Singhasari was a kingdom located in east Java between the 1222 and the 1292. It was founded by Ken Arok , whose story is a popular children's tale in Central and East Java. Ken Arok was an orphan who grew up in Kediri and was a cunning thief. His reputation was such that Kertajaya the King of Kediri ordered akuwu of Tumapel , Tunggul Ametung to arrest Ken Arok.

Tunggul Ametung had a beautiful wife, Ken Dedes which he took by force. Ken Arok happened upon her by chance, and he had the premonition that he had to have her as his wife at all costs. To accomplish this, Ken Arok went to a famous swordsmith Mpu Gandring and asked him to make him a sacred Kris to use for this mission.

The process of making a sacred sword involved performing rituls and took longer than Ken Arok had the patience for. In his anger he took the unfinished sword from Mpu Gandring and killed him with it. With his last breath, Mpu Gandring cursed Ken Arok and the next 7 generations of his descendants to death by the same sword.

Ken Arok managed to kill Tunggul Ametung and blamed another petty thief for the murder. He presented himself as a jagoan -- a champion of the people -- took Ken Dedes as his wife and made himself ruler of Tumapel. At this time Ken Dedes was pregnant with Tunggul Ametung's child.

The ambition of Ken Arok did not stopped in Tumapel. He conquered the Kediri kingdom and declared himself as the ruler of Singhasari. The Kediri kingdom itself became a fief under the kingdom of Singhasari.

Ken Arok was the first king of Singhasari, and true to the curse was killed by his son in law, Anusapati , using the keris of Mpu Gandring. The same tragedy happen to Anusapati as he was killed by the same keris. He was killed by Panji Tohjaya, son of Ken Arok and his second wife Ken Umang