Mulavarman


Mulavarman was a king of Kutai Martadipura Kingdom of the island of Borneo around the year 400 CE. What little is known of him comes from seven inscriptions found at a sanctuary. He is known to have been generous to brahmins through the giving of gifts including thousands of cattle and large amounts of gold.

Reign

He was the grandson of Kundunga, and the son of Asvavarman, according to one of his inscriptions. The sanctuary bears the name of the founder of the dynasty, Vaprakesvara.
The inscriptions of Mulavarman in Brahmi script on "yūpa" sacrificial posts are the earliest known evidence of Indian influence in the Malay World, in the fourth century CE, long before the region was Indianized. The inscriptions of Mulavarman were followed about fifty years later by the inscriptions of another king, Purnavarman, in West Java.
The similarity if the name ending "-varman" with that of the rulers of the Pallava dynasty has been commented upon since discovery.

Inscriptions

The inscriptions of Mulavarman in Brahmi script were found on "yūpa" sacrificial posts.