Sha‘b Qaḩum

The Kingdom of Pajang or Sultanate of Pajang (كسلطانن ڤاجڠ‎; 1586–1568) was a short-lived Muslim state in Java. It was established by Adiwijaya or Jaka Tingkir, Lord of Boyolali, after a civil war and was a successor to Sultanate of Demak. Adiwijaya claimed to be a descendant of Brawijaya V, the last king of the Majapahit empire, and Trenggana, the sultan of Demak.

Pajang is based in Central Java as a continuation of the Demak Sultanate. The palace complex at this time only remains in the form of the boundaries of its foundations which are on the border of Pajang Village - Surakarta and Makamhaji Village, Kartasura, Sukoharjo.

In the last battle against the last claimant of Demak, the vicious Arya Penangsang, Jaka Tingkir commissioned his greatest vassal, Ki Ageng Pamanahan, and his son, Sutawijaya, to destroy Arya Penangsang's army. The two managed to defeat and kill Arya Penangsang and were thus awarded a fief in a forest called Alas Mentaok, now Kotagede, on which they founded their base for the future capital of Mataram Kingdom.

Legend says King Adiwijaya was so fond of Sutawijaya, that he adopted him as the playmate of his heir, Prince Banawa. Adiwijaya's rule was supposed to be succeeded by this weak-minded heir, but a rebellion by a vassal named Ario Pangiri forced the prince to seek asylum from his childhood friend Sutawijaya.

Pledged to help, Sutawijaya gathered his army defeated Ario Pangiri, and seized the Pajang Palace. Prince Banawa then submitted his crown to Sutawijaya and thus ended the Kingdom of Pajang in 1586, when Sutawijaya founded the greatest Islamic kingdom in Java: Mataram Sultanate.