The Singhasari Empire
Singhasari was a kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded Kingdom of Kediri as the dominant kingdom in eastern Java.
According to the Pararaton, Javanese historical annals embedded with myths, Singhasari (or Singosari) was founded by Ken Arok (1182-1227/1247), who was said to be an orphan boy, son of a certain Ken Endok and the god Brahma, when he came to the kingdom of Kediri (which was later named as Daha). He worked as a servant of Tunggul Ametung, a regional ruler in Tumapel (which later on was known as Singhasari), to realize his evil plan in taking over the dominion of Java from Kediri by killing Tunggul Ametung and marry Ken Dedes, the spiritual symbol of power in Java. After the death of Tunggul Ametung, Ken Arok took control of Tumapel, a vassal state of Kediri, where both Hinduism and Buddhism flourished. Tumapel was renamed Singhasari, and Hinduism its dominant religion. Ken Arok then defeated and conquered Kediri itself in 1222 for Singhasari to become the dominant power on Java. He was considered as the founder of Rajasa dynasty of both the Singhasari and later Madjapahit line of monarchs. During his reign the faction between Kediri and Kahuripan over the political dominion of Java became worst, leaving it in political chaos, civil war, disaster, and distress.
Kertanegara (full name Sri Maharajadiraja Sri Kertanegara Wikrama Dharmatunggadewa), was the fifth, last, and most important ruler of the Singhasari, reigning from 1268 to 1292. He was the son of the previous king, Wisnuwardhana (reigned 1248-1268). He effectively held power from 1254 and officially succeeded his father when the latter died in 1268. Under his rule Javanese trade and power developed considerably, reaching the far corners of the Indonesian archipelago.
Kertanegara’s regnal period coincided with a period of expansion by the Mongolian empire under Kublai Khan and the death of his father in 1268 also coincided with the fall of the last Song dynasty and the year, according to Marco Polo, that the “Fakfur” of Manzi (Southern China) escaped to the “isles of the East” to seek for reinforcement and his assumption to power in 1269 also coincided to the year that the “Fakfur” (the Song emperor Duzong with a formal name of Mengqi) must have arrived in Java with warriors from Luzon. “Baghbur”, which means “son of the god” or “son of the king”, is a Persian equivalent for the Chinese “Tien-zu” (“son of heaven”) which was also “coincidentally” the principle used by Kertanegara as “son of Jaya Wishnuwarddhana” in claiming the throne of Singhasari. This could suggest and very probable that Kertanegara, who was a “non-born son of the gods” must be one and the same with the escaping Song emperor, who had killed the Mongol Khan Arokboke, which literally means “son of Arok” or “son of the god (Marduk)”, who supposedly, had not been killed, was the rightful heir for the kakhanship of the Mongol empire instead of Kublai Khan, assumed the throne as the “Kertanegara" which means “he who unifies the kingdom (that was divided magically into two by the priest Bharada in ancient Javanese legend)” by inventing a legend of the dynasty founded by the “son of Ken Arok” with Ken Dedes. The invented story must be based on the succession of Arokboke’s father, Tolui, to the Mongol throne in 1227 and the story about usurpation was Kertanegara’s own biography itself. If this supposition proven true then he must be the predecessor of the Şailendra dynasty and the real founder of the would-be Singhasari dynasty that was lost by name but had been continued by bloodline.
Following the example of Kublai Khan, Kertanegara introduced Tibetan Buddhism in Java in order to gain the same degree of power so as to be able to protect the “isles of the East” from the same fate with Manzi which fell under the Mongol invasion. He erected back the Akşobhaya statue at Wurare which had been previously erected during the time of the mythical priest Bharada. It was a symbolic invitation to join against Kublai Khan on the basis of Buddhism and connubium.
Kertanegara was the first Javanese ruler with territorial ambitions that extended beyond the island of Java. Through a policy of friendly negotiations among neighbors, the Singhasari Empire reached the height of its power during Kertanegara's rule, which saw the dramatic expansion of Javanese power in Maritime Southeast Asia. He extended Javanese involvement in the lucrative spice trade with the Moluccas. He also put down rebellions in Java by Cayaraja in 1270. In the year 1275, the ambitious king Kertanegara launched a peaceful naval campaign northward towards the weak remains of the Şrivijaya in response to continuous Ceylon pirate raids and Chola kingdom's invasion from India which conquered Şrivijaya’s Kedah in 1025. The strongest of these Malaya kingdoms was Jambi, which captured the Şrivijaya capital in 1088, then the Dharmasraya kingdom, and the Temasek kingdom of Singapore, and then remaining territories.
The said naval campaign was known as the Pamalayu expedition (1275-1292) which was led by the admiral named Indrawarman, probably a brother of Kertanegara, who after crossing the sea towards Sumatra was then called as Mahesa Anabrang (literally means, “the admiral who crossed the sea”). The said Indrawarman married a Sumatran princess and begot a son whom they called as Adwayabrahma or Adwayawarman, who later on was more popularly known as Gadjah Mada which meant literally as “Elephant General” referring to his ability in understanding an elephant thus by so doing he could command it. Indrawarman established a kingdom of Shiloh in Simalungun.
Kertanegara put down another rebellion by Mahisa in 1280. Kertanegara managed to form an alliance with Champa, another dominant state in Southeast Asia, by marrying its princess, the legendary warrior princess in the tales of Marco Polo, or the “blue fairy” named Ai Co, which means “the Celestial Dame” in reference to the moon, or Aigiaruc, in Persian, which means “the Bright Moon” or simply the “Silver, light, or wisdom of Arok”. From that union, in the latter part of the year, they begot twin daughters named Dyah Prajnaparamita or Joko Ken (“celestial lady”), after her father had been named as Joko Dolog, and Dyah Dewi Gayatri (who later became the rajapatni of Madjapahit). It was on their wedding day that the emissaries sent by Kublai Khan arrived at the audition throne room of the Singhasari court of Kertanegara demanding Singhasari’s submission and tribute to the great Khan – in Chinese legends, the tribute being asked was the “monsoon’s orb” or the “pearl of the dragon” which actually referred to the putri darawati (Chamese princess). Angered, Kertanegara humiliated the Khan by scarring the face of Meng Ki, one of the Mongols' envoys with a hot iron, and refused the demand. Some sources even stated that the king cut the envoy's ear himself. The envoy returned to China with the answer -- the scar -- of the Javanese king written on his face.
The next year in 1281, the second envoy sent by Kublai Khan arrived demanding the “princesses of Tumapel”. There were two “princesses of Tumapel” of great beauty – Dyah Prajnaparamitha and Dyah Dewi Gayatri -- who were considered as the “orbs of the monsoons”, which was based on the Oriental belief that the monsoons were powerful sea-dragons that possessed bright luminescence, which was called wahyu which literally means as “divine radiance”, which was loaned by the Cebuanos into ahyu (good) and after combined with kahayag (light), derived from çaya, it became kahyu (fire). The said monsoons’ orbs were often depicted as dazzling blue, green, orange, red, or white “balls of lights” streaking to the night sky and were often absorbed and possessed by the celestial virgins. This Power and Light, in Oriental belief, when absorbed by the celestial virgins – in this case, the daughters of Kertanegara who were called white, orange, blue, and green princesses according to the lights they possessed – could only be transferred to a leader of a dynasty through marital union. The movement of the wahyu typically marked the fall of one dynasty and the transfer of light source to another. The everyday presence of Power was more usually marked by teja (radiance) that was thought to emanate softly from the face or person of the man of Power. In this belief, the spiritual function of a queen as the embodiment of batin (spirit), or wisdom, in the Buddhist view, and “her union with the ruler is necessary for the achievement of full humanity for a lahir (body or means) without batin (spirit or wisdom) is death, and the reverse is nonbeing in the world”. Dyah Dewi Gayatri was also known in Damarwulan legends as Kençana Wungu or Kenya. Yet her sister Dyah Prajnaparamitha, who being the eldest daughter and being a princess of Tumapel (Singhasari), assumed the title Joko Ken, which means “celestial queen” and could be translated into Chinese as Kökötchin which had the same meaning and had a similar sound with the Chinese zhu-ko-chen which means “pearl of the dragon”.
It was probably after that incident that the third daughter of Kertanegara, named Dara Putih (which was corrupted in legends as Dara Petak) which means “white princess”, was born. And then the fourth and last daughter of Kertanegara, named Dara Jingga which means “orange princess” who was later known as Narendra Duhita which has a similar meaning, was born.
In 1284, Kertanegara had subjected nearby Bali to his vassalage. The king also sent troops, expeditions and envoys to other nearby kingdoms such as the Sunda-Galuh kingdom, Pahang kingdom, Balakana kingdom (Kalimantan/Borneo), and Gurun kingdom (Maluku).
As a tradition of the royal court at that time, Indrawarman returned to Java in 1286 to present his son to Kertanegara. It was on this occasion that Raden Wijaya came to the Singhasari court and presented himself as the Wiswarupakumaran, a nephew (or a son) of Şri Kertanagara Wikrama Dharmottunggadewa, and the rightful heir to the throne according to matrilineal principle. Raden Wijaya had brought gifts of the image of Amoghapasa Lokeswara and other fourteen Buddhist statues. After that, Indrawarman was sent again to Sumatra, leaving his son behind for a military training under Raden Wijaya, to conquer the kingdom of Melayu which included Palembang and Jambi as well as much of Şrivijaya and to secure the Malayan strait, the ‘Maritime Silk Road’ against potential Mongol invasion and ferocious sea pirates. These Malayan kingdoms then pledged allegiance to the king. King Kertanegara had long wished to surpass Şrivijaya as a regional maritime empire, controlling sea trade routes from China to India.
In 1288, the 12-year old Adwayabrahma, who was designated as a rakreyan mahamantri, was assigned as the leader of the Bhayangkara, an elite royal bodyguard composed of 14 young lads, who would escort the statue of Amoghapasa Lokeswara and probably Putri Darawati Ai Co and her two younger daughters Dara Putih and Dara Jingga to the Dharmasraya kingdom which was ruled by Maharajah Srimat Tribhuwanaraja Mauliwarmadewa, who was also the king of Champa. Among the members of the Bhayangkara were Rakreyan Sirikan Dyah Sugatabrahma; the judge of Payanan, Dang Acarya Dipangkeradasa; and Rakreyan Demung Pu Wira. The return of the putri darawati (Chamese princess) with her two younger daughters and the statue of Amoghapasa were Kertanegara’s gifts of love for his father-in-law, the Dharmasraya maharajah, Srimat Tribhuwanaraja Mauliwarmadewa. The statue of Amoghapasa Lokeswara was a symbol of protection of the Singhasari overlord on its vassal state against the threats of Mongol invasion. The Dharmasraya king and all the caste – Brahmans, Kşatriyas, Vaişas, and Şudras – rejoiced at the presentation of the gifts.
Late in Kertanagara’s reign, the Pamalayu expedition succeeded in gaining control of the Melayu Kingdom in eastern Sumatra, and possibly also gained control over the Sunda kingdom and hegemony over the Strait of Malacca. Other areas in Madura and Borneo also offered their submission to Kertanegara.
In 1289, Kublai Khan had sent a third envoy to demand again the tribute he had been asking for a long time. But again it was refused.
After defeating the Melayu Kingdom58 in Sumatra in 1290, Singhasari became the most powerful kingdom in the region. King Kertanegara totally erased any Şrivijayan influence from Java and Bali in 1290. However, the expansive campaigns exhausted most of the Kingdom’s military forces and in the future would stir a murderous plot against the unsuspecting King Kertanegara.
With the bulk of the Javanese army in campaign overseas and Singhasari's defence weakened. Seeing the opportunity, Rakreyan Jayakatwang, a vassal king from the Kingdom of Daha (also known as Kediri or Gelang-gelang), prepared his army to conquer Singhasari and kill its king if possible, and assisted by Arya Wiraraja, his son, a regent from Sumenep on the island of Madura. King Kertanegara, whose troops were now spread then and located elsewhere, did not realize that a coup was being prepared by the former Kediri royal lineage.
The Kediri (Gelang-gelang) army attacked Singhasari simultaneously from both north and south. The king only realized the invasion from the north and sent his son-in-law, Nararya Sanggramawijaya, famously known as Raden Wijaya, northward to vanquish the rebellion. The northern attack was put at bay, but the southern attackers successfully remained undetected until they reached and sacked the unprepared capital city of Kutaraja. Jayakatwang usurped and killed Kertanegara during the Tantra sacred ceremony, thus bring a tragic end to the Singhasari kingdom.
Having learned the fall of the Singhasari capital of Kutaraja due to Kediri's treachery, Raden Wijaya tried to defend Singhasari but failed. He and his three colleagues, Ranggalawe, Sora, and Nambi, went to exile under the favor of the same regent (Bupati) Arya Wiraraja of Madura, Nambi's father, who then turned his back to Jayakatwang. With Arya Wiraraja's patronage, Raden Wijaya, pretending to submit to King Jayakatwang, won favor from the new monarch of Kediri, who granted him permission to open a new settlement north of Mt. Arjuna, the Tarik forest. He then opened that vast timberland and built a new village there. The village was named Madjapahit, which was taken from a fruit name that had a bitter taste in that timberland (madja is the fruit name and pahit means bitter).
In Marco Polo’s account, it was stated that Marco Polo had taken the Joko Ken, accompanied by one envoy, to the court of Kublai Khan, presenting her as the “pearl of the dragon” that he had been seeking for and the “bride” requested by her aunt, the queen of Persia, for Arghun Khan of Persia. From this perspective it could be very probable that the envoy, “sent” by Wiraraja to the “king of China”, was Raden Wijaya himself and the “king of China” who landed at Madura was Marco Polo. Thus, it could be part of the war tactic of Raden Wijaya in bringing the army of Kublai Khan in his aid which coincided also with the deception scheme of Marco Polo over the weakening Kublai Khan in his ultimate goal of escaping from the khan’s realm of power before it would collapse as he saw it and might become a trap for him if he delayed in realizing his plan. It could be recalled that Marco Polo could not use the land route from China to Persia since at that time there was an on-going wars at the borders; hence, the only way to escape was by using the sea-route. Thus, it could be probable that Raden Wijaya together with other two envoys who died at sea had escorted the princess in 1290 to China as part of the joint deception scheme of Raden Wijaya and Marco Polo in realizing their individual goals and reaching there in the early part of 1291.
Accordingly, Kertanegara was killed along with many courtiers in his palace in Singhasari in May or June 1292. He was apparently killed when drunk on palm wine in a religious Tantric Buddhist ceremony. Jayakatwang then declared himself ruler of Java and king of the restored Kediri. Dyah Dewi Gayatri had been captured and lived as a prisoner in Kediri.
Prapanca portrays Kertanegara as a staunch Buddhist, described as "submissive at the Feet of the Illustrious Shakya-Lion". Upon his death, the Nagarakertagama describes the deification of Kertanegara in three forms: a splendid Jina, an Ardhanarishvara, and an imposing Shiva-Buddha. Particularly for the Shiva-Buddha deity, Prapança praises him as "the honored Illustrious Protector of Mountains, Protector of the protectorless. He is surely, Ruler over the rulers of the world." The Shiva-Buddha deity is neither Shiva nor Buddha, but the Lord of the Mountains, or the Supreme God of the Realm. This religious belief is indigenous to the Javanese people who combined the gods of two religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, into the same God, the oneness of the dharma, as is written in the Kakawin Sutasoma. When Kertanegara was deified as Shiva-Buddha, he symbolized the collective powers of the God of the Realm.
In late 1292, Kublai Khan had sent a fleet of 1,000 war junks for a punitive expedition to escort Marco Polo and the Joko Ken or Zhu-ko-Shen to Persia and to subdue Java for the humiliation and the disgrace committed against his envoy and his patience. At that time too, Indrawarman who had assumed an Arabic title of Sultan al-Malik al-Salih in Samudra-Pasai died leaving his son Adwayabhrama or Adwayawarman as the new commander of the Pamalayu expedition (Mahesa Anabrang).
The Mongol fleet arrived off the coast of Tuban, Java in early 1293. While the flagship carrying Marco Polo, the Joko Ken and her Malay bodyguard anchored in Sumatra at the Dharmasraya port. Raden Wijaya allied himself with the Mongol army to fight against Jayakatwang and saved Dyah Dewi Gayatri. Once Jayakatwang was destroyed, Raden Wijaya forced his allies to withdraw from Java by launching a surprise attack. 59 Yuan's army had to withdraw in confusion as they were in hostile territory. It was also their last chance to catch the monsoon winds home; otherwise, they would have had to wait for another six months on a hostile island. The Joko Ken, Dyah Rajnaparamita, was taken to Persia who eventually married Muhammad Ghazan Khan instead of his father, Arghun Khan, who was already dead since 1291, and became his principal wife.
Indonesia is one of the few areas that thwarted invasion by the Mongol horde by repelling a Mongol force in 1293. As the center of the Malayan peninsula trade winds, the rising power, influence, and wealth of the Javanese Singhasari Empire came to the attention of Kublai Khan of the Mongol Yuan dynasty based in China. Moreover, Singhasari had formed an alliance with Champa, another powerful state in the region. Both Java (Singhasari) and Champa were worried about Mongol expansion and raids against neighboring states, such as their raid of Bagan (Pagan) in Burma.
The Madjapahit Empire
Madjapahit was a vast archipelagic empire based on the island of Java (modern-day Indonesia) from 1293 to around 1500. Madjapahit reached its peak of glory during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 marked by conquest which extended through Southeast Asia. His achievement is also credited to his prime minister, Gadjah Mada. According to the Nagarakretagama (Desawarñana) written in 1365, Majapahit was an empire of 98 tributaries, stretching from Sumatra to New Guinea;59 consisting of present day Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Thailand, the Philippines, and East Timor, although the true nature of Majapahit sphere of influence is still the subject of studies among historians.
The Coronation of Raden Wijaya
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| Raden Wijaya |
As a royal tradition, on a day before his coronation, Raden Wijaya was married to the Chamese princess, Putri Darawati Ai Co; her daughters Dyah Dewi Gayatri and Dara Putih (Petak). It must be on that day also on a double wedding that Adwayabrahma was married to the other Dharmasraya princess Dara Jingga. Hence, Raden Wijaya and Adwayabrahma became brothers-in-law.
Raden Wijaya founded a stronghold with the capital Madjapahit. The exact date used as the birth of the Madjapahit kingdom is the day of his coronation, the 15th of Kartika month in the year 1215 using the Javanese çaka calendar, which equates to November 10, 1293. During his coronation he was given formal name Kertarajasa Jayawardhana. After Raden Wijaya’s assumption to the Madjapahit throne, he elevated Adwayabrahma into Rakreyan Mahamantri Gadjah Mada, the highest position among the rakreyans, symbolical to a war-god, hence the phrase in Pararaton, “the orange princess is given to a god”. 60
Madjapahit ruled much of Sumatra as the successor of Singhasari. Several attempts to revive Şrivijaya were made by the fleeing princes of Şrivijaya. In the following years, sedimentation on the Musi river estuary cut the kingdom's capital off from direct sea access. The strategic disadvantage crippled the trade in the Kingdom's capital. As the decline continued, Islam made its way to the Aceh region of Sumatra, spreading through contacts with Arab and Indian traders. By the late 13th century, the kingdom of Pasai in northern Sumatra converted to Islam. At the same time, Şrivijaya was briefly a tributary state of the Khmer empire and later the Sukhothai kingdom.
The Death of Raden Wijaya and the Lost of His Widadari
In 1309, the 44-year old Franciscan priest, Father Odoric Matiussi of Pordenone, Friuli, Italy, visited the palace of Raden Wijaya. He described the palace as follows:
“The king of Java has a large and sumptuous palace, the loftiest of any that I have seen, with broad and lofty stairs to ascend to the upper apartments, all the steps being alternately of gold and silver.
The whole interior walls are lined with plates of beaten gold, on which the images of warriors are placed sculptured in gold, having each a golden coronet richly ornamented with precious stones. The roof of this palace is of pure gold, and all the lower rooms are paved with alternate square plates of gold and silver. The great khan, or emperor of Cathay, has had many wars with the king of Java, but has always been vanquished and beaten back.” 61
Sometime later in that year, some of Raden Wijaya's most trusted men, including Ranggalawe, Sora, Nambi, and Kuti rebelled against him, though unsuccessfully. It was suspected that the Prime Minister, Mahapati Halayudha, set the conspiracy to overthrow all of the king's opponents, to gain the highest position in the government. Raden Wijaya died in the battle protecting his family. Gadjah Mada and Mahapatih Arya Tadah helped Raden Wijaya’s family – Rajapatni Dyah Dewi Gayatri who had newly delivered her twin girls; Dara Petak and her little boy son Jayanegara; and Dara Jingga and her little boy son Adityawarman -- to escape away from the capital city of Trowulan.
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| Rev. Fr. Odoric Matthiusi |
“In this country there grow canes of an incredible length, as large as trees, even sixty paces or more in height. There are other canes, called cassan (kawayan, bamboo), which spread over the earth like grass, even to the extent of a mile, sending up branches from every knot; and in these canes they find certain stones of wonderful virtue, insomuch, that whoever carries one of these about him, cannot be wounded by an iron weapon; on which account, most of the men in that country carry such stones always about them. Many of the people of this country cause one of the arms of their children to be cut open when young, putting one of these stones into the wound, which they heal up by means of the powder of a certain fish, with the name of which I am unacquainted. And through the virtue of these wonderful stones, the natives are generally victorious in their wars, both by sea and land.
There is a stratagem, however, which their enemies often successfully use against them, to counteract the power of these stones. Providing themselves with iron or steel armor, to defend them from the arrows of these people, they use wooden stakes, pointed like weapons of iron, and arrows not having iron heads, but infused with poison which they extract from certain trees, and they thus slay some of their foes, who, trusting to the virtue of these stones, wear no defensive armor. From the canes formerly mentioned, named cassan, they build themselves small houses, and manufacture sails for their ships, and many other things are made from them.” 62
Tuniña is an Italian name associated with the legend of Granada about the hunchback Tuniño who was hailed into a normal boy with remarkable beauty by the fairies for his golden voice and fine character. It could be very possible that Rajadewi Dyah Wiyat was christened by Father Odoric Matiussi as a baby while still at Bandjarmasin. It could also be very possible that the rich merchants that had found the bidasari or widadari (celestial fairy) in their boat while in Java were the rulers of Mindanao and the “bamboo” is only an allusion of the Oriental myth that the first man and woman came out from a bamboo that was split up or to the Visayan colloquial phrase, “anak sa liking kawayan” (“child of a bamboo split”) which figuratively meant a child of unknown parents and of the bamboo-amulet ritual for a bagani (warrior who usually wore red clothing). And the said Tuan Masha’ika (which means in Jawi as “Holy Old Man” or “Prester John” denoting that he was the king of Ophir, which probably the ancient name of Mindanao) and Tuhan Maqbalu were actually Tabunaway and Mamalu respectively. Tuhan Maqbalu died sometime in November or December of 1310 A.D. (Rajab 710 A.H.) and was buried in Sulu, thus, leaving the princess at the care of Tabunaway as her new foster father.64
The Rise and Fall of Kala Gemet
Raden Wijaya died in the battle that probably took placed between October and December 1309 (or December 1310?). At the very young age, Jayanegara, the only son of Raden Wijaya, assumed the imperial throne with Rajapatni Dyah Dewi Gayatri as regent.
In 1319, a major rebellion hit Madjapahit, which forced Jayanegara to evacuate from Trowulan to the village of Bedander. He was escorted by the Bhayangkara which happened to be on duty that night. At this time, Gadjah Mada was head of the bodyguard. 65
After Gadjah Mada was assured that the emperor was safe in Bedander, he returned to the capital, which Kuti — the leader of the rebellion — had captured. There, he spread the rumor that the king was kidnapped by one of Kuti’s servants. Officials who were faithful to the emperor became very furious, and decided to kill Kuti. They succeeded, and the emperor went back to Trowulan in 1321 and ruled the kingdom for the rest of his life. Halayudha was captured and jailed for his tricks, and then sentenced to death.58 Because of this incident, Gadjah Mada was able to earn the emperor’s trust, which led to a gain in power. A few years after, Gadjah Mada was appointed minister of Kahuripan and Daha. This gave him the title of Patih, which made him a member of Majapahit’s elite. 66
On the other hand in 1328, the beauty of Putri Tuniña had already been known far across the empire. Gadjah Mada who had obtained the title of a rajah baginda of Minangkabau, "a rich, high region in central Sumatra, from which many Malayan dynasties seem to have come",68 was sent by Jayanegara to go to the Kingdom of Bandjarmasin (it was later replaced by the Sultanate of Brunei) to ask the hand of the princess and offer her his gift of elephants. But when Gadjah Mada, along with Rajapatni Gayatri, as part of the ancient custom in arranging royal marriages, arrived in Bandjarmasin, he had learned that the princess was not in the island of Borneo but in Mindanao and particularly in Sulu, the kingdom of her foster fathers. Thus, Gadjah Mada, leaving the rajapatni in Bandjarmasin for her safety, sailed to Sulu. This explains the existence in Jolo of elephants at the arrival of the Spanish expeditions.68
Charles Wilkes, an American naval commander, who had visited the Sulu region in 1842, reported an oral tradition linking the Sulu sultanate with that of Banjarmasin:
The fame of the submarine reaches of this archipelago reached Banjar or Borneo, the people of which were induced to resort there, and finding it to equal their expectation, they sent a large colony and made endeavors to win over the inhabitants, and obtain thereby the possession of their rich isle. In order to confirm the alliance, a female of Banjarmassing, of great beauty, was sent, and married to the principal chief; and from this alliance the sovereign of Sulu claim their descent. The treaty of marriage made Sulu tributary to the Banjarmassing empire.69
During that time Bandjarmasin was a vassal kingdom to Madjapahit. And the old maritime trade route from Sumatra had to pass to Java then to Bandjarmasin, to Brunei, and then to Sulu. Another tarsila had mentioned that when the prince had taken the princess to Bandjarmasin where the queen of Madjapahit (Rajapatni Gayatri) was meeting to meet her together with her parents, the queen had found out the princess was her long lost daughter for aside of her resemblance to her as her real mother and to her twin sister Dyah Sri Gitarja she was wearing the queen’s comb and necklace and using the queen’s fan.
It was found out that Jayanegara and the princess were cousins; worst half-brother and half-sister respectively. The marriage was cancelled but according to tarsilas, the emperor insisted that among the Arabs, since he was an Arab-descent, marrying a cousin or a half-sister was not a taboo. But the princess, although christened when young but was raised as Muslim by his foster father, insisted that in Koranic laws it was forbidden for a brother and sister to marry in any lands of the world. Then accordingly, the emperor decided to set the wedding with an imam at the sea with a thousand ships for the sea was not part of the lands, therefore an exemption to the Koranic laws.
In the said version, the princess who after the wedding ceremony was sitting at the ship’s deck knitting a kerchief was startled when the emperor embraced her from behind that she had accidentally stabbed the emperor’s finger with a needle causing it to bleed incessantly. In one of the versions of the Nyai Roro Kidul legends it was not a needle but a snake-like sacred dagger known as keris (kris) that was used by the princess to stub the emperor after he tried to rape her. The said dagger was always kept by the princess in her pudenda (Forman and Solc n.d.). As the emperor collapsed, the princess thinking she had killed him jumped off to the sea.The fleet was said to be hit by a storm when the princess swam to sea-shore and hid in the forest. In the Nyai Roro Kidul legends the place was identified as the island off the south coast of Java named Karang Bandung (Nusakambangan) believed to be inhabited by the spirits of white tigers referring to the dead rulers of Java.70
In the Javanese traditions, the princess was found by the senapati Adityawarman in the forest collecting the flower known as wijayakusuma (Pisonia grandis, var. Silvestris; Rahardi et al. 1991), which bloomed briefly at night, spreading its essence far and wide only to wilt by dawn and which (Berg 1938, 21) was believed to give invincibility in battle (Van Hein 1994, 7-12). In the said version the princess wished not to return since by marrying and killing her half-brother-husband she was inflicted with a spiritual leprosy which made her dirty and ugly in the eyes of Allah. In the same version, the emperor “did not stay to enjoy conjugal bliss, however, but went on his way the following day” (Prawirasuganda 1964, 85-86; Lubis 1969, 77-78). In the Prapança, it was stated that while the emperor was lying sick on his bed Gadjah Mada had called a surgeon, Ra Tança, to perform an operation. But the emperor died. Probably to keep secret what had really happened to save the empire from falling apart, Gadjah Mada killed Ra Tança and spread the rumors that Jayanegara was notorious for immorality and that one of his sinful acts was his desire on taking his own half sisters as wives; his attempt in raping Dara Jingga, his own aunt; and his constant mockery of Ra Tança for eyeing on the beauty of Rajadewi Dyah Wiyat which caused Ra Tança in murdering him by a false operation. It could be understood that the princess believing that it was Ra Tança who murdered the emperor and not her was convinced to go back to Daha (Kediri). Her association with the death of Jayanegara might be the reason of her bad relationship with Dara Putih (Tribhuaneshwari), Jayanegara’s mother who was portrayed in myths as a jealous or evil stepmother, wife, or sister. Jayanegara from then on was known in history and memory of the people as Kala Gemet which meant “weak villain”.
Jayanegara’s stepmother, Dyah Dewi Gayatri, being the last present heir of the Singhasari dynasty, assumed the Madjapahit imperial throne as the rajapatni.
The Rise of the Tribhuanawijayatunggadewi and Mahapatih Gadjah Mada
In 1329, upon the retirement of Arya Tada, Gadjah Mada was appointed by Rajapatni Gayatri as the new mahapatih or prime minister of the empire. During his inauguration Gadjah Mada declared his Sumpah Palapa, revealing his plan to expand Madjapahit realm and building an empire.
According to the Pararaton there was a rebellion that arose in Sadeng and Keta in 1331. While Gadjah Mada was in a debate with the rakreyans, or the nobles, on who would command the army against the said rebellion, the Bhre Daha wearing the full armor of Gadjah Mada disguised as a knight named Arya Damar Abd’llah (Damar is a masculine form of an imperial title Damhara) set off alone as commander of the northern command composed of 15,000 soldiers on suppressing the rebels. She attacked from the north of Bali.
Based on the Panji Semirang the battle happened on the eve of the Bhre Daha’s wedding to Adityawarman. Accordingly, she had left a letter to Adityawarman explaining about her intension in going to battle and, according to the Rihla, she would only marry a man who could defeat her in battle. While the Nagarakretagama recounted that Adityawarman, the son of Gadjah Mada, went after the princess and led the southern command of also 15,000 soldiers which attacked from the south of Bali. They both crashed the rebellion in the north and south.
Yet the Panji Semirang suggested that when the two commands had met at the center of Bali the two Aryas not knowing each other, since they were both fully covered with armors, fought with each other on the battlefield. The soldiers under their command were ordered to leave. The princess confided to her opponent that she was the bride of Adityawarman and that the disguise was assumed because of a command of the rakreyans that “she could win back her prince only in a face-to-face combat where his blood is made to flow”.
Moreover, it could be probable that the prince also confided to her “that his heart commands him to fight his bride and defeat her in battle in order to win her back in marriage”.
Furthermore, the Panji Semirang added that the two fought with swords and arrows. However, the princess, who was unable to harm him, resorted to her hairpin. She had wounded the rajah baginda. It was then that the prince revealed his true identity. The two were happily reunited. But as usual, the wedding was indefinitely postponed again.
An inscription from the year 1341, at the back of a statue of Manjusri found at Candi Jago in East Java, testifies that Adityawarman accompanied Gadjah Mada on his campaigns to Bali.
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The image of the Bhre Daha found at the riverbank
in
Butuan, Agusan del Norte, Philippines in 1917.
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It was during the reign of Rajadewi Dyah Wiyat (Kençana Tuniña) as Bhre Daha that the Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد ابن بطوطة), or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din who was known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla (literally, "The Journey") visited Sumatra and Java on his way to China in 1345.
Ibn Battuta gave a vivid description as follows:
It is very extensive, and the sovereign is equal of the King of China. He possesses numerous junks with which he makes war upon the Chinese until they sue for peace, and consent to grant him certain concessions. The people are idolaters; their countenances are good, and they bear a strong resemblance to the Turks. They are usually of a copper complexion, and are very valiant and warlike. The women ride, shoot, and throw the javelin well, and fight in fact just like the men. We cast anchor in one of their ports which is called Kailukari.72 It is one of their greatest and finest cities, and the king’s son used to reside there. When we had entered the harbor soldiers came down to the beach, and the skipper landed to speak with them. He took a present with him for the king’s son;73 but he was told that the king74 had assigned him the government of another province, and had set over this city his daughter, called Bhre Daha.75
The second day after our arrival in the port of Kailukari72, this princess invited the Nakhodah76 or skipper, the Karani or purser, the merchants and persons of note, the Tindail or chief of the sailors, the Sipahsalar or chief of the archers, to partake a banquet which the Bhre Daha had provided for them according to her hospitable custom. The skipper asked me to accompany them, but I declined, for these people are infidels and it is unlawful to partake of their food. So when the guests arrived at the Princess’s she said to them, ‘Is there anyone of your party missing?’ The captain replied, ‘There is but one man absent, the Bhikşu,77 who does not eat of your dishes.’ Bhre Daha rejoined ‘Let him be sent for.’ So a party of her guards came for me, and with them some of the captain’s people, who said to me ‘Do as the Princess desires.’
So I went, and found her seated on her great chair of throne, whilst some of her women were in front of her with papers which they were laying before her. Round about were elderly ladies, or duennas, who acted as her counselors, seated below the throne on chairs of sandalwood. The men also were in front of the Princess. The throne was covered with silk, and canopied with silk curtains, being itself made of sandal wood and plated with gold. In the audience hall there were buffets of carved wood, on which were set forth many vessels of gold of all sizes, vases, pitchers, and flagons. The skipper told me that these vessels were filled with a drink compounded with sugar and spice, which these people use after dinner; he said it had an aromatic odor and delicious flavor; that it produced hilarity, sweetened the breath, promoted digestion, etc., etc.
As soon as I had saluted the princess she said to me in the Turkish tongue ‘Husn misen yakhshi misen?’ which is as much as to say, ‘Are you well? How do you do?’ and made me sit down beside her. This princess could write the Arabic character well. She said to one of her servants, ‘Dawat wa batak katur,’78 that is to say, ‘Bring inkstand and paper.’ He brought these, and then the princess wrote Bismillah Arrahman Arrahim (In the name of God the merciful and compassionate!) saying to me ‘What’s this?’ I replied ‘Tanzari nam’ which is as much as to say ‘the name of God;’ whereupon she rejoined ‘Khushn,’ or ‘It is well.’ She then asked from what country I had come, and I told her that I came from India. The princess asked again, ‘From the Pepper country?’ I said ‘Yes.’ She proceeded to put many questions to me about India and its vicissitudes, and these I answered. She then went on, ‘I must positively go to war with that country and get possession of it, for its great wealth and great forces attract me.’ Quoth I, ‘You had better do so.’ Then the princess made me a present consisting of dresses, two elephant-loads of rice, two she-buffaloes, ten sheep, four rothls of cordial syrup, and four Martabans, or stout jars, filled with ginger, pepper, citron and mango, all prepared with salt as for a sea voyage.
The skipper told me that the Bhre Daha had in her army free women, slave girls, and female captives, who fought just like men; that she was in the habit of making incursions into the territories of her enemies, taking part in battle, and engaging in combat with warriors of repute. He also told me that on one occasion an obstinate battle took place between this princess and one of her enemies; a great number of her soldiers had been slain, and her whole force was on the point of running away, when the Bhre Daha rushed to the front, and forcing her way through the ranks of the combatants till she got at the king himself with whom she was at war, she dealt him a mortal wound, so that he died, and his troops fled. The princess returned with his head carried on a spear, and the king’s family paid a vast sum to redeem it. And when the princess rejoined her father he gave her this city of Kailukari,79 which her brother had previously governed. I heard likewise from the same skipper that various sons of kings had sought the Bhre Daha’s hand, but she always answered, ‘I will marry no one but him who shall fight and conquer me!’ so they all avoided the trial, for fear of the same of the shame of being beaten by her.”80
In November 1346, upon the return of Adityawarman to Java from his expedition to China, Dara Jingga had wished to return home at Dharmasraya. Her wish was granted and upon her return to Sumatra with the junk captained by Adityawarman, her son, she was accompanied by her husband Gadjah Mada and the Bhre Daha (Rajadewi Dyah Wiyat), the bride of Adityawarman.
In the New Year’s Day of 1347, the Bhre Daha was married to Adityawarman. The wedding ceremony was witnessed by Ibn Battuta who was with the same junk.
Ibn Battuta described the said wedding ceremony as follows:
From the time when the bridegroom entered, pieces of gold and silver were scattered among the people. The sultan was seated aloft where he could see all that passed. His son got down from the elephant, went to kiss his father’s foot, and then mounted on the seat of state beside his bride. They then brought pawn and betel-nut; the bridegroom took them in his hand and put them into the bride’s mouth, and she did the same by him. Next he put a pawn-leaf first into his own mouth and then into hers, and she did in like manner. They then put a veil over the bride, and removed the seat of state into the interior of the palace, whilst the young couple were still upon it; the company took refreshments and separated. Next day the sultan called the people together, and named his son as his successor on the throne. They took an oath of obedience to him, and the future sovereign distributed numerous presents in money and dresses.”81
By then one of the ruler’s primary tasks which was the promotion of fertility through the provision of water by means of maintaining order and engaging in sexual intercourse had been fulfilled:
She who is the living image of the daughter of the Lord of the mountains, and whose body was created by Lokesha, Kasheva and Mahesvara, to be embraced by the king, the Lord of Java, to increase the prosperity of mankind to everyone’s delight. 82
Adityawarman was installed by his father as the king of Malayapura (Sumatra) to prevent the revival of Şrivijaya and to maintain the unity of Madjapahit. In the Babad the prince had stated:
“Now my prayer to Allah has been fulfilled, my prayer to succeed my father the sultan as king, as the light of Java, and to have my sons and grandchildren inherit it. All the people of Java will submit.” 83
He later conquered Tanah Datar to take control of the gold trade and founded a kingdom in Pagar Ruyung known as Kerajaan Pagaruyung in Minangkabau and sculpted another statue of Amoghapasa. He was taking his role as Uparaja from Madjapahit and conquered vital areas in Sumatra like Kuntu and Kampar which were famous for their pepper.
The Death of Rajapatni Gayatri and the Rise of Hayam Wuruk
During the Tribhuanawijayatunggadewi’s rule, the Madjapahit kingdom grew much larger and became famous in the area. But around May 1349, the Rajapatni Dyah Dewi Gayatri died of old age. She was given a Catholic blessing by Giovannie de’ Marignolli, a notable traveller to the Far East in the fourteenth century, who was visiting Madjapahit at that time.84 Hence, in 1350, the rani kembar abdicated the throne in favor of Hayam Wuruk, Rajadewi Dyah Wiyat’s adopted son under the guardianship of Dyah Sri Gitarja. Gadjah Mada remained the Mahapatih and stood as the regent for the 16-year old Hayam Wuruk. But it was really Gadjah Mada who was the actual ruler of Madjapahit from 1328 until his death in 1357.
Hayam Wuruk, also known as Rajasanagara, ruled Madjapahit in AD 1350–1389. During this period, Madjapahit attained its peak with the help of its prime minister, Gadjah Mada. Under Gadjah Mada's command (AD 1313–1357), Madjapahit conquered more territories and become the regional power. According to the book of Nagarakertagama pupuh (canto) XIII and XIV mentioned several states in Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara islands, Maluku, New Guinea, and some parts of Philippine Islands as under Madjapahit realm of power. This source mentioned of Madjapahit expansions has marked the greatest extent of Madjapahit Empire.
The Battle of Bubat and the Fall of Gadjah Mada
In 1357 the Sunda king and the royal family arrived in Madjapahit after sailing across the Java Sea by Jung Sasana ships, then encamped on Bubat square in the northern part of Trowulan, capital city of Majapahit, and awaited the wedding ceremony. However Gadjah Mada, the Madjapahit prime minister saw the event as an opportunity to demand Sunda's submission to Madjapahit's overlordship, and insisted that instead of becoming queen of Madjapahit, the princess was to be presented as a token of submission and treated as a mere concubine of the Madjapahit king. The Sunda king was angered and humiliated by Gadjah Mada's demand.
As a result, a skirmish took place on Bubat square between the Madjapahit army and the Sunda royal family in defense of their honor. It was uneven and unfair match, since the Sundanese party was only composed mostly of royal family, state officials and nobles, accompanied with servants and royal guards. The number of Sundanese party was estimated to be less than a hundred, some source mentioned 97 people. On the other hand, the armed guards stationed within Madjapahit capital city under Gadjah Mada commands are estimated numbered several thousand personnel of well armed and well trained troops. The Sundanese party was surrounded at the center of the Bubat square. Some source mentioned that the Sundanese had managed to defend the square and had strike back the Madjapahit siege for several times. However as the day went on the Sundanese resistance had been exhausted and overwhelmed. Despite facing the certain death, the Sundanese demonstrated extraordinary courage and chivalry as they fell one by one.
Despite courageous resistance, the royal family was overwhelmed and decimated by the Madjapahit army. The Sunda king died in a duel with a Madjapahit general, probably not really Gadjah Mada at this time since he was very old to fight but the Bhre Daha disguised as him, as well as other Sundanese nobles with almost all of the Sundanese royal party massacred in the tragedy.86 Tradition mentions that the heartbroken Princess with all of remaining Sundanese women including her mother took their own lives to defend their country’s honor and pride.87 The ritualized suicide by the women of Kşatriya (warrior) class after the defeat of their men is expected to defend their pride and honor as well as to protect their chastity, rather than facing possibility of humiliation through rape, subjugation or slavery. The Battle of Bubat or Pasunda Bubat tragedy became the main theme of Kidung Sunda, also mentioned in Carita Parahyangan and Pararaton; however it was never mentioned in Nagarakretagama.
Hayam Wuruk, who had just come from his religious studies on Hinduism at Mt. Merbabu in central Java, was deeply shocked about the tragedy. According to tradition, Dyah Pitaloka's death was mourned by Hayam Wuruk and the entire population of the Sunda kingdom who had lost most members of their royal family. Later king Hayam Wuruk married to Paduka Sori, his own cousin instead. Pitaloka's deed and her father's courage are revered as noble acts of honor, courage and dignity in Sundanese tradition. Her father, Prabu Maharaja Lingga Buana was revered by the Sundanese as Prabu Wangi (Sundanese: king with pleasant fragrance) because of his heroic act to defend his honor against Madjapahit. His descendants, the later kings of Sunda, were called Siliwangi (Sundanese: successor of Wangi).
This tragedy severely harmed the relationship between the two kingdoms and resulted in hostility for years to come, the situation never again returning to normality. Prince Niskalawastu Kançana, Dyah Pitaloka's younger brother, was the sole surviving heir of the Sunda King since he was still an infant at that time and was left at the Kawali Palace in the Sunda Galuh capital city. When he ascended to the throne he cut the diplomatic relations between Sunda and Madjapahit and issued an edict, known as Larangan Estri ti Luaran, which forbade the Sundanese people to marry a Javanese. This was a reflection of the Sundanese disappointment and anger towards Madjapahit which later contributed to the Sundanese-Javanese animosity, the sentiments that even may still runs to present day.
Curiously, although Bali is known as the heiress of Madjapahit’s culture, Balinese opinion seems to take the Sundanese side in this dispute, as evident in their manuscript Kidung Sunda. The Balinese reverence and admiration to the Sundanese heroic act by courageously facing certain death was probably in accordance with Hindu code of honor of Kşatriya caste – that is, the ultimate and perfect death of a Kşatriya is on the edge of sword and to die on the battlefield. The practice of demonstrating the act of courage has its Balinese counterpart in their puputan tradition, a fight to the death by men and followed by mass ritual suicide by the women in preference to facing the humiliation of surrender.
The Banishment of the Bhre Daha
“Gadjah Mada” faced opposition, distrust and sneering at the Majapahit court because of “his” recklessness and all the brutalities which was not to the taste of the Madjapahit nobles and undermined king Hayam Wuruk's influence. This unfortunate event also marked the end of “Gadjah Mada's” career, since not long after this event the emperor forced “Gadjah Mada” to an early retirement through awarding the prime minister the lands in Madakaripura (today Probolinggo), in eastern Java, thus exiled “him” far from capital city’s courtly affairs. However, there were hints in other Javanese manuscripts & legends that Gadjah Mada being wounded by Dyah Pitaloka really died at the Battle of Bubat. It was Rajadewi Dyah Wiyat, the Bhre Daha, disguised as Gadjah Mada by wearing the latter’s full golden armor, who had returned to Trowulan as Gadjah Mada probably to save the empire from falling apart by knowing that the Madjapahit’s symbol of strength and power had been wounded by a woman and died in her hand. If this supposition is correct then the real reason of the Battle of Bubat was the death of Gadjah Mada at the hand of the Sundanese princess. And it was the Bhre Daha, keeping the secret of Gadjah Mada’s death, who was vanished to the forest by Hayam Wuruk and the royal council. In Panji legends Gadjah Mada is known as Prabu Cakrabuwana.
In the Panji and Nyai Roro Kidul legends, the Bhre Daha was found by a widow named Mbok Rondo, believed to be the putri darawati who had chosen to guard the temple of Tara and lived on fishing snails and shells, lying unconscious by the sea after trying to swim across the sea towards Sumatra in her despiration. Later on the said widow found out that she was the Bhre Daha, her granddaughter in disguise.
During the reign of Hayam Wuruk, Madjapahit attained its golden age, Majapahit’s hegemony was maintained, although he stood alone without the company of Gadjah Mada.
The increasing activities in commerce and navigation in the Majapahit brought the foreign merchants to come and probably stayed permanently in the city of Madjapahit. Cultural contacts between the foreign merchants and the inhabitants of Madjapahit increased with the result to create multi-culture in Madjapahit.
According to the Nagarakertagama and other Old-Javanese texts, Hayam Wuruk was able to manage the cultural diversity in his kingdom. He was doing routine journey through his realm, pursued every year after the rainy season. According to Mpu Prapanca in his book Nagarakertagama, the exact route was changed every year, in the end the king will have seen his whole realm. Prapanca who joined the expeditions explained many things he saw during his journey. He wrote that Hayam Wuruk visited all kind of temples and the sacred places to pay homage to gods and ancestors, also talking or discuss many religious problems with the temples’ superintendents. He also made a sympathetic dialoque with his people, joined the ceremonial activities, by singing, dancing and poetry-reading.
According to a famous legend the princess was attacked by a white tiger when Adityawarman arrived. The putri darawati asked help to save her “daughter”. Immediately, Adityawarman with his men fought the white tiger and killed it.
In Islamic legends he had killed the white tiger by a prayer to Allah which caused a storm and uprooted a tree which fell on the beast. Hence, he was also nicknamed as Prahbu Si Gentar Alam which means “the king who could move nature” since accordingly he was so powerful that when he was angry and stamped his feet the earth would shake.
Adityawarman found out the “daughter” of the old woman was his lost wife.
It was then that Adityawarman had found out that his father had long been dead. He took his wife back to Daha along with the widow who according to traditions was converted to Islam.
The return of the Bhre Daha was celebrated with utmost importance by Hayam Wuruk. It was on that occasion that Paduka Sori Parameswari, the daughter of Adityawarman (Bhre Wengkir) and Rajadewi Maharajasa (Bhre Daha) was given in marriage to Hayam Wuruk. After the wedding, a sraddha funerary ceremony for the Rajapatni Gayatri, Hayam Wuruk’s grandmother was held. A statue of Rajapatni Gayatri as the goddess Prajnaparamita (also the name of her twin sister) was erected in her honor. The ceremony was done by the Buddhist and Saivite clergymen in the same courtyard where the ceremony was performed. The caturdwija (rsi-saiwa-sogata-mahabrahmana) were invited to join the ceremony. During the ceremony, lion thrones were erected, where priests placed a flower effigy (puspa) symbolizing the soul of the Queen Grandmother.
In the canto 63, stanza 4, Prapanca narrated the preparation of the ceremony by the court artisans:
“All the multitude of the artisans there, making plaited bamboo-work, fashioning the sthana singha (lion-throne) in the wanguntur (main court-yard), setting aside those who carved wawans (carriers) for food, bukubukuran (all kinds of tower-like structures) and figures and things of that kind. Took part also the smiths of dadaps (embossed coverings) of gold and silver, all of them bestirring themselves the more in their respective customary occupations.”
The descent of the soul to earth and its final placement in the puspa were narrated in canto 64, stanza 5:
“At the waxing moon, on the twelfth night, they invited there that swah (soul), sutra (sacred texts) recital was performed and homa (fire offering) worship, on the other hand also parίshrama (amphidromy); they were (only considered) complete at the arrival of the swah (soul) again (on earth). The honoured holy puspa (flower effigy) was worked on with yoga (concentration); in the night was performed the eminent pratistha (placing) ceremony.”
The ceremony lasted for seven days. Colorful pageants crowded the main courtyard. The whole ceremony was performed to please the Rajapatni's soul in hopes that her favor would shine on the reign of her descendants. The posthumous ceremony continued and the king ordered the repair of the Kamal Pundak sanctuary to enact a new holy shrine (candi) for the Queen Grandmother, deified as the Prajnaparamita.
The Queen Grandmother Rajapatni had a special place in Prapança's poem. In one stance, the poem describes the Queen Grandmother as chattra ning rat wisesa (the eminent protector of the world). Rajapatni was the progenitor of the Madjapahit kingdom, because she was the daughter of Kertanegara, the last king of the Singhasari kingdom, and she was also the wife of Raden Wijaya, the founder of Madjapahit. Thus she was seen as the protector of the world. The Queen Grandmother is said in the poem to embody the Pramabhagavati; Bhagavati is another name of Prajnaparamita (the Goddess of Wisdom in Mahayana).
Miranda Shaw in her book, Buddhist Goddesses of India, pp. 166-167, describes the goddess Prajnaparamita as follows:
“In the foundational body of Mahayana literature known as the Prajnaparamita or Perfection of Wisdom texts, the highest metaphysical principle, the energy, glory, and radiance of enlightened wisdom — is envisioned as a cosmic female, the mother of knowledge, the source of all Buddhas. This goddess, known as Prajnaparamita, is regarded as the “mother” of all beings who attain enlightenment, for it is her wisdom that engenders liberation. She is the supreme teacher and eternal font of revelation. All who seek illumination must sit at her feet and drink from the stream of teachings that flow from her presence. Thus, Prajnaparamita is the ultimate source of refuge and object of reverence, for only those who prize wisdom above all else may attain it. Even Buddhas and bodhisattvas pay homage to her, because to her they owe their omniscience. To worship a Buddha, the relics of a Buddha, or a stupa is to honor what she has brought into being; to revere her directly is to worship the source.
Just as philosophy is the queen of the sciences, Prajnaparamita is the philosophiae regina, the Buddhist Sophia, a dazzling figure who represents the transcendent wisdom that crowns the intellectual and spiritual quest. In the wake of the contending schools of Abhidharma philosophy, mother Prajnaparamita arose to cast her serene, clear sighted gaze of nondual wisdom over all disputants. Her luminous, golden persona draws her devotees away from worldly attachments and into the encompassing splendor of her mystical mother light.
Prajnaparamita shares her name with the literature in which she appears, the philosophy with which she is associated, and the knowledge she personifies. The text that introduces the philosophy and the goddess, the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra, or 8000-Line Perfect Wisdom Scripture…. Although the work advances a systematic philosophical viewpoint, its language is redolent with poesy, devotion, and emotional fervor as it celebrates the goddess and her namesake wisdom.”
Hayam Wuruk is said to have regularly made sacred journeys to the south coast probably searching for his “aunt” and foster mother, the Bhre Daha.88 Believing that the Bhre Daha was dead, Hayam Wuruk had also erected a statue of her as the goddess Camunda, another attribute of the Hindu war-goddess Durga after killing the demon kings Chanda and Munda. Since then, the Bhre Daha was also known in legends and genealogies as Ki Syama which means “the general who is an incarnation of Durga as a warrior”. In Sejarah Melayu she was known as Kençana Kesuma, the “daughter” (actually daughter-in-law) of Gadjah Mada while in the Silsilah Raja-raja Sulu she was known as Puteri Ratna Kesuma, the “daughter” (actually foster daughter) of the Chinese general Ong Sum Ping (Wong Wang Ping) who according to Chinese and Bornean legends was sent together with his brother Ong Sum Kang (Wong Wang Kong), another Chinese general, by Kublai Khan to search for the “pearl of the dragon”, called in Sabah as “butiza” and in Cebu as ”trabungko or karbungko sa bakunawa” or “mutya sa alimpo’os”, in the mountains of the “islands”.
According to the record of the Silsilah Raja-raja Sulu, when Ong Sum Ping first arrived at Brunei with many Chinese, he said that he was ordered to collect a “pearl of the dragon” in Sabah, and the mountain was named Mt. Kinabalu. Ong Sum Ping was actually a corruption of the Chinese word “chung ping” which means “general”. In legends the said Ong Sum Ping used his knowledge as his weapon while his brother Ong Sum Kang used his excellent skills in martial arts, the pança silat. Hence, the Bhre Daha might have acquired her wisdom and remarkable skills in martial arts from her foster parents. Brunei (Berune) at that time was a vassal state of the Madjapahit Empire as indicated in the book of Nagarakertagama, canto 14, written by Prapanca in 1365.
The Nagarakertagama depicts a sophisticated court with refined taste in art and literature, and a complex system of religious rituals. The poet describes Madjapahit as the centre of a huge mandala extending from New Guinea and Maluku to Sumatra and Malay Peninsula. Local traditions in many parts of Indonesia retain accounts in more or less legendary form from 14th century Madjapahit's power. Madjapahit's direct administration did not extend beyond east Java and Bali, but challenges to Madjapahit's claim to overlordship in outer islands drew forceful responses.89
According to some accounts, around 1364, after the death of the Chamese Queen, the wife of Kertanegara, and her burial, the Bhre Daha had sailed with her husband Adityawarman to Sumatra and stayed long in Palembang.
Around 1366, Sang Nila Utama was confirmed as ruler over Temasek by an envoy of the Chinese Emperor.
In the latter half of the 14th century the Madjapahit Empire had sent several trade missions to China. It was on those trade missions that the name Lusung (Luzon) first appeared in Chinese History in 1373 in the Ming Annals. In this document, Lusung was one of the first to answer the call for tribute missions to the new Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was Brunei that first responded in 1371, followed by Liuchiu in 1372, and then by Lusung in 1373.
Despite the fact that it made its first appearance on Chinese records as late as 1373, evidences suggests that the Chinese had long known the existence of Luzon as far back as the Sung Dynasty (960 - 1278). The presence of thousands of recognizable pieces of Sung and Yuan Dynasty porcelains found in ancient burial sites in the Province of Pampanga and Manila suggests an active trade with China long before the Ming period.
Thus the following year, in 1375, he sent an expedition to destroy the kingdom of Adityawarman, his father-in-law. A terrifying battle ensued between Adityawarman and the Madjapahit army in Padang Sibusuk. Based on the Sumatran inscriptions, found in the statue of Adityawarman as Lokitesvara (which was built by his Buddhist followers), merry-making followed with “wines and flowers”.
The Ming Annals record the fact that in 1377 the ruler of Melayu (the general name for Sumatra at this period), the Maharajah (i.e., Adityawarman) obtained China's recognition of his old title "King of San-fo-t'si" (Şrivijaya) even though San-fot'si had already been captured by Java. 90 Upon hearing of China's commentary Hayam Wuruk retaliated by executing the Chinese envoys, without any comment from China. He then sent another punitive naval attack against a rebellion in Palembang91, contributing to the end of the Şrivijayan kingdom. The rebellion was squashed by Madjapahit but it left the area of southern Sumatra in chaos and desolation. It could be presumed that Adityawarman was killed during the said attack. While the Bhre Daha had returned to Mindanao and her three sons became the ancestors of the rulers of Sulu and Brunei and was believed to be the ancestress of the Walisongo.
The nature of the Madjapahit Empire and its extent is subject to debate. It may have had limited or entirely notional influence over some of the tributary states which included Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Kalimantan and eastern Indonesia over which of authority was claimed in the Nagarakertagama.92 Geographical and economic constraints suggest that rather than a regular centralized authority, the outer states were most likely to have been connected mainly by trade connections, which was probably a royal monopoly.89 It also claimed relationships with Champa, Cambodia, Siam, southern Burma, and Vietnam, and even sent missions to China. 93
Although the Madjapahit rulers extended their power over other islands and destroyed neighboring kingdoms, their focus seems to have been on controlling and gaining a larger share of the commercial trade that passed through the archipelago. About the time Madjapahit was founded, Muslim traders and proselytizers began entering the area.
The Death of Hayam Wuruk
In 1389, Hayam Wuruk died. His death was said to be accompanied by civil wars and natural calamities -- volcanic eruptions and typhoons. His ashes was said to be buried at the Bojong Ratu temple in Trowulan area where seldom visited by man with position since it is local belief that if a person with certain standing visits it he will loose his position. Hayam Wuruk was succeeded by the crown princess Kusumawardhani, who married a relative, Prince Wikramawardhana. Hayam Wuruk also had a son from his previous marriage, crown prince Wirabhumi, who also claimed the throne. Following Hayam Wuruk's death, Madjapahit power entered a period of decline with conflict over succession started by Bhre Wirabhumi, Hayam Wuruk’s son from a concubine. He already had received the region of Blambangan called “the eastern court”, but he was dissatisfied and conflict occurred between Bhre Wirabhumi against his cousin Wikramawarddhana from the western court. This war for the struggle of the throne is known as perang paregreg, ending with the defeat of Bhre Wirabhumi. Furthermore, even though Bhre Wirabhumi was killed, this family conflict was not over yet, and the accident of Bhre Wirabhumi’s death even became the seed of continuous family vengeance and dispute, until the sixteenth century. Malacca began to challenge the power of Madjapahit over the MaIay Peninsula and the rest of Java. Islamic activity from Malacca was also beginning to penetrate the island of Java, and it would eventually replace Brahmanism. 94 As time passed, the various Hindu religious cults sought refuge in the hills, eventually confining themselves to Bali and, as the Javanese chronicles say, "the prosperity of the island vanished".95
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