Kublai Khan Failure, Founder Yuan Dynasty, to Conquer Kingdom on Java Island

INDEPHEDIA.com - Kublai Khan, founder Yuan dynasty, the main khanat Mongol Empire, has sent envoys to many countries to ask them to place themselves under his protection and pay tribute.

What Kublai Khan did was not the case with the kingdoms on the island of Java, Indonesia. Raja (King) Kertanegara of Singhasari (Singosari) refused Kublai Khan's wishes until finally the founder of the Yuan dynasty invaded Java.

This Mongol invasion of Java Island was a military attempt by Kublai Khan, the founder Yuan dynasty (a prominent fragment Mongol Empire), to attack Java, a fairly developed island in Indonesia at that time.

In 1293, Kublai Khan sent a large fleet to Java with 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers. This was a punitive expedition against King Kertanegara of Singhasari, who refused to pay homage to Yuan and injured one of his ministers, Men Shi or Meng-qi.

Before the Mongol invasion, Men Shi was sent to Java but was not well received there.  King of Singhasari, Kertanagara, was offended by Men Shi's suggestion and branded his face with a hot iron as he would a common thief, cut off his ears, and sent him back home to Mongol.

Kublai Khan was shocked by what King of Singhasari had done to his minister and ordered a punitive expedition against Kertanagara, which he called barbarian in 1292.

According to Kublai Khan himself, if the Mongol troops were able to defeat Java, other countries around it would surrender. However, when the Yuan troops arrived in Java in 1293, Raden Wijaya, the founder and first king Majapahit Kingdom sent a delegation from Madura and informed them that Kertanagara had been killed in a palace coup and the usurper Jayakatwang was now in power to replace him.

To fight against Jayakatwang, Raden Wijaya, also known as Nararya Sangramawijaya, the name Kertarajasa Jayawardhana government (ruled Majapahit 1293-1309) allied with the Mongol army and gave him a map state of Kalang (Gelang-Gelang, another name for Kediri).

According to Yuan-shi, Raden Wijaya attacked Jayakatwang without success when he heard of the arrival of the Yuan navy. Then he asked them for help. In return, the Yuan generals demanded surrender to their emperor, and he gave it. Raden Wijaya promised awards including two daughters if the army succeeded in destroying Kediri.

As promised by Raden Wijaya, the Mongol army arrived in Daha on 19 March. After attacking 3 times, Kediri's troops were defeated and fled. While the Mongols and Kediri were fighting, the Majapahit troops attacked the city from another direction and quickly defeated the guards. Jayakatwang Palace was looted and burned.

Several thousand Kediri troops tried to cross the river and drowned, while 5,000 died in the fighting. King Jayakatwang retreated to his fort, and found that his palace had been burned.

The Mongol troops then surrounded the city of Daha and asked Jayakatwang to surrender. In the afternoon, Jayakatwang declared his submission to the Mongols. Yuan soldiers arrested Jayakatwang, his son, his wife and all of his officers, and confiscated a fortune worth 50 million yuan.

After Jayakatwang was defeated by the Mongol forces, Raden Wijaya returned to Majapahit, pretending to prepare tribute payments for the Mongols, and left his Mongol allies to celebrate their victory.

Shi-bi and Ike Mese allow Raden Wijaya to return to his area to prepare tribute and surrender letters. Raden Wijaya then asked some of Yuan's troops to come to his country without carrying weapons, because the two promised daughters could not stand to see the weapons.

Finally, two hundred Yuan soldiers who were unarmed and led by two officers were sent to the country of Raden Wijaya. However, on April 19, Raden Wijaya quickly mobilized his troops and ambushed the Yuan troupe.

From various attack attempts, Raden Wijaya's troops managed to defeat the Mongol army and they sailed to Quanzhou for 68 days. As a result attack, Shi Bi's Northern Han army lost over 3,000 people, while the newly formed army lost even more.

In June 1293, Mongol troops arrived in China. They took Jayakatwang's sons and some of his officers, numbering over 100. They also obtained a map of the country, population records and a letter in gold letters written by the king.

This failure was at the same time Kublai Khan's last military expedition. On the other hand, Majapahit became the most powerful country at its time in the archipelago. Kublai Khan had planned another invasion of Java with a force of 100,000 soldiers, but this plan was canceled after Kublai Khan's death. (SJ.ED/MA)