Origins statue in the
National Museum of Indonesia. The emergence of Pagaruyung as a part of Malayapura cannot be known with certainty, from the
Tambo received by the
Minangkabau people there is no dating of any events told, even if considering
Adityawarman as the founder of this kingdom, the Tambo itself also does not clearly mention it. However, some of the inscriptions left behind by Adityawarman show that he was indeed the king of the country, specifically
Tuan Surawasa, as interpreted from the
Batusangkar inscription. Thus, is believed that Adityawarman founded the kingdom and presided over the central
Sumatra region between 1347 and 1375, most likely to control the local gold trade. The few artefacts recovered from Adityawarman's reign include a number of stones containing inscriptions, and statues. Some of these items were found at
Bukit Gombak, a hill near modern Pagarruyung, and it is believed a royal palace was located there. From the
manuscript carved by Adityawarman on the back of the
Amoghapasa Statue, it is mentioned that in 1347 Adityawarman proclaimed himself king in
Malayapura, Adityawarman was the son of
Adwayawarman as carved on the
Kuburajo Inscription, and the son of
Dara Jingga, the daughter of the
Dharmasraya Kingdom as mentioned in
Pararaton. He had previously fought with Mahapatih
Gajah Mada to conquer
Bali and
Palembang, during his reign it is likely that Adityawarman moved the centre of his government to the interior of Minangkabau. The
Malay-accented
Suruaso inscription mentions Adityawarman completing the construction of a ditch to irrigate the 'forever rice-rich garden of
Nandana Sri Surawasa', which was previously built by his uncle
Akarendrawarman, the previous king, so it is certain that in accordance with Minangkabau customs, inheritance from
mamak (uncle) to
kamanakan (nephew) had already occurred at that time, although it is likely that
Minangkabau customs were only applied by the Pagaruyung Kingdom after adapting to the community environment, especially in the
Luhak Nan Tigo region at the beginning of its reign. On the other side of the irrigation canal, there is also an inscription in
Nagari or
Tamil script, which could indicate the presence of a significant number of people from southern India in the area. However, none of the inscriptions left by this king mentioned anything related to
Bhumi Jawa and then from
Berita Tiongkok it was known that Adityawarman had sent envoys to China 6 times during the period 1371 to 1377. beginning with the dispatch of the
Pamalayu Expedition by
Kertanagara, and later during the reign of Adityawarman and his son
Ananggawarman. The rule of Adityawarman is thought to have been strong enough to dominate the central Sumatra region and its surroundings. Several areas in the interior of central Sumatra are still found to be influenced by Buddhism, including the
Padangroco temple area,
Padanglawas temple area and
Muara Takus temple area. It is likely that these areas included the conquest area of Adityawarman.
Islamic influence . The development of
Islam after the end of the 14th century influenced the patriarchal system to some extent, and brought a relatively new phenomenon to the society in the interior of Minangkabau. But during this time, there was a major gap in the historical picture in the Minangkabau highlands between the last date of Adityawarman's inscription in 1375 and
Tomé Pires Suma Oriental. By the 16th century, the time of the next report after the reign of Adityawarman, royal power had been split into three recognised reigning kings. They were the King of the World (
Raja Alam), the King of Adat (
Raja Adat), and the King of Religion (
Raja Ibadat). Collectively they were called the Kings of the Three Seats (
Rajo Tigo Selo). Islamic influence in Pagaruyung developed around the 16th century, through travellers and religious teachers who stopped over or came from Aceh and Malacca. One of the students of the famous Acehnese scholar Syaikh
Abdurrauf Singkil (Tengku Syiah Kuala), Syaikh
Burhanuddin Ulakan, is considered to be the first scholar to spread Islam in Pagaruyung. In the 17th century, the Kingdom of Pagaruyung was finally transformed into an Islamic sultanate. The first Islamic king is mentioned in the Minangkabau traditional tambo as
Sultan Alif. With the advent of Islam, customary rules that contradicted the teachings of Islam began to be eliminated and the essentials of custom were replaced with Islamic rules. The famous Minangkabau traditional saying: "
Adaik basandi syarak, syarak basandi Kitabullah", which means that Minangkabau custom is based on Islam, while Islam is based on the Qur'an. However, in some cases, some customary systems and methods were still maintained and this is what led to the outbreak of the civil war known as the
Padri War, which was initially between the
Padri (ulama) and the
Adat, before the Dutch became involved in this war. Islam also influenced the government system of the Pagaruyung Kingdom with the addition of governmental elements such as
Tuan Kadi and several other terms related to Islam. The naming of the village of
Sumpur Kudus, which contains the word kudus derived from the word
Quddūs (holy) as the seat of
Rajo Ibadat, and
Limo Kaum, which contains the word qaum, are clearly influenced by Arabic or Islam. In addition, the terms
Imam,
Katik (Khatib), Bila (Bilal),
Malin (Mu'alim) also appear in the
Adat (customary law), which are replacements for the Hindu and Buddhist terms used previously, such as the term
Pandito (priest).
Relations with the Dutch and the British In the early 17th century, the kingdom was forced to recognise the sovereignty of the
Sultanate of Aceh, and acknowledge the Aceh governors appointed for the west coast of Sumatra. But around 1665, the Minang people on the west coast rose up and rebelled against the Aceh governors. During this time, the first arrival of the
Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) in 1663, which then established a trading office in the city of
Padang, had set interest among local rulers. A letter from the Minangkabau ruler calling himself the
Raja of Pagaruyung made a request to the VOC, and the VOC took the opportunity at that time to stop Aceh's monopoly on gold and pepper. Subsequently, the VOC, through its regent in Padang,
Jacob Pits, whose jurisdiction extended from Kotawan in the south to
Barus in the north of Padang, and was succeeded by his son,
Sultan Indermasyah. When the VOC succeeded in expelling the Sultanate of Aceh from the coast of West Sumatra in 1666, He travelled from the east coast to reach the region in 1684 and reported, probably from hearsay, that there was a palace at Pagaruyung and that visitors had to go through three gates to enter it. The primary local occupations at the time were
gold panning and agriculture, he reported. Around 1750, the Pagaruyung kingdom began to dislike the VOC presence in Padang and tried to persuade the British in the
Bencoolen (now modern-day
Bengkulu) to join forces to expel the Dutch, although the British did not respond. However, during the
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1781, the British managed to temporarily control Padang without a fight and netted the British 500,000
florins in goods and money. At that time a delegation from Pagaruyung came to congratulate the British on their success in expelling the Dutch from Padang. In 1784, The fortress at Padang was destroyed before the town was returned to VOC control. According to Marsden, Minangkabau had long been considered the richest in gold, and at that time the power of the Minangkabau king was said to have been divided between the
king of Suruaso and the
king of Sungai Tarab with equal power. Even after the Dutch and British reached the interior of Minangkabau, they never found significant gold reserves in the area. As a result of the conflict between Britain and
France in the
Napoleonic Wars, in which the
Dutch were on the French side, the British fought the Dutch and regained control of the west coast of West Sumatra between 1795 and 1819. In 1818,
Thomas Stamford Raffles visited Pagaruyung by reaching it from the west coast, which was already riven by warfare between the Padri and the Adat. Raffles found that the royal capital had been burnt down as a result of the war, and by then it had been burned to the ground three times. It was rebuilt after the first two fires, but abandoned after the third, and Raffles found little more than
waringin trees. After a peace between the British and the Dutch in 1814, the Dutch re-entered Padang in May 1819. The Dutch reasserted their influence on the island of Sumatra and Pagaruyung, with the signing of the
Treaty of London in 1824 with the British.
Decline The power of the king of Pagaruyung was already very weak by the time of the Padri War, although he was still respected. Areas on the west coast fell under the influence of Aceh, while
Inderapura on the south coast became practically an independent kingdom although still officially subject to the king of Pagaruyung. The east coast was already under the influence of the Malay Sultanates, and in the future, other areas, such as
Kampar Kiri,
Singingi and
Kuantan, became independent during the Padri's seizure of most of the Kingdom of Pagaruyung. In the early 19th century, conflict broke out between the Padri and the Adat. In several negotiations there was no agreement between them. There was turmoil in several areas of the Pagaruyung Kingdom, culminating in the
Padri fundamentalist Islamic group, under the leadership of
Tuanku Pasaman, in conflict with the traditional
syncretic groups, elite families and Pagarruyung royals.
Sultan Arifin Muningsyah was forced to step aside and flee from the royal capital to
Lubuk Jambi. The original
Pagaruyung Palace on Batu Patah Hill was burned down during a riot in Padri War back in 1804. During the conflict most of the Minangkabau royal family were killed in 1815, on the orders of
Tuanku Lintau. Pressured by the Padri, the Pagaruyung royal family turned to the Dutch for help, and had previously conducted diplomacy with the British when Raffles visited Pagaruyung and promised them assistance. Though, Dutch colonial ambitions seemed to make the adat and the Padri factions try to forget their differences and ally in secret to expel the Dutch. On 2 May 1833 Sultan Tunggul Alam Bagagar was arrested by Lieutenant Colonel
Cornelis Pieter Jacob Elout in
Batusangkar on charges of treason. He was banished to
Batavia (present-day
Jakarta) for the rest of his life, and buried in the Mangga Dua cemetery. After its fall, the influence and prestige of the Pagaruyung Kingdom remained high, especially among the overseas Minangkabau community. When the members of the court were scattered following a failed rebellion against the Dutch in 1833, one of the heirs of the Pagaruyung Kingdom was invited to become the ruler of Kuantan. Likewise, when Raffles was still in charge of the Malay Peninsula, he met with Pagaruyung relatives in
Negeri Sembilan, and Raffles intended to appoint the Yang Dipertuan Ali Alamsyah, who he considered a direct descendant of the Minangkabau king, as king under British protection. Meanwhile, after the end of the Padri War,
Tuan Gadang in
Batipuh asked the Dutch East Indies government to give him a higher position than the Regent of Tanah Datar that he held after replacing Sultan Tunggul Alam Bagagar, but this request was rejected by the Dutch, this resulted in one of the drivers of the
1841 rebellion in Batipuh, besides issues relating to
cultuurstelsel. == Territory ==