The next sultan

A “Golden Age” of courtly dance and drama was ushered in by Hamengkubuwono VII during the 1920s and 1930s.Much of the sizeable court income from sugar estates was lavished upon massive performances lasting many days and featuring casts of hundreds but a part of it was also devoted to providing a western education for his children.

The young Prince Dorodjatun who was to become the next sultan, was sent to live wiyh Dutch families from the age of four, and attended Dutch schools in Yogya, Semarang, and Bandung. Upon Graduation, he was sent to Holland. Where after nine years of study, he reached the final stage of his doctoral studies at Leiden University.

Because of the unstable situation in Europe and his father’s failing health. Dorojatun was called back to Yogya in 1939, on arriving in Batavia, he was informed of the Sultan’s intentions to name him as crown prince. The Sultan’s health took a turn for the worse on the trip home, however, and it is said that went they alit from the train a thunderbolt suddenly struck the city from clear, blue skies – an ominous note in the eyes of the Javanese. Hamengkubuwono VIII died the following day.

Fluent in Dutch and conversant in western political and economic matters, the young sultan to be prudently negotiated the terms of his rule with the colonial government for six months before agreeing to ascend the throne. In his coronation speech ( in Dutch), he proudly declared : “Although I have a Western education, I am first and Foremost a Javanese.”

Practical and quick to act, Hamengkubuwono IX assumed responsibility for the day to day administration of his realm in extremely difficult times. Through three and a half years of wartime occupation (1942 – 1945) he steadfastly refused japanese request to send Yogyanese laborers abroad to an almost certain death, insisting that they were needed at home to construc an irrigation canal linking the progo and Opak rivers, Frequent visits incognito to the villages, meanwhile, kept him in touch with the peasants and their deteriorating living conditions.

His support of the new Indonesian Republic proved crucial to its survival through four long year of revolution, and his strenght and quite integrity helped steer the young nation thereafter through several decades of social upheaval and economic hardship. He held several ministerial posts, even serving a term as Vice Prisident under Suharto, All the while maintaining an active role as Yogya’s Sultan. Under his rule, palace rituals were simplified but not abolished, and several new dances were added to the palace repertoire.

Five months after his death, on march 7 1989, his eldest son was crowned Hamengkubuwono X amidst much pomp and ceremony. The young sultan has inherited not only his father’s throne but also some of his charisma and common sense. Chairman of the local chamber of commerce and a member of the national legislature, the new sultan is a popular figure who is very much aware of his dual role as preserver of Yogya’s traditional culture and pioneer of the city’s future.

Yogya’s Popular Line of Sultans

Unlike many former Indonesian rulers who have retreated to their palaces or plunged into the world of commerce and industry, The hamengkubuwono rulling family of Yogya has managed to forge a new and dynamic role for itself in modern Indonesia – a role based on public service and deep concern for the commonweal. In the process, they have not oly retained the great respect and loyalty historically accorded them by their own Yogyanese subjects, but have also developed a nationwide following. Much of this is due to the unusual energy and talent of the late Hamengkubuwono IX (r. 1940-1989).

From its founding in 1755, Yogya’s rulers have been quick to adapt to the new situations. Hamengkubuwono I (r.1755-1992) was a dynamic military commander who fought the Dutch and his own ruling family to a stand still through nine years of war, then negotiated to recieve half of the Mataram Kingdom with Dutch blessings as the price of a peace settlement. As an innovative city planner and builder throughout the remaining 37 years of his reign, he carefully selected a site for his new kingdom and then constructed not only an elegant palace, but a unique pleasure garden surrounded by a vast, artificial lake ( Taman sari), Both complexes are imbued with a symbolism and powerful aura which the centuries have not obscured.

Following Hamengkubuwono I’s death, the thorne fell to one of his sons, an intelligent but arrogant ruler whose reign was marred by intrigues . Hamengkubuwono II had unique misfortune of being deposed three times (once by the Dutch and twice by the British), and exiled twice – once to Penang and once to Ambon – only to be restored to the throne each time. He was also an extremely prolific father; his two queens and 31 concubines bore him 80 children.

Hamengkubuwono III inherited neither his grandfather’s great authority, nor his father’s arrogance. And during his tenure an unfavorable agreement with the British under Rafles led to unrest among the Yogya nobility. The ascendency to the throne of his 13-year old son. Hamengkubuwono IV, in 1814 brought on a flurry of court intrigues, and poisoning was the suspected cause of the young ruler’s untimely death 1822.

A three year old son succeded him under the tutelage of a Dutch appointed commitee, which include one of the young sultan’s uncles, Prince Diponegoro, Land disputes and religious zeal led Diponegoro into a bloody 5 year rebellion against the Dutch and his own family between 1825-1830.

Thereafther, Yogya lived in peace under the reign of four successive sultans, all of whom became wealthy patrons of the arts. Like most of Asia’a traditional rulers at this time, the sultans hob nobbed with foreign dignitaries and styled themselves afther the manner of European royalty.