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'Sailendra' ( meaning "Lord of the Mountain" in Sanskrit ) was the name of an Indonesian dynasty, emerging in Central Java at the end of the eighth century. The name of the dynasty (''Sailendra-vamsa'') is first attested in the Kalasan Inscription dated 778.^[1] The Sailendras were firm followers of Mahayana Buddhism and were credited for building several temples on Java.^[2]

Contents

Origins

Location

History

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Notes

References

External links

Origins

The earliest Sailendra inscription dates from 778 CE (the Kalasan Inscription). Sailendra power centered on the Kedu Plain in south-central Java, an area where paddy field or ''sawah'' cultivation flourished and whose location made it secure from sea-borne raids frequent on the north coast of the island.
The ecology of the Kedu Plain required cooperation in the allocation of water among rice cultivators. Local ruling lineages emerged to control and coordinate water in each stream or river basin. According to Clifford Geertz, paddy culture requires extensive work on drainage, canals, and terracing. A lineage which can mobilize labor from more than one basin can dominate other local lineages. The Sailendra mobilized labor across the boundaries of each basin by the use of symbolic power associated with the use of Hindu and Buddhist rituals including Sanskrit inscriptions, an Indianized court and the construction of a kraton, temples and monuments.
The kings of the Sailendra-dynasty had, like other Javanese kings, the concept of the "Dewa-Raja"(God-King). They believed that the King had divine power as a living god among his subjects. This concept was probably applied to assure and exercise the King's immense power over his dominions and to influence the local lineages.

Location

Although the Sailendras clearly manifested themselves most strongly on the island of Java, some historians suggested that the Sailendras had their homeland outside Java. Apart from Java itself, a homeland in the Srivijaya kingdom in Sumatra ( c. 670- c.1270 AD ), India and the Funan kingdom (c.100-c. 600 AD ) in Cambodia, have been suggested.
The French scholar George Coedes once proposed that the Sailendras could be related to the Funanese rulers, because their title meaning 'Lord of Mountain' was supposed to resemble a hypothesized 'Lord of Mountain' title of the Funanese rulers.^[3] The many fallacies in Coedes' hypothesis have been demonstrated by several specialists on Cambodian history.^[4] It is simply stated that no evidences were found of the title 'mountain king' for the Funan rulers.^[5]

History

After the formation of Srivijaya, The Sailendra maintained close relations, including marriage alliances with Srivijaya. The mutual alliance between the two kingdoms ensured that Srivijaya need not fear emergence of a Javanese rival and that the Sailendra had access to the international market. The Sailendra participated in the Spice Route trade between China and India, but their level of participation never rivalled that of Srivijaya. Intensive rice cultivation was the foundation of the Sailendra kingdom.
The Sailendra covered the Kedu Plain with Vajrayana Buddhist shrines and temples celebrating and affirming their power. The Borobudur temple complex, built between 778 and 824 CE was the greatest accomplishment of the Sailendra. Borobudur was the first great Buddhist monument in Southeast Asia and influenced the construction of later monuments, such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
At its peak the Sailendra kingdom ruled the eastern two-thirds of Java, Bali, Lombok, coastal areas of Kalimantan, southern Sulawesi, and the Funanese successor state of Water Chenla. Around 800 AD, Jayavarman II, the founder of Khmer Empire lived as a prince at the court of Sailendra. He probably lived here as a prisoner or for his education. In 802 he went to Cambodia and declared himself the God-King Jayavarman II and declared full independence from Java. This record gave rise to speculations that Cambodia was a vassal of Java. He was probably influenced by the refined art and culture of the Javanese Sailendras, including the divine Dewa-Raja (God-King) cult practiced by their kings.

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According to the traditional account, the Sailendra kingdom came to an abrupt end when a prince from the rival Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty, named Rakai Pikatan, displaced them in 832. Rakai Pikatan, who was the crown prince of the Sanjaya Dynasty, married Pramodhawardhani, a daughter of Samaratunga, king of Sailendra.^[6]
Some historians describe the Sailendra collapse as a retreat to Sumatra, implying that the dynasty also ruled Srivijaya. It is possible that Balaputra was a Srivijayan prince with a maternal link to the Sailendra and that his attack on Java was a Srivijayan attempt to annex the former Sailendra domain. The hostile relations between Srivijaya and Mataram tend to confirm the thesis. The Sanjaya Dynasty went on to establish the Javanese kingdom of Mataram.
The relative chronology of the Sailendra and the Sanjaya dynasty is not well understood. A similar problem exists in defining the respective territories ruled by the Sailendra and Sanjaya.

Notes

1. Casparis , 1956
2. "Patrons of Buddhism, the Sailendras during the height of their power in central Java constructed impressive mounuments and temple complexes, the best known of which is the Borobudur on the Kedu Plain" (K.R. Hall, 1985:109).
3. Coedes, 1934.
4. Michael Vickery (2003); Lawrence Palmer Briggs (1951) page 5; and Claude Jacques (1979), page 375
5. Michael Vickery, "Funan Reviewed: deconstructing the ancients" (2003), page 133
6.
" Casparis proposed that in 856 Balaputra was defeated by Pikatan, where upon Balaputra retreated to Srivijaya, the country of his mother, to become the first Sailandra ruler of Srivijaya. Thus in the late 9th century Srivijaya was ruled by a Buddhist Sailendra ruler, while Java was ruled by Pikatan and his successors who patronized Siva"
(cf. Casparis, 1956; Hall, 1985:111).

References

★ Southeast Asia. Crossroad of Religions, Kenneth Perry Landon, , , University of Chicago Press, , ISBN 0226468402

★ [Review of] South East Asia. Crossroad of Religions by K.P. Landon, Briggs, Lawrence Palmer, , , The Far Eastern Quarterly,

★ On the origins of the Sailendras of Indonesia, G. Coedes, , , Journal of the Greater India society,

★ Maritime Trade and State Development in Early South East Asia, K.R. Hall, , , University of Hawaii Press, , ISBN 0824809599

★

★ Funan reviewed: Deconstructing the Ancients, M. Vickery, , , Bulletin de l' Ecole Francaise d' Extreme Orient,

External links

★ Sailendra