Majapahit was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesia).[5] At its greatest extent, following significant military expansions, the territory of the empire and its tributary states covered almost the entire Nusantara archipelago, spanning both Asia and Oceania.[6][7][8] After a civil war that weakened control over the vassal states, the empire slowly declined before collapsing in 1527 due to an invasion by the Sultanate of Demak. The fall of Majapahit saw the rise of Islamic kingdoms in Java.

Majapahit was one of the last major Hindu-Buddhist empires of the region and is considered to be one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the history of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It is sometimes seen as the precedent for Indonesia's modern boundaries.[11]:19[12] Its influence extended beyond the modern territory of Indonesia and has been the subject of many studies.
>
The Majapahit Empire rule over Bali became complete when Gajah Mada, Prime Minister of the Javanese king, defeated the Balinese king in Bedulu in 1343. The Majapahit capital in Bali was established at Samprangan and later Gelgel.[14] Gelgel remained the paramount kingdom on Bali until the second half of the 17th century.

With the rise of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago, the Majapahit empire finally fell, and Bali became independent at the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. it is believed that the Javanese aristocracy fled to Bali, bringing an even stronger influx of Hindu arts, literature and religion. According to later chronicles, the dynasty of Majapahit origins, established after 1343, continued to rule Bali for 5 more centuries until 1908, when the Dutch eliminated it in the Dutch intervention in Bali (1908). In the 16th century, the Balinese king Dalem Baturenggong even expanded in turn his rule to East Java, Lombok and western Sumbawa.[14]