kebon Kopi II inscription, dated from 932 AD, discovered near Bogor, a skilled hunter named Rakryan Juru Pangambat, declared that the authority is restored to the king of Sunda. This inscription was written in Kawi alphabet, however curiously the language being used is Old Malay. Archaeologist F.D.K. Bosch proposed that this suggests Srivijayan influence over western Java. French historian, Claude Guillot proposed that this was a declaration of independence of the Sunda Kingdom, possibly from Srivijaya.
Jayabupati
According to Sanghyang Tapak inscription, dated from 1030 found in Cibadak near Sukabumi, a king, Maharaja Sri Jayabupati, has established a sacred sanctuary of Sanghyang Tapak. Curiously, the style of the inscriptions reveal an East Javanese script, language, and style, akin to Dharmawangsa's court of Mataram. This has led to suggestions that the Sunda Kingdom at this time probably was under the influence of Mataram, or probably Jayabupati subscribed to Javanese culture.
Sri Jayabupati in Carita Parahyangan is mentioned as Prabu Detya Maharaja. The 11th century AD Horren inscription found in southern Kediri, reported that çatru Sunda ("enemy from Sunda") had invaded and menacing villages in East Java.
After Sri Jayabupati, there is no stone inscription discovered mentioning the next ruler. There is no tangible evidence discovered from the period between the 11th to the 14th century AD. Most of our current knowledge about this period came from Carita Parahyangan.
The Song Chinese source, Chu-fan-chi circa 1200, mentioned that Srivijaya still ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and Sin-to (Sunda). The source describes the port of Sunda as strategic and thriving, pepper from Sunda being among the best in quality. The people worked in agriculture and their houses were built on wooden poles (rumah panggung). However, robbers and thieves plagued the country. The port of Sunda referred by Chou Ju-kua probably referred to Old Banten, instead of Sunda Kelapa. It seems that by the early 13th century, the maritime trade was still dominated by Srivijayan mandala based in Sumatra.
Golden age