Talang Tuwo inscription

Talang Tuo inscription

Talang Tuo inscription, displayed at National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta
Material	Stone
Size	50 cm × 80 cm
Writing	Pallava script in Old Malay
Created	606 Saka (corresponds to 23 March 684)
Discovered	Bukit Seguntang near Palembang, Indonesia
Present location	National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta
Registration	D.145

Talang Tuwo inscription is a 7th-century Srivijaya inscription discovered by Louis Constant Westenenk on 17 November 1920, on the foot of Bukit Seguntang near Palembang.

This inscription tells about the establishment of the bountiful Śrīksetra park awarded by Sri Jayanasa the king of Srivijaya, for the well being of all creatures.

The inscription was discovered in good condition with clear inscribed scripts. Its size is 50 cm × 80 cm stone block and dated from 606 Saka (corresponds to 23 March 684), written Pallava script in Old Malay, consists of 14 lines. Van Ronkel and Bosch are the first scholars that translated the inscription, their works was published in Acta Orientalia. Since 1920, the inscription is stored in National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta, under inventory number D.145.

The writings on the Talang Tuwo inscription:

The translation according to George Cœdès.

The inscriptions is among the earliest evidence of written archaic Old Malay language. Many words are still recognizable and intelligible with modern Malay language and Indonesian language. The most significant differences are found in verbal affixes. While modern Malay language and Indonesian language use the prefix di- to mark passive, in Old Malay we find ni-. The same holds for the active prefix men- corresponding to Old Malay mar- or ma-. The modern possessive and object suffix -nya corresponds to the Old Malay -na. Old Malay words and their modern Malay and Indonesian counterparts are listed below, followed by their English gloss.