Waiting for the ‘Just King’: The Agrarian World of South-Central Java from Giyanti (1755) to the Java War (1825–30)

1986 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Carey
Keyword(s):  
Colonial Period ◽  
East India Company ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Dutch East India Company ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Central Java ◽  
South Central ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religious Ideals ◽  
First Time

Students of Javanese society have long recognized that the Java War (1825–30), the bitter five-year struggle against European colonial rule in Java, constituted a watershed in the history of modern Indonesia. In his recent textbook, Professor Ricklefs has characterized the year 1830 as ‘the beginning of the truly colonial period in Java’, arguing that the Java War marked the transition point between the ‘trading’ era of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the years of ‘colonial’ exploitation ushered in by Johannes van den Bosch's well known ‘cultivation systems’. In military and political terms, the costly Dutch victory over the javanese made them, for the first time in their three and a half centuries of involvement in the archipelago, the undisputed masters of Java. At the same time, scholars of Javanese Islam have suggested that the defeat of the Javanese leader, Dipanagara (1785–1855), and the religious ideals for which he fought (most notably his goal of strengthening the institutional position of Islam in Javanese society), temporarily undermined the morale and self-confidence of the Islamic communities in Java. Specialists in the history of the central Javanese principalities (vorstenlanden), especially those interested in cultural developments, have also seen the Javanese failure in 1825–30 as a setback to the vitality and independence of the Javanese cultural tradition, a time when Javanese society began to turn in on itself and lose something of its strength and flexibility.

Civilization on Loan: The Making of an Upstart Polity: Mataram and its Successors, 1600–1830

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 711-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Carey
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
East Coast ◽  
East India Company ◽  
The Political ◽  
Dutch East India Company ◽  
Regional Power ◽  
Islamic Schools ◽  
North East ◽  
Central Java ◽  
South Central

This paper focuses on the south-central Javanese state of Mataram and its late seventeenth- and mid-eighteenth-century successors—Kartasura (1680–1746), and Surakarta (founded 1746) and Yogyakarta (founded 1749). It concentrates principally on the administrative, military and cultural trends of the period, looking at the ways in which Mataram and its heirs imported their cultural styles from the defeated east Javanese and pasisir (north-east coast) kingdoms, while developing a Spartan polity dominated by the exigencies of war and military expansion. The disastrous reign of Sultan Agung's successor, Sunan Amangkurat I (r. 1646–77), and the emergence of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a major political force in Java led to the rapid eclipse of Mataram/Kartasura's military influence duringJava's ‘Eighty Years War’ (1675–1755) when the heritage of the great early Mataram rulers was squandered. This period of turmoil ended in the permanent division (paliyan) of south-central Java between the courts of Surakarta (Kasunanan, founded 1746, and Mangkunegaran, founded 1757) and Sultan Mangkubumi's new kingdom of Yogyakarta, which, in terms of its martial traditions, was the principal inheritor of the early Mataram polity. At the same time, the political authority of the courts continued to face challenges from regional power centres, not least the powerful administrators of Yogyakarta's eastern outlying provinces (mancanagara)based in Madiun and Maospati, and the networks of Islamic schools (pesantrèn) and tax-free religious villages (perdikan), which drew their strength both from court patronage and the piety of local communities.

scholarly journals The dawn of the Somali written word: an analysis of the creation and implementation of the Somali written language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warsan Amin
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Oral Poetry ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
History Of ◽  
Written Word ◽  
Knowledge Preservation ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
First Time

My major research paper (MRP) is grounded in the history of Somalia’s first orthography implemented in 1972 by President Mohamed Siad Barre. This meant that for the first time Somali history, there would be a written language that mirrored the Somali oral tradition in all its complexity. The nation’s longstanding cultural tradition of oral poetry has both impacted, and been impacted by the implementation of the orthography. Through the use of semi-structured interviews and grounded theory as my method of analysis, the purpose of this MRP is to explore this reciprocal impact between Somalia’s oral tradition and the implementation of the orthography, and also to explore how Somali poetry provides a unique lens into this reciprocal impact. After stating the data, I present the findings in two stages: (a) in the form of short stories that provide insight into the topic from the perceptions and perspectives of each interviewee, and (b) as overarching themes that have emerged from the interviewees collectively. The findings reveal that the colonial period in Somalia gave rise to the necessity of an orthography for the oral Somali language which then introduced a level of cultural anxiety as the oral tradition of knowledge preservation eventually weakened. Nonetheless, although the Somali orthography is now seen first and foremost as a means of knowledge preservation, the Somali culture still demonstrates a deep connection to their oral heritage.

Pride and Prejudice: The Role of Policy and Perception Creation in the Chinese Revolt of 1652 on Dutch Formosa

Itinerario ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-36
Author(s):  
Marné Strydom
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
East India Company ◽  
Pride And Prejudice ◽  
Dutch East India Company ◽  
Economic Success ◽  
Colonial Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dutch Colonial

The events of September 1652 on the island of Formosa were one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of Dutch management of the island, and could arguably be viewed as one of the most severe suppressions of a rebellious group in the seventeenth century. The unexpected, ill-prepared uprising of thousands of frustrated, angry and impoverished Chinese farmers and field hands against Dutch colonial management were successfully, yet in the most severe and savage way, suppressed through a military collaboration between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the local Aborigines of the island. In total some 3,000 Chinese residents of the island were killed, the ‘hacked-off’ head of the leader ‘displayed on a stake […] to frighten the Chinese as a sign of victory over those dastardly traitors’, while three of his lieutenants were tortured to death by Company officials in an effort to extract confessions and information from them. Indeed severe action towards a section of the Formosan colonial society that was primarily responsible for the economic success of the Dutch settlement enterprise.

History of Western sources on Japanese art

1986 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 8-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy S. Allen
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
East India Company ◽  
Japanese Culture ◽  
Dutch East India Company ◽  
The West ◽  
Meiji Restoration ◽  
Japanese Art ◽  
History Of

Learning about Japanese art has been difficult for Westerners. Limited access, language barriers, and cultural misunderstanding have been almost insurmountable obstacles. Knowledge of Japanese art in the West began over 150 years before the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853. Englebert Kaempfer (1657-1716), sent to Japan as a physician for the Dutch East India Company, befriended a young assistant who provided information for a book on Japanese life and history published in 1727. By 1850, more ethnographic information had been published in Europe. Catalogs of sales of Japanese art in Europe exist prior to 1850 and collection catalogs from major museums follow in the second half of that century. After the Meiji Restoration (1867) cultural exchange was possible and organizations for that purpose were formed. Diaries of 19th century travellers and important international fairs further expanded cross-cultural information. Okakura Kakuzo, a native of Japan, published in English about Japanese art and ultimately became Curator of the important collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The advent of photography made visual images easily accessible to Westerners. Great collectors built up the holdings of major American museums. In the 20th century, materials written and published in Japan in English language have furthered understanding of Japanese culture. During the past twenty years, travelling exhibitions and scholarly catalogs have circulated in the West. Presently monographs, dissertations and translated scholarly texts are available. Unfortunately, there is little understanding in the West of the organization of Japanese art libraries and archives which contain primary source material of interest to art historians.

Karl Waeber's Archive Published — Facts vs Myth-making

2021 ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Tatiana Simbirtseva
Keyword(s):  
Personal Information ◽  
General Information ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
First Time

The article is written on the occasion of the first publication in Germany in summer 2021 of a unique historical source — the family archive of the prominent Russian diplomat and orientalist Karl Ivanovich Waeber (1841-1910). The significance of this event for science can hardly be overestimated. The history of the establishment and development of official Russian-Korean relations at the end of the 19th century, as well as a number of important events in the history of Korea in the pre-colonial period, are inextricably linked with Waeber’s name. However, although historians have been writing about his professional activities for decades, very little personal information about him was known until now, and there were no his photographs at all. With the release of the book by S. Bräsel, who is privileged to find this archive, researchers for the first time got access to the Waeber family documents and a rich collection of his photographs, which were completely unknown before. The article presents an overview of these materials by Bräsel’s book, considers their authenticity, provides general information about Waeber's activities in Korea and examines some misconceptions that have developed about him in modern historiography due to the lack of reliable information and a sharp increase in interest in him in recent years. According to the authors, the objective historical evidence published by Bräsel put a barrier to the process of mythologizing Waeber's personality that began in the 2010s and is expressed, in particular, in the appearance of his imaginary “descendants” and invented images.

The killing of Posthouder Scheerder and Jifar Folfolun (The War of the Breasts): Malukan and Dutch narratives of an incident in the VOC's waning days

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 324-346
Author(s):  
A. Ross Gordon ◽  
Sonny A. Djonler ◽  
Hans Hägerdal
Keyword(s):  
Sea Cucumber ◽  
East India Company ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Small Islands ◽  
Economic Exchange ◽  
Dutch East India Company ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Eastern Side ◽  
Local Tradition ◽  
History Of

The Aru Islands in southeastern Maluku have a long history of economic exchange and colonial relations with the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and later the Dutch colonial state. Aru was fragmented in smaller autonomous settlements, of which those in the east produced valuable items for export, such as pearls and tripang (edible sea cucumber). The article focuses on a spate of anti-colonial revolts in the waning days of the VOC in the 1790s. It centred on the Batuley villages situated on a few small islands on the eastern side. The central incident leading to the resistance was the killing of a Dutch low-ranking officer, Scheerder, an event which has been preserved in local tradition till the present day. A search in the VOC archives confirms several details, but suggests a rationale for the resistance which is partly different from the traditional version, and linked in with larger movements of resistance in Aru and Maluku. The article discusses the significance of the oral traditions, and how a comparison with archival materials can enrich our understanding of Arunese–Dutch relations.

A Pretender on Gowa' Throne. The War of Batara Gowa I. Singkilang in South West Celebes, 1776–c. 1790

Itinerario ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-177
Author(s):  
M.P.H. Roessingh
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
East India Company ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Dutch East India Company ◽  
High Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Hague ◽  
State Archives ◽  
State Of Affairs

The subject of this article is the fight for the throne in the kingdom of Gowa at the end of the 18th century, during the decline of the Dutch East India Company, a period which also saw the downfall of Gowa and the supremacy of Bone. The sources for the history of this period are twofold: on one hand the indigenous sources, “lontara-bilang” (diaries) and other records in Buginese and Makassarese; secondly, the European writings, principally the archival materials from the Dutch government at Makassar, supplemented by travel accounts and reports of the English. My primary sources are almost exclusively Dutch, namely the papers of the VOC, as they are preserved in the General State Archives in The Hague. To be more precise, these sources may be in Dutch, but in addition to the letters etc. written by Company officials, they also contain translations from documents drawn up by the rulers of Bone and Gowa or other of Asians. Moreover, the governors of Makassar often made use of indigenous sources, both oral and written, in preparing their lengthy memoirs about the state of affairs in their district. In 1736, the High Government in Batavia decided that two accurate genealogical tables must be prepared of the royal houses of Bone and Gowa.

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