One issue that has confused historians for over a century is the fact that there is more than one place that was referred to as “Java” (or something close to that name) in the past in Southeast Asia.
I think this can be seen the clearest in Chinese sources, but it is evident in other sources as well.
In Chinese sources, the two “Javas” are 闍婆 and 爪哇, pronounced today as “Shepo” and “Zhuawa,” respectively. Yes, the second one sounds more like “Java,” but a thousand years ago, Shepo would have been pronounced something like “Java” or “Jaba” (or Yava, Yaba. . .).
This is how these two terms appear in official dynastic histories over time:
History of the Song, completed in 1345, about the years 960-1279
This text has detailed information about Shepo. There is a section on Shepo that talks about everything from what the land is like and what it produces to information about the king to information about wedding customs, musical instruments, etc.
There is no information in this text about Zhuawa.
History of the Yuan, completed in 1370, about the years 1271-1368
The term, Zhuawa, appears for the first time (in an official dynastic history) in this text. There is a section on Zhuawa, and there is detailed information about the Mongol attack on that island.
However, this text doesn’t provide information about Zhuawa itself (land, customs, etc.) like the earlier History of the Song did about Shepo. It even says “no information can be found about its customs and local products” (其風俗土產不可考).
As for Shepo, it is only mentioned a few times in this text, and there is no separate section devoted to it, like there was in the History of the Song.
History of the Ming, completed in 1739, about the years 1368-1644
There is a detailed section on Zhuawa where a lot of information about the interactions between the Ming and Zhuawa are discussed. There are then a few lines about Shepo that say the following:
闍婆，古曰闍婆達。時，始朝中國。唐曰訶陵，又曰社婆，其王居闍婆城，宋曰闍婆，皆入貢。洪武十一年，其王摩那駝喃遣使奉表，貢方物，其後不復至。或曰 爪哇 即闍婆。然元史 爪哇 傳不言，且曰：「其風俗、物產無所考。」太祖時，兩國並時入貢，其王之名不同。或本為二國，其後為 爪哇 所滅，然不可考。
Shepo was formerly called Shepoda. During the Yuanjia era of the [Liu] Song (424-453), it presented tribute to the Middle Kingdom for the first time. In the Tang it was called Heling. It was also called Dupo. Its king resided in Shepo Citadel. The Song called it Shepo. These all presented tribute.
In the eleventh year of the Hongwu era (1378), its king, Monatuonan, sent an envoy to report and present tribute. After that, no others arrived.
Some say that Java is Shepo, however the section on Zhuawa in the History of the Yuan did not say anything about this, it just indicated that “no information can be found about its customs and local products.”
During the reign of [Ming] Taizu (1368-1398), both kingdoms presented tribute at the same time, and the names of their kings were different. Perhaps they were once two kingdoms, and later Zhuawa destroyed the other. However, no information about this can be found.
I think we can see a very clear progression here. There was a place called Shepo, and a lot of information was known about it. Then in the 1200s-1300s, knowledge about Zhuawa was established when the Mongols attacked that island. Shepo still existed, although less was now recorded about it, and then it “disappeared” in the late 1300s.
Interestingly, at the same time that Chinese sources contain records of Shepo and Zhuawa (a new term), Arabic sources contain information about Java (alternately, Jaba, Zabag) and “mul-Java” (a new term). In both of these cases, it is clear that Zhuawa/mul-Java is island Java, whereas Shepo/Java/Jaba/Zabag is not.
Finally, the account of Marco Polo’s journeys in the late 1200s mentions a “Java Major” and a “Java Minor,” with Java Major clearly referring to island Java.
So where was Shepo/Java/Jaba/Zabag/Java Minor, and why did a distinction between this place and Zhuawa/mul-Java/Java Major emerge in the 1200s-1300s?
That’s what we will discuss in the next post.
