page_title: Medang Kingdom
section_title: Historiography
hierarchical_section_title: Medang Kingdom / Historiography
caption_attribution_description: 中文（简体）‎: Panoramic views of Borobudur
context_page_description: The Medang Kingdom or Mataram Kingdom was a Javanese Hindu–Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established by King Sanjaya, the kingdom was ruled by the Sailendra dynasty.
  During most of its history the kingdom seems have relied heavily on agriculture, especially extensive rice farming, and later also benefited from maritime trade. According to foreign sources and archaeological findings, the kingdom seems to have been well populated and quite prosperous. The kingdom developed a complex society, had a well developed culture, and achieved a degree of sophistication and refined civilization.
  In the period between the late 8th century and the mid-9th century, the kingdom saw the blossoming of classical Javanese art and architecture reflected in the rapid growth of temple construction. Temples dotted the landscape of its heartland in Mataram. The most notable of the temples constructed in Medang Mataram are Kalasan, Sewu, Borobudur and Prambanan, all quite close to present-day city of Yogyakarta.
context_section_description: In the early 19th century, the discovery of numerous ruins of great monuments—such as Borobudur, Sewu and Prambanan— which dominated the landscape of the Kedu and Kewu plains in Yogyakarta and Central Java, caught the attention of some historians and scholars in the colonial Dutch East Indies. This spurred archaeological studies to uncover the history of this ancient civilisation.
  The history of the Mataram area as the capital of the Central Javanese Medang kingdom is also part of the historical Yawadvipa or Bhumijava (the land of Java), and the classical Javanese civilisation. The Indians collectively called them as Yawadvipa, the Khmer refer to them as Chvea, the Chinese called them as Shepo, Chopo or Chao-wa, the Arabs called them as Jawi or Jawah, and Srivijayan refer to them as Bhumijava. The native Javanese most often refer to their lands and country simply as Jawi (Java), while the name of their nagara (country) is often based on their capital. The only foreign source mentioning Mdaη was found from the Philippines inscription, dated 822 saka (900).
  There are no comprehensive written records that have survived in Java except numbers of prasasti (inscriptions) written on stones or copper plates. These inscriptions most often recorded the political and religious deeds of the rulers. The most common theme mentioned in inscriptions is the establishment of Sima (taxed rice cultivation land recognised through royal edict), and sometimes some portion or the whole of tax collected from this Sima land is appointed to fund the construction and maintenance of religious building. Nevertheless, some local legends and historical records, written on lontar—most often dated from later period—might also provides data and source to reconstruct the historical event.
  Native Javanese mythology and beliefs composed in the Mataram Sultanate era (circa 17th century), but probably originating from an earlier period, mentioned a semi-mythological kingdom named Medang Kamulan, which in Javanese translates to "Medang the origin" kingdom. The kingdom is mentioned in the myth of Dewi Sri and also Aji Saka. This is probably the remnant of vague native Javanese collective memory of the existence of an ancient kingdom called "Medang".
  Current knowledge of historical Javanese civilisation is thus primarily derived from:
  Archaeological excavations, reconstruction and investigation of ancient structures, especially candi (temples), and also the discovery of ancient relics, such as the Wonoboyo hoard.
  Stone inscriptions, most common are those which mention the foundation and funding of temples which report on the political and religious deeds of the kings, or stating their lineage; the most notable are the Canggal, Kalasan, Shivagrha and Balitung charter.
  Bas reliefs in a series of temple walls with depictions of life in the palace, village, temple, ship, marketplace and also the everyday lives of the population. The most notable are the bas reliefs found on Borobudur and Prambanan temple.
  Native manuscripts mentioning stories of kings, their deeds and exploits, that somehow link across to accounts mentioned in stone inscriptions. The notable example is the Carita Parahyangan.
  Reports and chronicles of foreign diplomats, traders and travellers, mainly from Chinese, Indian, and Arab sources.
caption: Borobudur, the largest single Buddhist structure in the world, one of the monuments constructed by the Sailendran of the Medang Kingdom.
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