Rakai Pikatan and the Sanjaya dynasty were Shivaite Hindus and are recorded in the Shivagrha inscription as having married a daughter of another religion.

Later historians such as Muljana, argued that Balaputra was the son of Samaragrawira and the younger brother of Samaratungga, which means he was the uncle of Pramodhawardhani.

Either ways, it seems that Balaputra eventually ruled the Sumatran branch of Shailendra dynasty and enthroned in Srivijayan capital of Palembang.

Balaputra, the Maharaja of Srivijaya later stated his claim as the rightful heir of Shailendra dynasty from Java, as proclaimed in Nalanda inscription dated 860.

Historians have proposed various possible causes; from natural disaster, epidemic outbreak, politics and power struggle, to religious or economic motives.

The Brantas river valley was considered to be a strategic location, as the river provides easy access to reach ports on East Java's north coast and Java Sea, strategic for the control of maritime trade routes to the eastern parts of archipelago, being especially vital for control of the Maluku spice trade.

de Casparis, the villagers of Anjukladang was awarded for their service and merit on assisting the king's forces — under the leadership of Mpu Sindok, to repel the invading Malayu (Sumatran, highly possible referring Srivijaya) army that tried to approach the capital and has reached the area near Nganjuk.

The animosity was probably caused by the Srivijayan effort to reclaim Shailendran lands in Java, or by Mataram aspirations to challenge Srivijaya dominance as the regional power.

After sojourned for about two years in China, the envoy learned that his kingdom has been attacked by the Javanese Mataram, thus made him unable to return home.

[6] In 999, the Srivijayan envoy sailed from China to Champa in an attempt to return home, however he received no news about the condition of his kingdom.

[2]: 144  With the death of Dharmawangsa and the fall of the capital, under military pressure from Srivijayan forces assisting Wurawari, the kingdom finally collapsed and fell to chaos.

He later rallied support from officials and regents that are loyal to the former Ishana dynasty and began to reunite the areas that had formerly been ruled by the Mataram kingdom.