EARLY TRACES HINDU-BUDDHIST INFLUENCE ALONG THE NORTH COAST OF CENTRAL JAVA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE DISTRICT OF BATANG

Agustijanto Indrajaya,
The National Center of Archaeology Condet raya Pejaten No.4 Pasar Minggu, Jakarta Agustijanto2004@yahoo.com
And
Véronique Degroot
École française d’Extreme-Orient Ampera III No.26 Pasar Minggu, Jakarta vmydegroot@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
 In Central Java, archaeological research dealing with the Hindu-Buddhist period is almost always focused on the area between Kedu and Yogyakarta, which was controlled by the Mataram Kingdom around the 8-9th century AD. Research that attempts to investigate and reconstruct the social conditions of coastal communities during the pre-Mataram period has yet to be undertaken. This paper is such an attempt. It explores Hindu-Buddhist remains in the Batang District, a district which, we believe, was an important entry point for Hindu-Buddhist tradions prior to the emergence of the Mataram Kingdom in the hinterland of Central Java. Key words: Archaeological survey, Batang, Hindu-Buddha

ABSTRAK
Penelitian arkeologi di pantai utara Jawa Tengah mengenai kehidupan masa Hindu-Buddha hampir selalu dipusatkan pada wilayah antara Kedu-Yogyakarta, yang dikuasai oleh Kerajaan Mataram pada sekitar abad 8 – 9 Masehi.. Penelitian yang berupaya mempelajari dan merekonstruksi kondisi sosial masyarakat di daerah pesisir masa pra-Mataram selama ini belum pernah dilakukan. Makalah ini berusaha melakukan eksplorasi pada masa pra-Mataram di Jawa Tengah, khususnya di Kabupaten Batang yang diduga sebagai salah satu daerah yang penting pada awal periode sebelum munculnya kerajaan Mataram di pedalaman Jawa Tengah . Kata Kunci : survey arkeologi, Batang, Hindu-Buddha


 Introduction

The growing maritime trade between China and India in the early centuries CE encouraged the emergence of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms in Southeast Asia. According to Chinese records, several polities engaged in this international trade network were situated in the Indonesian Archipelago, in Java and Sumatra (Takakusu, 1896). The exact localization of these early polities, only known by their Chinese names, is still the subject of fierce debate. So far, only two early Indonesian kingdoms have left inscriptions: Taruma in West Java and Kutei in East Kalimantan (5th c. AD). In Central Java, where the political landscape was dominated by the kingdom of Mataram, the earliest dated inscription is the inscription of Canggal (732), which commemorates the establishment of a lingga by a king named Sañjaya. However, less than 50 year later, the kingdom founded by this Hindu prince appears to have been ruled by a Buddhist king from the Sailendra dynasty (Degroot, 2009: 9). The Problem and Method For the period from the eighth to the tenth century, the majority of the remains attributable to the Mataram Kingdom are temples located in the plains of Kedu (district of Magelang, Central Java Province) and Yogyakarta. No one can dispute the fact that the region, which has also yielded many inscriptions, was the cultural and probably the political epicenter of the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of the time. The magnificent ruins of Yogyakarta and Magelang have almost made us forget that it is through the north coast - the only one suitable for sailing - that Indian traditions and new ideas traveled. Archaeological research in the northern districts have so far been limited to four - largely incomplete - inventories and to the excavation of two sites (Lebaksiu and Deles). Essential data such as the amount, distribution and nature of the sites are still missing. Hence, the history of the region during the Hindu-Buddhist period remains unclear. Should we consider the north coast as the outskirts of the southern kingdoms, as a mere transit point without any cultural impact? Or did the coast play a key role as cultural crossroads , as place of exchange between Java , the Malay world and the rest of Asia? Although the north coast has so far not yielded remains comparable to those found in the southern plains, some elements suggest that the region does have an important archaeological potential: the 205 sites of archaeological interest identified by the inventory of 1914, the large number of sculptures from the area kept at the National Museum in Jakarta (Museum Nasional Indonesia), the discovery, near Batang, of the oldest inscriptions of Central Java and finally the presence on the coast of West Java and in the region of Rembang of major pre-classical sites suggest that the north coast deserves some attention. Our project, the first results of which are presented here, will explore the archaeological potential of the north coast of Central Java so to better understand the extent and the nature of the occupation of the region during the classical period. An archaeological survey will be carried out over several years and will help to establish a descriptive inventory and an archaeological map covering all the districts (kabupaten) of the region inventory. The aim of this work is to identify the largest number of remains, not only those that can still be seen by surface surveys, but also those that have disappeared but that can still be traced through Dutch sources, museum catalogs and local archives. One of the problems that we encounter is the fact that administrative boundaries have undergone many changes, in colonial times as well as since the independence. This lack of consistency is a source of error and makes the localization of some sites mentioned in ancient documents difficult and, sometimes, even impossible. The lack of precision of existing inventories (absence of the name of the village or that of the district) and the wide distribution of certain place names (as Candi or Krajan ) also make the task difficult. Successive transfers of sculptures (for example, from the site to the local office of the department of tourism, then to Semarang and finally to the Museum Ronggowarsito) have sometimes led to confusion and information about their place of discovery have not always been transmitted correctly. Finally, and this is certainly a major problem, the increasing urbanization of the coast has led to the disappearance of many sites, buried under the modern buildings or destroyed without further ado. The thefts and attempted thefts of items listed as national heritage - but only under the villagers' supervision - as well as the sale of freshly unearthed antiques are also relatively common and contribute to the destruction of the archaeological heritage of the region. Surface survey has often been a race against the clock to document the sites the best that we could before they disappear.

Previous Research Archaeological Sites in the District of Batang

 The ancient history of the district of Batang is little known and there are very few publications about it. The antiquities of the region are subject to a chapter in inventories Verbeek (1891 : 132-134) Krom (1914 : 136-140), Sri Soejatmi Satari (1977 : 6-10) and Daru Baskoro Tjahjono (2000 : 37-40). The lists of sites supplied by these four inventories are very diverse. Understandably, the oldest inventory is also the one that lists the fewer sites: for Batang, Verbeek mentions only Simpar, Deles and Sigemplong. In the inventory published in 1914, Krom adds eleven locations, bringing the total of sites of archaeological interest in the district of Batang to fourteen. Among these sites , only one has truly yielded architectural pieces (Deles), while others have yielded either statues (Limpung), yonis (Panoendan, Wanasari) or metal objects (Simpar, Tegalsari, Kedondong, Siglagah, Bandjar kidoel, Karang Tengah, Wanar, Babadan Ageng and Soerdjo). In October-November 1975, Sri Soejatmi Satari conducted the first survey of the north coast of Java of the post-colonial era. She identified fourteen sites; four yielded remains of construction (Pejaten, Kecepit, Kepyar and Bendosari), three inscriptions (Banjaran, Sojomerto and Indrokilo) and seven stone sculptures or yonis. Although the number of sites is the same as that given by Krom (1914), the lists of Krom and Sri Soejatmi Satari do not overlap: only one site (Kecepit/Deles) is found in both inventories. The reason is simple: Sri Soejatmi Satari apparently eliminated from her inventory sites that yielded only small finds and listed only those places where remains were still visible in 1975. In his inventory published in 2000, Baskoro Daru Tjahjono identifies only nine sites, including three that yielded temple stones (Kecepit, Bendosari and Kauman), two sites that yielded inscriptions (Sojomerto, Kepokoh) and four that yielded stone sculptures. Once again, the lists do not overlap much: only four sites (Pejaten, Kecepit, Bendosari and Sojomerto) are found in both the inventory of Sri Soejatmi Satari (1977) and that of Baskoro Daru Tjahjono (2000). Inventory of The Archaeological Sites of The Disttrict of Batang The survey that led to the establishment of the inventory of archaeological sites in the district of Batang was conducted in April 2012. A list of the sites, along with their administrative location and their geographical coordinates is given in the appendix to the present article. Forty-two sites were identified. Out of these, nine were identified only on the basis of secondary sources and do not seem to have left visible traces on the surface. The site Kebonbatur, for example, is only known to us by a note in the archives of the Department of Tourism and Culture District Batang, which tells us that a small yoni was still visible in 1984/1985 (Data Peninggalan Batang, 1985). Similarly, the site of Penundan, where our exploration of April 2012 did not yield any results, yielded two small yonis in 1903 (Notulen, 1903a: 103, 1903b: XC, Sell,1912 : 170; Krom 1914 No. 418; Photo OD 5572). Both are now in the National Museum in Jakarta (MNI MNI 363b/4547 and 363c/4548). In only three sites, Sigit, Batur and Punden Wali Ajar Pendek, we observed the presence of a structure still in place. At Sigit (Pecalungan, Pecalungan), in an area of little low hills between the valleys of Limpung and Bawang, one can see a small mound of earth and stones of about 5 m long and 80 cm high, on which we found fragments of the statue of a bull. A little further, in front of a house in the village of Siguci, stands a heavily damaged Gaṇeśa which, according to the locals, comes from Sigit. The site of Batur (Silurah, Wonotunggal), located in the foothills of Mt Kendalisodo, consists of three superimposed earthen terraces reinforced by retaining walls made of river stones. In the northeastern corner of the second terrace, there is a yoni, a few stones with a profile and a small, very damaged and headless Gaṇeśa. The Punden Wali Ajar Pendek, situated in the village of Batur, is also a terraced structure built of river stones, but it has not yielded remains clearly attributable to the Hindu- Buddhist period. Apart from these three structures still in place and visible on the surface, nine sites have yielded material (sculptures, stones and fragments of architectural decoration) suggesting the presence of an ancient building. These sites are Cepit, Kepyar, Deles and Klenteng in the sub-district of Bawang, Balekambang in the sub-district of Gringsing, Sidomulyo in the sub-district of Reban, Pejaten and Kauman in the sub-district of Tersono and Watu Gajah (Kupang) in the sub-district of Wonotunggal. All these sites have yielded sculptures that identify them as places of Hindu worship, except Kepyar, which has produced no sculpture, and Balekambang, which has yielded a statue sometimes identified as Śrī, sometimes as Vasudhārā. Most of the other sites have yielded sculptures and / or yonis. Four have yielded only small objects (bronze, ceramic). One should also note that seven sites have yielded inscriptions: Wutit (Bandar), Deles (Bawang), Kepokoh (Blado), Balekambang (Gringsing), Indrokilo (Pecalungan), Sojomerto (Reban) and Banjaran (Reban). Before going further into the historical interpretation, it is interesting to give a more detailed description of the main sites of the district of Batang.


We will focus on the sites of Balekambang, Pejaten, Klenteng, Cepit, Kepyar, Klawen and Deles.

Balekambang

The site of Balekambang is located at approximately 1 km from the sea, on the eastern slope of a hill forming the eastern end of the chain which borders the coast from Gringsing to Tulis. The hill, which is fifty meters high, is covered with trees and partially transformed into a rubber plantation owned by PT Perkebunan Sawangan. At its foot, at a place called Balekambang, there is a source with a relatively important water flow, which transforms into a small river named kali

Buangan. The Kali Anyar / Segan, in which fishing boats still wet, flows about 600 m east of the site. To the east of Balekambang, until the Anyar River and even beyond, the plain is covered with irrigated rice fields. The site of Balekambang consists of three parts: a part of the site is located directly on the hillside, another at the foot of the hill and the last is in the alluvial plain . The part of the site which is located on the hill has been partially destroyed by a land slide and little remains are left. Yet, it is from this place that the inscription of Balekambang comes from. The stone, which originally measured 85 x 44 x 34 cm, is broken in half and is now preserved in the Museum Ronggowarsito (MR 04.00076 and 04.00078 ) in Semarang. It is composed of five lines of text in the so-called Pallava script and in Sanskrit language. Soekarto Atmodjo dated it to c. 600 AD and identified a possible reference to the Yamuna River (Goenadi Nitihaminoto e.a. 1978 : 19).

The inscription of Balekambang was recently studied by A. Griffiths (2012: 474-477 ), who, based on a paleographic comparison with the inscription of Kalasan, would place the writing of the Balekambang inscription in the second half of the seventh century. The same author proposes a transcription and translation, that we reproduce here: 'May this life (on earth) be long for this man the strength of whose arms is unsurpassed, who has revealed the crystal-clear water , ... by name! '. About a hundred meters away, at the foot of the hill, near a source now partly covered by a concrete structure, other remains have been found. On the site, one can still see a sculpture of a nāga (whose head has been redesigned with cement), as well as many temple stones, partly reused in the construction of a modern bathing place. Sri Soejatmi Satari (1977) saw at this place two statues of goose (today at the Ronggowarsito Museum, no MR 04.00254 and MR 04.00255) and a makara with a bird in its mouth (MR 04.00266). This type of makara is very frequent in the art of Central Java, but the symmetry of the trunk, the necklace made of lotus petals and the plant-like motif behind the head are details that link the makara of Balekambang to those of Loro Jonggrang and therefore place his postquem dating around the middle of the ninth century.

to be continue....