Dyah Pitaloka Citraresmi or Citra Rashmi (1340–1357), was the princess of the

Sunda Kingdom The Sunda Kingdom ( su, , Karajaan Sunda, ) was a Sundanese Hindu kingdom located in the western portion of the island of Java from 669 to around 1579, covering the area of present-day Banten, Jakarta, West Java, and the western part of Centra ...

in Western

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 ...

. According to the

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 ...

or ''Book of Kings'', she was supposed to marry

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 ...

, the new young 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 ...

who had a great desire to take her as his queen. However, in the tragedy known as The Bubat Incident she took her own life. Tradition describes her as a young woman of extraordinary beauty.

Wedding proposal

Hayam Wuruk, king of Majapahit decided, probably for political reasons, to take princess Citra Rashmi (Pitaloka) as his spouse. She was a daughter of Prabu Maharaja Lingga Buana of the Sunda Kingdom. 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 The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its nort ...

then encamped on Bubat square in the northern part of

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 ...

, capital city of Majapahit, and awaited the wedding ceremony. However

Gajah Mada Gajah Mada (c. 1290 – c. 1364), also known as JirnnodharaMunandar, 2010: 77 was, according to Old Javanese manuscripts, poems, and inscriptions, a powerful military leader and '' Mahapatih'' (the approximate equivalent of a modern Prime ...

, 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 or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

of Majapahit, the princess was to be presented as a token of submission and treated as a mere

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

of the Majapahit king. The Sunda king was angered and humiliated by Gajah Mada's demand.

Suicide of the princess

As a result, a skirmish popularly known as

Battle of Bubat The Battle of Bubat also known as Pasunda Bubat is the battle between the 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. Historical acc ...

took place on Bubat square between the Majapahit army and the Sunda royal family in defence of their honour. Despite courageous resistance, the royal family were overwhelmed and decimated by the Majapahit army with almost all of the Sundanese royal party massacred in the tragedy. Tradition mentions that the heartbroken Princess took her own life to defend the honour and pride of her country. 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. Her deed and her father's courage are revered as noble acts of honour, courage and dignity in

Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...

tradition. Her father, Prabu Maharaja Lingga Buana was revered by the Sundanese as Prabu Wangi ( su, king with pleasant fragrance) because of his heroic act to defend his honour against Majapahit. His descendants, the later kings of Sunda, were called

Siliwangi Siliwangi may refer to various people and institutions in the past and present of West Java, Indonesia: * King Siliwangi (1482), eponymous ruler of Pajajaran Kingdom, a fifteenth century kingdom in West Java, centered in modern Bogor * Siliwangi D ...

( su, successor of Wangi). 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. 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. The story of the Princess Pitaloka and the battle of Bubat is the main theme of the ''

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. ...

'' while an historical account of ''Pasunda Bubat'' is also mentioned in ''Pararaton'', but not in 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 Prapan ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Citraresmi, Dyah Pitaloka Sundanese people Indonesian Hindus 1340 births 1357 deaths Suicides in Indonesia

Wedding proposal

Suicide of the princess

See also

References