Source: TW
I’ve always wondered why the Hindu Majapahit Empire never appealed to the Vijayanagara Empire for help during its fatal conflicts with the Malacca Sultanate. The 2 Hindu empires could have easily countered the Ming-backed Sultanate. But I think I’ve figured-out why…🧵
Firstly, let’s clarify that Vijayanagara maintained both cultural and trade relations with the empires of South-East Asia. The trade relations are almost trivially obvious so I won’t bother with the details. But we see Hindu religious exchange even as late as the 1480s. A Javanese text from the late 1400s called the Śiwarātrikalpa (ꦯꦶꦮꦫꦴꦠꦿꦶꦏꦭ꧀ꦥ) introduces the practice of Mahā Śivarātri which was previously unknown in Indonesian Hinduism. Scholars suspect that this ritual was transmitted from Vijayanagara to a dying Majapahit.
So where was Vijayanagara when Majapahit was crumbling? Simple- they were actually allies of the attacking Muslim Sultanates. How do we know? Records and Annals from the Malacca Sultanate contain remarkable detail of the Sultanate’s friendship with Vijayanagara. ‘Hikayat Hang Tuah’ (The Epic of Hang Tuah) is a text describing the exploits of a Malay diplomat - Hang Tuah. In the text, this Hang-Tuah visits Vijayanagara (‘Bijaya-Nagara’) and documents complete interactions he had with ‘Kisna-Rayan’ (Krishnadevaraya). Excerpt below is from a translation of the ‘Hikayat Hang Tuah’.
Once upon a time, after many years had elapsed, the Raja was holding court and was attended to by the Temenggung, the Laksamana and all the officials and nobles. His Majesty addressed the Bendahara, “We wish to send a mission to the Land of the Kelings, to our brother there. What do you think, My Lords?”
The Bendahara answered, “O My Lord of the World, in your servant’s opinion, it is indeed a wise gesture, for he is a great Raja; moreover Your Majesty has Majapahit as an enemy; this will increase the deference for Your Majesty.”
His Majesty enquired, “Who should we send to the Land of the Kelings?” The Bendahara responded, “In your servant’s opinion, who else other than the Laksamana, for he understands the Keling language, and knows the governance and ways of their rajas?” So His Majesty sounded out the Laksamana, “What says the Laksamana we wish to send My Lord to the Land of the Kelings?” Not hesitating, he replied, “Daulat, My Lord of the World, I am but a lowly servant; your words are my command. Not only would I journey there, even across a sea of fire! However, I would request the Herald Tun Kasturi to …
Few things to note: ‘The Raja’ here refers to the Malay Sultan. ‘The Lakshmana’ - means general/admiral and refers to Hang-Tuah himself. ‘Land of the Kelings’- refers to India as whole.
Just from the above excerpt, we can understand a few things: The Muslim Sultanate still used Hindu and Sanskrit titles like ‘Raja’, ‘Lakshmana’. In fact the Malays still uses ‘Keling’ to refer to Indians. More importantly, the Sultan calls the Indian king his ‘brother’. Upon reaching India, Hang-Tuah manages to find an audience with Krishnadeva Raya (‘Kisan Raya’) in the city of Vijayanagara (‘Bijaya Nagaram’) An entire account of his interaction with the Raya is available in the text. I will post a few highlights in this thread.
After a journey of several days, Nala Sang Guna arrived in Bijaya Nagaram, and soon sought an audience with His Majesty. Remarking that Nala Sang Guna was approaching, Kisna Rayan presented him with an insignia of honour. Nala Sang Guna made his way with great dignity and respect, and took his seat. Kisna Rayan enquired, “What brings Nala Sang Guna to us this time?” Nala Sang Guna replied, “My Lord, your servant wishes to bring news of the mission from your elder brother in Melaka.” The Bendahara thought, ‘The ambassador must be none other than the Laksamana.’
As we see here: - The Muslim Malays still recognised the Ramayana and the Mahabharate (Pandawa-Jaya) - The Malays considered their Sultan to be a ‘brother’ of Krishnadevaraya. Thus we see a very friendly relationship between Vijayanagaras and the Sultanate of Malacca.
After a few days into the journey they sighted the fort of Bijaya Nagaram, surrounded with a wall as pure as combed cotton. As they rode closer, the Laksamana noticed that the great doors of the fortress were carved with magnificent animals on what seemed to be jacinth, and on another level of black marble, as dark as the shiny wings of the beetle; on yet another level he could read the story of the Ramayana, and on yet another level the drama of the Pandawa Jaya, and on another level were carved all kinds of animals in the jungles of the land; their doors were of copper and pinchbeck, all of them bearing witness to a fine and wonderful craftsmanship. There were a thousand mosques in which Muslim cloth-weavers worshipped and thousands of tents of woollen fabric with carpets spread out for the merchants to trade their wares.
Many were the citizens of the land who came out to view the mission from Melaka, and great was the honour and reverence shown by the people of Keling. Someone asked, “Why is the Melaka letter so greatly honoured?” Someone else answered, “How can it be otherwise, our Raja is descended from the Malay rajas?” Yet another opined, “We heard that the Raja of Melaka is the elder brother of our Raja; that’s the reason.”
We also see that the Malay envoy was learned in Sanskrit (unlikely to be Kannada), which he learned in Majapahit. This is not surprising though, we know Indonesia has been a centre of Sanskrit learning for a long time now.
Nala Sang Guna turned to look at the Laksamana, who promptly approached the throne and bowed in obeisance, and in the language of Bijaya Nagaram he said, “Daulat, My Lord of the World, I am a humble servant to Your Majesty, Kisna Rayan, and so is Maharaja Setia.” When His Majesty heard the Laksamana speaking in the language of Bijaya Nagaram, he and the Bendahara Mangkubumi were surprised, for even in the Land of the Kelings only some of the rajas and ministers knew it.Furthermore, Kisna Rayan was deeply impressed by the Laksamana’s manners and demeanour when he spoke the language, how eloquent his tongue, how expressive his face, melodious his voice, and how well-chosen his words.
Kisna Rayan addressed him, “Do tell me, Laksamana, who are your ancestors?” The Laksamana replied, “O My Lord of the World, your servant is descended from the Malay race, however when your servant was young, I travelled to Majapahit; and studied the Keling language under a teacher; that’s how your servant came to acquire some understanding of it, My Lord.”
The text goes into some more detail of the splendour of Vijayanagara, and then praises Hang Tuah some more. What is most important is that the text describes Hang Tuah becomes an intermediary envoy between Ming China and Vijayanagara (11/?)
This would have been a smart move on the part of Krishnadeva Raya because sending a ‘mission’ to the Chinese emperor is akin to becoming a vassal in the Tributary System Using the Malay’s as an intermediary was likely the quid-pro-quo of Malacca-Vijayanagar relations.
His Majesty addressed the Bendahara Mangkubumi, “What do you think of our plans to send a mission to China? Who shall we send, My Lord Bendahara?” The Bendahara replied, “Who else but the Laksamana, for the Laksamana knows of the governance and ways of all the great rajas; furthermore he is a wise officer?” Kisna Rayan assented, “Our opinions seem to agree on the person, for the Chinese Emperor is a great king. We trust that we can send the Laksamana there." The Raja glanced at the Laksamana from the corner of his eye, for he had a great affection for him.
The text has some more details about Vijayanagara and I’m linking it here for those interested: The Epic of Hang Tuah https://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&vid=ISBN9789830683300&vid=ISBN9830683303#v=onepage&q&f=false
But from this much alone it’s fairly clear as to why Vijayanagara did not side with Majapahit in the its conflict with the Malacca Sultanate.
Few concluding remarks: -It’s unclear if Vijayanagara provided troops or aid to the Sultan of Malacca. Its quite possible, given the flowery language used to describe the relationship. It’s also possible Vijayanagara simply stayed neutral during the conflict. Hard to say.
The text mentions the Malay envoys wanting to visit both temples and mosques in Vijayanagara. This combined with the use of Sanskrit titles means that even in the Sultanate, the influence of classical Indian culture was still very strong in Malaya. The Malay envoys do not seem to mention the Deccan Sultanates to the north of Vijayanagara. The Raya of Vijayanagara was the king of ‘Kelings’ (Indians) and this might have meant that even to the Malays, the Deccan Sultans were not truly ‘Indian’. (16/16)
Tailanga vs Kalinga
Majapahit was already on the road to conversion by Sri Krishnadevaraya’s time though Raja Kertawijaya I think converted sometime in 1470’s, so conversion could have advanced in the 30+ yrs that separates this event from when Sri Krishnadevaraya ascended the Vijayanagara throne. - Rjrasva
Majapahit was doomed from the time of Zheng He’s voyages. It’s fall and conversion were only a matter of time, and unless there was a very powerful navally inclined Vijayanagara [which Vijayanagara was not] intervening forcefully there, nothing could have saved Majapahit.
100% Agree. The lack of naval Vijayanagara interference was precisely why I began researching this thread in the first place. Initially assumed it was due to a lack of naval capability. But as mentioned above it was also largely diplomatic.
The two are related. Vijayanagara did not have the inclination or money to have a large naval force. Vijayanagara was too focussed on the war with the Bahamanis and the Gajapatis, and revolting nobles. So, they contented themselves with diplomatic exchanges, and some trade.