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Indonesia: Peoples and Histories - Tengku Muhammad Dhani Iqbal

Indonesia: Peoples and Histories - Tengku Muhammad Dhani Iqbal

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EARLY BEGINNINGS<br />

[To view this image, refer to<br />

the print version of this title.]<br />

Yupa Post from Kalimantan, early fifth century c.e. Sanskrit words preserved on stone in<br />

Pallava script tell the story of a family that controlled territory near Kutai in east Kalimantan. King<br />

Mulavarman’s victories, his generosity to brahmins, <strong>and</strong> his princely genealogy are recorded on<br />

seven yupa posts. National Museum, Jakarta, D 2 c. Photo courtesy of the Lontar Foundation.<br />

By their pursuit <strong>and</strong> possession of Indian things, archipelago men transformed<br />

the hubs of commerce from which they operated. Principal traders<br />

used their new wealth to invent an imagined India. In port <strong>and</strong> countryside<br />

their wealth <strong>and</strong> contacts resulted in the construction of stone <strong>and</strong> brick temples<br />

modeled on temples in India, embellished with carvings inspired by Indian<br />

temple wall carvings, housing sculptures of gods carved out of stone<br />

according to the rules of Hindu or Buddhist iconography. Port rulers insti-<br />

20

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