Kediri kingdom
Kediri Kingdom or Kadiri, also known as Panjalu, was a Hindu-Buddhist Javanese kingdom based in East Java from 1042 until 1222. This kingdom is centered in the ancient city Dahanapura, despite the lack of archaeological remains, the age of Kediri saw much development in classical literature. Mpu Sedah's Kakawin Bharatayuddha, Mpu Panuluh's Gatotkacasraya, and Mpu Dharmaja's Smaradhana blossomed in this era. The kingdom's capital is believed to have been established in the western part of the Brantas River valley, somewhere near modern Kediri city and surrounding Kediri Regency.
Etymology and names
The city of Daha existed before the founding of the kingdom. Daha is an abbreviation of Dahanapura, which means city of fire. This name is listed in the Pamwatan inscription issued by Airlangga in 1042. This is following the news in Serat Calon Arang, that at the end of Airlangga's reign, the center of the kingdom was no longer in Kahuripan, but has moved to Dahanapura and calls Airlangga the king of Daha.Panjalu
The kingdom was also known as Panjalu the correct reading is Pangjalu as the twin kingdom with Janggala. During the reign of Jayakatwang that revived the short-lived second dynasty of Kadiri, the kingdom is also known as Gelang-gelang or Gegelang. Other than Kadiri, the kingdom was also often referred to as Daha or Dahanapura, after its capital. The name Daha was used in the later Majapahit period, as the seat of the rival court of Trowulan.In the beginning, the name "pañjalu" was used more often than the name Kediri. This can be found in the inscriptions published by the kings of Panjalu. The name Panjalu is also known as Pu-chia-lung in the Chinese chronicle entitled Ling wai tai ta.
Three types of land were used by the community in the past when building settlements and other things. The first is called Anupa, and it is land that has fertile soil, is close to springs, and allows various kinds of seeds to grow well if planted there. The second is called Sadarana, and it is land that in some areas is fertile and in others less fertile. The third is called Janggala, and it is infertile land or wilderness.
The word Pangjalu comes from the word Jalu which means male and the prefix Pang, and in this regional context means a fertile and independent area. The term Kadiri is a synonym of the word Pangjalu, and it also means independent. This case is similar to the name Majapahit with Wilwatikta, where wilwa is maja fruit while tikta is bitter, as well as between Jiwana, which is another name for Kahuripan in Sanskrit.
Kadiri
The name Kadiri or Kediri the correct reading is Kadhiri, also thought to come from the word Sanskrit word Khadri which means India Mulberry, locally known as pacé or mengkudu tree. The bark of morinda produces a brownish-purplish dye for batik-making, while its fruit has medicinal values. A similar named city is also known Kadiri in Andhra Pradesh, India.The origin of the word that is considered more appropriate is derived from the word "kāḍiri" in the Old Javanese language which means being able to stand alone, be independent, stand tall, have personality, or be self-sufficient. Reviewing several inscriptions issued by the kings of Panjalu, this can be seen phrase in the Ceker inscription from 1107 Saka which reads:
Translation of the inscription:
In the Kamulan inscription dated 1116 Saka or it also reads:
Translation of the inscription:
Founding of Kediri
The Kingdom of Kediri is the successor of Airlangga's Kahuripan kingdom and is thought of as the continuation of the Isyana Dynasty in Java. In 1042, Airlangga divided his kingdom of Kahuripan into two, Janggala and Panjalu, and abdicated in favour of his sons to live as an ascetic. He died seven years later.and the Illustrious Panjalu-Protector in Daha, the moment of Yawa-land 's going into two halves.
The Illustrious Airlangghya, He caused, in His love for his children, the honoured two Prabhus...
—.
The Wurare inscription carved at the foot of the Mahaksobhya statue during the Singhasari period, tells of two new regions that had been divided by the priest Aryya Bharada. According to the Marimbong Inscription, the boundary between the two regions is the Bengawan River.
Reigns of Kediri kings
Çri Samaravijaya. It is thought that he was the first to ascend the throne of Kediri at the beginning of the kingdom, because in the inscriptions issued by Airlangga he had previously served as crown prince.The first king of Kediri who left historical records was Çri Jyitêndrakara Parakrama Bhakta who left the Mataji inscription.
It is not known for certain when Çri Jyitêndrakara abdicated the throne. He was then replaced by Çri Bamesvara who took the throne of the Kingdom of Kediri. The lanchana of his reign was a skull with a crescent moon called chandrakapala, a symbol of Shiva. During the reign of Maharaja Çri Bamesvara himself, there were at least ten inscriptions containing the development of East Java, written between 1112 and 1135.
Jayabhaya succeeded Bamesvara. His formal stylised name was Çri Maharaja çri Dharmmeçwara Madhusudanawataranindita Suhrtsingha Parakrama Digjayottunggadewa. The Lanchana of his reign Narasinghavatara depicts one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu, namely Narasinghavatara. His form is described as a human with a lion's head tearing the stomach of Hiranyakasipu. The name is Jayabhaya was immortalised in Sedah's Kakawin Bharatayuddha, a Javanese version of the Mahabharata, written in 1135. This Kakawin was perfected by his brother, Mpu Panuluh. Mpu Panuluh wrote Hariwangsa and Gatotkacasraya. Jayabhaya's reign was considered the golden age of Old Javanese literature. The Prelambang Joyoboyo, a prophetic book ascribed to Jayabhaya, is well known among Javanese. It predicts that the archipelago would be ruled by a white race for a long time, then a yellow race for a short time, be glorious again. The Jayabhaya prophecies mention Ratu Adil, the Just Prince, a recurring popular figure in Javanese folklore. During the reign, Ternate was a vassal state of Kediri.
Jayabhaya's successor was Çri Sarweçwara/Sarvesvara the royal symbol is named Sarwecwaralanchana, wing-shaped numbering nine and at the end, there is a crested circle. Where everything is surrounded by three striped circles.
followed by Çri Aryyeçwara/Aryyesvara, who used Ganesha the elephant-headed god as Lanchana of his kingdom. and became the of his reign and the Kingdom of Kadiri as stated in the inscription.
The next monarch was King Gandra his formal stylised name was Çri maharaja çri Kroncarryadipa Handabhuwanapalaka Parakramanindita Digjayottunggadewanama çri Gandra. An inscription from his reign documents the beginning of the adoption of animal names for important officials, such as Kbo Salawah, Menjangan Puguh, Lembu Agra, Gajah Kuning, and Macan Putih. Among these highly ranked officials mentioned in the inscription, there is a title Senapati Sarwwajala, or laksmana, a title reserved for navy generals, which means that Kediri had a navy during his reign.
The eighth king was Kameçvara. His formal stylised name was Çri Maharaja Rake Sirikan çri Kameçvara Sakalabhuwanatustikarana Sarwaniwaryyawiryya Parakrama Digjayottunggadewa. He uses the as his royal seal under the name Kamecwaralanchana. During his reign, Mpu Dharmaja wrote Smaradhana, in which the king was adored as the incarnation of Kamajaya, the god of love, and his capital city Dahana was admired throughout the known world. Kameçvara's wife, Çri Kirana, was celebrated as the incarnation of Kamaratih, the goddess of love and passion. The tales of this story, known as the Panji cycle, spread throughout Southeast Asia as far as Siam.
The last king of Kediri was Kritajaya/Kertajaya, King Çrngga or Kritajaya ruled Kediri, with the official name Çri maharaja çri Sarwweçwara Triwikramawataranindita Çrngga lanchana Digwijayottunggadewa. He used a Crnggalanchana picture of flanked by two horns and continued with the words "Krtajaya" above. The presence of dominant horns makes this badge called Crnggalancana or horned badge. In 1222, he was forced to surrender his throne to Ken Arok and so lost the sovereignty of his kingdom to the new kingdom of Singhasari. This was the result of his defeat at the battle of Ganter. This event marked the end of the Kediri era, and the beginning of the Singhasari era.
Golden age
Relations with regional powers
The Kediri kingdom existed alongside the Srivijaya empire based in Sumatra throughout the 11th to 12th century and seems to have maintained trade relations with China and to some extent India. Chinese accounts identify this kingdom as Tsao-wa or Chao-wa. The number of Chinese records signifies that Chinese explorers and traders frequented this kingdom. Relations with India were cultural, as several Javanese rakawi wrote literature that was inspired by Hindu mythology, beliefs, and epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana.In the 11th century, Srivijayan hegemony in the Indonesian archipelago began to decline, marked by Rajendra Chola's invasion of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. The Chola king of Coromandel conquered Kedah from Srivijaya. The weakening of Srivijayan hegemony has enabled the formation of regional kingdoms, like Kediri, based on agriculture rather than trade. Later Kediri managed to control the spice trade routes to Maluku.
According to a Chinese source in the book of Chu-fan-chi written around 1225, Chou Ju-kua described that in the Southeast Asian archipelago, there were two powerful and rich kingdoms: Srivijaya and Java. In Java, he found that people adhere to two religions: Buddhism and the religion of Brahmin. The people of Java were brave and short tempered, daring to put up a fight. Their favourite pastimes were cockfighting and pigfighting. The currency was made from a short-tempered mixture of copper, silver, and tin.
The book of Chu-fan-chi mentioned that Java was ruled by a maharaja, who ruled several colonies: Pai-hua-yuan, Ma-tung, Ta-pen, Hi-ning, Jung-ya-lu, Tung-ki, Ta-kang, Huang-ma-chu, Ma-li, Kulun, Tan-jung-wu-lo, Ti-wu, Pingya-i, and Wu-nu-ku.
Regarding Sanfoqi, Chou-Ju-Kua reported that Kien-pi with armed forced rebellion had liberated themselves from Srivijaya, and crowned their king. The same fate befell some of Srivijaya's colonies on the Malay Peninsula that liberated themselves from Srivijaya domination. However, Srivijaya was still the mightiest and wealthiest state in the western part of the archipelago. Srivijaya's colonies were: Pong-fong, Tong-ya-nong, Ling-ya-ssi-kia, Kilan-tan, Fo-lo-an, Ji-lo-t'ing, Ts'ien-mai, Pa-t'a, Tan-ma-ling, Kia-lo-hi, Pa-lin-fong, Sin-t'o, Lan-wu-li, and Si-lan. According to this source, in the early 13th century Srivijaya still ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and western Java.
Regarding Sunda, the book details that the port of Sunda was excellent and strategically located and that the pepper from Sunda was among the best quality. The people worked in agriculture; their houses were built on wooden piles. However, the country was infested with robbers and thieves.