|
Java is divided into four administrative provinces: [[Banten]], [[West Java]], [[Central Java]], and [[East Java]], and two special regions, [[Jakarta]] and [[Special Region of Yogyakarta|Yogyakarta]].
==Etymology==
{{See also|Zabag kingdom|Al-Wakwak}}
The origins of the name "Java" are not clear. The island could possibly have been named after the [[Foxtail millet|''jáwa-wut'']] plant, which was said to be common in the island during the time, and that prior to Indianization the island had different names.<ref>Raffles, Thomas E.: ''[[The History of Java (1817 book)|History of Java]]''. Oxford University Press, 1965, p. 2.</ref> There are other possible sources: the word ''jaú'' and its variations mean "beyond" or "distant".<ref name="Raffles, Thomas E. 1965. Page 3">Raffles, Thomas E.: ''[[The History of Java (1817 book)|History of Java]]''. Oxford University Press, 1965, p. 3.</ref> And, in [[Sanskrit]] ''yava'' means barley, a plant for which the island was famous.<ref name="Raffles, Thomas E. 1965. Page 3"/> "Yavadvipa" is mentioned in [[India]]'s earliest epic, the [[Ramayana]]. [[Sugriva]], the chief of [[Rama]]'s army, dispatched his men to Yavadvipa, the island of Java, in search of [[Sita]].<ref>{{Cite book |url={{GBurl|id=9ic4BjWFmNIC|p=465}} |title=History Of Ancient India (portraits Of A Nation), 1/e |date=January 30, 2010 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=9788120749108 |via=Google Books}}</ref> It was hence referred to in India by the Sanskrit name "yāvaka dvīpa" (dvīpa = island). Java is mentioned in the ancient [[Tamil language|Tamil]] text ''[[Manimekalai]]'' by [[Chithalai Chathanar]] which states that Java had a kingdom with a capital called Nagapuram.<ref>Hindu culture in ancient India by Sekharipuram Vaidyanatha Viswanatha, p. 177.</ref><ref>Tamil Literature by M. S. Purnalingam Pillai, p. 46.</ref><ref>The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago by V. Kanakasabhai, p. 11.</ref> Another source states that the word "Java" is derived from a [[Proto-Austronesian]] root word, meaning "home".<ref>Hatley, R., Schiller, J., Lucas, A., Martin-Schiller, B., (1984). "Mapping cultural regions of Java" in: Other Javas away from the kraton. pp. 1–32.</ref> The great island of Iabadiu or Jabadiu was mentioned in [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'' composed around 150 CE in the [[Roman Empire]]. ''Iabadiu'' is said to mean "barley island", to be rich in gold, and have a silver town called Argyra at the west end. The name indicates Java<ref name ="AncientGeo">{{cite book |title=History of Ancient Geography |author=J. Oliver Thomson |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2013 |isbn=9781107689923 |url={{GBurl|id=GpP0wKQ1lksC}} |pages=316–317}}</ref> and seems to be derived from the Sanskrit name Java-dvipa (Yavadvipa).
The annual news of Songshu and Liangshu (5th century CE) referred to Java as 闍婆 (''She-pó'' or ''She-bó''), He-ling (640–818), then called it She-po again until the [[Yuan dynasty]] (1271–1368), where they began mentioning 爪哇 (''Zhao-Wa'' or ''Chao-Wa'').<ref name=":3">Lombard, Denys (2005)''. [https://archive.org/details/NJ2JA/mode/2up?q= Nusa Jawa: Silang Budaya, Bagian 2: Jaringan Asia]''. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. An Indonesian translation of Lombard, Denys (1990). ''Le carrefour javanais. Essai d'histoire globale (The Javanese Crossroads: Towards a Global History) vol. 2''. Paris: Éditions de l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. p. 12.</ref> According to [[Ma Huan]]'s book (the [[Yingya Shenglan|Yingya Shenlan]]), the Chinese called Java Chao-Wa, and the island was called She-po in the past.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mills |first=J.V.G. |title=Ying-yai Sheng-lan: The Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores [1433] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1970 |___location=Cambridge |pages=86}}</ref> Sulaiman al-Tajir al-Sirafi mentioned two notable islands which separated [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] and [[China]]: One is the 800 [[Parasang|farsakh]] long Al-Rami, which is identified as Sumatra, and the other is [[Zabaj]] (Arabic: الزابج, [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]: Sabak), 400 farsakh in length, identified as Java.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Nugroho |first=Irawan Djoko |title=Majapahit Peradaban Maritim |publisher=Suluh Nuswantara Bakti |year=2011 |isbn=978-602-9346-00-8}}</ref>{{Rp|30–31}} When [[Giovanni de' Marignolli|John of Marignolli]] returned from China to [[Avignon]], he stayed at the [[Sheba|Kingdom of Saba]] for a few months, which he said had many elephants and was led by a [[Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi|queen]]; Saba may be his interpretation of She-bó.''<ref>Yule, Sir Henry (1913). ''[https://archive.org/details/cathaywaythither03yule/page/n15/mode/2up?q=saba Cathay and the way thither: being a collection of medieval notices of China vol. III]''. London: The Hakluyt Society.</ref>{{Rp|page=xii, 192–194}}'' [[Afanasy Nikitin|Afanasij Nikitin]], a merchant from [[Tver]] (in Russia), traveled to India in 1466 and described the land of java, which he called шабайте (shabait/šabajte).<ref>Braginsky, Vladimir. 1998. [https://www.academia.edu/21785432/Two_Eastern_Christian_Sources_on_Medieval_Nusantara Two Eastern Christian sources on medieval Nusantara] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520115142/https://www.academia.edu/21785432/Two_Eastern_Christian_Sources_on_Medieval_Nusantara |date=2021-05-20 }}. ''Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde''. 154(3): 367–396.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zenkovsky |first=Serge A. |url=https://archive.org/details/medievalrussiase00zenk/page/346/mode/2up?q=shabait |title=Medieval Russia's epics, chronicles, and tales |publisher=Dutton |year=1974 |isbn=0525473637 |___location=New York |pages=345–347}}</ref>
==Geography==
|
