Laguna Copperplate Inscription

The inscription is made out of copper and measures about , with the words directly embossed onto the plate. It differs in manufacture from Javanese scrolls of the period, which had the words inscribed onto a heated, softened metal scroll. The text is Old Malay, with numerous loanwords from Sanskrit and a few non-Malay vocabulary elements whose origin may be Old Javanese. The document states that it releases its bearers, the children of Namwaran, from debt in gold amounting to 1 kati and 8 suwarnas (865 grams; 27.8 troy ounces). ==Text==

Postma, who first translated the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, suggested that the place names and personal names in the inscription needed to be carefully studied by scholars because "they furnish vital clues regarding the political and topographic background" of the world around the time of the inscription. He identified as toponyms the words Pailah, Tundun, Puliran, and Binuangan, and posited that Dewata and Medang could be either personal names or toponyms. Postma identified three of these toponyms, Binuangan, Pailah, and Puliran, as Malayo-Polynesian in origin, and three other toponyms, Tundun, Dewata, and Mdang, as being of Sanskrit origin. Words affirmed as toponyms Postma asserted that he was fairly certain that four words in the inscription were place names, or toponyms: "Pailah" (lines 4 and 6), "Tundun" (line 3), "Puliran" (line 6), and "Binuangan" (line 7). Postma left an avenue for an alternative interpretation open, however, saying that Mdang and Tondo "because of their lingual consonants (n and d) that are of Sanskrit origin might originally be toponyms existing on the Island of Java". Vocabularies The inscription contains a great number of words derived from Sanskrit, starting with a line of astronomical terms that indicate the date of the inscription in detail. It also has some Old Javanese and Old Tagalog words expressing ceremonious forms of address. However, the main language of the inscription is Old Malay, which served as the lingua franca, or trade language, of the whole archipelago during those times. The most significant indication of Old Malay features is found in verbal affixes used in the inscription, e.g. bar-, di-, and dipar-, which correspond to ber-, di-, and diper-, respectively, in modern Malay and Indonesian. Old Malay words and their modern Malay and Indonesian counterparts are listed below, each followed by its English gloss: • = sana = there • = tatkala = while, during • = dayang (also used in Tag.) = court maiden • = lawan (Tag. cognate is ) = counterpart • = dengan = with • = -nya = his / her / its (possessive suffix) • = sanak = relative, kindred • = anak (also used in Tag.) = child • = beri (Tag. cognate is ) = give • = oleh = by, from • , = di = at, in, of • = jadi = become • = tuan = leader, master • = sudah = already • = lepas (Tagalog cognate is ) = unbounded, escaped • = hutang (Tagalog/Indonesian cognate is ) = debt • = hadapan (borrowed into Tag. as ) = in front • = tetapi = but • = sadanya (preserved in Minangkabau) = whole, all • = dari = from • = bakti = dedication, devotion • = hulun (Classical Mal.) = slave, subject • = makanya = therefore • = cucu = grandchild • = diperhabis = cleared (compare to Old Javanese (h)awis = cleared) • = ini = this • = (Classical Mal.) = perchance • = hari = day • = kemudian = afterwards, later • = ada = exist, there is • = orang = person, people • = (Classical Mal.) = state, say, utter (compare to Old Javanese tujara) • = belum = not yet Aside from the Sanskrit and Old Malay words, there are also some pure Old Javanese words that have no cognates in Old Malay, or at least have not been found in other Old Malay inscriptions, like ngaran (name) and pamegat (leader, chief). In an Old Malay inscription, one would expect barnama instead of barngaran because nama is the Sanskrit-derived word for 'name' in Old and Modern Malay. Pamegat is another Old Javanese word that frequently occurs in Old Javanese inscriptions but not in Old Malay ones. It is often preceded by the honorific sang, as in the inscription. These words are accepted as Old Javanese words but could be Old Tagalog as well because they exist in both of these languages. ==Significance==

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription, together with other recent finds such as the Golden Tara of Butuan and 14th-century pottery and gold jewelry in Cebu, is highly important in revising ancient Philippine history, which some Western historians previously considered culturally isolated from the rest of Asia, as no evident pre-Hispanic written records had been found at the time. Philippine historian William Henry Scott debunked these theories in 1968 with his Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History, which was subsequently published in 1984. The locations mentioned are all near rivers, suggesting Old Malay may have come to the area along trade networks. It is the earliest document that shows the use of mathematics in precolonial Philippine societies. The use of precise measurement for gold demonstrates a standard system of weights and measures, and fixing the precise day within the month in relation to the phases of the moon shows familiarity with rudimentary astronomy. ==Southeast Asian context ==

Prior to the European colonial era, Southeast Asia was under the Indosphere of greater India, where numerous Indianized principalities and empires flourished for several centuries in what are now Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, and central and southern Vietnam. The influence of Indian culture in these areas was given the term indianization. French archaeologist George Coedes defined it as the expansion of an organized culture that was framed by the Indian origins of royalty, Hinduism and Buddhism, and the Sanskrit dialect. This can be seen in the Indianization of Southeast Asia, the spread of Hinduism, and the transmission of Buddhism. The Indian diaspora, both ancient (PIO) and current (NRI), played an ongoing key role as professionals, traders, priests, and warriors. Indian honorifics also influenced Malay, Thai, Filipino, and Indonesian honorifics. The pre-colonial native Filipino script called Baybayin (), known in Visayan as badlit (), as kur-itan/kurditan in Ilocano, and as kulitan in Kapampangan, was itself derived from the Brahmic scripts of India. Its use was recorded in the 16th century by Miguel López de Legazpi. ==Cultural references==

The inscription shows heavy Sanskrit and Old Javanese linguistic influences. Among the observations made by Antonio Pigafetta in the 16th-century Boxer Codex was that Old Malay had currency among classical-period Filipinos as a lingua franca. The Golden Tara statue, an ancient artifact discovered in Butuan, Agusan del Norte, dates from the same period and strongly suggests the presence of Hindu–Buddhist beliefs prior to the introduction (and subsequent subscription) to Roman Catholicism and Islam among Filipinos. ==Other inscriptions from nearby regions==

These inscriptions are all from the province of Central Java, Indonesia (except for the Kalasan inscription, which is in the adjacent Special Region of Yogyakarta). • Canggal inscription (732) • Kalasan inscription (778) • Kelurak inscription (782) • Karangtengah inscription (824) • Tri Tepusan inscription (842) • Shivagrha inscription (856) • Mantyasih inscription (907) ==Discovery==

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription was found in 1987 near the mouth of the Lumbang River near Laguna de Bay by a man named Ernesto Legisma, who was dredging sand to turn it into concrete. Suspecting that the artifact might have some value, the man sold it to an antique dealer, who, having found no buyers, eventually sold it to the National Museum of the Philippines, where it was assigned to Alfredo E. Evangelista, head of its anthropology department. The National Museum refers to the artifact as the Laguna Copper Plate. A year later, Antoon Postma noted that the inscription was similar to the ancient Indonesian script of Kawi. Postma translated the script and found the document dated itself to the Saka year 822, an old Hindu calendar date that corresponds to the year 900. ==See also==