Mulavarman

Mulavarman was a king of Kutai Martadipura Kingdom of the island of Borneo around the year 400 CE. What little is known of him comes from seven inscriptions found at a sanctuary.[3] He is known to have been generous to brahmins through the giving of gifts including thousands of cattle and large amounts of gold. [4]

The name Shri Mū-la-va-rmma-ṇaḥ Rā-jñaḥ "The Lord, Prince Mulavarman" in a yupa inscription in Brahmi script from Kutai. 4th-5th century CE.[1] In other inscriptions, Mulavarman is also called "Lord of Kings".[2]
Kutai
Location of Kutai in Indonesia.

Reign

He was the grandson of Kundunga, and the son of Asvavarman, according to one of his inscriptions.[5] The sanctuary bears the name of the founder of the dynasty, Vaprakesvara.[6]:52

The inscriptions of Mulavarman in Brahmi script on "yūpa" sacrificial posts are the earliest known evidence of Indian influence in the Malay World, in the fourth century CE, long before the region was Indianized.[7][8][9] The inscriptions of Mulavarman were followed about fifty years later by the inscriptions of another king, Purnavarman, in West Java.[7]

The similarity if the name ending "-varman" with that of the rulers of the Pallava dynasty has been commented upon since discovery.[10]

Inscriptions

The inscriptions of Mulavarman in Brahmi script were found on "yūpa" sacrificial posts.[7]

  • One of the yūpa Mulavarman inscriptions from Kutai, at the National Museum in Jakarta
  • Mulavarman inscription on a yūpa, 5th century CE
  • Mulavarman inscription on a yūpa, 5th century CE
  • The word "Yūpo" in Brahmi in a Mulavarman Inscription, Muara Kaman, Kalimantan, 5th century CE

References
  1. VOGEL, J. Ph. (1918). "The Yupa Inscriptions of King Mulavarman, from Koetei (East Borneo)". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië. 74 (1/2): 167–232. ISSN 1383-5408. JSTOR 20769898.
  2. VOGEL, J. Ph. (1918). "The Yupa Inscriptions of King Mulavarman, from Koetei (East Borneo)". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië. 74 (1/2): 213. ISSN 1383-5408. JSTOR 20769898.
  3. Hall, D.G.E. (1981). A History of South-East Asia, Fourth Edition. Hong Kong: Macmillan Education Ltd. p. 38. ISBN 0-333-24163-0.
  4. Tarling, Nicholas (1999). The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia Volume 1 Part 1 From early times to c. 1500. Cambridge, England, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 305. ISBN 0-521-66369-5.
  5. VOGEL, J. Ph. (1918). "The Yupa Inscriptions of King Mulavarman, from Koetei (East Borneo)". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië. 74 (1/2): 212. ISSN 1383-5408. JSTOR 20769898.
  6. Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella (ed.). The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.
  7. Shome, Tony (2004). Malay Political Leadership. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-135-78933-6.
  8. Sircar, D. C. (1996). Indian Epigraphy. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 212. ISBN 978-81-208-1166-9.
  9. Mitra, Karabi (2011). "Religion in Pre-Islamic Indonesia". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 72: 1030. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44145714.
  10. VOGEL, J. Ph. (1918). "The Yupa Inscriptions of King Mulavarman, from Koetei (East Borneo)". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië. 74 (1/2): 167–232. ISSN 1383-5408. JSTOR 20769898.
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