The Higher Royal Decrees of Indonesia from the 7th to the 16th Centuries as a Source for the History of Buddhist Practices in the Archipelago

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Abstract

The "Corpus of Higher Royal Decrees" (VKR) of Indonesia from the 7th to the 16th centuries is considered a primary source for the socio-economic and religious history of the archipelago. The texts analyzed document the granting of land, tax exemptions, judicial decisions, and rituals of power sanctification. The study encompasses multilingual monuments in Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old Javanese, and Old Balinese, inscribed on stone and metal, allowing for the tracing of the transformation of the diplomatic canon, the evolution of Buddhist discourse, and regional features of state-legal practice. Special attention is given to the relationship between legal content and the cosmological concepts of monarchy and the role of VKR in establishing a sustainable resource base for temples, monasteries, and educational centers. This approach reveals the mechanisms of integrating Buddhist ethics into the legal space and demonstrates how epigraphy served as a tool for legitimizing power, managing land resources, and regulating the religious environment. The analysis relies exclusively on peer-reviewed academic editions of VKR; formulaic-diplomatic and historical-philological methods were applied, along with critical discourse analysis of ritual formulas, legal hermeneutics, and inter-publisher cross-verification of dating, toponyms, and terminology. This work presents for the first time a comprehensive typology of VKR, including prasasti, jayapatra, and sima-grants, and shows their functional complementarity in managing land and religious institutions. A three-phase evolution of the formula has been established: from the early sanctioning style of Srivijaya through the rhetorically rich phase of Central Java to the legally condensed syncretism of the Majapahit era. It was found that as curses were reduced, the tantric block of invocations intensified, and fiscal prescriptions were systematically ordered, indicating an increase in the legal competence of the administrative apparatus. The role of copper grants as a mobile carrier of collective memory has been demonstrated, ensuring the continuity of legal norms during dynastic changes. It has been shown that VKR established a stable ideological archetype of the "king-defender of Dhamma," relevant to contemporary Buddhist organizations in Indonesia.

References

  1. Acri A. On birds, ascetics, and kings in Central Java Rāmāyana Kakawin, 24.95-126 and 25 // Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde. – 2010. – Vol. 166, № 4. – P. 475-506. – doi: 10.1163/22134379-90003611.
  2. Acri A., Wenta A. A Buddhist Bhairava? Kṛtanagara's Tantric Buddhism in Transregional Perspective // Entangled Religions. – 2022. – Vol. 13, № 7. – P. 1-46. – doi: 10.46586/er.13.2022.9653. EDN: JAKTHW.
  3. DHARMA : ERC-проект "The Domestication of “Hindu” Asceticism and the Religious Making of South and Southeast Asia" [Электрон. ресурс]. – URL: https://erc-dharma.github.io/ (дата обращения: 30.05.2025).
  4. Haryono T. Traces of Buddhism in Sumatra: An Archaeological Perspective // UNESCO Silk Road Paper. – 2016. – 7 p. – URL: https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/default/files/knowledge-bank-article/traces_of_buddhism_in_sumatra_an_archaeological_perspective.pdf (дата обращения: 29.05.2025).
  5. Heine-Geldern R. Conceptions of State and Kingship in Southeast Asia. – Ithaca (NY) : Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1956. – 17 p.
  6. Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia. Praśāsti [Электронный ресурс] : dokumen resmi yang dikeluarkan oleh seorang raja / Direktorat Pelindungan Kebudayaan. – Jakarta : Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, 2015. – Режим доступа: https://kebudayaan.kemdikbud.go.id/dpk/prasasti/ (дата обращения: 04.06.2025). – Загл. с экрана. – Текст : электронный. (на индон. яз.).
  7. Manguin P.-Y. Srivijaya: Trade and Connectivity in the Pre-modern Malay World // Journal of Urban Archaeology. – 2021. – Vol. 3. – P. 87-100. – doi: 10.1484/J.JUA.5.123677. EDN: UHBDXK.
  8. Marsono, Rahayu N. Movement of Hindu Religious Education in The Era of The Kingdom of Majapahit // Dharmakirti: International Journal of Religion, Mind and Science. – 2023. – Vol. 1. – P. 1-11. – doi: 10.61511/ijroms.v1i1.2023.266.
  9. Miksic J. N. The Buddhist-Hindu Divide in Premodern Southeast Asia // NSC Working Paper. – 2010. – № 1 (Sep). – P. 1-37.
  10. Putra E. R. Buddhism in Indonesia: the current issues of development of Buddhism and modern Muslim // Teaching Dhamma in New Lands: conference volume. – Myanmar (Burma) : ATBU Meetings, 2009. – P. 11-20.
  11. Revire N. Dvaravati and Zhenla in the seventh to eighth centuries: A transregional ritual complex // Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. – 2016. – Vol. 47, № 3. – P. 393-417. – doi: 10.1017/S0022463416000254.
  12. Saputro R. A. et al. Relics of the Kingdom of Srivijaya in Palembang as a Source of Local Historical Learning // BIRCI Journal. – 2022. – Vol. 5, № 2. – P. 10580-10588.
  13. Siregar S. Talang Tuo inscription: The management of environmental in Sriwijaya period // Indonesian Journal of Environmental Management and Sustainability. – 2021. – Vol. 2. – P. 80-83. – doi: 10.26554/ijems.2018.3.3.80-83.
  14. Steenbrink K. Buddhism in Muslim Indonesia // Studia Islamika. – 2013. – Vol. 20. – P. 1-34. – doi: 10.15408/sdi.v20i1.346.
  15. Surpi N. K., Widiana I. G. P. G., Marselinawati P. S. Sivagrha: religious harmonization and the concept of unity in diversity // Life and Death: Journal of Eschatology. – 2023. – Vol. 1, № 1. – P. 25-35.
  16. Surpi N. Śivagrha (Prambanan Temple) as an Archetype of Hindu Theology in Nusantara (An Endeavor to Discover Hindu Theological Knowledge through Ancient Temple Heritage) // Analisa: Journal of Social Science and Religion. – 2020. – Vol. 5. – P. 107-122. – doi: 10.18784/analisa.v5i1.1024. EDN: PXIUJD.
  17. Susanti L. R., Fathiah H., Mariyani, Hidayanti M., Oktarina T. Analisis Peninggalan Keagamaan Hindu-Buddha di Kedatuan Sriwijaya: Perspektif Sosio-Kultural // Fajar Historia: Jurnal Ilmu Sejarah dan Pendidikan. – 2024. – Vol. 8. – P. 160-172. – doi: 10.29408/fhs.v8i1.23821. EDN: NZHHAS.
  18. Wahyudi D. Y., Munandar A. A. Majapahit: Reflection of the Religious Life (14th-15th AD) // AHS-APRISH Proceedings. – 2023. – Vol. 753. – P. 104-115.
  19. Yulianti Y. The Birth of Buddhist Organizations in Modern Indonesia, 1900-1959 // Religions. – 2022. – Vol. 13, № 3, Art. 217. – P. 1-15. – doi: 10.3390/rel13030217. EDN: UXMJIJ.
  20. Zakharov A. O. The Śailendras reconsidered // Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Working Paper Series. – 2012. – № 12 (Aug). – P. 1-38.

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download

Согласие на обработку персональных данных

 

Используя сайт https://journals.rcsi.science, я (далее – «Пользователь» или «Субъект персональных данных») даю согласие на обработку персональных данных на этом сайте (текст Согласия) и на обработку персональных данных с помощью сервиса «Яндекс.Метрика» (текст Согласия).