Anjani Empire
 | This article is incomplete because it is pending further input from participants, or it is a work-in-progress by one author. Please comment on this article's talk page to share your input, comments and questions. Note: To contribute to this article, you may need to seek help from the author(s) of this page. |
The Anjani Empire (Indonesian: Imperium Anjani, in old Indonesian spelling Imperioem Andjani, Dutch: Keizerrijk Anjani, in old Dutch spelling Keizerriyk Andjani) ruled a vast territory in what is now Hindia Belanda from mid 7th century until its decline starting in 1527. The Anjani Empire reached its greatest territorial extent, prosperity and development in 1433 under the reign of Radina Wardani VI, the warrior queen and high priestess of the Hyangism faith, who conquered the Kingdom of Galuh and reduced the various principalities, petty kingdoms and city-states throughout the Hindia Belandan archipelago into tributary states of the empire. Radina Wardani VI is a figure still revered in modern-day Hindia Belanda whose memory is often invoked every Commonwealth Day as a symbol of national resilience and source of historical romanticism.
A Javanic thalassocratic centralised realm, the Anjani Empire was suzerain over 18 tributaries, stretching from the Malayan Peninsula to the Northeastern reaches of Papoea. With its capital in Anjani on the island of the same name, the Anjani Empire was the most powerful of the pre-colonial states to have ruled the Nusantaran Archipelago.
The Anjani Empire lost most of its territorial possessions in the Anjani Revolts of 1525, when its vassal states, dissatisfied by the increased centralisation of authority, rose up against the Empire by allying with the Empire of Exponent. The Anjanian obsession with constructing and commandeering extraordinarily large Djongs or war ships, surpassing even that of Lorecia's and the Exponents' at the time, was thought to be one of the causes of its many defeats by the smaller yet more agile Exponential war ships in sea battles. Following the Anjani Revolts, the diminished Empire managed to survive, albeit as a small Kingdom in the hinterland of Anjani Island, its ancestral home, until 1623. During the reign of King Raden Damar IX in 1623, what remained of the Anjani Empire was finally overthrown by his son, the Anjanian crown prince Raden Mas Rahadian Shams al-Iman I, who had converted to Esoteric Shi'ism. Raden Mas Shams al-Iman I established the Esoteric Principality of Anjani in the place of the fallen kingdom, which became the bastion of Esoteric Shi'ism on the island of Anjani. Near complete records of the Anjani Empire were preserved by the Sultanate of Amatdemak, the Kingdom of Bali and the Esoteric Principality of Anjani, three of its many successor states. Auxiliary Imamate, then permanently settled on Mount Ilias in Java following the move from the Duchy of Srambi, also preserved records of the Anjani Empire made in the later years of the empire.
During the colonial era, the Noordenstaater Trading Company and later the Colony of Hindia Belanda sought to retake former possessions of the Anjani Empire in a series of wars as well as peaceful treaties with the Empire's many successor states, a process which culminated in the 1897 Invasion of the Kingdom of Bali. The current territory of Hindia Belanda is a reflection of the Anjani Empire's greatest territorial extent.
Etymology and origin
The name Anjani derives from the name of the island where the precursor of the empire, the Anjani State, developed from a collection of petty kingdoms bounded together by dynastic ties, alliances and common interest to overthrow the Maleu-Kolon Kingdom and the Kingdom of Singodoro which dominated the Nusantaran sea lanes in the 6th century.
According to De Andjanische Geschiedenis, a 19th century work by the Noordenstaater-born Hindia Belandan historian Andreas Cristiaensz dedicated to the history of the Anjani Empire and its origins, the predecessors of the Anjani Empire were directly descended from the prehistoric Anjani cultures, who were of Austronesian origin.
History
Background
History of the Anjani Empire is inextricably linked to that of the Anjani State, its preceding kingdom, which came to existence in 650 following a series of conquests and vassalisations.
"... In the three hundredth year after the separation of Anjani and Kadiri, the honourable king Sabdadiratoe conquered the Kingdom of Singodoro and subjugated the Kingdom of Kahuripan. He raised the red and white banner and proclaimed himself Ratu Agung, supreme ruler whose reign is blessed by the Almighty Hyang."
Batukramat Kamaratoning Agung, paragraph 3
According to the Parokaratoning Nusantara, the Anjani Empire was founded by Raden Sabdadiratoe I, king of the Anjani State, following his successful conquest of the Kingdom of Singodoro and the Kingdom of Kahuripan, both Sundanese kingdoms on the island of Java, in the year 753. As the two kingdoms were absorbed into the Anjani State, Sabdadiratoe I effectively rose in rank from a king (Gusti Ratu) to an emperor (Ratu Agung) ruling over three kingdoms on two different islands in the Nusantaran archipelago. The foundation of the Anjani Empire was attested to on the Batukramat Kamaratoning Agung, an andesite stele erected in Dihyang, a site where the palace of the Anjani Imperial Family was situated. The Anjanian victory over the Sundanese kingdoms in Java was attributed to the weakened state of the latter in the aftermath of a series of raids by Bornean adventurers as well as military technological advances achieved by the former, especially with the invention of the gigantic Djong which enabled the Anjani Empire to transport larger number of soldiers over the seas and participate in prolonged naval battles without suffering from much attrition. The consolidation of power by the Anjani Empire over the islands of Java, Bali and Somatra was a remarkably swift process and by the 770s, most of the political entities on these islands have either sworn fealty to the Anjani Emperor ruling at Anjani on the eponymous island as vassals or been subjugated, their leaders replaced by relatives of the Anjani Emperor belonging to the Anjani dynasty.
Conquest of Java and Bali
Conquest of Bornea
Conquest of Somatra
Golden age
Decline
Fall
The realm
At its greatest extent, the Anjani Empire consisted of a main Kingdom (Negoro Agung) on the island of Anjani, ruled directly by the Ratu Agung, outlying provinces (Negoro Luwar) ruled by the Ratu Agung's relatives, and tributaries (Bawah Negoro)), ruled by the Emperor's vassals.
Subdivision
The main kingdom, or Negoro Agung, is divided into Kadipatens (duchies) headed by Dipatihs,