Anjani Empire
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Anjani Empire | |
|---|---|
| 753–1623 | |
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Capital | Anjani |
| Common languages | Old Anjanian (religious, court), Old Javanese (religious, common) |
| Religion | Imperial Hyangism, Kepercayaan Asli, Kejawen, Hindia Belandan animism, Esoteric Shi'ism (significant minority from 1490 onwards) |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Ratu Agung | |
• 753–812 | Raden Sabdadiratoe I |
• 1416–1460 | Radina Wardani VI |
• 1460–1480 | Raden Wardana |
| Patihnegoro | |
• c. 1416–1440 | Patih Wardamar |
| History | |
• Coronation of Raden Sabdadiratoe I | 753 |
| 1623 | |
| Currency | Gold and silver coins, |
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 8th century until its decline starting in 1525 and eventual fall in 1623. 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. Anjani civilisation was responsible for the invention of the outrigger ship, the tanja sail, the piggy bank, terraced farming and the kite. The empire reached its height of influence and power in the xy century, when it ruled territories that make up modern Hindia Belanda and parts of modern Maqtajer.
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 minus its Maqtajeri parts.
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 dedicated to the history of the Anjani Empire and its origins by the Noordenstaater-born Hindia Belandan historian Andreas Cristiaensz, the predecessors of the Anjani Empire and its preceding Anjani State 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 its preceding kingdom, the Anjani State, 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.
The success of the Anjani Empire as a civilisation is attributed to the fertile soil and the tropical climate of the Hindia Belandan archipelago, allowing for a year-round cultivation of crops which propelled the Anjanian economy and ensuring a constant supply of food. Early 8th-century evidence of interinsular trade with other exists,
Conquest of Java and Bali
Conquest of Bornea
Conquest of Somatra
White Tiger Period (1151-1238)
Golden age (1238-1525)
Decline (1525-1623)
Fall (1623)
The remaining territory of the Anjani Empire fell to the Esoteric Principality of Anjani at the hands of the Anjanian crown prince
The realm
Administration and subdivision
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. The sum of all territories under the Ratu Agung was known as the kamaraton. In theory, the Ratu Agung was the paramount ruler of the Anjani Empire, wielding near absolute power and control over the entire imperial territory. In practice, however, the Ratu Agung relied on a complex system of tiered bureaucracy which made the administration of so vast a territory possible.
The main kingdom, or the Negoro Agung, was divided into Kadipatens, each headed by a dipatih who was directly accountable to the Ratu Agung. Twice a year, the Ratu Agung convened all dipatihs at a séance in the capital Anjani, to demand accountability for their administration as well as to collect taxes and tributes from them. Reports on the development of each Kadipaten were written by each dipatih on pieces of pottery bearing the insignia of each Kadipaten, to be collected by the Ratu Agung and stored in the archives. The corpus of these reports from the 8th until the early 17th centuries, known as the Anjanian Pottery Texts, has survived in great conditions to this day.
The Kadipaten was divided into a number of kuwus, or districts, ruled by a military prefect known as the arkapua. The arkapua was in charge of the protection of the communities under its jurisdiction. These communities ranged from a city (tanana), a wanua (large towns) to small hamlets (kabuyutan).
Economy
Imperial Anjanian economy was heavily reliant on the vast network of religious sanctuaries and interinsular trade. In addition to being a locus of religious life, sanctuaries of Imperial Hyangism acted as centres of food and wealth redistribution. As such, they employed a staggering amount of workers, including labourers, farmers, guardians, artisans, craftsmen and priests. The largest of the religious sanctuaries was Puncak Kramat which at the zenith of religious activity in the late 1400s employed over 5,000 people. Sanctuaries often controlled extensive swaths of land where food crops were farmed to sustain religious activities and the surrounding population. Because they were pilgrimage sites, sanctuaries were in charge of providing lodging and food to pilgrims from all over the empire. Food produced by the sanctuary's estate was stored in granaries and storehouses, necessitating the presence of workers in charge of carrying and distributing food, as well as guardians to secure the stockpile. Moreover, being large producers of food and artisanal goods, such as potteries, pigments and jewelries, sanctuaries played an important role in the empire's interinsular trade. Contracted artisans worked for sanctuary workshops in return for a salary paid in either food or gold. Farmers and other laborers who worked in the fields or exploited natural resources on the sanctuary's estate were compensated in food, which was given daily at the conclusion of the working day and was proportionate to the number of family members the worker was responsible for.
The Anjani Empire traded extensively with its neighbouring countries and, between 1521 and 1525, with the Empire of Exponent.