Abstract
To date, there is yet a map of Nusantara and the understanding of its geographical area is based on logical assumption that it is a combination of ‘nusa’ (nation) and ‘tara’ (between) which is not so. This paper is an effort to subdue its absence by delineating its the map in a diagrammatic presentation based on indigenous sources which directly related to it, NAgara-KArtAgama (the 14th century Javanese Majapahit court chronicle) and supported by other indigenous sources, namely, Pararaton (14century) and the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu) (17th century). Based on these indigenous sources, affirm that Nusantara is an indigenous geopolitical region which covers a vast area of southeastern part of present Asian region with its northern tip starts from the Isthmus of Kra (southern Thailand) and stretches down to its southern tip at Western Papua New Guinea; and its western tip starts from west Sumatera (Barus) and stretches eastward to its eastern tip at Manila (Saludung/Salurong). The objective of this paper is to reify the map of Nusantara so that it could easily visualized by everybody with all level of knowledge.
Highlights
Nusantara is an ancient indigenous geographical term to refer Southeast Asia [1]
The term ‘Nusantara’ itself precisely stated in indigenous historical records, namely, the 14th century NāgaraKěrtāgama, Pararaton (14th century) and the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu) (17th century), denotes a unified territory composing entire indigenous countries in the region currently called Southeast Asian
As could be substantiated by the information listed in the 13th and 14th pupuh of Nāgara-Kěrtāgama as shown in Table 1, Nusantara could be defined is a unified geopolitical territory enclosure with its northern tip boundaries start at the Isthmus of Kra, formerly known as Langkasuka; and it stretches southward to Western Papua New Guinea (Waning); and its western tip boundaries start at west Sumatera (Barus) and stretched eastward to Manila (Saludung/ Salurong)
Summary
Nusantara is an ancient indigenous geographical term to refer Southeast Asia [1]. The term ‘Nusantara’ itself precisely stated in indigenous historical records, namely, the 14th century NāgaraKěrtāgama, Pararaton (14th century) and the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu) (17th century), denotes a unified territory composing entire indigenous countries in the region currently called Southeast Asian. The term is still in common among the natives of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and south Thailand. Its importance is beyond academic interests as it plays practical roles in those nations. On the other hand, ‘Nusantara’ is a special kind of ‘sacred’ word among the indigenous of Southeast Asia as it fertilizes potent feelings of an imagine communities, a form sense of belonging that often pronounced as ‘a compatriot kin’ (bangsa serumpun) based on their common ancestors and similarities of spoken language, belief, way of lifestyle, skin colours, besides domicile [5]. While the choice is always up to the readers, currently, Nusantara is not been perceived as the property of Indonesians alone as it been shared by other indigenous peoples in this region as well, including Malaysia, Brunei, south Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. The ultimate intention of this paper is to enhance the sharing potent feelings of imagine communities among the communities that will conserve the everlasting peaceful, prosperous and tranquility lives of the region
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