Pagaruyung Kingdom

Origins

In 1347 Adityawarman, a prince who had served Majapahit, proclaimed himself king of Malayu at Dharmasraya and moved his court up into the Minangkabau highlands, near Pagaruyung in the Tanah Datar valley. He left more than twenty inscriptions in Sanskrit and Old Malay and patronised Tantric Buddhism.

Rule and society

Later rulers converted to Islam in the 16th century. Royal authority was shared among the Rajo Tigo Selo, three kings of the world, of custom and of religion, but real power lay with the village councils under matrilineal adat law. Gold from highland mines made the court famous, and Minangkabau migrants carried its prestige to Negeri Sembilan.

Decline and legacy

During the Padri War, reformist Muslims killed much of the royal family around 1815. Surviving nobles invited the Dutch, who intervened from 1821. In 1833 the Dutch arrested the regent Sultan Tangkal Alam Bagagar and exiled him to Batavia, ending the kingdom. A replica palace stands at Pagaruyung today.