139 Comments on “Mojopahit Empire”
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Aluang Anak Bayang Says:
December 8th, 2007 at 6:38 pmDear mbak Marisa,
I can’t think of any past (or present) Sumatran empire as great as Jovo’s Mojopahit. Sri Vijaya pales in comparison to the great Mojopahit. Just as China had Confucius and the Great Wall, India Buddha and Taj Mahal, the Javanese had Prophet Joyoboyo and Borobudur. If I am not mistaken, the Sumatran’s Riau inhabitants were the one to help the colonial warlords subdue the Javanese. Maybe they were the smart one as minority melayu speakers were put in power in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. But Javanese was always known to be intelligent, rebellious and persistent. We will work our way around it. Anyway, it was history and all were forgiven.
The tide had now change. Our emergence was even felt in the south, and the newly elected Pak Rudd even promised to make Queensland the financial hub for the Asian region. Once Australia is returned to us, we will be the world’s largest empire. Our president will soon be standing tall with the rest of the world’s superpower.
Regards.
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Adrian Vickers Says:
December 13th, 2007 at 5:59 amHi Aluang Anak Bayang,
I’m not convinced by your statement that ‘(note correct spelling and pronunciation in our language, ‘Majapahit’ is in Bahasa Melayu’. I read Balinese and Old Javanese, including the kekawin texts like the Nagarakertagama which are our main record of Majapahit, and I know of no indication in the Old Javanese texts or inscriptions that the Modern Javanese ‘o’ pronunciation existed in the past.
If you look at all the languages of surrounding islands, they have ‘a’, including Balinese, (who pronounce it ‘Majapait’, but the ‘a’ is a sound more like the ‘er’ in English ‘father’). My suspicion is that the ‘o’ sound for ‘a’ is a Central Javanese dialectical element. As with many other languages, when the Dutch brought modern language studies and print to Central Java, they helped elevate the Central Javanese dialect (and even the Solo version of that dialect) to the status of ‘proper’ Javanese (like Home Counties English, Ayuthaya-Bangkok Thai and Riau Malay).
Of course we cannot really know how people pronounced things in the past, but languages changes, and we can’t assume that present-day pronunciations are how things always were.
By the way, according to a well-argued thesis of Collins, Bahasa Melayu originated not in Sumatra but in eastern Kalimantan, a blow to all the Sumatrans out there.
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December 13th, 2007 at 8:09 amDear Adrian Vickers,
Alphabetic letterings were introduced by the colonial rulers; and Sumatran Melayu was chosen over Javanese language because Sumatran is better at sucking up to Bules when they had power over us. Melayu speakers were easy to manipulate and were put in high official positions, whereas Javanese are very stubborn, not someone you can put in power and pull string behind. You can see the pattern in Malaysia and Brunei. A non-Javanese will pronounce it with the ‘a’, whereas no knowledgeable Javanese will call it any other way than with the ‘o’. Mojopahit is in no way a modern slang.
Bahasa Melayu was said to ‘originate’ from Sumatra because it is widely spoken there by the Riau inhabitants, who spread it out to Malaya and Poni (now Brunei). It was sparsely spoken in Champa (now Kampuchea) and Southern Phillipines; their source according to historians were Yunan in Southern China.
By the way, according to a well-argued thesis of Collins, Bahasa Melayu originated not in Sumatra but in eastern Kalimantan, a blow to all the Sumatrans out there.
No way is Bahasa Melayu from Borneo. Probably a feeble attempt by the power-that-was to Melayu-nise the Dayaks. There certainly was an attempt to Melayu-nise the Dayaks during the Suharto and Mahatir eras, as when converted to Islam, their ethnicity were switched to Melayu.
You will need to actually live in Kalimantan to know what is spoken there. Melayus, Banjars, Madurese, Javanese and Bugis are of the same Malayic stock, and are migrants to the Borneo island. The Dayaks lived a completely different lifestyle and followed a unique tradition alien to the surrounding nusantara. Their facial features and skin tone resemble that of the Polynesians albeit smaller in frame. Some tribes like the Melanaus have tanner skin tone but they are in minority.
Salam.
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Achmad Sudarsono Says:
December 13th, 2007 at 10:32 amPak Aluang.
Bravo. A good fend-off to the latest attempt by the White Man to expropriate our cultural history. He probably didn’t expect this resistance, not being surrounded by wide-eyed undergraduates forced to buy his textbooks…
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December 13th, 2007 at 10:37 am…Or wide-eyed Balinese village boys, (like Walter Spies and Donald Friend), inviting him to an all-night, “ronde” sessions at the Bale Bengong.
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December 13th, 2007 at 11:42 amSo true. Bules like to change our history to suit their agenda. Indonesia history will not be changed as long as Javanese rules. We were weak during the colonial time and Bahasa Melayu were forced onto us, but as decendants of sea-faring adventurers and empire builders, we are changing the tide. Our forefathers defeated them and set free Indonesia, we then sent our children overseas to study Bules’ cultures, we crept into parliament to replace the Melayu puppets, and now we are making way for the return of the Great Mojopahit.
Bravo. A good fend-off to the latest attempt by the White Man to expropriate our cultural history. He probably didn’t expect this resistance, not being surrounded by wide-eyed undergraduates forced to buy his textbooks”¦
I would not have been able to refute him if I wasn’t a 3rd generation Javanese living in Kalimantan. Nowhere in Borneo island do you find Bahasa Melayu speakers except the area of Poni (Brunei) where the sultanate is closely related to Malaysia’s Pahang sultanate. Borneo island simply belong to the Dayaks, and any other language other than the Dayaks are imported.
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Oigal Says:
December 13th, 2007 at 12:45 pmOigal “” wtf ?? Huh ?? I thought fried-out combie
I repeat… tsk tsk tsk…do a lyric search ASSMAD or we will have to accuse you of being ill informed ..again…But do use an Australian website so you know what a bloody Kombie is.
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Sputjam Says:
December 13th, 2007 at 1:08 pmThe malay word telinga and mata has similar meanings to that spoken by Taiwanese aboriginese and Maoris/polynesian.
Even with the hawaiian meaning for eyes is Ma’ka, and aku as A’u.Above could be just coincidence. But DNA have determined that polyniesian did originate from taiwan aborigines, the island which was ignored by Chinese rule and overwhelmed by chinese imigrants only after Dutch ruled and the island and called it Fomosa required labour for their projects.
From Southern Phillipines to northern Aceh tip, malay language is easily understood, including malay southern Thailand and islands off Myanmar, aptly named Pulo as in Pulau.
Hence the colonial powers prefference for malay over javanese which incidentally, never took off from java.
Mojo “pahit” empire is insignificant in comparison to the areas where malay language could have evolved and is spoken.
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December 13th, 2007 at 1:36 pmOigal, Friend, Combies are from the Nazi country German. I’m sure VW had a great time in world war two using slave labor. Peace, Achmad.
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December 13th, 2007 at 7:50 pmHence the colonial powers prefference for malay over javanese which incidentally, never took off from java.
If the Javanese influences in the nusantara were let to run its course without interference by the colonial powers, Malaya will eventually be overwhelmed by the Javanese.
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dewaratugedeanom Says:
December 16th, 2007 at 4:01 pmI am not a linguist but I have always been told that the reason why the Malay language became lingua franca in the archipelago was because it was more egalitarian and didn’t make use of the different levels of speech which complicated governmental rule and inter-island relations.
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Mat Salleh Says:
August 7th, 2008 at 5:30 pmFirstly, Britain doesn’t have a rugby team, but England, Scotland and Wales do. So which one was
Secondly, China and India are definitely on their way to superpower status, but Indonesia? Indonesia is to the Asia Pacific what Brazil is to the Americas, the country of the future, and always will be.
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perseus Says:
August 8th, 2008 at 6:54 amAchmad said:
But I do call on you to address the main arguments in the piece and to not take cheap shots…
The main points in the argument – such as it is – are:
1) Australia lost a football game therefore it is doomed.
2) The Australian economy is based on resources which require no brains (a/c Achmad) therefore it is doomed.
3) Australian Universities are full of (full fee paying) Asian students therefore it is doomed .
4) Australia’s coming doom is to be neo-colonized or somehow ethically absorbed into the mythical Empire of Mojowhatever…Regarding the above, it is observed (drily) in the Economist Style Guide that one should not say that one’s opponent is an idiot, you should let your argument show that he is.
In the case of arguing with Achmad, this is unnecessary, Achmad is perfectly capable of demonstrating to us all that he is a complete goose.
Point 1) is ludicrous. Point 2) is wrong. Resources require lots of brains to extract and process which is why Australian miners are working in Indonesia not vice versa. Point 3) refutes Point 2). Higher Education is now a bigger export for Australia than Tourism and Asian students while numerous are not a majority (about 20-30%). Point 4) is pure fantasy. The Javanese were not even able to hang onto a worthless patch of jungle like East Timor and they have a national panic if a boatload of Papuan separatists get granted refugee status. These people would struggle to colonize the thousands of empty islands in their own archipelago let alone anywhere else! Serious war fighting does not run on rubber time…
So dream on, friend Achmad. I look forward to seeing how Indonesia with its 200 odd million people stacks up to Australia with its mere 20 odd million in the coming Olympic Games. We shall see the measure of national athletic health then
Indonesia usually does all right in the badminton…
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August 8th, 2008 at 9:24 amPerseus,
I like your tongue-in-cheek riposte !
A nation who listens to musicians such as Kevin Bloody Wilson and comedians such as Rodney Rude, is clearly a hive of barbarians. Kev, for those who don’t know, crooned such lyrical classics as “grandad’s got a stiffy,” and “I gave up w–king”.
Also, it’s true Indonesia’s ascension to superpower status isn’t guaranteed. The key will be stopping the other superpowers getting the alien technology buried in the Borobudur and other sites.
The athletic and fun-loving aussies will enjoy pulling rickshaws and becoming, as Paul Keating predicted, “the poor white trash” of Asia.
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August 8th, 2008 at 11:39 amAchmad said:
A nation who listens to musicians such as Kevin Bloody Wilson and comedians such as Rodney Rude, is clearly a hive of barbarians. Kev, for those who don’t know, crooned such lyrical classics as “grandad’s got a stiffy,” and “I gave up w–king”.
You forgot Kylie Minogue!
At least we don’t have anything like the MUI. Nor do we have any public figure who will go out to bat for the odious practice of female circumcision. Well we do have Sheik Hilali but he is a imported nutter not dinky di or true blue.
Also, it’s true Indonesia’s ascension to superpower status isn’t guaranteed. The key will be stopping the other superpowers getting the alien technology buried in the Borobudur and other sites.
The truth, friend Achmad, is out there somewhere.
But not in your posts…
PS. We already got the alien technology anyhow. It is stashed at Ayers Rock… the blackfellas – who are really the most advanced people on the planet look after it
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August 8th, 2008 at 2:15 pmPerseus,
My black brothers at Uluru have already said they will be the vanguards of Mojopahit. Uluru has been the pine gap of the Alien world.
Otherwise, friend, I suggest you accept your rickshaw-pulling status….
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August 8th, 2008 at 3:00 pmHah!
Friend Achmad, the black brothers work for ASIS and the DSD, your Empire of Mojo is infiltrated and aborted before it is even born!
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Henrynus Says:
October 9th, 2009 at 12:10 pmPlease comment: the Malay language is 70% Indian Hindu (Sanskrit) developed and propagated by Indian rulers who colonized the Nusantara for thousands of years. The Hindu rulers started the Melayur empire stretching from Sumatra to Temasek (now Singapore). Melayur is a Tamil term to denote hills. The Melayur rulers are of Indian origins from Southern India. They claimed they are descendants of Alexander the Great, which is true. Alexander once ruled over India and produced many offspring, some of his descendants found their way to Sumatra and Java, as Hindu Kings. The Chinese in their chronicle changed the term from Malaiur to Malayeo. When these Hindu Melayur rulers converted to Islam, they simply became Melayu. Eventually Melayu become synonymous with Islam. To convert to Islam means to become Melayu. Parameswara is a Melayur Hindu king who converted to Islam. The Melayur Muslim rulers spread their influence and established kingdoms throughout the Nusantara, including Brunei, Banjar and Kutai, as far away as Sulawesi. Hindu Jawa was defeated and succumb to Muslim Melayu rulers. Thus Melayu has an Indian origins, Sanskrit, mixed with Austronesian language of native Borneo, who migrated to Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. Melayu (a mixture of Sanskrit and Borneon language) became the preferred language of the Malay nobles/ rulers, and also commerce among Indian/ Muslim/local traders. DNA test will prove the DNA flow from Borneo to Sumatra and Tanah Melayu. The Dayak benuaq of Kalimantan and the Orang Asli Temuaq of Peninsula Malaysia, the backbone of the Malay race in Peninsula Malaysia, are closely related by DNA.
The native components of the Malay language is 30% Austronesian, ironically largely from Northwest Borneo or the Dusun of Sabah. Prof Zafarina of USM discovered the Dusun DNA contributed to the rest of Borneo, and the Philippines, even to the pacific Islands. The Austronesian language has its origins in insular Borneo, where it incubated for thousands of years. Migrants from Southern China, now Vietnam, Northern Thailand, Burma, Taiwan, might have crossed the South China Sea to reach the Philippines or even directly to Borneo. The largely male migrants took aboriginal wives which produced the uniquely native race of Borneo. That explain why we find the Austronesian language in the Papuan language in the pacific. The natives of Borneo has mixed ancestors, mongoloids from Tibet of China (says, Dr Zafarina) and also Negroids (documented by historical writings), the original inhabitants of Borneo, who are also the ancestors of the Papuans and Australians. Successive arrivals of people from mainland China overwhelmed the Negritos, whose DNA and even some physical features (dark skin and kinky hair) can be found in the interior of Sabah, for instance, among the Makiang Murutic tribes of upper Kinabatangan river.
The Sanskrit language is not dead, it is alive in Malaysia and Indonesia, in the form of Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia. The early literary writers of the Malay language are learned in Sanskrit, and later Arabic Jawi. The form of Malay now spoken in Brunei and shorelines of Southern Borneo were brought by Indian mixture Melayu rulers, but it retained some words which can be found in the native/ Dayak languages of the Borneo.
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rizal Says:
February 27th, 2010 at 6:24 pmThe influence of sanskrit is not only in the malay language in both indonsia and malaysia, but also in thai and burma’s language….
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