Qualla: The Inscribed Stone of Pakuan

The Inscribed Stone of Pakuan: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit RXerself, Creutzen, CC BY-SA 4.0. The stone has been speaking for nearly five hundred years. Carved in 1533 in the ancient Sundanese capital of Pakuan Pajajaran, the Batutulis inscription was a son's tribute to his father -- King Sri Baduga Maharaja, known in Sundanese legend as Prabu Siliwangi, the most revered ruler in the history of West Java. The inscription sits in a small compound in southern Bogor, measuring just 17 by 15 meters, unremarkable from the outside. But step inside, and you are standing in the administrative heart of a kingdom that once controlled the western third of Java, a kingdom that would be destroyed within decades of the stone's carving.

Image: RXerself, Creutzen | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Inscribed Stone of Pakuan: A Son's Monument

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit RXerself, Creutzen, CC BY-SA 4.0. King Surawisesa commissioned the Batutulis inscription to honor his father, Sri Baduga Maharaja, who ruled the Sunda Kingdom from 1482 to 1521. The text, written in Old Sundanese using the Kawi script, reads like a royal resume carved in stone. It names the king twice -- once as ...

Image: RXerself, Creutzen | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Inscribed Stone of Pakuan: The Capital That Disappeared

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Arabsalam, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pakuan Pajajaran was the last capital of the Sunda Kingdom, and the Batutulis inscription is one of the few physical traces that prove it existed here. The city was destroyed in the late 16th century when the sultanates of Banten and Cirebon conquered the Hindu-Buddhist Sundanese...

Image: Arabsalam | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Inscribed Stone of Pakuan: Deciphering the Past

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marioshohei, CC0. Scholars have been arguing about the Batutulis inscription since 1853, when Friederich published the first attempt at a reading. Over the next century and a half, Karel Frederick Holle, Pleyte, Poerbatjaraka, and Noorduyn each produced their own editions, refining the translation...

Image: Marioshohei | CC0

The Inscribed Stone of Pakuan: Siliwangi's Long Shadow

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit RXerself, Creutzen, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sri Baduga Maharaja lives in Sundanese culture under his legendary name: Prabu Siliwangi. To this day, he is the most celebrated figure in Sundanese identity -- the wise and powerful king who presided over the kingdom's golden age. Indonesian military units, streets, and stadiums...

Image: RXerself, Creutzen | CC BY-SA 4.0