Attention, dear followers.

Tis a tale of a brave people
From a time far past
In a long gone world

I'm not yet such a whizz with IT and stuff. So I'm using this particular blogsite as a means of organising & rearranging chapters under draft. So please bear with the inconvenience, disorder, confusion etc.

For a more current and better-organised version (still also a draft) of the Dharmakusuma story, please visit  the blogsite named http://puterapertiwipurba.blogspot.com/

I hope you will all buy the novel (yes, it is a novel) when it's ready and published (maybe this year, or 2012?). Please recommend it to your friends too. The overall Dharmakusuma story will be in the form of a 3-part series, i.e. a trilogy (or a thulathiyah, in Arabic-derived Malay). So you're going to get Dharmakusuma 2 & Dharmakusuma 3 as well in the future (I already have some draft chapters written - the final part of Dharmakusuma 3 will comprise an epic grand battle (yay!) which will result in the liberation of the entire lands forming the Langkasukan federation from foreign conqueror-occupiers).

I'll be writing in both Malay & English versions (I hope to get both versions published, eventually). That's why you're seeing the story in both languages at this moment of time. I'll be rearranging & separating them completely into 2 different blogsites in the future.

The main protagonists (heroes & heroines, their immediate family, friends etc.) in the story, e.g. Adhi Vira, Prakasha, Prabhava, Kembang Seri Wangi, Shakranta, Shankara, Isabelle, Shamira, Ozalan, Chinta Kirana etc. are my own creations. But the background in which they lived, the times (years) are/were all real. I have done several years of research on this.

So also are/were the big historical figures e.g. (1) Sultan Mahmud al-Ghaznavi of Ghazna; (2) Emperor Basileios of Byzantium; (3) Maharajas Chulamani, Mara Vijaya & Sang Rama Vijaya of Palembang Srivijaya; (4) Rajendra Chola of Chola Mandalam (Coromandel); (5) Sujita Raja (Raja Sujita) of Negara Seri Dharmaraja (Tambra Lingga), who wrested the throne of Kemboja Negara and held on to it for several years; (6) Maharaja Jayavarman V & Maharaja Suryavarman I of Kemboja Negara (he fought against Sujita Raja); (7) Raja Dharmawangsa of Mataram; (8) Raja Air Langga of Kahuripan (East Java); etc.

They were all real people who really lived and ruled as kings during the times (mostly 11th century AD)mentioned in my draft novel. You can research them in books, the Internet etc.

By coincidence, though, there were also real ancient rulers of Kelantan, if you'd like to do some research, named Raja Sakranta & Cik Siti Wan Kembang (she also kept kijang as pets - hence the kijang in the Kelantan official state logo) in olden times, although their times were much later (300 years +) than the time period that I used in my story. You could say that their names might also have partly inspired my choice of some names in my story.

According to one version (by scholars), Amdan Negara was (maybe briefly) the new name for the Langkasukan empire (or federation?) just after it was conquered by Palembang Srivijaya around 775 - 800 AD, before it was (perhaps) changed again later to Seri Wijaya Mala.

If anyone's read about a legendary king named Raja Suran (a corruption of 'Rajendra Chola', perhaps?), purportedly (kononnya) a descendant of Iskandar Agung, it's mentioned that he married a princess named Puteri Mahtab-ul-Bahari, daughter of Raja Aftab-ul-Ardh of Amdan Negara.

Their union was said to have eventually given rise to the ancient (legendary) princes of Palembang, i.e. Sang Sapurba, Sang Nila Utama, Sang Krishna Pendita, Sang Nila Pahlawan etc., from whose line Parameswara was said to have descended.

But I'm using the name Amdan Negara for a fictitious (although perhaps it could also have been a real one, nothing is impossible) ancient kingdom in Kelantan, Malaysia, centred around the Bukit Panau area.

I welcome any constructive comments or suggestions from readers which I can use to improve my story. Please feel free to communicate with me by e-mail at: AmdanNegara@gmail.com