Kyai Ronggo Ngabehi Soero Pernollo (1720 – 1776), or Surapernala, born Han Tjien Kong, was a Chinese-Javanese nobleman, government official and ally of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock c ...

. He founded the senior Muslim branch of the

Han family of Lasem The Han family of Lasem, also called the Han family of East Java or Surabaya, was an influential family of the 'Cabang Atas' or the Chinese gentry of the Dutch East Indies (today known as Indonesia). They came to power in the Indies through their ...

, a branch that became part of the Javanese ''priyayi'', or aristocracy, and distinguished itself in the history of

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and so ...

. Han Tjien Kong was born in 1720 at Lasem, a port city in

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta ...

, to Han Siong Kong (1672 – 1743), a Chinese migrant of ancient lineage, and an unnamed mother of at least part-

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

ancestry. He had four brothers, including the younger Han Bwee Kong, Kapitein der Chinezen (1727 – 1778). Han Tjien Kong converted to Islam at an unknown date, and subsequently assumed the Javanese name of Soero Pernollo. Sometime in the mid-eighteenth century, Soero Pernollo moved to East Java, at the time still a frontier territory contested by the Dutch East India Company, the

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 cent ...

and the Balinese princely state of Mengwi. He entered the service of Hendrik Breton, a senior official of the Company. Breton held the post of Resident of

Rembang Rembang Regency ( id, Kabupaten Rembang) is a regency ( id, kabupaten) on the extreme northeast coast of Central Java Province, on the island of Java (bordering on the Java Sea) in Indonesia. The regency covers an area of 1,035.70 km2 on Ja ...

, and was promoted in 1763 to ''Opperhofd van den Osthoek'', or 'High Head of the Eastern Salient', before his eventual elevation in 1768 to the powerful ''Raad van Indië''. Throughout this period, Soero Pernollo was Breton's right-hand man, initially as ''gezaghebber'', or overseer, of three merchant ships, then as

harbourmaster A harbourmaster (or harbormaster, see spelling differences) is an official responsible for enforcing the regulations of a particular harbour or port, in order to ensure the safety of navigation, the security of the harbour and the correct opera ...

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of East Java and the second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern border of Java island, on the Mad ...

, the most important commercial

entrepôt An ''entrepôt'' (; ) or transshipment port is a port, city, or trading post where merchandise may be imported, stored, or traded, usually to be exported again. Such cities often sprang up and such ports and trading posts often developed into c ...

in East Java. During the consolidation of Dutch rule in the Eastern Salient, Soero Pernollo was appointed ''politiehoofd'', or police chief, of Besuki and

Panarukan Panarukan is a district in Situbondo Regency, East Java, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, i ...

in 1764 with the Javanese noble title of Ngabehi. In this capacity, he played an important role as a source of military intelligence for the Company during the Dutch-Blambangan War of 1767 to 1768. It was thanks to his influence that his younger brother, Kapitein Han Bwee Kong, eventually managed to acquire the lease for the districts of Besuki in 1768, and of

in 1777. Soero Pernollo died in 1776, but his two sons, Adipati Soero Adinegoro and Raden Soero Adiwikromo, both attained prominence as government officials, particularly during the French and British interludes in the Dutch East Indies (1806 – 1815). One of his daughters married a fellow ally of the Dutch East India Company, Pakunataningrat I, Sultan of

Sumenep Sumenep Regency (Indonesian: ''Kabupaten Sumenep'', Madurese: ''Kabhupatèn Songennep'', Carakan: ''꧋ꦏꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦱꦺꦴꦔꦼꦤ꧀ꦤꦼꦥ꧀꧉'', Pèghu: ''كابوڤاتين سَوڠٓنّٓڤ'', Lontara': ᨀᨅᨘᨄᨈ ...

(reigned 1812 - 1854). Their descendants continued to play an important role in the colonial administration of East Java.

References

{{Reflist 1720 births 1776 deaths People from Surabaya Javanese people Indonesian Muslims Converts to Islam People of the Dutch East Indies Indonesian people of Chinese descent Han family of Lasem Priyayi