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Kertanegara of Singhasari
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kertanegara was the last and most important ruler of the Singhasari kingdom, reigning between 1268 and 1292 in the eastern part of Java. Under his rule Javanese trade developed considerably, reaching any corner of the huge Indonesian archipelago as well as more distant countries such as China, at that time under the sway of the mighty Kubilai Khan.
Kertanegara managed to vassalize nearby Bali in 1284; and when Genghis' grandson sent his own ambassadors to ask for tribute, Kertanegara took grave offence at the request, and sent back the envoys with their faces purposefully slashed. In 1290 the Indonesian ruler attacked and conquered the Malay kingdom of Jambi in southern Sumatra; but Jambi, one of the first Indonesian polities where Islam had establishhed its presence, already entertained cordial relationships with Yuan China. Kubilai Khan ordered a strong punitive naval expedition to those remote equatorial islands to be launched. In the meantime Kertanegara had gobbled up all of Java, but before the Mongol fleet came Jayakatwang, one of Singhasari's most powerful vassals as the prince of Kediri, rebelled against his overlord and killed him by treason during a religious festival.
