What it says
“These two footprints, like those of Vishnu, are of the illustrious Purnavarman, the valiant lord of the world, king of Taruma.”
What it proves
It shows Vishnu worship and Sanskrit kingship in western Java in the 5th century.
Photo: RXerself, Creutzen · CC BY-SA 4.0Inscription · c. 5th century CE
Ciaruteun inscription of Purnavarman
- Found
- A boulder in the Ciaruteun river near Bogor, West Java, Indonesia
- Kept at
- In place, under a shelter on the river bank
A Sanskrit verse beside a pair of carved footprints of Purnavarman, king of Tarumanagara.
Evidence
InscriptionBoğazköy treaty naming Mitra, Varuna, Indra and the Nasatyas
A treaty between the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I and Shattiwaza, prince of Mitanni in north Syria, sworn before the gods of both kingdoms. Among the Mitanni gods stand four names any Vedic priest would know.
InscriptionBehistun inscription of Darius I
The Persian king Darius I tells, in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian, how he took the throne and which lands obeyed him. Gandhara is on the list.
InscriptionKandahar bilingual edict of Ashoka
Ashoka’s message of dhamma, carved in Greek and Aramaic for the Greek and Persian-speaking subjects at the western edge of his empire.
InscriptionEdicts of Ashoka
Fourteen major rock edicts, minor rock edicts and seven pillar edicts in which the Maurya emperor speaks in his own voice, as Devanampiya Piyadasi.
InscriptionKalinga edicts at Dhauli and Jaugada
In conquered Kalinga, Ashoka left out the thirteenth rock edict, which mourns the war, and carved two separate edicts addressed to his officers there instead.
InscriptionSohgaura copper plate
A small bronze-copper plate in early Brahmi, issued by the officials of Shravasti, cast with symbols of storehouses above the text.
InscriptionHathigumpha inscription of Kharavela
Seventeen lines in Prakrit and Brahmi recording, year by year, the reign of Kharavela, the Jain emperor of Kalinga.
InscriptionHeliodorus pillar, Besnagar
A stone Garuda-dhvaja raised to Vasudeva by Heliodorus, a Greek envoy from Takshashila, at the court of King Bhagabhadra.