Majapahit Empire

Majapahit Empire Timeline

The Majapahit Empire is notable for its place in the timeline of world history, an empire that oversaw Indonesia's transition from the Medieval Era to the Early Modern Era. The timeline below displays a brief progression of events important to the rise and fall of the Majapahit Empire:

• January 1293: Mongolian Yuan Dynasty forces depart China to invade Java in Indonesia.
• November 1293: Raden Wilaya is coronated as ruler of the newly established Majapahit Empire, naming himself Kertarajasa Jayawardhana.
• 1309: Raden Wilaya dies.
• 1328: Raden Wijaya's successor is killed, and Dyah Gitarja inherits the throne as Queen Tribhuwannottungadewi Jayawishnuwardhani
• 1350-1389: Majapahit reaches its golden age of wealth and expansionism under ruler Hayam Wuruk and his prime minister Gajah Mada.
• 1405-1406: The Regreg War ensues, a civil war of succession that cripples Majapahit.
• 1511: Malacca is captured by the Portuguese.
• 1527: Pressure from the Demak Sultanate leads to the disintegration of the Majapahit Empire.

Majapahit Empire Government

A Chakravartin ruled the Majapahit Empire, a Hindu and Buddhist-inspired universal ruler possessing divinely ordained authority. Beneath the Chakravartin worked a class of advisors and bureaucrats led by a prime minister called a Rakryan Marathi. Together, the Chakravartin and Rakryan Mapatih led Majapahit through peace and war.

Majapahit Empire Founding

As previously mentioned, the Majapahit Empire and its first Chakravartin ascended from the chaos of a Mongol Yuan Dynasty invasion. It all began when the Javanese ruler Kertanegara of Singhasari openly denied Kublai Khan's request for tribute, a slap in the face of perhaps the most powerful man on the planet. During the Yuan Dynasty, Khan dispatched thousands of ships to enact his vengeance. Before the Mongols arrived, however, Kertanegara was killed by a rival named Jayakatwang, who captured and pardoned Kertanegara's princely son, Raden Wijaya.

Fig. 2- Art depicting the Yuan Dynasty invasion fleet sailing toward Indonesia.

Jayakatwang exiled Raden Wijaya to Trowulan in East Java, where the prince was expected to sit and wait out the Mongol invasion. Instead, Raden Wijaya made contact with the Mongols and openly joined their cause, leading the invaders to victory against Jayakatwang. Gaining popularity and support through his successes, Raden Wijaya garnered a following that he used to betray the Mongols then, damaging their fleet and sending them sailing for the horizon.

Confused and lacking in morale, the Mongol warriors sailed home with the monsoon winds before the monsoon season ended. The Mongols had been repelled, and Raden Wijaya's enemies were defeated. In that same year of 1293, he declared himself Kertarajasa Jayawardhana, ruler of the fledgling Majapahit Empire. Raden Wijaya ruled from 1293 to 1309, the first sixteen years of Majapahit rule in Java.

Role Of Women In Majapahit Empire

Women played an essential role in the Majapahit Empire, so much so that we might as well change "role" to "rule". The Majapahit Empire had two different female rulers in its history, including:

• Dyah Gitarja (Tribhuwannottungadewi Jayawishnuwardhani), daughter of Raden Wijaya, ruled from 1328 to 1350 during great imperial expansionism.

• Queen Suhita ruled as a regent from 1429 to 1447.

Otherwise, quite a few women acted as concubines to rulers and administrators in the Majapahit Empire or played active roles in everyday agricultural life, enjoying many rights and freedoms.

Majapahit Empire Significance

Under Hayam Wuruk and Gajah Mada, Majapahit experienced a golden age of imperial expansionism and economic prosperity. Hayam Wuruk's role preceded Ming Admiral Zheng He's infamous 15th-century voyages into Southeast Asia and beyond. But civil war wracked the empire around the same time, making bare Majapahit's weaknesses in decentralization and administration an entire century before its fall. Yet why is the Majapahit Empire significant and studied so curiously by historians?

Fig. 3- Majapahit building in Trowulan, East Java.

Firstly, it should be noted that the Majapahit Empire was the largest in Southeast Asian history. Ruling over such a vast expanse of islands is no small feat, especially when the threat of Mongols, Islamic Sultanates, and European invaders continued to test Majapahit's strength. The Demak Sultanate (the first Islamic state in Java) sacked the Majapahit city of Daha in 1527, not long after the Portuguese captured Malacca in 1511. Although the Majapahit fell because of foreign pressure, the empire represented the strength of indigenous Southeast Asian rule for over 200 years.

Effects Of The Majapahit Empire

The Majapahit Empire, like the Srivijaya Empire, oversaw extensive trade through the Strait of Malacca, a strait that connected the Indian Ocean Trade with the Chinese seas. All wealth of goods that sailed between India and China during the end of the Medieval Era and the beginning of the Early Modern Period were policed by Majapahit jongs. The effects of Majapahit culture and art persist within Java today, symbolized by the few yet still-standing remains of the Majapahit Empire.