Pararaton

The Pararaton, also known as the Book of Kings, is a manuscript in the Kawi language. 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 book is also called "Pustaka Raja", which is Sanskrit for "book king", or "book of kings".

Pararaton opens with a former incarnation of the founder of Singhasari kingdom (1222–1292), Ken Arok (or Ken Angrok). Almost half of the manuscript is the story of Ken Arok's career before his accession to the throne in 1222. This part is clearly mythical in character. Then there follow a number of shorter narrative fragments in a chronological succession. 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 Majapahit.

The importance of the Angrok story is not only indicated by its length, but also by the fact that it furnishes an alternative name: Serat Pararaton atawa Katuturanira Ken Angrok or "The Book of Genealogy or the Recorded Story about Ken Angrok". Since the oldest colophon in the manuscripts contains the date 1522 Saka (AD 1600), the final part of the text must have been written between AD 1481 and 1600, presumably closer to the first date than to the second date.