Purnawarman

Purnawarman or Purnavarman was the 5th-century king of Tarumanagara, a Hindu Indianized kingdom, located in modern-day West Java, Jakarta and Banten provinces, Indonesia. Purnawarman reigned during the 5th century, and during his reign he created several stone inscriptions.

According to these inscriptions he embarked on a hydraulic project and also identified himself to Vishnu, which indicates him and his kingdom were adhering to the Vishnuite faith. King Purnawarman established a new capital city for the kingdom, located somewhere near present-day Tugu (North Jakarta) or Bekasi.

His name in Sanskrit means "perfect shield" or "complete protector". Later Tarumanagaran kings are only known from their names, all bear the name warman (Sanskrit: varman means "shield" or "protector") which suggests that all of them belongs to the same dynasty.

Historiography Purnawarman is the most well known ruler among Tarumanagaran kings, mostly because he extensively created numbers of stone inscriptions, proclaiming his deeds and feats. He left seven memorial stones with inscriptions bearing his name spread across today Jakarta, Banten and West Java provinces. These seven inscriptions areː notes in parwa II sarga 3 (page 159 – 162) that under the reign of King Purnawarman, Tarumanagara held control over 48 small kingdoms with area stretching from Salakanagara or Rajatapura to Purwalingga (current city of Purbalingga in Central Java Province). Traditionally Cipamali river (Brebes river) was the border between Sunda and Java. However, this claim is not reliable because the Wangsakerta manuscript is not an authentic historical source.