| dc.description.abstract | This article mainly deals with the Plumpungan manuscript discourse, an ancient
stone inscription found in the Salatiga area. The manuscript dates back to the 8th
century and is one of the main historical sources of the Salatiga municipality. There is
a tight connection involving the above mentioned inscription with the legitimacy of
the Javanese court at that time, as well as with the monarch, who was seen as halfman,
half-deity. The monarch drew on the labor of his subjects in maintaining religious
sites to ensure his place on earth, and in heaven. The Plumpungan manuscript
was a ‘legal document’ used to reassure inhabitants of the area that the monarch is
the legitimate ruler, and to prevent further revolt. The monarch’s subjects in the Salatiga
area at the time were farmers disheartened with high taxes and the fear of volcanic
eruptions, which later caused great migrations to East Java. Consequently, the monarch,
using the Plumpungan manuscript as a medium, decreed that the Hampra village
(present-day Salatiga) become a tax-free area due to the excellent care that its
citizens provided for the religious sites, in addition to the obeisance shown to the
monarch. It becomes clear, however, that all the way through the discourse analysis,
the king wanted to ensure his legitimacy. Socio-historical context confirms that the
monarch, Bhanu, was a successful ruler who held power over four regions, analogically
with Indra, the king of all deities. Discourse analysis is detained under three
main dimensions, which is grammatical, lexical and contextual, unified from beginning
to end in a particular style that reveals genuinely hidden meaning. | en_US |
