Bima Kingdom

1. The History
a. The Origin
Bima Sultanate occupied the eastern seaboard of the island of Sumbawa. It is estimated that Bima kingdom had existed in the era of Hindu. But the historical data linked to the estimation unfortunately do not provide enough evidence. Written records and dates are only available after the state converted to Islam after 1620 CE. The sources of history of Bima kingdom are artifacts, inscriptions and manuscripts. These sources remarked about the historical phase of Bima, beginning from pre-history to the penetration of Islam. Two inscriptions were found on the western gulf of Bima, one of which was written in Sanskrit and another in old Javanese language. This is the evidence that both languages, at that period, developed in Bima. Old texts, alongside the inscriptions, written in the Islamic era were also available that could be utilized for observing the history at that time. The old text written in the Malay language talked about the people life since the 17th until 20th century CE. Bima language, besides Malay language, also developed in the island but it was not performed in a writing tradition.
Bo Sangaji Kai, the old text owned by Bima kingdom and written in Arabic-Malay language, remarked that the history of Bima began in the 14th century CE. In the meantime, Sumbawa island was ruled by the head of indigenous tribe namely Ncuhi. He controlled and divided the island into five areas: south, west, north, east and central island. Ncuhi Dara was the strongest Ncuhis; his territories were called Kampung Dara (Dara village). But the power structure of Ncuhi began to diminish when Indra Zamrud, the son of Bima, was crowned as the first king of Bima kingdom. Indra Zamrud then used his father‘s name, Bima, to identify all areas in the island of Sumbawa.
Regarding with Indra Zamrud story, when he was child, his father sent him to the island of Sumbawa by bringing a basket made of bamboo. He later arrived and stepped in Danau Satonda (Satonda Lake), nearby Tambora. Ncuhi Dara had heard his coming, thus he welcomed and adopted him as his son. When he grew into an adult, five Ncuhis in Sumbawa agreed to crown him as a king, while they were as ministers. Bima kingdom, under their leadership, developed significantly and became the important harbor of trade. This fact is in accordance with the writing of Negarakertagama book which remarked that Bima kingdom had a big harbor in 1365 CE. The story mentioned in Bo Sangaji Kai is similar to that of Negarakertagama note.
b. Bima and Islam
Gowa-Tallo kingdom played a central role in the process of conversion of Bima into Islam. By the 17th century, the Dutch colonialism occupied most of trade lines in western Nusantara. In order to avoid the domination of the colonialist in the eastern Nusantara, Gowa sent its army to conquer the kingdoms in the eastern seaboard including Lombok and Bima. These kingdoms surrendered to the enemy‘s will and were Islamized by the conqueror in 1609 CE. In a line with the infiltration of Islam in the island, writing tradition began to develop within. Therefore, the historical data of Bima kingdom that available now are mostly related to the phase after the conversion of Bima into Islam.
Although Bima had been Islamized by Gowa, the king Ruma-ta Mantau Bata Wadu La Ka‘I failed to convert his family and his citizen into Islam. In 1632 CE, political riot broke out everywhere whereby the king‘s family and citizens committed against him and escalated their struggle in enforcing the king to resign in from the throne; this political upheaval was a result of withdrawing of Gowa‘s army from the island. In such disorder circumstance, Gowa kingdom decided to re-deploy the army to the region in order to rebuild a political stability within. The bleeding war between Gowa‘s and Bima‘s army could not be avoided, and through such frightening war, Gowa succeeded in defeating its enemy and restoring the power of Islamic kingdom. The Muslim kings, in the era of their rule, used Arabic names in order to show their identity.
Mutual relation between Bima and Gowa run very well for about one and half century. But when Gowa was defeated by the Dutch colonialism, Bima was automatically invaded and occupied by the colonialist. This historical episode occurred in the end of the eighteenth century (1792 CE), in the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid Muhammad Shah in Bima. In the meantime, Sultan Abdul Hamid was pressured by the colonialist to include Bima as one of protectorate areas of the Dutch.
As for maintaining a mutual relation between both sides, the Dutch tend to not strengthen strictly its influence in Bima, therefore the mutual relation run in balance. The Dutch did not intervene in the process of rotation of the kings in Bima, and no one of these kings was sent into exile to other places. The same could be viewed when Japan infiltrated Bima. The mutual relation between both sides was administered very well; no bleeding war occurred in that time. One may assume that harmony relation held by Bima citizens was the result of their good experience during the domination of Gowa in Bima.
The sultanate of Bima ended when Indonesia reached its independence in 1945 CE. In the meantime, the last Sultan of Bima, Muhammad Salahuddin, preferred to unify Bima into the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia. Siti Maryam, one of the king‘s daughters, presented the palace building to the Indonesian government, and is now used as a museum. Many of legacies of Bima kingdom that can be viewed until this day are crown, sword and furniture.
2. The Kings
The kings listed below had ever ruled the Bima kingdom:
1. Jan wa Mamiyan
2. Sangyang Tunggal
3. Sangyang Wunang
4. Maharaja Indra Luka
5. Batara Indra Manis
6. Maharaja Indra Falasyara
7. Maharaja Tunggal Pandita
8. Maharaja Batara Indra Ratu Punggawa Bisa
9. Maharaja Pandu Devanata
10. Maharaja Sang Bima
11. Maharaja Sang Aji Dharmawangsa
12. Maharaja Sang Kang Kula
13. Maharaja Sang Arjuna
14. Maharaja Sang Deva
15. Maharaja Deva Indra Zamrud
16. Maharaja Indra Kamala I.
17. Maharaja Deva Batara Indra Bima
18. Maharaja Batara Sang Kula
19. Batara Mera
20. Maharaja Batara Sang Bima
21. Maharaja Batara Matra Indrawata
22. Maharaja Matra Indra Tarata
23. Maharaja Nggampo Java
24. Maharaja Indra Kumala
25. Maharaja Batara Bima Indra Luka
26. Maharaja Indra Sri, Maharaja of Bima
27. Sangaji Ma Waa Paju Longgi (14..-1425 C.E.)
28. Sangaji Ma Waa Indra Mbojo (1425-14.. C.E.)
29. Sangaji Ma Waa Bilmana (14..-14.. C.E.)
30. Sangaji Manggampo Donggo (14..-1500 C.E.)
31. Ruma-ta Mambora Wa‘a Pili Tuta (1500-… C.E.)
32. Sangaji Makapiri Solo
33. Ruma-ta Mawa‘a Andapa
34. Ruma-ta Mawa‘a La Laba
35. Mantau La Sadina
36. Ruma-ta Mambora di Sapaga
37. Ruma-ta Mambora di Bata Labu
38. Ruma-ta Samara
39. Ruma-ta Mantau Asi Sarise
40. Ruma-ta Mantau La Limandaru
41. Mantau La Sadina Abdul Rahim (1609-…. C.E.)
42. Mambora di Sapaga (16…-1620 C.E.)
43. Paduka Sri Sultan Abdul Kahir (1620-1632 C.E.)
44. Ruma Manrau Asi Peka (1632-1633 C.E.)
45. Paduka Sri Sultan Abdul Kahir (1620-1632 C.E.) and (1633-1640 C.E.)
46. Paduka Sri Sultan Abdul Kahir I Sirajuddin Muhammad Shah bin Sultan Abdul Kahar (1640-1682 C.E.)
47. Sultan Nuruddin Abu Bakar Ali Shah bin Sultan Abdul Khair Sirajuddin (1682-1687 C.E.)
48. Sultan Jamaluddin Inayat Shah bin Sultan Nuruddin Abu Bakar Ali Shah (1687-1695 C.E.)
49. Sultan Hasanuddin Muhammad Ali Shah bin Sultan Jamaluddin (1695-1731 C.E.)
50. Sultan Alauddin Muhammad Shah Zillullahi fi al Alam bin Sultan Hasanuddin (1731-1748 C.E.)
51. Sangaji Perempuan Ruma Partiga Sultanah Kamalat Shah binti Sultan Alauddin (1748-1751 C.E.)
52. Sultan Abdul Karim Muhammad Shah Zillullah fi al Alam bin Sultan Alauddin (1751-1773 C.E.)
53. Sultan Shafiuddin Abdul Hamid Muhhamd Shah Zillullah fi al Alam bin Sri Nawa Abdul Karim (1773-1817 C.E.)
54. Sultan Ismail Muhammad Shah Zillullah fi al Alam bin Sultan Shafiuddin Abdul Hamid (1817-1854 C.E.)
55. Sultan Abdullah Muhammas Shah Zillullah fi al Alam bin Sultan Ismail (1854-1868 C.E.)
56. Sultan Abdul Aziz Zillullah fi al Alam bin almarhum Sultan Abdullah (1868-1881 C.E.)
57. Sultan Ibrahim Zillullah fi al Alam bin Sultan Abdullah (1881-1915 C.E.)
58. Sultan Muhammad Salahuddin Zillullahfi al Alam bin Sultan Ibrahim (1915-1951 C.E.)
59. Sultan Abdul Khair II Muhammad Shah Zillullah fi al Alam bin Sultan Muhammad Salahuddin (1951-2001 C.E.)
60. Putra (Iskandar) Zulkarnain bin Sultan Abdul Khair II Muhammad Shah (Dr Ferry Zulkarnaen) (2001-now)
3. The Kingdom Period
During its establishment, the Bima kingdom was ruled by 60 kings or sultans. In the Islamic period there were 14 sultans. When Japan infiltrated Indonesia, the ruler was Sultan Muhammad Salahuddin. He passed away in 1951 CE, and then replaced by his son, Abdul Khair II who preferred to be active in both the department of home affairs and parliament rather than to rule the kingdom. And after his death, he was replaced by his eldest sons, Putra Feri Andi Zulkarnain.
4. The Kingdom Territory
Kingdom‘s territory was included the island of Sumbawa and other eastern lands such as Solo, Sawu, Solor, Sumba, Larantuka, Ende, Manggarai and Komodo.
5. The Kingdom Structure
This topic is still in the process of collecting data
6. The Social and Cultural Life
Bima society is a mixed society of many ethnics. The indigenous ethnic is Donggo that most of its members settled in upper land. Before the presence of outsiders to the island, they occupied the lower land, but due to the extensive infiltration of outsiders, they were eliminated to the upper lands by those who brought a new religion and culture. The removal from the lower to the upper land must be done in order to uphold both tradition and religion inherited by their ancestors. Donggo tribe upholds the belief of animism called Marafu. But both Christianity and Islam, in the line of their history, reduced regularly the local belief and tradition. The members of Donggo tribe lived by working the soil with a primitive system, nomadic system. Therefore, their homes also always move from place to place.
Dou Mbojo is another tribe settled in Bima. They were originally from Makasar who migrated to Bima in the fourteenth century CE. They assimilated and committed to marriage with the indigenous people, and settled in the area of the coast. They lived by working the soil, trading and sailing. The belief of this community is Makakamba-Makakimbi that resembles animism. They selected one leader called Ncuhi Ro Naka as a mediator between man and the world of spirit. The essence of this belief is similar with that of Marafu upheld by Donggo community. In a certain moment they perform a ritual to symbolize their admiration upon the soul of ancestors; they present both sesajen (an offering for spirit) and livestock as a tribute. Such ritual is always led by Ncuhi in a place called Parafu Ra Pamboro. Alongside the tribes mentioned above, beginning from the infiltration of Islam, the Malay villages also grew in Bima.
At the level of religious life, the first big religion accepted and developed by the society was Hindu. The legacy of Hindu civilization can be viewed at the inscription of Wadu Pa‘a that was carved by Sang Bima when he adventured to east in the mid eighth century. Besides Wadu Pa‘a, the ruin of Ncandi Monggo temple, the inscription of Wadu Tunti in Rasabou Donggo, the ancient grave of Padende and Sanggu in Sangiang Island are also found. But these historical legacies do not provide enough information that explains the role played by Hindu in Bima.
Islam penetrated Bima in the end of Hindu period. Islam was extensively accepted by the indigenous people, because they had recognized this religion through its bearers in Java land, Malay land, even through the traders of Indian and Arabian Gujarat in Sape (Bima‘s harbor). The intervention of Bima kings, who had converted to Islam and justified it as a formal religion of the state, played a central role in the process of spreading of Islam that at the previous period was embraced only by the coastal society.
In the meantime, the assimilation occurred between Islam and local tradition, and afterwards emerged a pledge that remarked: Mori ro made na dou Mboje ede kai hukum Islam-ku (both life and death of Bima society must be appropriated with the Islamic sharia). Since the period of Islamic sultanate, in order to strengthen the pledge, the sultans had organized a council namely Majelis Adat Tanah Bima (Norms Council of Bima land) that handled and managed the conception, publication, and socialization of Islamic policies.
The penetration of Islam persuaded the emergence of writing tradition, and therefore old writing texts, as the legacy of that period, were extensively found. Siti Maryam (one of the heirs of Bima kingdom) made known that she preserved two boxes of Bima‘s old text named Bo Sangaji Kai. The text was rewritten on the paper made in China and Netherlands in the 19th century. In the Islamic period, all texts were written in Arabic-Malay language. But in the line of Islamic penetration, Bima alphabet used in the previous period was replaced by that of Islamic-Malay.
Regarding two boxes of old text mentioned before, Siti Maryam supervised by her late colleague, Rujiati SW Mulyadi from the Faculty of Literature at the University of Indonesia, has read the text for five years. During that time, she just finished one text. But until this day, she has continuously been attempting to read another text under supervision of France philology expert, Henry Chambert Loir. Ecole Francaise in collaboration with Yayasan Obor published their work entitled Bo Sangaji Kai Catatan Kerajaan Bima. This is very marvelous contribution for the world of history. But it must be noted that many of Bima texts have not yet been touched.

Bima-Indonesia file