Majapahit

Indonesia, 1293–1527. Draft, not yet reviewed

Majapahit was one of the last major Hindu-Buddhist empires of the region and is considered to be one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the history of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Majapahit was established by Raden Wijaya and rose to power after the Mongol invasion of Java. It reached its peak during the era of the queen Tribhuvana and her son Hayam Wuruk, whose reigns in the mid-14th century were marked by conquests that extended throughout Southeast Asia. The empire collapsed in 1527 due to an invasion by the Sultanate of Demak.

Seat of power: Trowulan Temple

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• According to the Nagarakṛtāgama written in 1365, Majapahit was an empire of 98 tributaries, stretching from Sumatra to New Guinea.
• According to the account of Prapanca in the Nagarakretagama poem, the royal compound was surrounded by a thick, high wall of red brick.
• The most reliable written sources for this period are Old Javanese inscriptions on stone and metal. Aerial and satellite imagery has revealed an extensive network of canals crisscrossing the Majapahit capital.

Picture

Trowulan is an archaeological site in East Java that has been theorized to be the site of the capital of the Majapahit Empire.

Image: Ivuvisual, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Sources

• Majapahit (Wikipedia)
• Majapahit (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.