Shailendra dynasty
The Shailendra dynasty (IAST: Śailēndra, Indonesian pronunciation: [ʃaɪlenˈdraː] derived from Sanskrit combined words Śaila and Indra, meaning "King of the Mountain",[1] also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) was the name of a notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century Java, whose reign signified a cultural renaissance in the region.
[2] The Shailendras were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism and covered the Kedu Plain of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, one of which is the colossal stupa of Borobudur, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
[3][4][5] The Shailendras are considered to have been a thalassocracy and ruled vast swathes of maritime Southeast Asia; however, they also relied on agricultural pursuits, by way of intensive rice cultivation on the Kedu Plain of Central Java.
The inscriptions created by Shailendras use three languages; Old Javanese, Old Malay, and Sanskrit — written either in the Kawi alphabet, or pre-Nāgarī script.
[7] The Sojomerto inscription (9th century CE) discovered in Batang Regency, Central Java, mentioned the name Dapunta Selendra and Selendranamah.
[8] However, recent analysis suggested that this was not true: The inscription has diphthong ai in it, so it is unlikely that Selendra was another name for Shailendra, and the Sumatran origin of Sailendra dynasty was thus unproven.
[2]: 24–25 The earliest dated inscription in Indonesia in which clearly mentioned the dynastic name of Śailēndra as Śailēndravamśatilaka appears is the Kalasan inscription (778) of central Java, which mention its ruler Mahārāja dyāḥ Pañcapaṇa kariyāna Paṇaṃkaraṇa and commemorates the establishment of a Buddhist shrine, Candi Kalasan, dedicated for the goddess Tara.
In addition, this theory is obsolete because there is no data on the existence of the Shailendra dynasty in Sumatra earlier than the ninth century and Srivijaya was unable to conquer Java.
[2]: 22–27 According to the old theory of Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (1933), an Indian scholar, the Shailendra dynasty that established itself in the Indonesian archipelago originated from Kalinga (modern Odisha) in Eastern India.
Moens (1937) further describes that the Shailendras originated in India and established themselves in Palembang before the arrival of Srivijaya's Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa.
The mutual alliance between the two kingdoms ensured that Srivijaya had no need to fear the emergence of a Javanese rival and that the Shailendra had access to the international market.
The Tri Tepusan inscription dated 842 mentioned about the sima (tax free) lands awarded by Śrī Kahulunan (Pramodhawardhani, daughter of Samaratungga) to ensure the funding and maintenance of a Kamūlān called Bhūmisambhāra.
Casparis suggested that Bhūmi Sambhāra Bhudhāra which in Sanskrit means "The mountain of combined virtues of the ten stages of Boddhisattvahood", was the original name of Borobudur.
[20]: 108 However, later historians such as Slamet Muljana equate Samaratungga with Rakai Garung, mentioned in Mantyasih inscription as fifth monarch of Mataram Kingdom.
In 851 an Arabic merchant named Sulaiman recorded an event about Javanese Sailendras staging a surprise attack on the Khmers by approaching the capital from the river, after a sea crossing from Java.
[20]: 108–109 [24] From Sumatra, the Shailendras also maintained overseas relations with the Chola kingdom in Southern India, as shown by several south Indian inscriptions.
[26] The devastation caused by Chola invasion of Srivijaya in 1025, marked the end of Shailendra family as the ruling dynasty in Sumatra.
Traditionally, the Shailendra period was viewed to span from the 8th to the 9th century, confined only in Central Java, from the era of Panangkaran to Samaratungga.
