I4

14 IINDONESIAN SCRIPTS
NDONESIAN S BEFORE
CRIPTS B THE
EFORE T H E MIDDLE OF
MIDDLE O THE
F T EIGHT
HE E I G H T CENTURY
CENTURY

South East
South East Asia and Indonesia.
Asia and Until an
Indonesia. Until an up-to-date
up-to-date studystudy is available,
is available,
which includes
which includes aa discussion
discussion of of all
all the new material
the new material thatthat has
has come
come to to light
light
during
during thethe past
past forty
forty years,
years, the
the studies
studies of of Vogel
Vogel and Chhabra,® supple-
and Chhabra, supple­ 9

mented by
mented by aa considerable
considerable number
number of of articles, must suffice.
articles, must suffice. InIn the
the present
present
context
context it is important
it is important to to emphasize
emphasize on on the
the one
one hand
hand thethe general
general similarity
similarity
of
of the scripts over
the scripts over so
so wide
wide anan area,
area, on the other
on the other the
the presence
presence of of innumer-
innumer­
able
able differences
differences in in detail,
detail, reflecting
reflecting not only the
not only evolution of
the evolution of Pallava
Pallava
script
script in the course
in the course ofof four
four centuries
centuries but also the
but also emergence of
the emergence of local
local
varieties. Whereas
varieties. Whereas the the general similarity suggests
general similarity suggests thethe persistence
persistence of of some
some
kind
kind of contact between
of contact between thethe areas
areas under
under consideration,
consideration, the local varieties
the local varieties
emphasize
emphasize the the importance
importance of ‘local genius':
of local genius’:! in in this particular case
this particular
10
case
revealed in
revealed in the
the activities
activities ofof South East Asian
South East Asian scribes
scribes whowho adapted
adapted the the
script to local
script to local needs
needs oror local
local taste.
taste.
In the
In the Pallava
Pallava script
script of the Indonesian
of the Indonesian archipelago
archipelago two two periods
periods cancan
be clearly
be clearly distinguished
distinguished withwith aa dividing
dividing line
line in
in the
the beginning
beginning of of the
the seventh
seventh
century.
century. TheThe script
script of the early
of the early period, here named
period, here named Early
Early Pallava,
Pallava, shows
shows
features that can
features that be related
can be related to to scripts
scripts ofof southern
southern IndiaIndia and
and Ceylon
Ceylon inin
inscriptions from
inscriptions from the
the third
third toto the
the fifth
fifth century
century A.D.
A . D . The
The Later
Later Pallava
Pallava
script of the Archipelago, however, foreshadowsforeshadows in many of its details the
Early Kawi
Early Kawi script
script as
as known from predominantly
predominantly Old Old Javanese inscript-
Javanese inscript¬
tionsfrom
ions fromabout
aboutthe the middle
middle of of
thethe eighth
eighth century.
century.

A..
A Earty
E A R L Y PALLAVA
P A L L A v A SCRIPT
SCRIPT

I1.. Kutat Inscriptions. It

Kutai Inscriptions. It is
is generally
generally agreed
agreed that the oldest
that the oldest known
known
inscriptions of the Indonesian archipelago are seven inscriptions
inscriptions on stone
stone
yuépas, 'sacrificial
pillars (described as yūpas, ‘sacrificial posts’
posts' in the inscriptions
inscriptions them-
them­
selves) from
from the Mahakam
Mahakam delta in East Kalimantan
Kalimantan (formerly called
Borneo) in the area called Kutai (or Koetei in the older Dutch
East Borneo) Dutch
transcription). The name Kutai is actually that of a Muslim sultanate sultanate
(capital Samarinda) founded there around the end of the sixteenth
century. Although there had been some doubt about about the precise site ofof
origin of the earliest known four inscribed
inscribed yépas,
yüpas, the later discovery of of
inscribed stones of exactly the same type strongly suggests
three more inscribed
that all inscriptions originate from
all the seven inscriptions from a place called Muarakaman
Muarakaman

9
® BB.. Ch.
Ch. Chhabra,
Chhabra, Expansion
Expansion of of Indo-Aryan
Indo-Aryan Culture,?
Culture, 1964,
2
1964, pp. 48-53.
pp. 48-53.
10 This concept
1 0
concept has been developed especially
especially by H H.. G.
G. Quaritch Wales,
wales, ‘Culture Change in
Greater India’,
Greater J.R.A.S., 1948,
India’, J.R.A.S., 1948, pp.
pp. 2-32; ‘The Dong-son
2-32; ‘The Genius and
Dong-son Genius and the
the Evolution
Evolution of
of Cham
Cham Art,’
Art,’
J.R.A.S., 1949,
J.R.A.S., 1949, pp.
pp. 34-45;
34-45; The
The Making
Makingof of Greater
Greater India,
India, 2nd
2nd edn.,
edn., 1961,
1961, especially
especiallypp.
pp. 17-20.
17-20. Cf.
Cf. also
also
F.
F. DD.. KK.. Bosch, ‘Local Genius
Bosch, ‘Local Genius en
en Oud-Javaansche Kunst’, Med.
oud-Javaansche Kunst’, Med. Kon.
Kon. Ak. Wet., Lett.,
Ak. Wet., Lett., N.R.
N . R . XV,
Xv,
1952,
1952, pp.
Pp. 1-25.