Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c20.s3.23

v2.c20.s3.23

Whether all these customs which we find to-day in Bali also prevailed in Java and other parts of Hinduised Malayasia is difficult to determine. But the few references that we get are not incompatible with such a view. For in Javanese literature and Chinese accounts we get references to Brāhmaṇas and Kṣatriyas, and also to slavery and Satī. The Javanese literature and history throw some interesting light on certain phases of society, although they do not furnish materials for anything like a connected and complete picture. The system of marriage, for example, seems to show some divergence from Hindu customs. Polygamy was prevalent on almost as large a scale as in India, but the remarriage of widows, even of grown-up ladies with children, seems to have been a usual feature in Java, whereas it was all but unknown in India. For although sanctioned by the scriptures under special circumstances, an odium attached to it, and it hardly came into use, at least in the upper classes of society. In Java we have the famous instance of Ken Angrok or King Rājasa, marrying the widow of Tunggul Ametung, the governor of Tumapel.¹ About common people we learn that in an annual gladiatorial combat (to be described later) in Java, the wife of the slain became the prize of the victor.