Cable bridge over the Brantas near Kesamben (ca.1922)
The Brantas is the longest river of East Java in Indonesia. The river has a length of 320 km and a river basin of over 11,000 km². The river originates on the southern slopes of the volcanic massif Kawi-Kelud-Butak and the volcano Wilis and the northern slopes of the Liman-Limas volcanoes, Welirang and Anjasmoro. The course is semicircular to spiral in shape: from the mouth the river flows first towards the southeast, then gradually deflects to the south, then to the southwest and then to the north to ultimately to the east to flow in the Java Sea.
By a Merapi burst, or by internal twists, King Mpoe Sindoek moved the Kraton of the Kingdom of Mataram around the year 950 to the valley of the Brantas in East Java, near the current city of Madiun. This Hindu Empire is now known as Kingdom Mataram I. The kings were descendants of the rulers of the old, more west-facing empire.
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