The Problem of the Ancient Name Java and the Role of Satyavarman in Southeast Asian International Relations Around the Turn of the Ninth Century CE

Abstract

One of the most familiar narratives of ancient Southeast Asian history is the account of how Cambodian king Jayavarman II liberated his country from Javā, and consequently declared himself emperor in the year 802 CE. These events and this year are widely considered to represent the beginning of the Angkorian “ empire”. Recent years have seen several new scholarly contributions questioning parts of this narrative. One issue is the very historicity of the narrative elements about Jayavarman II, another topic of debate is the identity of Javā in the narratives related to Jayavarman II, and, more generally, in the history of Southeast Asia. After revealing the very weak foundations of certain recent attempts to argue that references to Javā in sources of the Southeast Asian mainland denoted a place on the continent or the Malay peninsula, this paper argues that the Khmer inscriptions refer to the island of Java when they use the term Javā. The paper shows, furthermore, that narratives involving Javā do not exclusively concern Jayavarman II, but that a certain Satyavarman is in some sources attributed a role very similar to that of the much more famous king Jayavarman II. It is proposed that this Satyavarman may well have been the king of that name who ruled in southern Campā around 800 CE, and hence that the epigraphical record of Satyavarman in Campā is likely to hold important clues not only for the history of Campā itself, but equally for international political relations between the Khmer, Cam and Javanese polities in the late 8th and early 9th century of our era.