Kediri (historical Kingdom) - Reign of Kediri Kings

Reign of Kediri Kings

The first king of Kediri to leave historical records was Çri Jayawarşa Digjaya Çāstaprabhu (reigned 1104–1115). In his inscription dated 1104, like Airlangga, he claimed himself to be the incarnation or Avatar of Vishnu.

The second king was Kameçvara. His formal stylized name was Çri Maharaja Rake Sirikan çri Kameçvara Sakalabhuwanatustikarana Sarwaniwaryyawiryya Parakrama Digjayottunggadewa. The Lanchana (royal seal) of his reign was a skull with a crescent moon called chandrakapala, the symbol of Shiva. During his reign, Mpu Dharmaja wrote Smaradhana, in which the king was adored as the incarnation of Kamajaya, the god of love, and his capital city Dahana was admired throughout the known world. Kameçvara's wife, Çri Kirana, was celebrated as the incarnation of Kamaratih, goddess of love and passion. The tales of this story, known as Panji cycle, spread throughout Southeast Asia as far as Siam.

Jayabhaya (reigned 1130–1160) succeeded Kameçwara. His formal stylized name was Çri Maharaja çri Dharmmeçwara Madhusudanawataranindita Suhrtsingha Parakrama Digjayottunggadewa. The Lanchana (royal seal) of his reign was Narasingha. The name Jayabhaya was immortalized in Sedah's Kakawin Bharatayuddha, a Javanese version of the Mahabharata, written in 1157. This Kakawin was perfected by his brother, Mpu Panuluh. Mpu Panuluh wrote Hariwangsa and Gatotkacasraya. Jayabhaya's reign was considered the golden age of Old Javanese literature. The Prelambang Joyoboyo, a prophetic book ascribed to Jayabhaya, is well known among Javanese. It predicted that the archipelago would be ruled by a white race for a long time, then a yellow race for a short time, then be glorious again. The Jayabhaya prophecies mention Ratu Adil, the Just Prince, a recurring popular figure in Javanese folklore. During the reign, Ternate was a vassal state of Kediri.

Jayabhaya's successor was Sarwweçwara (reigned 1160–1170), followed by Aryyeçwara (reigned 1170–1180), who used Ganesha as his royal Lanchana. The next monarch was Gandra; his formal stylized name was Çri maharaja çri Kroncarryadipa Handabhuwanapalaka Parakramanindita Digjayottunggadewanama çri Gandra. An inscription (dated 1181) from his reign documents the beginning of the adoption of animal names for important officials, such as Kbo Salawah, Menjangan Puguh, Lembu Agra, Gajah Kuning, and Macan Putih. Among these highly-ranked officials mentioned in the inscription, there is a title Senapati Sarwwajala, or laksmana, a title reserved for navy generals, which means that Kediri had a navy during his reign.

From 1190 to 1200, King Çrngga ruled Kediri, with the official name Çri maharaja çri Sarwweçwara Triwikramawataranindita Çrngga lancana Digwijayottunggadewa. He used a cangkha (winged shell) on a crescent moon as his royal seal.

The last king of Kediri was Kertajaya (1200–1222). His royal seal was Garudamukha, the same as Airlangga's. In 1222 he was forced to surrender his throne to Ken Arok and so lost the sovereignty of his kingdom to the new kingdom of Singhasari. This was the result of his defeat at the battle of Ganter. This event marked the end of Kediri era, and the beginning of the Singhasari era.

According Jiyu and Petak inscriptions, during the end of Majapahit era in 15th century, there was a brief resurrection of Daha (Kediri) as the center of political power, which was led by Girindrawardhana in 1478 after he managed to defeat Kertabhumi. But it short lived since descendant of Kertabhumi who became ruler of Demak crushed Daha in 1527.