Gadjah Mada

Date of birth unknown; died circa 1364. State figure and military leader in the state of Madjapahit (Indonesia).

Gadjah Mada rose from the position of chief of the court guard at the time of the suppression of the rebellion of the feudal lord Kuti in 1319. He occupied the highest offices in the state and by 1331 had concentrated all state power in his hands. He was chief judge, and his name is linked to one of the codes of laws that has come down to us. Gadjah Mada expressed the interests of the part of the ruling class that wanted to establish a large centralized state. The strengthening of the economic and political unity of Central and Eastern Java allowed him, after a number of wars, to extend the influence of Madjapahit over a considerable part of Indonesia.