Royaume de Kalingga

Kalingga (Karajan Kalingga; 訶陵 Hēlíng or 闍婆 She-pó / She-bó in Chinese sources) was a 6th-century Indianized kingdom on the north coast of Central Java, Indonesia. It was the earliest Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in Central Java, and together with Kutai, Tarumanagara, Salakanagara, and Kandis are the oldest kingdoms in Indonesian history. The archaeological findings and historical records from this period are scarce, and the exact location of kingdom's capital is unknown. It is thought to be somewhere between present-day Pekalongan or Jepara. A place named Keling subdistrict is found in northern coast of Jepara Regency, however some archaeological findings near Pekalongan and Batang regency shows that Pekalongan was an ancient port, suggests that Pekalongan might be an altered name of Pe-Kaling-an. Kalingga existed between the 6th and 7th centuries, and it was one of the earliest Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms established in Java. The historical record of this kingdom is scarce and vague, and comes mostly from Chinese sources and local traditions. Kalingga appeared in the 6th century which is thought to be located in the north of Central Java. Information about the Kalingga Kingdom is obtained from inscriptions and records from China. In 752, the Kalingga Kingdom became Sriwijaya's conquered territory because this kingdom was part of a trading network, along with the Dharmasraya and Tarumanagara Kingdoms which Srivijaya had previously conquered. The three kingdoms became strong competitors of the Srivijaya-Buddhist trading network. The Chinese sources come from China and date back to the Tang Dynasty. In book 222 of the New history of the T’ang dynasty, it is stated that: Ka-ling is also called Djava, it is situated in the southern ocean, at the east of Sumatra and at the west of Bali. At its south it has the sea and towards the north lies Cambodia. The people make fortifications of wood and even the largest houses are covered with palmleaves. They have couches of ivory and mats of the outer skin of bamboo.