Chapter 1

Chapter 2: Accounts on the Keling Country（訶陵國）in the Old and New Books of Tang and Other Chinese Chronicles

As mentioned in the Introduction, The Old Book of Tang (945 AD) described about the Keling Country with ca. 221 Chinese characters, whilst The New Book of Tang (1060 AD) had additional descriptions of ca. 210 more characters.

The translation below has been carried out by the present author in a literal manner, dividing the texts for the sake of convenience into 14 paragraphs.

Paragraph 1. Geographical location

Chenla (眞臘) was a country in the Indochina Peninsula that was included in the French Indochina in 1863 and became independent as Cambodia in 1953. With regards to Davato (墮婆登國), there had been various speculation such that it was some country on the east coast of Sumatra, Betong in Sumatra, Batam Island to the south of Malay Peninsula, Banten in West Java, Kra Isthmus of Malay Peninsula, etc.[1], but Kuwata [2] located the country in West Java with reference to the description in the Old Book of Tang Vol. 197 [3] that “Davato Country (墮婆登國) exists to the south of Champa (林邑) and needs two months voyage to reach from there. To the east is Keling (訶陵), to the west is Malaya (迷黎車) and to the north is a big ocean. The manners and customs are almost the same as in Keling” [4] The present author considers the place would have been Banten that had prospered as an outer port ever since Tarumanagara era.

Paragraph 2. The Castle and large buildings

The hardwood was probably teak (Tectona grandis), a large deciduous tree, which grew elsewhere in forests before exploited in modern times for increased demand. The description that the royal seat and couch are made of ivory sounds exaggerated, although the furniture would have been decorated with ivory. To the present author’s knowledge, the only masonry castle built in ancient time Java was Ratu Boko (See, Figure 2-1) built in Prambanan Plain during the Sailendra Era.

Figure 2-1 Gates of Istana Ratu Boko viewed from the Crematorial Temple. Photographed by M. Iguchi, February 2012.

Paragraph 3. Products

The land produces agate, yellow and white gold, rhinoceros and elephant. Thus, the country is extremely rich. There are caverns from which salt water is gushing.

Rhinoceros and elephants might have meant not only those animals but their horn and ivory. As for elephants, since the endemic Javan elephant (Elephasmaximus sondaicus) was extinct in the unknown past, they must have been those brought from India or elsewhere or their offspring. Salt is produced today from the sea-water in Java but a saltwater marsh is there in Grobogan, to the south of Semarang, Central Java, that was presumably within the territory of ancient Keling Kingdom.

Paragraph 4. Culture

The flower of willow（柳花）must have been an error and that of palm（椰子）was right. Even today, they make palm wine in the traditional method in which the bud of palm flower is cut off, the sap drained from the stem is collected into a bamboo-made receiver and let it fermented it in the earthenware jar.

The manner to eat food with fingers with neither spoons nor chopsticks is common in Java even today for eating traditional cuisine. The description about poisonous women is unknown but it might have denoted women with a sort of venereal disease. A body which did not become putrid would have meant the mummy of monk who died while practicing austerity.

For reference, Fei Xin (費信), who served as a sailor to the great expeditions of Admiral Ma Huan (馬歡) in 1413 – 1431, wrote in the “Description of the Starry Raft (星槎勝覽校注)” as follows: “The country people have neither beds nor chairs, eat with no spoons or chopsticks. They use plates for food and pour soup on it, eat with their hands (fingers). Fish, shrimp, snakes, earth-worms, maggots, etc. are devoured after being roasted over fire. When they get together for drinking, they all sit on the ground in a row, drink fermented nipa palm wine contained in earthen jars[5].” Whether they really ate earth-worms and maggots is not certain to the present author.

Paragraph 5. King’s residence

The place of the residence is unknown from this source. According to the Prasasti Wanua Tengah III, it was in Jepara in the Central Java, located on the coast ca 50km to the north-east of Semarang.

Paragraph 6. Transfer of the capital by Ki-yen（吉延）

The word, “其祖”, may be interpreted not as the “founder” of the Keling country mentioned in this account but as the “ancestor” or “forefather” who had moved eastwards probably to a place in the present-day East Java. As to Ki-yen（吉延）, Poerbatjaraka had identified that the person who moved the capital was Gajayana, whose name was found in the inscription of Dinoyo (in 760 AD), and that the new capital was Kanjuruhan (near the present-day Malang), but this theory was not widely accepted because the inscription stated that King Dewasingha, his father, had quietly ruled the Kanjuruhan kingdom. The phonetic dissimilarity of the two names was also criticised[6].

According to the list of kings in ancient kingdoms in Java [7] and other Internet articles, the founder of the Keling was King Wasumurti, and the capital was in Kediri. He reigned from 594 to 605 AD. The capital was moved to Jepara by Queen Sima the name appears in Paragraph 10 as（悉莫）who succeeded the throne from her husband, Kartikeyasingha, when he died at Mt. Semeru.

What was the original word for Datsokanhiung（大坐敢兄） is unknown but the Chinese characters may be interpreted as the Big-seat-esteemed-brother, or the Chief Retainer.

Paragraph 7. The Mountain resort Langpiya District （郎卑野州） where the king frequently visited

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The original name of the Langpiya District “郎卑野州” is unknown either but it was supposed to be located not far from the sea coast and not far from the royal residence. Did this sentence mention about the mountain near the eastern place where the “ancestor” moved to? The present author would assume the mountain was in the area where the Djava Castle （闍婆城） was. If the capital was Jepara, then the mountain must be Mt. Muria (1602m).

Paragraph 8. The measurement of latitude

Figure 2-2 shows a picture of the measurement of the shadow in the “The Imperial Illustrated Book” edited during the era of Emperor Guangxu (光緒帝, 1875-1908) in Qing dynasty. An Internet article says that “The summer solstice was first established, as early as in the 7th century BC (?).”

Figure 2-2 The measurement of the shadow of the sun[8] .

Paragraph 9. Missions in the period of Zhenguan（貞觀）

The period of Zhenguan （貞觀） was the era of Taizong , 太宗. The year, 640 AD （貞觀十四年）, in the Old Book of Tang was during the reign of King Kirathasingha (632 - 648) in Djava, according to the description in Wangsakerta manuscript (See, Chapter 4).

The description in the New Book of Tang about the mission from Dawara and Dawato seems to be nothing to do with Keling. In fact, the former is supposed to be Dawara in Thailand and Banten in West Java. It was considered to have been erroneously included in the stage of compilation[9].

Figure 2-3 shows the scene of “Tribute bearers” painted in the Zhenguan （貞觀） period by a contemporary painter Yan Liben (閻立本, ca.601-673) by imperial order[10]. Which country those tribute bearers came from is not certain but they could have been those from Keling. The man on horseback whom a boy is holding up a decorative parasol must be the ambassador. Various items such as a goat, bird cage, something like corals held on the tray, fragrant wood burnt in pot, etc., are depicted. The dark-coloured big rods carried one each by several men might have been the so called “pasak bumi”, the root of a tree which is useful as an aphrodisiacs.

Figure 2-3 Tribute Bearers by Yan Liben in The Four Quarters Come to Court: A Special Exhibition of Envoys Presenting Tribute （職貢圖特展）, National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), 2020, 01/01~03/25[11].

Figure 2-4 shows the picture of “Khitan (契丹) Envoys Visit the Court” during the Sung Dynasty period in 1004 (景徳元年)[12]. In front of the imperial court, where the emperor and nobles sit, are two envoys and various tributes displayed in an array, surrounded by the court officials. The ceremony is supposed to be similar during the time of Tang Dynasty.

Figure 2-4 Khitan Envoys Visit the Court during the Sung Dynasty

in 1004 (景徳元年) in the same book as above[13].

Figure 2-5 is a picture of “Tribute Elephant” by anonymous painter[14], for which the legends say that a foreigner with a prominent nose and dark skin leading an elephant with his hands held together. The massive animal has on its back a beautifully enamelled container that is filled with precious and semi-precious materials, such as gold and silver, coral, pearls, and agate. Standing in the middle is a pagoda, inside of which is the image of a Maitreya Buddha figure with pearl beads. … “With a prominent nose and dark skin” would mean that the man was of Indian origin. He could have been from Sumatra or Java, as the rulers and courtiers of ancient kingdoms were immigrants from India. If he arrived from Java, it is supposed to have been in the age of Sailendra Dynasty that followed Buddhism, judging from miniature Buddhist's pagoda carried on the horseback.

Figure 2-5 Tribute Elephant (Top and bottom parts of the original hanging scroll have been cut out) in the same book as above[15].

Paragraph 10. Enthronement of Queen Sima （悉莫） in the period of Shangyuan （上元） China

The period of Shangyuan （上元） was the era of Emperor Gaozong（高宗）, reigned 674–676 AD. The New Book of Tang had been the only source in which the name of Sima appeared, until the discovery of Wangsakerta Manuscripts in 1960s, in which the life and lineage of Queen Sima (reigned from 674 to 695 AD), including why she was made the queen, was written about, as will be discussed in Chapter 4.

Figure 2-6 shows portraits of Queen Sima, envisaged by modern artists.

(1)  (2)  (3)

Figure 2-6 Portrait of Queen Sima. (1), (2), envisaged by modern artist, Mr. Wasikendedes in Deviantart[16], [17]; (3) AI Version in Merdeka.com[18].

Paragraph 11. Arabian emperor’s provision of a back of gold on the street

Taj (大食) meant Arabia in the Tang and Sung times China. The emperor of Arabia could have been Muawiya I of Umayyad Caliphate. According to Groeneveldt[19], Taj might have meant Arab settlements that existed on the western coast of Sumatra.

The crown prince under the reign of Sima must have been her son, Narayana, but whether the crown prince in the text corresponded to him is uncertain. Whether the Arabian emperor had a plan to attack Keling is unknown either.

Paragraph 12. Missions in the period of Dali (大曆)