The Blambangan Kingdom was the last
Javanese Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
kingdom that flourished between the 13th and 18th centuries, based in
the eastern corner of Java.
The capital was at
Banyuwangi
Banyuwangi, previously known as Banjoewangi, is the administrative capital of Banyuwangi Regency at the far eastern end of the island of Java, Indonesia. It had a population of 106,000 at the 2010 Census and 117,558 at the 2020 Census.
The tow ...
.
It had a long history of its own, developing contemporaneously with the largest Hindu kingdom in Java,
Majapahit (1293–1527). At the time of the collapse of
Majapahit in the late fifteenth century, Blambangan stood on its own as the one solitary
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
state left in Java, controlling the larger part of
Java’s Oosthoek.
The historical record and the study of Blambangan Kingdom is scarce, which contributed to the obscurity of its history. Contemporary Javanese mostly know the kingdom through its link to the popular epic folklore, the legend of
Damarwulan and Menak Jingga. The fictional story which is set in Majapahit period, told that the rebellious King of Blambangan named Menak Jingga, desired the hand of Majapahit Queen Kencanawungu.
History
Formation and growth
During Majapahit period circa 13th century, the
eastern realm was regarded as peripheral area of the Javanese kingdom, which centered in
Trowulan
Trowulan is an archaeological site in 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 eponymous capital city of the ...
, Majapahit and surrounding
Brantas River basin, whereas eastern salient areas such as
Lumajang were regarded as the outlying provinces.
The Majapahit kingdom was established in 1293 by
Raden Wijaya
Raden Wijaya or Raden Vijaya (also known as Nararya Sangramawijaya, regnal name Kertarajasa Jayawardhana) (reigned 1293–1309) was a Javanese emperor, and the founder and first monarch of the Majapahit Empire.Slamet Muljana, 2005, ''Runtuhny ...
with the help of cunning and able
Arya Wiraraja, the Regent of
Madura
Madura Island is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively 5,379.33 km2 including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administrati ...
. As the reward of Wiraraja's support, in 1295, Raden Wijaya agreed to give the eastern salient of Java, which includes Blambangan areas with
Lumajang as its capital.
The
Nagarakretagama
The ''Nagarakretagama'' or ''Nagarakṛtāgama'', also known as ''Desawarnana'' or ''Deśavarṇana'', is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king of the Majapahit Empire. It was written on lontar as a '' kakawin'' by Mpu Pr ...
, composed in 1365, mentioned that the central part of eastern corner of Java was visited by King
Hayam Wuruk
Hayam Wuruk (Sanskrit: हयम् वुरुक्, Kawi: ꦲꦪꦩ꧀ꦮꦸꦫꦸꦏ꧀) (1334–1389), also called Rajasanagara, Pa-ta-na-pa-na-wu, or Bhatara Prabhu after 1350, was a Javanese Hindu emperor from the Rajasa Dynasty and th ...
in his royal tour in 1359. The poem contains interesting information about the region.
The eastern realm become the vassal or as ''mancanagara'' (provinces) of Majapahit. However, it seems that the eastern realm steadily has grown quite independently. The eastern salient become the host of eastern court which rival Majapahit central authority. The rivalry erupted in
Regreg war
The Regreg War (often erroneously called the ''Paregreg'') was a civil war that took place in 1404–1406 within the Javanese empire of Majapahit. The conflict was fought as a war of independence between the Western court led by Wikramawardhana ...
(1404-1406), which was fought as the contest of succession between
Western court led by
Wikramawardhana
Wikramawardhana was a Javanese emperor and succeeded Hayam Wuruk as the fifth monarch of the Majapahit empire, reigning from 1389 to 1429.
He was the nephew and also the son-in-law of the previous monarch after taking princess Kusumawardhani, Haya ...
, against
Eastern court led by
Bhre Wirabhumi. In 1406 the western troops led by Bhre Tumapel, the son of Wikramawardhana, penetrated the eastern palace and defeated Bhre Wirabhumi.
After the collapse of Majapahit in the late 15th century, Blambangan stood alone as the sole Javanese Hindu polity in Java. The kingdom subsequently was contested and harassed by successive of expansive Javanese Islamic states to the west, from
Demak
Demak is on the north coast of Central Java province, on the island of Java, Indonesia.
* Demak, Demak, modern-day large town
* Demak Sultanate, sixteenth century sultanate
* Demak Regency
Demak ( jv, ꦢꦼꦩꦏ꧀) is a regency located in t ...
to
Pajang
The Kingdom of Pajang or Sultanate of Pajang (كسلطانن ڤاجڠ ;1586–1568) was a short-lived Muslim state in Java. It was established by Hadiwijaya or Jaka Tingkir, Lord of Boyolali, after a civil war and was a successor to Sultanate ...
and
Mataram.
On the eastern side across the strait, the
Balinese courts of
Gelgel and
Mengwi
Mengwi is a district (''kecamatan'') in the Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia and also covers Bali's heaviest tourist regions, situated to the north of Kuta District and North Kuta District (including Seminyak), and including Canggu
Canggu is ...
, also has invested its political interest in the region, as the Balinese regarded Blambangan as a buffer state to ward off Islamic expansive influences.
In the first decades of the 16th century,
Tomé Pires
Tomé Pires (1465?–1524 or 1540)Madureira, 150–151. was a Portuguese apothecary from Lisbon who spent 1512 to 1515 in Malacca immediately after the Portuguese conquest, at a time when Europeans were only first arriving in Southeast As ...
' informants reported that the "heathen" Blambangan kingdom was the most powerful Javanese kingdom east of Surabaya.
At that time, the port of
Panarukan
Panarukan is a district in Situbondo Regency, East Java, Indonesia. This sub-district is about 8 km from the capital city Situbondo to the west. The center of government is in the village of Wringin Anom.
Localities
* Alas Malang
* Duwe ...
was the commercial as well as the political center of the kingdom.
For almost three centuries, Blambangan was situated between two different political factions, the Islamic state of Mataram in the west, and various Hindu realms in Bali (Gelgel, Buleleng, and Mengwi) in the east. Both neighbouring powers simultaneously contested the territory of Blambangan to appease their own political and religious ambitions.
Decline
The
Balinese used Blambangan as a buffer against the Islamic expansion initiated by Mataram from the west and also found it useful to bolster the economy of Bali which was heavily overshadowed by endemic warfare.
In the second half of the 16th century, a few Roman Catholic missionaries from the
Portuguese colony in Malacca arrived in East Java to try to convert the local people. They visited Panarukan and Blambangan, and reported that the port of Panarukan was contested between the Muslim rulers of Pasuruan alied with Surabaya, against the Hindu King of Blambangan and Panarukan.
The Balinese chronicle ''Babad Gumi'', which was first composed around the early 1700s, ascribed the fall of Blambangan around this period on the year 1520
śaka or 1598 AD. This is one of the first dates within the
babad
Javanese literature has a very large historical component. In all sorts of texts, such as laudatory poems, chronicles, and travelogues, writers have interpreted the how and why of certain circumstances.
These texts are important for the knowl ...
that can be positively proved to be correct by comparison with European materials of the same period. When the Dutch visited Bali in February 1597 a large expedition was being collected by the king of Gelgel in Bali in order to help the lord of Blambangan from Pasuruan attack. The expedition must have been a failure, as another Dutch report from early 1601 mentioned that the Pasuruan army had taken Blambangan some years ago and exterminated the royal family therein.
Other accounts asserted that the conquest of Blambangan by the forces of
Sultan Agung of Mataram
Sultan Anyakrakusuma is known as Sultan Agung ( jv, ꦱꦸꦭ꧀ꦠꦤ꧀ꦲꦒꦸꦁꦲꦢꦶꦥꦿꦧꦸꦲꦚꦏꦿꦏꦸꦱꦸꦩ, Sultan Agung Adi Prabu Anyakrakusuma) was the third Sultan of Mataram in Central Java ruling from 1613 to 1645. ...
took place in 1639, which also the end of Panarukan's independence.
With the loss of its important port, Panarukan, the center of Blambangan kingdom was receded to inland south to present day Blambangan area, with its port in
Banyuwangi
Banyuwangi, previously known as Banjoewangi, is the administrative capital of Banyuwangi Regency at the far eastern end of the island of Java, Indonesia. It had a population of 106,000 at the 2010 Census and 117,558 at the 2020 Census.
The tow ...
. In 1665, Tawang Alun II Danureja, the 8th king of Blambangan, opened the forest of Sudiamara and establishes a new capital in Macan Putih, Kabat district (''Kecamatan Kabat'') located about 10 kilometres from Banyuwangi.
Of the nine rulers who once ruled Blambangan, Tawang Alun II (1665-1691) is considered one of the greatest kings of Blambangan. During his reign, Blambangan territory reached
Jember
Jember Regency is a regency of East Java province, Indonesia. The population was 2,332,726 at the 2010 census and 2,536,729 at the 2020 Census. Its administrative capital is the urban area of Jember, which with 359,184 inhabitants in 2020 is t ...
,
Lumajang,
Situbondo
Situbondo Regency is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency ''(kabupaten)'' of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,638.50 km2, and had a population of 647,619 at the 2010 Census and 685,967 at the 2020 Census. It is located in ...
and
Bali. Blambangan society at that time lived peacefully and prosperous, after all time engaged in various warfare against the expansionist neighboring kingdoms to the west and east.
The
VOC
VOC, VoC or voc may refer to:
Science and technology
* Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected
* Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus
...
archive mentioned the spectacular ''
ngaben
Ngaben, also known as Pitra Yadyna, Pelebon or cremation ceremony, is the Hindu funeral ritual of Bali, Indonesia. A Ngaben is performed to release the soul of a dead person so that it can enter the upper realm where it can wait for it to be rebo ...
'' (cremation) ceremony of Tawang Alun II, that among his 400 wives, 271 of them performed ''
suttee
Sati or suttee is a Hindu practice, now largely historical, in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre. Quote: Between 1943 and 1987, some thirty women in Rajasthan (twenty-eight, according to offic ...
'' (self immolation).
In 1697, the Balinese Kingdom of Buleleng, sent its expedition to Blambangan, which established Balinese influence in the region.
In the early 18th century, the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
contested each other’s political and economic power in the region. Internal disputes about the succession at the court of Blambangan impaired the kingdom, making it vulnerable to foreign intervention.
See also
*
Hinduism in Java
Hinduism has historically been a major religious and cultural influence in Java. In recent years, it has also been enjoying something of a resurgence, particularly in the eastern part of the island.
History
Both Java and Sumatra were subject to ...
*
Javanese Kshatriya
*
Monarchs of Java
*
Majapahit Empire
Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesia) ...
*
Osing People
The Osing or Using ( Osing: ; ) are indigenous ethnic group native to easternmost part of the Java island (especially in Banyuwangi), Indonesia. They are the descendants of the people of the ancient Kingdom of Blambangan. The population of Osi ...
References
Further reading
#
{{Precolonial states in Indonesia
Historical Hindu empires
Precolonial states of Indonesia
Former countries in Indonesian history
History of East Java
Former kingdoms