Adityawarman (formal regnal name Maharajadiraja Srīmat Srī Udayādityawarma Pratāpaparākrama Rājendra Maulimāli Warmadewa. ) was a king of Malayapura Suvarnabhumi, and is the successor of the Mauli dynasty based in 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 list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. He was the cousin of Jayanegara, king of Majapahit from 1309 to 1328, and the grandson of Tribhuwanaraja, king of Melayu Kingdom. Adityawarman was awarded the Senior Minister of Majapahit (''wreddamantri'') and used this authority to launch Majapahit military expansion plans and conquer east coast region in Sumatra. Adityawarman then founded the royal dynasty of Minangkabau in Pagaruyung 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, East Java, the capital of the kingdom of Majapahit, as recorded in the poem of Pararaton. According to Kuburajo inscription found in Limo Kaum, West Sumatra, Adityawarman's father was Majapahit nobleman Adwayawarman; and according to the 15th East Javanese text '' Pararaton'' his mother was Dara Jingga, a Malay princess of Dharmasraya. He might have visited China 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, "His name appears in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

as early as 1343 on an image of

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

Manjusri that was originally located in Candi Jago." This is the sanctuary built by Kertanegara for his father Visnuvardhana. In one of the various inscriptions about him, he explicitly calls himself ''Lord of the Golden Earth'' (Kanakamedinindra). An inscription in localised Malay

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

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) Pratapaparakrama Rājendra Maulimalivarmadewa'', a title which one scholar believes he can detect an attempt at synthesis of the royal title traditionally in use in Srivijaya and Malayu." His kingdom is believed to be the predecessor of the present-day Minangkabau matrilineal society in Indonesia. Adityawarman's inscriptions as a

n ruler, show that he was a devotee of Tantric Buddhism. 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 Pagaruyung, Kingdom of the Minangkabau people. His son was Ananggawarman.

Early life

See also

References

Further reading