Balaputradewa was the

maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Srivijaya Srivijaya (), also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia) that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important ...

in the 9th century CE as well as the former head of the

Sailendra The Shailendra dynasty (, derived from Sanskrit combined words ''Śaila'' and ''Indra'', meaning "King of the Mountain", also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) was the name of a notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century ...

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

. He was the youngest son of the preceding Sailendran maharaja,

Samaratunga Samaratungga was the head of the Sailendra dynasty which ruled the Mataram Kingdom and Srivijaya in the 8th and 9th centuries. He was the successor of King Indra, and his name was mentioned in the Karangtengah inscription dated 824 CE as the co ...

, through marriage with Dewi Tara who was in turn the daughter of another maharaja,

Dharmasetu Dharmasetu was an 8th-century Maharaja of Srivijaya. Under his reign, he successfully incorporated Pan Pan, a kingdom located in the north of the Malay Peninsula, into the Srivijayan sphere of influence before 775 CE. At an old monastery of Nakho ...

of Srivijaya." De Casparis proposed that in 856 Balaputra was defeated by Pikatan, whereupon Balaputra retreated to Srivijaya, the country of his mother, to become the first Sailandra ruler of Srivijaya. Thus in the late 9th century Srivijaya was ruled by a Buddhist Sailendra ruler, while Java was ruled by Pikatan and his successors, who patronized Siva" (cf. De Casparis, 1956; Hall, 1985:111).

Early life

Samaratunga died when Balaputra was a boy. As a young heir to the throne, his authority in Central Java was frequently challenged by local landlords. An extended family member by the name of Garung forced Balaputra to accept his tutorship. Garung was part of the

Sanjaya dynasty The Sanjaya dynasty () was a Javanese people, Javanese dynasty which ruled the Mataram Kingdom in Java during the first millennium CE. The dynasty promoted Hinduism on the island. Origin According to the Canggal inscription, the dynasty was foun ...

and was related to Balaputra through the marriage of Garung's son, Rakai Pikatan to

Pramodhawardhani Pramodhawardhani (also known as Çrī Kahulunnan or Çrī Sanjiwana) was the queen consort of King Rakai Pikatan (r. 838-850) of Mataram Kingdom in 9th century Central Java. She was the daughter of Sailendran king Samaratungga (r. 812—833). ...

, Balaputra's sister. During the regency of Garung, the Javanese political landscape was relatively peaceful. The regency ended in 832 when Garung disappeared.

Sri Maharaja of Suvarnadvipa, King of Srivijaya

Around 852, Rakai Pikatan of Sanjaya began garnering influence from the local nobles. This worried Balaputra and he tried to suppress Rakai Pikatan to regain control. His effort failed miserably, however, due to his inexperience. The Sailendras were eventually forced to leave Java for

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

, the seat of Srivijaya as well as the home of Balaputra's mother, Tara. Balaputra's defeat by Jatiningrat (Pikatan) was recorded in the Shivagrha inscription that recorded that Balaputra had constructed a fortress made of hundreds of heaped stones for his refuge. With the retreat, Central Java fell into the hands of Sanjaya, ending the Sailendra's rule over the area. The Sanjayas later founded the Mataram Kingdom and continued to rule Java until Srivijaya reasserted its dominance over the island in the 11th century. Soon after he left Java, Balaputra became the ruler of Srivijaya. While the record on Balaputra is scarce, it is known through the Nalanda inscription that he ordered the construction of a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He also sent an ambassador to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

References

Shailendra dynasty Maharajas of Srivijaya Indonesian Buddhist monarchs 9th-century Indonesian people {{Indonesia-bio-stub