Around the end of the 13th century the kingdom of Kutai
Kartanegara was established in the region of Tepian Batu or Kutai
Lama. The first known ruler is Aji Batara Agung Dewa Sakti, who
is thought to have ruled from 1300 to 1325. Aji Pangeran Sinum
Panji Mendapa, who ruled 1635-1650, was able to conquer the
kingdom of Kutai Martadipura and merged the two realms thus
In 1667 the Dutch V.O.C. attacked Makassar on the island of
Sulawesi leading to the downfall of the Bugis Kingdom of Gowa.
Some of the Bugis under the leadership of Lamohang Daeng
Mangkona or Pua Ado I immigrated to Kutai on neighbouring
Borneo(Kalimantan) and the ruler of Kutai allowed them to settl
e in Kampung Melantai around the Karang Mumus River, now
into the modern town of Samarinda.Islam took hold in the region
since the 17th century (most of the Bugis where moslems) and Aji
Muhammad Idris, ruling 1732-1739, was the first ruler to have an
Islamic name.
After a civil war Aji Imbut, after finally becoming the ruler as Aji
Muhammad Muslihuddin in 1780, moved the capital in 1782 from
Pemarangan to TepianPandan. The name of the capital city
eventually developed from Tangga Arung to its present form of
Tenggarong.
In 1844 the Dutch defeated the Sultan Aji Muhammad Salehudin,
forcing him into exile, and took direct control of Kutai.
The Japanese invaded the region in 1942 and acknowledged a
joined, along with its neighbours, into the East Kalimantan
federation.
In 1949 Kutai finally became part of the United Republic of
Indonesia.
Majapahit was an archipelagic empire based on the island of Java
from 1293 to around 1500. Majapahit reached its peak of glory
during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389
marked by the conquest of kingdoms in Maritime Southeast Asia
(including present day Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei,
East Timor, and the Philippines)
Majapahit empire was the last of the major empires of the Malay
archipelago and is considered to be one of the greatest empires in
territory of Indonesia and has been a subject of many studies.
Little physical evidence of Majapahit remains, and some details of
the history are rather abstract. The main sources used by historians
are: the Pararaton ('Book of Kings') written in Kawi language and
Arok (the founder of Singhasari) but includes a number of shorter
narrative fragments about the formation of Majapahit.
Majapahit golden age under the reign of Hayam Wuruk after which
some events are inadequately covered. There are also some
inscriptions in Old Javanese and Chinese.
The Javanese sources incorporate some poetic mythological
elements, and scholars such as C. C. Berg, a Dutch nationalist,
have considered that the entire historical record to be not a record
of the past, but a supernatural means by which the future can be
. Despite Berg's approach, most scholars do not accept this view, as
the historical record corresponds with Chinese materials that could
not have had similar intention. The list of rulers and details of the
state structure, show no sign of being invented.
Singhasari (Singosari) was founded by Ken Arok (
1182-1227/1247), whose story is a popular children's tale in Central
and East Java
Ken Arok was an orphan born of a mother named Ken Endok and
an unknown father (some tales stated he was a son of god Brahma
himself – one of three gods of Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu, and
Shiva) in Kediri kingdom’s territory. Ken Arok was also said to be
a reincarnation of Vishnu. And years later, when he was in war
against King Kertajaya of Kediri, the king arrogantly said that only
Shiva himself can defeat him, and thus Ken Arok used Shiva as his
title, as though the three gods were united in him. Regardless of the
veracity of his claim, Ken Arok proved himself by growing from a
mere commoner to be a king whose descendants ruled Java for
centuries.
Ken Arok was raised by a thief. Thus lack of supervision regarding
right andwrong from his parents made him into a boy who simply
follows his desires. He earned a very bad reputation by fighting,
gambling, stealing, etc. Later in life, he came into the service of
Kediri. Ken Arok, who was very talented at making good
impressions from his youth, somehow earned Tunggul Ametung's
trust and came to be one of his most trusted people.
Tunggul Ametung, a middle-aged lord of Tumapel, had a very
beautiful young wife, Ken Dedes. Ken Dedes was a daughter of
Mpu Purwa, a renowned Buddhist priest. She had been abducted by
the Tumapel lord while her father was away. Ken Arok fell in love
with Ken Dedes when they first met, and he planned to make her
his wife, even if it meant he had to kill his own master. To this end,
Ken Arok went to a famous weaponsmith named Mpu Gandring
and asked him to make a sacred kris (Javanese double-edged
dagger). The process of making the sacred weapon took longer than
Ken Arok could stand, and in his anger he took the unfinished
weapon from Mpu Gandring and killed the smith with his own
weapon. In his last breath, Mpu Gandring cursed Ken Arok and the
next 7 generations of his descendants to death by the same weapon
Ken Arok made a show of his kris to one of his fellow Tunggul
Ametung’s retainer, Kebo Ijo, who became fascinated with the
unique weapon and asked Ken Arok to lend him the Kris. When
Kebo Ijo had the Kris, he bragged to everyone that the weapon
belonged to him. Ken Arok kept silent about this, as he was well
aware of Kebo Ijo’s character and these were his plans from the
start. One night, Ken Arok secretly took the weapon from Kebo
Ijo’s room, slipped away and managed to kill Tunggul Ametung. He
left the kris on the lord's chest so Kebo Ijo would be blamed for the
murder. The accused Kebo Ijo was soon killed by Ken Arok before
he could deny using the kris of Mpu Gandring. Ken Arok then took
Ken Dedes as his wife and made himself the new lord of Tumapel.
At the time, Ken Dedes was pregnant with Tunggul Ametung's
child.
name intoSinghasari (Singosari) and rebelled against the Kediri
Kediri was an Indianized kingdom based in East Java from 1042 to
around 1222. Despite the seeming lack of archaeological remains,
the age of Kediri saw much development in classical literature.
Gatotkacasraya, and Mpu Dharmaja's Smaradahana blossomed in
this era
Celebrated as the era of blossomming literature, Kediri produced
significant contributions in the field of Javanese classic literature.
Next to the literary works already mentioned, Lubdhaka and
Wrtasancaya by Mpu Tanakung, Krisnayana written by Mpu
The book of Ling-wai-tai-ta composed by Chinese author Chou
K'u-fei in 1178 gave a glimpse of everyday life in Kediri that
cannot be found in any other source material, about the
government and people of Kediri. According to Chou K'u-fei,
people wore clothes that covered them down to their legs, with a
loose hairstyle. Their houses were clean and well arranged with
floors made from green or yellow cut stones. Agriculture, animal
farming, and trading flourished and gained full attention from
government. He reported that silkworm farms to produce silk and
cotton clothes production had been adopted by Javanese by that
time. There was no physical punishment (jail or torture) of
criminals. Instead, the people who committed unlawful acts were
forced to pay fines in gold, except for thieves and robbers who
were executed. In marital customs, the bride's family received some
amount of bride price from the groom's family. Instead of
developing medical treatment, the Kediri people relied on prayers
to Buddha.
On the 5th month of the year a water festival was celebrated,
people would travel in boats on along the river to celebrate. On the
10th month, another festival was held in the mountains. People
would gather there to have fun and perform musical with
instruments such as flutes, drums, and wooden xylophones (an
The King wore silk garments, leather shoes and ornately golden
jewelry. He wore his hair up high on his head. Everyday he would
receive state officials managers of his kingdom on a square throne.
After an audience, the state official would bow three times to the
king. If the king traveled outside the palace, he rode an elephant,
accompanied by 500 to 700 soldiers and officials, while his
subjects, the people of Kediri prostrated themselves as the king
passed.
Sailendra (Sanskrit:Lord of the Mountain) is the name of an
influential Indonesian dynasty that emerged in 8th century Java
.
The Sailendras were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism and
covered the Kedu Plain of Central Java with Buddhist monuments,
including the world famous Borobudur.
The earliest dated inscription in Indonesia in which the dynastic
name Sailendra appears is the Kalasan inscription of central Java,
dated 778 AD, which commemorates the establishment of a
Buddhist shrine for the Buddhist goddess Tara.
The name also appears in several other inscriptions like the Kelurak
inscription (782) and the Karentengah (792). Outside Indonesia,
the name Sailendra is to be found in the Ligor inscription (775) on
the Malay peninsula and the mid-9th century Nalanda inscription.
The Sailendra rulers maintained close relations, including marriage
allianceswith the Srivijaya kingdom in Sumatra. For instance,
Samaratungga married Dewi Tara, a daughter of Srivijayan
maharaja Dharmasetu. The mutual alliance between the two
kingdoms ensured that Srivijaya had no need to fear the emergence
of a Javanese rival and that the Sailendra had access to the
international market.
The received version holds that the Sailendra dynasty existed next
to the Sanjaya dynasty in Java. Much of the period was
characterized by peaceful co-existence and cooperation but
towards the middle of the 9th century relations had deteriorated.
Around 852 the Sanjaya ruler Pikatan had defeatedBalaputra, the
This ended the Sailendra presence in Java and Balaputra retreated
to the Srivijaya kingdom in Sumatra, where he became the
paramount ruler.
Mataram was a Hindu-Buddhist Javanese kingdom based in Central
Java between the 8th and 10th centuries AD and was established
by king Sanjaya, he was also known as the founder of Sanjaya
dynasty. The Sanjaya dynasty reign the kingdom, but then in later
period the kingdom was ruled by Isyana Dynasty. Although initially
eclipsed in power by the rival Sailendra Dynasty, by 850 it had
become the dominant power in Java and was a serious rival to the
hegemonic Srivijaya Empire.
The early account of Mataram kingdom is mentioned in Canggal
inscription,dated 732, discovered in Canggal village, Southwest
from the town of Magelang. This inscription was written in Pallava
letters and in Sanskrit, and tell about the erection of a lingga
located at a noble island called Yawadwipa (Java) which blessed
with abundance of rice and gold. This
inscription tells that Yawadwipa was reigned by king Sanna, which
his long period of reign was marked with wisdom and virtue. After
king Sanna died the kingdom fell into disunity. Confused because
lost of ruler and patron, Sanjaya ascend to throne, he was the son of
Sannaha (sister of Sanna). He was king that mastered holy
scriptures, martial art, and also military prowess. He conquered
neighboring area around his kingdom, his wise reign blessed his land
with peace and prosperity for all his subjects.
King Sanna and Sanjaya also known in Carita Parahyangan, a book
from later period which mainly tell the history of Pasundan (Sunda
Kingdom). This bookmentioned that Sanna was defeated by
Purbasora, king of Galuh, then he retreated to mount Merapi. Later
Sanna's successor Sanjaya reclaim Sanna's kingdom and ruled West
Java, Central Java, East Java, and Bali. He also involved in battle
with Malayu and Keling (against their king Sang Srivijaya). In main
theme of Carita Parahyangan is corresponds to Canggal inscription.
Srivijaya or Sriwijaya was an ancient Malay kingdom on the island
of Sumatra, Southeast Asia which influenced much of the Maritime
Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from
the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited
Srivijaya in 671 for 6 months. The first inscription in which the
name Srivijaya appears also dates from the 7th century, namely the
Kedukan Bukit Inscription around Palembang in Sumatra, dated
683.The kingdom ceased to exist between 1200 and 1300 due
Sanskrit, sri means "shining" or "radiant" and vijaya means
"victory" or "excellence".
After Srivijaya fell, it was largely forgotten and so historians had
never considered that a large united kingdom could have been
present in Southeast Asia. The existence of Srivijaya was only
formally suspected in 1918 when French historian George Coedès
of the École française d'Extrême-Orient postulated the existence of
the empire. Around 1992 and 1993, Pierre-Yves Manguin proved
that the centre of Srivijaya was along the Musi River between
Bukit Seguntang and Sabokingking (situated in what is now the
The Sunda Kingdom was a kingdom based on western part of Java
from 669 to around 1579, covering areas of present-day Banten,
Jakarta, West Java, and the western part of Central Java.
According to primary historical records, theBujangga Manik
manuscript the eastern border of the Sunda Kingdom is Pamali
River (Ci Pamali, present day Brebes River) and Serayu River (Ci
Sarayu) in Central Java. Most of the accounts of Sunda Kingdom
came from the primary historical records dated from the sixteenth
century.
Little physical evidence of Sunda kingdom remains, and most parts
of West Java history is remain unclear. However there is
continuous knowledge about the kingdom among Sundanese
people that has been kept alive through Sundanese Pantun oral
tradition, the chant of poetic verses mostly tells the story of the
golden era of Sunda Pajajaran and the legend of King Siliwangi, the
popular king of Sunda
Most of the account and records of Sunda kingdom came from
ancient manuscripts dated from later period, such as Wangsakerta,
Carita Parahyangan, Kidung Sunda, Bujangga Manik, and Pustaka
mentioned the kingdom, such as Jayabupati, Kawali, and Batutulis.
Tarumanagara or Taruma Kingdom or just Taruma is an early
Sundanese kingdom, whose fifth-century ruler, Purnavarman,
produced the earliest known inscriptions on Java island. The
kingdom was not far from modern Jakarta, and Purnavarman
apparently built a canal that changed the course of the Cakung
River, and drained a coastal area for agriculture and settlement. In
his inscriptions, Purnavarman associated himself with Vishnu, and
Brahmins ritually secured the hydraulic project.
Tarumanagara existed between 358-669. The earliest known
written records of Tarumanagara existence are inscribed monument
stones. Inscribed stone is called prasasti in Indonesian language. A
prasasti located in a river bed of Caiaruteun river, called Prasasti
Ciaruteun, from the fifth century AD, written in Wengi letters (used
in the Indian Pallava period) and in Sanskrit language.
In about 650, Tarumanagara kingdom was attacked and defeated by
Srivijaya (a kingdom established in Sumatra island in 500). Then,
Tarumanegara's influence on its small kingdoms began to decline.
In 669, Tarusbawa inherited Tarumanagara crown. Tarusbawa was
the last king of Tarumanagara. This is in line with Chinese
chronicles mentioning that a messenger of Tarumanagara last
visited China in 669. Tarusbawa indeed sent his messenger advising
his enthronement to Chinese king in 669. Because the influence of
Tarumanagara in Tarusbawa era declined as a result of severance
by its vassal states as well as due to the attacks by Srivijaya, he
wished to return the greatness of the kingdom as was in the era of
Purnawarman controlling the kingdoms from Sunda Pura. Hence, in
670, he changed name Tarumanagara to be Sunda.
This event was made as a reason by king Wretikandayun
(Monarchic founder of Galuh) to dissociate the small kingdom from
the power of Tarumanagara and asked King Tarusbawa to divide
Tarumanagara territory into two parts. Galuh got a support from
Kalingga kingdom (the first kingdom in Java island) to separate
from Tarumanagara because Galuh and Kalingga had made an
alliance through dynastic marriage; a son of King Wretikandayun
married Parwati (a daughter of Queen Sima) from Kalingga and
Sana alias Bratasenawa alias Sena (a grandson of King
In a weak position and wishing to avoid civil war, the young King
Tarusbawa accepted the request of old King Wretikandayun. In
670, Tarumanagara was divided into two kingdoms: Sunda
Kingdom and Galuh Kingdom with the Citarum river as the
boundary. Then Galuh Kingdom comprised many vassal kingdoms
King Tarusbawa then established a new capital of his kingdom near
the Cipakancilan river upstream which centuries later became the
city of Pakuan Pajajaran (or shortly called Pakuan or Pajajaran).
King Tarusbawa becomes the ancestor of Sunda kings.
The history is usually divided into two periods, that of the early
Kutai Martadipura phase some time around 350-400 and the later
Kutai Kartanegara phase beginning around 1300.
Seven stone pillars, or yūpa (“sacrificial posts”), have been found in
Kutai, Kaman Estuary, near the Mahakam River. The plinths bear
an inscription in the Pallava script of India reading "A gift to the
Brahmin priests". The style of the script has been dated to the last
half the fourth century. It is believed these religions were brought
to Indonesia around the second and fourth centuries, respectively,
when Indian traders arrived on the islands of Sumatra, Java and
Sulawesi.
The names of three rulers are known from the inscriptions. The first
ruler mentioned is Kuṇḍungga, the “lord of men” (narendra), his
son Aśwawarman, styled the “founder of the dynasty” (vaṇśa-kartṛ)
and grandson of the first and son of the later, Mūlawarman called
the “lord of kings” (rājendra). As Kuṇḍungga does not seem to be a
name of Sanskrit hinduistic style while the other two are, it is
presumed he was a leader of local origin and it was his son
Aśwawarman that adopted the hinduistic belief. It was
the military actions of his two predecessors is known, "Raja"
Mūlawarman is stated to have conquered his neighbours in battle.
The name of his kingdom is not mentioned on the inscriptions nor
do any other documents in other countries relate to a kingdom at
this time in this region. It is not known what became of the kingdom
after these pillars had been erected. It may be possible that the
poem Nāgarakṛtāgama is asancient and reflects the original name
used a thousand years earlier.
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