ther peninsula, and throughout the archipelago; and that the Hindus were at one period an enterprizing and commercial nation, may, I think, be established, with little difficulty, from the incontestable proofs which at this day exist in Java, and the traffic which still exists in native vessels and on native capital between the Coromandel coast and the Malayan peninsula. If any country, therefore, in the archipelago, lays claim to this distinction more than another, it is Java; but, probably, it was rather to the Eastern Islands generally, than to one island in particular, that the appellation was given. Both Ptolemy and the Arabians would seem to have distinguished the islands by one general name. By the one they were termed "Jabadios Insulæ;" by the others, "Jau or Jawa;" and hence, probably, the confusion in the travels of Marco Polo, and the still disputed question between Java Major and Java Minor.
The second division would include the period between this first regular establishment from Western India, and the decline and fall of the first Eastern Empire in Java, which may be fixed with tolerable accuracy at about the Javanese year 1000, or A. D. 1073.
During this period, by far the most eventful in the history of Java, we shall find that colonies of foreigners established themselves, not only in Java, but in various other islands of the archipelago; that the arts, particularly those of architecture and sculpture, flourished in a superior degree, and that the language, literature and institutions of the continent of India were transfused in various directions through the oriental islands. It was during this period, that the principal temples, of which the ruins now exist in Java, were built; and beside the concurring testimonies of tradition, and the written compositions of the country, the numerous inscriptions and dates, on stone and copper, the characters of which we are now able to decypher, as well as the ancient coins, would lend essential aid in establishing a correct chronology. On the one hand, it would be our task to direct our inquiries to the history of the various continental nations whence these foreigners may have proceeded; and, on the other, to the nature and extent of the establishments, intercourse, and civilization introduced by them into the different islands.
This period will commence from the arrival of Awap, the reputed son of Balia Atcha, sovereign of Kudjirat, who came in search of a celebrated country, described in the writings of Saka, and who, under the name of Sewelo Cholo, established the first regular monarchy of which the Javanese annals make mention; and include the adventures of the celebrated Panji, the pride and admiration of succeeding ages. Our attention would also be directed, in a particular manner, to the intercourse between Java and the other islands, and the nature and extent of the foreign establishments formed by Java. Tradition, and the popular romances of the country, represent, not
