The Talang Tuo inscription is a 7th-century

Srivijaya Srivijaya (), also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia) that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important ...

inscription discovered by Louis Constant Westenenk on 17 November 1920, on the foot of Bukit Seguntang near

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

. This inscription tells about the establishment of the bountiful Śrīksetra park awarded by Sri Jayanasa the king of Srivijaya, for the well being of all creatures. The inscription was discovered in good condition with clearly inscribed scripts. Its size is 50 cm × 80 cm. It is a stone block and it is dated from 606 Saka (corresponds to 23 March 684), written

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 ...

Old Malay Malay language, Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian languages, Austronesian language family. Over a period of two Millennium, millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development th ...

. The inscription consists of 14 lines. Van Ronkel and Bosch are the first scholars who translated the inscription. Their work was published in ''Acta Orientalia''. Since 1920, the inscription has been stored in National Museum of Indonesia,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, under inventory number D.145.

Content

The writings on the Talang Tuo inscription:

Translation

The translation according to

George Cœdès George Cœdès (; 10 August 1886 – 2 October 1969) was a French scholar of southeast Asian archaeology and history. Biography Cœdès was born in Paris to a family known as having settled in the region of Strasbourg before 1740. His ancestor ...

Old Malay vocabulary

The inscription is among the earliest evidence of written archaic

language. Many words are still recognizable and intelligible with Modern Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian variants). The most significant differences are found in verbal affixes. While modern Malay and Indonesian use the prefix di- to mark passive, in Old Malay we find ni-. The same holds for the active prefix men- corresponding to Old Malay mar- or ma-. The modern possessive and object suffix -nya corresponds to the Old Malay -na. Old Malay words and their modern Malay and Indonesian counterparts are listed below, followed by their English gloss. * = = month * = ''tatkalanya'' = while, during * = ''ini'' = this * = ''temu'', ''bertemu ''= meet * = ''diperbuat'' = performed * = ''sebanyaknya'' = amount of * = ''ditanam'' = planted * = ''di sini'' = here * = ''nyiur'' = palm tree * = ''enau'' = Arenga plant * = ''rumbia'' = Arenga fibers * = ''dengan'' = with * = ''dimakan'' = being eaten * = ''buahnya'' = fruits * = ''tetapi'' = but * = ''rajin'' = diligent * = ''tahu'' = to know (knowledge) * = ''aur'' = aur (a type of bamboo) * = ''buluh'' = vines, may also means bamboo * = betung (a type of bamboo) * = ''telaga'' = pond, small lake * = ''punyanya'' = belong to * = ''marga'' = clan * = ''suka'' = happiness, like * = ''air'' = water * = ''diminumnya'' = being drink * = ''sebanyaknya'', ''sebanyak-banyaknya'' = as many as possible * = ''buatnya'' = for them * = ''huma'' = dry rice field or orchard * = ''menghidupi'' = to bring life * = ''perkara'' = issue, problem * = ''barang'' = item * = ''buatannya'' = made * = ''curi'' (''pencuri'') = steal (thieve) * = ''membangun'' = built * = ''

hyang ''Hyang'' (Kawi language, Kawi, Sundanese language, Sundanese, Javanese language, Javanese, and Balinese language, Balinese) is a representation of the King of the gods, supreme being, in ancient Mythology of Indonesia, Java and Bali mythology. T ...

'' = spirit or gods * = ''tetapi'' = but * = ''rancak'' (preserved in Minang) = beautiful, good * = ''rupa'' = look, form * = ''laki-laki'' = man/men

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talang Tuo Srivijaya Inscriptions in Indonesia 7th-century inscriptions National Museum of Indonesia History of Sumatra Malay inscriptions

Content

Translation

Old Malay vocabulary

See also

References