Ken Arok - Rule and His Death

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, and his dynasty was called the Rajasa Dynasty. 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, 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 Mpu Gandring's curse. In the end, Anusapati was also killed by his stepbrother, Panji Tohjaya with the same kris. Thus, the end of Ken Arok's life and the bloody chapter that ensued are roughly comparable to the end of Julius Caesar's rule in the history of the Roman Empire.

Read more about this topic:  Ken Arok

Famous quotes containing the words rule and/or death:

    School days, school days; dear old golden rule days.
    Readin’ and ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic; taught to the tune of a hick’ry stick.
    Will D. Cobb (1876–1930)

    For, surely, surely, where
    Your voice and graces are,
    Nothing of death can any feel or know.
    Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864)