Cannons were introduced to Majapahit when Kublai Khan's Chinese army under the leadership of Ike Mese sought to invade Java in 1293. "History of Yuan" mentioned that the Mongol used cannons (Chinese: "Pao") against Daha forces. The Majapahit Kingdom dominated the Nusantara archipelago primarily because it possessed the technology to cast and forge bronze on an early mass production basis. The Majapahit also pioneered the manufacturing and usage of gunpowder weapons on a large scale. The Majapahit Empire was one of the last major empires of the region and is considered to be one of the most powerful empires in the history of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Thomas Stamford Raffles wrote in "The History of Java" that in 1247 çaka (1325 AD), cannons have been widely used in Java especially by the Majapahit. It is recorded that the small kingdoms in Java that that sought the protection of Majapahit had to hand over their cannons to the Majapahit. Majapahit under "Mahapatih" (prime minister) Gajah Mada (in office 1329–1364) utilized gunpowder technology obtained from Yuan dynasty for use in naval fleet. One of the earliest reference to cannon and artillerymen in Java is from the year 1346.