The Pararaton: A Study of South East Asian Chronecle
Synopsis
The Pararaton is a sixteenth century historical text composed in medieval Kawi language which deals with the Ancient History of South East Asian in general and the Indonesian archipelago in particular. Apart from it, there is only one historical text on this subject. This work titled Nagarakrtagama is a fourteenth century text composed by Rakawi Prapanca of the Majapahit Kingdom in verse from in Classical kawi language. Thus the Pararaton is of immense historical importance for the scholars of Indology and ancient Indonesian history as it provides a deep insight of the Ancient Indonesian socio-political structure in a reasonably authentic manner. It makes an interesting reading of myths and reality, wars of hegemony, palace intrigues, diplomatic manoeuvres, succession of kings and, on top of all, the rise and fall of the two most mighty empires, namely Sinhasari and Majapahit. The book opens with an account of ken Anrok (Rajasa) the founder ruler of the Sinhasari kingdom who claimed himself to be the son of God Brahma. The reader is told about rajasa’s battle with king Jaya-Katong (Krtajaya) of Daha. Visnuvardhana was one of the other important rulers of the Sinhasari kingdom. King Krtanagara who came next in succession had to face a series of battles. On the ruins of the Sinhasari kingdom, arose the Majapahit kingdom which later on during the reign of king Hayam-wuruk Krtarajasa and his great Prime Minister Gajahmads witnessed its golden age. King Vijaya was the founder ruler of this dynasty. The Majagahit dynasty had to face a number of revolts during the reign of king Jayanagara. Some of the important rebellios described are Ranga Lawe (1231), Sora (1233), Juru Demun (1235), Gajah-biru (1236), Mandana and Wagal (1237), Nambi (1238), Lasem and Semi (1240) and Kuti (1241). One also learns a lot about the charismatic leadership of Gajahmada who has been described as the chief architect of the Majapahit empire. Apart from the political history the reader also comes to know about trade relations, religious influence and cultural traiks of the contemporary Indonesian society. The personalities described are much more life-like and are presented to the reader as a part of the them religio-politico-cultural setting. Even details of flora and fauna too have found place in the text. The present English translation of this important Chronicle has been published for the first time.
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