Balaputra

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Balaputra
Maharaja of Srivijaya
Balaputradewa.jpg
The depiction of Balaputradewa, the king of Srivijaya in 9th century, displayed in "Kedatuan Sriwijaya" exhibition in November 2017. National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Srivijayan Emperor
Reign835–860?
PredecessorPosition established
SuccessorSri Indrawarman
Names
Valaputradeva

Balaputradewa was the maharaja of Srivijaya in the 9th century CE as well as the former head of the Sailendra dynasty. [1] He was the youngest son of the preceding Sailendran maharaja, Samaratunga, through marriage with Dewi Tara who was in turn the daughter of another maharaja, Dharmasetu of Srivijaya. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Samaratunga died when Balaputra was a boy. As a young heir to the throne, his authority in Central Java was frequently challenged by local landlords. An extended family member by the name of Garung forced Balaputra to accept his tutorship. Garung was part of the Sanjaya dynasty and was related to Balaputra through marriage of Garung's son, Rakai Pikatan to Pramodhawardhani, Balaputra's sister. During the regency of Garung, the Javanese political landscape was relatively peaceful. The regency ended in 832 when Garung disappeared. [2]

Sri Maharaja of Suvarnadvipa, King of Srivijaya

Around 852, Rakai Pikatan of Sanjaya began garnering influence from the local nobles. This worried Balaputra and he tried to suppress Rakai Pikatan in order to regain control. His effort failed miserably however, due to his inexperience. The Sailendras were eventually forced to leave Java for Palembang, the seat of Srivijaya as well as the home of Balaputra's mother, Tara. [4] :108 Balaputra's defeat by Jatiningrat (Pikatan) was recorded in the Shivagrha inscription that recorded that Balaputra had constructed a fortress made of hundreds of heaped stones for his refuge. With the retreat, Central Java fell into the hands of Sanjaya, ending the Sailendra's rule over the area. The Sanjayas later founded the Mataram Kingdom and continued to rule Java until Srivijaya reasserted its dominance over the island in the 11th century. [3]

Soon after he left Java, Balaputra became the ruler of Srivijaya. [2] [4] :108 While the record on Balaputra is scarce, it is known through the Nalanda inscription that he ordered the construction of a Buddhist monastery in Nalanda, India. [5] He also sent an ambassador to China. [2]

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Srivijaya was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th to the 11th century AD. Srivijaya was the first polity to dominate much of western Maritime Southeast Asia. Due to its location, Srivijaya developed complex technology utilizing maritime resources. In addition, its economy became progressively reliant on the booming trade in the region, thus transforming it into a prestige goods-based economy.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanjaya dynasty</span>

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Balaputradeva Museum, officially the State Museum of South Sumatra Province "Balaputradeva", is an ethnographic museum located in Southern Sumatra's capital Palembang. The museum is the state museum of the Province of South Sumatra. The name Balaputradeva is derived from Balaputra, a 9th century sovereign of Srivijaya kingdom and the former head of the Sailendra dynasty whose main center was located in the vicinity of Palembang. Balaputradeva Museum displays the history and traditions of the province of South Sumatra.

References

  1. Munoz, Paul Michel (2006). Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet. p. 175. ISBN   981-4155-67-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Munoz, Paul Michel (2006). Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet. pp. 143–145. ISBN   981-4155-67-5.
  3. 1 2 " De Casparis proposed that in 856 Balaputra was defeated by Pikatan, whereupon Balaputra retreated to Srivijaya, the country of his mother, to become the first Sailandra ruler of Srivijaya. Thus in the late 9th century Srivijaya was ruled by a Buddhist Sailendra ruler, while Java was ruled by Pikatan and his successors, who patronized Siva" (cf. De Casparis, 1956; Hall, 1985:111).
  4. 1 2 Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella (ed.). The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN   978-0-8248-0368-1.
  5. Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. p. 34. ISBN   978-9-38060-734-4.