A Short History of Indonesia - 14 - BobHay Short History of Indonesia - 14.pdf · !3...
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14. A Short History of Indonesia
Early Kingdoms of East Java
WC 3311 The influence of India had always been weaker in East Java than in the centre and west of the island so, when Sindok moved the court to the valley of the Brantas River near present-‐day
Surabaya, the indigenous elements of Javanese culture arose once more to the surface. There, the Shaivite religion of the kraton combined comfortably with the indigenous beliefs in which ancestor worship of course, was central. Many parts of East Java are swampy and eminently suitable to growing rice. When brought under intensive cultivation, this land made the region extraordinarily rich. Commercial connections with the other islands, with the Malay peninsula and of course with Srivijaya brought traders to the coastal ports and spread the reputation of the kingdom abroad. It was at this time too that Bali for the first time came into the orbit of the Javanese kingdoms. Bali was not a single kingdom but a large part of the island was controlled by the Varmadeva dynasty. Late in the 8th Century, the king Udayana Varmadeva1 married Mahendradatta, daughter of Sri Isyana Tunggawijaya who ruled the kingdom of Medang2 from 947 to 985 AD. On the death of their father, Mahendratta’s brother became king of Medang and ruled under the name Dharmawangsa.
Gunung Kawi, Bali (photo: BH)
Udayana and his queen, Mahendratta had at least three sons, the eldest of whom was called Airlangga3. Two younger sons, Marakata and Anak Wungsu are also known to have ruled as kings after Udayana. However Airlangga,
1 Also known as Dharmodayana – see Hall, DGE: A History of South-East Asia, Macmillan Student Editions (3rd Edition), St Martin’s Press, 1970, p. 69. 2 Remember, this was the new name adopted for the old kingdom of Mataram when it was moved to East Java. 3 Also spelt Erlangga
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their oldest brother, was never king in Bali but became one of the great folk heroes of Java. He was born in Bali in 991 and died in Java at the age of 58 in 1049 AD. Travellers in Bali are always taken to see what is called Gunung Kawi, near Pejeng. Here, in a deep ravine, are a number of shrines carved into the cliff face, the most prominent of which are four carved in relief in the north face. There is a fifth off to one side and five other temple façades found across the little river, but tourists generally don’t get to see these. There are also several meditation niches and a cloister for ascetics. Explanations by guides vary, but these temples in bas-‐relief are actually memorials to Airlangga’s father, Udayana Varmadeva and his wives among whom of course was Mahendradatta ⎯ or Gunapriya as she is often called in Bali ⎯ the royal mother of Airlangga. His two younger brothers are also remembered in these memorial bas-‐reliefs. Although Airlangga never ruled in Bali, he is known on one occasion to have sent an envoy of Brahmin priests to petition for the installation of his son as king but the petition was rejected. Instead, Airlangga’s younger brother became king, assuming the name Dharmawangsa like his maternal uncle, the last king of Medang in East Java. He ruled from 1022 to 1025 and was succeeded by the third brother, Anak Wungsu (which means “youngest son”). This last, who ruled from 1025 to 1049 was most probably the king who completed his own and the other memorials at Gunung Kawi which his brother had commenced. Accounts vary; some say Airlangga spent his childhood in Bali, others that he grew up in his uncle’s Watugaluh Palace in Java not far from the modern city of Surabaya. Dharmawangsa ruled from c.985 to 1006. The historian DGE Hall4 says that Dharmawangsa is
…..the first historical person of whom we have more than a dim vision. He ordered a codification of Javanese law and encouraged the translation of Sanskrit texts into Javanese. Among other works parts of the Mahabharata were translated into Javanese prose with the Sanskrit verses interpolated. Thus arose the oldest prose literature in the language5.
During the 990s Dharmawangsa was strong enough to establish a colony in West Kalimantan and ⎯ foolishly as it turned out ⎯ to attack the interests of
4 Hall, DGE: A History of South-East Asia, Macmillan Student Editions (3rd Edition), St Martin’s Press, 1970. 5 Op cit p. 67
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Srivijaya. Srivijaya retaliated in 1006 and sent one of its allies, Wurawari who sacked and burned the kraton. Although the raja Dharmawangsa and many of his followers were killed in the battle, Airlangga, who was 16 at the time, managed to escape and fled into the mountains of East Java. There, in the cloister at Wonogiri he lived as an ascetic6 for several years until, in 1019 he emerged from the jungle and set about re-‐gaining control of the region his uncle had once commanded. The sack of the kraton and the death of Dharmawangsa left East Java in chaos. Without a strong central power, local chieftains struggled against each other to extend their own small territories. Although Airlangga was consecrated as king, he dared not try to extend his control too far for fear Srivijaya might attack again. However, Rajendra Chola, the Chola king in Coromandel in South India began a series of raids upon Srivijayan ports in Southeast Asia when, in 1025 he conquered Kedah. These raids continued for the next two decades during which time, of course, Srivijaya turned its attentions away from East Java and whatever Airlangga was doing. Kahuripan Airlangga made peace with Srivijaya and, that threat removed, established a new kingdom he called Kahuripan. As the power of Srivijaya declined during his reign, Airlangga expanded his sphere of influence to include more of Central Java and the north coast where Surabaya and Tuban became important centres of trade. He also seems to have regained some control of
his father’s kingdom in Bali although he was not himself its ruler7. Mt. Penanggungan where Airlangga established his first capital.
One of the main reasons Airlangga is so well remembered is because under his rule, the arts and
literature flourished. Among the greatest of these was the Arjuna Wiwaha, an adaptation by Mpu Kanwa in 1035 of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. This is ostensibly the story of Arjuna, an incarnation of Vishnu, but is also an
6 Many sources say he lived “as a hermit” but I think this is just a poor translation into English of a much more respected Hindu practice often involving seclusion, silence, self denial and discipline.. 7 DGE Hall, op. cit p. 69 suggests that in 1022 Airlangga may have succeeded his father in Bali. This would explain other suggestions by others that Bali exercised some suzerainty over East Java for some time.
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allegory of the life of Airlangga himself. Versions of this are sung in special clubs all over Bali to this day where it is known by the full name Kakawin Arjunawiwaha. Furthermore, a version was also adapted and used even to this day in the Javanese shadow puppet theatre, the wayang kulit.
Raden Arjuna, wayang kulit8
Airlangga is also remembered for his religious tolerance. During his reign Saivites, Mahayana Buddhists and ascetics ⎯ known as Rishi ⎯ all enjoyed good mutual relations. Saivism was regarded as
the first stage on the way to enlightenment, followed by a Tantric form of Mahayana Buddhism which had become a secret sect popular among the ruling classes. The priesthoods of both these religions became so powerful Airlangga had himself proclaimed a reincarnation of Vishnu, in part to bring them under his control and it is as Vishnu riding Garuda he is portrayed in the Belahan statue. This was found at Belahan on the side of Mt Penanggungan, the site where Airlangga’s first capital was located. Airlangga depicted as Vishnu mounted on his steed, the bird Garuda9
Kings often had themselves deified as reincarnations of Vishnu so that they could be worshipped in this form after their deaths. This version of ancestor worship allowed the Hindu and indigenous religious practices to merge into one, the king obtaining new magical powers from his ancestors who, like him, were then part of the same ultimate force in the universe. This is the reason there are so many candis scattered around Central and East Java ⎯ dedicating these monuments was part of the process whereby a king became identified, hence “deified” with the god of his choice. In 1045 Airlangga relinquished his throne and retired to a life of contemplation as a Rishi. He also changed his name to Jatiningrat, emulating his Sanjaya ancestor, Pikatan. Both kings passed through four stages in their lives, starting with one of asceticism; next, of warfare; then of victory and rule; and finally, of retreat and contemplation10. 8 http://apdnsemarang.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/ki-narto-sabdo-abimanyu-krama/ 9 This sculpture was found in Belahan and is now in the collection of Trowulan Museum, East Java. Photo: Wikipedia. 10 For a discussion of this tradition and the events leading up to Pikatan’s “retirement”, read DGE Hall, op. cit. pp 49-51.
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In an act which seems out of character with his policies throughout his reign, before he retired Airlangga divided his kingdom of Kurhipan between his two sons. Both were the children of concubines because the legitimate heir, Sanggramawijaya, had chosen to become a hermit and live in a cave. No record remains why Airlangga should have done this although it is believed he did so on the advice of his long-‐time adviser, the ascetic Bharada. Historians speculate that he feared if he had not done so, these men would have started a civil war of succession. The two, now separate kingdoms became known as Janggala and Kediri with the Brantas River the boundary between them. Airlangga died at the age of 58 in 1049 AD. The civil war he perhaps feared did not eventuate: the two kingdoms merged once more when Bamesvara (1182-‐94) of Kediri married Princess Kirana of Janggala. Janggala was gradually absorbed into Kediri and disappeared from history.
Kediri Although the Tamil Chola raids on Srivijayan ports in the long run proved unsuccessful, they seriously weakened Srivijaya’s hegemony in Southeast Asia and allowed the successors to Airlangga, especially the rulers of Kediri, to continue to expand trade relations with other parts of the archipelago
Trade routes in 12th to early 13th century AD.
In about 1200 AD, the Chinese book of Chu-‐fan-‐chi says that Java was ruled by two powerful kingdoms, Srivijaya and Kediri (the Sunda kingdom we will study later was by that time under Srivijayan control). The territories controlled by Kediri, according to the Chinese observer, included not only Bali and large areas of Central and Eastern Java but also parts of West Papua, Kalimantan, Timor, Sulawesi and the Moluccas. In other words, what began as an essentially agricultural kingdom in the basin of the Brantas River had become a maritime power controlling most of the eastern half of Indonesia. Kediri left few monuments and inscriptions and nearly all we know about the 10 kings who ruled until 1222 are their names. However, this was a time of great literary activity and is remembered by the Javanese as a period of romantic chivalry. The only king we know anything about was Jayabhaya, who ruled 1135-‐57, who correctly prophesised the downfall and later resurrection of his country. He was the hero of a poem called Harivamsa written by Mpu Panuluh. Another masterpiece of Old Javanese literature was
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the Bharatayuddha which retold the story of the great battle between the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata. It is important to realise that these adaptations of classic Indian stories, as were the bas-‐reliefs carved by Indonesian stone workers into the walls of the many candi, were thoroughly Javanese, not Indian, in their presentation.
We are fortunate to have a first-‐hand account by a Chinese visitor to Kediri which shows us what every-‐day life was like there in the 12th Century. Written by Chou K’u-‐fei in 1178 the book was called Ling-wai-tai-ta. It records, in part that people wore clothes which covered them down to their legs and that they wore their hair long and flowing. The houses were well kept and the floors flagged with green or yellow stones. When it came to marriage, the groom’s family paid a bride-‐price to the bride’s family. People relied upon prayers to the Buddha rather than develop medical treatments for when they were sick. There was no torture or imprisonment in Kediri, wrong-‐doers being punished by being made to pay a fine in gold, that is, except thieves and robbers who were executed. The people lived in rural communities where they grew rice and raised cattle, pigs and poultry. Silk worms were cultured to produce the silk from which some clothes were made, others being made from cotton. A variety of musical instruments were played, including flutes, drums and a kind of wooden xylophone, probably a predecessor to the gamelan. The king dressed in silk and wore leather shoes and lots of ornate gold jewellery. His hair was worn piled high on top of his head. He received officials while seated on a square throne. Officials withdrew after an audience
having bowed three times. When he travelled outside his kraton, the king rode an elephant while accompanied by a large contingent of soldiers and officials. The people prostrated themselves as he passed them by. Festivals played an important part in the ritual life of the kingdom. Especially important was a water festival held in the 5th month of the year while in the 10th month, another festival was held in the mountains. Vajrasattva. Eastern Java, Kediri period, 10th/11th century CE, bronze, 19.5 x 11.5cm.
It was during this time also that the value of the spice trade came to be recognised by the kings who took control of the supply of cloves, nutmeg and
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mace as well as dealing in pepper and scented woods such as sandalwood from Timor. By 1222, Ternate, the small island which is the home of the clove, was a colony of Kediri. Clove tree in bud with insert view of Ternate. 11 Singosari In 1222 Kediri fell and a new kingdom called Singosari took its place. Established by a professional criminal known as Ken Angrok or “he who upset everything”, this
new state was born out of the people’s dissatisfaction with the take-‐over of the old Janggala by Kediri. Of lowly origins, Ken Angrok murdered the Regent of Tumapel, one of the Kediri vassal states, and married his victim’s widow, Ken Dedes. Using a quarrel between King Kertajaya of Kediri and his priests as an excuse, he invaded Kediri and defeated its forces at Ganter. He then built a kraton at Kutaraja, which later became known as Singosari and assumed the throne as King Rajasa. All this is retold in the Javanese Chronicle, the Pararaton or “Book of Kings”. Written sometime between AD 1481 and 1600, the first half of the book gives a fanciful and mythical account of the early life of Ken Angrok, how he was the son of the god Brahma and a peasant woman who laid him, as a baby in a graveyard where he was found by Ki Lembong, a professional thief who brought him up to a life of gambling, rape and plunder. He is saved many times by divine intervention, even the Lord Siva at one time declaring him to be his son… The end finally came for Ken Angrok ⎯ or Raja Rajasa ⎯ after a reign of 20 years when a son of Ken Dedes by her former husband murdered him. The new king was then in turn murdered by a son of Rajasa who seized the throne in 1242. However, he did not last long either and was succeeded by a son of the man who murdered Rajasa… King Vishnuvardhana ruled for twenty years, from 1248 to 1268 and was succeeded by his son, another of the famous kings of Java, Kertanagara. These early years of Singosari, as DGE Hall points out, are lacking in detail “save for the sordid list of murders through which one king was replaced by another.”12 However, he goes on to add that archaeology has revealed much of interest about the period: 11 The inserted drawing was by Francois Valentijn (1666-1727), a missionary who worked at Amboina from 1684 to 1694 and from 1705 to 1713 he traveled extensively. An insert in the upper left corner depicts a plan of the Fortress Oranje. Image from http://www.maps-charts.com/Prints_books_photos2.htm 12 Op. cit. p 72
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In architecture and art the purely Javanese element has come into its own fully. In religion the symbiosis of Saivism and Buddhism has become a marriage; and although outwardly in the sculptures their Hindu or Buddhist characters are distinguishable, their real significance must be sought in native folklore and legend. They personify the divine and magic powers worshipped by the people.13
The new king, Kertanagara completed the process of unification between Saivism and Buddhism by practising the secret rites of the Tantric cult. This enabled him to protect his realm from demonic powers and preserve the welfare of his people. How he did this, through a state of ecstasy achieved by drunkenness and sexual orgies, shocked the writer/s of the Pararaton and for a long time, Kertanagara was regarded in many quarters as little better than evil debauchee. The alternative view however, was taken by Prapança in his long poem the Nagarakertagama written in 1365. Prapança was the head of the Buddhist clergy renowned as an ascetic. The great Dutch scholar, CC Berg of Leiden University argued that Prapança’s estimate of the king should be taken seriously and he labelled Kertanagara “the misunderstood empire builder.14 Berg thought that Kertanagara’s intention through these mystical practises was to heal the rift which had been created by the division of the Kahuripan kingdom by Airlangga under the direction of his advisor, the ascetic Bharada. To combat this, he had a statue of himself in the form of another ascetic, Aksobhya, erected on the spot where Bharada once lived. This huge statue at Candi Jawi is known affectionately to the people of Surabaya today as Djaka Dolog or “Fatty Daddy”…. Perhaps more importantly, Kertanagara attempted to unite many of the powers of Southeast Asia against the potential threat by the Mongols from China. For a long time historians accepted the view that in 1275 Kertanagara launched what was called the Pamalayu expedition against Srivijaya as part of a grand imperialist scheme to restore Java’s greatness. Instead, Berg argues, he underwent a Tantric consecration as the Bhairava Buddha by which he hoped to gain powers to enable him to offset those Kublai Khan obtained by his consecration as a Jina-‐Buddha in 1264 and 1269 and that far from being an aggressive expedition, his envoys were on diplomatic campaigns to unite Indonesia, spiritually if not necessarily militarily, against the threat from the north.
13 Ibid p. 72 14 Quoted in DGE Hall, ibid p 73.
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Whatever interpretation is put on the Pamalayu ⎯ and historians have been arguing about it for years ⎯ it seems certain that Kertanagara was a ruthless ruler and tolerated no dissent in his kingdom. Furthermore, it seems he was right to fear a Mongol invasion. Kublai Khan eventually sent envoys demanding his submission ⎯ not just the traditional declaration of respect for the Emperor accompanied with presents of produce from the region, but downright submission and obedience. Kertanagara responded by “disfiguring their faces”. The meaning here is not clear: it perhaps meant he had the noses of the envoys cut off15 and then sent them back to Kublai Khan. Perhaps this expression by the Chinese scholar recording the event was meant figuratively, as in “loss of face? Whichever way, Kublai Khan was incensed and despatched a huge fleet in retaliation. Meanwhile yet another rebellion was brewing. A prince of Kediri called Jayakatwang invaded Singosari and killed Kertanagara while he was in the midst of one of his Tantric orgies. So, when the Chinese fleet under the command of Admiral Yi-‐k’o-‐mu-‐su arrived at Tuban ⎯ about 145 km west along the coast from Surabaya ⎯ he found the kingdom under a new ruler. At this point the former Crown Prince of Singosari, Vijaya, fled to Madura but was persuaded to return to Java and make submission to Jayakatwang, which he did and was rewarded in turn by being made governor of a district. He then turned to the Mongols and sought their help in overthrowing Jayakatwang in return for which he promised submission to Kublai Khan… The Mongols did as he asked, Jayakatwang was easily defeated and the capital returned to Vijaya. He then turned on the Mongols who, at this time were engaged in what these days is called “mopping up” and “pacification”. He was so successful that the Admiral abandoned the campaign and left for home. Vijaya now became king, assuming the title Kertarajasa Jayavarddhana. He built his kraton at Madjapahit, ironically the district in the lower Brantas valley to which Jayakatwang had appointed him when he falsely made submission. The kingdom came to be known as Madjapahit, the last great Hindu kingdom in Java and the greatest empire the archipelago had known before Soekarno united the islands as Indonesia.
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15 or he had their faces tattooed