The Reign
In 1350 Gayatri Rajapatni died in her retirement at a buddhist monastery. She was the consort of Raden Wijaya, the first king of Majapahit, and also the grandmother of Hayam Wuruk. Queen Tribhuwana had to descend from the throne because she ruled Majapahit under Rajapatni's auspices, and she was obliged to relinquish her throne to her son.
Hayam Wuruk inherited the throne in 1350 at the age of 16 when the patih (prime minister) Gajah Mada was at the height of his career. Under his rule, Majapahit extended its power throughout the Indonesian archipelago.
According to Pararaton and Kidung Sunda, in 1357 King Hayam Wuruk was expected to marry Dyah Pitaloka Citraresmi, the princess of the Sunda Kingdom. The reason for this royal engagement was probably political, to foster the alliance between the Majapahit and the Sundanese Kingdoms. However in the Bubat incident, the Sunda royal family and their guards were involved in a skirmish with Majapahit troops. The planned royal wedding ended in disaster with the death of the princess and the whole Sunda royal party. The court officials blamed Gajah Mada because it was his intention to demand submission from Sunda Kingdom that ended in bloodshed.
Several years later Hayam Wuruk married his cousin, Paduka Sori. In 1365 (or 1287 Saka year), Mpu Prapanca wrote the kakawin Nagarakretagama, the old Javanese eulogy for King Hayam Wuruk. The manuscript described Hayam Wuruk's royal excursion around the Majapahit realm to visit villages, holy shrines, vassal kingdoms and territory in East Java.
Hayam Wuruk had a daughter, Cown Princess Kusumawardhani, with Queen Sori. Kusumawardhani married a relative, Prince Wikramawardhana. However from a consort concubine, Hayam Wuruk had a son, Prince Wirabhumi. After Hayam Wuruk's death in 1389, the empire fell into chaos and decline during the contest over succession between Wikramawardhana and Wirabhumi. The dispute ended in Wirabhumi's defeat in the Paregreg war. Wikramawardhana succeeded Hayam Wuruk as the King of Majapahit.
Read more about this topic: Hayam Wuruk
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