Sultan Agung of Mataram
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Anyakrakusuma | |
---|---|
Sultan Agung Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Maulana Matarani al-Jawi | |
Mataram | |
Father | Anyakrawati |
Mother | Dyah Banawati |
Religion | Islam |
National Hero of Indonesia S.K. President No. 106 / TK / 1975 dated November 3, 1975. |
Sultan Agung Adi Prabu Anyakrakusuma (
Sultan Agung or Susuhunan Agung (literally, "Great Sultan" or "Majestic Sultan") is subject to a substantial amount of literature due to his legacy as a Javanese ruler, a fighter against the incursions of the Dutch East India Company, a conqueror, and his existence within a cultural framework where myth and magic are intertwined with verifiable historical events and personages. The Dutch literature wrote his name as Agoeng de Grote (literally, "Agung the Great").
For his service as a fighter and cultural observer, Sultan Agung was declared as National Hero of Indonesia on November 3, 1975.
Biography
Early reign
Rangsang ascended to the throne when he was 20 years old, succeeding his half-brother, Duke Martapura, who became Sultan of Mataram for only one day. Rangsang was technically the fourth Sultan of Mataram, but he was commonly considered the third sultan because the coronation of his intellectually disabled half-brother was just to fulfill his father's promise to his wife, Queen Tulungayu, Duke Martapura's mother.
During Sultan Agung's second year of his reign, Patih Mandaraka died of old age, and his position as patih (viceregent) was occupied by Tumenggung Singaranu.
The capital of Mataram during his coronation was still located in Kotagede. In 1614, the new Karta Palace was built in Karta, approximately 5 km in southwest of Kotagede, which began to be occupied four years later.
Territorial conquests
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Mataram_Sultanate_in_Sultan_Agung_Reign.svg/350px-Mataram_Sultanate_in_Sultan_Agung_Reign.svg.png)
Sultan Agung became the ruler of Mataram in 1613. In the following year he attacked
In 1616, Surabaya attempted to attack Mataram in retaliation, but lacking allies the Surabaya army was crushed by Sultan Agung's forces in Siwalan,
Surabaya had been Mataram's most formidable adversary thus far. Agung's grandfather,
The economy of Mataram was centered on agriculture, thus Sultan Agung who was openly contemptuous of trade, saw no need to maintain significant naval forces. This was later to prove costly when in 1629 he attacked and attempted to drive the Dutch out of their base at the coastal city of Jakarta. Though he possessed larger and superior land-based forces, the Dutch had decisive advantages in naval power and were able to withstand the Siege of Batavia.
After the failure of the siege, Agung turned against the
Rebellions
By 1625, Mataram was the undisputed ruler of most of Java.[1]: 31 However, its military strength did not deter Mataram's vassals from rebellion, due to his inability to conquer Batavia. Pajang rebelled in 1617, and Pati rebelled in 1627. Following the capture of Surabaya in 1625, expansion halted as the empire was beset by rebellions.
In 1630, Mataram crushed a rebellion in Tembayat (southeast of
Rebellions continued, the next one was the Giri Kedaton rebellion, whose people were unwilling to submit to Mataram. As Mataram's troops still respected
Death
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Begraafplaats_van_sultan_Agoeng_van_Mataram_te_Imogiri_bij_Jogjakarta_KITLV_91013.tiff/lossy-page1-220px-Begraafplaats_van_sultan_Agoeng_van_Mataram_te_Imogiri_bij_Jogjakarta_KITLV_91013.tiff.jpg)
In 1632 Sultan Agung began building
In accordance with his will, Sultan Agung was succeeded by his son, RM. Sayidin, styled Amangkurat I.
Administration
Sultan Agung's major legacy lies however in the administrative reforms he undertook in the conquered territories. The ever-increasing large territorial extent of these territories led him to create an innovative and rational administrative structure.[4]
Apart from his conquests, the sultan also sought to rationalize and improve the internal government of his kingdom. He reformed the tax code and brought the courts and judicial system more in line with Quranic precepts. He commissioned the building of the Karta Palace in 1614, the Royal Graveyard of Imogiri, as well as other social and civic structures within the kingdom.
He created "provinces" by appointing people as
Remnants of administrative structures during the colonial period
When the
The Dutch had grouped kabupaten into regions under a resident, called residenties. The Indonesian government kept the kabupaten but disbanded the residenties in the 1950s, resulting in kabupaten being administrative subdivisions directly under a province. The laws on regional autonomy promulgated in 1999 give a high degree of autonomy to the kabupaten, not to the provinces.
Culture
In the environment of Mataram Palace, Sultan Agung established a standard language called Bagongan obliged to be used by Mataram
Sultan Agung is also attributed with the founding of the unique Javanese calendar – this established a uniquely indigenous calendar that is still in use. Besides that, Sultan Agung had written a mystical manuscript, entitled Sastra Gending.
The development of the sacred dance bedhaya and important developments in gamelan and wayang are attributed to the court of Sultan Agung. However, there is almost no historical evidence for the claims of high artistic achievement, and there is little information at all about the arts in the court. Some written evidence comes from a handful of mentions in Dutch accounts, which can be difficult to interpret.[5]
Legacy
Sultan Agung is revered in contemporary Java for his unification of Java, modernizing reforms, as well as his wars with the Dutch. In 1975, he was nominated and confirmed as a National Hero of Indonesia (Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia). His existence within a cultural framework where myth and magic are intertwined and the scarcity of verifiable records of his early life have elevated him to heroic and near-mythical status.
In the syncretic religious culture of Java, with its mixture of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam; pilgrimage to his graveyard complex is considered auspicious, and many make considerable effort to go to Imogiri at appropriate times and days in the Javanese and Islamic calendars.
His influence and imagination in the popular mind remain strong to the present day, exemplified by the making of the 2018 Indonesian film Sultan Agung Mataram 1628.
Family
His original name was Raden Mas Jatmika, also popularly known as Raden Mas Rangsang. He was the son of Anyakrawati and Ratu Mas Adi Dyah Banawati. His father was Mataram's second monarch, and his mother was the daughter of Prince Benawa, the last Sultan of Pajang.
Another version said that Sultan Agung was the son of Prince Purbaya (Anyakrawati's brother). It was said that Prince Purbaya exchanged the baby born by his wife with the one born by Dyah Banawati. This version is an opinion of a minority whose truth has to be proven.
Like other Mataram's monarchs, Sultan Agung had 2 main queen consorts:
- Ratu Kulon, born as Ratu Mas Tinumpak, daughter of Panembahan Ratu, Sultan of Cirebon, who gave birth to RM. Syahwawrat alias Prince Alit.
- Ratu Wetan, daughter of Duke of Batang (Ki Juru Martani's granddaughter), who gave birth to RM. Sayidin (later Amangkurat I).
From his queen consorts, Sultan Agung has 9 children:
- Raden Mas Sahwawrat alias Pangeran Temenggong Pajang
- Raden Mas Kasim alias Pangeran Demang Tanpa Nangkil
- Pangeran Ronggo Kajiwan
- Gusti Ratu Ayu Winongan
- Pangeran Ngabehi Loring Pasar
- Pangeran Ngabehi Loring Pasar
- Raden Mas Sayidin (later Sunan Prabu Amangkurat Agung/Amangkurat I, Sultan Agung's successor, reigning between 1645 and 1677)
- Gusti Ratu Ayu Wiromantri
- Prince Danupoyo alias Raden Mas Alit
Titles
In his early reign, Rangsang's title was Susuhunan Anyakrakusuma or Prabu Pandita Anyakrakusuma. After conquering
In 1640s, he used title Sultan Agung Senapati ing Alaga Abdurrahman. In 1641, Sunan Agung had an Arabic title, Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Maulana of Mataram, bestowed by imams in Mecca.
For the sake of convenience, the name used in this article is the most common and popular: Sultan Agung.
References
- ISBN 9780313331145
- ^ Montanus, A. "Oud en nieuw Oost-Indien", hal. 358
- ^ [1][permanent dead link] Afbeelding - AMH (Berkas AMH)
- ^ Bertrand, Romain, Etat colonial, noblesse et nationalisme à Java, Paris, 2005.
- ^ Sumarsam. Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Development in Central Java. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995, p. 20.
Further reading
- Pranata, Sultan Agung Anyokrokusumo, Jakarta: Yudha Gama (In Indonesian)