Indonesia's Spice Kingdom | The Mark Of Empire | Majapahit

But where did this phrase come from? And what is the story behind this call for unity? Yudhi Irawan shows me the "Sutasoma", a 700-year-old poem written on dried palm leaves. I have handled so many ancient and archaic materials, but I have never handled anything of such national importance. Sutasoma was an Indian prince with no interest in ruling. He then left his

kingdom

to travel. A story records a clash between religions. An evil king named Purushada lived off the flesh of his subjects. To help them, Buddha reincarnated, Prince Sutasoma offered his own body. But this offended Purushada, who asked Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, to kill Sutasoma.

The Buddha and Lord Shiva fought. But both were equally strong. The battle continued... until the priests told them to stop fighting. Because although they seemed different, they were actually one. -So this is the famous Bhinneka Tunggal Ika? -Yeah. That is wonderful. It is a parable of religious harmony during Majapahit's 200 years of rule, depicting how Buddhism and Hinduism were often practiced side by side. An idea of ​​acceptance that continues to resonate today. Majapahit is said to have been the first

kingdom

to unite the diverse archipelago. To understand how it flourished, I'll start from the beginning. In 1289, an envoy from the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan landed in Java to demand allegiance.

But King Kertanegara made them leave by mutilating their faces. In retaliation, Kublai Khan sent a powerful fleet of 1,000 ships and 20,000 men to overthrow the Javanese king. But when they landed in Java three years later, King Kertanegara had been assassinated and in his place was a different king. A prince named Raden Wijaya saw his opportunity. He offered to help the Mongols overthrow the new king and swear allegiance to the Great Khan. Together they attacked and captured the king. But then Raden Wijaya turned on his allies with a surprise attack and the Mongols fled, never to return. In 1294, Raden Wijaya became the first king of Majapahit and built his capital in the interior of Java, in the city of Trowulan.

Centuries ago, this was one of the most important gateways to it. Split doors like these were built to impress and intimidate. And I can really feel that being here. I want to see what else remains of the Majapahit Empire. The people of Majapahit worshiped in places like these called "candis". They were usually Hindu or Buddhist temples, but people visited both frequently. This was rediscovered in 1905. Sumariyanto spearheads a local effort to restore the temple to its former glory. The work is being done upstairs, but I'm suffering from a bit of vertigo. Dilapidated stairs...not my favorite thing.

I can't look down. An incredible view up here! The design is based on the surviving remains of the bricks on one side, and there are even some carved bricks that have survived. They're just going to leave this like this so you can clearly see what's original and what's been replaced. But there is still a lot to do and I want to help. I'm trying to do this carefully because I don't want to waste your precious bricks. The next step is to crush the bricks. Look how wonderful and perfectly aligned these bricks are. So this new one on top needs to be polished until it's perfect and tight.

It takes years. It's not easy to do. I'm 20 minutes in and I'm nowhere near meeting Pak Surmariyanto's standards. I'm getting help doing the finishing touches. The last step is to set it with a little mortar. That fits perfectly! It's great to see this Majapahit heritage being cared for, especially since almost 90% of Indonesians today are no longer Hindus or Buddhists. There is a Muslim cemetery here, there is a mosque and there is a school on the other side. This is really part of the neighborhood. I love the way this is so integrated. It is one of the most beautiful things you can experience.

Majapahit's religious tolerance resulted in peace throughout the kingdom. But it was geography, their position on the island of Java, between India and China, that made the Majapahits a commercial power. I have been allowed access to an excavation site in the ancient capital that may provide evidence of how rich the Empire once was. Yusmaini Eriawati and her team have discovered the base of a house with 700-year-old artifacts. Just remove the dirt? This is an old and very precious part of a ceramic vessel. It's actually beautifully rendered and it's more typical to see a lotus flower, not the leaf.

This is very beautiful. The team has made a variety of finds that tell a gripping story of the reach of the Empire. I am impressed by how cosmopolitan the Majapahit were. Religious and ethnic tolerance, combined with its strategic location, were the pillars of an empire. But the secret of their wealth was born from the island's treacherous terrain. I'm in Java exploring how the Majapahit became an empire. Just look at this. The quiet majesty of rice fields and volcanoes. This island is part of what geologists call the Ring of Fire. Of the 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, the largest group exists here in Java, so people have lived here for centuries walking that very fine line between sublime beauty and total destruction.

It was this particular geography that gave the Majapahit a great advantage. I am helping Darso Widodo, a third-generation farmer from Karangpandan, Central Java, plant vegetables. Everyone should start the morning like this. It's so good for the soul. It's almost enough to make me forget the sinister shape in the distance. I would be very scared to live so close to a volcano. Mount Lawu has been dormant since 1885. But in 2014, another volcano erupted just 140 kilometers away. Therefore, this really has a positive effect on agriculture. Volcanic ash is rich in minerals that stimulate plant growth, making Java the most fertile of all the Indonesian islands and providing the Majapahit Empire with huge rice crops, more than enough to feed the local population and trade with traders from the Spice Islands, who traveled here thanks to the monsoon trade winds that blew from the east between June and September.

Their ships were loaded with

spice

s such as cloves, nutmeg, and mace, which they traded for rice. They would sail back home when the winds changed direction three months later. These westerly winds brought a new group of traders, who came to Java to trade porcelain, beads, and textiles for

spice

s. This trade turned the coast of Java into prosperous trading ports, including this... the city of Tuban. The golden age of Tuban was during the Majapahit period. It had a large community of merchants, both local and foreign. And it was also the scene of cultural transformation. I look for an iconic product, born from the winds of commerce.

An art form that I feel a deep connection with. Oh my God. As a collector of traditional textiles, I am always looking for a good batik. My mother, my grandmother and my ancestors wore batik. So it's a big part of other countries' history and it's a history of my community. Uswatun Hasanah is a fourth generation batik maker. This is another intangible aspect of knitting that no one ever talks about. The sound of batik. It takes more than 30 steps to make a piece of gedok cloth. And it begins by spinning raw cotton. She's just letting the thread pull itself.

Oh Lord. It's happening like magic. You just play... Well, obviously I'm not the magician. Once the fabric is finished comes my favorite part: drawing patterns using wax. As an academic, I am very interested in designs. Being Peranakan and so mixed in many ways, I love seeing this wonderful hodgepodge of vibrant dynamic patterns. The fabric is then soaked in a bath of natural dyes before being wrung out, a process that is repeated 30 times. This is an oxidation process and we are starting to see the pattern. Tuban batiks are just the oldest type of batik we know of.

There is a lot of pride in this as something so Indonesian. But there were very interesting influences that came and went. We should celebrate these links, instead of separating all our cultures into different borders. Religious and ethnic tolerance and its location at the center of an important trade route resulted in a mix of cultures that fueled the Majapahit Empire. But it was a legendary prime minister who led the Empire to its golden age in the 14th century: the elephant general, Gajah Mada, who, according to some, swore he would not taste spices until all his outer islands were under Majapahit rule.

True to his word, in 1331 he consolidated the Empire's rule over East Java. In 1343 he conquered Bali and continued east. By the mid-14th century, the Majapahit tributary states were said to extend from New Guinea to parts of the Malay Archipelago. With extensive trade links, the Empire became increasingly wealthy. And the extravagance of the royal court knew no limits. Under King Hayam Wuruk, a great patron of the Indonesian arts, the Empire built a rich cultural heritage that is appreciated and practiced even today; something I want to experience firsthand. Look at this, it's very complicated. The type of coordination... you need rhythm, hand movements, there are so many things to think about.

Wayang Topeng was performed at the Majapahit court to entertain and impress foreign guests from all over Asia. Sometimes the king himself came on stage. -So it is a very musical family. -Yeah. Like mine. Pak Handoyo has kept the art alive by teaching local children. And today he has an older student. It takes a year to master a single dance. Dancers perform popular folklore tales about a Javanese prince named Panji. He was a form of self-defense and also attack. So this is the killer movie with a smile. Wayang Topeng actually means "masked dance". Noble characters have delicate features, while evil ones have round, bulging eyes and fangs.

The color green is reserved for Prince Panji, a role that Pak Handoyo has offered me in this community performance. I feel royal. I think I'm ready. It's time to impress my audience like a Majapahit king. Majapahit, one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia, impressed foreign visitors with its courtly spectacles, including the Wayang Topeng or mask dance. A big favorite were the tales of the legendary Javanese prince Panji. Panji travels to obtain a heavenly flower that is only given to the pure at heart, a gift for the lady of his dreams. But his archenemy, King Klana, has other plans.

His henchmen try to steal the flower and a battle ensues. Eventually, King Klana is defeated and becomes Panji's disciple. Panji's stories represent the sum of the human experience: love, loss, despair, resilience and, ultimately, happiness. That was really amazing. To think that Hayam Wuruk and all these kings were playing these roles, and here I am doing the exact same thing. The Panji stories are great love epics, but what can they tell us about the Majapahit? To find out, I will visit the Majapahit State Temple: Candi Penataran, home to the largest collection of Panjian reliefs, engraving in stone the very stories from which the dances are created.

I'm going to play this gamewith myself, trying to guess what these stories are about. It is easy to see Panji wearing a cap, which is actually a Javanese headdress. OMG this is incredibly moving! So we have Panji here. He holds in his hand his parchment, his love letter, which he is about to hand to a dove. And then here we see turbulent waters and the dove flying over them. And here, delivering the love letter to Candra Kirana. These are stories of Panji's struggles to reunite with his one true love. They both come from different kingdoms, so it's a Romeo and Juliet story, but not quite.

This is so beautiful! It's so charming and tender, and I think it

mark

s the end of the story, the end, the reunion of the lovers. These stories were not only popular in Indonesia, but also in mainland Southeast Asia, proof of the cultural influence of the Majapahit. But the way it was carved in stone at the State Temple suggests that the great love story of the folk hero Panji was also used as a political symbol of unity between different peoples. Under Hayam Wuruk, the celebrated king of Majapahit, the Empire grew larger than ever. But what was the relationship between the Majapahit power center on Java and its other islands?

I'm heading next to Lake Matano on the island of Sulawesi. Here, researchers look beneath Indonesia's deepest lake for clues to how the Empire controlled these distant islands. The water is so clear. I'm going to join them now. It was a settlement next to a lake that probably sank due to earthquakes. It is full of pebbles of very unequal sizes, different rocks. You can even see artifacts. Is incredible! And this is where the real magic is… an old iron workshop hidden 15 meters below. Archaeologist Shinatria Adhityatama and his team are presenting some artifacts for a closer look. Is it manufactured locally?

My God, this is still 8th century coal... in this condition. That is incredible! Finding a piece of metal from the lake that isn't rusted, I mean, I think it's nothing short of a miracle. Sulawesi means "Iron Island". But it is the traces of nickel found here that have preserved these artifacts for centuries. Would this material have been exported? Shinatria explained to me that historians are still divided over the extent of the Majapahit's rule over Indonesia's outer islands. To find out how the locals remember their history, I am excited to meet a person who can truly speak for the people here: the Mokole, king of Matano.

So this iron ore trade was a friendly business relationship? There is evidence that the Majapahit directly controlled East Java, Bali and Madura. But the Empire's power further afield may have been a product of their commercial wealth and position that gave them unprecedented influence over these outer islands known today as Indonesia. But in 1389, the golden age of the Empire was about to be interrupted. For 40 years under the rule of the great King Hayam Wuruk, the Majapahit Empire exercised substantial influence over what is now known as Indonesia. But traders from the Middle East, India and China brought with them a new faith that meant change.

Built in 1421, Masjid Sunan Ampel is the oldest mosque in East Java. It is named after the Muslim saint credited with spreading Islam here. Sunan Ampel was a Muslim foreigner from the state of Champa, modern Vietnam, whose family was connected by marriage to the Majapahit rulers. When he arrived in Java, he was granted the freedom to teach the Islamic faith. In the 15th century, Islam was the religion of merchants and was tolerated by the Majapahit. As the faith spread, it weakened the authority of its rulers, who were seen as gods in the Hindu-Buddhist tradition. But the end of his reign came about something closer to home.

Legend has it that when the Majapahit attacked another Indonesian empire, the Srivijaya, around 1398, King Srivijayan was driven from his outpost at Singapura and fled north to Melaka. There he converted to Islam and traded with Muslim merchants from the Middle East, India and China, establishing a new commercial center that would rival the Majapahit. Internal power struggles further weakened the Empire until a popular revolution drove them east to Bali. But the last Majapahit king is said to have fled west to Mount Lawu and taken refuge in a Hindu temple. Five hundred years have passed since the fall of the Majapahit Empire.

But Candi Cetho still attracts visitors from all over Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation. Today is Kuningan, a day to honor ancestors in the Balinese calendar. I am excited to join Pak Jiro, a Hindu priest, in a ritual from the Majapahit era. The offerings are for a final farewell to the ancestors on their return to heaven. These are just the first steps, there are many more to go. It is a symbolic ascent to sacred heights. Near the top we headed to the oldest part of the complex. We have flowers, we have fruits, we have incense, perfumes and wonderful cooked food.

It is a multisensory offer. It is so beautiful. It starts with just the bell and a single tone. It really goes somewhere very deep. This wonderful offering remembers all the beautiful things that make up family. And it is a very special universal feeling. I can't help but think of my late parents. I apologize. I'm a big crybaby. It's about respecting and returning the love of your ancestors. And at the end of the day, we are all connected, so I am part of this too. The Majapahit tolerated differences both among their close neighbors and among distant visitors.

However, that foundation is being tested by today's growing fundamentalism and separatism. But in one neighborhood in East Java, people are coming together despite their differences. I'm out of Surabaya and this is just amazing! There is a mosque, a Buddhist temple, a Catholic church, a Confucian temple coming soon, a Hindu temple and right at the end, a Protestant church. I'm here to meet your leaders and find out what they're all about. Six religious sites built next to each other is a first in Indonesia. Local leaders meet periodically to discuss issues facing the community. It is a legacy of the Majapahit and I want to see how it is shaping Indonesia's present.

My father is Catholic, my mother is Buddhist, so I grew up in this multicultural environment. What is everyone's opinion on the current state of religious tolerance in Indonesia? In a climate rife with intolerance, this is a symbol of hope. These are all community religions that played a role in shaping Indonesia. In a multicultural environment like this, the only really viable option has been to find ways to live alongside each other, both then and now. But how are the country's youth inspired by this aspiration for unity? Oh my god, I'm a street artist. I love this. I don't want to destroy this.

I'm going slow. Xgo and his team are street artists who regularly participate in mural activism. If you get too close, it becomes too thick. So you have to keep a certain distance, otherwise it starts to drip. I think I have done it. This is OK? I finally see the mural taking shape. It is a mixture of different colors and shapes that come together in a handshake. I love how your work is very strong and powerful. I love it. The Majapahit Empire fell in 1520 after two centuries in power, followed by more than 300 years of colonial rule before Indonesia finally gained independence in 1945.

But as the nation faces new challenges today, the legacy of the Majapahit offers some important historical lessons. The Majapahit Empire found itself at the crossroads of the highly lucrative spice route. And his openness and cunning allowed him to achieve unprecedented wealth and cultural refinement. The idea of ​​being stronger together rather than apart is a legacy that has shaped the modern Indonesian nation and continues to inspire a path for pluralistic society here today. I have traveled through Indonesia in search of traces of the Majapahit, an empire that achieved unprecedented powers, thanks to its relationship with the nearby islands and peoples.

It is a reminder that, 500 years later, the challenges of the modern nation can be traced back to ancient issues that have shaped what it is to be Indonesian since its earliest days.