Prince Diponegoro did not Betray Sultan Hamengku Buwono V

YOGYAKARTA, NETRALNEWS COM - After the Java War (1825-1830), the Dutch held the Klaten Agreement of 1830, in which decision was to clear up the territory of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta which used to be extensive to the East, such as Madiun, Magetan, Caruban, Kertasana, Kalangbret, Ngrawa (Tulungagung), and Teras Ngaras (Ngawi).

It didn\'t stop there, other areas of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta such as Pacitan, Japan (Mojokerto), Jipang (Bojonegoro), Kedu, Warung (Kuwu Wirasari), Blora, and Grobogan were also taken over by the Dutch Colonials, which had indeed been taken over since Yogyakarta by the British Colonial. For this reason, the territory of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta since then until now is only Yogyakarta, Sleman, Bantul, Kulonprogo, and Gunungkidul.

Of course, the results of the Klaten Agreement hit the Yogyakarta Palace very hard. On October 24, 1830, Sultan Hamengku Buwono V (1822-1826/ 1828-1855), after signing the Klaten Agreement, his body went limp while saying, " Sak iki negaraku mung gari sak megare payung ." Meaning: my kingdom is now only as wide as an open umbrella.

Since then, the Dutch Colonials deliberately framed the opinion that the narrowing of the territory of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta was a punishment for the Yogyakarta Palace because they could not raise their family members, which caused those under the command of Diponegoro to carry out a rebellion against the Dutch Colonials.

After the Dutch Colonial framed that opinion, Diponegoro\'s descendants everywhere in Java since then had been hunted by the Dutch Colonials and the Javanese who sided with the colonials, whom Diponegoro termed \' kapir murtad \' (Javanese who sided with the Dutch or Dutch cronies).

After Diponegoro\'s arrest in 1830 by deception in Magelang, some of Diponegoro\'s descendants were still considered a threat, as at any time they could mobilize the masses to fight the Dutch Colonials.

In 1834, Diponegoro Anom moved from Kedu to Sumenep in Madura. Six years later, in 1840, the surviving Diponegoro\'s descendants were arrested. They include Prince Dipokusuma, Prince Dipaningrat, and Raden Mas Raib. The Dutch Colonials then decided that they should be exiled to Maluku.

Apparently the Dutch Colonials still considered that the Prince\'s family was still a potential threat. For this reason, Prince Diponegoro\'s younger brother, Prince Arya Rangga, was also arrested in 1849 on suspicion of carrying out a rebellion against the colonialists. After being arrested, Prince Arya Rangga was then exiled to Ternate.

Diponegoro\'s descendants on the island of Java suffered greatly. They were being chased by the Dutch Colonial, the Sultanate, and the Kesunanan. Many of them lived like animals in the forest who were always on the run and were forced to give up all their noble titles to become ordinary people while fighting back when the opportunity arises.

The fate of Diponegoro\'s descendants who were in exile was also very painful. They still had to live in exile and were not allowed to return to Java, their ancestral land, until near independence.

To hide their identities as descendants of Diponegoro, they tricked the Dutch Colonial and their cronies so that the descendants of Diponegoro could still communicate with each other. They created codes and passwords.

The form of the code set was that if there was a Javanese sapodilla tree in front of their house, then the members of the occupants of the house were descendants of Diponegoro. Apparently, this simple code succeeded in tricking the colonialists until they left Indonesia at the last moment.

Did the Dutch Colonial framing of Diponegoro\'s betrayal of the Yogyakarta Sultanate caused the Yogyakarta area to shrink significantly after the colonial left Java?

It seems that the Dutch framing still remained, and that Diponegoro and his descendants were still blamed for the rebellion of their ancestors. For this reason, Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, who is known as a king who is intelligent, wise, and upholds the nobility of his ancestors, tried to explain that Diponegoro was a Hero, not a traitor to the Sultanate.

Since Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX\'s statement, sentiment towards Diponegoro\'s descendants began to subside and Diponegoro\'s descendants gradually began to reveal their identities.

Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX\'s statement was later confirmed by Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, who has reigned since 1998 after his father, the ninth Sultan, died.

On May 20, 2008, while giving a speech at an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Budi Utomo Organization in Yogyakarta, which coincidentally featured "Opera Diponegoro" by Sardono W Kusumo, Sultan Hamengku Buwono X said: "Diponegoro is not a traitor to Sultan Hamengku Buwono V, his nephew. Diponegoro also did not betray the Yogyakarta Palace. His decision to revolt on July 20, 1825 was due to the demands of the circumstances at that time."

"Diponegoro had no other choice. He knew very well that one day he would lose. At that time, Diponegoro was like the Mahabharata puppet play \' Adipati Karna Gugur \', namely the ability to remain faithful to his ideals even though he knew he would lose or meet his death," he added.

On March 8, 2012, in Tegalrejo Yogyakarta, Diponegoro\'s former residence was burned down, in conjunction with the launching of Peter Carey\'s magnum opus book, Kuasa Ramalan. The descendants of Diponegoro who are all over Indonesia are united as brothers and sisters of Diponegoro\'s descendants.

At that time, there were also princes from the Sultanate of Yogyakarta who represented Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, namely Gusti Joyokusuma, Gusti Prabukusuma, and Gusti Yudhaningrat. This event also dispelled the Dutch Colonial framing that the family of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and the descendants of Yogyakarta were not harmonious.

Writer: Lilik Suharmaji

Founder of PUSAM (Mataram Study Center, lives in Yogyakarta