Kawali was the capital of

Sunda Kingdom The Sunda Kingdom ( , ) was a Sundanese people, 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, Lampung, and the western part of ...

during Galuh period, between early 14th to late 15th century. It is located in present day Astana Gede archaeological site, in Kawali District of

Ciamis Regency Ciamis Regency (Indonesian: ''Kabupaten Ciamis'', Sundanese: ) is a landlocked regency in West Java, Indonesia, and shares a provincial border with Central Java. Its seat is the town of Ciamis, also the primary urban center. Formerly, the rege ...

, in

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, ...

Location

The area is located on the eastern slope of Mount Sawal near the source of the

Ci Tanduy Ci Tanduy ( Sundanese "''Ci''" means "river", so the whole name means "Tanduy River"; ) is a river in the island of Java, Indonesia, about 270 km to the southeast of the capital Jakarta.

river, which runs to the southeast to the Segara Anakan lagoon by the Java's southern ocean (

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

). The ancient city was located approximately 1 kilometres to the southwest from the ''

alun-alun An ''alun-alun'' (Javanese language, Javanese, correctly hyphenated but occurs occasionally without hyphen; also found as ''aloen-aloen'', ''aloon-aloon'', ''aloun-aloun'', and erroneously ''alon-alon'') is a large, central, open lawn Town squa ...

'' (square or field) of Kawali town. The

Kawali inscription The Astana Gede inscriptions, also known as Kawali inscriptions, refer to six inscriptions discovered in the Kabuyutan Kawali area, Ciamis Regency, Indonesia; the main inscription (Kawali I) bears the longest scripts. All of the inscriptions were w ...

s, dated from circa late 14th century, were discovered here. The site took form of a park sanctuary filled with large trees and shrubbery. Currently, there are no traces of tangible original structures left in the Astana Gede site, only stone inscriptions placed in small pavilions. It is probably all the buildings, houses, dwellings and palace structures, were all made from organic wooden or thatched materials, similar to today

Sundanese traditional house Sundanese traditional house refers to the traditional vernacular houses of the Sundanese people, who predominantly inhabited the western parts of Java island (West Java and Banten provinces, and the western part of Central Java, including Brebes ...

, that has decayed for ages.

History

Previously, prior to 14th century, the Galuh capital was located further southeast near the banks of

Ci Tanduy Ci Tanduy ( Sundanese "''Ci''" means "river", so the whole name means "Tanduy River"; ) is a river in the island of Java, Indonesia, about 270 km to the southeast of the capital Jakarta.

river in the area now known as Karang Kamulyan site, near

Ciamis Ciamis (, ) is a district and a town; it is the regency seat of Ciamis Regency in West Java, Indonesia. It covers an area of . It had a population of 93,744 as of the 2010 Census, 98,610 as of the 2020 Census, and 99,750 as of a mid-2022 offic ...

town. It is not clear however, when was the time the Galuh capital was moved here. The inscriptions found here confirm that at least for several generations prior to King

Niskala Wastu Kancana King Niskala Wastu Kancana also known as Prabu Raja Wastu or popularly known as Wastu Kancana (c. 1348 – 1475) was one of the great kings of the Sunda Kingdom reigning throughout most of the 15th century. He was the younger brother of Princess ...

, the city were already well populated. Among the Sunda kings ruled here were King

Maharaja Lingga Buana The Sunda Kingdom ( , ) was a Sundanese people, 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, Lampung, and the western part of ...

and King

. According to tradition mentioned in

Carita Parahyangan Carita Parahyangan (, official Sundanese script: ) is a text contained in a single manuscript written around the late 16th century, registered as Kropak 406 from the former collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Ba ...

, the ''

keraton Kraton () or keraton is a type of royal palace in Java, Indonesia. Its name is derived from the Javanese ''ka-ratu-an'' meaning residence of the ''ratu'', the traditional honorific title for a monarch. In Java, the palace of a prince is called ...

'' (palace) in Kawali is called ''Surawisesa'', fortified by walls and moats. Kawali served as the capital of the kingdom for several generations until

Sri Baduga Maharaja Sri Baduga Maharaja ( Sundanese: ) or Sang Ratu Jayadewata (born 1401) was the great king of the Hindu Sunda kingdom in West Java, reigned 1482 to 1521 from his capital in Pakuan Pajajaran. He brought his kingdom greatness and prosperity. Kin ...

moved the center of Sunda government to

Pakuan Pajajaran Pakuan Pajajaran ( Sundanese: ᮕᮊᮥᮝᮔ᮪ᮕᮏᮏᮛᮔ᮪; known as Dayeuh Pakuan/Pakwan or Pajajaran) was the fortified capital city of Sunda Kingdom. The location roughly corresponds to modern Bogor city in West Java, Indonesia, approxi ...

in 1482.

References

{{reflist Ciamis Regency Former populated places in Indonesia Geography of West Java Sunda Kingdom