Highway to Prosperity: Brantas River Delta in Premodern Java
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2022-03-02

Full title: Highway to Prosperity: Brantas River Delta in Premodern Java
Speaker: Agni Mochtar (University of Naples L’Orientale / Regional Agency for Archaeological Research in D.I. Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia)
Chair: Heidi Tan(SOAS University of London)

This lecture was organised by the SOAS Centre of South East Asian Studies and SOAS Southeast Asian Art Academic Programme.

Abstract: 
It has been said frequently in the narratives of premodern Java that Brantas river played a significant role in supporting the society living in its basin to prosper. Not only the river supported agriculture by being the main source for irrigation —and still does to the present days—, but it also provided an easy route for trade between the inland and coastal areas up to the early nineteenth century. This talk aims to show how people in the delta interacted with the river and coastal environment to understand the maritime cultural landscape formed by such interaction by emphasizing the river’s role as a continuation of the ocean. Whereas historical and epigraphic studies have contributed to the discussion about the cultural dynamics in the Brantas river delta, albeit incomprehensive, archaeological research is almost absent. While the archaeologists have expressed their interest in Brantas river, the focus of their investigations are mainly on terrestrial data along the river’s upper and mid-stream. This talk reviews the studies previously conducted and describes the results of recent archaeological survey and ethnographical study in the Brantas river delta to interpret the maritime aspects of the premodern society. Included in this interpretation are the ancient river system and the types of vessels used to navigate the river and the ocean.