GAJAH MADA,
THE FOUNDER OF THE JAVANESE EMPIRE
Penerjemah dari bahasa Belanda ke Inggris :
Barbararien Bruens
The times,
in which the Indonesians themselves decided about the destiny of the Indonesian
empire, were over. New rulers acceded the throne of the heavenly empire in
Beijing. In the second half of the 13th century whole China was
conquered by Kublai Khan, the ruler of Mongolian people. With a new government,
a new period began concerning China’s relations with neighbour countries. For
centuries, the Chinese rulers were satisfied with the formal affirmation of
subordination of the kings of Burma, Indo-China, and Indonesia. These
affirmations always were accompanied by presents (mostly nature products of
their islands). Actually this praising or homage was one of the first primitive
forms of trading. Kublai Khan wanted to be obeyed, and the great power of his army
made it possible for him to send military expeditions in all directions: Burma
was conquered and destroyed, Korea occupied, and Japan was threatened with
invasion. The kings of Indo-China, who could predict the bad things to happen,
tried to find allies. Kertanagara, King of Singhasari, wanted to help but it
failed. Indo-China was attacked. Chinese messengers came to ask for
justification at the court of Singhasari and encouraged Kertanagara to go to
the emperor court in Beijing to surrender. Year after year the Javanese King
avoided a direct answer to this message. But in 1289, when no excuses could be
invented anymore, he prisoned these messengers and sent them back with cutted
and damaged faces. Because of this, The great Khan wanted to punish this behaviour
of the King of Sanghasari of course.
Why did
Kertanagara not want peace, and then also in this brute way? Did he think that
the threatening of Khan were not serious and that his power was not that great?
In 1281, a big Chinese fleet was damaged as a result of an attack on Japan. A
year later, a Chinese army in Indo-China was totally defeated. It is possible
that Kertanagara had heard of these defeats, and for him this was a proof that
Khan was not that powerful and did not have magical powers. He must have seen
this as a sign that the Gods were not on the side of the Mongolians. Because of
Kertanagara’s brutality, Khan did not have a choice. He had to send an
expedition to maintain his power.
It took some years until an army and fleet were finished. In 1292, ships and an
army of 20.000 men went to the south. The emperor used some weird modern war
tactics. He tried to win Kertanagara’s vassals for him by promising friendship
for the nation and the land of Java. He told everybody that he did not have
other intentions than punishing Kertanagara. It took the Chinese fleet some
months to reach Java. When they arrived they heard that King Kertanagara was
dead and he lost his power of the empire.
After
Kertanagara’s dead, whole East-Java was a chaos. The crown prince Wijaya was
abandoned by all his vassals and had to escape to Madoera. It was not possible
to escape again, so then he decided to submit to the murderer of the previous
king (Kertanagara’s), whos name was Kadiri. In this way he hoped to get some
land. After a while he indeed got the disctrict next to the Brantasriver. He
built a village, named Madjapahit. Prince Wijaya slowly had supporters under
the vassals of Kadiri, but this was kept as a secret. One of these supporters
was a Madoeresian king.Wijaya and this Madoeresian king made a plan together.
Their purpose was to use the Chinese fleet to destroy Kadiri.
When the
generals of Khan arrived at the Brantas river and heard that Kertanagara was
dead, they mistakenly heard that Wijaya wanted to recognize sovereignty of Khan
but needed the Chinese army to destroy Kadiri. The generals wanted to help and
sent troupes and fleet and conquered the capital city. They trusted Wijaya and
they spread all the generals over the whole country. They thought that this
country was totally submitted. It was too late when they found out that
Wijaya’s plans were different. Wijaya
defeated the intruder and they didn’t have any choice and had to go back to
China. So the only result of the expedition (with the purpose to punish
Kertanagara) was that the son of Kertanagara had more power than ever. The
history of the Kingdom of Java, The empire of Madjapahit, began with this
Chinese intermezzo.
At the same
time, other things were happening. In the year of Kertanagara’s dead the first
Europeans in the Indian Archipel showed up: Marco Polo and his father and
uncle. Khan tried to get better relations between China and the rest of the
world and the appearance of Marco Polo was one way to do this. So they were
ambassadors of Khan. They only saw the north-east coast of Sumatra and an
important founding was that the inhabitants of the little city Perlak (in north
Sumatra) changed to Islam.
This was
the only Islamic place in the archipel. We are not sure when the Islam arrived
in East-India. But the spreading of the Islam began at the same time as the
empire of Madjapahit. The oldest Mohammedian inscription is dated in 1297, 5
years after Marco Polo’s arrival. It was found in the village Samoedra (100
miles from Perlak). It is an epitaph of sultan Malik-al-Saleh, the first
Mohammedian ruler of the famous harbour. This stone with the inscription was
brought to India from Cambay. So we can suppose that the dealers in the harbour
were the first Islamic propagandists on Sumatra. This was confirmed by the
existing commitment between Indian and Indonesian forms of Mohammedanism or
Islam. Only 20 years after this The Katholic church started in the archipel (by
The Franciscan Odorico di Pordenone.
Next to
these two, a third thing happened. Small islands on the coast of Borneo
occupied by groups of Chinese soldiers who were still there after the
expedition of 1293. These Chinese men married Indonesian women but tried to
raise their children in their own way, so the children could kept separate from
the Indonesians. In this way, Chinese and European influences existed. The
Hindoe-Javanese period still had to start.
This
developing time of the Hindoe-civilization in Java only took one century. The
kingdom Madjapahit was founded in 1293 by king Wijaya and ended with the dead
of his grandson Hayam
Wuruk in 1389. But these kings were not the real founders. The history is
firmly interconnected with the name of Gajah Mada, the ‘patih’ or first
minister of Hayam Wuruk. This man is an interesting political figure in the
Javanese history. He was the first one who was able to unite the whole Archipel
under one authority.
Gajah Mada
started his career as an officer. The second king of Madjapahit was a weak man
and was threatened by revolution all the time. He had to escape and it seemed
like everything was lost. But then Gajah Mada rescued him and the situation. He
stopped the revolution under the soldiers and escorted the king to a safer
place. Then he returned and spread the rumour that the king was dead. After
studying the reaction of the soldiers, he restored the power of the king. As a
reward for this he got a higher position. In 1331 he gained the highest
position in the empire: “patih” or the first minister. South-west Borneo was the only left domination
for Java. Sumatra and Bali were lost and was not their land anymore. Gajah Mada
directed his first military expedition against these Javanese rebels. His plan
was to conquer all islands. So he was the first one to work on a Indonesian
unity. Never before, the islands were controlled from one central point and
this was not going to happen. However, not until the Dutch people came.
Gajah Mada
regarded himself as a successor of the work of king Kertanagara. First of all
Bali found out about the new power of the Javanese army. After that the army
was directed at Sumatra. The military action was supported by diplomatic
actions. A young prince of Malayoe, who lived at the court of Java, was sent
back to his land of birth and became king as a vassal of Madjapahit. But this
young king enlarged his power until Sumatra and Menang Kabau. The islam was
spread more and more.
The
expedition to Sumatra also had as a result that Borneo came under Gajah Mada’s
control. The empire of Madjapahit became bigger and bigger. There were
expeditions to Soembawa and Lombok and Makassar and Timo. Also the kings of the
Moluccas regarded it as a privilege to be a vassal of the great empire of
Madjapahit.
One of the
last parts that became part of the Madjapahit, was Palembang. This was
conquered in 1377 by the Javanese people. The king of Palembang tried to find
help in China, but this didn’t help.
It is
difficult to get a clear image of the organisation of the wide spread Javanese
empire. There is a long list of vassal states, and it is strange that Soenda is
not one of these states. There is actually a funny history about this.
The young
king of Madjapahit, Hayam Wuruk, wanted to marry a daughter of the king of
Soenda. The king of west-Java got an invitation to come to Madjapahit with his
daughter, where the wedding was celebrated. The king of Soenda went there with
a lot of people. The Soendanese people were proud that the daughter was going
to be an official queen of the most powerful empire of Indonesia. For them this
marriage meant a relation between the two kingdoms or empires.
But then it
went wrong. The first minister was against the marriage. He told the Soendanese
people that a marriage was not going to happen, but that there was just a
ceremony and after that the princes would just be one of many women of the king
of Madjapahit. Then the Soendanese people refused. Gajah Mada again asked the
Soendanese people to give their princes to them and at the same time he brought
his troops together. It was impossible to escape and they decided to fight
back. Their king was the first to die but they tried hard to fight back. But it
did not work.
The first
minister became the ruler of the rest of Indonesia. There were only a few kings
in Indonesia. Next to Madjapahit, there was Soenda and Malayoe. All other
rulers were just rulers without a real power. They were only rulers because
they were offspring of successful traders. So there were two kinds of empires.
The powerful ones and the none powerful ones. A headman of a village got his
position because he feels more responsible and knows his own tribe and has to
have good words but also deeds. When the headman gets to old, it is already
clear who has to be his successor.
Headmen
always have to reflect the public opinion and if they don’t agree, they have to
move to another city. In this way the beliefs will remain the same over time.
When a tribe gets in touch with the outside and gets influences from other
tribes, the headman will be a hereditary leader and the holy traditions will be
remained. This is the way the situation must have been in the most empires that
are mentioned in different writings.
The second
type of miniature king is really different. Is goes as the following: A
Malaysian trader from Sumatra, the Malaysian island or Java arrived at a less
civilized island and began trading position and this changes in a monopoly.
Sometimes this trader also gets power over other trading positions and then he
is regarded as a ‘king’.
So most of
the time, these miniature kings did not really have real power. And they
subordinated to a greater power. Their position was always insecure. This is
the reason for the many different small states. Because of the many
never-ending wars, this changed intoa smaller amount of little, better organized
states. But this process was interrupted by the Portuguese and Dutch came.
Gajah Mada
made sure that the names and the place of all vassal states of Madjapahit
carefully were registered. The vassals that did not pay the yearly fee were
punished by the Javenese fleet. The Javanese practically had a monopoly over
the trading of the spices. There was a great control via the sea.
Priests
were sent to control civil servants and vassals of the king. While doing this,
they also checked the preservation and recovery of properties of Çiwa.
Spreading of religion was not a known phenomenon. They strictly followed the
caste-system. The caste-system was not as strictly preserved as in pre-India,
but distinction between social classes was recognized.
In 1364
Gajah Mada died. After that is was decided that more than 1 ruler were needed.
This resulted in 4 ministers and the work of Gajah Mada was divided under them.
The new King was the central organizer. After that a first minister was chosen
again, because it turned out to be too much work for the king.
The Kings
duty was to make sure that the gods would be honoured. The first minister had
to decide what was needed to sustain the state. The king had to travel through
all the different holy places and in this way he stayed in touch with the holy
power.
Both
religions: Boeddhist and Brahmanian were totally adapted into the system. Only
the priests and the monks were able to read and write. So they organized the
archives. There came an overview of all
laws and customs. There were some rules for the internal control. Some rules
were still used in the 19th century.
The
Javanese village is a social unity. Tax was paid in the form of agricultural
products. Loyal servants were rewarded.
This was done by giving them incomes of one or more villages. In exchange, the
villages did not have to pay tax. This system did not really change. In the
history of West-Europe, the French revolution resulted in a change. But this
change did not happen in Java.
The empire
of Madjapahit has become the biggest Asian power. The capital city grew from a
village to a real city with more than 100.000 inhabitants. People from the
whole country came together in this place. Because the city existed because of
the king and for the king, not much of the city remained. A lot of buildings
were made out of temporary material. There was one central square and around
the square the princes had their residences . In the North-East Gajah Mada had
his residence.
On the
square there were competitions and tournament and people could eat
together. However, these days without
any concerns did not take very long for Madajapahit. It was the result of a few
very powerful figures but after their death, the empire collapsed.
Terjemahan bebas bahasa Indonesia :
GAJAH MADA
PENDIRI KERAJAAN JAWA
Menjelang berakhirnya
era kerajaan Singosari, kerajaan terbesar Nusantara kala itu, yaitu pada paruh kedua
abad ke-13, seluruh Tiongkok ditaklukkan oleh Kubilai Khan, penguasa rakyat
Mongolia.
Dengan
takluknya Cina oleh
Mongol, pemerintahan
baru, periode baru, dimulai terkait hubungan
China dengan negara-negara tetangga.
Selama
berabad-abad, para penguasa Tiongkok puas dengan penegasan formal subordinasi
raja-raja Burma, Indo-Tiongkok, dan Indonesia (Nusantara). Penegasan ini selalu disertai dengan
hadiah (kebanyakan hasil alam pulau mereka). Sebenarnya pujian atau
penghormatan ini adalah salah satu bentuk perdagangan primitif pertama.
Setelah menguasai
seluruh Cina, Kubilai
Khan berkuasa, ingin ditaati, dan
kekuatan besar pasukannya memungkinkannya untuk mengirim ekspedisi militer ke
segala arah: Burma ditaklukkan dan dihancurkan, Korea diduduki, dan Jepang
diancam akan diserang.
Raja-raja
Indo-Cina yang meramalkan hal-hal buruk akan terjadi, berusaha mencari sekutu.
Kertanagara, Raja Singhasari, ingin membantu tetapi gagal. Indo-China diserang.
Utusan
Cina akhirnya datang untuk meminta
pengakuan kedaulatan dan kekuasaannya di istana Singhasari, dan mendorong Kertanagara untuk pergi ke
istana kaisar di Beijing untuk menyerah.
Tahun
demi tahun Raja Jawa (Singosari) menghindari jawaban
langsung atas pesan ini. Tetapi pada tahun 1289, ketika tidak ada alasan yang
dapat ditemukan lagi, dia memenjarakan para utusan ini dan mengirim mereka
kembali dengan wajah (telinga) yang terpotong dan rusak.
Karena itu, Khan yang agung marah
dan ingin
menghukum Raja Sanghasari, Kertanegara.
Mengapa
Kertanagara tidak menginginkan perdamaian, dan juga dengan cara yang kejam ini?
Apakah dia berpikir bahwa ancaman terhadap Khan tidak serius dan kekuatannya
tidak besar ?
Pada
1281, armada besar Tiongkok (Mongol)
rusak
saat menyerang Jepang. Setahun kemudian, tentara Cina (Mongol) di Indo-Cina dikalahkan
total. Mungkin saja Kertanagara pernah mendengar tentang kekalahan ini, dan
baginya ini adalah bukti bahwa Khan tidak sekuat itu dan tidak memiliki
kekuatan magis. Dia pasti melihat ini sebagai tanda bahwa para Dewa tidak
berpihak pada orang Mongolia. Karena kebrutalan Kertanagara, Khan tidak punya
pilihan. Dia harus mengirim ekspedisi untuk menjaga wibawanya..
Butuh
beberapa tahun sampai tentara dan armada selesai. Pada 1292, kapal dan 20.000 tentara
Mongol pergi ke selatan. Kaisar
menggunakan beberapa taktik perang modern yang aneh. Dia mencoba memenangkan hati pengikut Kertanagara dengan menjanjikan
persahabatan untuk bangsa dan tanah Jawa. Dia mengatakan kepada semua orang
bahwa dia tidak memiliki niat lain selain menghukum Kertanagara.
Armada
Tiongkok membutuhkan waktu beberapa bulan untuk mencapai Jawa. Ketika mereka
tiba, mereka mendengar bahwa Raja Kertanagara telah meninggal.
Kertanegara meninggal
dalam sebuah pemberontakan, ia dibunuh oleh menantunya sendiri, Jayakatwang. Setelah Kertanagara
meninggal, seluruh Jawa Timur mengalami kekacauan. Putra mahkota Raden Wijaya ditelantarkan oleh semua pengikutnya
dan harus melarikan diri ke Madura. Tapi setelah menyadari tidak mungkin melarikan diri lagi, dia
memutuskan untuk tunduk pada pembunuh raja Kertanagara. Dengan cara ini dia
berharap mendapatkan tanah otonomi
sebagai bangsawan.
Setelah
beberapa lama dia benar-benar mendapatkan wilayah otonomi yang letaknya di sisi sungai Brantas.
Ia membangun sebuah desa bernama Madjapahit. Pangeran Wijaya perlahan memiliki
pendukung yang sama-sama ingin melawan Kediri (Jayakatwang), tapi ini dirahasiakan. Salah satu pendukungnya
adalah seorang raja Madura. Wijaya dan raja Madura ini membuat rencana bersama.
Tujuan mereka adalah menggunakan armada Tiongkok untuk menghancurkan Kediri.
Ketika
para jenderal Khan tiba di sungai Brantas dan mendengar bahwa Kertanagara telah
meninggal, mereka secara keliru mendengar bahwa Wijaya ingin mengakui
kedaulatan Khan tetapi membutuhkan tentara Tiongkok untuk menghancurkan Kediri.
Para jenderal ingin membantu dan mengirim rombongan dan armada dan menaklukkan
ibu kota. Mereka mempercayai Wijaya dan mereka mengerahkan jenderalnya ke seluruh negeri. Mereka mengira negara
ini benar-benar akan tunduk.
Sudah
terlambat ketika mereka mengetahui bahwa rencana Wijaya berbeda. Wijaya
mengalahkan tentara Kublai Khan itu, dan mereka tidak punya pilihan lain
kecuali kembali ke China.
Jadi
satu-satunya hasil ekspedisi (dengan tujuan untuk menghukum Kertanagara) adalah
bahwa putra Kertanagara memiliki kekuatan yang lebih besar dari sebelumnya.
Sejarah Kerajaan Jawa, Kerajaan Madjapahit, dimulai dengan kegagalan pasukan Cina
ini.
Pada
saat yang sama, hal-hal lain sedang terjadi. Pada tahun kematian Kertanagara,
orang Eropa pertama di Kepulauan India muncul : Marco
Polo dan ayah serta pamannya. Khan yang menguasai Cina mencoba menjalin hubungan baik sebagai
lompatan untuk rencana masa depan. Mereka
(Marcopolo dkk) hanya melihat pantai
timur laut Sumatera dan sebuah penemuan penting adalah bahwa penduduk kota
kecil Perlak (di Sumatera Utara) telah beragama Islam.
Inilah
satu-satunya tempat Islam di nusantara yang diketahui Marcopolo. Kami tidak yakin kapan Islam tiba di Nusantara. Namun penyebaran Islam secara massif dimulai bersamaan dengan munculnya kerajaan Madjapahit.
Prasasti Islam tertua yang diketahui eropa bertanggal tahun 1297, yaitu 5 tahun setelah kedatangan Marco Polo. Itu
ditemukan di desa Samoedra (100 mil dari Perlak). Ini adalah prasasti dari
sultan Malik-al-Saleh, penguasa Islam pertama di pelabuhan yang terkenal itu. Batu dengan
prasasti ini dibawa ke India dari Cambay. Jadi kita bisa mengira bahwa para
pedagang di pelabuhan itu adalah penyebar agama Islam pertama di Sumatera. Hal
ini diperkuat oleh kesamaan bentuk-bentuk peninggalan Islam di India dan Indonesia. Hanya 20 tahun
setelah ini Gereja Katholic dimulai di Nusantara (oleh The Franciscan Odorico
di Pordenone. (Penulis : data
terbaru, telah ditemukan nisan makam bercorak Islam berangka tahun 1082 masehi
di Gresik atas nama Fatimah binti Maimun. Jadi asumsi bahwa Islam baru masuk
pada era Majapahit dan disebarkan oleh pedagang masa itu, terpatahkan).
Diketahui pula pulau-pulau kecil di
pesisir Kalimantan diduduki oleh kelompok tentara Tionghoa yang masih ada
setelah ekspedisi tahun 1293. Laki-laki (tentara) Tionghoa ini menikahi wanita Indonesia
tetapi berusaha membesarkan anak dengan caranya sendiri, dalam budaya Tionghoa.
Perkembangan
peradaban Hindu Majapahit di Jawa hanya memakan waktu satu abad. Kerajaan
Madjapahit didirikan pada tahun 1293 oleh raja Wijaya dan berakhir dengan
meninggalnya cucunya, Hayam Wuruk pada 1389. Tetapi raja-raja ini
bukanlah pendiri yang sebenarnya. Sejarah tersebut terkait erat dengan nama
Gajah Mada, sang 'patih' atau menteri pertama Hayam Wuruk. Pria ini adalah
tokoh politik yang menarik dalam sejarah Jawa. Dialah orang pertama yang mampu
mempersatukan seluruh Nusantara di bawah satu otoritas.
Gajah
Mada memulai karirnya sebagai prajurit biasa. Raja kedua Madjapahit adalah
orang yang lemah dan selalu terancam revolusi. Pada suatu peristiwa ia harus melarikan diri dan hampir celaka. Tapi kemudian Gajah Mada menyelamatkannya. Gajah Mada menghentikan revolusi dan
mengantar raja ke tempat yang lebih aman. Kemudian dia kembali dan menyebarkan
rumor bahwa raja telah meninggal. Setelah mempelajari reaksi para prajurit, dia
mengamnbil langkah
penting dan memulihkan
kekuatan raja. Sebagai hadiah untuk ini dia mendapat posisi yang lebih tinggi.
Pada
tahun 1331 ia memperoleh posisi tertinggi di kerajaan, yaitu "patih"
atau Perdana Menteri. Kala
itu Kalimantan barat daya satu-satunya yang masih dikuasai Majapahit (penerus
Singasari). Sumatera dan Bali hilang dan bukan tanah mereka lagi. Gajah Mada
mengarahkan ekspedisi militer pertamanya melawan para pemberontak Jawa ini.
Rencananya adalah menaklukkan semua pulau. Jadi dia orang pertama yang bekerja
untuk persatuan Indonesia. Belum pernah sebelumnya, pulau-pulau itu
dikendalikan dari satu titik pusat dan ini tidak akan terjadi.
Gajah
Mada menganggap dirinya sebagai penerus karya raja Kertanagara. Pertama-tama
Bali mengetahui tentang kekuatan baru tentara Jawa. Setelah itu tentara
diarahkan ke Sumatera. Tindakan militer tersebut didukung oleh tindakan
diplomatik. Seorang pangeran muda Malayu, yang tinggal di istana Jawa, dikirim
kembali ke tanah kelahirannya dan menjadi raja sebagai pengikut Madjapahit.
Namun raja muda ini memperbesar kekuasaannya hingga Sumatera dan Minangkabau. Sementara itu, Islam semakin tersebar.
Ekspedisi
ke Sumatera juga mengakibatkan Kalimantan sepenuhnya dikuasai Gajah Mada. Kerajaan Madjapahit
menjadi semakin besar. Ada ekspedisi ke Sumbawa dan Lombok serta Makassar dan
Timo. Juga raja-raja Maluku menganggapnya sebagai hak istimewa untuk menjadi
pengikut kerajaan besar Madjapahit.
Salah
satu bagian terakhir yang menjadi bagian dari Madjapahit adalah Palembang. Ini
ditaklukkan pada tahun 1377. Raja Palembang mencoba mencari bantuan di Tiongkok,
tetapi tidak berhasil.
Sulit
untuk mendapatkan gambaran yang jelas tentang organisasi kerajaan Jawa yang
tersebar luas. Ada daftar panjang negara bawahan, dan anehnya SUNDA bukan salah satu negara bagian ini.
Sebenarnya ada sejarah lucu tentang ini.
Raja
muda Madjapahit, Hayam Wuruk, ingin menikahi putri raja Soenda. Raja Jawa Barat
mendapat undangan untuk datang ke Madjapahit bersama putrinya, tempat
pernikahan itu dirayakan. Raja Soenda pergi ke sana bersama banyak orang. Orang
Sunda bangga bahwa putrinya akan menjadi ratu resmi kerajaan paling kuat di
Indonesia. Bagi mereka pernikahan ini berarti hubungan antara dua kerajaan.
bersambung ...
