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Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
Diponegoro (; born Bendara Raden Mas Mustahar, ; later Bendara Raden Mas Antawirya, ; 11 November 1785 – 8 January 1855), also known as Dipanegara and Dipa Negara, was a Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch colonial rule. The eldest son of the Yogyakarta Sultan
Hamengkubuwono III Hamengkubuwono III (also spelled Hamengkubuwana III, born Raden Mas Surojo; 20 February 1769 – 3 November 1814) was the third sultan of Yogyakarta, reigning from 1810 to 1811 as prince regent and as Sultan from 1812 to 1814. His reign took plac ...
, he played an important role in the
Java War The Java War (; ; ), also known in Indonesia as the Diponegoro War (; ), was an armed conflict in central and eastern Java from 1825 to 1830, between native Javanese rebels headed by Prince Diponegoro and the Dutch East Indies supported by J ...
between 1825 and 1830. After his defeat and capture, he was exiled to
Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...
, where he died at 69 years old. His five-year struggle against the Dutch control of
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
has become celebrated by
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
ns throughout the years, acting as a source of inspiration for the fighters in the
Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...
and nationalism in modern-day Indonesia among others. He is a national hero in Indonesia.


Early life

Diponegoro was born on 11 November 1785 in
Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...
, and was the eldest son of Sultan
Hamengkubuwono III Hamengkubuwono III (also spelled Hamengkubuwana III, born Raden Mas Surojo; 20 February 1769 – 3 November 1814) was the third sultan of Yogyakarta, reigning from 1810 to 1811 as prince regent and as Sultan from 1812 to 1814. His reign took plac ...
of Yogyakarta. During his youth at the Yogyakarta court, major occurrences such as the dissolution of the VOC, the British invasion of Java, and the subsequent return to Dutch rule took place. During the invasion, Sultan
Hamengkubuwono III Hamengkubuwono III (also spelled Hamengkubuwana III, born Raden Mas Surojo; 20 February 1769 – 3 November 1814) was the third sultan of Yogyakarta, reigning from 1810 to 1811 as prince regent and as Sultan from 1812 to 1814. His reign took plac ...
pushed aside his power in 1810 in favor of Diponegoro's father and used the general disruption to regain control. In 1812 however, he was once more removed from the throne and exiled off-Java by the British forces. In this process, Diponegoro acted as an adviser to his father and provided aid to the British forces to the point where
Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...
offered him the ''Sultan'' title which he declined, perhaps because his father was still reigning. When the sultan died in 1814, Diponegoro was passed over for the succession to the throne in favor of his younger half-brother, Hamengkubuwono IV (r. 1814–1821), who was supported by the Dutch despite the late Sultan's urging for Diponegoro to be the next Sultan. Being a devout Muslim, Diponegoro was alarmed by the relaxing of religious observance at his half-brother's court in contrast with his own life of seclusion, as well as by the court's pro-Dutch policy. In 1821, famine and plague spread in Java. Hamengkubuwono IV died in 1822 under mysterious circumstances, leaving only an infant son as his heir. When the year-old boy was appointed as Sultan
Hamengkubuwono V Hamengkubuwono V (also spelled Hamengkubuwana V, Yogyakarta Sultanate, Yogyakarta, 24 January 1820 – Yogyakarta, 5 June 1855) was the fifth Sultan of Yogyakarta, reigning from 19 December 1823, to 17 August 1826, and then from 17 January 1828, ...
, there was a dispute over his guardianship. Diponegoro was again passed over, though he believed he had been promised the right to succeed his half-brother – even though such a succession was illegal under Islamic rules. This series of natural disasters and political upheavals finally erupted into full-scale rebellion.


Fighting against the Dutch

Dutch colonial rule was becoming unpopular among local farmers because of tax rises and crop failures, and among Javanese nobles because the Dutch colonial authorities deprived them of their right to lease land. Diponegoro was widely believed to be the Ratu Adil, the just ruler predicted in the Pralembang Jayabaya.
Mount Merapi Mount Merapi (, ) is an active stratovolcano located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is loc ...
's eruption in 1822 and a cholera epidemic in 1824 furthered the view that a cataclysm was imminent, eliciting widespread support for Diponegoro. In the days leading up to the war's outbreak, no action was taken by local Dutch officials although rumors of his upcoming insurrection had been floating about. Prophesies and stories, ranging from visions at the tomb of Banten's former Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa alleged to be the ghost of Sultan Agung (the first Sultan of Mataram, predecessor of the Yogyakarta and Surakarta sultanates) to Diponegoro's contact with Nyai Roro Kidul, spread across the populace. The beginning of the war saw large losses on the side of the Dutch, due to their lack of coherent strategy and commitment in fighting Diponegoro's
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
. Ambushes were set up, and food supplies were denied to the Dutch troops. The Dutch finally committed themselves to control the spreading rebellion by increasing the number of troops and sending General De Kock to stop the insurgency. De Kock developed a strategy of fortified camps (benteng) and mobile forces. Heavily fortified and well-defended soldiers occupied key landmarks to limit the movement of Diponegoro's troops while mobile forces tried to find and fight the rebels. From 1829, Diponegoro definitively lost the initiative and he was put in a defensive position. The racial aspect of Diponegoro's Java War also made it notorious. Diponegoro's forces targeted the Chinese minority in Java in addition to the Dutch, for example the Chinese residents of Ngawi and Bengawan Solo's riverbanks. Diponegoro's forces mutilated Chinese children, women, and men. The Diponegoro troops despised the Dutch and the Chinese as foreign infidels who had come to pillage Java. The Chinese community's relationship with Javanese was never the same after the Java War.


Capture and exile

In 1830 Diponegoro's military was as good as beaten and negotiations were started. Diponegoro demanded to have a free state under a sultan and wanted to become the Muslim leader (caliph) for the whole of Java. In March 1830 he was invited to negotiate under a flag of truce. He accepted and met at the town of
Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java, the Central Java Province of Indonesia that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a Subdivi ...
but was taken prisoner on 28 March despite the flag of truce. De Kock claimed that he had warned several Javanese nobles to tell Diponegoro he had to lessen his previous demands or that he would be forced to take other measures. The circumstances of Diponegoro's arrest were seen differently by himself and the Dutch. The former saw the arrest as a betrayal due to the flag of truce, while the latter declared that he had surrendered. The imagery of the event, by Javanese Raden Saleh and Dutch Nicolaas Pieneman, depicted Diponegoro differently – the former visualizing him as a defiant victim, the latter as a subjugated man. Immediately after his arrest, he was taken to
Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...
and later to Batavia, where he was detained at the basement of what is today the
Jakarta History Museum The Jakarta History Museum (), also known as Fatahillah Museum or Batavia Museum, is located in the Old Town (known as ''Kota Tua'') of Jakarta, Indonesia. The building was built in 1710 as the ''Stadhuis'' (city hall) of Batavia. Jakarta Histor ...
. In 1830, he was taken to
Manado Manado (, ) is the capital City status in Indonesia, city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 census giving a population of 451,916,Badan ...
,
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
, by ship. After several years in Manado, he was moved to
Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...
in July 1833 where he was kept in
Fort Rotterdam Fort Rotterdam is a 17th-century fort in Makassar on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is a Dutch fort that was built on top of an existing fort of the Sultanate of Gowa, Gowa Kingdom. The first fort on the site was constructed by the a l ...
, due to the Dutch believing that the prison was not strong enough to contain him. Despite his prisoner status, his wife Ratnaningsih and some of his followers accompanied him into exile, and he received high-profile visitors, including 16-year-old Dutch Prince Henry in 1837. Diponegoro also composed manuscripts on Javanese history and wrote his autobiography, ''Babad Diponegoro'', during his exile. His physical health deteriorated due to old age, and he died on 8 January 1855, at 69 years old. Before he died, Diponegoro had mandated that he be buried in ''Kampung Melayu'', a neighborhood then inhabited by the Chinese and the Dutch. This was followed with the Dutch donating of land for his graveyard which today has shrunk to just . Later, his wife and followers were also buried in the same complex. His tomb is today visited by pilgrims – often military officers and politicians.


Legacy

Diponegoro's dynasty would survive to the present day, with their sultans holding secular powers as the governors of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. In 1969, a large monument Sasana Wiratama was erected in Tegalrejo, in
Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...
city's perimeter, with sponsorship from the military where Diponegoro's palace was believed to have stood, although at that time there was little to show for such a building. In 1973, under the presidency of
Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...
, Diponegoro was made a
National Hero of Indonesia National Hero of Indonesia () is the highest-level Orders, decorations, and medals of Indonesia, title awarded in Indonesia. It is posthumously given by the Government of Indonesia for actions which are deemed to be heroic, defined as "actual de ...
. Kodam IV/Diponegoro,
Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( (TNI-AD), ) is the army, land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the (TKR) "People's Se ...
regional command for the Central Java Military Region, is named after him. The
Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...
has two ships named after him. The first of these was KRI ''Diponegoro'' (306), a commissioned in 1964 and retired in 1973. The second ship is , the lead ship of purchased from the Netherlands.
Diponegoro University Diponegoro University (; , abbreviated as UNDIP) is a public university located in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. It was founded in 1957 as a private university by the Semarang University Foundation, which in 1960 became a public university ...
in
Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...
was also named after him, along with many major roads in Indonesian cities. Diponegoro is also depicted in Javanese stanzas, ''
wayang ( , ) is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. The term refers both to the show as a whole and the puppet in particular. Performances of wayang puppet theatre are accompanied by a ''gamel ...
'', and performing arts, including self-authored ''Babad Diponegoro''. The militancy of people's resistance in Java would rise again during the Indonesian Revolution, which saw the country gain independence from the Netherlands. Early Islamist political parties in Indonesia, such as the Masyumi, portrayed Diponegoro's ''jihad'' as a part of the Indonesian national struggle and by extension Islam as a prominent player in the formation of the country. During a state visit to Indonesia in March 2020, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands offered the kris of Prince Diponegoro to Indonesia, received by President
Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...
. His kris was long considered lost but was found after being identified by the Dutch National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden. The kris of Prince Diponegoro represents a historic importance, as a symbol of Indonesian heroic resilience and the nation's struggle for independence. The gold-inlaid Javanese dagger previously was held in the Dutch state collection and is now part of the collection of the National Museum of Indonesia. There is doubt whether the Kris is the original Kris of Dipenegoro.


References


Further reading

* Carey, P.B.R. ''Babad Dipanagara : an account of the outbreak of the Java War (1825–30) : the Surakarta court version of the Babad Dipanagara'' Kuala Lumpur: Printed for the Council of the M.B.R.A.S. by Art Printing Works, 1981. Monograph (Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Malaysian Branch); no.9. * Sagimun M. D. ''Pangeran Dipanegara : pahlawan nasional'' Jakarta: Proyek Biografi Pahlawan Nasional, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, 1976. (Indonesian language) * Yamin, M. ''Sedjarah peperangan Dipanegara : pahlawan kemerdekaan Indonesia'' Jakarta : Pembangunan, 1950. (Indonesian language)


External links


A Dutch web page on Diponegoro
*
Pictures of Prince Diponegoro & related
{{Authority control 1785 births 1855 deaths Indonesian Muslims Javanese people History of Java National Heroes of Indonesia People from Yogyakarta Indonesian rebels Indonesian royalty