She explained the facts that proved the existence of the largest maritime kingdom in Southeast Asia. The existence of Sriwijaya was very important in the chain of civilization that formed Indonesia.
By
ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH
·6 minutes read
When the historical Sriwijaya Kingdom was considered fictitious, a woman from Sleman, Yogyakarta, Retno Purwanti, was at the forefront of refuting that belief. She explained the facts that proved the existence of the largest maritime kingdom in Southeast Asia. The existence of Sriwijaya was very important in the chain of civilization that formed Indonesia.
This woman named Retno Purwanti seeks to maintain a collective memory about Sriwijaya among people who tend to ignore, doubt and even forget the history of the empire that existed from the 7th to 14th centuries. Moreover, lately a number of parties are again doubting the truth of the history of the kingdom whose capital was in Palembang, South Sumatra.
At first, Retno did not want to respond to these nonfundamental assumptions. Eventually, because she wanted to clarify information, Retno was moved to speak in a number of forums, including print, online and television, to explain that the results of studies show that Sriwijaya had indeed existed and was real.
All the evidence of Sriwijaya has been reviewed by foreign and local researchers since the beginning of the 20th century.
Strong evidence of the existence of Sriwijaya was provided by the discoveries of dozens of inscriptions, statues and temples. The most important evidence includes descriptions of the construction of a wanua (city) in Sriwijaya in the Kedukan Bukit inscription (dated 16 June 682), of a governance structure in the Telaga Batu inscription (683), of the occupation of the Malay/Jambi area in the Karang Brahi inscription (circa 7th century), of expansion to Bangka and of the attack on Bumi Jawa (Java) in the Kota Kapur inscription (686).
Among the many monumental findings is the Kedukan Bukit inscription. Until now, the inscription, discovered by a Dutch official named M. Batenburg not far from the sacred hillside of Seguntang Mahameru, Palembang, on Nov. 29, 1920, has been the oldest known inscription describing Sriwijaya.
All the evidence of Sriwijaya has been reviewed by foreign and local researchers since the beginning of the 20th century. The first detailed research on Sriwijaya that again raised the name of Sriwijaya was carried out by French archaeologist George Coedes in an article entitled “Le royaume de Sriwijaya” (Kingdom of Sriwijaya) in 1918. "All of these studies prove that Sriwijaya was not fictitious," Retno said during an interview in Palembang in October (27/10/2019).
Retno actually did not come from a family of historical researchers or archaeologists. She became interested in archaeology because of the habit of her parents who liked to take her on trips to a number of historic sites in the Yogyakarta area.
With her interest, Retno decided to continue her education in the Department of Archaeology at the School of Literature in Gadjah Mada University from 1984 to 1990. "I chose archaeology because the search for archaeological sites had to be done through expeditions or travels," she said.
After graduating from the university, Retno was assigned as a prospective civil servant in the Batusangkar area, West Sumatra, in 1992 and 1993. After she was appointed to be a civil servant she has been assigned to Palembang since 1994.
While on an expedition, Retno often experiences unpleasant events. One of them was when she and her team were doing Sriwijaya research in the Ulu Musi area of Empat Lawang in South Sumatra in 1999. At that time, they had asked permission from the village head to do the research.
A few days later, a group of residents came with sharp weapons, surrounding those who were in the excavation basin. "At that time there were provocateurs who told residents that we were hunting for treasure. In fact, we were doing research. Finally, we stopped the research and have not continued until now," she said.
It turned out that such unpleasant events did not make Retno give up. Retno explained that people\'s rejection of archaeological research is actually evidence that people\'s awareness of the historical world is still low. In addition to being less cooperative with research, the residents sometimes also do not have the awareness to provide information when they know historical objects.
Often, illegal artifact-hunting takes place at archaeological sites, including at the Musi River in Palembang, and on the east coast of South Sumatra, such as in Cengal, Ogan Komering Ilir. The illegal practices are very detrimental to the researchers. It was possible that the objects found by the people were of high historical value, but instead they were smelted or sold intact to foreign collectors.
Therefore, in formal or informal forums, Retno tries to tell people to be more aware of historic objects or sites that are in their vicinity.
Retno played a direct role in maintaining historic sites in the regions of Palembang and South Sumatra. In 2005, the South Sumatra provincial administration planned to build the Musi 3 Bridge across the Al Munawar Arab village in Seberang Ulu, Palembang. The project would have destroyed the old village.
Retno started a campaign to support residents in defending their village. She collaborated with a number of nongovernmental organizations and the media to do so.
Al Munawar village is the only ancient village in Palembang where the layout and historical value ar.e still maintained
In fact, she joined the residents in a demonstration. Through a number of such actions in 2006 and 2007, the Al Munawar village was saved from being destroyed. At present, the village has been transformed into a superior tourist village in Palembang.
"Al Munawar village is the only ancient village in Palembang where the layout and historical value are still maintained. Its existence is very important to study the development of civilization or history in Palembang from the Sriwijaya era to the present," she said.
The efforts of Retno and other archaeologists to foster historical familiarization helped make the treasure hunters on the Musi River understand the importance of Sriwijaya artifacts. The hunters had formed the Antique Culture Lovers Community (Kompak Sriwijaya) in 2004.
"In the past, we always sold items that were found, but after hearing Ibu Retno\'s words that Sriwijaya\'s history is very important and not all historical objects [out there] have been declared cultural heritage, we are now more active in communicating with the researchers every time we discover ancient objects," said Kompak Sriwijaya chairman Hirmeyudi.
Retno Purwanti
Born: Sleman, Yogyakarta, 31 October 1965
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in Archaeology, School of Literature, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta (graduated in 1990)
- Master’s degree in Museology, School of Literature, Padjadjaran University, Bandung, West Java (graduated in 2008)
- Doctoral degree in Nusantara Malay Islam, Islam Civilization study program, Raden Fatah State Islamic University, Palembang, South Sumatra (graduated in 2019)
Career: Researcher at South Sumatra Archaeology Agency from 1994 to present