Nyoo Lay Wa, the King of Majapahit who never was

The year 1400 Saka or 1478 CE marked the downfall of the Majapahit Kingdom, once a vast empire that had united Nusantara. Indonesian people are familiar and used Majapahit as their icon to memorize the past national glory.

But then came a surprise following the new version raised by M.O. Parlindungan, in his book entitled Tuanku Rao, published in 1964, introducing a new mysterious figure named Nyoo Lay Wa, a Muslim Chinese, into Majapahit ruler’s list.

Parlindungan took the version similar to Babad Tanah Jawi, which stated that it was Raden Patah, who defeated Majapahit. But Parlindungan’s version differs significantly from the others, especially in the episode of the installment of Raden Patah’s kinship ^a) named Nyoo Lay Wa as the ruler of Majapahit, after  Raden Patah defeated his father – the then King of Majapahit.

The report informed that the Majapahit situation became more chaotic as the political elite, and the bureaucrats refused to be governed by a Chinese. Ten years after his installment (1486),  Nyoo Lay Wa was killed in turmoil triggered by the elite discontentment. Raden Patah realized his mistake, and he then picked up his brother-in-law Girindrawardhana (Ranawijaya) to replace Nyoo Lay Wa.

According to Parlindungan, the episode was from old chronicles seized in Chinese Sam Po Kong temple in Semarang by Poortman, a Dutch Resident, in 1928. He further stated that the seized documents were so voluminous that Poortman had to load it in three big carts. Poortman then made five copies of those documents. One of them was in the Rijswijk building in the Netherlands.

The controversy has been widespread and becomes a fiery polemic until recently as Slamet Muljana, a prominent Indonesian historian, believed in the existence of what so-called Poortman documents. He recited the version in his book entitled “The Downfall of Hindu-Java Kingdom and the Raising of Islamic States in Nusantara,”  published in 1968. He further concluded that all Demak Sultans and most of “Wali Songo” were Chinese ^b).

This version is fictitious for several reasons:

1. That Majapahit downfall was the result of Raden Patah’s attack is debatable as the Jiyu and Petak stony inscriptions show otherwise ^c). Those inscriptions indirectly stated that it was Girindrawardana (Ranawijaya) who defeated Majapahit and established a new Kingdom in Daha.
2. The Majapahit Kingdom was demolished and ceased to exist as symbolized by the chronogram  1400, which means “Disappeared and Annihilated Kingdom out of the Ground” ^d). Even if Raden Patah defeated Majapahit, nobody might rule anything as Majapahit was erased from the history and replaced by Wilwatika – Jenggala – Daha – Kingdom. The name of this new kingdom appeared in Jiyu and Petak inscriptions.
3. The claim that Girindrawardana was installed by Raden Patah as the ruler of Majapahit is against Jiyu and Petak inscriptions which stated that Girindrawardana was the ruler of  Wilwatika – Jenggala – Daha  Kingdom, not Majapahit.
4. No chronicles support the Parlindungan – Slamet Mulyono’s version. Parlindungan didn’t try to explain why Poortman seized the Sam Po Kong documents. He argued that the Dutch administration didn’t want to let them open to the public being afraid of troubling the Javanese, which is absurd. If the documents indeed existed, the colonial administration would undoubtedly use them to let the Javanese down.

The Jiyu and Petak stony inscriptions are strong evidence to fix these messy versions. Now, if Nyoo Lay Wa was fictitious, then why someone should make up such a dirty “joke”?

Notes:

a. In this version, Raden Patah was claimed as the son of Barawijaya V with a Chinese concubine. Parlindungan might make use of Raden Patah’s mother blood as the basis of his fictitious episode by introducing a Chinese Muslim figure as the ruler of Majapahit, whom he named Nyoo Lay Wa, the kinship of Raden Patah.

b. The book of Slamet Mulyono was banned by the Attorney General in 1971 but was permitted to publish after the fall of the Suharto’s New Era.

c. The defeat of Majapahit by Ranawijaya was recorded in Jiyu and Perak stony Inscriptions in 1486 at the occasion of awarding Trailokyapuri land to Sri Brahmaraja Ganggadhara as a gesture of appreciation to him for supporting in defeating Majapahit. Ranawijaya died in the last battle launched by the Demak Kingdom in 1527, the time when Daha Kingdom (Wilwatika-Jenggala-Daha) was demolished.

d. Literally translated from Sirna Hilang Kertaning Bumi, the Sangsakala 1400.

References:

1. Atmadja, N W.:”Genealogi Keruntuhan Majapahit,” Pustaka Pelajar, Yogyakarta, 2010, p. 12-15.
2. Hamaminatadipura, RT.:”Babad Karaton Mataram,” Intermedia Paramadina, Semarang, 2006, p. 7-17.