Singhasari 

(Javanese: ꦏꦫꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦔ꧀ꦲꦱꦫꦶ, romanized: Karaton Singhasari or Karaton
Singosari, Indonesian: Kerajaan Singasari) was an Indianized Javanese Hindu–
Buddhist kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded
the Kingdom of Kediri as the dominant kingdom in eastern Java. The kingdom's name is cognate
to Singosari district of Malang Regency, located several kilometres north of Malang city.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Foundation
 3Expansion
 4Conflict with the Mongol
 5Fall of Singhasari
 6The beginning of Majapahit empire
 7Rulers of Singhasari
 8See also
 9References
 10Further reading
 11External links

Etymology[edit]
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 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 the influence of Hindu-Buddhist symbolism.

Foundation[edit]
See also: Ken Arok
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 also the early history of Singhasari was 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 was a son of
god Brahma) in Kediri kingdom's territory.
Ken Arok rose from being a servant of Tungul Ametung, a regional ruler in Tumapel (present
day Malang) to becoming 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.[1] He was assassinated
by Anusapati, in revenge for killing his father, Tunggul Ametung.[2]:185–187 Ken Arok's son Panji
Tohjaya assassinated 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[edit]
In the year 1275, the ambitious 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[2]:198 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
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 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 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 totally 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 Mongol[edit]

See also: Mongol invasion of Java

A mandala of Amoghapāśa from the Singhasari period

Indonesia is one of the few areas in Asia that thwarted 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 the Javanese Singhasari empire came to the attention of Kublai Khan of the
Mongol Yuan dynasty based in China. Moreover, Singhasari had formed an alliance 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 (Pagan)
in Burma.
Kublai Khan then sent emissaries demanding submission and tribute from Java. In 1280, Kublai
Khan sent 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 Kertanegara, refused to pay tribute.[2]:198

The serene beauty of Prajnaparamita statue found near Singhasari temple is believed to be the portrayal statue
of Queen Ken Dedes, wife of Ken Arok (the collection of National Museum of Indonesia).

In the audition throne room of the Singhasari court, King Kertanegara humiliated the Khan by cutting
and scarring Meng Ki's face, 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 the coast of Tuban,
Java in early 1293.
King Kertanegara, whose troops were now spread then and located elsewhere, did not realise that a
coup was being prepared by the former Kediri royal lineage.

Fall of Singhasari[edit]

Singhasari temple built as a mortuary temple to honour Kertanegara, the last king of Singhasari.
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,[2]:199 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 realised 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
the Tantra sacred ceremony, thus bring 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 under the 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 granted
him permission 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”), the
future capital of the empire.

The beginning of Majapahit empire[edit]

The land of Singhasari when at its peak during 1291

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 battle ensued between Mongol forces against Daha forces in
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 the island of Java on 31 May 1293.[2]:200–201
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.