Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s21: Borneo
Mānasāra Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra; III. Mānasāra on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Mānasāra: Translation; V. Architecture of Mānasāra: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s21
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Borneo
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The enormous island of Borneo² is situated towards the north-west of the Celebes and nearly due east of Sumatra. In size it is seven times that of Java and larger than France. The bulk of the inhabitants are Dyaks, closely affiliated with the Malays. ‘The Dyaks are generally of sturdy build and splendid physique, but ugly of face and thorough savages in mental and moral character.’³ It is notorious as the ‘land of the wild Dyak, the orang-utan, and the great constrictor snakes, the land of vast impenetrable jungle and mosquito-infested swamps.’⁴
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² ‘Borneo was for many years a cause of dispute between England and Holland, and it was only in 1892 that the island was divided amicably between them, England’s suzerainty over the north-western third being recognized by her rival claimant.’ (Walcott, p. 107.)
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³ Walcott, *Java and Her Neighbours*, p. 107.
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⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 120.
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In the native State of Kotei, East Borneo, several inscribed stones have been discovered. These are undated documents. On the palaeographical ground they have been placed between A.D. 400 and 450.⁵ All the four inscriptions⁶ are written in Sanskrit and record the gifts made by king Mulavarman. To commemorate the gifts sacrificial pillars were erected. These pillars, like those of Asoka, are of considerable architectural interest. They are thoroughly original, Brahmanical in religion and Indian in design, and the most elegant productions of Indian art.⁷
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⁵ Dr. B. R. Chatterjee and Dr. N. P. Chakravarti have quoted (*India and Java*, II, p. 17) the views of M. Finot, Prof. Kern, and Prof. J. Ph. Vogel (*Bijdragen tot-de Taal-Land en Volken-kunde van Nederlandsche Indie*, 1918).
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⁶ A, B, C, and D, *see* Vogel and Chatterjee and Chakravarti, pp. 17–19.
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⁷ *See* under Stambha, writer’s *Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture*.
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This would clearly indicate not only the existence of some Hindu kingdom in Borneo, but also the Sanskrit language, and the art and architecture of the Hindu type. There are, however, no more architectural remains available.