Old Sundanese Inscriptions: Renewing the Philological Approach*

Abstract

Old Sundanese inscriptions had already been studied by the end of the 19th century by the Dutch scholars, and post-Independence Indonesian scholars have continued to make occasional contributions. However, the epigraphic corpus still leaves many problems without a compelling solution, while the available editions are of uneven quality. This article’s objective is to present new editions of fifteen Old Sundanese inscriptions, based on direct reading from the original artefacts and on newly made photos and estampages, and to interpret the contents of these inscriptions by renewing the philological approach, pioneered by some Dutch scholars in the 19th century, of making systematic use of Old Sundanese sources preserved in manuscripts, in order to elucidate the meaning of the inscriptions. Our study shows that the inscriptions are related to the social and political contexts of the Sunda region from the late 15th into the 16th century, and that they are predominantly commemorative in nature rather than being records of contemporary events.