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Etymology

The origins of the name "Java" are not clear. The island could possibly have been named after the jáwa-wut plant, which was said to be common in the island during the time, and that prior to Indianization the island had different names. There are other possible sources: the word jaú and its variations mean "beyond" or "distant". And, in Sanskrit yava means barley, a plant for which the island was famous. "Yavadvipa" is mentioned in India 's earliest epic, the Ramayana. Sugriva, the chief of Rama 's army, dispatched his men to Yavadvipa, the island of Java, in search of Sita. It was hence referred to in India by the Sanskrit name "yāvaka dvīpa" (dvīpa = island). Java is mentioned in the ancient Tamil text Manimekalai by Chithalai Chathanar which states that Java had a kingdom with a capital called Nagapuram. Another source states that the word "Java" is derived from a Proto-Austronesian root word, meaning "home". The great island of Iabadiu or Jabadiu was mentioned in Ptolemy 's Geographia composed around 150 CE in the Roman Empire. Iabadiu is said to mean "barley island", to be rich in gold, and have a silver town called Argyra at the west end. The name indicates Java and seems to be derived from the Sanskrit name Java-dvipa (Yavadvipa).

The annual news of Songshu and Liangshu (5th century CE) referred to Java as 闍婆 (She-pó or She-bó), He-ling (640–818), then called it She-po again until the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), where they began mentioning 爪哇 (Zhao-Wa or Chao-Wa). According to Ma Huan 's book (the Yingya Shenlan), the Chinese called Java Chao-Wa, and the island was called She-po in the past. Sulaiman al-Tajir al-Sirafi mentioned two notable islands which separated Arabia and China: One is the 800 farsakh long Al-Rami, which is identified as Sumatra, and the other is Zabaj (Arabic: الزابج, Indonesian: Sabak), 400 farsakh in length, identified as Java. When John of Marignolli returned from China to Avignon, he stayed at the Kingdom of Saba for a few months, which he said had many elephants and was led by a queen; Saba may be his interpretation of She-bó. Afanasij Nikitin, a merchant from Tver (in Russia), traveled to India in 1466 and described the land of java, which he called шабайте (shabait/šabajte).