Unveil the ‘lost toponyms’ in the northern part of the Menoreh Mountains, Java, Indonesia

Abstract

ABSTRACTHow geographical features get their names have become part of the cultural heritage that lives within local communities, following the presence of human civilization. They should be documented to preserve against the extinction. Geographical name of hills and rivers in the Menoreh region in Java was the example where numerous toponyms disappeared from the recent maps. This declining information occurred after comparing the Indonesian official topographic maps (RBI) to the latest Dutch colonial era maps. Field surveying was undergone to ascertain the ‘lost’ names by interviewing residents in four districts: Borobudur, Salaman, Kalibawang, and Samigaluh, in the northern part of this mountainous area. There were 107 names of hills and rivers that existed on the Dutch maps but disappeared from the RBI maps. The result revealed that 81 names existed, 12 names changed and 14 names unrecognized. This fact was experienced in the rest of the island of Java as well. For the future RBI updating, thorough and profound toponymic verification sourced from the older maps is required to gain the most accurate information. A map must be a medium to bequeath the legacy of geographical names instead of oral tradition that has decreased over today generation.