Urban Studies: Border and Mobility – Kerr et al. (Eds) © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-58034-3

Demystifying

Agung Bahroni Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya,

ABSTRACT: The territory of Indonesia is inseparable from the historical knowledge of a territorial concept of Nusantara. The concept of Nusantara itself refers to the territory in the reign of the Kingdom. The myth saying that the territory of Nusantara is the territory of Indonesia in ancient times continues to grow. In this study, we aimed to reveal what is behind the myth of Nusantara. By utilising the mythology theory of Roland Barthes, this study focused on the following two aspects: (1) how the construction of the myth of Nusantara was formed and (2) the myth demystification and its meaning. This myth emerged in some Javanese manuscripts, particularly and Negarakretagama. This myth con- tinued to spread until the period of the Indonesian National Revolution, which represented Nusantara as the historical background of Indonesia. The new meaning emerged from the term Nusantara as the territory of Indonesia to unify the Indonesian society with nationalist ideology.

Keywords: Demystification, myth, Nusantara, territory of Indonesia

1 INTRODUCTION

Indonesia is a country with an extensive history. Unfortunately, the Indonesian society often forgets some of its history. The extensive spans from the pre-colonialisation era to the present times, and apparently has a significant impact on the lives of the Indo- nesian people. Nowadays, there is a heated battle over identity contestation in relation to history. The legitimacy of history ownership is an issue, which is politically contested today. When discussing the history of Indonesia, the term “Nusantara”1 should not be ignored, which is very entwined with the lives of people in the Indonesian society. This term has a gen- erally similar meaning in the Indonesian society. The term is also inseparable from the “bor- derline” concept in the history of Indonesia, particularly in the pre-colonial time. The study regarding the borderline in is highly complicated if the study is in the context of pre-colonial time. The borderline concept itself was, in fact, conceived by the colonials to com- partmentalise the territories of sovereignty. Previously, the borderline did not exist, since the Southeast Asian society was, in fact, a trading community, which had extremely high mobility. If associated with the territory, Nusantara, for Indonesian society, is the territory of Indonesia before the colonial period. The territory, in the minds of the Indonesian people, is closely related to the territory of the Majapahit Kingdom. This meaning, in fact, came from a - nese manuscript written in the Majapahit era, i.e., Negarakretagama. The statement is strongly rooted in the minds of the Indonesian people since it obtained legitimacy in the form of the insertion of the assertion in history in schools. The term Nusantara, at that time, became an extremely popular term. For example, the term is utilised by an Islamic organization in Indonesia, i.e., Nahdlatul Ulama, which uses the term “Islam Nusantara” as the depiction of the Islamic organization, which adopts a local culture in religious life practice. Moreover, there is also the term “the culture of Nusantara” (Budaya

1. Italicised since it comes from Old Javanese and capitalised since the term describes a cultural area. 41 Nusantara) to describe the culture in Indonesia. The term also often utilizes Indonesian traditional arts as the reference. The numerous studies about the history of Majapahit render the statement about Nusantara more enduring. Before discussing this even further, it is worth noting that the description of terri- tory in this study is not in the domain of history about Nusantara. Yet, it is in the domain of myth about the term Nusantara that is applied and lasts in the Indonesian society. Myth, according to Roland Barthes, is a meaning towards a particular form. The myth itself is part of the study of sign introduced by Saussure 40 years ago with the term semiology (Barthes, 2004: 155). Barthes emphasized that meaning should return to semiology, although semiology was incapable of explaining all the different aspects. Yet, all of them had similar statuses. This is because the whole aspect makes up the science of value. They are not satisfied with the value. They are not satisfied by discovering the facts. They define and explore the facts as a sign of something else. Myth has an imperative yet conflicting character, rooted in the concept of history and directly emerging from things that are coincidental (Barthes, 2004:177). In this study, the term Nusantara and its meaning in terms of the Majapahit territory is a myth supported by some established histories. The myth of Nusantara is viewed from the theory of mythologies by Roland Barthes to reveal the myth about Nusantara. The emerging assumption is that the myth of Nusantara appeared as a form of legitimacy for the territory of Indonesia after its independence, by which, of course, the Indonesian revolutionary fig- ures affected the formation of the myth. Thus, the research questions applied in this study were: (1) How was the myth construction of Nusantara formed? (2) What are the demystifi- cation of the myth and its meaning?

2 DISCUSSION

2.1 Nusantara as a myth Many studies on Nusantara have been conducted, particularly in the field of history. The object that is mostly used in those studies is a manuscript from the past (philology). The results of the studies are also the source of past cultural knowledge. This study is not a his- torical study. This is a study regarding the myth of the term Nusantara, although the object of this study also uses manuscripts written in the past, i.e., Kakawin Negarakretagama. To consider Nusantara as a myth, the initial step is examining the denotative and con- notative meanings proposed by Roland Barthes. The denotative meaning of Nusantara can be noted from the meaning possessed by the term. On the basis of the word sequence, Nusantara is split into two words, “nusa” and “antara”. Nusa means “island” and antara means “other”, which are combined to mean other islands outside Java island (Zoetmulder and Robson, 1982). In KBBI (2006:485), Nusantara is the term for Indonesia that means “consisting of many islands”, a land of hundred thousand islands. Meanwhile, the connotative meaning is the emerging cultural meanings or the emerging meanings due to a cultural construction, so there is a shift. Nonetheless, it is still attached to the term Nusantara. Connotatively, Nusantara is interpreted as another term for Indonesia, which refers to a concept of the territory of the Majapahit Kingdom in the past with refer- ence to Kakawin Negarakretagama. In the proposed myth, Roland Barthes offers a new definition that becomes an initial step, which is used to read the myth (inoculation). In this step, the term Nusantara is defined as a term used in a cultural area in the pre-colonial time that is given by the society in colo- nial time. Thus, in the pre-colonial time (Majapahit), the term Nusantara was assumed non- existent in this writing, due to deletion of history, which is the next step that will be proved by re-reading Kakawin Negarakretagama.

2.2 Reading Kakawin Negarakretagama means “a country with a sacred tradition ()”. The name Naga- rakretagama itself is not contained in the poem Nagarakretagama. In the pupuh 94/2, 42 Prapanca called his work Deçawarnana or explication of villages. However, the name given by the poet has been forgotten by the public. The poem is called Nagarakretagama until now. The name Nagarakretagama is included in colophon published by Dr. J.L.A. Brandes: Iti Nagarakretagama Samapta. The name Nagarakretagama is apparently an additional copyist of Arthapamasah in the month of Kartika in the Saka year of 1662 (October 20, 1740 A.D.). Nagarakretagama is copied in Balinese scripts in Kancana. Desawarnana/Nagarakretagama is written in the form of a poem (kakawin). Each poem consists of four lines, and each line consists of 8–24 syllables. This poem’s manuscript con- sists of 98 pupuh, which are divided into two parts, each of which consists of 49 pupuh. In fact, the term Negarakretagama is never mentioned in the original manuscript. Meanwhile, the adaptation of the manuscript of Arthapamasah has been found; even so, it is yet to be pub- lished. The renaming of the manuscript Desawarnana to Negarakretagama is only based on the unfamiliarity in using the word. According to Prof. M. Yamin (112) in Sapta Parwa, the name Desawarnana is a summary of Wilwatikta-negara-kretagama, which means the history of Majapa- hit: Kretagama = good deeds/event/history and Wilwatikta-negara = the country of Majapahit. In the original manuscript, it is mentioned that the manuscript is entitled Desawarnana or the explication of villages visited by King . rin çakadri gajaryyamaçwayujamasa çubhadiwaça purnnacandrama, nka hingan/ rakawin/pamarnnanakhadigwijayaniranarendra rin praja, kwehnin deça riniñci donikaminustakamanarana deçawarnnana, pangil/panhwatasanmatanrpatimengeta rin alawas atpaden lanö. (XCIV: II) “The year of Sakagununggajahbudi and janma (1287), the month of Aswina, the day of full moon. To be ready a poem of adoration about the journey of traveling around the Country. To be arranged the entire villages in a sequence, worthy to be called Desawarnana. To intend that Your Majesty recall while reading the sentences of wisdom.” (XCIV: 2) The pupuh 94 above explains that in 1287, in the month of Aswina, a poem (kakawin) about the journey of the Great King Hayam Wuruk, who went around villages, was written. Then, the poet named the poem Desawarnana, so that the King remembers that the one who wrote the manuscript was Mpu Prapanca (pseudonym), who accompanied everywhere. lwir nin nusapranusapramukhasakahawat/ksonirimalayu, nan mwan palemban karitanitebalen/darmmaçraya tumut, kandiskahwasmanankabwarisiyakirkan/kam- parmwani pane, kampeharwathawemandahilini tumiha parllak/mwanibarat. (XIII:1) hi lwaslawansamudramwanilamuribatan lampun mwan ibarus, yekadinyan watek/ bhumi malayusatanahkapwamatehanut. len tekan nusa tañjun nagara ri kapuhas lawan ri katinan, sampit/mwan kutalinga mwan i kutawarinin/sambas mwan i lawai. (XIII:2) “In detail, the islands of subaltern Countries, at the beginning: M’layu, Jambi, Palem- bang, Toba, and Darmasraya. Also following: Daerah Kandis, Kahwas, Minangkabau, Siak, Rokan, Kampar and Pane.” (XIII:1) “Vast with Samudra and Lamuri, Batan, also . Those are the Malay Coun- tries to comply. The countries in Tanjungnegara island; Kapuas-Katingan, Sampit, the City of Lingga, the City of Waringin, Sambas, Lawai”. (XIII:2) Majapahit is extremely well known for the Sumpah Amukti (the ) by Patih who unified Nusantara from Sabang to Merauke. This is proved from the data above at pupuh13, stanzas 1 and 2. Majapahit’s subordinate countries from the main- land to the sea area are described in detail. The territory of Majapahit is extremely vast. This statement is also a questionable statement since in Negarakretagama, there is no term Nusantara, and Gajah Mada declared the Palapa Oath.

2.3 The term Nusantara In the historiography of Javanese manuscripts, the term Nusantara appears in several manu- scripts, which have become the master copy of the historical reconstruction of Java island, 43 such as Babad Tanah Jawi and Pararaton. Both manuscripts are of Jawa Pertengahan. Para- raton narrates the progress of the Kingdom, which was initiated by the leadership of up to the Majapahit. Moreover, the kings’ lineage of Majapahit is also the main content of Pararaton. This manuscript is arranged based on other various sources at the time it was written (Krom, 1921: 101). Pararaton’s year of writing can be observed from the last event written in this manuscript, i.e., the eruption of a mountain in 1481 A.D., and it can be concluded that this manuscript was written not long after that in the following year (Djafar, 2009: 20). Pararaton should also be regarded as the existence of a historical construc- tion established by the author based on his own interest. Likely to be dated from the year of writing at the end of the Majapahit era, the content narrates the historical journey from Singhasari to Majapahit. The term Nusantara was first found in Pararaton, particularly in the Palapa Oath declared by Gajah Mada, whose content is as follows: Sira Gajah Madapatih Amangkubumi tan ayun amuktia palapa, sira Gajah Mada: Lamun huwus kalah ring Gurun, ring Seran, Tanjung Pura, ring Haru, ring , Dompo, ring , Sunda, , Tumasik, samana isun amukti palapa. In the citation, it is “narrated” that Patih Gajah Mada has declared an oath that until today it is still the robust background for the usage of Nusantara. In his oath, Gajah Mada would never eat palapa (the information on this food is not clear) before being able to conquer several islands mentioned and unifying them into a unity called Nusantara. The researcher’s suspicion is that given when this oath is written in Pararaton, from the year of writing, it can be concluded that the author was not living in the same era, meaning the author did not directly witness the oath declared by Gajah Mada. Further in the historiography at the time after the fall of Majapahit, the term Nusantara is mentioned as representing the territory of Majapahit on various islands by referring to Para- raton as the reference as well as several other sources. The term Nusantara is not only present in Javanese manuscripts, but also spread, and was quite popular at that time. As stated in the manuscript discovered in Bangka, the term Nusantara is mentioned approximately 2,592 times (Evers, 2016:5). In the colonial period, the term Nusantara started to reappear and became popular when approaching Indonesia’s year of independence. Several figures began to consider the name for the country after it became independent from the Dutch colonizers. The socialist figure of Indonesia, Tjokroaminoto, once mentioned the term Nusantara as a possibility for the soon- independent country’s name when leading the Islamic Union (Sarekat Islam). Furthermore, Ki Hadjar Dewantara, who established the Student’s Garden (Taman Siswa), who employed Javanese ideology in his pedagogy, also proposed Nusantara for the soon-independent Indonesia (Evers, 2016:5). However, the proposal was not accepted due to the term’s owner- ship status, which was also possessed by , and Indonesia became the name after colonial time (Bastian: 1884).

2.4 The everlasting Nusantara After independence, the term Nusantara was still often raised by many figures of the Indonesian revolution. One of them was M. Yamin, who often mentioned and perpetuated the term in some of his works. Two of M. Yamin’s studies are often used as historical educa- tion references in Indonesia; thus, the myth of Nusantara is more everlasting. Sapta Parwa is the work of M. Yamin, which explicates the statecraft of Majapahit, which is detailed in seven separate volumes (1962). The next work which perpetuates Nusantara is Gajah Mada (1953), which narrates the journey of Patih Gajah Mada from various sources of manuscripts and in the work; the illustration of Gajah Mada’s figure makes its appearance for the first time. The work of Gajah Mada, indeed, perpetuates the Palapa Oath that still persists to today. Meanwhile, Sapta Parwa, which seems too complicated with its seven separate volumes, informs that the territory of Indonesia named Nusantara is the territory of Majapahit. M. Yamin is sufficiently smart to lead the statement by inserting some archaic manuscripts that 44 relate to the history of Majapahit. From some of the existing sources, the main source to utilise is Negarakretagama, which was previously discussed in this study. The works of M. Yamin related to Nusantara and Majapahit were quite acceptable at the beginning of Indo- nesian independence due to the high sense of nationalism at that time. Furthermore, the term Nusantara is the reference of the territory of Indonesia due to the requirement of the mod- ern world, which obligates the existence of borderlines in a country. In a meeting, M. Yamin also once asserted that the territory of Indonesia after independence is the entire territory that the Dutch once ruled. Furthermore, the term Nusantara is the historical background of Indonesia. Nationalism is the appropriate ideology to perpetuate the myth of Nusantara. This term becomes the joint property of a united Indonesian society. The feeling of own- ing a similar historical background in colonial time leaves a gap for Nusantara to invade as a myth in the minds of the Indonesian society. As stated by Benedict Anderson (2008), nationalism is a shadow that is shared by a community; in this case, the Indonesian society possesses Nusantara as a shadow of unity. Several studies using the term Nusantara with the concept of Nusantara as the territory of Majapahit that has now become Indonesia render the eternity of this myth in the academic world. In 2015, there was a petition from the Indonesian President Joko Widodo to rename Indonesia as Nusantara. The strong rationale for this petition was that the name Indonesia was the name given by outsiders (part of colonial times) and that it was not part of the name of the authority, nation, region, or shared spirit, which commonly becomes the refer- ence for a country’s name. The term Nusantara has been used as a synonym to address the archipelago of Indonesia for a long time. However, this petition was a failure since the term Nusantara was also considered by Malay (Malaysia) and it was feared that it would generate a new conflict (Evers, 2016:6).

3 CONCLUSION

Nusantara is an alternative term for Indonesia in the modern world, and nowadays its usage is highly popular. It is a sign that can be read with the theory of mythologies by Roland Barthes. The myth of Nusantara is unravelled by providing another definition to this term as a cultural area of the Malay Archipelago in the pre-colonial period. The deletion of the existing history behind the myth appears in the absence of the term in the manuscript that existed in the Majapahit era, i.e., Negarakretagama. The manuscript of Pararaton is also rel- evant in the deletion of history in terms of the myth of Nusantara. Pararaton is the pioneer of the emergence of the term Nusantara, which was narrated in the discussion of the Palapa Oath declared by Gajah Mada. Yet, the validity of this manuscript was doubtful since the manuscript was not written in the Majapahit era. Myth can evolve if there is a process that can perpetuate the myth. In the case of the myth of Nusantara, this process began in the years approaching Indonesian independence as the term was offered by some revolutionary figures regarding the name that would be employed after being free from the colonizers. Moreover, the study conducted by research- ers, particularly M. Yamin, who formulated that the territory of Indonesia was the territory of Majapahit, referred to as Nusantara in the past, is the process of perpetuating the myth of Nusantara. A new meaning emerges after the myth of Nusantara when it is revealed that Nusantara becomes a territorial concept used to unify the Indonesian society with national- ism as the main ideology.

REFERENCES

Anderson, Benedict. 2008. Imagined Communities: Komunitas-komunitas Terbayang. : Pus- taka Pelajar. Anwari, Ikhsan & Anwari, Mujahidul. (2015). Sistem Perekonomian Kerajaan Majapahit. verleden. 3. 104–115. 45 Barthes, Roland. 2004. Mitologi. Yogyakarta: Kreasi Wacana. Bastian, A. 1884. Indonesien: oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipel. : Dummlers, 5 vols. Djafar, Hasan. 2009. Masa Akhir Madjapahit. Jakarta: Komunitas Bambu. Evers, Hans-Dieter. 2016. Nusantara: History of Concepts. Malaysia: JMBRAS. Vol.89. Part 1. Kamus BesarBahasa Indonesia, 4th ed. 2008. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. Krom, N.J. 1921. De Samenstelling van de Pararaton. TBG. Perkasa, Adrian. 2016 Playing with Flames: Counter State Ideas in the Preservation of Majapahit’s Heritage, SEASUK Conference. London. Perkasa, Adrian. 2017 Living Heritage of Ruins? Contesting the Paradox in ’s Heritage Zon- ing. In Hsiao, Hsin-Huang Michael. Yew-Foong, Hui. Peycam, Phillipe. Citizens, Civil Society and Heritage-making in Asia, Taipei: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. Sunardi, S.T. 2002. Semiotika Negativa. Yogyakarta: Buku Baik. Yamin. M. 1962. Tata Negara Madjapahit: Sapta-Parwa. Jakarta: Prapantja. Zoetmulder, P.J. with Robson, S.O. 1982. Old Javanese-English Dictionary. The Hague: Nijhoff.

46