• Majapahit was the last of the Indianized states of SEA, and was partly responsible for the collapse of Srivijaya. When Kertanagara was overthrown by Jayakatwang (the Viceroy of Kediri) and killed (1292), the kingdom was plunged into a state of confusion. Raden Vijaya, successor and son-in-law of Kertanagara, immediately challenged Jayakatwang. He was unsuccessful and was forced to flee. He took refuge in a village on the River Brantas named "Majapahit" or "Bitter Fruit."
• In 1292, Kublai Khan sent a great fleet of 1000 ships and 20,000 men to Java to punish Kertanagara. By then, Kertanagara had died. Vijaya sought Chinese help in overthrowing Jaykatwang by accepting Chinese suzerainty. Once on the throne, Vijaya manouevred the Chinese out of Java.
• The village of Majapahit held Vijaya's affection as the starting point of his career and he chose it as his new capital. He also adopted the name "Majapahit" for his new kingdom. Thus began the history of the last of the Indianized states in SEA.

1. Kertarajasa Jayavardhana (Raden Vijaya) 1293-1309

The period of the Majapahit kingdom also saw the rise of its famous Prime Minister, Gaja Mada.

• Vijaya, the founder of the kingdom, took the title of "Kertarajasa Jayavardhana". His name had a special meaning (according to the historian Slametmuljana). "Kert" referred to the aim of restoring and improving the country, "rajasa" referred to the military destruction of the enemy; "jaya" meant that this destruction would be triumphant and "vardhana" covered the economic aspects of the country's improvement.
• However, his reign was not a peaceful one - it was beset by a series of rebellions. He managed to normalise relations with China, though - Chinese records mentioned four Javanese embassies to China during the reign of this ruler.
• Kertarajasa actively pursued a policy of alliance with neighbouring countries through marriage. It was an attempt to create a "Pan-Indonesian" policy. He arranged for the marriage of 4 Javanese princesses to the rulers of Madura, Bali, Melayu and Borneo. He himself married a princess from Melayu and another from Champa. His aim was to improve diplomatic relations with them, hoping they would join in a confederacy under his leadership (the same idea as Kertanagara).
• However, his policy failed because these states resented his attempts to impose his leadership upon them. As a result, rebellions were staged against him by the neighbouring states and by the Javanese nobles (they were not happy because his descendants were considered not pure Javanese) within his kingdom. The king had difficulty suppressing the rebellions which continued until his death in 1309.

• Kertarajasa was succeeded by his son by a Sumatran princess, Jayanagara. Because of this, the new king had little support from the Javanese nobles. In addition he faced a strong secessionist movement in east Java beyond the Brantas River. This area had always been fiercely independent. The reign of Jayanagara was therefore a troubled period, characterised by rebellions.
• One of the more serious revolts was the Kuti revolt which broke out in 1319. The king was forced to flee from his capital. In this, he was aided by a young officer of the palace guards, Gaja Mada, who staged a counter-revolt and restored Jayanagara to the throne. This was the beginning of the rise of Gaja Mada in his career.
• According to the "Pararaton" there were altogether 9 uprisings against the dynasty in the reigns of the first 2 rulers, i.e. 1295-1328 and the Kuti rebellion was the most serious.
• In spite of its internal trouble, Majapahit managed to retain its dominant power. A European traveler visiting Java in 1321 testified that "the king of it hath subject to himself seven crowned kings...."
• Like his predecessors, Jayanagara maintained friendly relations with China. From 1325 to 1328, he sent annual embassies to the Chinese court.
• In 1328, Gaja Mada instigated the court physician, Tanca, to kill the king who had seduced his (Gaja Mada's) wife. Immediately after, Gaja Mada had Tanca executed, and thence became the most powerful person in the kingdom. As the king had no son, the crown reverted to the first wife of Kertarajasa (Vijaya) - whose name was Rajapatni Gayatri, a Cham princess. But she had denounced the world and entered a nunnery. So her daughter, Tribhuvana assumed the regency in her name.
• In 1329, Tribhuvana married a noble named Chakrahara. She had a son (Hayam Wuruk) by him in 1334. Hayam Wunik later became king at the death of the grandmother (Rajapatni) in 1350.

• It was during this period that Majapahit rose to the height of its power. The man behind it, and whose career rose quickly with the state, was none other than Gaja Mada.
• In 1331 Tribhuvana appointed Gaja Mada Mapatih. He became the power behind the throne. This was because as Tribhuvana's mother, Rajapatni Gayatri was a foreigner (Cham Princess), she was not allowed to become queen. Tribhuvana had to depend on Gaja Mada in running of state atfairs. When her son Hayam Wuruk ascended the throne at the death of the grandmother in 1350, Gaja Mada remained in control until his death in 1364.
• This period is thus important for it saw the rise of Majapahit and the rise of Gaja Mada as the most powerful person in the kingdom.

• Gaja Mada was the most powerful and famous person in the history of Majapahit. He began his career as a young officer in the reign of the second ruler - Jayanagara. He helped the king to escape during the Kuti rebellion in 1319 and also helped to restore the king to his throne. For this, Gaja Mada was made Patih of Kahuripan, and a few years later, Patih of Kediri.
• When the king seduced his wife, Gaja Mada had the king killed by the physician, Tanca, and later, Gaja Mada had Tanca executed. These events show that Gaja Mada was a shrewd and ruthless person.

• He was appointed Mapatih during the regency of Tribhuvana 1331. He became the power behind the throne. When Hayam Wuruk ascended the throne in 1350, Gaja Mada remained in control till his death in 1364.

• Gaja Mada dreamed of continuing the policy of expansion and empire-building begun by Kertanagara. Like Kertanagara, he believed in magical power, but unlike Kertanagara, he used the method of armed conquest. The part played by Gaja Mada in suppressing the Kuti Rebellion shows him in his early days as a supporter of the Nusantara policy (Indonesian Confederacy). This probably explains why his appointment as "Mapatih" caused a rebellion in East Java.
• In 1331, when he returned to Majapahit after suppressing the rebellion, he is said to have taken an oath before the Council of Ministers that Nusantara would be subdued. He was thus adopting a policy of imperial expansion which consisted of the restoration and extension of the framework of Kertanagara's empire.
• The first target was Bali. Bali had been conquered by Kertanagara in 1284 but had regained its independence. The conquest began in 1331 and was apparently completed in 1343.
• According to Prapanca in his "Nagarakertagama", the other places targeted by Gaja Mada between the years 1331-1351 were: Guran, Seran, Tanjungura, Aru, Pahang, Dompo Sunda, Palembang, Tumasek., Madura, Borneo. In short, the whole of present day Indonesia plus much of Malaya, Singapore and Brunei. It was assumed that these places came under his control. Some historians, e.g. Krom, Stutterheim, Vlekke, have accepted this extent of Majapahit's empire as substantially true.
• However, Prof C.C. Berg questions the claim and dismisses the list of dependencies in the "Nagarakertagama" as historical myth, based upon totally inadequate evidence.
• Berg believes that the Majapahit kingdom never went beyond the island of Java, except for Bali and Madura. According to him, Gaja Mada was tied down to a very difficult campaign against Bali. D.G.E. Hall thinks that "So far as the ascertainable facts go, the state of Majapahit was limited to East Java, Madura and Bali."

• In 1351 Gaja Mada arranged a marriage between Hayam Wuruk and the Princess of Sunda to trap the ruler of Sunda to surrender his kingdom to Majapahit. When the ruler of Sunda realised his scheme and tried to withdraw, a bloody fight broke out, known as the "Bubat Bloodbath." The ruler of Sunda and his whole retinue were overpowered and slain. After that, Sunda seemed to have acknowledged the overlordship of Majapahit for a time, but ultimately recovered her independence.
• This incident shows that Gaja Mada was capable of cruelty in order to pursue his policy of Nusantara. Thus, the policy of "blood and iron" had gained little more success than the previous policy of confederation as far as building up an Indonesian empire was concerned. (Moorhead).

• We have very little information as to the part played by Gaja Mada in the direction of internal affairs. Based on Prapanca's account, Gaja Mada is said to have devised an intricate system of administration that resulted in efficient rule for the realm. Prapanca mentioned a list of governmental regulations, most of which have been attributed to Gaja Mada.
• Members of the royal family were given specific tasks - for example, the king's father was in charge of justice, taxation; his uncle handled public works, agrarian affairs, etc.
• Gaja Mada's name is also associated with a law book which was compiled under his instructions. The range of his administrative activities was so wide that when he died (1364), the king decreed that it was impossible to appoint a successor and divided his functions among 5 ministers.

1. The role of Gaja Mada in Indonesian history is that of an empire-builder - he continued the policy of Nusantara first advocated by Kertanagara. The Majapahit empire included Madura and Bali, which were places outside Java.
2. Secondly, he was the power behind the throne. It was he who restored Vijaya to the throne and suppressed all internal rebellions. Through his able leadership, he had brought about a period of peace and order to the kingdom.
3. Under him, Majapahit attained the peak of its power and the monopoly of the spice trade. Wang Ta Yuan of China who visited Java in 1350, described it as a prosperous, fertile country whose numerous and peaceful people are "foremost of the barbarians of the eastern seas."

• In 1350 Hayam Wuruk ascended the throne at the death of Rajapatni, and took on the name of Rajasanagara. The accession of this ruler brought no change in the policy of Majapahit. Gaja Mada remained in control of state affairs till his death in 1364. The young king was quite content to leave the matters of state to the Prime Minister.
• The reign opened with a dramatic event, the "Bubat Bloodbath of 1351" (see above). Prapanca had this to say of the king: "Truly King Hayam Wuruk is a great potentate. He is without cares and worries. He indulges in all pleasures. All beautiful maidens in Janggala and Kediri are selected for him..." So, the king was left with little energy to conduct state affairs. The Prime Minister was effectively in control.

• Prapanca gives the names of states with which Majapahit maintained friendly relations. They included Siam, Burma, Cambodia, Champa and Yavana (Vietnam). Commercial relations were conducted with China, Carnetic and Bengal. By the year of Gaja Mada's death (1364), Majapahit had a virtual monopoly of the trade of the area, especially the spice trade. This led to great prosperity for Majapahit.

• Soon after the death of Gaja Mada, Majapahit started to decline but had not fallen yet. Hayam Wuruk had little interest in state affairs. The government was left in the hands of a council of 5 ministers and the king's closest relatives, assisted by numerous officials. Since the king was the centre of the whole administrative system, and he showed so little interest in state affairs, the kingdom was greatly weakened.

2. Civil War

• Before his death, Hayam Wuruk made the mistake of dividing his kingdom between his heir-apparent and son-in-law, Vikramavardhana, and his son from a lesser wife, Virabumi as ruler of East Java. Even before the king's death, Virabumi was ruling in East Java as an independent ruler. When Vikramavardhana ascended the throne, Virabumi refused to acknowledge his authority. This led to an outbreak of civil war which began in 1402 and ended only in 1406 with the death of Virabumi. This war not only seriously weakened Majapahit but also led to the foundation of Malacca, since the founder of Malacca was one of the protagonists.

• Famine broke out and completed the damage to Majapahit. The kingdom fell to pieces.

• The rise of Malacca as a commercial centre and as a nucleus for the diffusion of Islam was another cause for the fall of Majapahit. Following Malacca's example, many of Majapahit's vassal states accepted Islam and broke away from her control. They allied themselves with one another in resisting Hindu Majapahit.

• Emperor Yung-lo and Admiral Cheng Ho gave support to Malacca in order to supplant the power of Java. Parameswara was a refugee prince from Majapahit who escaped to Tumasik, and then to Muar and Malacca. He solicited China's help to protect Malacca.

• The closing years of Majapahit is unclear. Evidence of its existence ended sometime between 1513 and 1528. Its final fall is believed to have been brought about by an invasion from a coalition of Muslim states led by Demak. This was believed to have taken place in 1514.