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Sanskrit Legacy, The National Armed Forces, and Modern Political Culture of Indonesia
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Sanskrit Legacy, The National Armed Forces, and Modern Political Culture of Indonesia
Annotation
PII
S086919080024351-3-1
DOI
10.31857/S086919080024351-3
Publication type
Article
Status
Published
Authors
Anton Zakharov 
ORCID: 0000-0002-3654-9551
Occupation: Leading Research Fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Affiliation: Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Edition
Issue 2
Pages
205-214
Abstract

Despite seventy years of studying, the functioning of Sanskrit and Old Javanese loanwords in modern Indonesian remain understudied. There are a lot of Sanskrit loans in various spheres of modern Indonesian. Many Indonesian military units have Sanskrit names. There are famous Sanskrit loans for Indonesian official ideology Pancasila and for the Indonesian national emblem Garuda Pancasila. Many Indonesian orders, decorations and medals also have Sanskrit names, for example, the military orders Bintang Sakti, or the Sacred Star, and Bintang Dharma, or the Army Distinguished Service Star, instituted in 1958. The word for medal in Indonesian is satyalancana which is a Sanskrit loan compound. Military regional commands may have names of ancient polities or kings which are of Sanskrit origin. Perhaps, the most noteworthy examples are Military Regional Command II Sriwijaya in South Sumatra and Military Regional Command VI Mulawarman in Kalimantan/Borneo. Sriwijaya was a powerful Old Malay kingdom in the seventh–thirteenth centuries; its name means ‘Great or Glorious Victory’ in Sanskrit. Mulawarman was a ruler of an East Kalimantan kingdom in the area of modern Kutai in the fifth century. The paper examines the usage of Sanskrit loans in the National Armed Forces of Indonesia and in the Indonesian award system. Multiple examples of Sanskrit loans in these fields may reflect an emphasis of ancient common cultural heritage in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. At the same time, there is a flexible naming practice which is not restricted by Sanskrit loans. These words are used frequently but not exclusively.

Keywords
Sanskrit, loanwords, Indonesian, Old Javanese, National Armed Forces of Indonesia, political culture
Received
20.04.2023
Date of publication
26.04.2023
Number of purchasers
14
Views
285
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1

Introduction

Since 1952 when Jan Gonda [Gonda, 1998] published his seminal Sanskrit in Indonesia for the first time, the Indonesian nation has changed drastically. Indonesia’s economy had a sustainable 5 per cent a year growth till the COVID-19 pandemic took place in 2020. Indonesia undertook a serious democratization after the fall of the New Order regime in 1998. The Indonesian population now is over 275 million peoples. Indonesian turned a very rich and flexible language to grasp new institutions and ideas. International scholarship focuses on political trends [Maurer, 2021] and social problems of Indonesia as well as on the problems of genocide in the late 1960s [Cribb, 1990; Kammen & McGregor, 2012] or the history of Indonesian military [Crouch, 2007; Daves, 2013a–b; 2014; Conboy, 2003]. But one aspect of modern political culture remains underestimated. I mean Indonesian awards, army units and social institutions vocabulary which is full of Sanskrit and Old Javanese loanwords. The objective of my paper is to show and explain multiple forms of Sanskrit and Old Javanese legacy in modern political culture of Indonesia.
2

Sanskrit and Old Javanese legacy in the National Armed Forces of Indonesia
3 The National Armed Forces of Indonesia (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, TNI) has influenced the country’s development in so many aspects that the history of the Indonesian state is very much a history of its military. During the New Order regime under President General Suharto, the TNI officially possessed the dual function, political and pure military (dwifungsi). Since a democratization of the late 1990s, it lacked supremacy in the Indonesian social order but it still obtains a great power. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the TNI and the National Police of Indonesia did manage to strengthen their positions as the key actors in the domestic policy.
4 Old Javanese legacies can be traced in several spheres of the TNI. First, its military districts and units often have Sanskrit, Old Javanese or Old Malay names. Second, Indonesian war ships and aircrafts also have Old Javanese names. There are such names for military districts as Mulawarman in Kalimantan (Komando Daerah Militer VI/Mulawarman). Mūlavarman was a fifth century king of the Kutai area in South Kalimantan who left seven Sanskrit inscriptions [Vogel, 1918; Chhabra, 1965]. His Sanskrit name means “the defender of roots”, from mūla and -varman. Military area commands in the Kodam VI Mulawarman also have names which were borrowed from Sanskrit through Old Javanese—Aji Surya Natakesuma, Maharajalilla, and Antasari. Aji Suryanata Kesuma was a king of Berau area in East Kalimantan in the early fifteenth century. Suryanata originates from Sanskrit Sūryanātha ‘the Lord of the Sun’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 534, 1243]. Kesuma or kusuma means ‘flower’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 298; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 936]. Maharajalilla probably is Skt. mahārājalīlā ‘a play of a great king’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 903; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1026]. Antasari, perhaps, is from Skt. antaśarīra ‘the inner body, the innermost part of the body’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 85].
5 Komando Daerah Militer III/Siliwangi or Kodam III/Siliwangi is one of the oldest military districts of the TNI established in 1946. It is located in West Java. The district bears the name of a fifteenth century West Java kingdom and of a semi-legendary king Siliwangi. This personage has a strong association with tigers, and the emblem of the Siliwangi dynasty shows this powerful predator. The Kodam III/Siliwangi includes four military area commands (Komando Resor Militer/Korem), two of them bear Sanskrit or Old Javanese names—Korem 061/Surya Kencana and Korem 062/Taruma Nagara. Tarumanagara is the name of a fifth century kingdom in West Java which left several Sanskrit inscriptions in praise of the King Purnawarman (Pūrṇavarman in Sanskrit) [Vogel, 1925].
6 Komando Daerah Militer Jayakarta which previously had the number V, was sanctioned in 1958 and inaugurated in early 1960 [Daves, 2013a, p. 425]. It covers the Greater Jakarta area. Its name is regularly abbreviated as Jaya which means ‘victory’ in Sanskrit [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 412] and Old Javanese [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 735]. The name Jayakarta is jayakartā ‘a victor, or a maker of a victory’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 810, ‘kartā’]. Kodam Jaya’s military area commands1 have the root wijaya, or ‘victory’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 2270; Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 960], in their names—Korem 051 Wijayakarta in Bekasi and Korem 052 Wijayakrama in Tangerang. The meaning of Wiyayakarta is synonymous to Jayakarta. Wijayakrama means ‘course of victory or victorious’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 891, ‘krama’; Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 319]. The combat units of the Kodam Jaya often bear names which include the term jaya: the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade/Jayasakti—‘victorious power’ from jaya+śakti [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1607]; the 201st Mechanized Infantry Battalion/Jaya Yudha—‘weapon of victory’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, passim]; 7th Cavalry Battalion/Pragosa Satya — perhaps, from praghoṣa ‘sound, noise’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 656], and satya ‘faithful, virtuous’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 1135; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1714]; the 9th Cavalry Battalion/Satya Dharma Kala—‘Faithful Service Time’ or, probably, ‘Faithful Scorpions’ as Kala may be both Sanskrit and Old Javanese kāla ‘time’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 277; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 768], and Old Javanese kala ‘scorpion’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 767]2; 3rd Combat Engineers Detachment/Agni Tirta Dharma — ‘Way of Fire and Holy Water’, from Sanskrit agni ‘fire’ + Old Javanese tīrtha ‘(holy) water’ + Sanskrit dharma ‘way, path’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 5, 449 3, 510; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 25, 2019, 367 resp.].
1. The list of military areas and combat units can be found online: Kodam Jayakarta. Wikipedia. >>>> (accessed 18.06.2022).

2. It is worthy of note that the 9th Cavalry Battalion/Satya Dharma Kala is equipped with Scorpion 90 tanks and its variants. It may be a bit symbolical as Scorpions-Kala have Scorpions-tanks.

3. In Sanskrit, the word tīrtha means ‘a bathing-place, place of a pilgrimage, a piece of water, or a channel’ but it has no meaning of ‘water in general’.
7 The Kodam Sriwijaya as well as the air company Sriwijaya Air4 established in 2003, both bear the name of a mighty maritime empire Srivijaya borrowed from Sanskrit Śrīvijaya ‘Great or Glorious Victory’. The kingdom of Srivijaya thrived from the seventh century to, probably, early thirteenth century [Wolters, 1967; 1970] while Roy Jordaan and Brian Colless [Jordaan & Colless, 2009] argue that there were several polities of the same name in the Malay (Indonesian) Archipelago5. Be that as it may, the seventh century Srivijaya left several inscriptions in Sumatra and Bangka [Cœdès, 1930; Casparis, 1956; Boehari, 2012]. The center of the polity was situated in Palembang in that time [Manguin, 2009]. The military district Sriwijaya6 covers the Indonesian provinces of Bengkulu, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bangka-Belitung Islands and Lampung. The center of Kodam is also Palembang. The Kodam Sriwijaya coat-of-arms as well as mascot is Garuda, a mythological bird of prey which was adopted from Hinduism. Garuda may be treated as a heraldic eagle of falcon. Joint American-Indonesian military exercises ‘Garuda Shield’ have taken place since 2007 in Indonesia. The Garuda Shield in 2022 began in Sumatra in early August7. Garuda is a name of the Indonesian contingent of the United Nation peacekeepers since 1956 (Perwita 2007)8 and of a national airlines company established in 1947 9.
4. Official website is >>>> .

5. Later criticisms on the traditional history of Srivijaya see [Kelley, 2022].

6. A reader can check its official website >>>> (accessed 18.06.2022).

7. Super Garuda Shield 2022 Showcases Multinational Partnership and Joint Interoperability. U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Indonesia. 3 August 2022. >>>> (accessed 26.08.2022).

8. Kontingen Garuda. Wikipedia. >>>> (accessed 26.08.2022).

9. Official website of the Garuda Indonesia: >>>> .
8 The anthem of the Air Forces of Indonesia is Swa Bhuwana Paksa which means “Be Wings of your Motherland!”. All words are Sanskrit loans: sva ‘one’s own’, bhuvana ‘world, earth’, and pakṣa ‘wing’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 1275, 760, 73]. There is the Bintang Swa Bhuwana Paksa, or Air Force Meritorious Service Star instituted in 1968.
9

Sanskrit loanwords and the Indonesian State and Education
10 The state ideology of Indonesia is Pancasila, or “Five Principles”. The term is also borrowed from Sanskrit—pañca ‘five’ and śīla ‘principle, moral precept or rule’; moreover, the compound pañcaśīla means ‘five chief rules of conduct for Buddhists’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 577, 575, 1079; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1267]. A head of a region (Daerah) in modern Indonesia is called Bupati which is an obvious Sanskrit loan bhūpati ‘lord of the earth, king, monarch, prince’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 761]. The word for ‘minister’ Menteri is a Sanskrit loan mantrin ‘a king's counsellor, minister’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 786].
11 The Trisakti University10 in Jakarta bears a name of a Sanskrit goddess Triśakti who is “produced by the union of 3 gods for the destruction of Andhaka” [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 460, 458] which turned ‘threefold power; with threefold power, name of a deity’ in Old Javanese [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 2040]. Hence, there is the “Threefold Power University”.
10. >>>> .
12

Sanskrit loanwords and the award system of Indonesia
13

Sanskrit Loans and the Orders of Indonesia
14 Despite strong Islamic background of the Javanese culture, the orders, decorations and medals of Indonesia have names of no Muslim reference. The highest order is the Star of the Republic of Indonesia (Bintang Republik Indonesia). It is followed by the Bintang Mahaputera. The term Mahaputera is a Sanskrit mahāputra ‘a great son or child’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 794, 632; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1079, 1465]. These two orders have five classes whose names are all Sanskrit loanwords. The first class is Adipurna, that is ‘the most complete, the fullest’ from ādi + pūrṇa [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 136, 642]. The second class is Adipradana, literally ‘the first bestowal or gift’ from ādi + pradāna [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 679; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1380]. The third class is Utama < Skt. uttama ‘highest, chief, best, excellent’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 177; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 2153]. The fourth class is Pratama < Skt. prathama ‘first, foremost; preceding’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 678; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1405]. The fifth class is Nararya < Skt. nara + ārya ‘a noble among men’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 152, 528; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1175]. Other orders of Indonesia that have three classes keep the same names for them: Utama, Pratama and Nararya for the first, second, and third classes respectively.
15 There are several Indonesian orders which names are loans from Sanskrit. The Bintang Sakti, or the Sacred Star, was instituted in 1958. The term Sakti is the famous Sanskrit śakti ‘power, strength, energy’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 1044; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1607] which turned also the Javanese word sekti ‘to have magical powers’ [Robson 2002, p. 661]. The military Sacred Star is bestowed for the extraordinary heroic actions made in the military operations with the risk for life. It is among few Indonesian orders which cannot be bestowed for the long service.
16 There is another military order instituted along with the Sacred Star—Bintang Dharma or Darma in current Indonesian spelling. Its name contains the famous Sanskrit word dharma which has so many meanings in Hinduism and Buddhism [Kane, 1968 (1930), p. 1–6; Stcherbatsky, 1923; Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 510]. Old Javanese dharma means ‘the rule of life and conduct; virtue’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 367]. Javanese darma is ‘duty, obligation; service, good deed’ [Robson, 2002, p. 174]. The Bintang Dharma is bestowed for the distinguished service to the top grass of the Indonesian military—three- and four-star generals, admirals, and air marshals.
17 The Bintang Bhayangkara, or National Police Meritorious Service Star, was instituted in 1961 11. Bhayaṅkara means a ‘name of a corps of the royal guards’ in Old Javanese and is a loan from the Sanskrit bhayaṃkara ‘terrible’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 229; Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 747]. Bayangkara is ‘palace guards; police’ in Javanese [Robson, 2002, p. 79].
11. Undang-undang (UU) No. 14 Tahun 1961 Tentang Tanda Kehormatan Bintang Bhayangkara. JDIH BPL RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 14.08.2022).
18 The Indonesian orders of high classes have a breast star which calls patra in Indonesian. Patra is a Sanskrit loan pattra ‘leaf; letter, document’ through Old Javanese and Javanese pattra/patra [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 581; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1326; Robson, 2002, p. 548].
19 There are the two other Indonesian orders with the word Dharma in their names: military Bintang Yudha Dharma, or Grand Meritorious Military Star instituted in 1871, and civil Bintang Budaya Parama Dharma, or Cultural Merit Star instituted in 1980. The term Yudha is borrowed from the Sanskrit yudh ‘war, fight, combat; fighter, warrior’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 855]; yuda means ‘war, battle’ in Javanese [Robson 2002, p. 820]. The Bintang Yudha Dharma is bestowed for extraordinary service and promoting developing TNI. The word paramadharma means ‘highest virtue’ in Old Javanese and consists of two Sanskrit words parama ‘highest, best’ and dharma [Zoetmulder 1982, p. 1281; Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 588]. The Indonesian term budaya ‘culture, civilization’ is a Sanskrit loanword buddhi ‘mind, intellect’ in Plural—buddhayaḥ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 733; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 266].
20 The Indonesian Army has its own Army Meritorious Service Star, or Bintang Kartika Eka Paksi instituted in 1968. Its name is of Sanskrit origin, as well as the name of the Order Bintang Swa Bhuwana Paksa mentioned above. Kartika is a Sanskrit loan kārttika ‘N[ame] of a month corresponding to part of October and November (the twelfth month of the year, when the full moon is near the Pleiades)’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 275]. Kartika means ‘star’ in Javanese [Robson, 2002, p. 337]. The Javanese word Paksi ‘bird’ [Robson, 2002, p. 534] is a Sanskrit loan pakṣi ‘id.’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 574]. Eka means ‘one’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 227; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 463; Robson, 2002, p. 206). Russian lexicographers translate Kartika Eka Paksi as ‘stellar bird’ [Korigodskiy et al., 1990, p. 395].
21 The Indonesian Navy has its own Order, or Bintang Jalasena—Navy Meritorious Service Star instituted in 1968. Jalasena 
22

Sanskrit Loans and Medals of Indonesia
23 There are several current and obsolete Indonesian medals whose names include the term Dharma. The word for medal in Indonesian—satyalancana or satyalencana—consists of two Sanskrit words: satya ‘virtuous, faithful’ and lāñchana ‘sign, mark, token’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 1135, 900]. The Satyalancana Dharma Olahraga, or Medal for Contribution in the Field of Sports, was instituted in 2010. Olahraga means ‘sport’ in Indonesian but it consists of Old Javanese words olah ‘action, conduct’, and rāga ‘body; passion, love’ 
12. Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) No. 33 Tahun 1973 Satyalancana Santi Dharma. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 10.08.2022).
24 The Satyalancana Dharma Samudra, or Medal for 30 years’ good service in the Navy, and the Satyalancana Dharma Dirgantara, or Medal for 30 years’ good service in the Air Force, were instituted in 2010. The word samudra is an obvious Sanskrit loan for ‘the sea, ocean’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 1166]; Samudragupta was the second emperor of the Gupta dynasty in India who reigned in the fourth century CE, issued gold coins and left many inscriptions. Dirgantara is derived from Skt. digantara ‘a quarter of the sky; space, atmosphere’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 480]. Old Javanese took digantara as ‘other countries; all directions, everywhere’ following another Sanskrit meaning of the word [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 401]. However, Javanese keeps dirgantara for ‘the sky’ [Robson, 2002, p. 196].
25 There are two Indonesian medals which call Satyalancana Wira Dharma. The earlier and now obsolete one was instituted in 1964 for the active military service in the confrontation with the newborn Malaysia (Konfrontasi)13. The later Satyalancana Wira Dharma, or Medal for Active Duty in Indonesia's Outer Islands, was instituted in 2010. The word Wira is a Sanskrit loan vīra ‘a brave man, hero’ through Old Javanese wīra ‘id.’ [Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 2289]. The name of medals means “Medal for Heroism”.
13. Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) Nomor 17 Tahun 1964 tentang Satyalancana Wira Dharma. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 16.08.2022).
26 An obsolete Satyalancana Satya Dharma, or West Guinea Military Campaign Medal, was instituted in 1962 for active service in joining West Irian, or Western New Guinea14—the politics launched by Sukarno and his Government in early sixties. The medal name includes both satya ‘virtuous, faithful’ and dharma ‘duty’, so it means “Medal for faithful service”.
14. Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) Nomor 17 Tahun 1962 tentang Satyalancana "Satya Dharma". JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 16.08.2022).
27 There are two campaign medals: Satyalancana Gerakan Operasi Militer VIII “Dharma Phala” and Satyalancana Gerakan Operasi Militer IX “Raksaka Dharma”. These Military Operation Service medals were instituted in 1968 and 1969 respectively15. The Dharma Phala Medal was awarded for suppression of Chinese communist insurgency in Sarawak and other parts of North Borneo/Kalimantan. Its name includes the Sanskrit word phala ‘fruit, reward’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 716; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1239] and means “For the fruits of virtue”. The Raksaka Dharma medal was awarded for the active military service in keeping safety and Indonesian authority in West New Guinea since 1965. The word Raksaka is a Sanskrit loan rakṣaka ‘protector, keeper, guardian’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 859; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1492]. The Medal name means, therefore, “For the guardian of virtue or duty”.
15. Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) No. 19 Tahun 1968 tentang Satyalancana Peristiwa Gerakan Operasi Militer VIII "Dharma Phala". JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 16.08.2022); Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) No. 26 Tahun 1969 tentang Satyalancana Peristiwa Gerakan Operasi Militer IX Yang Selanjutnya Disebut Satyalancana "Raksaka Dharma". JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 16.08.2022).
28 There are several Indonesian medals bearing names with a famous Sanskrit word Bhakti. The oldest one is the Satyalancana Bhakti, or Wounds or Loyalty Medal, instituted in 1958 among a group of military decorations16. The Sanskrit term bhakti means ‘devotion, fondness for, devotion to’ and turns ‘loyalty’ in Old Javanese [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 743; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 193]. The Satyalancana Bhakti is awarded to those Indonesian military and civilians who was wounded participating in military operations. There are a group of police decorations whose names contain the word Bhakti—Satyalancana Karya Bhakti, or Medal for Concrete Work as a Police, Satyalancana Bhakti Pendidikan, or Medal for Police Education, Satyalancana Bhakti Buana, or Medal for Police Duty in International Peacekeeping, Satyalancana Bhakti Nusa, or Medal for Police Duty in Remote Regions, and Satyalancana Bhakti Purna or Medal for 32 Years of Police Service. The first medal—Satyalancana Karya Bhakti—was instituted in 1961 among a group of police decorations17. Karya is a Sanskrit loan kārya ‘work or business to be done, duty, affair’ through Old Javanese [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 276; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 813]. Therefore, the name Satyalancana Karya Bhakti literally means ‘Medal for a faithful service’. Three other medals were instituted in 2010. An Indonesian word Pendidikan means ‘education’. There is an example of mixing Sanskrit and Javanese/Indonesian words to produce names for modern Indonesian decorations. Buana is a Sanskrit loan bhuvana ‘the world, earth’ through Old Javanese [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 760; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 279; Kullanda, 2001, p. 72–75]. Nusa means ‘island’ whereas Purna is a Sanskrit loan pūrṇa ‘full, complete’ which occurs in the name of the Republic of Indonesia Star First Class—Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipurna (see above).
16. Undang-undang (UU) No. 70 Tahun 1958 Penetapan Undang-Undang Darurat No. 2 Tahun 1958 Tentang Tanda-Tanda Penghargaan Untuk Anggota Angkatan Perang (Lembaran-Negara Tahun 1958 No. 41), Sebagai Undang-Undang. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 10.08.2022).

17. Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 204 Tahun 1961 Tanda-Tanda Kehormatan/Penghargaan Kepolisian Negara. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 09.08.2022).
29 The Satyalancana Karya Bhakti Praja Nugraha, or Medal for Improving Regional Governance, was instituted in 2010. Praja is a Sanskrit loan prajā ‘offspring, family, posterity; creature, mankind; people, subjects of a prince’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 658; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1384). Nugraha is a Sanskrit load anugraha ‘favor, kindness, gift, benefit’ through Old Javanese [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 32; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 90]. The Medal name means ‘For the faithful service in favor of the people’.
30 The Satyalancana Wira Karya, or Medal for Providing an Example of Meritorious Personality, instituted in 1962, is among earliest Indonesian civilian decorations18. Its name literally means ‘Medal of a good worker’, as kārya means ‘action, work’ (see above).
18. Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) Nomor 4 Tahun 1962 tentang Pemberian Satyalancana Wira Karya. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 01.09.2022).
31 The Satyalancana Karya Satya, or Civil Servants' Long Service Medal, has a bit complex history. It was first instituted in 1959 in five classes for twenty-five years’ service19. Classes varied according to the posts in the hierarchy. It was changed in 1994 into a three classes award for 10, 20, and 30 years of civil service20. Satyalancana Karya Satya literally means ‘Medal for faithful service’.
19. Peraturan Pemerintah Republik Indonesia Nomor 31 Tahun 1959 Tentang Tanda Kehormatan Satyalancana Karya Satya. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 07.08.2022).

20. Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 25 Tahun 1994 tentang Tanda Kehormatan Satyalancana Karya Satya. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 07.08.2022).
32 The Satyalancana Wira Nusa, or Medal for Active Duty in Indonesia's Outer Islands, was instituted in 2010. Its name is a mixture of the Sanskrit loan Wira/vīra ‘hero’ and Old Javanese nusa ‘island’. Satyalancana Wira Siaga or Medal for Presidential and Vice Presidential Guards Personnel was instituted in 2010 for the Presidential Guards. Its name is a mixture of the Sanskrit loan Wira/vīra ‘hero’ and the Indonesian Siaga ‘standby; ready for something’.
33 The Satyalancana Jana Utama, or Medal for Advancing Police Organization, is instituted in 1961 and awarded for at least eight years’ service in police and promoting its organization21 [Zakharov, 2019, p. 225–227]. The Medal name includes Sanskrit loans jana ‘a man’ and uttama ‘chief, excellent, best’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 410; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 724]. Therefore, it means ‘Medal of the best man’.
21. Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 204 Tahun 1961 Tanda-Tanda Kehormatan/Penghargaan Kepolisian Negara. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 09.08.2022).
34 The Satyalancana Ksatria Bhayangkara, or Medal for Meritorious Policing Duty22 was instituted in 1961 23 [Zakharov, 2021, p. 34–35]. Its name is a combination of the Sanskrit kṣatriya ‘a member of the military order or caste’ which turned an Old Javanese ‘warrior, nobleman’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 325; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 904], and bhayaṃkara ‘terrible’ but in an Old Javanese meaning ‘royal guards’ (see above). Hence, Ksatria Bhayangkara means ‘a noble guardian’.
22. Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 204 Tahun 1961 Tanda-Tanda Kehormatan/Penghargaan Kepolisian Negara. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 09.08.2022).

23. Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 204 Tahun 1961 Tanda-Tanda Kehormatan/Penghargaan Kepolisian Negara. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 09.08.2022).
35 The Satyalancana Ksatria Yudha, or Medal for Active Duty in Military Special Forces, was instituted in 2010. Its name joins two Sanskrit loans kṣatriya and yudh which means ‘a nobleman or hero in battle’.
36 The Satyalancana Dwidya Sistha, or Medal for Service as a Military Instructor, was instituted in 1968 24. Its name is a compound of the two Sanskrit words dvidhā ‘twice’ и śiṣṭa ‘educated, learned, wise; eminent, superior’, which means ‘twice learned or eminent’ [Zakharov, 2021, p. 36–37, n. 14]. The late Professor Alexander Ogloblin supposed that Dwidya Sistha means ‘a learned expert of holy scriptures’ (email to Anton Zakharov from 20.03.2020).
24. Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) No. 17 Tahun 1968 Satyalencana [D]Widya Sistha. JDIH BPK RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 10.08.2022).
37 The Satyalancana Saptamarga, or PRRI Military Campaign Medal, was instituted in 1958 for those military servants who participated in suppression of the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (Pemerintah Revolusioner Republik Indonesia, PRRI) proclaimed in Sumatra in February 1958 25. The term Saptamarga denotes the ethical code of the Indonesian Armed Forces and includes seven rules. The Sanskrit sapta is ‘seven’ and mārga ‘way, road; means, manner, way of life’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 1159, 812; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1681, 1118]. Satyalancana Saptamarga means ‘Medal for the loyalty to Seven Rules [of the Army]’.
25. Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) Nomor 31 Tahun 1958 tentang Satyalancana Saptamarga. JDIH BPL RI Database Peraturan. >>>> (accessed 16.08.2022).
38 The Satyalancana Seroja, or Timor Military Campaign Medal, is up-to-date the latest but obsolete campaign award of Indonesia. It was instituted in 1978 for those Indonesian military and policemen who actively served in East Timor in 1975–1999. The Medal bears a Sanskrit name: saroja means ‘lotus’ [Monier-Williams, 1899, p. 1183; Zoetmulder, 1982, p. 1691], therefore, the decoration may be called the Lotus Medal. Unfortunately, such a name gives no information to the English-speaking audience what is the medal, and where is its origin.
39

Discussion
40 Why Indonesians are so inclined to Sanskrit loanwords? Certainly, Old Javanese and Javanese put their vocabularies in modern Indonesian but Sanskrit loans are popular in official names. Moreover, it seems like a system of Sanskrit loans to grasp legacies of ancient polities and to express symbolical values of current awards.
41 It is worthy of note that Indonesia is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural nation. Despite the prevalence of Javanese, its state and Armed Forces stress their common Indonesian identity. Sanskrit loanwords have no strict connection with obviously Javanese cultural heritage, like the title and name Raden. Sanskrit loans are free of Muslim legacy. They are suitable for all Indonesians due to their antiquity. The names of ancient polities help glorification of modern nation-state and show strong geographical ties with lands of Indonesia. Widespread usage of Sanskrit loans in award names may reflect strong convictions of their usefulness as symbols of all nation and its mighty, glory, and antiquity.
42 At the same time, any example of Sanskrit loanword may reflect its unique choice by the Indonesian Government or the National Army of Indonesia. For example, there is no strict system in naming military districts. They may name of an island (Kodam I Bukit Barisan), of a concept (Kodam XIII Merdeka in North Sulawesi, Merdeka ‘freedom, independence’), of a local hero (Kodam IV Diponegoro in Central Java, Kodam VI Mulawarman in Kalimantan, Kodam XIV Hasanuddin in West, South and Southeast Sulawesi, and Kodam Iskandar Muda in Aceh). The last four cases show three Muslim figures and one non-Muslim ruler, i.e. Mūlavarman of Kutei who ruled in the fifth century in southeast Borneo [Vogel, 1918].
43 Therefore, the system of names is flexible and open to change. There is no strict rule to use Sanskrit loanwords. They are good options when there is a need of well-sounded name but there is no necessity to use them exclusively. Despite many orders’ and medals’ names of Sanskrit origin, there are many decorations with undoubtedly Indonesian names, like the highest order of the state—Bintang Republik Indonesia, the Star of the Republic of Indonesia—and the oldest order—Bintang Gerilya, or the Guerilla Star. While the term Bupati is a Sanskrit loan, the Head of State is President (Presiden) which is an English loanword in Indonesian. The Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, or People’s Representative Council, is a combination of Arabic loanwords.
44

Conclusion
45 The modern Indonesian political and military vocabulary is full of Sanskrit loanwords. They are often used in decorations’ names. There are military units whose names are of Sanskrit origin. It may reflect common ancient legacies of old Javanese and Malay kingdoms which thrived many centuries ago in the Malay (Indonesian) Archipelago. Widespread Sanskrit borrowings may help producing a common Indonesian identity which would be free of communal and religious connections in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation-state. But there is no strict rule of naming various military units and/or decorations. Naming is flexible. It reflects specific cases and is open to various changes due to local traditions and needs. Sanskrit loanwords are very productive in naming of Indonesian awards and decorations but they are but a part of common political vocabulary where there are many terms of different origin.

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