Mahendradatta
| Mahendradatta | |
|---|---|
| Queen of Bali | |
| Spouse | Udayana Warmadewa, king of Bali |
| Issue | Airlangga |
| Dynasty | Isyana |
Mahendradatta (961—1011 CE), also known as Gunapriya Dharmapatni, was the queen of Bali, the queen consort of Udayana Warmadewa, also popularly known as King Udayana from Warmadewa dynasty. She was also the mother of Javanese hero-king Airlangga. Her other younger sons are Marakata (later become king of Bali after the death of Udayana) and Anak Wungçu (ascend to Balinese throne after the death of Marakata).
Gunapriyadharmapatni was born in 961 and growing up in Watugaluh palace, East Java. She was a Javanese princess of East Javanese Isyana Dynasty, the daughter of king Sri Makutawangsawarddhana of late Medang Kingdom period. She was the sister of King Dharmawangsa of Medang. She was later bethroted to Balinese king Udayana, and moved to the island as a queen consort and assumed the name Mahendradatta.
Her powerful position as the princess of ruling Medang Kingdom has led the historian to suggests that actually Mahendradatta was the queen regnant in Bali. Her marriage to Medang's vassal, the Balinese Warmadewa family was a political arrangement to seal Bali as part of East Javanese Medang realm. Her position as powerful foreign queen has led the Balinese court to carefully respect, revered or even fear her.
She conceived her first son, Airlangga, in her 30s, quite late of age for women in ancient Java and Bali. However, there is a speculation suggesting that Mahendradatta was probably already married prior to Udayana. Thus Airlangga was not the biological son of king Udayana, he was conceived from her previous union to an unknown man, that after her separation (either because of death or divorce) she was later bethroted to the Balinese king, and she took the baby Airlangga to Bali. Historical sources seems to be silenced on Mahendradatta's suspected earlier marriage, that it might be a scandal or not even took place. This suspicion was because although Airlangga was the eldest son of Mahendradatta, curiously he was not chosen as the crown prince of Bali, his younger brother Marakata and later Anak Wungçu rose to Balinese throne instead. Moreover, Mahendradatta sent Airlangga back to Java during his teenage. Mahendradatta was known to be promoting the cult of Durga in Bali, and curiously later associated with Balinese legend of evil witch Rangda, which translates to "widow".
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