Siping-siping, simping-simping, or sisimping, is a type of armor used in Java. It is a short sleeveless jacket made of scale-shaped metal plates. [1] : 1784
Unlike the kawaca which was only worn by high-ranking warriors, this battle outfit was mostly worn by infantry soldiers. It is usually defined as scale armor, Suryo Supomo interprets it as a metal plated jacket. [2] : 78 Those who proved themselves in battle mentioned in the Nawanatya (a court etiquette manual composed in the 14th century) had jackets "decorated with shell discs". [2] : 75, 79 Several Javanese text indicated that some are made of brass. [2] : 79–80
Due to the lack of surviving metal armor remains in the Javanese military, Jiří Jákl suggests that the siping-siping may have been made of buffalo hide reinforced with metal parts. [2] : 79 Another possibility is that it was made from buffalo hide and reinforced with small discs of shells called siping-siping. [3] : 189
At first the word siping-siping referred to a type of shellfish and its shell. It first appeared in the Kadiri (1042–1222) texts. [2] : 79 In Modern Javanese, the word simping still refers to a kind of oyster shell. [4] : 681 According to the Great Indonesian Dictionary, simping is "a scallop whose shell is round, flat and thin, one shell is red and more convex than the other shell which is white" or Amusium pleuronectes . [5]
The Pitt River Museum has a Javanese scale armor made of horns. It is sleeveless and designed to resemble pangolin scales. [6]
At the time of the Bubat tragedy (1357), it was noted that the Sundanese elite troops under the command of the patih Anepaken wore armor (sisimping or siping-siping). As written in the Kidung Sunda:
Jajakanirabagus kadi ring surat, saha watang jininjring, asisimping emas, alancingan bot sabrang, pantes olahe prajurit, wangsya amenak, tus ning Sunda sinaring.
His guards were handsome, just like in the picture; they had spears of jring wood, wore gold-worked armor (sisimping) and trousers (lancingan) of fine manufacture. They know how to show themselves as noble warriors from a good family, the flower of Sundanese youth. [7] : 40, 109 [8] : 69
Likewise the Majapahit party in the Kidung Sunda, Javanese soldiers are recorded as using golden siping-siping. [7] : 103
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Banten is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang and its largest city is Tangerang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Sea on the north, the Indian Ocean on the south, and the Sunda Strait on the west and shares a maritime border with Bengkulu and Lampung to the east and Bangka Belitung Islands to the north. The province covers an area of 9,352.77 km2 (3,611.12 sq mi). It had a population of over 11.9 million in the 2020 census, up from about 10.6 million in 2010. The estimated mid-2023 population was 12.308 million. Formerly part of the province of West Java, Banten was split off to become a province on 17 October 2000.
Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones and a set of hand-drums called kendang, which keep the beat. The kemanak, a banana-shaped idiophone, and the gangsa, another metallophone, are also commonly used gamelan instruments on Bali. Other notable instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, a bowed string instrument called a rebab, and a zither-like instrument called a siter, used in Javanese gamelan. Additionally, vocalists may be featured, being referred to as sindhen for females or gerong for males.
Majapahit, also known as Wilwatikta, was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was based on the island of Java. It existed from 1293 to circa 1527 and reached its peak during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 was marked by conquests that extended throughout Southeast Asia. His achievement is also credited to his prime minister, Gajah Mada. According to the Nagarakretagama written in 1365, Majapahit was an empire of 98 tributaries, stretching from Sumatra to New Guinea; consisting of present-day Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Thailand, Timor Leste, southwestern Philippines although the scope of Majapahit sphere of influence is still the subject of debate among historians. The nature of Majapahit's relations and influence upon its overseas vassals and also its status as an empire still provokes discussion.
West Java is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to the west, the Java Sea to the north, the province of Central Java to the east and the Indian Ocean to the south. With Banten, this province is the native homeland of the Sundanese people, the second-largest ethnic group in Indonesia.
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Kidung Sunda is a Middle-Javanese kidung of probable Balinese provenance. In this poem, the story of King Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit who was looking for a bride-to-be, is narrated. At last, he chose the princess of Sunda, a kingdom in West Java. The princess' name has remained undisclosed in this story, however, she corresponds to Dyah Pitaloka Citraresmi in Pararaton. Hayam Wuruk's grand vizier Gajah Mada, betrayed his king and rejected this idea. There was a dispute about geopolitical relations between Sunda and Majapahit. Gajah Mada considered Sunda to be a vassal state of Java. For that reason, a great battle took place in Bubat, the port where the Sundanese party landed as they refused to be treated as vassals. There the Majapahit-Javanese army slaughtered the Sundanese. The grieved princess of Sunda committed suicide not long afterward. This historical story has to be situated somewhere in the 14th century.
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