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King Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit, written by a contemporary called by his penname Prapanca, a member of the Buddhist Court clergy. It contains i.a. a Court chronicle of events occurring at the Majapahit Court from 1353—1364 A.D., and a list of pre vious Kings and their funeral monuments (candis), with dates. This list of previous reigns has been used by Dutch historians as a source of information on the history of the Siqasari-Maj apahit dynasty. The only copy of this remarkable book which has come down to us is incorporated in cod. 5023, registered in Part Three, Belles-Lettres, of the present Synopsis (see 30.101). The Nagara Kërtagama was translated into Dutch by professor Kern. Krom, Poerba- tjaraka and others provided emendations and annotations. The present author’s “Java “in the Fourteenth Century” (1960—1964) is based on information gained by a study and a new translation of the Nagara Kërta gama and some contemporaneous texts. The second, book to be mentioned under the present head, the Pararaton, the Book of Kings (in Old Javanese prose), is the only one which really deserves the name of a book of history. Beginning with the mythi cal origin of the Siijasari-Maj apahit dynasty, it gives an account of the Chinese war, the foundation and the flourishing period of Majapahit during the reign of King Hayam Wuruk and his grand-vizir Gajah Mada, and (but briefly) of the subsequent reigns, until 1389 A.D. Many events are carefully dated by means of chronograms. Probably the Pararaton text as it has come down to us is the work of several authors. The initial narrative chapters seem to represent part of the repertoire of professional story-tellers.

They suggest some relationship with the historical romances and ballads, kiduxjs and pamancarphs (20.500 ff.), which occupy an important place in Javanese-Balinese litera ture. As a romance of a vagrant student, the first part of the Pararaton is comparable with the Tantu Paqgëlaran, the Warga Sari (see 30.245), and even with romantic tales be longing to’ the Islamic period of Javanese literature: Jatiswara, Cabolar} and Cëntini (see 30.560 and 30.780). Professor Bosch has drawn attention te> the mythical back ground of the tales in the initial chapters (“De mythische achtergrond van de Kèn “Angrok legende”, Meded. KNAW, letterk. NR, vol. 27-8, 1964). The list of chrono grams referring to memorable events in the later parts of the Pararaton has counterparts in many other Javanese books, both ancient (the Nagara Kërtagama, see above) and modern (Babad Saqkala, 25.400). On the whole, and especially by its combination of story-telling and registering memorable events, the Pararaton is to be considered a prototype of the Babads of the Islamic pe riod of Javanese cultural history (22.900). The Pararaton has been edited, translated into Dutch and annotated by Brandes (1896 and 1920). It is the principal source of in formation on the history of the Sitjasari- Maj apahit dynasty, and the only one on the end of that period. Professor Berg, in his books “Herkomst, Vorm en Functie “der Middel-Javaanse Rijksdelingstheorie” (1954) and “Het Rijk van de Vijfvoudige “Buddha” (1962), and in a number of papers has thrown doubt on the reliability of the historical information provided by the Nagara Kërtagama and the Pararaton, and by other texts as well. Professor Berg pro-