Majapahit
Primary culture
Capital province
Government
State religion
Technology group
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Please help with verifying or updating this infobox. It was last verified for version 1.33. |
Traditions:
- +1 Yearly legitimacy
- −15% Aggressive expansion impact
Nusantara Tributaries
- +100% Vassal force limit contribution
- −10% Liberty desire in subjects
Restore Candi Shrines
- +2% Missionary strength
The Maritime Silk Road
- +10% Trade efficiency
Nusa Tenggara Colonies
- +1 Colonist
Gajah Mada's Oath
- +10% Morale of armies
The Majapahit Armada
- +10% Heavy ship combat ability
- +1 Yearly navy tradition
Reformed Bhattara Saptaprabhu
- −15% Advisor costs
Ambition:
- −15% Diplomatic annexation cost
Majapahit is a medium-sized nation located in the eastern part of the island of Java, in Indonesia. Historically, the Majapahit Empire, once in control of large parts of Indonesia, was in its final decline by 1444, but, under player control, the empire can be returned once again to prominence.
They start the game with 
Bali, 
Palembang, 
Banjar, and 
Blambangan as tributaries; Banjar become independent in 1468, and the others do so in 1475, when 
Demak takes over their western territory. They cease to exist in 1527.
Missions[edit | edit source]
- Main article: Majapahit missions
Events[edit | edit source]
- Main article: Majapahit events
Decisions[edit | edit source]
Form Malaya
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Please help with verifying or updating this infobox. It was last verified for version 1.33. |
Unify all Malayan provinces in the region under one strong ruler.
| Potential requirements
If the country is AI-controlled then it:
Playing with normal or historical nations |
Allow
The country:
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| Effects
The country:
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The AI will always take this decision.
Disasters[edit | edit source]
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Available only with the Leviathan DLC enabled. |
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Nearly all of the once-glorious Majapahit Empire has been lost, and what remains is dangerously close to total collapse.
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Strategy[edit | edit source]
The below is one of many player suggested strategies for Majapahit. Bear in mind, due to the dynamic nature of the game, it may unfold differently for other players.Majapahit begins the game in 1444 as a 
Hindu monarchy with the Mandala System government reform. You are in a precarious position, as on the first month the The Fall of Majapahit disaster will trigger, adding 
+15% all power costs, 
+15% liberty desire in subjects and 
−50% average monarch lifespan. This is a heavy penalty, and your goal in the first twenty years will be to end the disaster as fast as possible.
As one of the few Hindu nations in the Far East, Majapahit provides a unique perspective on the Indonesian starting area. This is supplemented by Majapahit's relatively strong start; Majapahit is, without question, an important regional power in 1444, controlling Palembang, Blambangan, Banjar, and Bali as tributary subjects. Additionally, its position allows it to fabricate claims on 
Makassar and 
Sambas. Majapahit's ideas gives them some important benefits, being all around strong with bonuses to trade, vassal force limit contribution, aggressive expansion impact, and setting you up with a colonist for the mid-game.
You also have control over two great projects in the province of Kotagede, the Borobudur Temple and the Prambanan Temple, which start off as insignificant and do not give any bonuses, but will add 
−25% culture conversion cost, 
+1 max promoted culture, and 
−0.05 monthly autonomy change for the Borobudur Temple, and 
−10% development cost, 
+2% missionary strength, and 
+1 missionary for Prambanan Temple when fully developed. However, do note that you will lose access to the bonuses from Borobudur Temple if you change cultures (unless you convert to a Buddhist religion), and lose access to the bonuses from Prambanan Temple if you change religions away from the Dharmic religion group.
Majapahit's main competition in the area will likely be the nations of 
Ayutthaya, 
Malacca and 
Pasai. However, many smaller powers such as 
Brunei and 
Khmer may influence the development of the area, as well.
Dealing with the disaster[edit | edit source]
The early game is dominated by the disaster The Fall of Majapahit. This will start on 1 December 1444 and causes Majapahit to lose 
5 stability and 
50 legitimacy, and your heir to lose 50 claim strength. During the disaster all power costs are increased by 15%, all your subjects have an additional 15% liberty desire, and your monarchs have −50% average lifespan. It also causes some nasty events:
- "Disloyalty to Majapahit" causes a subject with high liberty desire to declare independence.
- Three events cause your core provinces to break away as independent states. This only happens if you allow
Sunni Islam to spread – which may be tempting, as an event gives you 
500 ducats in exchange. - "[Name] Challenges the Throne" fires when your ruler dies, and causes pretender rebels to rise.
Your short-term goal is therefore to end the disaster, preferably without losing your existing subjects. This is achieved by completing three missions:
- "Demand Loyalty" prevents "Disloyalty to Majapahit". This requires at least five minimally loyal subjects (< 50% liberty desire). Since you start with four (all tributaries), you will have to acquire another – either a vassal or a tributary will do.
- "Restore Order" prevents the events that see your core regions declare independence. This mission requires raising stability to +2 and legitimacy to 90.
- "Protect the Faith" will prevent "[Name] Challenges the Throne". Pretender rebels will still rise sometimes as they normally would without the disaster, but they will no longer be guaranteed. This can only be completed after 10 years have passed, and requires
80% religious unity – likely either remaining Hindu, or converting completely to Sunni – and less than 
2 unrest in all owned provinces.
Due to the disaster's penalties it is likely your ruler will die before you complete the first mission. When he does, the successor is a 0/1/1 with an average claim, which is awful not only for tech progress but also for any chance at completing the second mission. There are three potential routes for dealing with him:
- Defeat the pretender rebels and endure his rule. This is not a good idea as your monarch point generation will be rock bottom until he dies. Fighting rebels also drains your manpower. The upside is that he will probably die soon.
- Disinherit him while he's still heir (requires
Rights of Man). This costs a large chunk of prestige, but is certainly worth it for your monarch point generation. If you have 
Wealth of Nations, choosing 
Surya as your Hindu deity enables an event that creates an heir between 4/4/4 and 6/6/6. - Keep the heir and let him succeed, but let the guaranteed pretender rebels win. Though the occupations impact your economy in the couple of years they take to win, this is very likely to give you a much better ruler with a strong claim, leaving you at 95 legitimacy. Not only that, but breaking to rebels also resets stability to 0. This lands you most of the way towards completing the second mission without spending hundreds of monarch points on boosting stability and strengthening government.
Opening moves[edit | edit source]
Unlike most nations with starting navies, it is recommended that you keep the initial cogs provided at game start, as these are essential for continued expansion in the area. The initial merchants cannot be sent to useful nodes at game start, so collecting in the Moluccas and steering in the Philippines will have to suffice. A merchant should be moved from the Moluccas to Canton as soon as the node comes into trade range, to steer to the Philippines. Later in the game, moving Majapahit's trade port to the Malacca node will likely be the best option.
It's going to take a while to get enough administrative power to get to +2 stability for the second mission. For now, place your national focus on administrative power, save up administrative points to increase your stability as much as possible. If you're not planning to break to pretenders, also ensure you save your military power for the "Strengthen Government" interaction, as you'll also need a legitimacy over 90. The third event requires you having the disaster for 10 years, so your direct focus will be on getting a fifth tributary and keeping the four you have. At this time, diplomatically turning someone into a tributary is not an option, as everyone except 
Sunda has a −1000 acceptance modifier for not bordering you. If you want, you can take a royal marriage with your tributaries to reduce their liberty desire, but you should start off with improving relations with your tributaries with at least one of your diplomats, and have at least one of the others fabricate a claim on a target for a fifth tributary.
You may have also spotted that there's an additional mission called Relations with Sunda. The mission requires you to either control you home island of Java, or to raise relations with Sunda to at least +100. The second is not really viable without turning Sunda into a tributary – Sunda will almost always rival you, as there's a lack of other viable rivals, and even then you will find that securing the home island of Java is far more viable than improving relations with them. They also share a culture and religion with Majapahit, and control a centre of trade in the Moluccas. For these reasons, full annexation of Sunda is recommended. However, this is a goal for after the completing Restore Order, as you'll need your administrative points to increase stability before coring new provinces.
As such, turning Sunda into a tributary is more of a fall-back option, only to be used if you cannot secure Makassar or Sambas as a tributary subject. Do not be afraid to attack if one of your targets allies with one of your existing tributaries – you get a strong reduction to your aggressive expansion impact from the get-go, so it's easy to turn them into a tributary a second time. However, not setting them as a war target is an expensive option, as it'll cost a lot of diplomatic points. After you have all five tributaries, you can reduce liberty desire with the Bestow Gifts tributary interaction. You'll need to improve relations with your new subject too, as they won't be happy for being forcefully made into a tributary.
For the second mission, you should simply wait until you have the necessary administrative power to add 5 stability levels (or 2 if you broke to rebels) and to increase your legitimacy to over 90. It may be worth it to increase stability to no further than −2 (so you can declare wars) before increasing it to +2 all at once, so that you don't need additional administrative power from losing stability by negative events. It's not a hard goal, as long as you remember not to tech up.
The third mission requires you to have a religious unity of at least 80%, no local unrest over 2, and to have the disaster for 10 years. You'll get an event to allow Sunni traders into your lands, which in turn triggers events to turn your provinces to Sunni, or to deny them which will diplomatically isolate your for 10 years. Accepting the traders and turning Sunni is your easiest shot at completing this mission, though it's likely the event The Rise of Demak will trigger if Demak is ever converted to Sunni; it will turn part of your country independent. To prevent this, try to keep your legitimacy over 75 (use the Strengthen Government interaction for this). Staying Hindu and accepting the negative events is also viable – after completing the second mission, no conversion event will ever trigger, which will make an easy end to the disaster. If it does trigger before that, try to see if you can hire an inquisitor advisor to convert the province back to Hindu.
The next mission in the tree is free once you complete all three previous missions and control all of your starting territory. Once completed, you should now focus on conquering Sunda, on adding an one or preferably more additional tributaries for the mission Enforce Loyalty, and on getting the liberty desire of all tributary subjects below 20%. The mission Enforce Loyalty will turn every tributary into a vassal, which is basically free expansion, but remember that having too many vassals will massively increase their liberty desire if their relative power is too big. The −100% liberty desire modifier will help prevent this, so you can afford to take on a few extra tributaries (up to seven vassals gives no diplomatic power penalty with the Strong Duchies privilege for the Kshatriyas, which also gives −10 liberty desire), but you shouldn't go wild with this. Be sure to take tributaries, not vassals, because vassals you already have when you complete the mission don't get the reduced liberty desire. Influence ideas may be worth considering as all of the ideas in the group (except perhaps envoy travel time) are useful in helping keep control of your vassals.
Early game[edit | edit source]
Once Sunda is destroyed, the player's route of progress is quite narrow; unless the player wishes to declare a no-CB war, the only provinces that can be claimed by Majapahit are those owned by the nations of Makassar or Sambas which you may already have turned into a tributary, or one of the nations that starts as a tributary. To this end, it can be worth it to directly conquer one of your targets instead, wait until you have integrated one of your vassals, or see if you vassals will claim territory.
Makassar is an easy priority, as it owns the second (and final) centre of trade in the Moluccas, and will allow you to fabricate claims on 
Luwu, 
Bone and 
Buton. At this point, Majapahit will have control of both Java and Sulawesi.
From this position, you should focus on conquering the island of Borneo and the nations upon it, Brunei, 
Berau, and 
Kutai. Brunei is slightly more difficult to defeat, Berau is likely out of reach, and Kutai is Hindu, so Kutai is usually the appropriate choice to attack first, though they may already have conquered Berau and be a bit stronger. In general, neither nation should be particularly difficult to deal with; even annexation of Brunei's Sunni land may be a small, short-term problem if you complete this guide with a relative speed, but will not be a problem in the long run as Majapahit gets a bonus to missionary strength as their second idea. If you wish, you also may annex the small nation of 
Sulu to grant access to the Philippines region, which is a strong trade region, but remember that this region does not contribute to the required 40 provinces to form Malaya and should be considered somewhat of a distraction, particularly if you have 
Dharma or Leviathan since the Mandala System government reform severely limits your governing capacity, which you will likely need later to conquer the Malaya peninsula.
Integrating (or conquering, if you lost them as a tributary) Palembang may seem tempting, as from there, you can fabricate claims on Malacca, 
Siak, 
Deli, and 
Jambi. However, as Sunni nations, these nations should not be your priority until you have unlocked your second idea to help you convert them.
Once Borneo is under your control, it is now time to consolidate the nation and consider how to proceed.
The mid-game[edit | edit source]
A reasonable mid-game goal for any Majapahit player is to attempt to form 
Malaya. Though you will already control the necessary four provinces on Java, total control of two of the other three major regions (Sumatra, Borneo and Malaya Peninsula) is necessary, and you may also need several provinces that are currently uncolonized if you are not able to conquer the required 40 provinces. The Exploration idea group can help you, but as you unlock a colonist as your fourth idea it is not required if you can get a strong opening going. If you expect a lot of trouble consolidating the region, Exploration ideas remain strongly recommended as your first choice for idea group.
Before deciding to invade, consider the political situation in Sumatra and Malaya. Malacca, Pasai or even one of the minor nations may have risen to control large sections of this area, and as such may be able to compete with Majapahit militarily. Any alliance with Ayutthaya or other mainland nations may also result in considerable difficulty. If you feel you can intervene in the area without being defeated, then an attempt should be made to gain naval superiority, as the strait of Malacca can, with proper planning, be successfully blockaded in order to trap enemy armies.
In the case that you don't feel sufficiently powerful to take on the nations in this area, you may continue to colonize Indonesia in order to build Majapahit's economy while waiting for an opportunity. Alternatively, you may choose to colonize the Lesser Sunda Islands area (the islands east of Java), finish controlling Sulawesi, or conquer parts of the Philippines. Even a colonial nation in Australia can be formed if you wish, though it may also be interesting to keep the Indigenous Australians as tributaries.
When the time is right to invade, it is recommended that of the two remaining regions (Sumatra or Malaya Peninsula) is focused on. This is because forming Malaya will grant permanent claims on the remaining uncontrolled territories.
The late game[edit | edit source]
Majapahit should now own most of Indonesia, perhaps excluding a few remaining Animist island nations such as 
Ternate or 
Tidore. The player should continue to colonize the local islands, not just for their rich trade goods, but also to prevent European colonizers from doing the same.
If and when the Ming dynasty falls, it can be a good idea to launch an invasion into the mainland by first colonizing Taiwan. Not only does this provide 
trade power in upstream trade nodes, but southern China is far enough away from Indonesia that you can acquire 
aggressive expansion in both regions without it leading to a coalition.
Ideas[edit | edit source]
A diplomatic idea group may seem obvious, as you will have spent the first years of the game on getting to +2 stability and 90 legitimacy, and may be behind in administrative and military power. Diplomatic ideas may also prove a problem, as you'll also need to integrate your vassals, but for this you can by now probably hire additional advisors and place your national focus on a different power, so not picking a diplomatic idea set may be just as viable as picking one, depending on your situation. Your strongest options are Exploration ideas, Trade ideas, Diplomatic ideas and/or Influence ideas.
If you are having trouble consolidating enough lands to form Malaya, the Exploration and Expansion idea groups come very highly recommended. However, this may not be a necessity as Majapahit's fourth idea also offers an additional colonist, and will allow it to exploit the number of rich uncolonized islands in the area. Once in the late game, colonial nations in Australia or perhaps in a Random New World can be quite profitable for Majapahit as well.
Another strong start is the Trade idea group, as the region is one of the richer trade nodes. In the long run you'll probably suffer from not having a lot of upstream nodes that can transfer trade power downstream, but Trade ideas are still a strong option.
The Diplomatic and/or Influence ideas groups are another strong opener, as it'll help you consolidate your vassals and resume with a vassal-heavy playstyle that the ideas of Majaphit and the Mandala government form support. You can also take Diplomatic ideas without the intent of this playstyle, as they're still a strong idea set even if you do not wish to play the vassal-heavy game.
Quality, Maritime, or Naval Ideas can assist you in building a strong navy. As well, the three idea groups that offer technology discounts (Administrative, Diplomatic and Aristocratic/Plutocratic) can be valuable.
Achievements[edit | edit source]
Eastern technology group 
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 Jerusalem  Karabakh
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Muslim technology group 
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 Afghanistan  Ajam  Arabia  Ardabil  Hisn Kayfa  Hormuz  Oman  Mushasha  Timurids  Qara Qoyunlu
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Indian technology group 
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 Assam  Bahmanis  Bengal  Orissa
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Chinese technology group 
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 Bali  Brunei  Dai Viet  Japan  Khmer  Korea  Majapahit  Malaya  Pagarruyung  Pasai  Sunda
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Nomadic technology group 
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 Jianzhou  Uzbek  Mongolia
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Central African technology group 
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 Kuba Mutapa
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East African technology group 
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 Ethiopia Mogadishu
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| Muslim technology group
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 Mamluks Morocco Tlemcen Tunis
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West African technology group 
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 Air Mali
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| Eastern technology group
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 Bosnia  Byzantium  Circassia  Cyprus  Georgia  Greece  Lithuania  Montenegro  Muscovy  Novgorod  Poland  Ragusa  Russia  Serbia  Theodoro  Trebizond  Tver  Wallachia
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Anatolian technology group 
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 Ottomans
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| Muslim technology group
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 Granada
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| Nomadic technology group
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Western technology group 
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 United States
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Mesoamerican technology group 
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 Maya
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North American technology group 
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 Caddo  Cherokee  Iroquois
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Polynesian technology group 
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 Aotearoa Hawai'i Ngapuhi Ngati Awa Ngati Kahungunu Ngati Ranginui Ngati Toa Tainui Waitaha
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