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43-573: Since 1271, Jayakatwang was viceroy (or governor) of Kediri, a vassal state of Singhasari. Kediri was formerly the dominant kingdom in Java until overthrown in 1222 by Ken Arok , the first king of Singhasari. Jayakatwang was probably a descendant of the Kediri royal line, and thus held ambition to restore his line to power and rulership of Java. His name is derived from Sanskrit Jaya ( victory ) and Javanese ketawang ( rising, or appearing ). Kediri

86-458: A beautiful light shining. He later told this to his teacher, who stated that it was a sign that Ken Dedes would bear a royal dynasty and any man that took her as wife would be a King. Ken Arok, already infatuated by her beauty, became even more eager to take her by any means —including killing Tunggul Ametung if necessary. By this time, Ken Arok had a wife, a woman named Ken Umang from his village, and left her pregnant. . Tunggul Ametung however

129-577: A diversionary attack to the northern Java, where his troops drew the remaining Singhasari troops left on the island. With Singhasari defenseless he attacked the capital city. Kertanegara was killed in his palace. Jayakatwang then declared himself ruler of Java and king of the restored Kediri. Among the few surviving relatives of Kertanegara was Raden Wijaya, who fled to Madura where he was sheltered by its regent, Arya Wiraraja . Following Wiraraja's plea, Jayakatwang pardoned Wijaya, who in return submitted himself to Jayakatwang. Jayakatwang gave Wijaya land in

172-562: A fertile highland valley which today corresponds to the area in and around Malang city. It derives from Sanskrit word singha which means "lion" and sari which in Old Javanese could mean either "essence" or "to sleep". Thus Singhasari could be translated as "essence of lion" or "sleeping lion". Although the lion is not an endemic animal of Java , the symbolic depiction of lions is common in Indonesian culture, attributed to

215-583: A few months in 1248 before his nephews revolted. These two, Ranga Wuni and Mahisha Champaka, ruled together under the names Vishnuvardhana and Narasimhamurti. In the year 1275, King Kertanegara , the fifth ruler of Singhasari who had been reigning since 1254, launched a peaceful naval campaign northward towards the weak remains of the Srivijaya in response to continuous Ceylon pirate raids and Chola kingdom's invasion from India which conquered Srivijaya's Kedah in 1025. The strongest of these Malaya kingdoms

258-704: A guide, Mongol troops declared war against Jayakatwang. Wijaya and his Mongol allies defeated Jayakatwang's navy in Surabaya at the delta of the Brantas River . Following the victory they marched along the Brantas to the Kediri Kingdom in Java's interior. After heavy fighting, they besieged and conquered Kediri. Jayakatwang was captured and then executed in March 1293. Jayakatwang's restoration of Kediri

301-560: A new kingdom and started a new dynasty. He took the title Sri Ranggah Rajasa Bhatara Amurwabhumi (The rainbow king of the universe and all lands), and his dynasty was called the Rajasa dynasty . His new kingdom was centered in Singasari (now in Malang municipality), about 50 kilometres east of Kediri . To legitimate his ascension, he claimed to be a son of Siwa . Ken Arok's rule however

344-486: A new life. Lohgawe proclaimed Arok as an avatar of Vishnu . His effort was successful and later he managed to get Ken Arok to become an attendant of Tunggul Ametung, a powerful regional leader of the Tumapel area. By chance, Ken Arok accidentally saw Ken Dedes , a beautiful wife of Tunggul Ametung , when she was taking a bath. Legend says when the wind blew over her dress and revealed her legs, Ken Arok said that he saw

387-446: A regent from Sumenep on the island of Madura . The Kediri (Gelang-gelang) army attacked Singhasari simultaneously from both north and south. The king only realized the invasion from the north and sent his son-in-law, Nararya Sanggramawijaya , informally known as 'Raden Wijaya', northward to vanquish the rebellion. The northern attack was put at bay, but the southern attackers successfully remained undetected until they reached and sacked

430-669: Is located in a fertile rice -producing area on Brantas River banks, approximately 80 km west of Singhasari, but separated from it by the Arjuno-Welirang volcanoes and Mount Kawi . Kertanegara , the fifth ruler of Singhasari , was an ambitious man. In 1289, a Mongol emissary came to Java to demand his submission to the Great Khan of the Yuan dynasty . Kertanegara rejected them, cut their ears, and sent them back to China. Anticipating Mongolian revenge, he prepared to thwart

473-435: Is remembered both as a cunning and treacherous person but also as a man with a strong will to pursue his dream. Singhasari Singhasari ( Javanese : ꦏꦫꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦔ꧀ꦲꦱꦫꦶ , romanized:  Karaton Singhasari or Karaton Singosari , Indonesian : Kerajaan Singasari ), also known as Tumapel , was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded

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516-562: The Kingdom of Kediri as the dominant kingdom in eastern Java. The kingdom's name is cognate to the Singosari district of Malang Regency , located several kilometres north of Malang City. Singhasari (alternate spelling: Singosari ) was mentioned in several Javanese manuscripts, including Pararaton . According to tradition, the name was given by Ken Arok during the foundation of the new kingdom to replace its old name, Tumapel, located in

559-690: The Javanese Singhasari empire came to the attention of Kublai Khan of the Mongol Yuan dynasty based in China . Moreover, Singhasari had allied with Champa , another powerful state in the region. Both Java (Singhasari) and Champa were worried about Mongol expansion and raids against neighbouring states, such as their raid of Bagan in Burma . Kublai Khan then sent emissaries demanding submission and tribute from Java. In 1280, Kublai Khan sent

602-597: The Khan's envoy by cutting and scarring the face of Meng Ki, one of the Mongols' envoys (some sources even state that the king cut the envoy's ear himself). The envoy returned to China with the answer – the scar – of the Javan king written on his face. Enraged by this humiliation and the disgrace committed against his envoy and his patience, in late 1292 Kublai Khan sent 1,000 war junks for a punitive expedition that arrived off

645-612: The Kingdom's military forces and in the future would stir a murderous plot against the unsuspecting King Kertanegara. Singhasari, and its successor kingdom, Majapahit, were among the few kingdoms in Asia that were able to thwart an invasion by the Mongol horde by repelling a Mongol force in 1293. As the centre of the Malayan peninsula trade winds , the rising power, influence, and wealth of

688-557: The Singhasari kingdom's territory. The king also sent troops, expeditions, and envoys to other nearby kingdoms such as the Sunda-Galuh Kingdom, Pahang Kingdom , Balakana Kingdom (Kalimantan/Borneo), and Gurun Kingdom (Maluku). He also established an alliance with the king of Champa (Vietnam). King Kertanegara erased any Srivijayan influence from Java and Bali in 1290. However, the expansive campaigns exhausted most of

731-456: The Tarik forest in Brantas delta, to build a village that was later called Majapahit , named from the sour beal trees that grow in the area. The Mongol expedition of the Yuan dynasty sent by Kublai Khan departed from Quanzhou , traveled past Champa and Karimata , and landed at the port of Tuban in early 1293. Raden Wijaya saw this as an opportunity to avenge Kertanegara's death and claim

774-416: The coast of Tuban , Java in early 1293. King Kertanegara, whose troops were now spread thin and located elsewhere, did not realize that a coup was being prepared by the former Kediri royal lineage. In 1292, Regent Jayakatwang , a vassal king from the Kingdom of Daha (also known as Kediri or Gelang-gelang) , prepared his army to conquer Singhasari and kill its king if possible, assisted by Arya Viraraja,

817-473: The creek bed of Kali Mas River, a distributary of Brantas River , which was followed by the battle of Mongol forces against Daha forces that attacked the Majapahit regional army led by Raden Wijaya. The Mongols then stormed Daha and Jayakatwang finally surrendered and was executed. Once Jayakatwang was eliminated, Raden Vijaya then turned his troops on his former Mongol allies, forcing them to withdraw from

860-464: The end, Anusapati was also killed by his stepbrother, Panji Tohjaya with the same kris. The kings of Majapahit were believed to be descended from Ken Arok, as also were the Mataram rulers. Ki/Kyai Ageng Pemanahan , the founder of Mataram, claimed himself to inherit the royal blood of Majapahit. This makes all subsequent Mataram kings descendants of Ken Arok who is also believed to be the ancestor of

903-428: The first emissary to King Kertanegara , demanding Singhasari's submission and tribute to the great Khan. The demand was refused. The next year in 1281, the Khan sent another envoy, demanding the same, which was refused again. Eight years later, in 1289, the last envoy was sent to demand the same, and King Kertanegara refused to pay tribute. In the audition throne room of the Singhasari court, King Kertanegara humiliated

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946-592: The forthcoming invasion by conquering important ports and kingdoms in Maritime Southeast Asia . His most important expedition was the Pamalayu expedition to Sumatra in 1292, where he sent the Javanese army to conquer Sumatra from various successor states of Srivijaya . With the bulk of the Javanese army overseas, Jayakatwang seized his chance and launched a coup against Singhasari. He launched

989-418: The future capital of the empire. In early 1293, the Mongol naval forces arrived on the north coast of Java (near Tuban ) and on the Brantas River mouth to flank what they thought was Singhasari. Raden Wijaya found the opportunity to use the unsuspecting Mongols to overthrow Jayakatwang. Raden Wijaya's army allied with the Mongols in March 1293 and a battle ensued between Mongol forces against Daha forces in

1032-589: The greatest thalassocratic empires to arise in Southeast Asia . Ken Arok Ken Arok (or Ken Angrok ), Rajasa (died c. 1227), was the founder and first ruler of Singhasari (also spelled Singosari), a medieval Indianized Hindu – Buddhist kingdom in the East Java area of Indonesia . He is considered the founder of the Rajasa dynasty of the Singhasari and Majapahit line of monarchs. He came from humble origins but subsequently rose to be

1075-529: The influence of Hindu - Buddhist symbolism. Singhasari was founded by Ken Arok (1182–1227/1247), whose story is a popular folktale in Central and East Java. Most of Ken Arok's life story and the early history of Singhasari were taken from the Pararaton account, which also incorporates some mythical aspects. Ken Arok was an orphan born of a mother named Ken Endok and an unknown father (some tales stated he

1118-642: The island of Java on 31 May 1293. The victor, Prince Wijaya, son-in-law of Kertanegara , the last Singhasari king, then ascended the throne as Kertajasa Jayawardhana, the first king of the great Majapahit Empire , on 12 November 1293. The Gondang Inscription is an in-situ inscription dating back to the era of the Singhasari Kingdom which was only discovered in 2017 in the middle of rice fields in Rejoso Hamlet, Gondang Village, Gondang District, Mojokerto Regency , East Java . The inscription

1161-445: The king. King Kertanegara had long wished to surpass Srivijaya as a regional maritime empire, controlling sea trade routes from China to India. The Pamalayu expedition from 1275 to 1292, from the time of Singhasari to Majapahit, is chronicled in the Javanese scroll Nagarakrtagama . Singhasari's territory thus became Majapahit territory. In the year 1284, King Kertanegara led a hostile Pabali expedition to Bali, which integrated Bali into

1204-415: The kris back from Kebo Ijo while he was asleep. He then secretly went to Tunggul Ametung's room stabbed him to death, and left the kris at the scene. In the morning, everyone in Tumapel was shocked to hear of Tunggul Ametung's death. When they found the kris, they accused Kebo Ijo of being the assassin , just as Ken Arok had planned. Before Kebo Ijo was able to defend himself, Ken Arok stabbed him to death, on

1247-401: The kris's progress. He saw that the kris had already taken shape and was strong enough to be called an exceptional weapon . However, Mpu Gandring stated that he still needed several months to perform rituals to imbue the kris with more magical power, not only to make it strong but also to prevent it from becoming an evil weapon. Ken Arok became furious on hearing this. Knowing that Ken Dedes

1290-641: The most powerful ruler in Java . His life was coloured with adventures, treacheries, and tragedies. According to the Pararaton , a semi-mythical literary work on the kings of Java, Ken Arok was born to a poor peasant family on the bank of the Brantas River in East Java . He was the son of a Brahmin Sri Jayamerta (Later changed his name to Ken Mazim) and his mother Ken Endok. The infant Ken Arok

1333-470: The new Mataram Empire founded in the 17th century which split into two in 1755 to become the kingdoms of present-day Surakarta , and Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat (The Sultanate of Jogjakarta or Jogja), thus making Ken Arok and Ken Dedes the ancestors of all Javanese monarchs. The story of Ken Arok has been enduringly popular in Central and East Java . He has been the subject of several books, movies, and traditional Javanese theater ( ketoprak ). Ken Arok

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1376-407: The next step of his plan. He gave the kris to Kebo Ijo, another attendant of Tunggul Ametung, a greedy man known to be fond of collecting krises. As Ken Arok expected, Kebo Ijo showed his new kris to every man he met. The kris was not only strong but also had a unique pattern that made it easily recognized. It wasn't long before almost everyone in Tumapel knew about kris. One night, Ken Arok stole

1419-419: The pretext of avenging Tunggul Ametung. And so Ken Arok was able to kill Tunggul Ametung, take Ken Dedes to be his wife, and proclaim himself the new ruler of Tumapel. The ambition of Ken Arok did not stop in Tumapel. In 1222, at the battle of Ganter , he defeated King Kertajaya of Kediri and founded the new kingdom of Singasari . Kediri became a fief under the kingdom of Singasari. Ken Arok thus founded

1462-443: The same regent (Bupati) Arya Wiraraja of Madura, Nambi's father, who then turned his back to Jayakatwang. With Arya Wiraraja's patronage, Raden Wijaya, pretending to submit to King Jayakatwang, won favour from the new monarch of Kediri, who permitted him to open a new settlement north of Mount Arjuna, the Tarik forest. In this wilderness, Wijaya found many bitter Maja fruits , so it was called Majapahit (literally meaning “bitter Maja”),

1505-415: The throne of Java. So he offered his submission, allying himself with the Mongols who weren't yet aware of the recent political changes in Java. The expedition consisted of an army of 20,000 with 1,000 ships and a year's worth of grain. The expedition consisted mostly of southern Chinese conscripts. Arriving at the port of Tuban , they began preparing their fleet to enter the rivers of Java. With Wijaya as

1548-453: The unprepared capital city of Kutaraja. Jayakatwang usurped and killed Kertanagara during the Tantra sacred ceremony, thus bringing an end to the Singhasari kingdom. Having learned of the fall of the Singhasari capital of Kutaraja due to Kediri's treachery, Raden Wijaya tried to defend Singhasari but failed. He and his three colleagues, Ranggalawe, Sora, and Nambi, went to exile in favour of

1591-707: Was Jambi , which captured the Srivijaya capital in 1088, followed by the Dharmasraya Kingdom , and the Temasek Kingdom of Singapore. The military force known as the Pamalayu expedition was led by Admiral Mahesa Anabrang (a.k.a. Adwaya Brahman) to the Malaya region, and was also intended to secure the Malayan strait, the ‘Maritime Silk Road’, against potential Mongol invasion and ferocious sea pirates. These Malayan kingdoms then pledged allegiance to

1634-652: Was a son of the god Brahma ) in the Kediri kingdom's territory. Ken Arok rose from being a servant of Tunggul Ametung, a regional ruler in Tumapel (present-day Malang ) to becoming a ruler of Java from Kediri. He is considered the founder of the Rajasa dynasty of both the Singhasari and later the Majapahit line of monarchs. He killed Tunggul Ametung and was later assassinated by Anusapati , in revenge for killing his father, Tunggul Ametung. Ken Arok's son Panji Tohjaya assassinated Anusapati, but he in turn reigned only

1677-468: Was a very powerful man and held an important position. Thus, Ken Arok needed an exceptionally strong weapon to defeat him and also had to find a way to do so without himself being punished for the crime. He managed to get this by ordering a kris from a famous smith called Mpu Gandring . However, the Kris casting took a very long time. After several months, an impatient Ken Arok visited Mpu Gandring to check on

1720-543: Was placed in the Brantas by his parents who hoped he would be found by a wealthier family and get a better life. However, the baby Ken Arok was found by a thief called Lembong. His foster father taught him all his criminal skills and young Ken Arok grew to be the most cunning thief in Kediri. Doing much mischief and crimes, he was known to the capital. Many people were sent to catch him, but none were successful. One day Ken Arok met with Mpu Lohgawe, an Indian rishi who patiently taught Ken Arok to abandon his sinful life and start

1763-400: Was pregnant, and determined to murder Tunggul Ametung before his wife gave birth to a possible son and heir, Ken Arok took the kris from its maker and stabbed Mpu Gandring. With his last breath, Mpu Gandring famously cursed Ken Arok, foretelling that he himself and seven generations of his descendants would be killed by that cursed kris. Now owning an exceptional weapon, Ken Arok got ready for

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1806-439: Was short-lived, but the events of his reign would play an important part in the history of Java and Indonesia , especially in the rise of Majapahit under Raden Wijaya. Under the guise of returning to his domain in Majapahit to prepare his tribute for the Mongols, Raden Wijaya would go on to betray his Mongol allies who were exhausted after the war with Jayakatwang. He then drove them out of Java and established Majapahit , one of

1849-439: Was short. Anusapati , son of Ken Dedes and Tunggul Ametung and thus Ken Arok's stepson, had suspected for a long time that Ken Arok was responsible for his father's death. One day, after finding out the truth, he went after and killed Ken Arok. Legend says that Anusapati used the kris of Mpu Gandring to kill Ken Arok; the same kris that Ken Arok used to kill Tunggul Ametung thus fulfilling the beginning of Empu Gandring's curse. In

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