Pararaton

Modern early 20th century printed edition of the Pararaton

The Pararaton (Book of Kings), also known as the Katuturanira Ken Angrok (Story of Ken Angrok), is a 16th-century[1] Javanese historical chronicle[2]: 187  written in Kawi (Old Javanese). The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages (1126 lines) contains the history of the kings of Singhasari and Majapahit in eastern Java.

The Pararaton opens with a formal incarnation of the founder of the Singhasari kingdom (1222–1292), Ken Arok (or Ken Angrok).[3] 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 . 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 information concerning the members of the royal family of the Majapahit empire.

Since the oldest colophon in the manuscripts contains the date 1522 Saka (1600 AD), the final part of the text must have been written between 1481 and 1600 AD.

  1. ^ Guan, Kwa Chong (2019). "Chapter 1". Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore.
  2. ^ Cœdès, George (1968). The Indianized states of Southeast Asia. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824803681.
  3. ^ Johns, A. H. (1964). "The Role of Structural Organisation and Myth in Javanese Historiography". The Journal of Asian Studies. 24 (1): 91–99. doi:10.2307/2050416. JSTOR 2050416. S2CID 163139226.