Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c20.s5.1

v2.c20.s5.1

From an early date Indian literature was carried to Java, though the nature and extent of this importation are not exactly known.¹ The study of this literature led to the growth of an Indo-Javanese literature, which forms one of the most characteristic features of Indian colonisation in that island. Nowhere else, outside India, has Indian literature been studied with so much advantage and with such important consequences. The range and intrinsic value of this Indo-Javanese literature are, indeed, very great. As in other departments of civilisation, so here, too, a fine superstructure was built in Java upon foundations so well and truly laid by the Indians. It will be beyond my scope to enter into a detailed discussion of the contents and merits of this literature, and I shall therefore confine myself only to a general outline of the subject.