Anjani Empire
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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 extent in 1433 under the reign of Radina Wardani VI, the warrior queen and high priestess of the Hyangism faith, who conquered the Singadara Kingdom and reduced the various principalities, petty kingdoms and city-states into tributary states. Radina Wardani VI is a figure still revered in modern-day Hindia Belanda whose memory is often invoked every Commonwealth Day.
A thalassocratic centralised realm, the Anjani Empire was suzerain over 18 tributaries, stretching from the Malayan Peninsula, including the territory of modern-day Maqtajer, to the Northeastern reaches of Papoea. The Anjani Empire was the most powerful of empires to have ruled the Nusantaran Archipelago. Records of the Anjani Empire were preserved by the Kingdom of Bali, one of its many successor states.
The Anjani Empire lost most of its territorial possessions in the Anjani revolts of 1525, when its vassal states rose up against the Empire by allying themselves with the Empire of Exponent, but managed to survive, albeit as a small Kingdom in the hinterland of Anjani Island, until 1623. During the reign of King Raden Damar IX in 1623, what remained of the Anjani Empire was finally overthrown by the Anjanian crown prince [[Raden Mas Shams al-Iman I|] who had converted to Esoteric Shia Islam. Raden Mas Shams al-Iman I established the Esoteric Principality of Anjani in the place of the fallen kingdom.
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 Singadara Kingdom 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
The realm
At its greatest extent, the Anjani Empire consisted of a main Kingdom (Nagara Agong) on the island of Anjani, ruled directly by the Ratoe Agong, outlying provinces (Mantjanagara) ruled by the Ratoe Agong's relatives, and tributaries (Bawah Nagara)).