Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c14.t2.20

v2.c14.t2.20

The location of Mūl Jāva has not been determined with certainty. Ibn Baṭuṭa says that its length was two months’ journey, and it produced excellent perfumes, named after Kākūla and Kamāra, two of its districts. Van der Lith identified Kākūla with Angkola¹, but Ferrand rejects it on philological grounds². Pelliot identifies the same place with Ko-ku-lo, which is mentioned by the Chinese traveller Kiantan (c. 800 A. D.), and is to be located to the west of Kedah³. Rouffaer places it in Sumatra itself, in Menangkabau⁴. In view of these wide differences of opinion it is difficult to suggest any identification, but the fact that the rebels from Samudra took shelter in it seems to refer to some place in Sumatra itself. Malayu-Jambi would perhaps not be an unacceptable theory, in view of the great power and prestige of that Hindu kingdom. If it were to be located outside Sumatra I would suggest Java itself. Mūl Jāva would mean, in Sanskrit, the original Java, as distinguished from Java, the less, named after it⁵. Wassāf-i-Hadrat, writing towards the close of the 13th century A.D.⁶, refers to Mul Śāva (=Mul Jāva) as one of the islands conquered by Kublai Khan in 1292 A.D. He also refers to aloe and Girofle as products of the locality, as does Ibn Baṭuṭa in respect of Mūla-Jāva. Now Java was conquered by Kublai Khan in the year 1292-1293 A.D., and so this would be a point in support of the proposed identification. But the details in respect of the conquest of Mul-Śāva as given by Wassāf do not agree with those given in official Chinese history as recorded above.