Inscriptions on Keris?

[A. G. Maisey]

Pak Boedhi, land grants to favoured court retainers also occurred during Majapahit. These grants were normally made as a reward for important services rendered, and had the effect of raising the status of the grantee to that of the landed gentry.

There were the Buddhist domains, the dharmas, there were domains that were held by the Brahmins, there were the domains of the landed gentry(akuwu) and there were domains held by powerful people of the court as a result of grants from the ruler. For instance, Gajahmada was granted an area of land that was probably located near present day Malang. Nala, the commander in chief after Gajahmada's death was also granted land.

This practice causes one think, as it is known that the power of the old Javanese rulers was a power over people, not a power over land, so we need to consider carefully exactly what the royal title over land constituted. It could be that the ruler in fact had no title over the land, but did have the right to administer the land. I'm a bit unclear on this.

In any case, it seems it was an ancient practice, and could perhaps even go back to the early classical period.

"wsi-wsi prakara" in Old Javanese carries the sense of "types of iron". "Prakara" means "macam" or "jenis". We do not have the full inscription, but it probably read something like (freely) "various types of iron things, small axes, big axes,adzes---etc, etc---".

I agree with what you say about being able to use the babads as historic sources---with care. This has been shown over and over again. However, the operative word is care. For instance, Prapanca had China and India paying tribute to the ruler of Majapahit.

In the case of Medang Kamulan, we have a plethora of myths centered around this wonderful kingdom. If Medang Kamulan appears in a badad, it is simply a case of the migration of myth into literature. In this case we can probably discount the Chinese sources as any proof of existence, because of variation in era, and because the Chinese were reporting only what they were told, it was not a case of the Chinese going and seeing this place and noting its position, it would be the recording of transmitted information. I don't know exactly what Chinese documents this might be in, but I can probably find it, I'll have a look and see if we can find out exactly what is written.

Regarding Balai Arkeologi in Prambanan, I have approached these people several times, probably the most recent time might have been 6 or 7 years ago, and I found them very helpful. If you go there Pak Ganja, I'll be very surprised if they are not prepared to assist you.

Good to see you back Pak Boedhi. I thought you'd got lost in Darkest Africa.

[Boedhi Adhitya]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Pak Boedhi, land grants to favoured court retainers also occurred during Majapahit. These grants were normally made as a reward for important services rendered, and had the effect of raising the status of the grantee to that of the landed gentry.

Yes, absolutely, Pak Alan. What I meant with 'It might be already in used since Demak/Pajang era' was the 'Perdikan' terminology, vis-a-vis to Sima terminology. It is worth to note that besides 'perdikan', the free-tax land, there was also the 'lungguh', land granted to royal families/officials for their income. There were no salary system as known today. The lungguh, obviously, including all the peasants who stayed there. The peasants were burdened with compulsory work, conscription, and of course, some part of their harvests as taxes. No money needed in this system. No wonder kerises and spears/tombak scattered all over the Javanese villages (compared to, for example, Japanese's Katana). While you could borrow a plow from your neightbour, you could not borrow a keris or tombak when consciption announced This is, certainly, from the 'functional' point of view.

In the Islamic Mataram era, the land divided into several categories : Nagari, was the capital, obviously belongs to the king, the Negaragung, the immediate surroundings around the Negari, also belongs to the king, the Narawita Dalem, the land of king which granted to the royal families or officials as 'lungguh', and Mancanegara, the farthest land, mostly with great autonomy.

Originally Posted by A.G. Maisey

Good to see you back Pak Boedhi. I thought you'd got lost in Darkest Africa.

Thank you, Pak Alan. I thought you didn't quite happy to see me back, as I gave you more troubles than solutions

oh, well, my post seems to drift away from the topic... sorry..

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes, as you describe it Pak Oesmen.

If you consider this system I believe that you may identify one of the causes of some of Indonesia's difficulties in the modern world.

What problems did you ever cause me Pak Oesmen?

I can recall none.

I can recall that you are knowledgeable and well mannered, but I can recall nothing negative concerning you.