Ciaruteun inscription () also written Ciarutön or also known as Ciampea inscription is a 5th-century stone inscription discovered on the riverbed of Ciaruteun River, a tributary of

Cisadane River The Cisadane River is a long river in northern West Java, Indonesia. Note that the prefixed syllable "Ci" means river, so to avoid tautology the true translation is "Sadane River". The river has its source at Mount Pangrango and passes through B ...

, not far from

Bogor Bogor City (), or Bogor (, ), is a landlocked city in the West Java, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The inscription is dated from the

Tarumanagara Tarumanagara or Taruma Kingdom or just Taruma was an early Sundanese Indianised kingdom, located in western Java, whose 5th-century ruler, Purnawarman, produced the earliest known inscriptions in Java, which are estimated to date from aro ...

kingdom period, one of the earliest Hindu kingdoms in

Indonesian history The history of Indonesia has been shaped by its geographic position, natural resources, a series of human migrations and contacts, wars and conquests, as well as by trade, economics and politics. Indonesia is an archipelago, archipelagic count ...

. The inscription states King

Purnawarman Purnawarman or Purnavarman was the 5th-century king of Tarumanagara, a Hindu Indianized kingdom, located in modern-day West Java, Jakarta and Banten provinces, Indonesia. Purnawarman reigned during the 5th century, and during his reign he c ...

is the ruler of Tarumanagara.

Location and description

Ciaruteun inscription is located in Ciaruteun Ilir village, Cibungbulang district,

Bogor Regency Bogor Regency ( Indonesian: ''Kabupaten Bogor'') is a landlocked regency (''kabupaten'') of West Java province in Indonesia, situated south of DKI Jakarta. Covering an area of 2,991.78 km2, it is considered largely a bedroom community for J ...

; on coordinate 6°31’23.6” latitude and 106°41’28.2” longitude. This location is approximately 19 kilometres Northwest of

city center. The location is a small hill ( Sunda: ''pasir'') which is the confluence of three rivers: Cisadane, Cianten, and Ciaruteun. Until 19th century, the location is reported as part of Pasir Muara, which included into the private land of Tjampéa (Ciampea), although today it is part of Cibungbulang district. The inscription was inscribed on a huge natural stone locally known as ''batu kali'' (river stone) weighted eight tonnes, and measures 200 centimetres by 150 centimetres.

History

In 1863

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, a huge boulder of inscribed stone was spotted near Tjampea (Ciampea) not far from

Buitenzorg Bogor City (), or Bogor (, ), is a landlocked city in the West Java, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.

(Bogor). The stone inscription was discovered on the river bed of Tjiaroeteun river, a tributary of

. It is today known as Ciaruteun inscription, dated from the 5th century, written in Vengi letters (used in the Indian Pallava period) and in Sanskrit language. This is the earliest inscription that clearly mentioned the kingdom's name — "Tarumanagara". The inscription reports

as the most famous king of Tarumanagara. In the same year, the discovery of this inscription was reported to the Bataaviasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (today

National Museum of Indonesia The National Museum of Indonesia () is an archeological, historical, ethnological, and geographical museum located in Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, right on the west side of Merdeka Square. Popularly known as the Elephant Museum () ...

) in Batavia. Because of the large flood in 1893, the stone was carried away several meters and was slightly tilted. Then in 1903, the inscription was restored to its original position. In 1981, the Directorate of Protection and Development of Heritage and Antiquities, a subdivision of Ministry of Education and Culture, moved the stone inscription from the river bed into a higher location, not far from its original position. Today, the inscription is protected by a ''

pendopo A pendhapa or pandhapa ( Javanese: ꦥꦼꦤ꧀ꦝꦥ or ꦥꦤ꧀ꦝꦥ, Indonesian spelling: pendapa, nonstandard spelling: pendopo or pěndåpå) is a fundamental element of Javanese architecture unique in the southern central part of Java; a ...

'' roofed structure in order to protect the inscription from weathering and vandalism. The replicas of the inscription are displayed in three museums;

and

Jakarta History Museum The Jakarta History Museum (), also known as Fatahillah Museum or Batavia Museum, is located in the Old Town (known as ''Kota Tua'') of Jakarta, Indonesia. The building was built in 1710 as the ''Stadhuis'' (city hall) of Batavia. Jakarta Histor ...

in Jakarta, and also

Sri Baduga Museum Sri Baduga Museum (Indonesian ''Museum Sri Baduga'') is a state museum located in Bandung, Indonesia. As a state museum, the museum features various items related with the province of West Java, such as Sundanese crafts, furnishings, geologic hi ...

in Bandung.

Content

Ciaruteun inscription was written in

Pallava script The Pallava script, or Pallava Grantha, is a style of Grantha script named after the Pallava dynasty of Southern India (Tamilakam) and is attested to since the 4th century CE. In India, the Pallava script evolved from Tamil-Brahmi. The Gran ...

composed as a sloka poem in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

with Anustubh metrum consists of four lines. On the end of the inscribed text, there is a print of a pair of foot soles and shell characters (Sankha lipi).Shell character rock inscription at Ci-Auroton Java
EI Vol. XXII, pages 4-5

Transcription

Translation

The print of foot soles symbolize the king's authority on the land where the inscription is located. The comparison to the Hindu god

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

symbolizes that Vishnu was the chief deity revered by Purnawarman, and comparing Purnawarman authority with Vishnu as the ruler as well as the protector of the people. The utilization of footprints at that times was most probably as a sign of authenticity, like a seal or a personal signature of today, or like a sign of land ownership.

References

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