Latest / Majapahit: The Empire That Once Ruled Indonesia — Fexingo History / Majapahit's Law and Order: The Ancient Police of Trowulan
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Majapahit's trade, its agriculture, its navy — but we haven't really asked: how did they keep order? I mean, Trowulan was a city of maybe 200,000 people at its peak, with canals, markets, temples, and a constant flow of goods and strangers. Luna: That's a lot of people. Did they have something like police? Lucas: They did. And the main source for this is actually the Negarakertagama, Mpu Prapanca's poem from 1365. In one passage, he describes what he calls the dharma adhyaksa — the high officials in charge of religious law and state justice. But beneath them, there were more local enforcers. Lucas: Archaeology has helped here. Excavations in Trowulan have uncovered small brick structures — about four by six meters — positioned near the main gates and along the canals. They're called bangunan pengawas, which basically means 'guard posts'. Luna: So like little police stations. Lucas: Exactly. They were placed so guards could monitor who came and went. And the canals were the highways of the city — goods moved by boat, so controlling the waterways was crucial. Lucas: But there was also a specific official called the rakryan i jro. The term appears in a few Old Javanese inscriptions. 'Rakryan' is a title for a noble or high-ranking official, and 'i jro' means 'inside' — so literally 'the official of the interior'. Think of him as a kind of detective or inquisitor. Luna: Did they investigate crimes like theft or murder? Lucas: Yes. And there's evidence from the Pararaton, the later chronicle, that mentions a wengi jaga — a night watch. So they had patrols after dark. The Pararaton says that the night watch was meant to prevent fires and catch thieves, which makes sense in a city with many wooden structures. Lucas: Now, what about weapons? You might wonder if they used the keris in law enforcement. The keris was definitely a symbol of status and spiritual power, but it's not practical for everyday patrol work. Most likely, guards carried bamboo staves or short blades like the wedhung — a kind of machete. Luna: So the keris was more for ceremony or self-defense among the elite. Lucas: Right. And there's also the question of customs enforcement. Majapahit was a maritime empire, and Trowulan itself was inland — but the ports like Tuban and Surabaya had syahbandar, which is a Persian term that spread across the Indian Ocean. The syahbandar was the harbor master, but he also acted as a customs officer and, effectively, a border police. Lucas: He checked cargo, collected taxes, and could detain ships or merchants who broke the rules. The Negarakertagama mentions that the syahbandar reported directly to the king's council. So there was a chain of command. Luna: What happened if you were caught stealing or something? Was the punishment harsh? Lucas: That's a great question. We don't have a complete legal code from Majapahit, but scattered inscriptions and Chinese accounts give us clues. Fines were common — paid in kepeng, those Chinese copper coins. For serious crimes like murder, the punishment could be death, but it seems to have been rare. Public shaming, like being paraded through the market, was more typical. Lucas: Compared to contemporary Europe or China, Majapahit's justice system seems relatively lenient. There's no evidence of torture or brutal executions in the Majapahit heartland. That might reflect the influence of Buddhist and Hindu ideas of karma and non-violence. Luna: That's fascinating — a police system that's both practical and principled. Lucas: It really is. And you know, a lot of this detail comes from careful reading of just a few texts and some well-placed shovels. I'm always amazed at how much we can piece together. Luna: For anyone coming with us through these conversations — about Southeast Asia, about the empires that shaped this region — it's this kind of deep dive that makes it so rewarding. Lucas: Totally. And I'll be honest — a couple of dollars a month from listeners is genuinely what keeps these going. If you've gotten something out of them, buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo helps keep us ad-free and focused on the stories. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. And we're grateful for every bit of support. Lucas: Anyway — back to the night watch. The Pararaton also records an incident where the wengi jaga foiled a plot to burn down a royal storehouse. So they weren't just passive — they actively prevented disasters. Luna: Were there any famous cases or trials that we know about? Lucas: One that stands out is mentioned in a copperplate inscription from the late 14th century. It records a dispute over a stolen shipment of pepper. The rakryan i jro investigated, interviewed witnesses, and eventually recovered the pepper. The thief was fined and made to perform public service — repairing a section of canal. Lucas: That inscription is remarkable because it shows due process. The accused was allowed to speak in his defense, and the decision was recorded in writing. So there was a legal procedure, not just arbitrary punishment. Luna: So they had a kind of judiciary too. Lucas: Exactly. The dharma adhyaksa functioned as judges in religious and civil cases. The term 'dharma' here is about duty and cosmic order — so law was tied to morality. But they also had separate officials for purely secular matters, like tax disputes. Lucas: And then there's the role of the village head — the akuwu — who handled minor offenses locally. So policing was layered: from the neighborhood level all the way up to the royal court. Luna: It sounds surprisingly modern. Lucas: In many ways, it was. The Majapahit state had a bureaucracy that could manage a large, diverse population. And while they didn't have a uniformed police force like we think of today, they had a system that worked for their time. Lucas: One last thing: the spiritual dimension. Some guards were also tasked with maintaining the sanctity of temples and sacred sites. There are inscriptions that mention 'dharma raksaka' — protectors of the dharma — who were part monk, part police. Luna: Blending faith and law enforcement. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a theme that runs through a lot of Majapahit's institutions: the idea that order — both social and cosmic — had to be actively maintained. The police were just one part of that effort.