THE KUTAI, CHAMPA, AND SRIVIJAYA KINGDOMS WERE FOUNDED BY DESCENDANTS OF KING TANJUNG PURI, SOUTH KALIMANTAN
By: Hamly Hadi
(History Observer)
It has finally been answered why the Dong Yen Chau inscription in Vietnam, dated 350 AD, uses the Banjar language, why the Kutai language is similar to Banjar, and why the inscriptions of Srivijaya and its descendant kingdoms, such as the Dharmasraya kingdom, use Banjar. It turns out they all originated from South Kalimantan, specifically from the Tanjung Puri kingdom.
Sundanese also shares several vocabulary words with Kutai and Banjar due to the intermarriage of the kingdoms in West Java and the Kutai Martapura kingdom.
Beginning with the Mauryan and Gupta Empires, during the final period of these kingdoms, chaos erupted in India due to attacks by the Huna (Syiung Nu) nation. This study is included in the National and General History of the 1994 Curriculum.
Let’s trace the genealogy of the Mauryan Dynasty during the reign of Sri Maharaja Bhrihadrata in the Maghada Kingdom, whose capital was Petaliputra in India. He fought with Mahasenopati Pushwamitra, who founded the Sunga Dynasty, which gave birth to Maharaja Agnimitra, who built the city of Wisida. His descendants, Vasuma Mitra, gave birth to Mitroga, whose son was Atwanga, who gave birth to Kundungga, and Radjendra, who gave birth to kings throughout the archipelago.
Starting with Atwangga, son of Mitrongga, they were descendants of the Sunga dynasty from Magada (India) who settled in Ratnadwiva, or South Kalimantan, namely the kingdom of Tanjung Puri. Atwangga married the sister of Empress Dewawarman, a princess from Bharata (India), and bore a son named Kundungga (who became King of Kutai Martapura, Bakulapura, and Ratnadwivatara). His younger brother, Maharaja Radjendra Warman, built the city of silver, which is now Kampala, Vietnam.
This study is also included in a review of the early Sundanese period, or the Nusantara calendar, in Indonesia by Abah Ali Sasra Wijaya. The study explains that Kalimantan was also called Bakulapura, and its kingdom was called Kutanagara or Kutai Martapura.
Aswawarman, son of King Prabu Dharmawirya of the Salakanagara Kingdom, originally from Bharata, married Dewi Gari, known as Maharatu Sri Gari, daughter of Maharaja Sri Kudungga. Aswawarman’s marriage to Maharatu Sri Gari, daughter of Maharaja Kudungga, established him as the second king of Kutai Martapura, with the title Wangsa Kerta.
In 393 AD, or 280 Caka, the Kutai Martapura Kingdom was ruled by Emperor Aswawarman, who became great and powerful. This kingdom was then continued by his son, Emperor Sri Mulawarman Nala Dewa. This kingdom was contemporaneous with the Tarumanagara Kingdom in West Java. Its king, Jayasinghawarman, held the title Maharesi Rajadhirajaguru Jayasinghawarman Gurudharmapurusa, with its capital city being Jayasingahapura, which later became Sundapura.
Emperor Sri Mulawarman Naladewa’s younger brother, Wamsejenjat, held the title Maharaja Dijayawarman. He married the daughter of King Campa and became King of Campa (present-day Vietnam). He succeeded Dapunta Hiyang, King of Sriwidjaya (Sumatra in 584 AD), and inherited the Dharma Setu. The marriage of Wirawarman, or Gunawarman, the younger brother of Maharaja Sri Mulawarman Nala Dewa, to Dewi Candika, daughter of Maharaja Yudhadana (a vassal king of Tarumanagara in the Medang Purwa 2 and Medang Giri regions). Dewi Candika and Wirawarman later had several children, two of whom were Amudrawarman and Dewi Jwalita. Dewi Jwalita was later made Sri’s wife.
CONCLUSION:
From the genealogy explained above, the following outline can be drawn:
1. The first kingdom in the Indonesian archipelago was Tanjung Puri in South Kalimantan, led by King Atwangga.
2. King Atwangga had two sons: Kundungga, who went to East Kalimantan to establish Kutai Martapura.
3. Atwangga’s second son was Rajendra Warman, who went to Vietnam to establish the Champa Kingdom.
4. Kundungga’s great-grandson, King Mulawarman’s younger brother, married a Champa princess and gave birth to Dapunta Hiyang Srijayanasa, who later went to Sumatra to found the Srivijaya kingdom.***
Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, December 28, 2025
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