Singhasari

Singhasari
ꦱꦶꦔ꧀ꦲꦱꦫꦶ(Javanese)
Singhasari ꦱꦶꦔ꧀ꦲꦱꦫꦶ(Javanese)
1222–1292
	Expansion of Singhasari during the reign of Kertanegara
Capital	Tumapel, later called Kutaraja Singhasari (modern outskirtMalang)
Common languages	Old Javanese,Sanskrit
Religion	Hinduism; Buddhism
Government	Monarchy
Maharaja
• 1222–1227	Ken Arok
• 1227–1248	Anusapati
• 1248–1250	Panji Tohjaya
• 1250–1268	Visnuvardhana
• 1268–1292	Kertanagara
History
•Battle of Genter	1222
•Jayakatwang rebellion	1292
Currency	Native gold and silver coins
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Kediri (historical kingdom)
Majapahit
Kingdom of Singapura
Today part of	Indonesia; Singapore; Malaysia;

Singhasari(Javanese:ꦏꦫꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦔ꧀ꦲꦱꦫꦶ,romanized:Karaton SinghasariorKaraton Singosari,Indonesian:Kerajaan Singasari), also known asTumapel,was aJavanese Hindu-Buddhist kingdomlocated in eastJavabetween 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded theKingdom of Kedirias the dominant kingdom in eastern Java. The kingdom's name is cognate to theSingosaridistrict ofMalang Regency,located several kilometres north ofMalangCity.

Etymology

Singhasari (alternate spelling:Singosari) was mentioned in several Javanese manuscripts, includingPararaton.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 a fertile highland valley which today corresponds to the area in and aroundMalangcity. It derives fromSanskritwordsinghawhich means "lion" andsariwhich inOld Javanesecould mean either "essence" or "to sleep". Thus Singhasari could be translated as "essence of lion" or "sleeping lion". Although thelionis not an endemic animal ofJava,thesymbolic depiction of lionsis common in Indonesian culture,attributed to the influenceofHindu-Buddhistsymbolism.

Foundation

Singhasari was founded byKen 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 thePararatonaccount, 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 was a son of the godBrahma) in theKedirikingdom's territory.

Ken Arok rose from being a servant of Tunggul Ametung, a regional ruler in Tumapel (present-dayMalang) to becoming a ruler of Java from Kediri. He is considered the founder of theRajasa dynastyof both the Singhasari and later theMajapahitline of monarchs.^[1]He killed Tunggul Ametung and was later assassinated byAnusapati,in revenge for killing his father, Tunggul Ametung.^[2]^{: 185–187}Ken Arok's sonPanji Tohjayaassassinated Anusapati, but he in turn reigned only a few months in 1248 before his nephews revolted. These two, Ranga Wuni and Mahisha Champaka, ruled together under the names Vishnuvardhana and Narasimhamurti.^[2]^: 188

Expansion

In the year 1275, KingKertanegara,the fifth ruler of Singhasari who had been reigning since 1254, launched a peaceful naval campaign northward towards the weak remains of theSrivijaya^[2]^: 198in response to continuous Ceylon pirate raids and Chola kingdom's invasion from India which conquered Srivijaya'sKedahin 1025. The strongest of these Malaya kingdoms wasJambi,which captured the Srivijaya capital in 1088, followed by theDharmasraya Kingdom,and theTemasek Kingdomof Singapore.

The military force known as thePamalayu expeditionwas 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 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 scrollNagarakrtagama.Singhasari's territory thus became Majapahit territory. In the year 1284, King Kertanegara led a hostile Pabali expedition to Bali, which integrated Bali into 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 ofChampa(Vietnam).

King Kertanegara erased any Srivijayan influence from Java and Bali in 1290. However, the expansive campaigns exhausted most of the Kingdom's military forces and in the future would stir a murderous plot against the unsuspecting King Kertanegara.

Conflict with the Mongols

Amandalaof Amoghapāśa from the Singhasari period

Singhasari, and its successor kingdom, Majapahit, were among the few kingdoms in Asia that were able to thwart an invasion by theMongolhorde by repelling a Mongol force in 1293. As the centre of the Malayan peninsulatrade winds,the rising power, influence, and wealth of the Javanese Singhasari empire came to the attention ofKublai Khanof the MongolYuan dynastybased inChina.Moreover, Singhasari had allied withChampa,another powerful state in the region. Both Java (Singhasari) and Champa were worried about Mongol expansion and raids against neighbouring states, such astheir raid of Bagan in Burma.

Kublai Khan then sent emissaries demanding submission and tribute from Java. In 1280, Kublai Khan sent the first emissary to KingKertanegara,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.^[2]^: 198

The serene beauty ofPrajnaparamitastatue found near Singhasari temple is believed to be the portrayal statue of QueenKen Dedes,wife ofKen Arok(the collection ofNational Museum of Indonesia).

In the audition throne room of the Singhasari court, King Kertanegara humiliated 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 warjunksfor apunitive expeditionthat arrived off the coast ofTuban,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.

Fall of Singhasari

Singhasari temple built as a mortuary temple to honourKertanegara,the last king of Singhasari.

In 1292, RegentJayakatwang,avassalking from theKingdom 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,^[2]^: 199a regent from Sumenep on the island ofMadura.

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 the unprepared capital city of Kutaraja. Jayakatwang usurped and killed Kertanagara during theTantrasacred 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 Wijayatried to defend Singhasari but failed. He and his three colleagues, Ranggalawe, Sora, and Nambi, went to exile in favour of 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 bitterMaja fruits,so it was called Majapahit (literally meaning “bitter Maja” ), the future capital of the empire.

The beginning of Majapahit empire

The land of Singhasari when at its peak during 1291^{[citation needed]}

In early 1293, theMongol naval forcesarrived on the north coast of Java (nearTuban) and on theBrantas Rivermouth 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 the creek bed of Kali Mas River, a distributary ofBrantas 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 andJayakatwangfinally surrendered and was executed.

Once Jayakatwang was eliminated, Raden Vijaya then turned his troops on his former Mongol allies, forcing them to withdraw from the island of Java on 31 May 1293.^[2]^{: 200–201}

The victor, Prince Wijaya, son-in-law ofKertanegara,the last Singhasari king, then ascended the throne as Kertajasa Jayawardhana, the first king of the greatMajapahit Empire,on 12 November 1293.

Rulers of Singhasari

Genealogy diagram of Rajasa dynasty, the royal family of Singhasari and Majapahit. Rulers are highlighted with period of reign.

Ken Arok1222–1227^[2]^{: 185–187}
Anusapati1227–1248^[2]^{: 187–188}
Panji Tohjaya1248^[2]^: 188
Vishnuvardhana-Narasimhamurti 1248–1268^[2]^: 188
Kertanegara1268–1292^[2]^: 188

Family Tree

Family Tree of Singhasari Kings

♀ Ken Umang

Sri Ranggah
Rajasa
⁽¹⁾
r. 1222-1227/47

♀Ken Dedes

Tunggul
Ametung

Panji
Tohjaya
⁽³⁾
r. 1248

Mahisa Wong
Teleng

Bhatara
Anusapati
⁽²⁾
r. 1227/47-1248

Bhatara
Narasinghamurti

Jayawisnu
wardhana
⁽⁴⁾
r. 1248-1268

Dyah Lembu
Tal

Kertanagara
⁽⁵⁾
r. 1268-1292

Majapahit
Empire

Contemporary inscriptions

Gondang inscription

The Gondang Inscription is anin-situinscription 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 was founded by local residents and was written in theOld Javanese languagebearing the date 1197Sakaor 1275 AD.^[3]

References

^Ooi, Keat Gin (2004).Southeast Asia: a historical encyclopedia.Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN 9781576077702.Retrieved25 July2010.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^kCœdès, George(1968).The Indianized states of Southeast Asia.University of Hawaii Press.ISBN 9780824803681.
^Enggran Eko Budianto."Prasasti Gondang, Bukti Kekuasaan Kerajaan Singasari di Mojokerto"(in Indonesian).

External links

The Origins of Rajasa Dynasty
Beginnings to 1500: The Old Kingdoms and the Coming of Islam,a timeline of Indonesian history

[1] Ooi, Keat Gin (2004).Southeast Asia: a historical encyclopedia.Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN 9781576077702.Retrieved25 July2010.

[Coedes-2] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^kCœdès, George(1968).The Indianized states of Southeast Asia.University of Hawaii Press.ISBN 9780824803681.

[3] Enggran Eko Budianto."Prasasti Gondang, Bukti Kekuasaan Kerajaan Singasari di Mojokerto"(in Indonesian).

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