Kota Kapur Inscription Site in Kota Kapur Village, West Mendo Sub-district, Bangka District

The existence of Kota Kapur Inscription Site has close relations with the strait of Bangka, which was often crossed by a number of ships in the past. In the 1700s, Bangka Strait was a place where a number of sea-rovers coming from Kota Kapur Village robbed every ship crossing the strait. They plundered land from the sea without commission from Crivijaya Kingdom.

When Sultan Ratu Akhmad Badaruddin – the ruler of Crivijaya Kingdom – knew such a fact, he summoned his soldiers to eradicate those sea-rovers from Crivijaya‘s territories. Later on, Crivijaya successfully defeated them and established an agreement between the King of Crivijaya and an envoy of the sea-rovers. The agreement then now is known as Kota Kapur Inscription since was made in Kota Kapur Village.

Three clauses are written down on the inscription using Pallawa letters in Sanskrit language. First, Crivijaya‘s territories covered the regions in Bangka Island and neighbouring islands. Second, people settling those regions should admit the Crivijaya‘s authority by obeying the law and regulations established by the Kingdom. The last clause restricted any kind of robbery and rebellion against the Crivijaya‘s.

In 1892 A.D., a Dutchman named JK. Fander Meulend, who was also the administrative ruler in the Selan River, discovered the inscription‘s existence. Then in 1978 A.D., a local inhabitant of Kota Kapur Village found the inscription‘s pedestal that is 30 cm in length, 42 cm in width, and 7 kg in weight.

Kota Kapur Inscription Site reveals the old stories of Crivijaya‘s glory in the past. It is the right place for some archaeologists and historians who want to trace back memorial journey of Crivijaya in defeating sea-rovers damaging Crivijaya‘s authority. At least there are two archaeological researches on the inscription have ever been conducted by a team of French archaeologists in cooperation with a team of Indonesian archaeologists in 1994 and 1995.

In the site, you will see the remaining traces of a temple that was built at the era of Crivijaya Kingdom. Other Crivijaya‘s remnants are some ancient ceramics, three metres high castle, and moat surrounded by the castle. Likewise, a building resembling a Javanese mansion is a so-called museum that keeps many historical things and pieces of statues within.

Since you arrive at the location, you will see a 75 metres high stones resembling a gateway. The stone is a sign that the inscription was discovered by JK. Fender Meulend.

Kota Kapur Location

Kota Kapur Inscription Site lies in Kota Kapur Village, West Mendo Sub-district, Bangka District, Bangka-Belitung Province. The site is situated at the riverbank of the Mendo River flowing to Bangka Strait. To reach the location, you can take public transport from the heart of Bangka District to West Mendo Sub-district. Unfortunately, access to Kota Kapur Village via West Mendo Sub-district is hard to find. Therefore, we suggest you to drive your own private cars to reach the location. There is no inn as well as lodgement nearby the location where Kota Kapur Inscription is found. However, you can find some hotels in the heart of Bangka District. Thus, if you are undertaking research on this site, you can spend more days around the location by looking for hospitality services in the heart of Bangka City.