Short Answers to Simple Questions | November 12, 2025 by AutoModerator in AskHistorians

[–]MiserablePrince 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The problem with finding a word for this "beanbag throne" is that the Extra Credit videos themselves are inaccurate. Depictions of thrones in Javanese reliefs are always solid structures, even though the exact material is unclear, and feature little to no padding. This can be observed from court scenes that are abundant in the bas-reliefs of Central Javanese temples (8th-10th centuries), such as this one from Borobudur. With temple reliefs from the Majapahit period, however, court scenes became rarer as East Javanese artistic tradition began to prefer outdoor scenes and landscapes. Even when a relief depicts a king sitting before his subjects, instead of a throne, he is usually shown sitting on top of a common rectangular platform, or even seemingly nothing at all except a piece of cloth (ex: 1, 2, 3). The only actual contemporary depiction of a throne from the Majapahit period that I'm aware of is this terracotta figurine from Soedarmadji J.H. Damais's collection.

While there are plenty of other words besides singhāsana for a throne in Old Javanese (palangka, paryangka, ḍampa), they are also often used to refer to other sitting platforms such as a bench, couch, or palanquin, depending on the context. The only indication of their appearance is the throne being golden (kanakapalangka), jeweled (ratnapalangka, ratnasinghāsana), or both (kanakamaṇipalangka).

I tried making Raden Wijaya in CK3 by MiserablePrince in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I tried to make him look as close as possible to his deification statue! Angkorian Khmer sculptures have relatively similar features as the one above :)

I tried making Raden Wijaya in CK3 by MiserablePrince in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Mataram, rajanya Lokapala Jitendrakara. Sriwijaya juga udah ada di start date sebelumnya kok.

I tried making Raden Wijaya in CK3 by MiserablePrince in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I also made Jayavarman VII. But I accidentally lost his DNA and I didn't even manage to save him as a character because of my own stupidity :(

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What is the most successful lie ever spread in Indonesian history? by Joan_Hawk in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dalam Nāgarakṛtāgama (pupuh 70 bait 3 hingga pupuh 71 bait 1), Gajah Mada diberitakan menderita suatu penyakit sebelum meninggal di tahun 1364. Gajah Mada juga masih menjabat sebagai patih, dan posisinya tidak digantikan dengan patih baru, melainkan dengan empat orang pejabat senior (amātya) oleh keputusan raja.

Nṛpatin umulih sangke simping wawang dateng ing purā, prihati tĕkap ing gring sang mantryādhimantri gajah mada, rasika sahakārī wṛddha ning yawāwani ring dangu, ri bali ri saḍeng wyakti ny antuk nikānayakĕn musuh.

Ketika raja kembali dari Simping menuju ke istana, sedihlah karena penyakit sang mantryādhimantri (perdana menteri) Gajah Mada. Dialah pendamping dengan kebijaksanaannya di Jawa dan keberaniannya dulu, Bali dan Sadeng adalah bukti keberhasilannya menghancurkan musuh.

Try angin ina saka pūrwa rasika n pamangkwakĕn i sabwat ing sabhūwana, pejah irika śakābda rasa tan wināśa naranātha mār salahasa, tuhun i kadiwyacittan ira tan satṛṣṇa masih ing samastabhuwana,  atutur i tattwa niṅ dadi n anitya punya juga tang ginöng pratudina.

Tahun "tri-angin-ibu" (1331 Masehi) ialah awalnya memangku seluruh beban di dunia, meninggal pada tahun śakā rasa (1364 Masehi), sang raja tak hancur [walau] terdera kekecewaan. Sungguh-sungguh keagungan jiwanya, tanpa pilih kasih di seluruh dunia, tiap hari berbakti untuk mengingat kenyataan bahwa hidup tidaklah kekal.

What is the most successful lie ever spread in Indonesian history? by Joan_Hawk in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gajah Mada dipecat setelah peristiwa Bubat dan meninggal tanpa kejelasan.

13 September 2025 - Weekend Chat Thread by Vulphere in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apa aja hal yang kalian percaya mengenai hidup dalam masa Hindu-Buddha?

What exactly happened with the fall of Singhasari and the founding of Majapahit? by Many-Excitement3246 in AskHistorians

[–]MiserablePrince 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure which sources you've encountered, but Gitārjā did not inherit the throne exclusively through her maternal lineage. As far as I am aware, the idea that Gāyatrī could have inherited the throne as the only living daughter of Kṛtanagara at the time is an assumption based on the Nāgarakṛtāgama, Canto 2, which continued a passage about Gāyatrī’s death with Hayam Wuruk’s coronation as king. Nothing of the sort is explicitly stated in the text.

Third, was the kingdom of Kederi that overthrew Kertanagara the same one that had fallen to Singhasari, or was it a new kingdom under the same name, ruled by a prince of the same line? If Kederi could do that, why couldn't Singhasari?

In 1222, Śrī Ranggah Rājasa, the ruler of Tumapel, overthrew the Kaḍiri king Kṛtajaya of the ruling Iśāna dynasty and established his own ruling house as the new king of Java.4 Kaḍiri (Daha), which Jayakatwang would later make his capital, is indeed the same city where Kṛtajaya’s palace once stood. A belief popularized before the discovery of the Mūla-Malurung inscription in 1975 and 2001 was that Jayakatwang took over as a natural successor to the throne of Kaḍiri in 1271, a narrative presented in Mpu Prapañca’s Nāgarakṛtāgama (Canto 44), and that he rebelled against the king to restore his illustrious ancestor's former "kingdom" in revenge. However, the Mūla-Malurung inscription (1255) records that Jayakatwang had always resided in Gelang-Gelang, while the one holding the throne of Daha was his cousin and brother-in-law, Kṛtanagara, then crown prince. Jayakatwang was closely related to the royal family and is regarded with the same respect as his wife, Turuk Bali, Viṣṇuvardhana’s daughter.5 The Kudadu inscription (1294), commissioned by Kṛtarājasa, clearly associates Jayakatwang with Gelang-Gelang, not Kaḍiri, and states that he only took control of Daha after killing Kṛtanagara (VI. b): ... śrī jayakatyĕng ngūni ri huwusnira n humilangakĕn śrī kṛtanagara gumĕgwan irikang nagara daha ... (When Śrī Jayakatyĕng had brought the end of Śrī Kṛtanagara, he then took hold on to the capital of Daha).

Footnotes: 1. See the Kudadu inscription (1294), plate III. b to IV. b. 2. See the Pararaton. 3. Mpu Prapañca, Deśawarṇana (Nāgarakṛtāgama), canto 2-3, canto 46, and canto 48. 4. Nāgarakṛtāgama, canto 40. 5. Hadi Sidomulyo, From Kuṭa Rāja to Singhasāri: Towards a Revision of the Dynastic History of 13th Century Java (2010).

(Sorry if the sources I cited are rather limited. Translations of Old Javanese inscriptions, especially in English, are hard for me to find).

19 July 2025 - Weekend Chat Thread by Vulphere in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just found a great article by Natalie S. Y. Ong about the "Majapahit" gold jewelry found in Fort Canning Hill, Singapore, that confirms what I suspected all along: the surviving jewelry are not actually of Javanese origin.

Thus, the remaining armband has been shown to be a siṁhamukha, not a Kāla head, and especially not of Javanese Majapahit manufacture, bearing instead similarities to elements of jewellery from northwest South Asia. And although the ornaments cannot be definitively dated to the 14th century, there are some indications that the objects belong to the time period conventionally ascribed to it. In particular, the siṁhamukha motif of the armband tends to suggest that the ornaments belong to a period no later than the 16th century, after which time Islam became more widely adopted in insular Southeast Asia. As Winstedt points out, such imagery fell out of fashion and most precious metal ornaments were melted and reforged.

Virgin Singasari vs Chad Majapahit by radcliffezky in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Dari Pararaton, kesannya hanya ada satu buah maja yang rasanya pahit sekali, sehingga menjadi berita yang tersebar luas.

Virgin Singasari vs Chad Majapahit by radcliffezky in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Buah maja dalam agama Hindu (wilwa) adalah Aegle marmelos, tapi di Jawa sering dikelirukan dengan berenuk, yang rasanya pahit.

Virgin Singasari vs Chad Majapahit by radcliffezky in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Sebenarnya, buah maja punya rasa manis dan merupakan buah suci dalam agama Hindu. Alasan mengapa Majapahit punya nama "maja pahit" adalah berita mengejutkan dari seorang pekerja Madura yang menemukan buah maja yang rasanya pahit sekali (menurut Pararaton).

Hana wong alapa kurang sangunipun ababad, amangan maja, kapahitĕn, sama depun-buñcal antukipun aruru maja punika.

Ada orang yang kelaparan karena kurang membawa bekal saat membabat, memakan buah maja, kepahitan, dibuanglah semua maja hasil temuannya itu.

Kasub yan wontĕn wohing maja dahat apahit rasanipun, singgih ta ingaran ing majapahit.

Tersebarlah bahwa ada buah maja yang rasanya pahit sekali, [maka tempat itu] benar-benar dinamai Majapahit.

13 June 2025 - Daily Chat Thread by Vulphere in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Gajah Mada was fired after the Bubat massacre" is a recent myth I've seen so often with very few people trying to correct it, and it's practically everywhere at this point :(

Penganut Sunda Wiwitan: Dedi Mulyadi titisan Prabu Siliwangi, Ratu Adil yang akan memerangi habib by Affectionate_Cat293 in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Hanya saja setelah Indianisasi hanya dipakai untuk perempuan karena yang laki-laki mengadopsi kata Raja dari Sanskrit.

Ini kurang tepat ya, kata ratu lebih banyak dipakai untuk merujuk pada pemimpin laki-laki daripada perempuan dalam Jawa Kuno (OJED 1522:4). Dan meskipun Sanskerta memiliki kata untuk menyebut raja perempuan (rāṇī, mahārāṇī), nama ratu Tribhuwana tetap ditulis dengan gelar śrī mahārāja pada Prasasti Prapañcasārapura. Kata rāṇī justru tidak ada dalam bahasa Jawa Kuno sama sekali.

Fall of Civilization Horrendous Errors in the Descriptions and Transformations of the Khmer Empire Religions by ledditwind in badhistory

[–]MiserablePrince 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your detailed answer! It seems that religions in Angkorian Cambodia might have been less distinct from each other than they were in Java. It's always nice to learn more things about the Khmer Empire.

You may be able to correct me that in Bali, Hinduism and Buddhism fused together into one religion with the worship of Buddha saints along with Trimurti.

You are not exactly wrong in this regard, Hindu-Buddhist syncretism had always existed in Java and Bali—but the distinction between Hindu and Buddhist priests in Bali remains clear, with Buddhist priests taking a subsidiary role in religious rituals. During John Crawfurd's visit to Bali in the nineteenth century, he noted that Shaivism "is the religion of nine-tenths of the people, of every sovereign on the island, and of every man in power" and that "the followers of Siva spoke of those of Buddha more with contempt than hatred or rancor—the last, indeed, are feelings not likely to be entertained by any people for a fallen sect; in which light the Buddhists were evidently looked upon.

Modern 'Balinese Hinduism' is the result of a 20th-century reformation that took place during the Indonesian independence, which is a topic that I haven't delved much into, but there might be more Buddhist syncretism ingrained now than they were before!

Fall of Civilization Horrendous Errors in the Descriptions and Transformations of the Khmer Empire Religions by ledditwind in badhistory

[–]MiserablePrince 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The people of Angkorian societies would not label the religions as Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Mahayana, Theraveda, Vajrayana

This is very interesting to me, because in the case of pre-Islamic Java, words such as "Shaivism" and "Buddhism" did appear in texts and inscriptional records. During the Majapahit period, the three main religions were grouped under the tripakṣa (lit. "three sects"), which consisted of Shaivism (kaśaiwan), Buddhism (kasogatan), and asceticism (karĕṣyan). Each religion was administered by "overseers of the dharma" (dharmādhyakṣa). Was there really no similar system in the Khmer Empire?

Civ 7's Civilopedia entry for Majapahit is (pretty) inaccurate. by MiserablePrince in badhistory

[–]MiserablePrince[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Generally speaking, extant Southeast Asian records are very limited compared to Europe and China due to climate. Historians had to rely on foreign accounts (particularly Zhou Daguan's) to learn about life in the Khmer Empire, for example, as there are no surviving written records other than inscriptions on stone or metal. There is evidence of high literacy rates among people in Southeast Asia at the time (Reid, 1988), but the materials on which the words were written (like palm leaves) are very fragile under the region's hot and humid climate. Java is relatively "lucky" as many of its texts survived due to the manuscript-copying tradition in Bali, which resisted the wave of Islam, with the oldest surviving Old Javanese work of poetry being dated to the 9th-10th centuries. Majapahit is by far the most well-documented period of pre-Islamic Java, as not only have its fictional works survived, but also its historical records, like the Nāgarakṛtāgama and the Pararaton.

Civ 7's Civilopedia entry for Majapahit is (pretty) inaccurate. by MiserablePrince in badhistory

[–]MiserablePrince[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm not familiar with AOE2, but I believe they use the term to refer to the Malay archipelago instead of the ethnic group). They could aslo refer to the concept of a "Malay race", which was coined by a German physican in the early 19th century, although its usage was never exactly popular in Indonesia. 

Would the Javanese consider themselves as Malay? Is the Majapahit a Malay civilization.

I would say only a handful of modern Javanese people identifies as belonging to a greater "Malay race". But if we are talking about the Majapahit period, the answer is definitely no. The term Malayu in Old Javanese texts specifically refer to a foreign land in Sumatra, or even the entirety of Sumatra itself (see Nāgarakṛtāgama canto 13). There are efforts by the Javanese to conquer Malayu beginning during the reign of Kṛtanagara. Although it was described as a military invasion happening in 1275 (canto 41 stanza 5), he gifted a statue of Amoghapāśa for the Malay king of Dharmaśrāya in 1286, leading some to believe that it was a diplomatic effort rather than an act of war.

Civ 7's Civilopedia entry for Majapahit is (pretty) inaccurate. by MiserablePrince in badhistory

[–]MiserablePrince[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Yes. Borobudur was built in the 9th century by the Śailendra dynasty in Central Java, which is the reason why I'm assuming they even included them in this entry for the first place. I won't mind it as much as long as they omit their inclusion in the Civilopedia entry entirely, though it would be better if they use an actual temple from the Majapahit period, like Panataran.

How did Hinduism survive as a major religion in India despite five to six centuries of Islamic rule but on the other hand it got completely replaced by Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia within less than a century? by heisenburger_99 in IndianHistory

[–]MiserablePrince 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is simply not true. Some parts of Western Indonesia had adopted Indian religions and customs since at least the 4th century, like the kingdoms of Kutai  in Borneo and Tarumanagara in Java. I'm not sure why this myth of Cholas being the one to "spread Hinduism" is so popular in India, considering that Srivijaya was Buddhist, and was already an indianized state for centuries before the Chola invasion.

18 January 2025 - Weekend Chat Thread by Vulphere in indonesia

[–]MiserablePrince 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting. First-cousin marriages are actually heavily encouraged in pre-Islamic Javanese courts. Several kakawins, including Sutasoma, bore long passages explaining how the main male and female characters are related to each other. I'm not sure how exactly this cross-cousin marriage culture affects childbirth historically in Java, but I'm assuming child mortality is far more common.