Chapter JAROOL to JAVA of J by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

as an interesting fact that the standard Malay name Jawa and the Javanese Jawa preserve the original form of the word.]

(Ancient).—“Search carefully Yava dvipa, adorned by seven Kingdoms, the Gold and Silver Island, rich in mines of gold. Beyond Yava dvipa is the Mountain called Sisira, whose top touches the sky, and which is visited by gods and demons.”—Ramayana, IV. xl. 30 (from Kern).

A.D. c. 150.—“Iabadiu ( [Greek Text] Iabadiou), which means ‘Island of Barley ,’ most fruitful the island is said to be, and also to produce much gold; also the metropolis is said to have the name Argyre (Silver), and to stand at the western end of the island.”—Ptolemy, VII. ii. 29.

414.—“Thus they voyaged for about ninety days, when they arrived at a country called Ya-va-di [i.e. Yava-dvipa]. In this country heretics and Brahmans flourish, but the Law of Buddha hardly deserves mentioning.”—Fahian, ext. in Groeneveldt’s Notes from Chinese Sources.

A.D. c. 500.—“When the sun rises in Ceylon it is sunset in the City of the Blessed (Siddha- pura, i.e. The Fortunate Islands), noon at Yava-koti, and midnight in the Land of the Romans.”—Aryabhata, IV. v. 13 (from Kern).

A.D. c. 650.—“Eastward by a fourth part of the earth’s circumference, in the world- quarter of the Bhadrasvas lies the City famous under the name of Yava koti whose walls and gates are of gold.”—Surya-Siddhanta, XII. v. 38 (from Kern).

Saka, 654, i.e. A.D. 762.—“Dvipavaram Yavakhyam atulan dhân-yadivajâhikam sampannam kanakakaraih” … i.e. the incomparable splendid island called Java, excessively rich in grain and other seeds, and well provided with gold-mines.”—Inscription in Batavia Museum (see above).

943.—“Eager … to study with my own eyes the peculiarities of each country, I have with this object visited Sind and Zanj, and Sanf (see CHAMPA) and Sin (China), and Zabaj.”—Mas’udi, i. 5.

„ “This Kingdom (India) borders upon that of Zabaj, which is the empire of the Mahraj, King of the Isles.”—Ibid. 163.

992.—“Djava is situated in the Southern Ocean.… In the 12th month of the year (992) their King Maradja sent an embassy…to go to court and bring tribute.”—Groeneveldt’s Notes from Chinese Sources, pp. 15–17.

1298.—“When you sail from Ziamba (Chamba) 1500 miles in a course between south and south-east, you come to a very great island called Java, which, according to the statement of some good mariners, is the greatest Island that there is in the world, seeing that it has a compass of more than 3000 miles, and is under the dominion of a great king.… Pepper, nutmegs, spike, galanga, cubebs, cloves, and all the other good spices are produced in this island, and it is visited by many ships with quantities of merchandise from which they make great profits and gain, for such an amount of gold is found there that no one would believe it or venture to tell it.”—Marco Polo, in Ramusio, ii. 51.

c. 1330.—“In the neighbourhood of that realm is a great island, Java by name, which hath a compass of a good 3000 miles. Now this island is populous exceedingly, and is the second best of all islands that exist.… The King of this island hath a palace which is truly marvellous.… Now the great Khan of Cathay many a time engaged in war with this King; but this King always vanquished and got the better of him.”—Friar Odoric, in Cathay, &c., 87–89.

c. 1349.—“She clandestinely gave birth to a daughter, whom she made when grown up Queen of the finest island in the world, Saba by name.…”—John de’ Marignolli, ibid. 391.

c. 1444.—“Sunt insulae duae in interiori India, e pene extremis orbis finibus, ambae Java nomine, quarum altera tribus, altera duobus millibus milliarum protenditur orientem versus; sed Majoris, Minorisque cognomine discernuntur.”—N. Conti, in Poggius, De Var. Fortunae.

1503.—The Syrian Bishops Thomas, Jaballaha, Jacob, and Denha, sent on a mission to India in 1503 by the (Nestorian) Patriarch Elias, were ordained to go “to the land of the Indians and the islands of the seas which are between Dabag and Sin and Masin (see MACHEEN).”—Assemani, III. Pt. i. 592. This Dabag is probably a relic of the Zabaj of the Relation, of Mas’udi, and of Al-biruni.

1516.—“Further on … there are many islands, small and great, amongst which is one very large which they call Java the Great.… They say that this island is the most abundant country in the world.… There grow pepper, cinnamon, ginger, bamboos, cubebs, and gold.…”—Barbosa, 197.

Referring to Sumatra, or the Archipelago in general.

Saka, 578, i.e. A.D. 656.—“The Prince Adityadharma is the Deva of the First Java Land (prathama Yava-bhu). May he be great! Written in the year of Saka, 578. May it be great!”—From a Sanskrit Inscription from Pager-Ruyong, in Menang Karbau (Sumatra), publd. by Friedrich, in the Batavian Transactions, vol. xxiii.

1224.—“Ma’bar (q.v.) is the last part of India; then comes the country of China (Sín), the first part of which is Jawa, reached by a difficult and fatal sea.”—Yakut, i. 516.

„ “This is some account of remotest Sín, which I record without vouching for its truth … for in sooth it is a far off land. I have seen no one who had gone to it and penetrated far into it; only the merchants seek its outlying