Abstract
The oldest Javanese texts which have come down to us are Royal charters engraved on stone slabs or copper-plates, issued by Javanese Kings ruling in the ninth century in Central Java. Even in that early period the district was already called Mataram. For clearness’ sake the ancient ninth, tenth and eleventh century rulers are called Old Mataram Kings, in order to distinguish them from the Muslim Mataram dynasts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the founders of the modern Central Javanese line of Kings. There is no evidence of any connection between the Old Mataram and the modern Mataram dynasty. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Muslim Mataram rulers were unaware of the existence of a preceding line of Kings in (the same district. That fact only became apparent in the second half of the nineteenth century as a consequence of the Old Javanese charters being finally deciphered by Dutch scholars.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1967 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pigeaud, T.G.T. (1967). History and Mythology. In: Synopsis of Javanese Literature 900–1900 A.D.. Literature of Java, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-0752-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-0752-3_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-015-0238-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-0752-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive