page_title: Medang Kingdom
section_title: Administration
hierarchical_section_title: Medang Kingdom / Government and economy / Administration
caption_attribution_description: English: The bas relief of 8th century Borobudur depicted the palace scene of King and Queen accompanied by their subjects. Its strongly suggested that the relief depicted the actual scene of Sailendran royal court.
context_page_description: The Medang Kingdom or Mataram Kingdom was a Javanese Hindu–Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established by King Sanjaya, the kingdom was ruled by the Sailendra dynasty.
  During most of its history the kingdom seems have relied heavily on agriculture, especially extensive rice farming, and later also benefited from maritime trade. According to foreign sources and archaeological findings, the kingdom seems to have been well populated and quite prosperous. The kingdom developed a complex society, had a well developed culture, and achieved a degree of sophistication and refined civilization.
  In the period between the late 8th century and the mid-9th century, the kingdom saw the blossoming of classical Javanese art and architecture reflected in the rapid growth of temple construction. Temples dotted the landscape of its heartland in Mataram. The most notable of the temples constructed in Medang Mataram are Kalasan, Sewu, Borobudur and Prambanan, all quite close to present-day city of Yogyakarta.
context_section_description: During this period the administration level of Javanese polity was only consists of two levels; the central government level centred in king's court, and the wanua or village level took form of settlements scattered around within kingdom's realm. The palace where the King resided was mentioned as kadatwan or karaton, the court was the centre of kingdom's administration. The wanua or village is more likely took shape of an "island" filled with housings and orchards in the middle of vast rice paddies, this village layout still can be found in modern Javanese desa.
  The King was regarded as the paramount ruler or chakravartin, where the highest power and authority lies. He ruled the nagara or kadatwan which means the kingdom, from his puri (palace or walled compound). Under the king, there are state officials that serve to forward the king's laws and orders. They are using the title of Rakai or Samget. The Rakais ruled an administrative unit called  watak that formed from the collection of several villages or wanua. Rakai can be considered as regional landlord or the landed gentry, that rule a large collection of villages. The rakais transmit the king's order to the Rama or village leaders that rules their own domain called karaman or watak. As the kingdom grew larger and complex, entering the 10th century during the reign of Balitung, series of state officials are added to add hierarchy levels.
  Most of the inscriptions dated from Medang Mataram period are related to the establishment of sima lands. This signify the formation and expansion of Javanese agricultural villages in the region during this period. Either by opening a forest or converting a ladang (dry rice cultivation) to sawah (wet rice cultivation). A sima is an arable wet rice agricultural land with rice surpluses available for taxation, and officially recognised through royal edict. Most of these sima lands are ruled by regional rakai or samget (landed gentry) in their realm. By acquiring prestigious sima status from the king, a watak regional unit held a higher prestige compared to non-sima settlements, yet this also means acknowledging the kingdom's overlordship over their land and swore their allegiance to the king. The Rakais that rule the land are granted a royal permission to collect tax, yet some parts of these tax should be regularly paid to the king's court (central government in the capital). In some instance, some of these sima inscription stated that this sima land has become a tax-free land, in exchange that the rice harvest surpluses collected from this land are used to construct or maintain a religious building. This means the rakai that traditionally ruled this lands no longer has the right to collect the tax, or at least reducing their tax earnings.
  Other than their administrative and military-defense function, the king and the royal family is also known as the patron of arts and also religious piousness. The king, the royal family and the kingdom's officials had the authority to launch public projects, such as irrigation works or temple construction. The royal art and religious patronage can be seen in sponsoring temples constructions. The kingdom left behind several temples and monuments. The most notable ones are Borobudur, Prambanan, Sewu, and the Plaosan temple compound.
caption: The bas relief of 8th century Borobudur depict the scene in royal court.
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