Ken Arok (or Ken Angrok), Rajasa (died c. 1227), was the founder and first ruler of

Singhasari Singhasari ( jv, ꦏꦫꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦔ꧀ꦲꦱꦫꦶ, translit=Karaton Singhasari or , id, Kerajaan Singasari) was a Javanese Hindu kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded the Kingdom of Kediri as ...

(also spelled Singosari), a medieval Indianized

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

–

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

kingdom in the

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

area of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. He is considered the founder of the

Rajasa dynasty Rajasa was the ruling dynasty of Singhasari kingdom and later Majapahit empire in 13th to 15th century eastern Java. The rulers of Singhasari and Majapahit trace their origins back to the mysterious figure of Ken Arok or Sri Ranggah Rajasa, who f ...

of the Singhasari and

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...

line of monarchs. He came from humble origins but subsequently rose to be the most powerful ruler in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. His life was coloured with adventures, treacheries, and tragedies.

Early life

According to the ''

Pararaton The Pararaton (''Book of Kings''), also known as the Katuturanira Ken Angrok (''Story of Ken Angrok''), is a Javanese historical chronicle written in Kawi (Old Javanese). The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages (1126 lines) contains ...

'', 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

. He was a son of a brahmin Gajahpura and mother ken Endok. The infant Ken Arok 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 all the way 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 a new life. Lohgawe proclaimed Arok as an

avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

. 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 Ken Dedes was the first queen of Singhasari. She was the consort of Ken Arok, the first ruler of Singhasari, Java, Indonesia. She was later considered the origin of the lineage of kings that rule Java, the great mother of the Rajasa dynasty, the r ...

, a beautiful wife of

Tunggul Ametung Umbul-umbul, also called rérontek or, archaically, tunggul, are a type of flag or pennant made of a strip of cloth whose longer side is attached to a pole. They are used in the traditional culture of Java and Bali, Indonesia, where they are car ...

, 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 a beautiful light shining. He later told this to his teacher, who stated that it was a sign that

would bear a royal

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

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 actually had a wife, a woman named Ken Umang from his village, and left her pregnant. .

Kris of Mpu Gandring

Tunggul Ametung however 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 Mpu Gandring was a famous maker of kris, a type of Javanese knife. He lived during the Kediri era and was killed by Ken Arok Ken Arok (or Ken Angrok), Rajasa (died c. 1227), was the founder and first ruler of Singhasari (also spelled Singosar ...

. However the kris casting took a very long time. After several months, an impatient Ken Arok visited Mpu Gandring to check on the kris's progress. He saw that the kris had already taken shape and was strong enough to be called an exceptional

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

. However, Mpu Gandring stated that he still needed several months to perform

rituals A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, ...

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 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 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 A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...

that made it easily recognized. It wasn't long when almost everyone in Tumapel knew about the kris. One night, Ken Arok stole the kris back from Kebo Ijo while he was asleep. He then secretly went to Tunggul Ametung's room and 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 Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...

, just as Ken Arok had planned. Before Kebo Ijo was able to defend himself, Ken Arok stabbed him to death, on the pretext of revenging 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 The Battle of Genter, also known as the Battle of Ganter, was a military engagement fought between two rival Javanese rulers in the early 13th century. The battle resulted in one ruler, Ken Arok, defeating his rival and routing their army. The ba ...

, he defeated king

Kertajaya Kertajaya or Kritajaya also called Dandhang Gendhis was the last king of the Kediri Kingdom who ruled around 1194–1222. At the end of his reign he declared that he wanted to be worshiped as a god. Kertajaya was killed by Ken Arok from Tumapel o ...

of Kediri and founded the new kingdom of

Singasari Singhasari ( jv, ꦏꦫꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦔ꧀ꦲꦱꦫꦶ, translit=Karaton Singhasari or , id, Kerajaan Singasari) was a Javanese Hindu kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded the Kingdom of Kediri as ...

. Kediri became a fief under the kingdom of Singasari.

Rule and his death

Ken Arok thus founded a new kingdom and started a new dynasty. He took the title ''Sri Ranggah Rajasa Bhatara Amurwabhumi'' (The rainbow king of universe and all lands), and his dynasty was called the

Rajasa Dynasty Rajasa was the ruling dynasty of Singhasari kingdom and later Majapahit empire in 13th to 15th century eastern Java. The rulers of Singhasari and Majapahit trace their origins back to the mysterious figure of Ken Arok or Sri Ranggah Rajasa, who f ...

. 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 was short.

Anusapati Anusapati, Anushanatha, or Anushapati, is the second king of Singhasari, an Indianized Hindu kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1248. He was the son of Tunggul Ametung, the first husband of Ken Dedes. Anushapati assassinated Ken Aro ...

, 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 and thus fulfilling the beginning of Empu Gandring's curse. In the end, Anusapati was also killed by his stepbrother,

Panji Tohjaya Panji Tohjaya was the third king of Singhasari. He was the son of Ken Arok and his first wife, Ken Umang. After his father was killed by his half-brother, Anusapati, he took revenge and assumed his father's throne in 1248. He only ruled for seve ...

with the same kris.

Descendants

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 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.

In popular culture

The story of Ken Arok has been enduringly popular

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

. He has been the subject of several books, movies, and traditional Javanese theater (''

ketoprak ''Ketoprak'' ( jv, ꧋ꦏꦺꦛꦺꦴꦥꦿꦏ꧀, Kethoprak) is a theatrical genre of Java featuring actors who may also sing to the accompaniment of the gamelan. It draws its stories from Javanese history and romances and in this differs from ...

''). Ken Arok is remembered both as a cunning and treacherous person but also as a man with a strong will to pursue his dream.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arok, Ken 1227 deaths Indonesian Hindu monarchs Singhasari Year of birth unknown 13th-century Indonesian people