Latest / Majapahit: The Empire That Once Ruled Indonesia — Fexingo History / Majapahit's Lost Gold: The Mystery of the Trowulan Hoard
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- Lucas: So, we've talked a lot about Majapahit's power — its armies, its ships, its rice terraces. But there's one thing we haven't touched on, and it's been bugging me for a while. Luna: What's that? Lucas: Where did all the gold go? I mean, this was a thalassocracy that controlled the spice routes, extracted tribute from half of Nusantara. The Negarakertagama describes Hayam Wuruk's palace as glittering with gold. But today, when you visit Trowulan, you see brick, stone, terracotta. Almost no precious metal survives. Luna: So it was looted? Lucas: Partly. But there's a more specific story. In 1912, Dutch archaeologists working at Trowulan made a discovery that gave us a tiny glimpse of what was lost. They dug up a clay pot — buried about a meter deep near what had been the palace complex. Inside: a hoard of solid gold objects. Rings, ear ornaments, coins, and these beautiful miniature temple models, each about the size of your hand. Luna: Wait — miniature temple models? Like, votive offerings? Lucas: Exactly — they're called candi miniatur, and they're incredibly rare. The hoard also contained a golden srimpi flower, which is this delicate, layered ornament that scholars think was placed on the royal throne during ceremonies. It's the kind of object that would have been used in the court rituals Mpu Prapanca described in the Negarakertagama — the sraddha festivals, the royal consecrations. Lucas: If you've been coming along with us through these conversations about Southeast Asia, you know how much work goes into tracking down these details — the archaeological reports, the old Dutch colonial publications, the Javanese chronicles. This show stays ad-free because listeners who care about it chip in at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep these stories alive without ads. Luna: Yeah, and it really does make a difference. Anyway — so what happened to that hoard? Lucas: The Dutch took it, naturally. The bulk of it ended up in the Museum Nasional in Jakarta — the old Batavia Museum — and a few pieces went to the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden. But here's the frustrating part: the original excavation records are sketchy. We don't know exactly how many objects were found, because some were sold off before they could be catalogued. Luna: So even the hoard wasn't fully preserved. Lucas: Right. And that's been the story of Majapahit gold in general. The metal was too valuable to leave in the ground. After the empire fell in the early 16th century — when Demak's armies overran Trowulan under Raden Patah and the Wali Songo — the city was systematically stripped. The Babad Tanah Jawi even hints that Sunan Giri, one of the nine saints, buried a cache of treasure to keep it from the conquerors. Some people think the 1912 hoard might have been part of that. Luna: Sunan Giri — wasn't he a wali who opposed Demak's takeover? Lucas: He was. Sunan Giri was a powerful spiritual leader from Gresik, on the north coast — the pasisir region we've talked about. He had ties to the old Majapahit court, and after Brawijaya's fall, he reportedly sheltered some of the royal regalia. There's a tradition that he buried gold near Trowulan to prevent it falling into Demak's hands. The 1912 hoard was found in a part of Trowulan associated with the keraton, so it's plausible. Lucas: But plausible isn't proof. What we can prove is that the goldwork itself is extraordinary. Take the ear ornaments: they're made using a technique called granulation, where tiny gold beads are fused onto a surface. That's a skill that originated in the Middle East and traveled across the Indian Ocean. Majapahit's goldsmiths — the empu of the court — were masters of it. Luna: So the hoard shows us trade connections. Lucas: Exactly. There are gold coins in the hoard that imitate Chinese cash — round with a square hole — but they're pure Javanese work. And there's a ring with a bezel that has a motif of a kala head, which is a Hindu-Balinese guardian figure. It tells us that Majapahit was plugged into a wider Indian Ocean aesthetic, but also had its own distinctive style. Luna: What about the miniature temples? What do they represent? Lucas: They're thought to be replicas of actual candis that stood in Trowulan — maybe even the royal mortuary temples like Candi Brahu or Candi Tikus. They have the same tiered roof, the same central shrine. These miniatures were probably used as offerings during the sraddha ceremonies, where the king's ancestors were honored. So they're not just pretty objects — they're evidence of how Javanese kingship was fused with Hindu ritual. Lucas: And there's one more piece in the hoard that's especially intriguing: a golden keris. We did a whole episode on keris, but a golden one is rare. Most pusaka keris are made of pamor steel. A golden keris would have been ceremonial, probably carried by a high-ranking Bhayangkari or a member of the royal family. The blade is stylized, almost abstract — it's not meant to be functional. Luna: So it's a symbol of power, not a weapon. Lucas: Yeah. And that's what makes the hoard so valuable to historians. It's one of the few surviving collections of Majapahit courtly art. Most of the gold that was looted over the centuries was melted down and recast. We've lost almost everything. But these seven or eight pieces survived because they were buried. Luna: Seven or eight? I thought it was a big hoard. Lucas: The original excavation report mentions 'a considerable number' of objects, but only about a dozen were accessioned. The rest — well, they vanished. Some were probably pocketed by workers, some sold to private collectors in Batavia. There's a rumor that a Dutch official took a gold bowl from the site, and it later appeared in a private collection in Switzerland. But no one can confirm it. Luna: So the hoard is both a treasure and a tragedy. Lucas: Exactly. It gives us a glimpse of what Majapahit goldwork looked like, but it also reminds us of how much has been lost. The Negarakertagama describes the king's main audience hall as being 'adorned with gold' — but we don't know what that means exactly. Was it gold leaf? Solid gold panels? Gilded carvings? We just don't have the physical evidence. Lucas: What we do have, though, is the gold srimpi flower. It's about 10 centimeters across, made of several layers of hammered gold sheet. There are four petals, each with a central vein, and a small circular boss in the middle. It's incredibly delicate — you can see the tool marks from the empu's hammer. It's housed now in the Museum Nasional, in a climate-controlled case. Luna: Can you see it on display? Lucas: Yes, it's part of the museum's permanent 'Gold of Nusantara' exhibit, alongside pieces from Srivijaya and the classical Javanese period. But I have to say, it's a small display. Most visitors walk right past it. They're drawn to the big stone statues and the Hindu-Buddhist bronzes. The gold is tiny, almost insignificant compared to the scale of the empire. Luna: That's almost poetic — the most precious thing is the hardest to see. Lucas: And that's the thing about Majapahit. The empire built in stone and brick was meant to last. The gold was meant to be circulated, used, melted down, reborn. The fact that any of it survived at all is almost accidental. But it's enough to tell us that when the Negarakertagama talks about 'golden palaces', it wasn't just poetry. There was real wealth there. Luna: So where is all the rest? Do you think there are more hoards waiting to be found? Lucas: Almost certainly. Trowulan is a huge site — over 100 square kilometers. Only a fraction has been excavated. The Indonesian archaeological service has done some geophysical surveys that show anomalies — areas where the ground density is different, possibly indicating buried metal. But funding is limited, and looting is still a problem. In the 1990s, a farmer plowing his field turned up a gold bracelet that was immediately sold on the black market. Lucas: There's also the question of what lies under the modern villages that have grown over Trowulan. Many of the old palace complexes are now covered by houses and rice paddies. Every time a new well is dug or a foundation laid, there's a chance artifacts will surface. But without proper archaeological supervision, those finds disappear into private collections. Luna: It's like the empire is still hiding its secrets. Lucas: Yes. And maybe that's fitting. Majapahit's last king, Brawijaya, is said to have fled into the mountains with a small retinue, taking the royal pusaka with him. Some say the treasure is still out there, buried somewhere on the slopes of Mount Lawu, near Candi Sukuh. There's a local tradition that whoever finds it will be cursed — because it's meant to stay hidden until the empire returns. Luna: That's a beautiful myth. But I hope some of it does get found — properly, by archaeologists. Lucas: Me too. Every piece of gold that survives is a voice from the past. The srimpi flower, the miniature candi, the golden keris — they speak to us about a world of ritual, trade, and artistry that we're only beginning to understand. And that's worth preserving.