Kutai

Kutai, or Dayak Kutai, is a historic region in East Kalimantan in Indonesia on Borneo and also name of Dayak people on the region with a language of the same name and their historic . Today the name is preserved in the names of three regencies in East Kalimantan, the Kutai Kartanegara Regency, the West Kutai Regency and the East Kutai Regency. The major river of the region was and is the Mahakam River.

History

The history is usually divided into two periods, that of the early Kutai Martadipura phase some time around 350–400 and the later Kutai Kartanegara phase beginning around 1300. The first period produced the earliest known inscriptions in Indonesia.

Kutai Martadipura

Kutai Martadipura is a 4th-century Indianized kingdom located in the Kutai area, East Kalimantan. It is one of the earliest ancient kingdom in Indonesian history. Seven stone pillars, or yūpa (“sacrificial posts”), have been found in Kutai, Kaman Estuary, near the Mahakam River. The plinths bear an inscription in the Pallava script of India reading "A gift to the Brahmin priests". The style of the script has been dated to the last half the 4th century. It is believed these religions were brought to Indonesia around the 2nd and 4th centuries, respectively, when Indian traders arrived on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi.