The kingship of Pejeng and Bedulu, Bali

Who rules

Name

Sri Arjayadengjayaketana (the spelling varies between lists)

Title

Queen (ratu) of Bali, with her son as co-ruler

Since

fl. 1200 (Saka 1122) in the list of monarchs; whether she already reigns on 1 January 1200 is an inference

Born

not known

Family

Her son Haji Ekajayalancana is co-regent in the same list; the next name is Bhatara Guru Sri Adikuntiketana (fl. 1204), shown under him in the list's notation. Her husband and parents are not known to me.

Confidence

medium

en.wikipedia's List of monarchs of Bali shows: Jayapangus fl. 1178 to 1181; Arjayadengjayaketana fl. 1200, a queen; Haji Ekajayalancana, co-regent, fl. 1200; Adikuntiketana fl. 1204. The page warns that the sequence and dates are 'not always securely documented'. Saka 1122 begins in spring 1200 and 1 January 1200 is Saka 1121, so if the plate that names the pair is of Saka 1122 it is after the date: the pair reigning on the morning of 1 January is an inference, and the throne between Jayapangus (1181) and 1200 is not covered by a plate that we could see.

No month is known for the plate.

Overlord

none: Bali has issued its own edicts since the Blanjong pillar of 914 and is not Kediri's

What the realm holds

• Bedulu and Pejeng, the royal ridge, with Goa Gajah, Gunung Kawi and Tirta Empul
• The Pakerisan valley and its subak (irrigation societies)
• The Batur caldera and its water temple, and Besakih on Gunung Agung
• The north-coast landings: Julah, Sembiran and Pacung
• The east-coast anchorages Padangbai and Kusamba and the salt pans
• Sanur (Blanjong)
• Nusa Penida, the dry island across the channel

How it was acquired

Inherited kingship. The plates run from Blanjong (914) through Ugrasena, Udayana, Marakata and Anak Wungsu (1049 to 1077) to a long list of kings and a queen (1088 to 1101) in the twelfth century; the list is loose and the 'dynasty' is a group sharing a title, not a proved line (en.wikipedia).

Allies and rivals

Kediri is the strong neighbour across the strait; the two courts are linked by descent but Bali is independent in 1200. Lombok across the strait has a kingdom of Pamatan named in the late Babad Lombok. Nothing is dated between the Balinese court and any foreign power for 1200.

The realm that morning

The pair are known from plates listed as of 1200; if those are Saka 1122 they are after the date, and the morning of 1 January is an inference from the neighbouring dates (Jayapangus 1178 to 1181, Adikuntiketana 1204). No war, rising or embassy is dated.

Wealth

Rice from the subak, taxed by the king but not run by him; salt; the shipping duties on the north coast (Julah); temple and hermitage endowments. No figures.

Military

Not recorded for 1200. The plates name senapati (commanders) and the court's officers; no strength is given.

Threats

• Eruptions: Batur and Agung are active volcanoes (nothing dated)
• A Javanese expedition, which first comes in 1284 and then 1343 (later)
• Succession: a queen and a son sharing the throne

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. From about March to April 1200 (Saka 1122)The plates naming Sri Arjayadengjayaketana and Haji Ekajayalancana, if the list's 'fl. 1200' is Saka 1122.Depends on: The reading of the plates in the list; the month is not known. Stopped by: The pair were not yet reigning, or the plate is dated differently.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1204 (Saka 1126)Bhatara Guru Sri Adikuntiketana appears (fl. 1204).Depends on: The list of monarchs being right about the date. Stopped by: The pair's reign ending early or lasting longer.
2. About September 1257The Samalas eruption on Lombok: ash and failed harvests; Balinese plates thin out after it (en.wikipedia).Depends on: The volcano. Stopped by: Nothing in play can stop it.
3. 1284Kertanagara of Singhasari sends an expedition to Bali (Nagarakretagama canto 42, stanza 1) and a Balinese ruler is captured.Depends on: Singhasari standing and Bali still independent. Stopped by: A different history of the island.
4. 1343Gajah Mada takes Bedulu for Majapahit; the Pejeng and Bedulu kingship ends.Depends on: Majapahit standing. Stopped by: Any change before.

Places of note

• Bedulu and Pejeng: The royal country.
• Julah: North-coast port village taxed by the kings.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry bedulu-pejeng says that in January 1200 the throne is held by the queen with her son beside her. That is an inference from a plate or list dated 'about 1200'; if it is Saka 1122 it is after 1 January. The pair are the nearest dated reigning names; we could not read the plate.
• The campaign board entry gunung-kawi-tampaksiring says the ten shrines are memorials to the house of Anak Wungsu. That is the usual reading but the identification of the occupants is argued (recalled).
• en.wikipedia's History of Bali gives the Jayapangus plates only as 'twelfth century' and the Blanjong pillar as 4 February 914 on one 1959 source.
• Kertanagara's expedition of 1284 and Gajah Mada's of 1343 are later; Bali is not Kediri's in 1200.

Evidence: A run of Old Balinese plates from 914 and a published list of kings, but the list is loose, the dates for the 1180s and 1190s are missing, and the pair of 1200 is a single reading we could not check.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: Bali's province matches the island of the kings, including Nusa Penida; the reach of the queen's writ across the island is assumed, not shown plate by plate.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Old Javanese Charters (the Brandes and Krom corpus), including the Kediri inscriptions of Kamesvara and Srngga, Various (the Kediri kings and their officers), edited by J. L. A. Brandes and N. J. Krom (inscriptions of the 8th to 15th centuries; edited 1913). Kediri (Panjalu) in 1200 is known from a few royal charters on stone and copper, which this corpus first printed: the records of Kamesvara (about 1182 to 1194) and of Srngga, that is Kertajaya (from about 1194 to 1222), among them the Kamulan charter of 1194 and the Palah (Panataran) record of 1197, with the king's titles, his seal, the officials of the court and the villages freed from tax.
• The Description of the Country, called the Nagarakretagama, Mpu Prapanca (1365 at the Majapahit court). A Majapahit court poem of 1365 listed here only for its retrospect. Read online