Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Residence of the Minister of Defense and Presidential Candidate, Prabowo Subianto, on Jl. Kertanegara, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta has become a topic of conversation for many people recently. The reason is, various interesting political activities are taking place there ahead of the 2024 presidential election in this place.

Perhaps the fame of Jl. Kertanegara does not let everyone know about the figure who is the object of naming the street. As well as the heroic story behind it.

It should be noted that Kertanegara (other sources call Kertanagara) was the king of the Singasari Kingdom which existed from 1268 to 1292 AD in East Java. During his time as king, Kertanegara was said to be the greatest and most successful king who could bring Singasari to glory.

During his leadership period, Kertanegara’s most famous story was about how he did not want to submit to the Mongol Empire. At the end of the 13th century, the Mongol Empire led by Kublai Khan was fierce and actively expanding into various regions, including the archipelago, now Indonesia.

Every region he visited was asked to submit and pay tribute. This also includes the Land of Java, where the Singasari Kingdom led by Kertanegara was located.

George Coedes in Southeast Asia Hindu-Buddhist Period (2017) explains that Mongol envoys repeatedly came to see Kertanegara to submit and pay tribute to Kublai Khan. The arrival of the Chinese occurred in 1280, 1281, 1286, and 1289.

It was in the last year that the most stressful event occurred. Fed up with seeing Mongol envoys going back and forth to meet him, Kertanegara finally fought them because he was unwilling to submit. Finally, the Mongol envoy named Menqi was injured in the face. Some also said that Kertanegara had his ears cut off directly.

At this point, Kertanegara directly declared war with one of the largest kingdoms in Asia. Even so, he remains confident because geographically China and Java are thousands of kilometers apart.

Long story short, the declaration of war against the Mongols was never made directly by Kertanegara. The reason was that he had already died at the hands of Jayakatwang, the regent of Gelang-gelang who would later build the Kingdom of Kediri.

In fact, the arrival of the Mongol troops to finish off Singasari was exploited by Raden Wijaya, Kertanegara’s son-in-law. Wijaya directed the Mongol troops to finish off Jayakatwang in revenge. After Jayakatwang was killed, Wijaya stabbed the Mongol troops in the back.

The Mongol troops who arrived in 1293 ended up dying at the hands of Kertanegara’s son-in-law. Later, after the tragedy was over, Raden Wijaya founded Majapahit.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(mfa/mfa)