Majapahit's Negarakertagama: Poetry as Political Map

Majapahit: The Empire That Once Ruled Indonesia — Fexingo History · Aug 4, 2026 · 8m · transcript

In this episode, Lucas and Luna revisit Mpu Prapanca's Negarakertagama — the epic Old Javanese poem that catalogued Majapahit's realm in 1365. But instead of retelling its discovery, they focus on how the poem functioned as a political tool under Hayam Wuruk. They explore the list of tributary states, the annual court ceremony, and the way Prapanca framed the king as a divine figure. They also discuss the poem's silences — the regions it omits, the tensions it glosses over — and what that says about Majapahit's actual reach. Along the way, they touch on the kakawin meter…