The ''Pararaton'' (''Book of Kings''), also known as the ''Katuturanira Ken Angrok'' (''Story of Ken Angrok''), is a 16th-century Javanese historical chronicle written in Kawi (Old Javanese). The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages (1126 lines) contains the history of the kings of

Singhasari Singhasari ( or , ), also known as Tumapel, was a Javanese people, Javanese Hindu-Buddist empires, Hindu-Buddhist Monarchy, kingdom located in east Java (island), Java between 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded the Kingdom of Kediri as th ...

and

Majapahit Majapahit (; (eastern and central dialect) or (western dialect)), also known as Wilwatikta (; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia based on the island o ...

in eastern

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. The ''Pararaton'' opens with a formal incarnation of the founder of the

kingdom (1222–1292), Ken Arok (or Ken Angrok). Almost half of the manuscript is the story of Ken Arok's career before he acceded to the throne in 1222. This part is

mythical Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

. There then follows several shorter narrative fragments in chronological order. Many of the events recorded here are dated. Towards the end, the pieces of history become shorter and shorter and are mixed with

genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

information concerning the members of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

of the

empire. Since the oldest colophon in the

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s contains the date 1522

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

(1600 AD), the final part of the text must have been written between 1481 and 1600 AD.

Title

This chronicle is most commonly known as the ''Pararaton'', a title which does not appear in the body of the text, but only in the colophons of around half of the surviving manuscripts. The body of the text itself begins with the statement: "Thus follows the Story of Ken Angrok" (''nihan katuturanira Ken Angrok''), which indicates that this was the original title of the text or at least of its first part, which focuses on Ken Angrok's life. The edition of the text published by Jan Laurens Andries Brandes furnishes both alternative titles: ''Serat Pararaton atawa Katuturanira Ken Angrok'' ("The Book of Kings, or the Story of Ken Angrok"). The addition of ''serat'', a Modern Javanese term for "book", seems to have been an innovation by Brandes. It is inappropriate to refer to the ''Pararaton'' as a ''serat'', because it does not belong to the Modern Javanese tradition in which ''serat'' are found. Furthermore, no manuscript of the ''Pararaton'' refers to the text as a ''serat''. The most widely acceptable title for this text is the ''Pararaton'', often translated as ''Book of Kings''. This term is a nominal derivation from the stem ''

ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to r ...

'' ("monarch"). In the ''Pararaton'' itself, the word ''ratu'' is completely gender-neutral, so it should be translated as "monarch" or "royal", rather than as "king". The analysis of the derivation from ''ratu'' to ''pararaton'' is not fully certain, but the morphology denotes plurality. Thus, the term ''pararaton'' can best be translated into English as ''The Monarchs'' or ''The Royals''.

Prelude

The ''Pararaton'' commences with a brief prelude telling how Ken Arok incarnated himself when he became the king. He offered himself as a

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

to Yamadipati, the Hindu God of Death, to save himself from death. As a reward, he was promised that upon his death he would return to

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

's heaven and be reborn as a superior king of Singhasari. The promise was fulfilled. Ken Arok was begotten by

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

a newly-wed

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

woman. On his birth, his mother laid him in a

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

where his body, effulgent with light, attracted the attention of Ki Lembong, a passing thief. Ki Lembong adopted him, raised him, and taught him all of his arts. Ken Arok indulged in

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

, plunder, and rapine. In the manuscript, it is written as such that Ken Arok was saved many times by

divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

intervention. There is a scene in Mount Kryar Lejar wherein

Gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

descend in a conference and '' Batara Guru'' declares Ken Arok his son. Ken Arok is also destined to bring stability and power to Java. The prelude of the ''Pararaton'' is followed by the meeting of Ken Arok with Lohgawe, a

Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedas, Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rigveda, Rig, Samaveda, Sama, Yajurveda, Yajur, and Athar ...

who came from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to make sure Batara Guru's instructions were fulfilled. It was Lohgawe who asked Ken Arok to meet Tunggul Ametung, ruler of Tumapel. Ken Arok then killed Tunggul Ametung to gain possession of Ametung's wife, Ken Dedes, and also the throne of Singashari.

Analysis of the manuscript

Some parts of the ''Pararaton'' cannot be accounted as historical facts. Especially in the prelude, fact and fiction, fantasy and reality go together. Scholars such as C. C. Berg argued that texts such as these are entirely supernatural and ahistorical, and intended not to record the past, but instead determine future events. However, the majority of scholars accept some historicity in the ''Pararaton'', noting numerous correspondences with other inscriptions and Chinese sources, and accept the manuscript's frame of reference within which a valid interpretation is conceivable. The manuscript was written under the Javanese kingship. For the Javanese people, it was the function of the ruler to link the present with the past and the future and to give human life its appropriate place in the cosmic order. The king, in the Javanese realm, is the sacral embodiment of the total state, just as his palace is a microcosmic copy of the macrocosmos. The king (or a founder of a

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

) possesses an innate divinity to a far higher degree than ordinary men.

Hans Ras Johannes Jacobus (Hans) Ras (1 April 1926 – 22 October 2003) was emeritus professor of Javanese language and literature at Leiden University, the Netherlands. In 1961 he was lecturer at the University of Malaya, and in 1969 first representat ...

in 2001 compared the ''Pararaton'' with the

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas played a crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The ...

Canggal inscription (732 AD), the Śivagŗha (Siwagrha) inscription (856 AD), the Calcutta Stone (1041 AD) and the

Babad Tanah Jawi ''Babad Tanah Jawi'' (), is a generic title for many manuscripts written in the Javanese language Javanese ( , , ; , Aksara Jawa, Javanese script: , Pegon script, Pegon: , IPA: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoke ...

(1836 AD). These show clear similarities in character, structure, and function and also similarity with texts from the Malay

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

. J.J. Ras, 2001, ''Sacral kingship in Java''. In: Marijke J. Klokke and Karel R. van Kooij (eds.), Fruits of inspiration. Studies in honour of Prof. J.G. de Casparis, pp. 373-388. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 2001. onda Indological Studies 11.

Title

Prelude

Analysis of the manuscript

Notes

References

Further reading