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Originally Posted by Raden Usman Djogja
Following your logic exploration and explanation, why do keris community call prer-Islamic keris as keris "budo/jaman kabudan"? why dont they call "hindon/jaman kahindon"?
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Dear Usmen,
This time I’m not talking about keris, but on “javaneseness” that probably you may relate to javanese habitude on naming something. (Once I stayed in a French family in Rheims for a couple months. The Madame of the family – she’s Lyonnaise – smiled when I said to her one day “Je suis javanais…,” I meant, I’m Javanese. She said: Javanais? The term “javanais” according to her was a mockery for person that was stupid, illogical, archaic, stubborn.. or something like that)
My father and mother (they was working in Central Hospital in Solo, speaking dutch and a little bit Japanese) used to say “zaman londo” everytime they told stories of their past time, their life in the war-time of mid 30’s and end of 40’s. Or “zaman perang” to say on “war time”. And always said, “he’s londo” to mention European people. No matter what nationality the European, they used to say “he is londo”, including to an Italian doctor in the Solo hospital – I remember the first name, Roberto – as “londo Itali..”
“Londo” was actually related to Holland, or Belanda – the Eruropean nation which colonialized Java back for quite a long time. Even the javanese don’t bother, whether in the past there was “another londo” from England (British colonialization in a short time between 1811-1816 under Lord Minto in India and Lieutenant Governor Thomas Stamford Raffles, and only about one year of Lieutenant Governor John Fendall. No wonder if the javanese call them “londo Inggris” or “londo from England”). Or “londo Ustrali” to mention people from Australia…
And so many Javanense naming that related to foreign names, but they localized the spelling in whatever meaning they like. For instance, they say “krekop” for “church cemetery” or “kerk hoff” in dutch language. Then the area around the cemetery they call as krekop. Or “sekensoro” for place around Central Hospital in Solo around 1960-s (derived from dutch word “ziekenzorg”). And quite many “javanese-dutch” word that often has quite different meaning from the original meaning…
Keris budo? Besi Budo? Zaman Budo? Maybe the same “fate” as “zaman londo” I told you. No matter whether the real reality was “hindu era” nor “hindu keris”. We know, that the foreign Syailendra dynasty had once reigned Java for couple decades. (Suryavarman of the Syailendra dynasty even once reigned Malay and Cambodge. This Syailendra built the Angkor Wat in Cambodge too. No wonder if the “foreign colonialization era” of Syailendra in Java we called it as “zaman kabudan”, no matter that the Hindu dynasty of Sanjaya was existing too. Maybe the same fate as “zaman londo”). Thus, the most important is not what the javanese said what, but why did they say that…
Ganjawulung