History of Standing, Glory and Fall of The Selaparang Kingdom

INDEPHEDIA.com - The Kingdom of Selaparang is one of the kingdoms that historically has been recorded more among other kingdoms on the island of Lombok. Even so, historical sources about the Selaparang Kingdom itself are still minimal.

Sources noted that the center of the Selaparang Kingdom was in Selaparang Village, Suwela District, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Indonesia.

History of Standing Selaparang Kingdom

A number of experts believe that the Selaparang Kingdom appeared in two periods, namely the 13th and 16th centuries AD. The early Selaparang kingdom was a Hindu kingdom and its power ended with the arrival of the expedition of the Majapahit Empire in 1357.

The second Selaparang Kingdom is the largest Islamic kingdom in Lombok which was founded by King Rangkesari in the 16th century AD in the eastern region of Lombok Island.

Thus it can be seen that the Selaparang Kingdom experienced two periods of emergence, namely the Hindu Selaparang Kingdom which stood between the 13th and 14th centuries AD under the Majapahit Kingdom and the Islamic Selaparang Kingdom which stood in the 16th century AD.

The Selaparang dynasty was the first to accept Islam in Lombok. The arrival of Islam to Lombok was first spread by a preacher from Baghdad named Ghaus Abdurrazzaq.

Aside from being a propagator of Islam, Ghaus Abdurrazzaq, who is thought to have come to Lombok around the 13th century AD, is also believed to have inherited the sultan from the kingdoms in Lombok.

Three children were born from his first marriage, namely Sayyid Umar, Sayyid Amir and Syarifah Qomariah. His son Sayyid Umar became datu (king) of the Pujut Kingdom and Sayyid Amir datu of the Pejanggik Kingdom.

Then, Ghaus Abdurrazzaq remarried a princess from the Kingdom of Sasak. From this marriage he was blessed with two children, namely Sayyid Zulqarnain or known as Shaykh Abdurrahman and a daughter named Syarifah Lathifah who was nicknamed Denda Rabi'ah.

Sayyid Zulqarnain, the son of Ghaus Abdurrazzaq, later founded the Selaparang Kingdom, as well as becoming the first datu with the title Datu Selaparang or Sultan Rinjani.

The Heyday of The Selaparang Kingdom

According to Wikipedia, the Selaparang Kingdom is a formidable kingdom, both on land and at sea. His sea warriors had succeeded in expelling the Dutch who were about to enter the area around 1667-1668 AD.

However, the Selaparang Kingdom had to give up one of its territories controlled by the Dutch, namely Sumbawa Island, because it had been captured before the sea war occurred.

Besides that, his marine troops also broke the attack launched by the Kingdom of Gelgel (Bali) from the west. Selaparang has twice been involved in fierce battles against the Kingdom of Gelgel.

The war between the Selaparang Kingdom and the Gelgel Kingdom took place between 1616 and 1624 AD, but both were crushed completely, and the Gelgel army was captured in large numbers as well.

After the fierce battle, the Selaparang Kingdom began implementing a new policy to build its empire by strengthening the agricultural sector. The center of the royal government was then moved somewhat inland, on a hilly plain, right in the present village of Selaparang.

Various sources say that after being moved, the Selaparang Kingdom experienced rapid progress. The Selaparang Kingdom was able to expand its power to West Sumbawa.

It was also stated that a viceroy named Sri Dadelanatha, was inaugurated with the title Dewa Meraja in West Sumbawa because at that time (1630 AD) this area was also included in the territory of the Selaparang Kingdom.

The next generation, around November 30, 1648 AD, the crown prince of Selaparang was named Prince Pemayaman with the title Pemban Aji Komala, inaugurated in Sumbawa to become Sulthan Selaparang who ruled over the entire island of Lombok and Sumbawa.

The Collapse of The Selaparang Kingdom

Even though Selaparang excelled against the neighboring power, namely the Kingdom of Gelgel, but at the same time, a new power from the west had emerged as well.

The embryo of this power has been around since the beginning of the 15th century AD with the arrival of illegal agricultural immigrants from Karang Asem (Bali Island) in waves, and subsequently established colonies in the present day Mataram City area.

That power then gradually grew and developed so that it was transformed into a small kingdom, namely the Kingdom of Pagutan and Pagesangan which was founded around 1622 AD.

This kingdom was established five years after the first sea attack from the Kingdom of Gelgel from North Bali or two years before the second attack which was crushed by the troops of the Selaparang Kingdom.

Therefore, before the kingdom that stood in his territory in the western part was established, it was only anticipated by placing a small army under the leadership of Patinglaga Deneq Wirabangsa.

In an effort to deal with the newly emerging problem from the western part, namely the Kingdom of Gelgel and the Kingdom of Mataram Karang Asem, it was suspected that an important figure in the center of the kingdom named Arya Banjar Getas had a disagreement with the king of the Selaparang Kingdom.

This misunderstanding is about the exact position of the border between the Selaparang and Pejanggik Kingdoms. Arya Banjar Getas and his followers then decided to leave Selaparang.

Arya Banjar Getas joined a military expedition from the Kingdom of Mataram Karang Asem (Bali), which at that time had already managed to land in West Lombok.

With all his tactics, Arya Banjar Getas devised a plan with the Mataram Kingdom of Karang Asem to jointly attack the Selaparang Kingdom. In the end, the military expedition succeeded in conquering the Selaparang Kingdom.

This event occurred around 1672 AD. Since then, the Karang Asem Kingdom has become the ruler of the western part of Lombok Island and several eastern and central areas under the rule of Arya Banjar Getas. (*)