With awe and veneration I listened to the description Prabu gave us of the former greatness of Mojopahit; but scarcely with the same feelings did Prabu regard these ruins.
“God is great!” he exclaimed. Pointing to fragments of walls and pillars: “those were once the palaces and temples of pagans—but what is written is written—now they are the haunts of the beast of the field; and the faith of the Prophet is triumphant through the land!”
“But,” said I, as we rode onwards, “I have heard that it was to a Hindoo or Buddhist king of Mojopahit that Mahomedanism was indebted for its first introduction into Java.”
“Under Heaven and the Prophet it was!” he replied. And then he told us the following pretty story:—
“About the year 1398 one Maulana Ibrahim, a holy man of Arabia, having heard that the people of so great an island were idolaters, resolved to bring them over to the faith of the Prophet. Accordingly, accompanied by his daughter, one of the most beautiful women in the world, and a large retinue of attendants, he landed in the island. Once here, by the assistance of the Prophet, he succeeded in converting a great number of the poorer classes of people. But his heart yearned for the achievement of a greater victory—no less, indeed, than the conversion of Browijoyo, king of Mojopahit—the then principal state in Java.
“To effect this, he set out for the sovereign’s residence, having first sent his son to inform his majesty of the intended visit. Browijoyo, having heard of the holiness of Maulana, set out to meet him, and receive him with all due honor; but, upon their meeting, his majesty became highly offended with his visitor, for he presented him with a pomegranate in a very ordinary basket—and with reason was the king indignant, for that fruit, being one very common in Java, such a present was the height of meanness—and so the king left him, with feelings of great contempt, and Maulana returned to the place where he had first landed.
“No sooner, however, had the holy man departed, than his majesty, being seized with a violent headache, mechanically stretched forth his hand for the sweet-smelling pomegranate, when, lo! instead of the delicious fruit, he found it was filled with magnificent rubies. Astonished at the sight, he sent a messenger to Maulana, begging of him to return, but the holy man declined, affording as an excuse, that his only daughter had just died. Pitying the bereaved parent, the king immediately went to him, to offer what consolation he might, and, moreover, desired to be permitted to see the dead girl, for he had heard of her wondrous beauty. This wish was gratified; but when the attendants lifted the veil from the body, the king became so dazzled with her beauty, that, falling upon his knees, he prayed aloud that his Gods would restore the soul of the girl to its lovely dwelling-place.
“‘Nay,’ cried Maulana, ‘call not upon your Gods; they are of gold and ivory, and cannot hear you; mine alone can lend a listening ear!’
“The king then, yielding to a heavenly influence, addressed a prayer to the God of the true believers and Mahomed his Prophet! when, to the astonishment of all present, the dark circle round the eyes of the corpse began to fade gently away, her lips to assume the deep blush of the rose, a faint color to tinge her cheeks, her long curled lashes were slowly raised, revealing her large dark eyes,—which they had thought closed forever—and she held out her hand to the king, who became a Mussulman on the spot, and married her.” So far Prabu’s legend. The true story, however, according to the Javanese writers, of the Mahomedan conversion, runs as follows:—
Among the wives of Browijoyo was a Chinese. This lady, being repudiated by the king, was, with her son, Raden Patah, sent to Arya Dama, chief of the Javanese colony of Palembang, in Sumatra, the inhabitants of which place had already embraced Islamism. Radan Patah, when he grew up, accompanied by Radan Husen, a son of Arya Dama by the second mother, went over to Java. Both the young men professed the faith of Mahomed; but while Radan Patah assumed the character of a zealot and a devotee, Radan Husen rested content with the promotion and other advantages he received at the court of the Hindoo king Browijoyo, who made him governor of a district, and gave him the command of his army.