(A Yupa with inscription in the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta)Kutai is the traditional name of a historic region in East Kalimantan in Indonesia on Borneo, a Dayak people of the region with a language of the same name and their historic states. Seven stone pillars, or YUPA (sacrificial posts), have been found in Kutai, Kaman Estuary, near the Mahakam River...The plinths bear an inscription in the Pallava script of Bharatvarsha, reading --"A gift to the Brahmin priests". The style of the script has been dated to the last half the fourth century. The names of three rulers are known from the inscriptions. The first ruler mentioned is Kuṇḍungga, the “lord of men” (narendra), his son Aśwawarman, styled the “founder of the dynasty” (vaṇśa-kartṛ) and grandson of the first and son of the later, Mūlawarman called the “lord of kings” (rājendra). It was Mūlawarman who let these inscriptions be made. While nothing of the military actions of his two predecessors is known, "Raja" Mūlawarman is stated to have conquered his neighbours in battle. The name of his kingdom is not mentioned on the inscriptions nor do any other documents in other countries relate to a kingdom at this time in this region. It is not known what became of the kingdom after these pillars had been erected. It may be possible that the name Kutai, as in Tuñjung Kute of the 1365 Javanese Majapahit poem Nāgarakṛtāgama is as ancient and reflects the original name used a thousand years earlier.
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