Fictional Stories

THE LEGEND OF SIMA ARAHIWANG

Once upon a time, there was a very fertile land area. Its rivers give life, its land gives shelter, and
its forests give abundant food. There is a nameless village in that area. The vilagers also live in prosperity
and peace.

The area and village is within the territory of the Mataram kingdom, and the kingdom is being
confronted by a war with other kingdoms that attack the land of Bagelen. The kingdom came from the
west, so the people of Bagelen called it the Western Kingdom. The war was disturbed the lives of the
villagers, and they didn’t want to move or be controlled by Western kingdom. So the villagers helped
fight against Western kingdom invasion.

Of all the warriors in the village, there is a young man who is very kind, smart, and wise. He is
Arya, a young man from a husband-and-wife family who works as a farmer in the village. Arya became a
very intelligent young man because he studied with highly knowledgeable teachers. Besides that, he also
studied in the royal capital with tough and brave knights and gained experience on the battlefield.

Arya, who has been trained for many years, returns to the village to be able to advance his
village and teach the youths in his village so that in the future they can become useful figures for the
village and the country. However, four years after Arya returned to the village and taught his knowledge,
a war broke out in the Bagelen region. Because the war that occurred was quite extensive, the village
where he lived was affected. The attacks carried out by the Western Empire were able to control parts
of the northern and western regions of the Bagelen region. Arya and the villagers fought against the
attacks of the Western Kingdom. The villagers' defense was led by Arya, who was skilled in war.

By uniting the forces of the Mataram royal troops and the villagers, the resistance to the attacks
of the Western kingdoms could be carried out well. Cavalry attacks from the Western Empire could be
countered by blocking the forest path with large logs and setting fire to the area around the forest road
to make the horses of the cavalry frightened and retreat. Meanwhile, for the enemy infantry troops,
resistance was carried out by dividing the enemy troops into small groups and suddenly ambushing
them. Meanwhile, the boat troops from the river were overcome by making the river flow strewn with
large tree logs, which prevented enemy boats from passing easily.

All of these things were planned by Arya and the royal war leader. Because the resistance from
the Mataram kingdom greatly overwhelmed the Western kingdom and led to failure and heavy losses,
all of the Western royal troops were forced to withdraw from the Bagelen area. Victory can be achieved
by the villagers and the kingdom of Mataram. The villagers and the soldiers of the kingdom were
overjoyed at the victory.

Three months after the incident, a big ceremony was held in the village where Arya lived. The
big ceremony was attended by Rake Wanua Poh, a high official of the Mataram kingdom. It was also
attended by other regional leaders. During the ceremony, the village where Arya was born was given the
title of Sima (a village that will not be taxed). This was given because Arya and the villagers participated
in the defense against the attacks from the Western empire.
To mark this, the village was also given an inscription that tells the story of the event. The inscription is
placed under a tree called Kayu Arahiwang. The village was finally given a name, namely Sima
Arahiwang. So, the area name Arahiwang itself comes from the tree where the inscription is placed. It is
said that the Arahiwang tree still exists today.