1. The History

Pagaruyung Kingdom was a kingdom that had ever existed, and overwhelmed Province of West Sumatra and the surrounding region. The name of this kingdom came from its capital city in Pagaruyung village. This kingdom was established by a Majapahit prince named Adityawarman in 1347 A.D. Pagaruyung Kingdom became an Islamic Sultanate in 1600s.

Adityawarman actually was a Malay descendant although he was a prince from Majapahit. Historically, in 1286, the King of Kertanegara gave a present of Amogapacha statue for the Kingdom of Darmasraya in Minangkabau. As a reward of that gift, the King of Darmas Raya allowed his two daughters, Dara Petak and Dara Jingga to be taken along and to be married by the noble of Singosari. Then, Adityawarman was born from the marriage of Dara Jingga.

When Singosari was falling down, Majapahit emerged. Adityawarman was a functionary in Majapahit. One day, he was sent to Darmasraya as the administrator of that region. Then, Adityawarman precisely liberated himself from Majapahit. On an epigraph of 1347, it was said that Adityawarman crowned himself as the king of that region. The region under his authority was Pagaruyung because he covered that region with ruyung (the trunk of a palm tree) of Kuamang tree. Therefore, that region was called Pagaruyung.

The authority of the king of Pagaruyung had been very weak around Padri war although the king was still being honored. The west coastal areas were in Aceh influence, while Inderapura which was in the south coastal area became an independent kingdom although officially it was under the king of Pagaruyung. This kingdom felt down in the Padri War because of the conflict happened at that time and the interference of the Netherlands colonial in the middle of the 19^th century.

Before this kingdom existed, actually the people in Minangkabau had had a political system like a confederation which was a deliberation institution from several villages and districts. Seen from the continuity of the history, Pagaruyung Kingdom was an administrative system changing only for the local people (Tribe of Minang).

2. The Kings of Kingdom

In the process of data collecting

3. The Kingdom Period

In the process of data collecting

4. The Kingdom Territory

The zone which was influenced by the Pagaruyung Kingdom could be found from this Minang language statement

dari Sikilang Aia Bangih
hingga Taratak Aia Hitam.
Dari Durian Ditakuak Rajo
hingga Sialang Balantak Basi.

Sikilang Aia Bangih was the north boundary, which is now in West Pasaman, bordering with Natal, North Sumatra. Taratak Aia Hitam was Bengkulu. Durian Ditakuak Rajo was a region in the Regency of Bungo, Jambi. The last, Sialang Balantak Basi, was a region in Rantau Barangin, the Regency of Kampar, recently Riau. 

5. Kingdom  Structure

Pagaruyung Kingdom ruled in more than 500 villages that were a group of the autonomous regions. These villages were the base of the kingdom and had a wide competence in governing. For example, the villages had its own wealth and court custom. Several villages sometime formed federation, such as Bandar the tenth which was a federation of ten villages in south side of Padang. The leader of this federation was taken from the Moslem leader group, and titled king. This little king serves as the vice of the King of Pagaruyung.

In darek area, the villages were usually governed by the Moslem leaders that led each tribe in that village. The Moslem leader was chosen by the member of the tribe and the villagers controlled the government through their Moslem leaders. The decision of the government was taken through an agreement of the Moslem leaders after being discussed first.

In foreign country like Pasaman, the authority of the Moslem leader often moved to the small kings who governed hereditarily. In Inderapura, the king titled Sultan.

The King of Pagaruyung controlled the foreign country directly. He was permitted to rule and collect the tax. These foreign countries were Pasaman, Kampar, Rokan, Indragiri, and Batanghari. In the central of the Pagaruyung Kingdom (in Luhak Nan Tigo), the king just became a mediator although he was honored.

The King of Pagaruyung was helped by two other kings, the King of Custom located in Buo and the King of Religious Service located in Sumpur Kudus. The King of Custom decided the customary law and the King of Religious Service was responsible for the religious matters. If there was an unfinished problem, it was then brought to the King of Pagaruyung that was called Raja Alam.

Beside those two kings, Raja Alam was also helped by Basa Ampek Balai, four men. They were:

1. Bandaro (the treasurer) or Tuanku Titah located in Tarab River. His position was similar to the Prime Minister. This treasurer could be compared with the position that had same name in the Sultanate of Melaka.
2. Makhudum located in Sumanik. His duty was to keep the relationship with the foreign countries and other kingdoms.
3. Indomo located in Saruaso. His duty was to keep the customs and traditions.
4. Tuan Kadi located in Padang Ganting. His duty was to monitor the religious law.

Tuan Gadang in Batipuh was not included in Basa Ampek Balai, but it had the same level. The duty of Tuan Gadang was as the commander of armed forces.

As the government apparatus, each Basa Ampek Balai had special areas where they had the right to ask for a certain amount the tribute. Bandaro had foreign country in Bandar the Tenth. The foreign country of Tuan Kadi was in VII Koto near to Sijunjung. Next, Indomo had foreign country in the north of Padang. Meanwhile, Makhudum had foreign country in Malay Peninsula, in the residence of Minangkabau people there.

6. The Social Cultural Life

In the process of data collecting

Sources:

• Wikipedia with the writing structure changing

(LA/ter/05-08)

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Comment of "pagaruyung kingdom"

18 Jun 2010. achmad darmazi Menurut yang pernah saya dengar, ada 3 orang putera raja, satu naik tahta, yang satu ke Malaysia dan yang satu lagi ke brunai darussalam sehingga menimbulkan legenda / kisah "Batu Menangis".

18 Apr 2011. budi istiawan mengenai ekspedisi pamalayu dan masa adityawarman perlu referensi yang baru. ralat juga bahwa prasasti Kuburajo I tidak berangka tahun

01 Jan 2012. aswier sutan muhammad taufik thaib rajo alam pagaruyuang sampai sekarang.....

16 Sep 2012. KPH. SP. Rheindra J. Wiroyudho Saya mohon info perkembangan Pagaruyung sampai masa sekarang diperjelas, terutama mencantumkan Sutan Muhammad Taufik Thaib sbg Daulat Yang Dipertuan Raja Alam Pagaruyung sekarang. jadi lebih komplet dan konkret. Dan satu lagi pertanyaan saya, apakah tidak ada selain Pagaruyung kerajaan Melayu di Sumbar?

13 Marc 2014. lukmanul hakim Kepada saudara-saudaraku yang tahu...........Mohon penjelasan tentang stempel Kerajaan yang berbunyi: "SULTHAN 'ALAM IBNU SULTHAN KHALIFATULLAH YANG MEMPUNYAI TAHTA KERAJAAN DI ALAM MINANGKABAU" Saat ini...stempel tersebut ada ditangan saya : Lukmanul Hakim Desa Sukamaju Kecamatan Tanjung Tiram Kabupaten Batu Bara, Sumatera Utara 21253

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