Editing Java (section)

=== After the arrival of modern humans ===
[[File:Sumbing, Java.jpg|thumb|[[Mount Sumbing]] surrounded by rice fields. Java's volcanic topography and rich agricultural lands are the fundamental factors in its history.]]
The island's exceptional fertility and rainfall allowed the development of wet-field rice cultivation, which required sophisticated levels of cooperation between villages. Out of these village alliances, small kingdoms developed. The chain of volcanic mountains and associated highlands running the length of Java kept its interior regions and peoples separate and relatively isolated.<ref>Ricklefs (1991), pp. 16–17.</ref> Before the advent of Islamic states and European colonialism, the rivers provided the main means of communication, although Java's many rivers are mostly short. Only the [[Brantas River|Brantas river]] and Solo river could provide long-distance communication and this way their valleys supported the centers of major kingdoms. A system of roads, permanent bridges, and toll gates is thought to have been established in Java by at least the mid-17th century. Local powers could disrupt the routes as could the wet season and road use was highly dependent on constant maintenance. Consequently, communication between Java's population was difficult.<ref name="RICKLEFS_p15" />

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| footer      = Standing warrior bronze figures, Java, {{circa}} 500 BC – 300 AD
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The emergence of civilization on the island of Java is often associated with the arrival of [[Aji Saka]] in 78 AD. Although Aji Saka is said to be the bearer of civilization on Java, the story received several objections and rebuttals from other historical sources. Valmiki's [[Ramayana]], made around 500 BC, records that Java already had a governmental organization long before the story:<blockquote>"Yawadwipa is decorated with seven kingdoms, gold and silver islands, rich in gold mines, and there is Cicira (cold) Mountain that touches the sky with its peak."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sastropajitno |first=Warsito |title=Rekonstruksi Sedjarah Indonesia. Zaman Hindu, Yavadvipa, Srivijaya, Sailendra |date=1958 |publisher=PT. Pertjetakan Republik Indonesia |location=Yogyakarta}}</ref>{{Rp|page=6}}</blockquote>

The Greek geographer [[Ptolemy]] called the island Iabadius or Sabadius ({{langx|grc|Ιαβαδίου or Σαβαδίου}}).<ref>{{cite book |title=Archaeology: Indonesian Perspective : R. P. Soejono's Festschrift |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSFfD0dpdS4C |publisher=Jakarta : Indonesian Institute of Sciences, : International Center for Prehistoric and Austronesian Studies |date=2006 |page=407 |isbn=9792624996}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNgUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA237|title=Modern Times|first=H.|last=Kahler|date=December 31, 1981|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=9004061967 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Ptolemy said that the name meant the "Island of Barley" and produced a lot of grain and gold, adding that its metropolis was Argyre (Ἀργυρῆ)<ref>[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_Greek_and_Roman_Geography/Iabadius Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Iabadius]</ref> meaning silver in Greek.<ref>[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tamils_Eighteen_Hundred_Years_Ago/Chapter_2 The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago/Chapter 2]</ref>

According to Chinese record ''[[History of Ming|Míng Shǐ]]'', the Javanese kingdom was founded in 65 BC, or 143 years before the story of Aji Saka began.<ref>Groeneveldt, Willem Pieter (1876). "[https://archive.org/details/notes-on-the-malay-archipelago/page/n7/mode/2up?q= Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca, Compiled from Chinese Sources]". Batavia: W. Bruining.</ref>{{Rp|page=39}}

The story of Aji Saka is a Neo Javanese story. This story has not yet been found to be relevant in the Old Javanese text. This story tells of events in the Medang Kamulan kingdom in Java in the past. At that time, the king of Medang Kamulan Prabu Dewata Cengkar was replaced by Aji Saka. This story is considered as an allegory of the entry of Indians into Java. Referring to the [[Liang dynasty]] information, the Javanese kingdom was divided into two: the pre-Hinduism kingdom and the post-Hindu kingdom, which began in 78 AD.<ref name=":12"/>{{Rp||page=5 and 7}}