The History of Java, v. 1-2

by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

Kábu Kanigára, the chief of Pájang, second son of Andáya Níngrat by one of the daughters of Browijáya and the princess of Chámpa, was put to death, although he had embraced the Mahomedan religion, for refusing to acknowledge the supremacy of Sultan Demák, by presenting himself at court when required. The following is the account of this transaction, as given by the native writers.

"The Pangéran Kúdus then departed alone, and having entered the dálam was observed by a female attendant of the chief, who demanded his name and errand; to which he replied, that he should have the honour to make himself known to her master. The female observed that the prince was ill, and in mourning for the death of one of his best friends, Kiái Gédé Tingkir. Pangéran Kúdus then desired her to tell her master that he was a messenger from the Almighty, who brought good tidings. Having thus obtained admittance to the chief, he informed him that he was commissioned to require his immediate attendance at Demák, and in case of refusal to put him to death. But Kábu Kanigára still persisted in his refusal, and delivered his kris into the hands of the Pangéran, who immediately wounded him in the arm, of which he shortly expired. He had however previously stipulated, that as his wife was pregnant, the circumstances of his death should be kept secret from her, and that her life should be preserved. The widow shortly after quitted the dálam, and found an asylum with the widow of Kiái Gédé Tingkir, where she was delivered of a son, destined to perform a conspicuous part in the transactions of those days."

Panambáhan Jimbua reigned according to some twelve, and according to others nine years after the fall of Majapáhit. He had several children, one of whom, named Pangéran Sábrang Lor, succeeded him as sultan of Demák: another, named Niái Bintára, was married to Mulána Ibrahim of Chéribon, who was in consequence honoured with the title of Panambáhan Makdum Játi.

Panambáhan Jimbun is represented as having resided in a small unadorned dwelling, while the principal buildings at Demák were constructed by Pangéran Kúdus, who had married the daughter of Húsen, and being entrusted with the highest offices, was considered as the second person in the state.

Pangéran Sábrang Lor, who succeeded his father in 1409, after a reign of less than two years, died of an inflammation of the lungs, and was succeeded, in 1412, by his brother, named Pangéran Tranggána, the third sultan of Demák.

On the inauguration of Pangéran Tranggána, he received the benediction of Panambáhan Mákdum Játi, and Pangéran Kúdus was appointed high priest. Two krises and a bádi bádi were made by the celebrated smith named Súra, from the iron wand which was supposed to have wrought miracles in the Majapáhit war. One of them was presented to the new sultan, and became a royal pusáka; the other was delivered to the Pangéran of Kúdus, with the appointment of Susúnan Pangúhu, or high priest. The bádi bádi was sent to Súnan Bónang.

Before the year 1421, the whole island of Java had submitted to the authority of Pangéran Tranggána, the chiefs of the several provinces, from Bantam to Balambángan, presenting themselves at his court, and universal tranquillity was restored. The Mahomedan religion was now firmly established throughout the island: the mosque was completed, and treaties of amity and peace were concluded with the princes of Borneo, Palémbang, Báli, Singapúra, Indragírí, and other states of the Archipelago, which had become independent of Javan authority after the fall of Majapáhit.

This prince is represented to have been an intelligent, good, and virtuous man, and to have enforced the strictest obedience to the laws. Under his superintendence was composed a work, entitled Jáya Langkára, in which the principles of the Mahomedan law and precepts were blended with the ancient instructions of the country, and thus rendered agreeable to the people.

It is related, that on the occasion of the assemblage of the different chiefs at the funeral of the deceased Sultan, and the inauguration of Bangéran Tranggánaa, a dreadful storm arose, with much thunder and lightning, when a youth, named Jáka Siséla (the son of Browijáya by Búdan Kajáwan, who had been delivered over to the superintendent of his sáwah or rice fields) going out of the mosque to observe the weather, saw a meteoric stone fall on the ground beside him, without doing him harm. This stone he carried to the Súnan Kali Jága, who declared it to be an omen prophetic of much good to the youth. After thanks were returned to the Almighty for having averted the danger from the mosque, a sketch was made of the stone, which is still exhibited on the door facing the north. This youth Siséla failing in an endeavour to become chief of the sultan's guards, and afterwards in an attempt upon the prince's life, was obliged to fly from the capital.

It is necessary here to advert to Jáka Tingkír, the offspring of Kábu Kanigára, a chief who had been put to death by order of the first sultan of Demák. It having been foretold that he would one day become sovereign of Java, he was taken by his mother to Demák in his eleventh year, where he soon found means to ingratiate himself with the Sultan, who gave him the name of Pánji Mas, and caused him to be instructed in the Mahomedan religion and in the precepts of Jáya Langkára, appointed him to the command of the body guard consisting of eight hundred men, and afterwards, in the year 1449, gave him his daughter in marriage, with the administration of the province of Pájang, where, with the permission of the Sultan, he built a kráton; but afterwards having put to death a person who had arrived from the Kedú, applying for an appointment in the body guard, he was banished to the forests. During his exile he visited a village named Bányu-bíru, near the Solo river, where he was instructed by a Pandíta how to conduct himself for the future, the holy man predicting, at the same time, that he would become sovereign of Java and hold his court at Pájang.