The Kingdom of Pajang or Sultanate of Pajang (كسلطانن ڤاجڠ ;1586–1568) was a short-lived Muslim state 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 mo ...

. It was established by Hadiwijaya or Jaka Tingkir, Lord of Boyolali, after a civil war and was a successor to

Sultanate of Demak The Demak Sultanate (کسلطانن دمق) was a Javanese Muslim state located on Java's north coast in Indonesia, at the site of the present-day city of Demak. A port fief to the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit kingdom thought to have been founde ...

. Hadiwijaya claimed to be a descendant of Brawijaya V, the last king of the

Majapahit 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 Indonesi ...

empire, and Trenggana, the sultan of Demak. Pajang is based in

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta ...

as a continuation of the Demak Sultanate. The palace complex at this time only remains in the form of the boundaries of its foundations which are on the border of -

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and ...

and ,

Kartasura Kartasura ( jv, ꦏꦂꦠꦱꦸꦫ, also spelled Kartosuro) is a district ''(kecamatan)'' in Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. Kartasura is considered as a Surakarta's satellite city, and a junction of highways to Yogyakarta and Semara ...

, Sukoharjo. In the last battle against the last claimant of Demak, the vicious Arya Penangsang, Jaka Tingkir commissioned his greatest vassal, Ki Ageng Pamanahan, and his son,

Sutawijaya Panembahan Senapati, formally styled Panembahan Senapati ing Ngalaga Sayyidin Panatagama (died in Jenar (now Purwodadi, Purworejo), 1601), was the founder of the Mataram Sultanate. Origin Born Danang Sutawijaya, known as Dananjaya, he was the s ...

, to destroy Arya Penangsang's army. The two managed to defeat and kill Arya Penangsang and were thus awarded a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

in a forest called Alas Mentaok, now

Kotagede Kotagede (Javanese: ꦏꦸꦛꦒꦼꦝꦺ ''Kuthagedhé'') is a city district (''kemantren'') and a historic neighborhood in Yogyakarta, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Kotagede contains the remains of the first capital of Mataram Sultan ...

, on which they founded their base for the future capital of

Mataram Kingdom The Mataram Kingdom (, jv, ꦩꦠꦫꦩ꧀, ) was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu–Buddhism, Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established b ...

. Legend says King Hadiwijaya was so fond of Sutawijaya, he adopted him as the playmate of his heir, Prince Banawa. Hadiwijaya's rule was supposed to be succeeded by this weak-minded heir, but a rebellion by a vassal named Ario Pangiri forced the prince to seek asylum from his childhood friend Sutawijaya. Pledged to help, Sutawijaya gathered his army and defeated Ario Pangiri and seized the Pajang Palace. Prince Banawa then submitted his crown to Sutawijaya and thus ended the Kingdom of Pajang in 1586, when Sutawijaya founded the greatest Islamic kingdom in Java:

Mataram Sultanate The Sultanate of Mataram () was the last major independent Javanese kingdom on the island of Java before it was colonised by the Dutch. It was the dominant political force radiating from the interior of Central Java from the late 16th cent ...

Origin

The name of the land of Pajang has been known since the time of the

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 Indonesi ...

. According to

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 ...

, written in 1365, at that time the younger sister of

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 t ...

(the king of Majapahit at that time) whose real name was Dyah Nertaja served as the ruler of Pajang, had the title ''Bhatara i Pajang'', or abbreviated as Bhre Pajang. Dyah Nertaja is the mother of

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 ...

(the heir of Majapahit at the time). Based on the ''babad'' scripts, the country is called the forerunner of Pajang. The legendary folklore mentions that Pengging was an ancient kingdom that was once led by Prabu Anglingdriya, the arch enemy of Prabu Baka, the king of Prambanan. This story is with the fairy tale of the founding of the

Prambanan Temple Prambanan ( id, Candi Prambanan, jv, ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ, Rara Jonggrang) is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimūrti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the ...

. When

was led by (the last king written in the ''babad'' texts), that name Pengging reappeared. It is said that 's daughter, Retno Ayu Pembayun, was kidnapped by Menak Daliputih, the king of

Blambangan The Blambangan Kingdom was the last Javanese Hindu kingdom that flourished between the 13th and 18th centuries, based in the eastern corner of Java. The capital was at Banyuwangi. It had a long history of its own, developing contemporaneousl ...

, the son of Menak Jingga. A hero named Jaka Sengara appears who manages to seize the princess and kill the kidnapper. For his services, Jaka Sengara was appointed by as the Pengging

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

(bupati) and married Retno Ayu Pembayun. He then was given the title Andayaningrat.

Early History

The Kingdom of Panjang is seen as the first kingdom that emerged in the interior of

after the collapse of the Muslim kingdom in the

Pasisir ''Pasisir'' is the name given to the northern coastal region of Java. Unlike the agricultural kingdoms of the hinterland, the ''pasisiran'' economy has been based on trade via the Java Sea and its cultural identity has been shaped by foreign con ...

, or the northern coastal region of Java. According to the ''babad'' scripts, Andayaningrat died at the hands of during the war between the

and the

Demak Sultanate The Demak Sultanate (کسلطانن دمق) was a Javanese Muslim state located on Java's north coast in Indonesia, at the site of the present-day city of Demak. A port fief to the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit kingdom thought to have been founded ...

. He was later replaced by his son, whose name was Raden Kebo Kenanga, with the title Ki Ageng Pengging. Since then Pengging has been the subordinate area of the Demak Kingdom. Several years later Ki Ageng Pengging was sentenced to death because he was accused of trying to rebel against the

. His son, who had the title Jaka Tingkir, when he was an adult, actually served Demak. Jaka Tingkir's brilliant achievements in the army made him appointed as son-in-law, and became the

(bupati) of Pajang with the title Hadiwijaya. The Pajang area at that time covered the Pengging area (now roughly covering Boyolali and

Klaten Klaten Regency ( jv, ꦏ꧀ꦭꦛꦺꦤ꧀, Klathèn) is a regency in Central Java province in Indonesia. It covers an area of 655.56 km2 and had a population of 1,130,047 at the 2010 Census and 1,260,506 at the 2020 Census. Its capital is t ...

), Tingkir (the Salatiga area), Butuh, and its surroundings. After the death of Trenggana in 1546, then took the throne. However, Sultan Prawata was killed by his cousin, Arya Penangsang, the

(bupati) of Jipang in 1547. After that, Arya Penangsang tried to kill Hadiwijaya but failed. With the support of Ratu Kalinyamat (the

(bupati) of

Jepara Jepara is a town in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. Jepara is on the north coast of Java, north-east of Semarang, not far from Mount Muria, with a population of 92,967 in mid 2019. It is also the main town of Jepara Regency, which has a ...

and daughter of Trenggana), Hadiwijaya and his followers succeeded in defeating Arya Penangsang. Hadiwijaya then seized the throne of Demak and founded the Kingdom of Pajang.

External links

A look on former Capital of Mataram
Precolonial states of Indonesia Islamic states in Indonesia Former sultanates {{Indonesia-stub

Origin

Early History

See also

Further reading

External links