Battle of Bubat
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Bubat also known as Pasunda Bubat is the battle between Sundanese royal family
and Majapahit army that took place in Bubat square on the northern part of Trowulan
(Majapahit capital city) in 1279 Saka
or 1357 CE. The uneven battle and the demonstration of courage through fighting an impossible battle and facing a certain death, is somehow comparable to the Battle of Thermopylae
.
and Pararaton
, but not found in the Nagarakretagama
, while the story of the battle of Bubat is the main theme of the Balinese manuscript Kidung Sunda
.
, king of Majapahit decided, probably for political reasons, to take princess Citra Rashmi
(also known as Pitaloka) as his spouse. She was a daughter of Prabu Maharaja Lingga Buana of the Sunda Kingdom. Tradition describes her as a girl of extraordinary beauty. Patih Madhu, a matchmaker from Majapahit was sent to the kingdom to ask for her hand in royal marriage. Delighted by the proposal and seeing the opportunity to foster an alliance with Majapahit, the mightiest kingdom in the region, the king of Sunda gave his blessing and decided to accompany his daughter to Majapahit for the wedding.
In 1357 the Sunda king and the royal family arrived in Majapahit after sailing across the Java Sea
by Jung Sasana ships, then encamped on Bubat square in the northern part of Trowulan, capital city of Majapahit, and awaited the wedding ceremony. However Gajah Mada
, the Majapahit prime minister saw the event as an opportunity to demand Sunda's submission to Majapahit overlordship, and insisted that instead of becoming queen
of Majapahit, the princess was to be presented as a token of submission and treated as a mere concubine of the Majapahit king. The Sunda king was angered and humiliated by Gajah Mada's demand.
Despite courageous resistance, the royal family were overwhelmed and decimated by the Majapahit army. The Sunda king was died in a duel with a Majapahit general as well as other Sundanese nobles with almost all of the Sundanese royal party massacred in the tragedy. Tradition mentions that the heartbroken Princess — highly possibble with all of remaining Sundanese women — took their own life to defend the honour and pride of their country. The ritualized suicide by the women of kshatriya
(warior) class after the defeat of their men, is expected to defend their pride and honour as well as to protect their chastity, rather than facing possibility of humiliation through rape, subjugation or enslavery.
tradition. Her father, Prabu Maharaja Lingga Buana was revered by the Sundanese as Prabu Wangi because of his heroic act to defend his honour against Majapahit. His descendants, the later kings of Sunda, were called Siliwangi
.
Gajah Mada faced opposition, distrust and sneering at the Majapahit court because of his careless act which was not to the taste of the Majapahit nobles and undermined king Hayam Wuruk's influence. This unfortunate event also marked the end of Gajah Mada's career, since not long after this event the king forced Gajah Mada to an early retirement through awarding the prime minister the lands in Madakaripura (today Probolinggo
) thus exiled him far from capital city courtly affairs.
This tragedy severely harmed the relationship between the two kingdoms and resulted in hostility for years to come, the situation never again returning to normality. Prince Niskalawastu Kancana — the princess Pitaloka's younger brother that during his infancy remained in Kawali palace (Sunda Galuh capital city) and did not accompany his family to Majapahit — become the sole surviving heir of Sunda King. His policies after ascended to throne among others are severed Sundanese diplomatic relations with Majapahit, imposed isolation policy upon Majapahit, including edicted the law Larangan Estri ti Luaran, which forbade Sundanese people to married Javanese. This reactions reflected the Sundanese disappointment and anger towards Majapahit, and later contributed to the Sundanese-Javanese animosity, the sentiments that even may still runs to present day. For example unlike most of Indonesian cities, today in Bandung
, West Java
capital city also the cultural center of Sundanese people, there is no street name bearing the name "Gajah Mada" or "Majapahit". Although today Gajah Mada is considered as Indonesia
n national hero, Sundanese people still did not find him deserving based on his wicked deed in this incident.
Curiously, although Bali
are known as the heir of Majapahit culture, Balinese
opinion seems to took Sundanese side in this dispute, as evidence through their manuscript Kidung Sunda
. The Balinese reverence and admiration to Sundanese heroic act by courageously facing certain death was probably in accordance with Hindu
code of honour
of kshatriya
s caste
, that the ultimate and perfect death of a kshatriya is on the edge of sword; to die on the battlefield. The practice of demonstrating the act of courage has its Balinese counterpart in their puputan
tradition, a fight to the death by men and followed by mass ritual suicide by the women in preference to facing the humiliation of surrender.
Sunda Kingdom
The Sunda Kingdom was a Hindu kingdom located on the 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...
and Majapahit army that took place in Bubat square on the northern part of Trowulan
Trowulan
Trowulan is a village in Mojokerto, in the Indonesian province of East Java. It is surrounded by an archaeological site covering approximately 100 square kilometres. It has been suggested it was the site of the eponymous capital city of the Majapahit Empire, which is described by Mpu Prapanca in...
(Majapahit capital city) in 1279 Saka
Saka
The Saka were a Scythian tribe or group of tribes....
or 1357 CE. The uneven battle and the demonstration of courage through fighting an impossible battle and facing a certain death, is somehow comparable to the Battle of Thermopylae
Battle of Thermopylae
The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August...
.
Historical account
The historical account of Pasunda Bubat is mentioned in Carita ParahyanganCarita Parahyangan
Carita Parahyangan is a text contained in a single manuscript, registered as kropak 406 from the former collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen , now in the Perpustakaan National in Jakarta...
and Pararaton
Pararaton
The Pararaton, also known as the Book of Kings, is a manuscript in the Kawi language. The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages contains the history of the kings of Singhasari and Majapahit in eastern Java...
, but not found in the Nagarakretagama
Nagarakretagama
The Nagarakretagama or Nagarakrtagama, also known as Desawarnana, is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king and the monarch of the Majapahit Empire. It was written as a kakawin by Mpu Prapanca in 1365 . The Nagarakretagama contains detailed descriptions of the Majapahit Empire...
, while the story of the battle of Bubat is the main theme of the Balinese manuscript Kidung Sunda
Kidung Sunda
Kidung Sunda is a Middle-Javanese kidung of probable Balinese provenance. In this poem, the story of king Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit who was looking for a bride to be, is narrated. At last he chose the princess of Sunda, a kingdom in West Java. The princess' name is remained undisclosed in this...
.
Wedding proposal
Hayam WurukHayam Wuruk
Hayam Wuruk, also called Rajasanagara, , was a Javanese King and the fourth monarch of Majapahit empire. Together with his prime minister Gajah Mada, he reigned the empire at the time of its greatest power. He was preceded by Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi and succeeded by his son in law...
, king of Majapahit decided, probably for political reasons, to take princess Citra Rashmi
Dyah Pitaloka Citraresmi
Dyah Pitaloka Citraresmi or Citra Rashmi , was the princess of the Sunda Kingdom in Western Java. According to the Pararaton or Book of Kings, she was supposed to marry Hayam Wuruk, the new young king of Majapahit who had a great desire to take her as his queen. However in the tragedy known as the...
(also known as Pitaloka) as his spouse. She was a daughter of Prabu Maharaja Lingga Buana of the Sunda Kingdom. Tradition describes her as a girl of extraordinary beauty. Patih Madhu, a matchmaker from Majapahit was sent to the kingdom to ask for her hand in royal marriage. Delighted by the proposal and seeing the opportunity to foster an alliance with Majapahit, the mightiest kingdom in the region, the king of Sunda gave his blessing and decided to accompany his daughter to Majapahit for the wedding.
In 1357 the Sunda king and the royal family arrived in Majapahit after sailing across the Java Sea
Java Sea
The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...
by Jung Sasana ships, then encamped on Bubat square in the northern part of Trowulan, capital city of Majapahit, and awaited the wedding ceremony. However Gajah Mada
Gajah Mada
Gajah Mada was, according to Javanese old manuscripts, poems and mythology, a powerful military leader and mahapatih or prime minister of the Majapahit Empire, credited with bringing the empire to its peak of glory...
, the Majapahit prime minister saw the event as an opportunity to demand Sunda's submission to Majapahit overlordship, and insisted that instead of becoming queen
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Majapahit, the princess was to be presented as a token of submission and treated as a mere concubine of the Majapahit king. The Sunda king was angered and humiliated by Gajah Mada's demand.
The battle and the suicide of the princess
As a result, a skirmish took place on Bubat square between the Majapahit army and the Sunda royal family in defence of their honour. It was uneven and unfair match, since the Sundanese party were composed mostly of royal family, state officials and nobles, accompanied with servants and royal guards. The numbers of Sundanese party were estimated numbered less than a hundred, some source mentioned 97 people. On the other hand, the armed guards stationed within Majapahit capital city under Gajah Mada commands are estimated numbered several thousand personnel of well armed and well trained troops. The Sundanese party were surrounded in the center of the Bubat square. Some source mentioned that Sundanese has manage to defend the square and strike back the Majapahit siege for several times. However as the day went on the Sundanese resistance were exhausted and overwhelmed. Despite facing the certain death, the Sundanese demonstrated extaordinary courage and chivalry as one by one of them fell.Despite courageous resistance, the royal family were overwhelmed and decimated by the Majapahit army. The Sunda king was died in a duel with a Majapahit general as well as other Sundanese nobles with almost all of the Sundanese royal party massacred in the tragedy. Tradition mentions that the heartbroken Princess — highly possibble with all of remaining Sundanese women — took their own life to defend the honour and pride of their country. The ritualized suicide by the women of kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
(warior) class after the defeat of their men, is expected to defend their pride and honour as well as to protect their chastity, rather than facing possibility of humiliation through rape, subjugation or enslavery.
Aftermath
According to tradition, Dyah Pitaloka's death was mourned by Hayam Wuruk and the entire population of the Sunda kingdom who had lost most members of their royal family. Later king Hayam Wuruk married to Paduka Sori, his own cousin instead. Pitaloka's deed and her father's courage are revered as noble acts of honour, courage and dignity in SundaneseSundanese people
The Sundanese are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Indonesian island of Java. They number approximately 31 million, and are the second most populous of all the nation's ethncities. The Sundanese are predominantly Muslim...
tradition. Her father, Prabu Maharaja Lingga Buana was revered by the Sundanese as Prabu Wangi because of his heroic act to defend his honour against Majapahit. His descendants, the later kings of Sunda, were called Siliwangi
King Siliwangi
Siliwangi is a legendary great king of the Sunda kingdom in West Java. The kingdom flourished between 669 to 1759 AD. He brought the kingdom greatness and prosperity. Some accounts of his life are taken from the Pantun Sunda oral tradition that describe his reign as a glorious era for the Sundanese...
.
Gajah Mada faced opposition, distrust and sneering at the Majapahit court because of his careless act which was not to the taste of the Majapahit nobles and undermined king Hayam Wuruk's influence. This unfortunate event also marked the end of Gajah Mada's career, since not long after this event the king forced Gajah Mada to an early retirement through awarding the prime minister the lands in Madakaripura (today Probolinggo
Probolinggo
Probolinggo is a city on the north coast of East Java, Indonesia.Like most of northern East Java, the city has a large Madurese population in addition to many ethnically Javanese people...
) thus exiled him far from capital city courtly affairs.
This tragedy severely harmed the relationship between the two kingdoms and resulted in hostility for years to come, the situation never again returning to normality. Prince Niskalawastu Kancana — the princess Pitaloka's younger brother that during his infancy remained in Kawali palace (Sunda Galuh capital city) and did not accompany his family to Majapahit — become the sole surviving heir of Sunda King. His policies after ascended to throne among others are severed Sundanese diplomatic relations with Majapahit, imposed isolation policy upon Majapahit, including edicted the law Larangan Estri ti Luaran, which forbade Sundanese people to married Javanese. This reactions reflected the Sundanese disappointment and anger towards Majapahit, and later contributed to the Sundanese-Javanese animosity, the sentiments that even may still runs to present day. For example unlike most of Indonesian cities, today in Bandung
Bandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
, West Java
West Java
West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...
capital city also the cultural center of Sundanese people, there is no street name bearing the name "Gajah Mada" or "Majapahit". Although today Gajah Mada is considered as Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n national hero, Sundanese people still did not find him deserving based on his wicked deed in this incident.
Curiously, although Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
are known as the heir of Majapahit culture, Balinese
Balinese people
The Balinese population of 3.0 million live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok, and in the eastern-most regions of Java The Balinese population of 3.0 million (1.5% of Indonesia's population) live...
opinion seems to took Sundanese side in this dispute, as evidence through their manuscript Kidung Sunda
Kidung Sunda
Kidung Sunda is a Middle-Javanese kidung of probable Balinese provenance. In this poem, the story of king Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit who was looking for a bride to be, is narrated. At last he chose the princess of Sunda, a kingdom in West Java. The princess' name is remained undisclosed in this...
. The Balinese reverence and admiration to Sundanese heroic act by courageously facing certain death was probably in accordance with Hindu
Hinduism in Indonesia
Hinduism in Indonesia, also known by its formal Indonesian name Agama Hindu Dharma, refers to Hinduism as practised in Indonesia. According to the 2000 census Hindus consisted 1.79% of the total population with 88.05% in Bali and 5.89% in Central Kalimantan...
code of honour
Honour
Honour or honor is an abstract concept entailing a perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects both the social standing and the self-evaluation of an individual or corporate body such as a family, school, regiment or nation...
of kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
s caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
, that the ultimate and perfect death of a kshatriya is on the edge of sword; to die on the battlefield. The practice of demonstrating the act of courage has its Balinese counterpart in their puputan
Puputan
Puputan is a Balinese term that refers to a mass ritual suicide in preference to facing the humiliation of surrender. Notable puputans occurred in 1906 and 1908 when the Balinese were being subjugated by the Dutch.- 1906 Badung puputan :...
tradition, a fight to the death by men and followed by mass ritual suicide by the women in preference to facing the humiliation of surrender.
See also
- Kidung SundaKidung SundaKidung Sunda is a Middle-Javanese kidung of probable Balinese provenance. In this poem, the story of king Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit who was looking for a bride to be, is narrated. At last he chose the princess of Sunda, a kingdom in West Java. The princess' name is remained undisclosed in this...
- PararatonPararatonThe Pararaton, also known as the Book of Kings, is a manuscript in the Kawi language. The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages contains the history of the kings of Singhasari and Majapahit in eastern Java...
- Sunda KingdomSunda KingdomThe Sunda Kingdom was a Hindu kingdom located on the 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...
- PuputanPuputanPuputan is a Balinese term that refers to a mass ritual suicide in preference to facing the humiliation of surrender. Notable puputans occurred in 1906 and 1908 when the Balinese were being subjugated by the Dutch.- 1906 Badung puputan :...