THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD 'JONG'

 RESOURCE : CLASSICAL INDONESIA

The word ‘Jong’ in ancient Indonesian history has its own origin dating back to 11th Century. ‘Jong’ was inscribed in Old Javanese inscriptions belonging to the reign of Balinese Warmadewa dynasty which are Sembiran AIV Inscription (987 Ś/AD 1065) & Sembiran C Inscription (1103 Ś/AD 1181). The two inscriptions state that seafaring merchants (banyaga) arrived at Julah in their jong (ships) and bahitra (boats); “banyaga sakeng sabrang jong, bahitara, cumunduk i manasa” (Ardika, 1991:2). Beratha & Ardika (2018:271) in Namira (2021:32) associate the word Jong with Chinese Junk in which it may have anchored at Julah in the 11th -12th Century as part of trade carried out outside China. Excavations that have been done at the Sembiran and Pacung archaeological sites which are part of the ancient port of Julah have unearthed finds in the form of ceramics originating from India, Southeast Asia and China (Namira, 2021:23).

Marine salvages & archaeological excavations in Indonesia have also uncovered shipwrecks originating from Indonesia such as Intan wreck (10th C) & Java Sea wreck (13th C) with a possible destination to Java that carried cargo items such as ceramics & iron pots from China, fine-paste wares from Thailand, and from Indonesia itself such as gold jewelry, bronze artifacts, & organic materials (Niziolek & Respess, 2017: 790).

The word Jong is also found in Kawi-Old Javanese texts, among which are Kakawin Bhomāntaka (12th C), Arjunawijaya (14th C), & Sutasoma (14th C) (Jakl, 2020). Interestingly, jongs in kakawin court poems are often associated with the maritime mishap & shipwreck (Jakl, 2020:83). Jakl (2020:83) argues that ships denoted jongs must have been associated with the shipping of Javanese port enclaves of the north coast of Java (pasisir), districts which were never under the complete control of Javanese rulers, who were based at inland courts (Jakl, 2020:83). As early as the 12th century, jongs might have been associated with the growing economic and possibly political power of the pasisir administrators and local lords, who were approached with distrust by Javanese inland royal courts (Jakl, 2020:83).

Moving on to Middle Javanese texts, Rangga Lawe & Kidung Sunda provide a very interesting narrative about a type of Jong that had been an imitation of the Tartars' one. “The Kidung Sunda, celebrating a famous 14th century royal voyage from Sunda to Majapahit, explained that the king of Sunda travelled in a “jong sasanga, such as was made in the land of the Tartars and was copied since the war of King Wijaya” (Berg 1927:77). This war resulted from Kublai Khan’s invasion of Java in 1293, the largest single Chinese intervention in Javanese history, during which Kertanegara’s son-in-law Wijaya was able to manipulate the Chinese troops to his own advantage, and then harry them out of Java, leaving him on the throne. The Yuan dynastic history states that a thousand vessels carried twenty thousand Chinese soldiers from Fujian to Java to punish King Kertanegara for his insolence (Groeneveldt, 1880:21–7). “More than 3,000” soldiers were said to have been killed in Java, which makes it virtually certain that others were captured by the Javanese or remained voluntarily on Wijaya’s side after his defection from the Chinese. This was therefore a highly probable time for an injection of Chinese technology and manpower into Java, which may have given rise to the hybrid ship type.”- Reid (2000:61-62).

According to Reid (1993:38) this new evidence has led Manguin (1984, 1985) to identify the junks of the period as the product of a hybrid "South China Sea" development, eclectically incorporating elements of Chinese and Southeast Asian traditions.

In Old Sundanese Bujangga Manik text, the jong that was used by Bujangga Manik from Bali to Blambangan is said to have a width of 8 depa (12.8-16 m) and a length of 25 depa (40-50 m) (Averoes, 2021:58). Jong as part of Majapahit fleet is mentioned along with malangbang, pelang, kelulus in Classical Malay texts such Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai & the Malay Annals.

Javanese shipping particularly flourished in the fifteenth century (Reid, 1993:39). The first Portuguese chroniclers described the Javanese around 1500 as dominating the trade in Indonesian waters, including Melaka in the west and Maluku in the east (Reid, 1993:39). During the reign of Sultan Mahmud Shah (1488-1511), Javanese merchants' role was pivotal (Wijaya, 2022:9). In Malacca there were many Javanese merchants, such as Patih Adam, Patih Kadir, Patih Yusof, Patih Yunus, and Utimutaraja (Wijaya, 2022:9). Those merchants could link Malacca to the Lesser Sunda Islands and the Spice Islands (Wijaya, 2022:9). Utimutaraja was appointed as a Tumenggung of Malacca and played as a city-security and tax collector (Desai ("Portuguese Administration in Malacca" (1969)) in Wijaya (2022:1)). Utimutaraja was so rich and he owned six thousand married slaves and his son was appointed as the chief of the Javanese in Malacca (Castanheda in Wijaya (2022:1)). "In this city there are also many people from Java dwelling in it ; they are small stout men, whose breasts and faces are long and ill formed. .... They are ingenious and subtle in all their work, and very cunning and treacherous, and of little truth, daring in all mischief, and unto death.They have very good arms and fight valiantly" - Duarte Barbosa, 1514 (Stanley, 1866:194).

The Melaka Maritime Code (Undang-undang Laut) was drawn up at that time by a group of Melaka shipowners, most of whom were of Javanese origin (Reid, 1993:39). Their Melaka-based vessels regularly made the voyage to China, where Pires (1515: 122-23) reported they were obliged to anchor offshore because the Chinese were rightly afraid that one of these people's junks would rout twenty Chinese junks (Reid, 1993:39).

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