The Figure of the Taṇḍa in Old Javanese Literary and Epigraphical Records

This article offers a detailed analysis of the category of men known as taṇḍa . Widely attested in literary records and known from Old Javanese inscriptions, the function and social status of taṇḍa has been a controversial issue. Two views pertaining to the identity of these men have been advanced so far. According to most scholars, taṇḍa were high-status officials, often interpreted as military ‘officers’. According to an alternative view, they were low-status military figures and their function was to oversee markets, or they were low-status figures associated with music and performances. This article argues that until at least 1200CE taṇḍa were court-based, active combatants, who had troops of their own followers at their disposal and were responsible for the military expansion of Javanese states. By the Majapahit period they were integrated as regu-lar troops into the progressively more hierarchical system of the professional standing army, which resulted in their reduced social status.


Introduction: The Myth of Low-Ranking Taṇḍa
The category of men called taṇḍa is widely attested in kakawin, epic poems written in the literary register of Old Javanese, composed in Java between the ninth and fifteenth centuries CE, and later also in Bali. Taṇḍa are associated with the court milieu and typically figure in a military context.1 They are also mentioned in Old and Middle Javanese prose texts and have been documented in Old Javanese epigraphical records, too. The category is obviously ancient, as it is attested in the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa, a poem composed between the second half of the ninth and the first quarter of the tenth century CE in Central Java. Most interestingly, the word taṇḍa only rarely designates a single person: in the corpus of Javanese literature, as well as in Old Javanese inscriptional records, it is used almost invariably in the plural meaning, denoting a category of taṇḍa. This pattern is often emphasized by the use of the particle para, which marks the plural in Old Javanese.2 I know of only two passages in which taṇḍa is mentioned in its singular meaning; one of them, an important passage in the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa, is analysed in the third part of this article. The status and actual function of taṇḍa has invited substantial scholarly attention, yet their role in Javanese, pre-Islamic society is not entirely clear. A number of scholars have suggested that taṇḍa designates a category of court officials and/or military commanders, often interpreted, in my view rather anachronistically, as 'officers' . To give several examples, Soewito Santoso (1980, III:640) renders taṇḍa in his edition of the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa as 'official' . In the same text, Robson (2015:581) interprets taṇḍa as 'officers' , but at another place in the text he leaves the word untranslated (2015:757).3 In the Deśawarṇana, a court poem composed by Mpu Prapañca in 1365CE, Stutterheim (1948: 35, 67) renders taṇḍa as 'reserve officer ' (original Dutch: vaandrig). Pigeaud (1960, III:9) interprets taṇḍa in the same text as 'common taṇḍas (headmen)' , and elsewhere renders it consistently as 'taṇḍas (headmen) ' (1960, III:11, 23, 101). In the same text, Robson (1995:29, 30, 37, 87) translates taṇḍa as 'offi-1 Originally, Old Javanese taṇḍa seems to have denoted emblems or devices placed on war banners, seals, and other objects, identifying their bearers/users as acting in the authority of the owner of the emblem. It will become clear in the second part of this article that this original meaning of taṇḍa motivated the use of the word as a designation of the category of military figures discussed in this study. 2 For the use of the particle para marking taṇḍa as plural, see, for example, Ghaṭotkacāśraya 5. 5,48.7,and Sumanasāntaka 15.10,19.4. Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 cers' . In the Ghaṭotkacāśraya, a kakawin composed by Mpu Panuluh at the end of the twelfth century CE, Robson (2016:51, 95) renders taṇḍa in two places as 'guardsmen' and in one place as 'officers' (Robson 2016:279). Teeuw and Robson (2005:271, 399, 457) interpret taṇḍa in the Bhomāntaka, an anonymous kakawin composed in the second half of the twelfth century CE, as 'officers'; elsewhere in the same text, however, they leave the word untranslated.4 In the Arjunawijaya, a kakawin composed by Mpu Tantular in the late fourteenth century CE, Supomo (1977, II:187), too, leaves taṇḍa untranslated. In the Sutasoma, another kakawin by Mpu Tantular, O'Brian (2008) leaves the term untranslated as well, and in her comments to the text she interprets taṇḍa tentatively as 'officer ' (2008:263). Worsley et al. (2013:111, 115, 179) translate taṇḍa at three places in the Sumanasāntaka, a kakawin composed around 1200 CE by Mpu Monaguṇa, as 'court officials'; at one place in their translation we encounter 'taṇḍa officials' (Worsley et al. 2013:297). The uncertainty of the status and actual function of the men denoted as taṇḍa in Old and Middle Javanese texts is discernible in the gloss provided by Piet Zoetmulder (1982:1928 in his authoritative Old Javanese-English dictionary: a category of dignitaries or officials. Is it (originally): 'in charge of a "banner" or company'? It seems, however, that it does not always point to a military rank. Pigeaud renders it with 'headman' . Is it distinguished from mantri? But taṇḍa-mantri, certainly in catus-taṇḍa-mantri, denotes the rank of dignity (chief officer?).
Even though Zoetmulder rightly notes that the term 'does not always point to a military rank' , in most instances taṇḍa is found in a military context and denotes persons of status. Furthermore, it is clear that the identification of taṇḍa as members of a class of professional, salaried officers would represent an anachronism in the cultural and political context of Java before 1500 CE, though I acknowledge that the rendering of taṇḍa as 'officer' in the narrative context of Old Javanese literary fiction can be appropriate and fitting.
Recently, based on his reading of selected passages of the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa and Sumanasāntaka, Acri (2011) has argued that the Old Javanese taṇḍa was a figure of low status, which had a role in ceremonial performances. In his detailed analysis of Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa 24.111-114, Acri has made a number of interesting associations, finding similarities between several avian characters (the allegorical kuwoṅ bird, the manuk widwan, and manuk uyakan birds), jákl Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 the figure of the taṇḍa, and the widu mawayaṅ, the figure of the ambulatory performer, whom Acri identified with a Śaiva Atimārga ascetic. Literary associations between a taṇḍa and an enigmatic kuwoṅ bird in Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa 24.112, along with the participation of taṇḍa in court performances in Sumanasāntaka 113.3, have led Acri (2011:71) to pose the interesting question of why we find taṇḍa associated with widu both in texts and in music and performances. Acri has concluded that 'besides their official and military activities, this category of functionaries also had the prerogative to take an active role in ceremonial performances' . To further support his claim, Acri (2011:71, n. 51) points out that the Sanskrit word taṇḍaka denotes-apart from its other meanings-'juggler' , tracing this word, which is unattested as a loanword in Old Javanese, to the Sanskrit verb root taṇḍ (to beat).5 In another publication, Acri (2014:29) has reiterated his claim that the taṇḍa of pre-Islamic Java were low-status figures, bringing into his discussion one passage in the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa, an Old Javanese version of a well-known Sanskrit purāṇic text that can be traced to the tenth century CE. The opening part of the Old Javanese text details an account of a feast or ritual (kārya) held by the king, in which a number of taṇḍa (para taṇḍa) actively participate. The staged performance described in the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa is taken as another proof that taṇḍa were in a particular way associated with music and performances: Those mask performances, buffooneries, dances, and vidu competitions, were intended to accompany a ritual or religious performance (kārya) that was attended by the king himself and taṇḍa functionaries. The taṇḍas we find throughout premodern Javanese history, e.g. in RK sarga 24 and 25, where they are mocked and connected to the performing practices of a vidu (alias kuvoṅ-bird), in Sumanasāntaka 113.3, again dancing besides vidus, and in the 14th-century Deśavarṇana, which describes them as lowranking court functionaries involved in mock war-dances. Acri 2014:29 In total, Acri (2011Acri ( , 2014 selects four passages in support of his hypothesis that a taṇḍa was essentially a low-class functionary and performer. But even a cursory look at Zoetmulder's Old Javanese-English dictionary (1982) shows that the figure of taṇḍa is very well represented in the corpus of Old and Middle Javanese literature, and a more detailed search reveals that the category of the taṇḍa is Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 attested in no less than 29 Old Javanese passages, found in (at least) 12 texts.6 Apart from the fact that Acri's claim is based on a rather selective piece of evidence, two of the passages included in support of his thesis have been misread or distorted. First, nowhere in the Deśawarṇana do we find taṇḍa involved in 'mock war dances' , as claimed by Acri. In a footnote, Acri (2014:29, n. 65) specifies that the passage that depicts taṇḍa 'as low-ranking court functionaries involved in mock war-dances' is to be found in Deśawarṇana 66.5, but the characters mentioned in this stanza are actually denoted as bhaṭa, a term that in Old Javanese (as well as in Sanskrit) refers to mercenaries, a category that is not identical with the taṇḍa.7 No doubt, taṇḍa-like many other military figureswould engage in simulated combats, if for no other reason than as part of their military training. This is, however, no justification for conflating two otherwise different categories of military persons.8 The second passage invoked by Acri in support of his thesis that Old Javanese taṇḍa are figures of low status is found in stanzas 113.3 and 113.4 in the Sumanasāntaka. Acri (2011:70) has associated the figure of taṇḍa-whose low status is taken for granted rather than questioned-with the enigmatic character of a wandering widu performer who is mentioned among participants at the wedding feast of Princess Indumatī and Prince Aja. In what follows, I quote the translation of this passage by Worsley et al. (2013:297), because it is this translation on which Acri has based his arguments about the status and function of taṇḍa: 6 Apart from discussing a rather narrow selection of literary texts, Acri (2011Acri ( , 2014 completely disregards a substantial Old Javanese epigraphical record pertaining to taṇḍa. As we will see below, the inscriptional record gives us a valuable insight into the status and actual function of taṇḍa in pre-Islamic Java. 7 In the text, Acri (2011:71) actually justifies his conflation of taṇḍa and bhaṭa, explaining that '[i]t is not unlikely that the taṇḍas were involved in mock "war dances" […]. This possibility is not as remote as it may seem prima facie, for a description of "warriors" performing together with vidus and enacting a mocked war-dance aiming at causing the laughter of the public is found in the first three lines of stanza 66.5 of the Deśavarṇana.' Now, the line in question (66.5c) reads: ānyāt/ (121b) bhāṭa mapatra yudḍa sahajaṅ maglapglapan aṅghyat aṅdani pacǝh (Pigeaud 1960, I:51). Robson (1995:73) interprets this line more carefully: 'Not to mention the warriors shouting challenges-naturally the ones as loud as thunderclaps gave people a fright and made them laugh' . Old Javanese bhaṭa, a loanword from Sanskrit, is glossed by Zoetmulder (1982:224): '(Skt bhaṭa, from bhṛta, mercenary, hired soldier, warrior, combatant) soldier, warrior (prob. of higher rank than the ordinary bala)' . For an alternative view of bhaṭa as originally denoting a low-class soldier, compare Gonda (1973:142), who interprets Sanskrit bhaṭa as 'soldier, servant, slave' . (It seemed that the centre of the kingdom might split asunder because of the thundering noise Of the kings with their gongs, cymbals and idiophones. The more so because taṇḍa officials in particular vied with one another, milling about in a great crowd, With conical drums thundering as they continued to sound loudly the introductory themes for the music. The widu performers were just then competing with one another and the tangkil hyang were telling a story.) According to Acri (2011:70-1), '[t]he vidus here enact their comic performance together with dignitaries such as the taṇḍas, whom OJED [1928] describes as low-ranking dignitaries with military functions' . Zoetmulder (1982Zoetmulder ( :1928, however, nowhere describes taṇḍa as 'low-ranking' dignitaries, as can be seen in his gloss of the word quoted above.10 Furthermore, Acri links the performance of taṇḍa to that of widu, claiming that '[t]he taṇḍas accompany the performance of the vidus with a "thunderous noise" (gumǝrǝh) made with their drums' . But the text nowhere says that they do so; rather, the taṇḍa are depicted here in a simulated combat, in close proximity to the 'kings' (ratu), obviously persons of high social and political standing. In his translation of this passage, Acri (2011:70) interprets the word ratu as 'vassals' . Without giving any explanation as to why he chooses to render ratu specifically as 'vassals' , Acri goes against a common-and widespread-interpretation of ratu in Old Javanese as meaning either 'king' or 'queen' (Zoetmulder 1982(Zoetmulder :1522 Now there was a royal ritual to be performed under the direction of the king. Śrī Indumatī was to be married by swayambara so that she might choose a suitable king. The king dispatched messengers to invite all those kings who were worthy of invitation.11 Clearly, Indumatī is supposed to choose 'a suitable king' (ratu sasambhave sira) from among the 'kings who were worthy of invitation' (para ratu samayogya hundaṅǝn). We know from a detailed list in the text that the ratu invited to the svayambara of Indumatī included the kings Hemāṅgada, Susenā, and Pāṇḍya, among other well-known, mighty epic figures. I find it difficult to call these powerful men, actual or potential political allies of King Bhoja, his 'vassals' , and it is clearly not the meaning intended by Mpu Monaguṇa in his text. Interestingly, we find the ratu performing alongside the taṇḍa also in the Bhomāntaka, a text which is nearly contemporaneous with the Sumanasāntaka. In Bhomāntaka 81.26, the phrase watǝk ratu denotes the lords allied with King Kṛṣṇa; in my view, the ratu depicted in the Sumanasāntaka should also be interpreted as allied kings rather than subordinated 'vassals' . Importantly, the widu are only introduced at the beginning of stanza 113.4a, only after the performance of the ratu and taṇḍa, who seem to interact with one another, has been discussed in stanza 113.3. It is thus improbable that the taṇḍa would 'accompany' the widu on drums, as Acri has it. The translation by Worsley et al. (2013:297) quoted above, which has the widu coupled with the taṅkil hyaṅ rather than with the taṇḍa, seems to me to do more justice to the narrative logic of the account offered in stanzas 113.3-4.
In his review of the translation of the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa published recently by Robson (2015), Acri (2016) again discussed the enigmatic stanza 22.112, criticizing, in my view rightly, Robson's interpretation of the term taṇḍa. In contrast to all previous readings, which read taṇḍa ṅkoṅ, Robson (2015:662) prefers to read taṇḍaṅ koṅ. Finding no explanation for the meaning of this phrase, however, Robson leaves it untranslated. In his commentary to the text, Robson (2015:705) suggests that taṇḍaṅ is a 'word of abuse, in view of kong' , adding further that taṇḍaṅ is 'definitely not the same as taṇḍa' , the word for which he gives the meaning 'sign; category of dignitaries' . Acri (2016:459) expressed disagreement with Robson's word division, reiterating his previously expressed claim that we should read taṇḍa ṅkoṅ, where Old Javanese ṅkoṅ has a semantic parallel in Malay engkau/kau. This time, Acri (2016:460) offers three possible mean-jákl Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 ings for taṇḍa. First, the function of taṇḍa is linked to the institution of the kuwu (initially meaning: 'makeshift fortress'),12 strongholds that Javanese rulers built on the frontiers of their maṇḍala domains.13 The second possible interpretation, according to Acri, would be to identify taṇḍa with tāṇḍa, a character he discussed in some detail in one of his articles (2014:42, n. 90), but without having made any previous suggestion of synonymizing the two words. For this interpretation of Old Javanese taṇḍa, let me quote Acri (2016:460) in full: As an alternative-or simultaneously valid-possibility, I have interpreted tāṇḍa (= tāṇḍaka) as meaning 'an old sage' (Monier-Williams 1899: 441), which fits in the context as I connected the vidu to a ṛṣi-type performer-cum-ascetic character appearing on reliefs of Borobudur and Prambanan. Acri 2014:42 This is, of course, a very attractive hypothesis, and the widu's performer and ascetic character might account for the demonstrable aspect of ritualized show or performance associated with the taṇḍa in several passages in the Old Javanese textual corpus. But this hypothesis might also run ahead of some of the evidence, and assume things that still need to be demonstrated. The third possibility Acri considers in his interpretation of the figure of the taṇḍa is to amend the reading of taṇḍaṅ ṅkoṅ: As a third option, I venture to speculate that taṇḍaṅ ṅkoṅ is a corruption of taṇḍak koṅ, where taṇḍak, 'dance (with songs)' (Zoetmulder 1982(Zoetmulder :1929from Sanskrit taṇḍaka, 'juggler'? [Monier-Williams 1899:432]), could be connected to the modern Javanese tandhak, a category of singers and dancers.
It seems to me that in his interpretation of the Old Javanese taṇḍa as a figure of low status, Acri has been influenced by Pigeaud, whom he quotes several times. Pigeaud (1960Pigeaud ( -1962 seems to be the first scholar who advanced the hypothesis that taṇḍa were low-class, military figures. He based his arguments on a single passage in the Deśawarṇana, a court poem composed in 1365 CE by Mpu Prapañca as a eulogy of Hayam Wuruk, the king of Majapahit (r. 1350-1389CE). In stanza 8.1, Mpu Prapañca depicts taṇḍa, who are assigned 12 Compare the meaning of kubu in classical Malay. 13 In a footnote, Acri (2016:460, n. 18) gives 'personal communication' with Jiří Jákl as his source for this claim.
Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 to guard (kuməmit) the main gate of the inner quarters of the royal palace, denoted purawaktra ('palace-mouth') in the text.14 In his influential edition of the Deśawarṇana, Pigeaud (1962, III:9) translates taṇḍa in stanza 8.1 as 'headmen' , and suggests in his commentary to this passage that Old Javanese taṇḍa denotes a 'petty officer ' (1962, IV:13). Further, Pigeaud draws a correspondence between the taṇḍa depicted in the Deśawarṇana and the office of the 'superintendent of markets' as documented as existing in several cities of Central Java in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries CE.15 Rather forcefully, Pigeaud (1962, IV:13) traces the arguably economic function of the modern tandha market supervisor to the taṇḍa 'headmen' described in the Deśawarṇana: The fact that in Majapahit the taṇḍas mounted guard near the marketplace leads to the supposition that their function already in the 14th century was related to the market and maintaining order.
A supposed market-related function of pre-Islamic taṇḍa, however, is not supported by any other evidence, nor is it attested in Old Javanese epigraphical records. In my view, by denoting taṇḍa as 'petty officer' , and ascribing him a low status, Pigeaud had projected the social standing of the largely ceremonial guardsmen of the modern Yogyakartan and Surakartan courts onto pre-Islamic taṇḍa military personnel, who were active combatants, as we will see in the second part of this article. In fact, Mpu Prapañca says nothing in his text about a presumed commercially administrative aspect of the duty of the taṇḍa. On the other hand, by depicting the taṇḍa as standing guard over the royal palace-the sacral centre of the populous and powerful Majapahit Empire-Mpu Prapañca implies that taṇḍa were part of the permanent royal military establishment.16 Contrary to the views proposed by Pigeaud, and more recently also by Acri, there is very substantial evidence that persons denoted as taṇḍa cannot be identified as low-status soldiers, nor as men whose function was purely in the field of performance or ritual. On the contrary, Old Javanese literary and epigraphical records suggest that taṇḍa were persons of high standing: professional military figures, in most, if not all, cases active combatants, 14 On the structure of purawaktra and its function, and the cultural meanings attached to this gate, see especially Stutterheim 1948:14. 15 Compare Robson and Wibisono (2002:719), who interpret tandha II as '1 official in charge of the market; 2 a military rank' . 16 Robson (1995:29) offers a more balanced interpretation of stanza 8.1, translating the pertinent textual sequence ṅkā toṅwan para taṇḍa tan pəgat aganti kuməmit i karakṣaniṅ purasabhā as: 'Those are the places where the officers constantly take turns at watching over the safety of the court.' jákl Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 and important and powerful men, who were either based directly at the royal court, staying in their own quarters and residences, or who protected and represented their lord's interests outside the (royal) court, and were based in king's fortresses (kuwu) from which the royal power extended directly to rural settlements. Now let me turn to the evidence supporting this claim.

Taṇḍa as Military Figures and Their Function in Pre-Islamic Java
One of the earliest representations of taṇḍa in Old Javanese literature, apart from the passages in the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa that will be analysed in detail below, are to be found in the Ādiparwa, an Old Javanese version of the first book of the Mahābhārata, written in the late tenth century CE (Zoetmulder 1974). Janamejaya, a grandson of Abhimanyu and great-grandson of Arjuna, has organized a 'serpent sacrifice' , a magic ritual to slay Takṣaka, the King of Nāga and his race of serpents. As is well known, the Mahābhārata story is recited during the occasion of this immolation. The Javanese author informs us that just before the onset of the ritual, King Janamejaya and his troops returned from a war campaign (paṅdonan), during which 'they had plundered the country of Takṣila' (huwus maṅalahakən ikaṅ deśa takṣila), because Takṣila refused to obey the rule of the king [Janamejaya] (tan bhaktinya ri haji).17 While giving us an account of a famous epic story, the anonymous author offers an interesting insight into the Javanese royal protocol: maluṅguh ta sireṅ wataṅan pinarək de niṅ taṇḍa mantrinira18 (Seated in the wataṅan pavilion, [the king] was approached there by his taṇḍa and mantri dignitaries.) A number of scholars have argued that the epic Pāṇḍawa brothers were believed to be the mythical ancestors of the Javanese kings, and the author of the Old Javanese Ādiparwa clearly represents Janamejaya as a Javanese king, who holds audiences in the wataṅan pavilion. Taṇḍa and mantri, who had apparently accompanied the king on his military campaign (paṅdonan), are summoned to attend the audience. The term paṅdonan indicates that plunder, war booty, and captives were the main goal of this military opera- tion. Elsewhere in the same text we learn that the king (saṅ prabhu) is 'protected by his taṇḍa and mantri, all of them carrying weapons' (rinakṣa de niṅ taṇḍa mantrī nira makabehan paḍāmawa sarwasañjata). Both taṇḍa and mantri feature in the two passages as military figures who accompany the king during his war campaign; once back in Hastinā, they are assigned to protect and attend to the king.19 Interestingly, this passage also makes a distinction between the elite taṇḍa and mantri, and rank-and-file soldiers, denoted as bala in the text.20 The same status is attached to the royal taṇḍa in the Wirāṭaparwa, an Old Javanese version of the fourth book of the Mahābhārata.21 Denoted 'the lord's taṇḍa' (taṇḍa rakryan), they appear before the king in the audience hall (Juynboll 1912:16). In the Bhāratayuddha, a kakawin composed in 1157CE by Mpu Səḍah and Mpu Panuluh,22 we find in stanza 36.8 a description of taṇḍa 'drawn up' (arəpat) in expectation of battle: the men assemble in Śalya's residence (wīrāyatana) found inside a fortified encampment of the Korawa warriors at Kurukṣetra, alongside the 'people of the court' (wwaṅ i daləm) (Supomo 1993:201). Again, the Javanese author represents taṇḍa as Śalya's elite combatants rather than common soldiers or low-class performers. When we turn our attention to the texts used by Pigeaud and Acri to support their arguments discussed above, we will see that in these texts, too, taṇḍa figure as professional, high-status military figures. In the Sumanasāntaka, apart from the passage in stanza 113.3 analysed by Acri, taṇḍa are mentioned at several other places. In stanza 15.10, 'the taṇḍa and mantri' (para taṇḍa mantri) are summoned to the royal council (höman inarahakǝn) by King Bhoja at the moment he announces his decision to organize a swayambara (marriage by choice) for his sister, Princess Indumatī. In stanza 39.7, Mpu Monaguṇa represents the residence of taṇḍa dignitaries inside the royal court of Bhoja to be comfortable enough to accommodate Prince Aja, one of the suitors of Princess Indumatī. Meeting Aja at the major road (mārga) just in front of the city, King Bhoja personally accompanies his noble guest through the gate of the city, and leads him to the place assigned for his accommodation: umah niṅ taṇḍāgöṅ pinakapasǝnāhe nṛpasuta23 (the residence of the taṇḍa was spacious and had been prepared for the prince).24 19 Ādiparwa 52. 28-34. 20 Ādiparwa 52.34. 21 Wirāṭaparwa 16.11. 22 The text is unique in the corpus of Old Javanese kakawin due to its dual authorship (Zoetmulder 1974 It is difficult to envisage that Prince Aja, personally accompanied to the palace complex by the king, would be housed in a low-class establishment, if taṇḍa would represent low-status soldiers or men making their living by some type of performance. In the Bhomāntaka, in stanza 82.17, the taṇḍa fighting for Kṛṣṇa are depicted riding into battle in chariots, certainly a mark of honour in the world of kakawin court poetry. Taṇḍa are subsumed in this text under the category of 'the king's troops' (wadwā saṅ naranātha); moreover, the anonymous author informs us that all of the taṇḍa 'were experienced at fighting from chariots, and they all moved in formation' (tahwāpraṅ mahawan rathāratha-rathan gatinya ya kabeh), martial skills one would not ascribe to rank-and-file soldiers, performers, or religious figures.25 In my view, one should not underestimate the power and status of elite warriors in ancient Java: with its long-standing tradition of internecine warfare, elite combatants were of crucial importance in deciding military conflicts waged by their lords. Elsewhere in the same text, in stanza 55.8, when the court ladies discuss the possibility that they would be given in marriage to a taṇḍa, the ladies call him rahadyan (gentleman, lord), once again a mark pointing to the high social status of taṇḍa in ancient Java.26 In the Ghaṭotkacāśraya, the taṇḍa are rewarded by being given new courtly attire (dadar) for their military services, which included guarding the royal train during a 'pleasure trip' organized by Kṛṣṇa.27 Again, the text represents taṇḍa as part of the watǝk wwaṅ i dalǝm (court folk); most of them are given either new attire or money to purchase new clothes, as we gather from stanzas 5.2-5. At another place in the Ghațotkacāśraya, the most trusted of the taṇḍa, military figures Robson (2016:95) interprets as 'guardsmen' , are assigned to protect a fortified encampment (kuwu) in which Kṛṣṇa-represented in the the prince' . The Old Javanese term umah means either 'house' or 'home' (Zoetmulder 1982(Zoetmulder :2116, and the translation advanced by Worsley and his colleagues seems to emphasize the 'communal' aspect of the taṇḍa dwelling. There also exists, however, the term kataṇḍan, which is glossed by Zoetmulder (1982Zoetmulder ( :1928 as 'the group of taṇḍas' . It is attested in Tantri Kāmandaka 2.24b. 25 Elsewhere I have argued (Jákl 2015) that battle chariots may well have been used in pre-Islamic Java, if only as vehicles to convey elite warriors-and especially their commanders-to the battlefield, rather than in their capacity of 'shooting platforms' , a function which is commonly ascribed to battle chariots in Sanskrit and Old Javanese literature. 26 This passage in Bhomāntaka 55.8 is one of only two passages known to me in which the use of the word taṇḍa implies a singular (the second case is the metaphorical passage in Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa 24.111 discussed below). It is worth noting that both passages have in common the fact that they are presented as direct speech. 27 Ghaṭotkacāśraya 5.5. Robson (2016:51) renders dadar in this passage as 'presents' . For an interpretation of dadar as 'courtly attire' and for a detailed discussion of this term, see Worsley et al. 2013:197; compare also Jákl 2016:182.
Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 text as a king-stays with his retinue during the 'pleasure trip': sakweh saṅ yaduwaṅśa taṇḍa sakaparcaya pinakapikandǝl akrama (all the Yadu tribe, and the most trusted of the taṇḍa, formed the defensive wall in proper order).28 Hardly identifiable as low-status soldiers or humble performers, the taṇḍa depicted in this passage are represented as seasoned combatants who are trusted to stay in close proximity to the king, in their capacity of his bodyguards, alongside Kṛṣṇa's elite Yadu warriors In my view, by associating the taṇḍa guards with the epic Yadu warriors, Mpu Panuluh has provided an 'epic pedigree' for the Javanese taṇḍa, a category of military figures familiar to pre-Islamic Javanese. Still, in the Ghaṭotkacāśraya, in stanza 48.7, taṇḍa are present at a high-profile meeting between Kṛṣṇa, the Pāṇḍawa brothers and king Matsyapati at the city of King Wirāṭa. Mpu Panuluh informs us that when the major protagonists agree on attacking (dumona) the army of Duryodhana, all the taṇḍa eagerly abide by this decision and prepare themselves for military action (para taṇḍa saṅgraha).
Turning now to the Old Javanese epigraphical record, we encounter taṇḍa in a number of inscriptions listed among the high-ranking figures. In the inscription Tulang Air II (also called Caṇḍi Perot II), issued in 850 CE, a taṇḍa called Maṇḍi is listed second only to Lord (rakryān) Patapān. In the Kañcana inscription, issued in 860 CE, the taṇḍa is named third in a hierarchy headed by the king (śrī mahārāja), and his three highest ministers (mahāmantri). In the Taji inscription, issued in 901 CE, the lord's taṇḍa (taṇḍa rakryan) are among the participants and witnesses at the sīma ceremony that marks the transfer of tax rights from the ruler to the newly established temple. The taṇḍa are involved in festive activities, eating and drinking palm wine, covering themselves with flowers, dancing, joking, and holding boar-fights and cock-fights (Matsuyama 2009). From the twelfth century CE onward-but apparently not before this period-we encounter a category of royal notables denoted as taṇḍa rakryān riṅ pakira-kiran. The term can probably best be rendered as 'lord's men of [military] strategy' . According to Boechari (2012:11), these men formed the second-highest echelon of state officials, preceded in rank only by the three highest dignitaries of the state. The designation taṇḍa rakryān riṅ pakira-kiran is attested in Old Javanese inscriptional record from the Kaḍiri until the late Majapahit period. In the fourteenth century CE, the category is also attested in Old Javanese inscriptions issued in Bali.29 In almost all instances known to me, 28 Ghaṭotkacāśraya 12 the social status of taṇḍa is (relatively) high, and I believe the literary and epigraphic references discussed so far prove that it is not feasible to interpret Old Javanese taṇḍa as low-class soldiers, ritual specialists, or performers, but that we must look for another interpretation that would do justice to our evidence.

Taṇḍa: The King's Men
Who, then, were the men known in Old Javanese texts as taṇḍa? To answer this question, we must start by finally letting go of one well-entrenched view.
Historians and scholars of Javanese literature have been too eager to accept the idea that Javanese pre-Islamic armies were centrally organized structures, with a chain of hierarchical military command and a class of professional, salaried officers, often identified with the Old Javanese term taṇḍa. The matter is more complex and complicated, for Javanese armies and their structures evolved over time: armies were not the same in the ninth century as they were in, say, the twelfth or fifteenth centuries CE. To obtain a better insight into the social standing and function of taṇḍa, I start with the hypothesis advanced by Zoetmulder (1982Zoetmulder ( :1928 that taṇḍa may have originally indicated the men who were 'in charge of a "banner" or company' . There are indeed several references in Old Javanese literature to a unit called sataṇḍa (literally: 'one taṇḍa') that seems to have referred to a military unit headed by a taṇḍa. For example, in the Kṛṣṇāyana, a kakawin composed in the thirteenth century CE by Mpu Triguṇa, the author describes diverse types of war banners and flags seen at the onset of the battle, saying in stanza 48.7 that the battlefield was 'completely filled with armed men, clustered around their banners' (sār sök pǝnuh sañjata niṅ sataṇḍa).30 In pre-modern warfare, flags and banners were symbols of the military units that they represented. Taṇḍa would thus belong to the category of words that derive in one way or another from the terms for banners and flags, so that it would be similar to the well-known term pañji (De Casparis 1975:56). Another meaning of taṇḍa is '[royal] seal' , with the word mostly used in the Old Javanese form tinaṇḍa (with the seal attached).31 Another form, maṅtaņda, the agency of the military commanders (para senāpati), the king's instructions to oversee an establishment of a freehold at Salumbuṅ (Van Stein Callenfels 1926:68). 30 Kṛṣṇāyana 48.7a. The term sañjata in this line refers to warriors, hence my translation 'armed men' , rather than to 'weapons' , the most common meaning of this word in Old Javanese. 31 The passive form tinaṇḍa seems to be known exclusively from the chancery lan-  Casparis (1956:239, n. 166) has noted that '[t]he mataṇḍa probably denotes the man who seals the letters, orders, etc., and probably writes them, too' . I would interpret taṇḍa not specifically as a 'seal' , but rather as an 'emblem'; its meaning would thus be similar to Sanskrit lañcana. Chhabra (1961Chhabra ( -1962, for one, observes that 'such lāñchhanas or heraldic devices are sometimes common to seals, banners, shields-of-arms, crests, etc. of royal houses in India from remote antiquity' . In my view, the war banners under which the tanda served in ancient Java displayed the royal emblem and thus marked, at least originally, the warriors who directly served the king. The source of utmost importance to appreciating the role and status of taṇḍa in pre-Islamic Java is the Padləgan inscription, issued in 1116 CE by King Bhameśwara for the benefit of the hamlets (para duwān) in Padləgan, represented by their heads (rāma). The inscription informs us that benefits and concessions were given to villagers for their military assistance, if they: makatohāṅgajīwitanya mamrih riṅ samarakārya mrasiddha pinakabala rakṣa i śrī maharāja (put their lives at stake in the war campaign, serving as soldiers who protected His Majesty the King).33 Most importantly, we gather from the inscription that one of the major benefits the inhabitants of Padləgan were to enjoy was being freed from the forced conscription of their young men to serve in royal armies: tan katəkana rājawa deniṅ taṇḍa (let no taṇḍa have the right to invade [the hamlets] to carry out a forced conscription) (Brandes 1913:152).
The passage makes it clear that taṇḍa, as active combatants, were in charge of the conscription of peasants, and to no longer be the object of their attentions is represented in this document as a definite privilege. The inscription also suggests that taṇḍa had the right to enter villages as they wished, and it serves as a testimony that in the twelfth century CE peasant levies represented an important part of Javanese armies. Apart from the epigraphical evidence, the Bhomāntaka and Sumanasāntaka indicate that as late as ca. 1200CE, the term taṇḍa designated active combatants and warriors who distinguished themselves in battles. The Bhomāntaka, in particular, clearly represents the category of taṇḍa as consisting of elite, well-trained warriors: in stanza 73.26, taṇḍa are engaged in fights at the border of the lands controlled by the Yādawa guage. For a number of instances of tinaṇḍa found in Old Javanese inscriptions, see Zoetmulder 1982Zoetmulder :1929 Tulang warriors. Elsewhere in the same text, the taṇḍa fighting for Kṣitisuta are represented as seasoned warriors, who can be relied upon for their battle experience: pinakādhikāra para taṇḍa saṅ kṣitisutātiśakti suyaśa34 (Ksitisuta's taṇḍa, strong and famous, were his elite troupes).35 The term suyaśa (famous) in this passage suggests that taṇḍa personnel had already demonstrated their martial skills and military excellence in previous battles. The passage does not represent taṇḍa as members of a class of 'officers' , simply because the category of salaried military commanders was not known in twelfth-century Java.36 Most other passages pertaining to taṇḍa in Old Javanese texts support the view that rather than representing 'officers' or 'military functionaries' , by the Kaḍiri period taṇḍa were (still) seen as active combatants. In the Bhomāntaka, allied kings (watǝk ratu) meet with Kṛṣṇa and his Yadu warriors and pass the orders they have received from Kṛṣṇa to their taṇḍa (taṇḍa nira ya winarah).37 Importantly, allied kings (ratu) rather than Kṛṣṇa himself muster and give orders to the taṇḍa, for in ancient Java each king or queen (ratu) would have had his or her own following of taṇḍa, who would be in command of their own small groups of troops. This seems to have been the main way that large Javanese armies were raised prior to war campaigns: regional lords relied on their personal entourage of taṇḍa, who, for their own purposes, brought to the field their followers, often bondsmen or slaves. In another passage in the Bhomāntaka, the taṇḍa assembled at the court of Kṛṣṇa are evaluated according to their martial performance, demonstrated in view of other men in simulated combats. Two passages in stanzas 81.26 and 81.28 suggest that superior skills could have secured monetary gifts or a share of war captives in the war campaign for a taṇḍa; alternatively, they would be entrusted with the supervision of a fortress (kuwu): taṇḍa niraṅ watǝk ratu paḍātihaṅ asira-siran ghūrṇita tan pasaṅkya karǝṅö tabǝ-tabǝhan ikā len ta saṅ asrameṅ lǝbuh aḍeṅ hulun ika sabatǝk ri hyun ikā n katiṅhalana kapwa mawuwuh adǝmak38 34 Bhomāntaka 85.8d. Old Javanese text taken from Teeuw and Robson 2005:466. 35 I am grateful to my anonymous reviewers for their suggestion of how to interpret this passage. 36 It is, nevertheless, entirely possible that by the twelfth century CE, if not earlier, the highest level of military commanders of Javanese armies, the men we would probably call 'generals' , were salaried noblemen. Such financial arrangement was fully in place by the fourteenth century CE, as we gather from the Nawanatya (Pigeaud 1960(Pigeaud -1962 (And there was a multitude of taṇḍa there, engaged in combat, highly attentive; Though assailed by many, they held on bravely, in the hope of securing slaves or a fortress.) The context of this passage suggests that taṇḍa were reviewed during the occasion of a pre-battle spectacle, which included a ritual of oath-taking, as well as a drill of armed forces in simulated fights (śrama). These activities culminated in festive communal eating and drinking.40 Such spectacles had a very practical purpose for the taṇḍa: it is clear that they strove to demonstrate their martial skills in order to increase their military value, making an impression upon the king, who was supervising the event.41 The passage depicts taṇḍa in a competitive display of martial prowess, vying with one another. Contextualizing the available evidence, I offer the hypothesis that the term taṇḍa originally designated a warrior who had proven himself in battle and received a 'mark of honour' (taṇḍa) in the form of an ensign that marked him as a military professional serving his lord, usually a king (ratu). Restricted use of the term taṇḍa, invariably associated in kakawin with the military establishment of the royal court, would suggest that in Old Javanese literature the taṇḍa were conceptualized specifically as the 'king's men' , though local lords (rakryan), too, probably had their own professional taṇḍa to serve in their armies; the designation taṇḍa rakryan used in the Taji inscription discussed above may refer to taṇḍa serving local lords. It seems to me that taṇḍa rakryān i pakira-kiran originally repres-39 Bhomāntaka 81.28ab. Old Javanese text taken from Teeuw and Robson 2005:440. 40 For oath-taking rituals, and festive drinking in the context of warfare, see Charney 2004. 41 The motif of pre-battle spectacle undoubtedly represents one of the most interesting examples of the localization and contextualization of originally Indic literary themes in kakawin poetry (Jákl 2015 ented an institution of 'warlords' in service to the king, who were in charge of military expansion and territorial consolidation. In the Kaḍiri period, taṇḍa established themselves as a powerful category at Javanese royal and princely courts, and alongside their military careers they assumed important administrative functions in the government. Though in most passages analysed so far the taṇḍa do not engage in any kind of theatrical or musical performance, it cannot be denied that military signalling and martial/festive music were important tasks ascribed to taṇḍa in Old Javanese literature, as suggested by Acri in several of his contributions. Already in the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa, taṇḍa are associated with the paḍahi drums. In stanza 26.7, the anonymous author describes a festive welcome given in Ayodhyā to Rāma and Sītā, who approach the city in the airborne Puṣpaka vehicle. Numerous drums are sounded, 'like the paḍahi used to mark time for the taṇḍa rakryān to celebrate the month of Māgha' (kadi paḍahi paḍeṅḍeṅ taṇḍa rakryan mamāgha).42 In his work on the music of pre-Islamic Java, Kunst (1968:40) has suggested that Old Javanese paḍahi were most probably kettledrums, demonstrating persuasively that drums were dominant in the Central Javanese period, and remained important until the twelfth or thirteenth century CE. Thereafter, metal gongs became increasingly common, finally dominating drums in the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries CE.43 Kettledrums have a very long tradition in Southeast Asia, going back to the ceremonial use of bronze kettledrums by the Dongson notables (Bernet Kempers 1988). The ceremonial use of drums by taṇḍa seems to be implied in Sumanasāntaka 19.4: upon receiving the orders issued by King Bhoja that his sister, Princess Indumatī, would be married by swayambara, the taṇḍa 'make a noise like the thunder day and night, rumbling all together, answering each other in turn from all sides of the compass' (soresuk gumǝrǝh makakrǝtug abaṇḍuṅ asahuran aganti lor kidul). 'Drumming up' the people for Indumatī's wedding, the taṇḍa clearly participate in the 'spectacle of state' , which in ancient Java also included military reviews, parades, and royal audiences. 42 Old Javanese text taken from Van der Molen 2015:601. 43 See also Kunst 1973 for the decreased popularity of drums and the increased popularity of gongs in modern Java. In the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa and the Arjunawiwāha, two of the earliest kakawin known to us, various types of drums are the foremost musical instruments used in military signalling. The Old Javanese term goṅ only seems to be documented for the first time around 1200 CE, when it is attested in Sumanasāntaka 146.14. The sounding summons the peasant levy and drives them to join the army in the field. Flat gongs, however, figure among trade items shipped from China to Sumatra much earlier, namely from the tenth century CE onwards (Nicolas 2011:360 In sum, for the period between the ninth and thirteenth centuries CE, taṇḍa are best interpreted as active warriors in the service of the king or other lords, who stayed either permanently at the court or were stationed in fortresses in different parts of the realm, where they served as a tool of military expansion. Rather than representing 'officers' , taṇḍa were elite combatants who were in charge of their own followers, the men denoted as hulun sabatǝk (pack of followers) in Bhomāntaka 81.26.44 The power and status of the taṇḍa may have decreased after 1222CE, when the Kaḍiri kingdom became integrated into the Singhasari state; their diminished status and power is clearly reflected in sources from the fourteenth century CE, which we shall discuss in some detail. For the study of the function and status of taṇḍa in the fourteenth century CE we have the immensely valuable testimony of Mpu Prapañca, in the Deśawarṇana. The men denoted as taṇḍa, mentioned in several places in the text, figure among the military troops of Majapahit, where they represented an important part of the royal establishment of a standing, professional army. Some of these men, as we have seen above, were assigned to guard the major gate leading to the inner quarters of the royal palace. In stanza 9.2, Mpu Prapañca depicts the taṇḍa and indicates their status relative to other military figures assigned to guard the royal palace: nāhan tāḍinya muṅgw iṅ wataṅan alun-alun tan/ pgat lot maganti taṇḍa mwaṅ gusti wadwā haji muwah ikaṅ amwaṅ tuhan/ riṅ yawābāp mukyaṅ muṅgwiṅ wijil/ pi kalih aḍika bhayaṅkāryyapintāpupul/ sök45 (These are the main [troops] posted in the wataṅan pavilion in the square, constantly taking turns: Taṇḍa and gusti, the king's troops, as well as bonded troops, who are posted outside in great numbers. The elite [troops] are stationed at the Second Gate: the eminent Bhayaṅkāri, who guard the gate with an iron fist.) In the first line of this stanza, the taṇḍa are closely associated with the protection of the wataṅan pavilion. Interestingly, the same function is assigned to them in the passage in the Ādiparwa discussed in some detail above. In the Old Javanese version of the first book of the Mahābhārata, taṇḍa are also posted at 44 Teeuw and Robson (2005:441) translate hulun in this passage as 'slaves' . For the discussion of slavery/bondage and their various forms in pre-Islamic Java, see Jákl 2017. 45 Deśawarṇana 9.2abc. Old Javanese text taken from Pigeaud 1960, I:8. jákl Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 the wataṅan pavilion, protecting the epic king Janamejaya. The Old Javanese Ādiparwa was written in the late tenth century CE, while the Deśawarṇana was composed or finalized in 1365CE, so that there is a gap of almost four hundred years between the two texts: the function of the Javanese taṇḍa to protect the king-being stationed at the wataṅan pavilion, which seems to have served as an audience hall and a place for state officials to meet-was clearly a longstanding duty of this category of military persons. Zoetmulder (1982Zoetmulder ( :2222 has conveniently summarized what we know about the wataṅan pavilion from its numerous descriptions in Old and Middle Javanese literature: it appears that wataŋan is the place where the king gives audience. Emerging from the pura (jro, kaḍatwan) he takes his place there. From AgP it seems that it is a building of wood. But the courtyard is certainly also meant; it has sand, gates; a wrestling match is held there; in the centre is a maṇḍapa. It is possible that sthāna wataŋan (Udy; BY; AbhW) and bwat wataŋan (KY) indicate the building in the middle (cf AWj 3.3: bwat mantěn […] muŋgw i těŋah iŋ wataŋan), which has given its name to the whole area.
It seems, then, that the major function of the Old Javanese wataṅan complex was to serve as a place to hold audiences. I can add one interesting detail. The earliest description of the wataṅan complex is found in the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa. In stanza 12.51 we learn that wataṅan atiśayeṅ lwā yeka kāṅkən samudra sahana niraṅ anaṅkil ṅkā ri heṅ yan parāryan kadi ta ya kalib iṅ lwah yan paṅāmbəg katambak46 (The wataṅan complex was very broad indeed, like an ocean; All those attending the audience and who were waiting outside Were like flooding rivers that had stopped flowing and been dammed.)47 46 Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa 12.57acd. Old Javanese text taken from Van der Molen 2015:267. 47 The phrase 'rivers […] dammed' (lwah […] katambak) represents, in my view, an allusion to the physical layout, or architectural structure, of the (walled?) wataṅan complex; in stanza 18.37 we learn that Aṅgada, the son of Bālī, who comes to discuss with Rāwaṇa the conditions of surrender and peace, enters the wataṅan 'by way of the tambak' (mahawan ta tambak masuk). Robson (2015:441), for one, translates this passage as: '[Aṅgada] arrived by the way of the causeway' , which is certainly a possible interpretation of tambak in this context. From stanzas 12.58-64 we learn that the men who pour into the wataṅan complex are Rāwaṇa's warriors, who bring the booty they plundered in Indra's heaven. The wataṅan is thus represented as a 'collection point' where tribute, plunder, and gifts flow in like rivers flow into the ocean. In stanza 12.64, Rāwaṇa enters the wataṅan and sits on the bejewelled throne, from where he inspects his warriors and the men who bring in the booty. We will come back to this scene in the next section. In the Deśawarṇana, the taṇḍa are classed, along with the gusti, as 'the king's troops' (wadwā haji), military personnel who, posted at the wataṅan pavilion, rotate in guarding the outer gate leading to the inner quarters of the royal palace. However, the most prestigious place to stand guard, the inner gate of the palace complex (the 'Second Gate'), is protected by the Bhayaṅkāri, the elite troops who act as the personal bodyguards of Hayam Wuruk and his family, and whose function and social status is welldocumented. It seems that by the Majapahit period the elite Bhayaṅkāri had resumed the most honoured duty to guard the inner apartments of the king and the main gate leading to them, while the military status of the taṇḍa, though still relatively high, had been lowered. The Bhayaṅkāri seem to have been the most loyal troops associated with the rise of the Siṅhasari-Majapahit dynasty to power. Yet, elsewhere in the Deśawarṇana, the taṇḍa are listed among the categories of court people who accompany Hayam Wuruk in 1359CE on his royal tour to Lumajaṅ: 'mantrī and taṇḍa from the whole of Majapahit' (mantrī taṇḍa sa-wilwatikta).48 Significantly, they take second place, their importance only one step below that of the king and princes of Java and their wives, who are mentioned in the same stanza.49 Another interesting passage in the Deśawarṇana, stanza 85.1, gives us further information about the status and function of taṇḍa in the fourteenth century CE: taṅgal niṅ cetra tekaṅ balagaṇa mapuluṅ rahyā (130a)

Kumbhakarṇa's Speech: Predatory Warfare in Ancient Mataram
One of the most intriguing passages in which we encounter taṇḍa, and which has led several scholars to interpret this category as low-class figures, is found in Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa 24.112. The stanza is part of a long and beautiful description of revitalized Laṅkā and its animal inhabitants, who experience a life in renewed harmony after the defeat of Rāwaṇa and his rākṣasa soldiers. In 1931, Walter Aichele published his study on the meaning of selected names of Javanese occupations, arguing that parts of book chapters 24 and 25 can be read as allegorical descriptions of historical events that marked Javanese politics in the period of ancient Javanese Mataram (Aichele 1931).52 Since then, a number of scholars have followed this fruitful approach. In stanza 24.112, the anonymous author of the text associates the figure of an enigmatic kuwoṅ bird with the character called taṇḍa and at the same time with the figure of the widu mawayaṅ. This identification is presented by the literary character of a jalak bird (starling), in its critique of the kuwoṅ bird: 51 Arjunawijaya 3.4b. 52 See also Damais 1970. Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019)  (The disposition of the kuwoṅ over there is to concentrate his thoughts, for his aim is to kill! You, the taṇḍa! You have a miserable stronghold, a fortress in a hole! You are a wretch, kuwoṅ! Homeless, unloved, acting like a wayaṅ-performing widu, endowed with magical powers!) In the second line, the kuwoṅ bird is thus allegorically identified as a taṇḍa, who is depicted in a derogatory way as a person who lives in a 'hole' (kuwuṅ) instead of being in charge of a fortress (akuṭa). The third line informs us that the kuwoṅ leads a life of an unsettled, perambulatory storyteller (widu mawayaṅ),54 who is said to be endowed with magical powers. Though scholars have rendered this line in different ways, the intended association of the character in question with low status, and with the miserable place in which he has to live, is very clear. Acri (2011:62), for one, translates the second line of stanza 24.112 as follows: 'You are a taṇḍa! You have a very mean "palace", living in holes in the ground! You are stained, kuvoṅ!' Robson (2015:662) translates the same line as: 'You taṇḍang! You low creature! With a fort and with a hollow as lodging, you vile kuwong!'55 It is this satirical passage that has led several scholars to claim that the status of taṇḍa-whoever is denoted by this term-must be low. Aichele (1969:133) has rendered the taṇḍa in this passage as a 'Landstreicher' (vagabond), which is indeed an apt designation for a figure-allegorically represented as a perambulatory kuwoṅ bird-wandering without a permanent place to stay. How, then, does the image of the humble, wretched taṇḍa (depicted in stanza 24.112) fit with our finding that the taṇḍa were high-status warriors, military chiefs, and figures of the royal administrative hierarchy? As I see it, the literary image in stanza 24.112 is consciously distorted through a parody: the author of the 53 Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa 24.112bcd. Old Javanese text taken from Van der Molen 2015:542. 54 The figure of the widu mawayaṅ has been interpreted by several scholars as a dalang, a performer of shadow theatre (Santoso 1980;Robson 2015). However, I would be very cautious about specifically identifying it as such. Acri (2014:62) translates widu mawayaṅ more carefully as 'vagabond performer, a wayang-player' . 55 Robson 2015 Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa meant to criticize the high-ranking taṇḍa military chiefs of Rāwaṇa, the same men who figure prominently in stanza 22.35. Aichele (1969), Acri (2011), and Robson (2015) disregard the passage in stanza 22.35 in their discussion of the figure of the taṇḍa. Yet, stanza 22.35 helps us to identify this figure and its role in the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa. As we will see below, the correspondences are actually complex and go beyond the figure of the taṇḍa. The taṇḍa of Rāwaṇa are depicted in Kumbhakarṇa's speech as immoral, unscrupulous, and conspicuously powerful men, who misuse the support of their lord for their own material gains. It is difficult to consider these greedy taṇḍa as low-status dignitaries invested with only limited power, that is, as the humble 'doorkeepers' or market attendants envisaged by Pigeaud (1962, IV:13) in his reading of the Deśawarṇana. Quite the contrary, Kumbhakarṇa depicts the taṇḍa of Rāwaṇa's court as powerful military figures who busy themselves with raids and wars (pati praṅ-praṅi), pillaging the country, and extorting money from merchants (saṅ śreṣṭi). In his fiery and conspicuously open speech-badly received by his older brother-the giant Kumbhakarṇa identifies the taṇḍa as the source of Rāwaṇa's problems, and their misconduct as the reason of his ultimate defeat in the war against Rāma. Representing high-status court figures, the men with whom Rāwaṇa spends his days drinking and carousing-the taṇḍa-are subjected to a harsh moral and social critique. In my view, the institution of the taṇḍa can be criticized in the text because Rāma, an arch enemy of Rāwaṇa, does not have any corresponding taṇḍa in his army, which is composed mostly of Sugrīwa's simian soldiery. Only in stanza 26.22a, the taṇḍa serving to Bharaṭa, Rāma's brother, are introduced for the first time, when they welcome Rāma back in Ayodhyā. These men, however, took no part in the war against Rāwaṇa, for they are serving to Bharaṭa, whose troops were not engaged in this war. Importantly, they seem to ride on elephants and horses, certainly a sign of their high status, and Robson (2015:760), for one, has translated the phrase taṇḍa rakryan as 'officers and nobles' , as we have seen above. Viewed from this perspective, it is now easier to understand the links drawn between the taṇḍa and the figure of the kuwoṅ bird in stanza 24.112 of the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa. The famous Aśoka grove suffered serious damage at the jákl Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 four limbs of Hanumān, as we gather from stanzas 8.214-215, and it was completely devastated in the final stage of the attack on Laṅkā, as we learn in stanzas 23.34-35. In stanza 24.112, however, the author represents a magically revitalized Aśoka grove, which represents, at least symbolically, the centre of a revitalized kingdom, where law and order prevail. A number of scholars have argued that the birds and animals introduced in this passage are depicted as living in renewed harmony in the nearly paradisiacal conditions of a revitalized Laṅkā, where the former rākṣasa demons seem to thrive. The poet describes Rāwaṇa's previously terrible rākṣasa warriors, who have now been miraculously transformed into virtuous characters, as already noted by Hooykaas (1958:265): After the restoration of Dharma, however, our rākṣasas become saints by putting an end to their vexations and preferring the company of virtuous men […]. Animals which normally pray upon each other now live peacefully side by side, thoroughly enjoying the fortunate opportunities bestowed upon them; they only tease one another.
However, the teasing detected by Hooykaas has a deadly point, as we have seen above: the figure of the kuwoṅ bird is revealed to be a warrior, a taṇḍa who is 'willing to kill' , and a faithful servant of the now-dead Rāwaṇa, one of the men whom Kumbhakarṇa censured in his speech as a 'menace to the world' .60 The allegorical associations between the taṇḍa military personnel and the kuwoṅ bird are complex, as recognized by Acri, and some of them are probably lost on us. There is not only the shared participation in music and acting performances, as observed by Acri (2011:71), but also, and most importantly, a predatory character that is shared by the two figures: while the kuwoṅ bird is characterized in a number of Old Javanese texts by its carnivorous diet (see above: 'his task is to kill!'), the taṇḍa, a warrior by profession, is clearly a human 'killer' , who is cruel and unforgiving, as we learn in stanza 22.35, quoted above. It seems to me that after the loss of Laṅkā, a daring taṇḍa seems to plan to establish a new stronghold (kuwu) as a base from which to wage war against the newly appointed ruler of Laṅkā.
To summarize this exploration of the character of the taṇḍa in the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa, we can conclude that the taṇḍa is not a man of low status, as Pigeaud and Acri have surmised. He nevertheless makes two contrasting appearances in this kakawin, calculated to achieve both mockery and a social Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde 175 (2019) 309-339 critique. As military personnel serving to Rāwaṇa, taṇḍa are depicted in stanzas 22.35-36 as rākṣasa warlords, lusting for gold and booty, still in full power, well-nested in the stronghold of Laṅkā. On the contrary, in stanza 24.112, the figure of the taṇḍa (allegorically associated with the kuwoṅ bird) is represented as a wandering, lord-less warrior, a former warlord, who is cherishing the hope of establishing a new stronghold from which to launch predatory raids. The social, and presumably political situation of Rāwaṇa's former taṇḍa military personnel has changed: now they are doomed to live as scared individuals in hiding, wandering in the paradise of Laṅkā.

Conclusion
This article has discussed in detail the category of men denoted as taṇḍa, which is widely attested in Old Javanese literature, especially in kakawin. Invariably, taṇḍa are associated with the court milieu and typically figure in a military context. They are also mentioned in Old and Middle Javanese prose texts and have been documented in Old Javanese epigraphical records, too. The function and social status of the Old Javanese taṇḍa have been the subject of substantial scholarly attention, and most scholars have suggested that the term taṇḍa indicates court officials and/or military commanders, and is often interpreted as 'officers' . Even though Zoetmulder (1982Zoetmulder ( :1928 has rightly noted that the term does not always point to a military rank, in most instances taṇḍa are found in a military context where they enjoy high status. Yet, several scholars have argued that taṇḍa were low-status figures and represented either rank-and-file soldiers, or functionaries and performers. In this article, 24 Old Javanese passages in which taṇḍa feature have been analysed, apart from epigraphical evidence. In sixteen passages, taṇḍa are represented as military figures of high status;61 in four passages, they are depicted as figures of high status, but their military function cannot be ascertained from the text. clusions to be drawn.64 All in all, in 20 out of 24 passages analysed in this study, taṇḍa are represented as figures of high social status, and in 19 out of 24 passages they are depicted as military figures. A hypothesis has been offered that between the ninth and thirteenth centuries CE, taṇḍa were not 'officers' , but rather active warriors in the service of the king or another lord, who stayed either at the court or were stationed in fortresses owned by the king or lesser lords in different parts of the realm. Taṇḍa seem to have been in charge of their own followers, the men denoted as hulun sabatǝk in Bhomāntaka 81.26. Old Javanese epigraphical evidence, too, suggests that the taṇḍa were figures of relatively high status, though their military function is only rarely apparent in epigraphical records. An important document is the inscription issued in 1116 CE by King Bhameśwara for the benefit of the hamlets in Padləgan; from this inscription we gather that the taṇḍa were in charge of forced conscription and that to be freed from their attention seems to have been a privilege in ancient Java. From the twelfth century CE onward-but apparently not before this period-we encounter a category of royal notables denoted as taṇḍa rakryān riṅ pakira-kiran. This phrase can probably best be rendered as 'lord's men of [military] strategy' . These men formed the secondhighest echelon of state officials, preceded in rank only by the three highest dignitaries of the state. It is unclear if these men were active combatants or, rather, salaried officers. The designation taṇḍa rakryān riṅ pakira-kiran is attested in Old Javanese inscriptional record until the late Majapahit period. It seems that in the fourteenth century CE the importance of the category of taṇḍa diminished, though at least some of the men were still active combatants.