Ki Ageng Kebo Kenanga was originally the duke of Pengging; an area under the control of the Demak Sultanate. At the end of his reign, Ki Ageng Kebo Kenanga left Pengging to seek peace and tranquility. Together with his wife, Ki Ageng Butuh headed east and arrived in an area that was still a forest, where only a few residents lived. Ki Ageng Kebo Kenanga decided to live there and introduced himself to the residents as Butuh. However, over time the villagers finally found out that Ki Ageng Butuh was the father of Raden Mas Jaka Tingkir. Since then, Ki Ageng Butuh has always been visited by people, both from around the village and from outside the area. Here, Ki Ageng Butuh taught the community about divinity and social education (Interview with Muhammad Aziz, Caretaker of Butuh's Tomb, Sragen, June 23, 2019).

In addition to Ki Ageng Butuh or Kebo Kenanga, his son, Jaka Tingkir or Sultan Pajang Hadiwijaya is also buried in this complex. Jaka Tingkir or Raden Mas Karebet was the ruler of the Pajang Sultanate, after he won the battle resulting from the political turmoil in the Demak Sultanate. Jaka Tingkir, who was also a student of Sunan Kalijaga and Ki Ageng Selo, received a revelation to become king, after he was able to shift and eliminate the power of Arya Panangsang. Indeed, after the tragic death of Sunan Prawata, Arya Panangsang was his strongest rival. After successfully killing Sunan Prawata, Arya Panangsang tried to assassinate Hadiwijaya several times. However, that intention always failed. Arya Panangsang was actually killed, stabbed by Danang Sutawijaya's Kyai Pleret spear, after a strategy that was neatly arranged by Ki Ageng Pamanahan, Ki Juru Mertani, and Ki Penjawi. The strategy was born as a response to the contest issued by Sultan Pajang, that whoever managed to kill Arya Panangsang, would be given a land prize in Mataram and Pati. Ki Penjawi received the land in Pati, while Ki Ageng Pamanahan received the land in Mataram. Through his son, Danang Sutawijaya, Mataram emerged as a new political force in Java. Danang Sutawijaya's name and title changed to Panembahan Senapati.

Returning to Pajang, the establishment of the Pajang Sultanate, has initiated political power in the interior of Java. As a brother-in-law, Sultan Pajang Hadiwijaya, also received support from Queen Kalinyamat, the ruler of Jepara. Babad Tanah Jawi, tells the story of Jaka Tingkir's career from serving in Demak, until becoming king. It is said, on the journey to the Demak Kingdom, Jaka Tingkir used a gethek (bamboo raft) as a means of transportation, accompanied by his fellow students, namely Mas Manca, Mas Wila, and Ki Wuragil. During the journey, Jaka Tingkir's group arrived at Kedhung Srengenge (kedung is a deep part of the river), attacked by a group of crocodiles. Jaka Tingkir, who was powerful, was able to easily defeat the crocodiles and as a ransom, the crocodiles guarded him on the left, right, front, and back, 40 of them each, until he reached the Demak Palace.

After arriving in Demak, Jaka Tingkir lived in his uncle's house, Kyai Gandamustaka. He was the brother of Nyi Ageng Tingkir who was the caretaker of the Demak Mosque with the rank of lurah ganjur. By his father, Kebo Kenanga, Jaka Tingkir was indeed entrusted to Ki Ageng Tingkir since he was little. From the figure of Ki Ageng Tingkir, the name Tingkir was given to Raden Mas Karebet. Once, in the Demak Kingdom, there was an event that caught the attention of the Sultan of Demak III, Sultan Trenggana. At that time, in the Demak palace there was a fairly large pond. One day when Jaka Tingkir was standing on the edge of the pond, suddenly his uncle shouted for Jaka Tingkir to immediately move away from his place, because Sultan Trenggana would soon pass by. The situation at that time was quite difficult for ordinary people to move away, because there was no room to move away other than jumping over the fairly wide pond. Jaka Tingkir alias Raden Mas Karebet who was well-trained quickly jumped over the pond, so as not to interfere with Sultan Trenggana's path. Sultan Trenggana was very impressed to see the incident, so he was appointed as the head of the Demak soldiers with the rank of lurah wiratamtama.

One of Jaka Tingkir's duties as a wiratamtama village head was to select new soldiers. It is said that there was an applicant named Dadungawuk who liked to show off his supernatural powers. Jaka Tingkir tested the new soldier's supernatural powers and ended up killing Dadungawuk, using Sadak Kinang. As a result of this incident, Jaka Tingkir was dismissed from the military service and expelled from Demak. Another version says that the story of Dadungawuk is an allegory. At that time, Sultan Trenggana had a beautiful daughter named Putri Cempaka. Secretly, Jaka Tingkir had a relationship with Putri Cempaka. This action was finally discovered by the Sultan and resulted in Jaka Tingkir being expelled from the Demak Kingdom. While another version says that one day Sultan Trenggana and his family were traveling on Mount Prawata. Jaka Tingkir released a buffalo named Kebo Danu. By Jaka Tingkir, Kebo Danu was given soil on both of his ears, so that the buffalo felt uncomfortable and went berserk. The buffalo went on a rampage attacking the king's palace, where no soldier was able to conquer the buffalo. Finally, Sultan Trenggana ordered his army to look for Jaka Tingkir who was expected to be able to conquer the buffalo. Jaka Tingkir was found and appeared to face the rampaging buffalo. He easily killed the buffalo. For his services, Trenggana reappointed Jaka Tingkir as the wiratamtama village head. For his services, Jaka Tingkir was also married to one of the daughters of the Sultan of Demak.

After Sultan Trenggana died, chaos began to rage in Demak. Sunan Prawata, the son of Sultan Trenggana, who was also Jaka Tingkir's brother-in-law, chose to study religion, as a holy teacher in Prawata and left the world of politics. Actually, Sunan Prawata or Raden Mukmin, had the ambition to continue his father's political power. However, his talent and passion were not in the world of politics. To continue political power, instead of choosing Arya Panangsang, his cousin, Prawata chose Jaka Tingkir or Hadiwijaya as the new ruler. Prawata's unilateral decision certainly angered Arya Panangsang. Revenge for the death of his father, Prince Sekar Seda Lepen and the decision that was considered unfair, made Arya Panangsang determined to finish off Sunan Prawata. Sunan Prawata was tragically killed by Arya Panangsang. This made his siblings in Jepara, Queen Kalinyamat and Sultan Hadlirin, meet Sunan Kudus and demand justice. However, neither of them got what they wanted. Unfortunately, the group from Jepara was intercepted by Arya Panangsang's guards, which resulted in the death of Sultan Hadlirin. Covered in disappointment and revenge, Queen Kalinyamat decided to meditate until her husband's murder could be avenged. Her brother-in-law who felt sorry for Queen Kalinyamat's decision, namely Hadiwijaya, persuaded the queen to end her oath. However, the oath had already been uttered. The Queen only wanted to end her oath if Arya Panangsang was killed. The Queen promised to give wealth and power to anyone who could kill Arya Panangsang.

Hearing the wishes of Queen Kalinyamat, Hadiwijaya who had ordained himself as the new king in Java, Sultan Pajang, opened a competition. This competition was even aimed at anyone, even if he was a farmer and a weeder. Whoever could kill Arya Panangsang, would get land in Pati and Mataram. The competition was finally won by Danang Sutawijaya. However, by Ki Ageng Pamanahan and Ki Juru Mertani, if the name of Danang Sutawijaya was brought up, then the land prize was feared not to materialize and would only be replaced with nice clothes. This was because Danang Sutawijaya was Hadiwijaya's adopted son. Every time Ki Ageng Pamanahan asked for it, Hadiwijaya always avoided it with the excuse that he would look for new land that was wider and more organized. Hadiwijaya's decision to cancel the Mataram land prize was actually because Hadiwijaya believed in the prophecy of Kanjeng Sunan Giri, that in the land of Mataram a great kingdom would be born that would rule the land of Java for a very long time. Finally, after a long time and pressured by the royal advisors and reprimands from Sunan Kalijaga, Hadiwijaya gave the gift of Mataram land to Ki Ageng Pamanahan and his descendants. After being opened by Ki Ageng Pamanahan, the fertile land of Mataram became more advanced and developed. In fact, it was bigger than Pajang. Realizing the promise of Queen Kalinyamat, Ki Ageng Pamanahan took the time to stop by in Jepara. In Jepara, Ki Ageng Pamanahan and Danang Sutawijaya received the heirlooms of Queen Kalinyamat's kingdom, a symbol of political support for the new ruler. 

Meanwhile, Pajang's influence became increasingly small. Sultan Pajang Hadiwijaya was getting older and did not have descendants as strong as himself. It seems that Sunan Giri's prediction was true. Mataram emerged as a new political force in Java. After being Sultan of Pajang for approximately 40 years, Sultan Hadiwijaya or Jaka Tingkir relinquished his power and wanted to get closer to the Almighty. Then, he went to his parents' village which was on the banks of the Bengawan Solo River, namely Need Hamlet. In Need, Sultan Hadiwijaya spent the rest of his life to gain peace of mind by getting closer to the Creator. He died and was buried in the same complex as his parents.

Apart from Ki Ageng Kebo Kenanga and Sultan Hadiwijaya, there are other figures buried in this complex. These figures are Nyi Ageng Kebo Kenanga; Kanjeng Pangeran Benawa; Kanjeng Prince Monco Negoro; Kanjeng Tumenggung Wilomarto; Kanjeng Tumenggung Wuragil; Kanjeng Pangeran Tedjowulan; Kanjeng Radeng Tumenggung Kadilangu; Kanjeng Prince Harya Sinawung; Kanjeng Raden Adi Negoro; Garwo Kanjeng Raden Adi Negoro; Raden Ayu Pagedongan; Raden Ayu Kodok Ijo; Ki Ageng groans; Nyi Ageng groans; and Kanjeng Pangeran Harya Mas Demang Brang Wetan.