Tarumanagara in the context of Kebon Kopi I inscription

Bekasi (Indonesian pronunciation: [bəˈkasi] , Betawi: Bèkasi; Bekasih, Sundanese: ᮘᮨᮊᮞᮤ) is the city with the largest population in the province of West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta. It serves as a commuter city within the Greater Jakarta. According to the 2020 Census by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Bekasi had 2,543,676 inhabitants. The official estimate for mid 2024 was 2,644,058 (comprising 1,327,954 males and 1,316,104 females). It lies within the largest metropolitan area in Indonesia (Jabodetabek). The city is bordered by Bekasi Regency (from which the city was separated administratively on 16 December 1996) to the north and the east, Bogor Regency and Depok City to the south, and the city of East Jakarta to the west.

Bekasi is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being the capital city of the Kingdom of Tarumanagara. At that time, the name of Bekasi was Dayeuh Sundasembawa or Jayagiri. The earliest evidence of its existence dates from the fifth century according to the Tugu inscription, which describes the name of two rivers that run through the city, i.e. Candrabhaga and Gomati and one of those rivers, i.e. Candrabhaga is the origin of the name Bekasi where the name Candrabhaga evolved into "Bhagasasi" – due to the Sanskrit word candra (which means moon) evolved into Old Sundanese word 'sasi' which also means moon – and then the name Bhagasasi was mis-spelt as "Bhagasi", and then the Dutch colonial government also mis-spelt the name Bhagasi as "Bacassie", and finally it became "Bekasi". During the Dutch East Indies period, Bekasi was a part of Batavia residency. As a dormitory city, many middle-upper class satellite areas have been developed in Bekasi, complete with their own shopping malls, schools, hospitals, club houses, water park, and shuttle bus services to central Jakarta. The large number of multinational companies has apparently attracted many expatriates (mainly Japanese and Korean) to settle in Bekasi.

The Tugu inscription is one of the mid 5th century Tarumanagara inscriptions discovered in Batutumbuh hamlet, Tugu village, Koja, North Jakarta, in Indonesia. The sanskrit stone inscription of King Purnavarman is of special interest because it preserves the record of river-works executed in the middle of the fifth century. The inscription contains information about hydraulic projects; the irrigation and water drainage project of the Chandrabhaga river by the order of Rajadirajaguru, and also the water project of the Gomati river by the order of King Purnawarman in the 22nd year of his reign. The digging project to straighten and widen the river was conducted in order to avoid flooding in the wet season, and as an irrigation project during the dry season.

In 1911 by the initiative of P. de Roo de la Faille, the Tugu inscription was moved to Museum Bataviaasch genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (now National Museum of Indonesia) with inventory number D.124. The inscription was carved on a round egg-like stone measuring about 1 metre.