Gajah Mada

Gajah Mada (c. 1290–c. 1364), also called Jirnnodhara, was the general and chief minister who made Majapahit the dominant power in the Javanese world. He rose after helping King Jayanegara crush the Ra Kuti rebellion, and in 1334 Queen Tribhuwana made him mahapatih. He swore the Palapa Oath: he would take no rest or pleasure until he had united the Nusantara archipelago.

His rival Ra Kembar mocked the oath, and their quarrel ended in a queen-sanctioned duel in which Ra Kembar died. Decades of campaigns brought Majapahit to its peak under Hayam Wuruk.

After the Bubat massacre of 1357, officials blamed him for meaning to demand Sunda's submission. He died in obscurity in 1364; Hayam Wuruk, judging he held too much power, split his duties among four new ministers.