Mataram Sultanate

The Sultanate of Mataram () was the last major independent Javanese kingdom on the island of Java before it was colonised by the Dutch. It was the dominant political force radiating from the interior of Central Java from the late 16th century until the beginning of the 18th century. Though based in the island of Java, until the mid-seventeenth century the kingdom exerted influence over neighbouring regions, such as Palembang, Sukadana, and Jambi.

Mataram reached its peak of power during the reign of Sultan Agung Anyokrokusumo (), and began a slow decline after his death in 1645. His successor, Susuhunan Amangkurat I, moved the court to Plered, where he embarked on a campaign of centralization in a bid to consolidate the empire his father had won by conquest. By the 1670s, he succeeded in alienating the key notables of the realm. The revolt of a Madurese prince resulted in the sacking of the court and the death of the Susuhunan in exile.

Etymology

The name Mataram itself was never the official name of any polity, as the Javanese often refer to their realm simply as Bhumi Jawa or Tanah Jawi (). Mataram refers to the historical areas of plains south of Mount Merapi around present-day Muntilan, Sleman, Yogyakarta, and Prambanan. More precisely, it refers to the Kota Gede area, the capital of the Sultanate on the outskirts of southern Yogyakarta.

A common practice in Java is to refer to their kingdom by metonymy, specifically by the location of its capital. Historically, there were two kingdoms that have existed in this region and both are called Mataram. The later kingdom, however, is often called Mataram Islam or "Mataram Sultanate" to distinguish it from the Hindu-Buddhist 9th-century Kingdom of Mataram.

History

Formation and growth

Establishment of the Kingdom

thumb|right|upright|[[Kota Gede, the former capital of the Mataram Sultanate, founded in 1582 by Sutawijaya (Panembahan Senapati).]]

According to Javanese records, the kings of Mataram were descended from one Ki Ageng Sela (Sela is a village near the present-day Demak). In the 1570s, one of Ki Ageng Sela's descendants, Kyai Gedhe Pamanahan was awarded rule of the land of Mataram by the King of Pajang, Sultan Hadiwijaya, as the reward for his service of defeating Arya Panangsang, Hadiwijaya's enemy. Pajang was located near the current site of Surakarta, and Mataram was originally a vassal of Pajang. Perhaps during the same time he also conquered Jipang (present day Bojonegoro) and Jagaraga (north of present-day Magetan). He reached east as far as Pasuruan, who may have used his threat to reduce pressure from the then powerful Surabaya. After his campaign in Central and East Java, Panembahan Senapati turned his attention to the West, as he forced Cirebon and Galuh in West Java to acknowledge Mataram's overlordship in 1595. He was responsible for the great expansion and lasting historical legacy of Mataram due to the extensive military conquests of his long reign from 1613 to 1646. Under Sultan Agung, Mataram was able to expand its territory to include most of Java after capturing several port cities of northern Java.

The sultan also launched a "holy war" against the still-Hindu Blambangan in the extreme eastern Java.

In 1645 Sultan Agung began building Imogiri, his burial place, about fifteen kilometres south of Yogyakarta. Imogiri remains the resting place of most of the royalty of Yogyakarta and Surakarta to this day. Agung died in the spring of 1646, leaving behind an empire that covered most of Java and stretched to its neighbouring islands.

Decline

Struggles for power

thumb|Jousting in Mataram, 1676.

Upon taking the throne, Agung's son Susuhunan Amangkurat I tried to bring long-term stability to Mataram's realm, by murdering local leaders that were insufficiently deferential to him, including the still-powerful noble from Surabaya, Pangeran Pekik, his father-in-law, and executed Panembahan Adiningkusuma (posthumous: Panembahan Girilaya), king of Cirebon, his son in-law. He also closed ports and destroyed ships in Javanese coastal cities to prevent them from getting too powerful from their wealth. This action devastated the Javanese coastal economy and crippled the Javanese maritime prowess that had been nurtured since the Singhasari and Majapahit era. This thus turned Mataram into a mainly agricultural inland kingdom for the next centuries. Because of this, Amangkurat I was notarized as a ruthless king. He even massacred 5,000–6,000 ulema and their family members due to their alleged involvement in a coup plot. Despite his political ruthlessness, unlike his father, Amangkurat I was not an accomplished military leader and dare not to pursue confrontation against the Dutch, as in 1646 he signed peace agreement with them. Cakraningrat IV was definitely not pleased with this situation and he began to make alliance with Surabaya, the descendants of Untung Surapati, and hired more Balinese mercenaries. He stopped paying tribute to the VOC in 1744, and after a failed attempt to negotiate, the Dutch attacked Madura in 1745 and ousted Cakraningrat, who was banished to the Cape in 1746.

Division of Mataram

thumb|451x451px|The map of Java in 1817, based on the account of Thomas Stamford Raffles in The History of Java.

thumb|320px|The divided Mataram in 1830, after the [[Java War.]]

The fall of Kartasura made the palace inauspicious for the king and Pakubuwana II built a new kraton in Surakarta or Solo and moved there in 1746. However, Pakubuwana II was far from secure in this throne. Raden Mas Said, or Pangeran Sambernyawa (meaning "Soul Reaper"), son of banished Arya Mangkunegara, who later would establish the princely house of Mangkunagara in Solo, and several other princes of the royal blood still maintained rebellion. Pakubuwana II declared that anyone who can suppress the rebellion in Sukawati, areas around present day Sragen, would be rewarded with 3000 households. Pangeran Mangkubumi, Pakuwana II's brother, who would later establish the royal house of Yogyakarta took the challenge and defeated Mas Said in 1746. But when he claimed his prize, his old enemy, patih Pringgalaya, advised the king against it. In the middle of this problem, the VOC's governor general, van Imhoff, paid a visit to the kraton, the first one to do so during the whole history of the relation between Mataram and the VOC, to confirm the de facto Dutch possession of coastal and several interior regions. Pakubuwana II hesitantly accepted the cession in lieu of 20,000 real per year. Mangkubumi was dissatisfied with his brother's decision to yield to van Imhoff's insistence, which was made without consulting the other members of royal family and great nobles. van Imhoff had neither experience nor tactfulness to understand the delicate situation in Mataram and he rebuked Mangkubumi as "too ambitious" before the whole court when Mangkubumi claimed the 3000 households. This shameful treatment from a foreigner who had wrested the most prosperous lands of Mataram from his weak brother led him to raise his followers into rebellion in May 1746, this time with the help of Mas Said.

In the midst of Mangkubumi rebellion in 1749, Pakubuwana II fell ill and called van Hohendorff, his trusted friend who saved his life during the fall of Kartasura in 1742. He asked Hohendorff to assume control over the kingdom. Hohendorff was naturally surprised and refused, thinking that he would be made king of Mataram, but when the king insisted on it, he asked his sick friend to confirm it in writing. On 11 December 1749, Pakubuwana II signed an agreement in which the "sovereignty" of Mataram was given to the VOC.

On 15 December 1749, Hohendorff announced the accession of Pakubuwana II's son as the new king of Mataram with the title Pakubuwana III. However, three days earlier, Mangkubumi in his stronghold in Yogyakarta also announced his accession with the title Mangkubumi, with Mas Said as his patih. This rebellion got stronger day by day and even in 1753 the Crown Prince of Surakarta joined the rebels. The VOC decided that it did have not the military capability to suppress this rebellion, though in 1752, Mas Said broke away from Hamengkubuwana. By 1754, all parties were tired of war and ready to negotiate.

The kingdom of Mataram was divided in 1755 under an agreement signed in Giyanti between the Dutch under the Governor General Nicolaas Hartingh and rebellious prince Mangkubumi. The treaty divided nominal control over central Java between the Yogyakarta Sultanate, under Mangkubumi, and Surakarta, under Pakubuwana. Ricklefs argued that the inability of pre-Kartasura Mataram to undergo substantial institutionalisation and regularisation, despite attempts by some of its rulers, was rooted in Java's geographic, climatic and demographic circumstances. The realm was vast, but the population was scattered across pockets of population separated by wild jungle, mountain ranges and plateaus. There were rivers and well-constructed roads, as well as calm coastal waters, to facilitate easy communication between settlements; roads, however, were easily cut by volcanic eruptions and ruined by the monsoon rains, rivers could be too flooded or too low for safe travel, and monsoon rains could make coastal navigation treacherous.

Territorial division

The realm of Mataram was conventionally regarded in state chronicles not as a bounded state with fixed boundaries, but rather a series of concentric circles radiating outward from its centre, that being the capital city. These 'circles' may be enumerated, by proximity, as follows: In the Mancanegara and the Pasisir, more patrimonial structures prevailed, where regents of independent stature held office. Regional dynasties sometimes of ancient origins still held sway; between 1680 and 1740, an average of 54% of eastern coastal regencies were ruled by governors of local origin. This model of Javanese kingship has been criticized by modern scholars as assuming a static, changeless society, thereby lacking chronological specificity. Public acceptance of this doctrine, furthermore, does not necessarily mean acquiescence to the sovereign, as the idea of legitimacy rooted in divine sacredness need not imply it is in the possession of the present ruler. It is entirely possible for someone independent of the ruling dynasty to possess this 'divine' quality, just as it is possible for a ruler who possessed it to suddenly lose it for various reasons. Alternate channels of power did exist.

List of Susuhunan (Kings) of Mataram

The kings of Mataram initially held the title panembahan and then the susuhunan, the title of sultan was only used in 1641-1645 during the reign of Anyokrokusumo.

Danang Sutawijaya (Panembahan Senopati) : 1586–1601
Raden Mas Jolang ( / Sunan Krapyak) : 1601–1613
Raden Mas Jatmika (Susuhunan Anyokrokusumo / Sultan Agung) : 1613–1645)
Raden Mas Sayyidin (Susuhunan Amangkurat I / Sunan Tegalarum) : 1646–1677
Raden Mas Rahmat (Susuhunan Amangkurat II / Sunan Amral) : 1677–1703
Raden Mas Sutikna (Susuhunan Amangkurat III / Sunan Mas) : 1703–1704
Raden Mas Darajat (Susuhunan Pakubuwono I / Sunan Ngalaga) : 1704–1719
Raden Mas Suryaputra (Susuhunan Amangkurat IV / Sunan Jawi) : 1719–1726
Raden Mas Prabasuyasa (Susuhunan Pakubuwono II / Sunan Kumbul) : 1726–1742
Raden Mas Garendi (Susuhunan Amangkurat V / Sunan Kuning) : 1742–1743
Raden Mas Prabasuyasa (Susuhunan Pakubuwono II / Sunan Kumbul) : 1743–1749

Mataram was divided in 1755, as a result of the Third Javanese War of Succession. The incident is referred to in Javanese as 'Palihan Nagari'.

Legacy

The Mataram Sultanate was the last major native polity in Java prior the kingdom broke into of courts of Surakarta and Yogyakarta, and the princedom of Mangkunegaran and Pakualaman, and prior the island was completely ruled by the Dutch. For some Central Javanese, especially those hailed from Yogyakarta and Surakarta city, the Mataram Sultanate, especially Sultan Agung's era, was remembered with pride as a glorious past, as Mataram become the regional hegemon after Majapahit, almost completely unified Java island, and almost succeed to drive the Dutch out of Java. However, for those of former Mataram's rivals or vassals; East Javanese Surabayan, Madurese and Blambangan, also Priangan and Cirebon of West Java, Mataram era is remembered as the era of Central Javanese overlordship over them, marked with authoritarianism and arbitrariness of feudal Javanese regime. In the future this would lead to interregional Madura – Central Java animosity. Also to some degree, Priangan–Mataraman rivalry. Within Mataraman realm, the disintegration of the Mataram Sultanate into several competing Keratons, also would lead to Surakarta–Yogyakarta rivalry.

In art and culture, the Mataram Sultanate has left an everlasting mark in Javanese culture, as many of Javanese cultural elements, such as gamelan, batik, kris, wayang kulit and Javanese dance were formulated, codified and took its present form during this period, inherited and preserved diligently by its successor s. During the height of the Mataram Sultanate in the first half of the 17th century, Javanese culture expanded, much of Western and East Java region are being Javanized. Mataram's campaign on Eastern Javanese principalities such as Surabaya and Pasuruan expanded Mataraman influences on Java. Mataram expansion includes Sundanese principalities of Priangan highlands; from Galuh Ciamis, Sumedang, Bandung and Cianjur. It was during this period that Sundanese people were exposed and assimilated further into Javanese Kejawen culture. Wayang Golek are Sundanese taking on Javanese Wayang Kulit culture, similar shared culture such as gamelan and batik also flourished. It is probably during this times that Sundanese language began to adopt the stratified degree of term and vocabulary to denote politeness, as reflected in Javanese language. In addition, Javanese scripts also used to write Sundanese as cacarakan.

In political aspect, the incessant war of succession, treason, rebellion and court intrigue of Javanese Mataram ' during the last period of its history, has made Mataram being remembered in quite unflattering way. Combined with Javanese behaviour, such as obsession with elegance and refinements (Javanese: alus), subtleness, politeness, courtesy, indirectness, emotional restraint and consciousness to one's social stature, has made Mataram politics quite complicated, intricate and deceitful. As the result the negative aspects of Javanisation of contemporary Indonesian politics, such as dishonesty, deceptive, treacherousness, rigidity of social hierarchy, authoritarianism and arbitrariness, accompanied by fondness of status display and arrogance, is often attributed to and called as "Mataramization". A typical negative description of priyayi behaving like the member of Javanese upper class.

Catur Sagotra

Catur Sagotra means four entities that still have a single root kinship, referring to the royal families who succeeded the Islamic Mataram dynasty. These kingdoms are Kasunanan Surakarta, Kasultanan Yogyakarta, Kadipaten Mangkunagaran, and Kadipaten Pakualaman.

The formation of Catur Sagotra began in 2004. King of Surakarta Sri Susuhunan Paku Buwono XII (before he died) once gave the mandate to Mrs. Nani Soedarsono to continue the noble ideals of Catur Sagotra. Catur Sagotra is a joint idea of the four Javanese kings at that time, namely Sri Susuhunan Paku Buwono XII, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, Sri Paku Alam VIII and Sri Mangku Nagoro VIII. The purpose of Catur Sagotra is to unite the four breeds in the bonds of the same cultural philosophy and historical linkages of Mataram's ancestors.

References

Notes

Sources

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