Sailendra Sailendra Trains (magazine) Category="Hindu history"Category="History of Indonesia"Category="History of Java"Category="History of South East Asia"

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This article is part ofthe History of Indonesia series
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Pre-colonial Indonesia (before 1602)
Sailendra
Srivijaya (3rd century -1400)
Kingdom of Mataram
Kediri (1045-1221)
Singhasari (1222-1292)
Majapahit (1293-1500)
Dutch East Indies (1602 - 1945)
Independence (1945-1965)
National Revolution (1945-1949)
Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation (1962-1965)
New Order (1965-1998)
Indonesian Civil War (1965-1966)
Reformation (1998-present)
Revolution of 1998 (1996-1998)
Earthquake & Tsunami of 2004 (2004-present)

The Sailendra Kingdom was, at its foundation, the leading kingdom to emerge in Java.

Origins

The earliest Sailendra inscription dates from 570 CE, a century before the appearance of Srivijaya. Sailendra power centred on the Kedu Plain in south-central Java, an area where wet-rice or sawah cultivation flourished and whose location made it secure from sea-borne raids frequent on the north coast of the island.

The ecology of the Kedu Plain required co-operation the allocation of water among rice cultivators. Local ruling lineages emerged to control and co-ordinate water in each stream or river basin. According to Clifford Geertz, wet-rice requires extensive work on drinagae, canals, and terracing. A Lineage which can mobilize labor from more than one basin can dominate other local lineages. The Sailendra mobilized labor across the boundaries of each basin by the use of symbolic power associated with the use of Hindu and Buddhist rituals including Sanskrit inscriptions, an Indianized court and the construction of a Kraton, temples and monuments.

History

The dynastic name assigned by historians, Sailendra, meant "lord of the mountain". That title was probably chosen to recall the title sailaraja (king of the mountain) used by the kings of Funan, from whom the dynasty claimed descent. The title appears frequently in Sailendra Epigraphy. It is not necessarily the name used by the ruling lineage. The Srivijayan rulers frequently described themselves as Sailendra in India for reasons which are not well understood.

After the formation of Srivijaya, The Sailendra maintained close relations, including marriage alliances with Srivijaya. The mutual alliance between the two kingdoms ensured that Srivijaya need not fear emergence of a Javanese rival and that the Sailendra had access to the international market. The Sailendra participated in the Spice Route trade between China and India, but their level of participation never rivalled that of Srivijaya. Intensive Rice cultivation was the mainstay of the Sailendra kingdom.

The Sailendra covered the Kedu Plain with Vajrayana Buddhist shrines and temples celebrating and affirming their power. The Borobudur temple complex, built between 778 and 824 CE was the greatest accomplishment of the Sailendra. Borobudur was the first great Buddhist monument in Southeast Asia and influenced the construction of later monuments, such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

At its peak the Sailendra kingdom ruled the eastern two-thirds of Java, Bali, Lombok, coastal areas of Kalimantan, southern Sulawesi, and the Funanese Successor state of Water Chenla.

Collapse

According to the traditional account, the Sailendra kingdom came to an abrupt end when a prince from the rival Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty, named Patapan or Pitakan, displaced them in 832. The Sailendra prince, an infant at the time, was taken into the forest and hidden. In 850 CE that prince, Balaputra, attempted to regain the Sailendra throne. He was defeated and fled to Srivijaya where he took the throne of that kingdom with little opposition. The traditional biography of many Javanese kings includes a period of exile or hiding.

Some historians describe the Sailendra collapse as a retreat to Sumatra, implying that the dynasty also ruled Srivijaya. It is possible that Balaputra was a Srivijayan prince with a maternal link to the Sailendra and that his attack on Java was a Srivijayan attempt to annex the former Sailendra domain. The hostile relations between Srivijaya and Matram tend to cnfirm the thesis. The Sanjaya Dynasty went on to establish the Javanese kingdom of Mataram. The relative chronology of the Sailendra and the Sanjaya dynasty is not well understood. A similar problem exists in defining the respective territories ruled by the Sailendra and Sanjaya.