Summary: From India writing and
hinduism are introduced, followed by buddhism and partly
islam. The island kingdoms fight each other to death. India
and Thailand / Siam do not succeed to conquer territory in
the islands.
Michael Palomino, May 2005
about 100
"Dvipantara"
or "Jawa Dwipa" kingdom is reported by Indian scholars
to be in Java and Sumatra.
Prince Aji Saka introduces writing system to Java based
on scripts of southern India.
Hindu kings rule the area around Kutai on Kalimantan.
"Langasuka" kingdom founded around Kedah in Malaya.
about 400
Taruma kingdom
flourishes in West Java.
In these early days, many new plants were introduced
into Indonesia, including pepper and teak.
Hinduism, one of Indonesia's five religions.
Early civilization in Java and Sumatra was heavily
influenced by India. Today's cultures in Indonesia, and
even the language, still show influences from the
Sanskrit language and literature.
(The first thousand years or so of this timeline are not
well-documented. Dates are approximate.)
about 425
Buddhism reaches
Sumatra.
Records from these days in Indonesia are scarce, but we
do know that sophisticated cultures already existed. The
kings and cities of Sumatra and Java are mentioned in
records from China, because ambassadors were sent there.
Arabs and Persians knew about the area from traders, and
even the Greeks and Romans had very distant reports.
Records from inside Indonesia are very few, though,
since writing was done on palm leaves and other
materials that did not survive well. Much of our
knowledge comes from stone buildings and inscriptions.
By the time we start to get a clear history of Java and
Sumatra, there are already great buildings in stone,
fine sculptures, classical music and dance, much as we
know them today.
about 500
Beginning
of Srivijaya kingdom near Palembang, in Sumatra.
about 600
Melayu
kingdom flourishes around present-day Jambi on Sumatra.
Chinese records from
around this time mention kingdoms at Jambi and Palembang
on Sumatra, and three kingdoms on Java, a western
kingdom related to the Taruma of inscriptions, a central
kingdom called "Kalinga", and an eastern kingdom with a
capital perhaps near Surabaya or Malang.
about 670
Chinese traveller I Ching visits Palembang,
capital of Srivijaya.
Hindu temples built in
the high Dieng plateau of central Java.
686
Srivijaya takes the Melayu kingdom at
Jambi, and sends an expedition against the kingdoms in
Java.
Stone tablets dated 683 and 686 from southern Sumatra
and Bangka describe the military campaigns of Srivijaya
against Melayu and Java. They are the oldest known
writings in any Malayo-Polynesian language.
about 700
Suwawa kingdom flourishes in North Sulawesi.
By now, Srivijaya had also conquered Kedah,
on the Malay peninsula.
about
732
Sanjaya founds the Sanjaya line of
princes in central Java.
about 770
Sailendra King Vishnu
(or Dharmatunga) begins building Borobudur.
Beginning of building activity on the plain of
Prambanan.
Buddhism, one of Indonesia's five religions.
782
Sailendra king Vishnu is succeeded by Indra
(or Sangramadhanamjya).
about 790
Sailendra kingdom attacks and defeats Chenla
(today Cambodia); rules over Chenla for about 12 years.
The Sailendra kings
remembered that their ancestors came from what is now
Thailand or Cambodia.
about 812
Sailendra king Indra is succeeded by Samaratunga.
Borabodur
(This form of bells in
Asian temples is the
imitation of little
space ships contacting
the mother space ship).
about 825
Borobudur is finished under king Samaratunga.
Borobudur
Borobudur is a huge Buddhist monument covering a
volcanic hill a few miles between present-day Magelang
and Yogyakarta. It is in levels representing the stages
to enlightenment. The large central stupa is empty. The
many beautiful relief sculptures may have been used to
educate young monks.
about 835
Samaratunga
passes away. His young son Balaputra has the throne
taken from him by the father of his sister's husband,
Patapan of Sanjaya, who replaces Buddhism on Java with
Hinduism.
By this time, Buddhist
culture had spread as far east as Lombok.
about 838
Patapan is
succeeded by his son Pikatan (or Jatiningrat).
about 850
Pikatan defeats forces of Balaputra, then resigns
the throne to become an ascetic. He is succeeded by
Kayuwani.
Balaputra, claimant to the Sailendra throne, escapes to
Sumatra and takes power in Srivijaya.
King Warmadewa rules on Bali.
From about this time we have a version of the Ramayana
epic in the Old Javanese language. The work is
sophisticated, and there were probably many earlier such
works in Old Javanese that have not survived.
898
Sanjaya King Balitung takes power in
central Java.
Stone tablets of King Balitung are the first mention [a
territory of] of "Mataram" in central Java.
910
Sanjaya King Daksa succeeds Balitung in Mataram. He
begins building the major Hindu temples at Prambanan.
919
Sanjaya King Tulodong
succeeds Daksa; reigns until 921. 924
Sanjaya King Wawa takes
throne of Mataram, rules until 928.
929
Sanjaya King Mpu Sindok
takes power. He moves the court from Mataram to East
Java (near Jombang).
A major eruption of
vulcano Mount Merapi in 928 or 929 may have been the
reason that the king of Mataram and many of his subjects
moved east.
947
Sri
Isana Tunggawijaya, daughter of Mpu Sindok, succeeds Mpu
Sindok as ruler in East Java.
about 975
King Udayana of Bali,
father of Airlangga, is born.
985
Dharmavamsa becomes
king of Mataram. He conquers Bali and founds a
settlement in western Kalimantan.
Dharmavamsa is also
remembered for ordering the translation of the
Mahabharata into Javanese.
990
Dharmavamsa and Mataram
send an army overseas to attack Srivijaya and take
Palembang, but fail.
992
King Chulamanivarmadeva
of Srivijaya sends an ambassador to China to ask for
protection against the forces of Dharmavamsa from Java.
1006
Srivijaya
attacks and destroys the capital of Mataram. The palace is
burned, and Dharmavamsa is killed. Airlangga (then 15
years old) escapes the destruction. Several years of chaos
in eastern Java follow.
1017
Rajendra Chola, king of Coromandel in India, attacks
Srivijaya.
1019
Airlangga takes rule in eastern Java, founds
Kahuripan kingdom, makes peace with Srivijaya, protects
both Hindus and Buddhists. Over several years extends his
rule over central Java, eastern Java, and Bali, uniting
areas that had fallen into disunity.
Airlangga is remembered in
today's Indonesia as a model of religious tolerance. He
spent his early years living in the forests as an
ascetic.
1025
Rajendra Chola of southern India takes Malay peninsula
from Srivijaya for twenty years. Chola raiders attack
Jambi and other areas of Sumatra.
Airlangga extends the power and influence of Kahuripan as
Srivijaya is weakened.
Under Airlangga, the ports of the north coast of Java,
especially Surabaya and Tuban, became large important
trading centers for the first time. This was partly due to
the weakening of Srivijaya, which made trading there
unsafe.
Around this time, Tumasik was a small kingdom on the site
of today's Singapore. It may have been influenced by the
newcomers from southern India.
Also around this time, the Panai kingdom was flourishing
in the Batak areas of northern Sumatra. 1030
Airlangga marries the daughter of Sangrama
Vijayottungavarman, King of Srivijaya.
1045
Airlangga
divides Kahuripan into two kingdoms, Janggala (around
today's Malang) and Kediri, for his two sons, and
abdicates to live the life of an ascetic. He passes away
four years later.
1068
Vira Rajendra, king of Coromandel, conquers Kedah from
Srivijaya. More Chola raids occur on Sumatra.
1117
Kamesvara becomes king of Kediri (until 1130). He marries
a princess of Janggala and reunites the two kingdoms.
1135
King Joyoboyo takes
rule in Kediri until 1157.
Joyoboyo is remembered for
a prophecy that Indonesia would be ruled by a white race
for a long time, then a yellow race for a short time,
then be independent. His reign was also a golden age of
Old Javanese literature.
During this time, Ternate
was a vassal state of Kediri.
1221
Ken Angrok, local ruler of Tumapel, defeats the
forces of Kediri (Battle of Genter).
1222
Ken Angrok
founds the Singhasari kingdom as King Rajasa.
Putri Dedes was the wife
of Ken Angrok. She was the daughter of a Buddhist priest
who was stolen away by the governor of Tumapel (near
Malang) on Java. Ken Angrok himself stole Putri Dedes
away from her first husband to be his wife, but she was
already pregnant, and her son (later King Anusapati) was
actually the son of the governor, Tunggul Ametung.
Eventually Ken Angrok conspired to have Tunggul Ametung
killed so that he could become ruler of Tumapel.
Tumapel paid tribute to
Kediri until Ken Angrok became powerful enough to
conquer Kediri for himself in 1222. The last ruler of
Kediri, Kertajaya, was considered cruel and overbearing.
Putri Dedes was long
remembered as the mother of the royal line of
Singhasari, and later Majapahit, Mataram, Yogya and
Solo.
1227
Ken Angrok dies, and is succeeded by Anusapati.
By now, Jambi was an independent kingdom on Sumatra.
1247
Anusapati dies after a peaceful 20-year reign. Tohjaya,
son of Ken Angrok by a concubine, becomes king of
Singhasari.
Tradition says that the kings of Singhasari during this
period were all murdered by their successors, as part of
the feud arising from Ken Angrok stealing away Putri
Dedes.
1250
Tohjaya is
killed in a rebellion and replaced as king by by
Wisnuwardhana, son of Anusapati.
1268
King
Wisnuwardhana of Singhasari dies, and is succeeded by
Kertanegara. Kertanegara promotes a mixture of Hinduism
and Buddhism.
1275
Kertanegara begins a campaign to unite the various
kingdoms around Sumatra and Java (whether by alliance or
military conquest is debated).
Historical records tell very different stories about
Kertanegara. Some say that he was a drunkard and lustful;
others that he was an ascetic and saint. 1280
A
group of Javanese from Kediri, unhappy with Kertanegara,
settle around Kutai in Kalimantan.
Around this time, the Thai kingdom of Sukhotai began to
take the parts of the Malay peninsula that had belonged
to Srivijaya.
1281
Muslims
from Jambi send an embassy to Kublai Khan.
1284
Kertanegara takes Bali for
Singhasari. The last Warmadewa king of Bali is killed.
1289
Kublai Khan sends messengers to Singhasari to demand
tribute; Kertanegara slashes their faces and sends them
home.
1290
Kertanegara takes the Melayu kingdom on Sumatra
around Jambi.
Around this time, Kertanegara also took the Sunda area of
western Java, uniting the entire island.
1292
Marco Polo visits Sumatra and Java.
Kublai Khan prepares invasion fleet of 1000 ships to take
Java.
Kertanegara is killed in a court rebellion; his son-in-law
Wijaya retreats and founds a new court at Majapahit (today
Trowulan), with the help of Arya Wiraraja, the local ruler
of Madura.
Bali breaks away from Singhasari under the Pejeng kings at
Ubud.
November Mongol fleet leaves for Java; lands at Tuban.
Majapahit was one of the few countries of that time to
defeat a Mongol invasion, along with Japan and Egypt.
However, the Mongol fleet was hit by a typhoon along the
way, and was refused permission to land in Champa (in
today's Vietnam) to take on supplies. By the time the fleet
reached Tuban, the army was sickened and weak.
Candi
Singasari, near today's Malang. - Wijaya
being crowned King Kertarajasa of Majapahit,
in a sculpture from that time.
1293
According to tradition, Vijaya married all
four daughters of the former king Kertanegara. Some
think that this tradition is actually symbolic, that the
four daughters represent Bali, Madura, Sumatra (Jambi)
and Kalimantan, the outlying areas dependent on the
kingdom.
1295
Rebellion against King
Kertarajasa of Majapahit, led by Rangga Lawe, is put
down.
1297
Pasai in
Sumatra converts to Islam. Sultan Malek Saleh is the
first Muslim ruler in what is now Indonesia.
1298
Rebellion against Kertarajasa, led by Sora, breaks out. It
lasts for two years before being suppressed.
1309
Jayanegara becomes
king of Majapahit.
1316
Rebellion
led by Nambi, son of a former chief minister, is put
down by Jayanegara.
Some observers think
that the rebellions against Majapahit were due to the
ongoing policy of expansion, that Javanese members of
the court disliked "outsiders" from Sumatra and other
areas having influence.
1319
Rebellion
led by Kuti forces Jayanegara to flee the court for the
countryside. An uprising against Kuti allows Jayanegara
to return to court.
During the rebellion,
Jayanegara was accompanied by a young leader of his
bodyguards, Gajah Mada. Gajah Mada slipped back into the
city in disguise, and started a rumor that King
Jayanegara had been killed. This news was very unpopular
among the public, which told Gajah Mada that Kuti was
disliked and the King should try to retake his throne.
1328
Jayanegara
is assassinated, possibly with the help of Gajah Mada.
Tribhuwana Wijayatungga Dewi, daughter of Kertarajasa,
is titular head until 1350.
Tradition says that King Jayanegara had stolen the wife
of Gajah Mada. Gajah Mada, now a high-ranking minister,
conspired to have a doctor kill the King on his sickbed,
then turned around and had the doctor executed for this
deed.
Around this time, Odoric of Pordonone, a Franciscan monk
from Italy, visited Java, Sumatra, and Kalimantan.
1330
Gajah Madah becomes
patih or chief minister of Majapahit, and rules as
regent.
1333
Kingdom of
Pajajaran is founded, with its capital at Pakuan near
today's Bogor.
One of the few areas
that were not conquered by Majapahit was the Sundanese
area of West Java, the Kingdom of Pajajaran. It
occasionally paid tribute to Majapahit, but was known
for its independent behavior.
1334
Hayam Wuruk is born to Tribhuwana Wijayatungga Dewi; heir
to line of Majapahit.
Gajah
Madah in a statue from the 1300s.
1343
With Gajah Madah as
chief minister, the kingdom of Majapahit gained control
or collected tribute from most of what is now Indonesia.
He is remembered for the "Palapa Oath", saying that he
would refuse to eat spices in his food (palapa) until
all the islands around were united under one rule. Today
in Yogyakarta, the university is named for him.
Around this time, traditional chronicles say that
Majapahit collected tribute from "Makassar, Gowa, Banda,
Sumbawa, Ende, Timor, Ternate, Sulu, Seram, Manila, and
Burni (Brunei?)". Palembang and Bali were also within
Majapahit's sphere, but were more troublesome.
1345
Arab traveller and
writer Ibn Battuta visits Pasai on Sumatra.
Ibn Battuta reported that the Muslims he met followed
the madhhab or legal school of Shafi'i, which is the
school followed by almost all Muslim Indonesians today.
1347
Adityavarman,
king of Melayu or Jambi, rules Minangkabau for
Majapahit.
Adityavarman had been
kept at the court of Majapahit as a boy. When he came of
age, he ruled over Melayu as a vassal of Majapahit, and
extended the influence of Majapahit into the Minangkabau
areas of Sumatra.
1350
Rajasanegara
becomes King of Majapahit.
Majapahit conquers the Islamic kingdoms of Pasai and Aru
(later Deli, near Medan) in northern Sumatra.
The poet Mpu Tantular of Majapahit, who lived about this
time, is remembered for coining the motto "Bhinneka
Tunggal Eka", which is Indonesia's national motto today.
(The meaning is very similar to the United States' "E
Pluribus Unum": "Unity in Diversity") [with the
difference that the indians in the "USA" do not belong
to the "unity" and do not have a representation in the
"White House" till today].
1351
Hayam
Wuruk asks to marry the daughter of the King of
Pajajaran. The King of Pajajaran agrees, and travels to
Bubat in eastern Java for the ceremonies. At the last
minute, Gajah Mada insists that the daughter be handed
over as an act of tribute from a dependent king. The
King of Pajajaran refuses to submit, violence breaks
out, and the entire company from Pajajaran is killed.
Pajajaran becomes a dependency of Majapahit for several
years.
1364
Gajah
Madah passes away. The many responsibilities that he
handled are considered to be too burdensome for one
normal person, so his duties are divided between four
new government posts. Hayam Wuruk becomes King of
Majapahit.
1377 Majapahit sends a navy
against Palembang, a remnant of Srivijaya, and conquers
it.
The King of Palembang
sent a courier to China, offering his kingdom to the
emperor in exchange for protection. The Emperor of China
accepted the offer, and sent officials in return, but by
the time the officials got to Palembang, it had already
been conquered by Majapahit, and they were executed.
1387
Empu Jamatka
founds Banjarmasin.
1389
Hayam
Wuruk passes away and is succeeded by Wikramawarddhana.
Another son of Hayam Wuruk, Wirabumi, disputes the
succession. Beginning of the decline of Majapahit.
1400
Aceh converts to Islam.
Temple
complex at Besakih, in Gelgel on Bali, 1401
(The form of pyramid towers is the form of little
space ships contacting the mother space ship - same
thing is with the obeliscs in Egypt).
Around this time, the
kings of Gelgel began to rule as "dewa agung", or chief
king, in Bali.
Also around this
time, Palembang fell under the control of Chinese
pirates.
1402
Paramesvara
is driven from Tumasik by the King of Pahang (or perhaps
Patani), acting on behalf of the King of Siam.
Paramesvara with his followers founds Melaka on the west
coast of Malaya.
1404
Paramesvara sends an
embassy to Beijing, receives promise of protection from
China.
1405
Chinese
Admiral Cheng Ho visits Semarang.
1406
Wirabumi
is executed, and his head is brought to the court of
Majapahit. The war of succession ends.
1409
Cheng Ho visits Melaka for the first time.
1411
Paramesvara visits Beijing on a state visit.
1414
Paramesvara converts to Islam, and takes the
name Iskandar Syah, after marrying the daughter of the
Sultan of Pasai. Melaka is now an Islamic sultanate.
Islam, one of Indonesia's five religions.
The Islamic religion had been common among traders in
Sumatra and Java for some time. The Singhasari and
Majapahit kingdoms probably had a few Muslims involved in
their courts. Large-scale conversions to Islam began when
local kings adopted the new religion. Aceh and Melaka were
among the first. Most of Java did not become Muslims until
the early 1500s.
(Today, over 85% of Indonesians are Muslims.)
First
masjid founded on Ambon island.
1419 Iskandar
Syah of Melaka visits China to ask for help against Siam.
1424
Iskandar
Syah passes away aged 72. His son takes the title Sri
Maharaja, and immediately travels to China to seek
support.
The son and grandson of Iskandar Syah included Hindu
titles in their names; some scholars have interpreted
this as meaning that Islam was not yet firmly
established in Melaka.
1427
Queen
Suhita inherits the Majapahit kingdom from
Wikramawardhana.
1445 Hindu revolt in Melaka
against Islam is suppressed.
Thai attack on Melaka
is driven back.
1446
Muzaffar
Syah leads a coup in Melaka and takes the throne.
Sunan Ampel
Sunan Ampel in
a traditional portrait, 1447. Sunan Ampel was the first
notable member of the Nine Walis or Walisongo, Islamic
teachers who worked to spread Islam around Java in the
late 1400s and early 1500s.
1451
King Kertawijaya is murdered and replaced by
Rajasawardhana, who hinders the spread of Islam in
Majapahit.
1456
Thai
attack on Melaka by sea is driven back. Melaka's forces
are led by Tun Perak.
Bhre Wengker becomes
king of Majapahit after three years of chaos.
Around this time,
Palembang converted to Islam.
1459
Muzaffar
Syah of Melaka is succeeded by Raja Abdullah or Mansur
Syah.
Mansur Syah of Melaka conquers Kedah and Pahang from the
Thais. The forces of Melaka are led by Tun Perak. Pahang
becomes an Islamic sultanate under Melaka.
1460
Kingdom of Aru (near Deli) on Sumatra becomes
independent.
1466
Suraprabhawa becomes king of Majapahit.
Kyai Demung founds Sumenep on Madura; breaks away from
Majapahit control.
Court rebellion in Majapahit: Bhre Kertabhumi drives
Suraprabhawa out of his court at Tumapel. Suraprabhawa
moves his seat to Daha, near Kediri.
Around this time, many Hindus from Majapahit left Java for
Bali.
1471
Bugis state of Wajo founded in Sulawesi.
1475
Ternate and Tidore convert
to Islam.
1477 Ala'uddin Riayat Syah, son
of Mansur Syah, becomes Sultan of Melaka. Tun Perak
exercises great power in the Sultanate.
1478
Daha
region under Girindrawardhana, a great-grandson of
Kertawijaya, revolts. Majapahit kingdom falls into
chaos. Bhre Kertabumi, King of Majapahit at Tumapel,
flees to Demak. Girindrawardhana sets himself up as
ruler in Majapahit.
Islamic Kingdom of Demak is founded by Raden Patah (or
Fattah), a prince of Majapahit (son of King Kertawijaya
by a Chinese wife). Masjid is founded at Demak.
Islamic Sultanate founded at Cirebon, formerly a
possession of the Pajajaran King Siliwangi.
By the 1490s, the Portuguese had sailed around the
southern tip of Africa and had landed in India.
1486
Zainal Abidin becomes Sultan of Ternate
(until 1500).
Court of Majapahit moves to Kediri.
1488
Mahmud
becomes Sultan of Melaka.
First mention of
Bandung in historical records.
1498
Tun
Perak, military leader in Melaka, passes away.
Sultan Mahmud of Melaka was considered to be a weak
ruler. Tun Perak and his successors exercised the real
power in the Sultanate. The last several years of
Mahmud's time on the throne were spent in warfare with
Siam, right up until the Portuguese conquest in 1511.
^
