The Kedungwangi inscription was discovered in Lamongan, East Java, in 1888. Already then, much of its surface had become illegible. In the absence of the text’s opening, the dating, issuer, and associated sīma remained uncertain. A provisional transcription by J. L. A. Brandes was published in 1913. Since then, the inscription has never been re-examined, let alone translated, though Boechari has proposed that it dates to the reign of King Airlangga in the eleventh century CE. The purpose of this contribution is to present a new edition of the inscription and, based on it, to provide an English translation and historical analysis. Reconsidering the previous hypothesis, this study concludes that the inscription makes a posthumous reference to Raden Wijaya and should be dated between his reign and the end of the Majapahit period, possibly as late as the 14th or even fifteenth century CE. The presence of this inscription in Lamongan at that time is contextualized with reference to other vestiges of Majapahit rule in this region, some of which have only recently come to light.

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The Kedungwangi Inscription: A Majapahit-Period Record from Lamongan

  • Arlo Griffiths,
  • Titi Surti Nastiti

摘要

The Kedungwangi inscription was discovered in Lamongan, East Java, in 1888. Already then, much of its surface had become illegible. In the absence of the text’s opening, the dating, issuer, and associated sīma remained uncertain. A provisional transcription by J. L. A. Brandes was published in 1913. Since then, the inscription has never been re-examined, let alone translated, though Boechari has proposed that it dates to the reign of King Airlangga in the eleventh century CE. The purpose of this contribution is to present a new edition of the inscription and, based on it, to provide an English translation and historical analysis. Reconsidering the previous hypothesis, this study concludes that the inscription makes a posthumous reference to Raden Wijaya and should be dated between his reign and the end of the Majapahit period, possibly as late as the 14th or even fifteenth century CE. The presence of this inscription in Lamongan at that time is contextualized with reference to other vestiges of Majapahit rule in this region, some of which have only recently come to light.