The Kingdom of the Isles comprised the Hebrides, the islands of the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Man from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The islands were.
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The orthography of the rulers' names is complicated as Old Norse and Gaelic were both spoken throughout the region for much of period under consideration. Thus a single individual might be referred to as Rognvaldr in Icelandic sources, Rag h nall in Gaelic, Reginaldus in Latin and perhaps "Rognvald" or "Reginald" in English language sources. During this period the historical record is particularly sparse and these early entries must be considered as somewhat speculative.
Smyth translated this as "the raid of the men from beyond the spine of Britain, that is, of the islands. Various rulers have been identified as ruling Man, but not the Isles as a whole. The Isle of Man may have fallen under Norse rule in the s, and paradoxically they may have brought the Gaelic language with them.
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The island has produced a more densely distributed Viking Age archaeology than anywhere else in the British Isles, but the written records for this time period are poor. Echmarcach mac Ragnaill and his successors certainly did control Mann, but the extent of their rule over the islands of the Clyde and the Hebrides is not clear. The period — seems to have been politically unsettled, culminating in a Manx civil war between the north and south of the island.
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In Irish mythology the Outer Hebrides were the home of the Fomorians , described as "huge and ugly" and "ship men of the sea". Indech, son of the goddess Domnu, who ruled over the deep seas. Together they "gathered all the forces from Lochlainn westwards into Ireland to impose their tribute and their rule over them.
Various later rulers such as Gebeachan are also mentioned in early sources as having a role of some kind over unspecified areas of the northern part of the Kingdom of the Isles. When Godred heard of this he engaged Somerled's forces in the naval Battle of Epiphany in There was no clear victor, but it was subsequently agreed that Godred would remain the ruler of Man and the northern Hebrides, whilst Somerled's young sons would nominally control the southern Inner Hebrides, Kintyre and the islands of the Clyde under their father's supervision.
Two years later Somerled's invasion of the Isle of Man caused Godred to flee to Norway, leaving the former as undisputed ruler of the entire realm. Following the death of Somerled in Godred re-took possession of his pre territories in Mann and the north and the southern isles were distributed amongst Somerled's sons as had been previously agreed: The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys lamented that Somerled's marriage to Ragnhildis, daughter of Olave the Red, had been "the cause of the ruin of the whole kingdom of the Isles".
In a precursor to , Norwegian forces invaded in in response to dynastic struggles amongst Godred the Black's descendants. Olaf the Black then took control of the fleet, and led it to the Isle of Man. He and Gofraid Donn , the son of Raghnall mac Gofraidh, divided the kingdom between themselves, with the latter retaining Mann, and the former controlling the northern islands.
A short time later Gofraid Donn was slain, possibly on Lewis. The Chronicle of Lanercost states that he had reigned for only 27 days. Ragnall mac Somairle's son, Ruaidhri mac Raghnaill may have been the "king of the Isles" who was recorded in the Irish chronicles as having been killed fighting against the English at the Battle of Ballyshannon in From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. MacDonald does not use patronymics unless otherwise indicated.
He may have controlled Mann from onwards. For example, in Rosemary Power favoured the reigns of Lagmann and Domnall mac Taidc after Magnus's arrival, suggesting that Lagmann may have also ruled for a time under his overlordship. Retrieved 11 Jan Retrieved 26 Feb Rakai can be considered as regional landlord or the landed gentry , that rule a large collection of villages.
The rakais transmit the king's order to the Rama or village leaders that rules their own domain called karaman or watak. As the kingdom grew larger and complex, entering the 10th century during the reign of Balitung , series of state officials are added to add hierarchy levels. Most of the inscriptions dated from Medang Mataram period are related to the establishment of sima lands. This signify the formation and expansion of Javanese agricultural villages in the region during this period.
Either by opening a forest or converting a ladang dry rice cultivation to sawah wet rice cultivation. A sima is an arable wet rice agricultural land with rice surpluses available for taxation, and officially recognised through royal edict. Most of these sima lands are ruled by regional rakai or samget landed gentry in their realm. By acquiring prestigious sima status from the king, a watak regional unit held a higher prestige compared to non- sima settlements, yet this also means acknowledging the kingdom's overlordship over their land and swore their allegiance to the king.
The Rakais that rule the land are granted a royal permission to collect tax, yet some parts of these tax should be regularly paid to the king's court central government in the capital. In some instance, some of these sima inscription stated that this sima land has become a tax-free land, in exchange that the rice harvest surpluses collected from this land are used to construct or maintain a religious building. This means the rakai that traditionally ruled this lands no longer has the right to collect the tax, or at least reducing their tax earnings.
Other than their administrative and military-defense function, the king and the royal family is also known as the patron of arts and also religious piousness.
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The king, the royal family and the kingdom's officials had the authority to launch public projects, such as irrigation works or temple construction. The royal art and religious patronage can be seen in sponsoring temples constructions. The kingdom left behind several temples and monuments. The most notable ones are Borobudur, Prambanan, Sewu , and the Plaosan temple compound. The common people of Medang mostly made a living in agriculture, especially as rice farmers, however, some may have pursued other careers, such as hunter, trader, artisan, weaponsmith, sailor, soldier, dancer, musician, food or drink vendor, etc.
Rich portrayals of daily life in 9th century Java can be seen in many temple bas-reliefs. Rice cultivation had become the base for the kingdom's economy where the villages throughout the realm relied on their annual rice yield to pay taxes to the court. Exploiting the fertile volcanic soil of Central Java and the intensive wet rice cultivation sawah enabled the population to grow significantly, which contributed to the availability of labour and workforce for the state's public projects.
Certain villages and lands were given the status as sima lands awarded through royal edict written in inscriptions. The rice yields from sima lands usually were allocated for the maintenance of certain religious buildings. The economic activity was also not solely centred in a single marketplace in the capital city. It is most likely that the marketplace was rotated in daily basis within a week among participating villages, in a Javanese system called pasaran. This system still can be found in rural Javanese villages, before most are turned into a permanent marketplace as it is commonly found today.
The economic trading practice in these marketplace are most likely done in barter as well as using money, as during this period, Javanese economy has been partly monetised. The bas-reliefs from temples of this period, especially from Borobudur and Prambanan describe occupations and careers other than agricultural pursuit; such as soldiers, government officials, court servants, massage therapists, travelling musicians and dancing troupe, food and drink sellers, logistics courier, sailors, merchants, even thugs and robbers are depicted in everyday life of 9th century Java.
These occupations requires economic system that employs currency. The Wonoboyo hoard , golden artefacts discovered in , revealed gold coins in shape similar to corn seeds, which suggests that 9th century Javan economy is partly monetised. On the surface of the gold coins engraved with a script "ta" , a short form of "tail" or "tahil" a unit of currency in ancient Java.
A complex and stratified society of ancient Javanese people and their social order can be seen through studies on the rich portrayal in bas-reliefs from this period, as well as inscription studies. The kingdom had developed a complex society; which characterised by heterogeneity of their society, inequality of social stratification, and the formation of national administrative institution in their kingdom. Nevertheless, the social stratification system in ancient Java slightly differ from those of India, as it less rigid. Pigeaud divides ancient Javanese society into four classes: De Casparis divides them into three groups:.
Based on the study of the styles and types of clothing and jewelries worn by people depicted in bas-reliefs from the temple — especially Borobudur reliefs — the ancient Javanese society roughly can be divided into: Hinduism and Buddhism are the two religions adhered by the rulers and people of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the commoners' religious practices were probably still mixed with native shamanism and indigenous pre-Dharmic beliefs. Since the beginning of its formation, the Medang Mataram kings seemed to favour Shivaist Hinduism, such as the construction of linga in Gunung Wukir Hindu temple as mentioned in Canggal inscription by king Sanjaya.
However, during the reign of Panangkaran , Mahayana Buddhism began to blossomed and gain court favour. The court patronage on Buddhism spanned from the reign of Panangkaran to Samaratungga. During the reign of Pikatan, Shivaist Hinduism began to regain court's favour, signified by the construction of grand Shivagrha Prambanan. The kingdom recognised the religious authority of priest class, the brahmins. Buddhism was also well represented through the sangha Buddhist monastic community, consists of Buddhist monks living in viharas such as Sari and Plaosan and gaining court patronage.
These Hindu and Buddhist religious authorities conducted state's and regional religious rituals and ceremonies in the temples. The ruling class of kshatriya royal family also indulged in spiritualism. Some monarch seems to immerse themselves in spiritualism and religion. For example, King Panangkaran seems to be deeply influenced by Mahayana Buddhism, and even strive to become a hermit during his later days. Numbers of other kings such as Samaragrawira and Samaratungga was also deeply influenced by Buddhism and strive to become a benevolent leaders.
Rakai Pikatan also abdicated and renounced worldly affairs during his old days and become a rishi hermit named Sang Prabhu Jatiningrat. The period between the reign of King Panangkaran to the reign of King Balitung late 8th century to the early 10th century saw a fervent temple construction in the kingdom.
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This was probably motivated either by religious zeal, kingdom's immense wealth and resources or social-political reasons. Some historians such as Munoz suggest, that this ardent temple construction projects was actually a religious-political tool to control the regional Rakai landlords, to prevent them from rebelling against the king. By appointing the Rakais' sima land to fund the construction and maintenance of a candi religious building, the Maharaja depriving the Rakais' ability to collect large sum of tax, that can be potentially misused to fund some army that might rose to challenge the Maharaja's authority.
The Rakais might be willingly or reluctantly compliant to the king's will, for refusing to construct religious building might harm their reputation, and cast them not only as the enemy of the king, but also as the enemy of gods or Buddha. Other than examining bas-reliefs carved on the temple's walls, the study of ancient Javanese society is also conducted through archaeological relics.
The Wonoboyo hoard golden artefacts attest to the wealth, art, and culture as well as the aesthetic achievement of the Medang Kingdom. The artefacts show the intricate artwork and technical mastery of the ancient Javanese goldsmith. The hoard was estimated to date from the reign of King Balitung. From this time, the kingdom saw exuberant temple construction projects, such as Sari , Manjusrigrha , Lumbung , Ngawen , Mendut , Pawon and peaked in the construction of Borobudur , the massive stone mandala , that took shape of a mountain temple pinnacled with stupas that completed c.
The description of a grand temple compound dedicated for lord Shiva, and the public project to shift the course of the river near the temple Opak river to run straight along western wall of temple compound was also mentioned in Shivagrha inscription. The grand temple complex was dedicated to the Trimurti , the three highest gods in the Hindu pantheon Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu. It was the largest Hindu temple ever built in Indonesia , evidence of the immense wealth and cultural achievement of the kingdom.
Other Hindu temples dated from Medang Mataram Kingdom era are: Sambisari , Gebang , Barong, Ijo, and Morangan. Although the Shivaist regain the favour, Buddhist remain under royal patronage. The Sewu temple dedicated for Manjusri according to Kelurak inscription was probably initially built by Panangkaran, but later expanded and completed during Rakai Pikatan's rule, whom married to a Buddhist princess Pramodhawardhani , daughter of Samaratungga.
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Most of their subjects retained their old religion; Shivaists and Buddhists seemed to co-exist in harmony. The Buddhist temple of Plaosan , Banyunibo and Sajiwan were built during the reign of King Pikatan and Queen Pramodhawardhani, probably in the spirit of religious reconciliation after the succession disputes between Pikatan-Pramodhawardhani against Balaputra.
From the 9th to mid 10th centuries, the Medang Kingdom witnessed the blossoming of art, culture and literature, mainly through the translation of Hindu-Buddhist sacred texts and the transmission and adaptation of Hindu-Buddhist ideas into Old Javanese text and visual bas-reliefs rendering. The bas-relief carved on each sides of Mendut temple stairs and also on the base of Sojiwan temple for example, narrating the popular Jataka Buddhist tales, the stories that tell about the previous lives of the Buddha, in both human and animal form.
The Borobudur bas-relief particularly, contains the most complete rendering of Buddhist sacred texts. Ranged from Karmavibhanga the law of karma , Lalitavistara the story of the Buddha , the tale of Manohara , Jataka and Jatakamala, Avadana collection of virtuous deeds and Gandavyuha Sudhana 's quest for the ultimate truth. The bas-relief narration of the Hindu epic Ramayana and also was carved on the wall of Prambanan temple's Shiva and Brahma temples, while the stories of Krishna taken from Bhagavata Purana was carved on Vishnu temple. During this period, the Kakawin Ramayana , an old Javanese rendering was written.
It has stanzas in the manipravala style, a mixture of Sanskrit and archaic Javanese prose. The most influential version of the Ramayana is the Ravanavadham of Bhatti , popularly known as Bhattikavya. The Javanese Ramayana differs markedly from the original Hindu. Medang kingdom had an exceptionally intense relations with the regional hegemon Srivijaya of Sumatra. In earlier period, the relations was close and intimate, as Sailendran kings of Java has formed an alliance with Maharaja of Srivijaya and the two royal houses seems to be merged.
In later period however, the relations was deteriorated to warfare, as Dharmawangsa launched failed attempt to capture Palembang, and Srivijaya well-crafted retaliation ensued.
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In its eastern boundary, the Medang kingdom seems to subjugate the neighboring Bali , and pulled the island into its sphere of influence. The Kaladi inscription c. The inscription suggests a maritime trade network has been established between kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia and Java. The discovery of the inscriptions, written in the Kawi script in a variety of Old Malay containing numerous loanwords from Sanskrit and a few non-Malay vocabulary elements whose origin is ambiguous between Old Javanese and Old Tagalog , suggests that the people or officials of the Medang Kingdom had embarked on inter-insular trade and foreign relations in regions as far away as the Philippines, and that connections between ancient kingdoms in Indonesia and the Philippines existed.
Celebrated as the golden age of ancient Indonesian civilisation — more precisely classic Javanese civilisation — the era of Medang i Bhumi Mataram kingdom has left an everlasting mark and legacy in Indonesian culture and history ; their monuments. The grand and magnificent Borobudur and Prambanan in particular, has become the source of national pride, not only for local Javanese but also for the whole of Indonesians.
These monuments today has become the nation's major attraction ; Borobudur is the single most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia. Never before — and again — that Indonesia saw such vigorous passion for development and temple construction, which demonstrate such technological mastery, labour and resource management, aesthetics and art refinement, also architectural achievement, other than this era. The period between the late 8th century to the late 9th century, between the reign of Panangkaran to Balitung, has left numbers of impressive religious monuments; among others are Manjusrigrha , Bhumisambharabudhara and Shivagrha.
The Medang Mataram era is hailed as the classical period of Javanese civilisation; for during this period the Javanese culture, art and architecture was blossoming and developed further, consolidated and mixed their indigenous elements with dharmic influences. By incorporating Hindu-Buddhist frame of reference and elements into their culture, art and architecture, and by Sanskritization their language, Javanese has formulating their own Hindu-Buddhist Javanese style and developing an ingenious civilisation. This Javanese style of Sailendran art, either in sculpture and architecture, in return influenced regional arts, particularly the Srivijayan art in Sumatra and Southern Thailand Malay Peninsula.
The Khmer art and architecture during the formative early Angkor era also believed to being influenced by Javanese art and architecture; the striking similarity of the Bakong temple in Cambodia to Borobudur, strongly suggests that Bakong was inspired by Borobudur's design. There must had been exchanges of travellers, if not mission, between Kambuja and Java.
Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but also technical and architectural details, including arched gateways in corbelling method. It was also during this period that numbers of dharmic scriptures either Hindu or Buddhist, has made their way from India into Javanese culture. For example, the tales of Buddhist Jatakas and Lalitavistara , also Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata were adopted into Javanese version.
These tales and epics would further shaped the Javanese culture and performing arts, such as Javanese dances and wayang art. The ruler of Medang Kingdom. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the Hindu Empire 8th to 10th centuries. For other uses, see Mataram. Part of a series on the. Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms. Rise of Muslim states. National Awakening — Japanese occupation — War of Independence — Archaeology Currency Economy Military. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia.
University of Hawaii Press. The History of Java ed. Loyola Heights, Quezon City, the Philippines: Philippine Studies, Ateneo de Manila University. Retrieved 24 June Menuju Puncak Kemegahan in Indonesian. Retrieved 3 March Pengantar Sejarah Kebudayaan Indonesia 2 , 2nd ed , 5th reprint edition in ed. The Indianized states of Southeast Asia. Zaman kuno in Indonesian. Retrieved 10 June Zaman Kuno in Indonesian.
Retrieved 3 June Retrieved 31 August Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en wetenschappen. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Museum Anjuk Ladang in Indonesian. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Bosch, "Srivijaya, de Sailendravamsa en de Sanjayavamsa", De Casparis, ; Hall, Candi, Space and Landscape: Busana Jawa Kuna in Indonesian. Retrieved 21 July Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. Marr; Anthony Crothers Milner Southeast Asia in the 9th to 14th Centuries.
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. Retrieved 5 June The great kingdom of Kush or Cush was located in south Nubia. The ancient Greeks called it Ethiopia. These Kushite kings founded Egypt's 25th ruling dynasty. After Shabaka died, Piankhi's son Shebitku became pharaoh; he was succeeded by his brother Taharqa. But the Nubian Dynasty's reign in Egypt proved to be short-lived. He and his cousin Tanutamon, who succeeded Taharqa as king of Kush, tried but failed to regain the Egyptian throne.
After that, the city of Meroe became the capital of Kush. The kingdom lasted for some years more. One notable Kushite ruler was the fierce one-eyed warrior queen Amanirenas, who battled an occupying Roman army in the first century AD. Her ambassadors were conducted into the presence of the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar , and according to the Roman writer Strabo, they "obtained all that they desired, and Caesar even remitted the tribute which he had imposed.
It seems Kush gradually went into decline, and crumbled completely after the armies of Aksum a kingdom of ancient Ethiopia conquered Meroe around AD. New kingdoms arose in Nubia, and these kingdoms started converting to Christianity in the 6th century AD. Around , Nubia began falling under the control of Arab rulers, and many Nubians converted to Islam.
But much of Nubian culture has survived through the centuries, and the Nubian language is still spoken today in Egypt and Sudan. Unless otherwise noted, these books are for sale at Amazon. Your purchase through these links will result in a commission for the owner of the Royalty.