Adityawarman (formal

regnal name A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ac ...

Maharajadiraja Srīmat Srī Udayādityawarma Pratāpaparākrama Rājendra Maulimāli Warmadewa. ) was a king of Malayapura

Suvarnabhumi ( sa, सुवर्णभूमि; Pali: '); my, သုဝဏ္ဏဘူမိ, ; km, សុវណ្ណភូមិ, ''Sovannaphoum''; and th, สุวรรณภูมิ, . is a toponym, that appears in many ancient Indian literary s ...

, and is the successor of the

Mauli dynasty Mauli was a dynasty of kings that ruled the ''Melayu Kingdom, Bhumi Malayu'' or Dharmasraya kingdom, centered in the Batanghari river system (today Jambi and West Sumatra provinces, Sumatra), from the 11th century to the 14th century.Muljana, Sl ...

based on central

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. He was the cousin of

Jayanegara Jayanegara or Jayanagara (formal regnal name Sri Maharaja Wiralandagopala Sri Sundarapandya Dewa Adhiswara, or Sri Sundarapandyadevadhisvara Vikramottungadeva, also known as Kala Gemet), Prince of Kediri in 1295, reigned from 1309 to 1328, was a J ...

, king of

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...

from 1309–1328, and the grandson of

Tribhuwanaraja Sri Maharaja Srimat Tribhuwanaraja Mauliwarmadewa was a king of Dharmasraya in ''Bhumi Malayu'' (Sumatra), as written on the Padang Roco inscription (1286). The inscription mentioned that the king and his people of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and ...

, king of

Melayu Kingdom The Melayu Kingdom (also known as Malayu, Dharmasraya Kingdom or the Jambi Kingdom; , reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation ''mat-la-yu kwok'')Muljana, Slamet , (2006), ''Sriwijaya'', Yogyakarta: LKIS, . was a classical Buddhist kingdom l ...

. Adityawarman was awarded the Senior Minister of Majapahit (''wreddamantri'') and used this authority to launch Majapahit military expansion plans and conquered east coast region in Sumatra. Adityawarman then founded the royal dynasty of

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see belo ...

Pagaruyung Pagaruyung (ڤاڬارويوڠ; also Pagarruyung, Pagar Ruyung and, Malayapura or Malayupura) was the seat of the Minangkabau kings of Western Sumatra, though little is known about it. Modern Pagaruyung is a village in ''Tanjung Emas'' subdist ...

and presided over the central Sumatra region to take control of the gold trade between 1347 and 1375.

Early life

Adityawarman was born around in 1294 in

Trowulan Trowulan is an archaeological site in Trowulan (subdistrict), Trowulan Subdistrict, Mojokerto Regency, in the Indonesian province of East Java. It includes approximately 100 square kilometres and has been theorized to be the site of the eponymo ...

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

, the capital of the kingdom of

, as recorded in the poem of

Pararaton The Pararaton (''Book of Kings''), also known as the Katuturanira Ken Angrok (''Story of Ken Angrok''), is a Javanese historical chronicle written in Kawi (Old Javanese). The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages (1126 lines) contains ...

. According to Kuburajo inscription found in Limo Kaum,

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5, ...

, Adityawarman's father was Majapahit nobleman

Adwayawarman Adwayawarman was the father of King Adityawarman of Malayapura kingdom (now in West Sumatra province, Indonesia) as mentioned in the Kuburajo I Inscription. His alias name was Adwayadwaja, as he was called in the Bukit Gombak Inscription. Histori ...

; and according to the 15th East Javanese text ''

'' his mother was

Dara Jingga Dara Jingga, was one of the ethnic Malay, Malay Dharmasraya princess who was intended to be betrothed to Javanese King Kertanegara of Singasari after the Pamalayu expedition 1275–1293. Dara Jingga was the older sister of Dara Petak, the consort ...

, a Malay princess of

Dharmasraya Dharmasraya, is the capital of the 11th century Buddhist polity known as Melayu Kingdom, based on the Batanghari river system in modern-day West Sumatra and Jambi, on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.J.L.A. Brandes, 1902, ''Nāgarakrětāgama; ...

. He might have visited

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

for a diplomatic expedition in 1325 if, as some historians believe, he is the envoy whom a Chinese source calls ''Sengk'ia-lie-yu-lan''. According to

George Coedes George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

, "His name appears in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

as early as 1343 on an image of

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

Manjusri Mañjuśrī (Sanskrit: मञ्जुश्री) is a ''bodhisattva'' associated with '' prajñā'' (wisdom) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. His name means "Gentle Glory" in Sanskrit. Mañjuśrī is also known by the fuller name of Mañjuśrīkumārab ...

that was originally located in

Candi Jago Jago temple ( Indonesian: ''Candi Jago'') is a 13th-century Hindu temple from the Singhasari kingdom in East Java, Indonesia, located about 22 km from Malang. The Nagarakretagama written in 14th century mentioned this temple, as ''Jajaghu'' ...

." This is the sanctuary built by

Kertanegara Sri Maharajadiraja Sri Kertanegara Wikrama Dharmatunggadewa, Kritanagara, or Sivabuddha (died 1292), was the last and most important ruler of the Singhasari kingdom of Java, reigning from 1268 to 1292. Under his rule Javanese trade and power devel ...

for his father Visnuvardhana. In one of various inscriptions about him, he explicitly calls himself ''Lord of the Golden Earth'' (Kanakamedinindra). An inscription in localised Malay

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

found on the back of the Amoghapasa statue found at Rambahan, West Sumatra, dated 1347, written (and perhaps composed) by Adityawarman, commemorates his role as protector and source of welfare to the people of the ''capital of Malaya'' (Malayapura) and his power as an embodiment of Amoghapasa. "At Malayapura, Adityawarman bore the royal title of ''Udayadityavarman (or Adityavarmodaya) Pratapaparakramarajendra Maulimalivarmadewa'', a title which one scholar believes he can detect an attempt at synthesis of the royal title traditionally in use in

Srivijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...

and Malayu." His kingdom is believed to be the predecessor of the present-day

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...

society in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Adityawarman's inscriptions as a

Sumatera Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

n ruler, shows that he was a devotee of

Tantric Buddhism Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

. He ruled until at least 1375, the year of his last known inscription. He was described as the ''Lord of Suravasa'';de Casparis, J. G., (1990), ''An Ancient Garden in West Sumatra'', Saraswati Esai-Esai Arkeologi Kalpataru Majalah Arkeologi 9: 40–50. and the name Suruaso itself is still used to refer to the area near

, Kingdom of the Minangkabau people. His son was Ananggawarman.

Early life

See also

References

Further reading