Majapahit Empire: "Reign of Hayam Wuruk"

Majapahit Empire

    Majapahit Empire, the last Indianized kingdom in Indonesia, was based in eastern Java and existed between the 13th and 16th centuries. The founder of the empire was Vijaya, a prince of Singhasari who escaped when Jayakatwang, the ruler of Kaḍiri, seized the palace. In 1292 Mongol troops came to Java to avenge an insult to the emperor of China, Kublai Khan, by Kertanagara, the king of Singhasari, who had been replaced by Jayakatwang. Vijaya collaborated with Mongol troops in defeating Jayakatwang. Vijaya then turned against the Mongols and expelled them from Java.

Rise of Majapahit in Nusantara

    When Hayam Wuruk bequeathed the throne of Majapahit in 1351, He successfully brought Majapahit to its Golden Time, Under his rule the new kingdom, Majapahit, successfully controlled Bali, Madura, Malayu, and Tanjungpura. The power of Majapahit reached its height in the mid-14th century under the leadership of King Hayam Wuruk and his prime minister, Gajah Mada. Some scholars have argued that the territories of Majapahit covered present-day Indonesia and part of Malaysia, but others maintain that its territory was confined to eastern Java and Bali.

Important people of Majapahit

    The major change Majapahit has gone through is the reign of Hayam Wuruk, and his Prime Minister Gajah Mada also brings a big change to Majapahit.

Hayam Wuruk

    also called (after 1350) Rajasanagara, (born 1334, Java [now in Indonesia]—died 1389, Java), ruler of the Javan Hindu state of Majapahit at the time of its greatest power.

    Hayam Wuruk inherited the throne in 1350 at the age of 16, when the great path (“prime minister”) Gajah Mada was at the height of his career. Under the two leaders, Majapahit extended its power throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Its core area was directly administered by Hayam Wuruk, and the vast outlying territory acknowledged his supremacy, but he exerted little direct control over it. Javanese sea power was supreme, and Hayam Wuruk enjoyed an effective monopoly of trade in the region.

    Hayam Wuruk had no heir by his official queen, so he arranged to divide his kingdom between a nephew (married to his daughter by the queen) and his son by a lesser wife. In so doing he broke the unity of the state and allowed local potentates to seize control of portions of Majapahit’s territory. After his death Majapahit rapidly declined and, along with it, the last great manifestation of Hindu civilization in Java.

Gajah Mada

    also spelled Gadjah Mada, (died 1364), prime minister of the Majapahit Empire and a national hero in Indonesia. He is believed to have unified the entire archipelago. The principal poet of the era, Prapanca, eulogized Gajah Mada in an epic, and the first Indonesian university in Jogjakarta was named after him (1946).

    No information is available on his early life, except that he was born a commoner. He rose to power on his intelligence, courage, and loyalty to King Jayanagara (1309–28) during a rebellion led by Kuti in 1319. He served as the head of the royal bodyguard that escorted King Jayanagara to Badander when Kuti captured the capital of Majapahit. After finding a safe place for the King, he returned to the capital and spread the rumor that the King had been killed.

    He discovered that many officers were upset by the King’s supposed death and that Kuti was apparently unpopular among the people. Knowing, therefore, that the King still had loyal followers, Gajah Mada secretly organized a counterinsurrection, in which Kuti was killed and the King was restored. As a reward, Gajah Mada was appointed as the patih (minister) of Daha and, later, the patih of Daha and Janggala, a position that made him a member of the ruling elite. Prapanca, a court poet and historian, described Gajah Mada as “eloquent, sharp of speech, upright, and sober-minded.”

Fall of Majapahit

    The golden era of Majapahit was short-lived. The empire began to decline after the death of Gajah Mada in 1364, and it was further weakened after the death of Hayam Wuruk in 1389. The spread of Islam and the rise of the Islamic states along the northern coast of Java eventually brought the Majapahit era to an end in the late 15th or early 16th century.

Publisher : M. Yasin Abqary
Source: Britannic