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Old 13th January 2012, 02:01 AM   #44
PenangsangII
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Thank you again Alan for yet another enlightening interpretation of Jawanese history.

Yes, the definition of "honor" is varied depending from where you look at things. Since Ken Arok staged a coup d'etat against Kadiri, and continuous bloodshed of keris Mpu Gandring for the Singhasari throne, then Kadiri, then Majapahit right to Demak and Mataram. The list goes on and on till Diponegoro war.

But then, from what we have been told by history books, Majapahit and Demak (including Cirebon) shared one common value. That is acceptance towards outside Jawanese culture to flourish. In fact, many influential administrators during Majapahit and Demak were not Jawanese at all. Mataram till Amangkurat era however, whilst trying to exert its legitimacy, it had to create its own Jawanese identity to the point of creating a wider difference in terms of keris as compared to Cirebon, Sumatra and the rest of the archipelago. In these places, the keris culture has not changed much since Majapahit, or even since Singhasari era. This of course is only my personal observation.
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