Rakai Warak in Old Javanese Inscriptions of the ninth – tenth centuries

The political history of Central and East Java in the late first millennium CE is known primarily from inscriptions in Old Javanese. Electronic catalogues with accessible English translations of inscriptions—namely, Inventaris Daring Epigrafi Nusantara Kuno/IDENK and DHARMA/Domestication of ‘Hindu’ Asceticism and the Religious Making of South and Southeast Asia—alongside ongoing epigraphic field and museum research, has accelerated the study of Old Javanese history. This article aims to review all available information concerning the reign and territorial domain of Prince Warak in light of the discovery of a new inscription—the lingam from Suru, Blitar Regency, East Java. The primary sources are Old Javanese and Sanskrit inscriptions from Central and East Java dated to the late eighth and early ninth centuries. Prince Warak’s authority extended to certain areas of East Java, although the nature of his power in these areas remains unclear. The conventional dating of his reign to 803–827 CE may be inaccurate if the 45th year mentioned in the Suru inscription refers to a regnal year rather than to the year in the Śaka era. The honorific determinatives Dyah and Pu in Prince Warak’s title appear to have been interchangeable. The earliest dated use of the former determinative is attested in the Kalasan inscription of 778 CE, and of the latter in the Kamalagi inscription of 821 CE. Chronologically, only five inscriptions can be firmly attributed to the reign of Prince Warak: Munduan (807 CE), Kamalagi (821 CE), Huwung (822 CE), Kayumwungan (824 CE), and Suru.