The Javanese Wars of Succession were three military confrontations between 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 ...

(VOC) and 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 centu ...

on central

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

between 1703 and 1755. The hereditary succession in Maratam was at stake, prompting the VOC to field its own candidates in an attempt to gain more influence in central and eastern Java. At the end of the Javanese Wars of Succession, Mataram was carved into three weak ''

Vorstenlanden The VorstenlandenEncarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Vorstenlanden". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. ( Dutch for 'princely lands' or 'princely states', ) were four native, princely states on the island of Java in the coloni ...

'' ("Princely Lands"), independent in name only, as a consequence of the

divide and rule Divide and rule policy ( la, divide et impera), or divide and conquer, in politics and sociology is gaining and maintaining power divisively. Historically, this strategy was used in many different ways by empires seeking to expand their terr ...

policy of the VOC.

Overview

The

Trunajaya rebellion The Trunajaya rebellion (also spelled Trunojoyo; id, Pemberontakan Trunajaya) or Trunajaya War was the ultimately unsuccessful rebellion waged by the Madurese prince Trunajaya and fighters from Makassar against the Mataram Sultanate and its ...

(1674–1681) lay the seed for the Javanese Wars of Succession. During this uprising, sultan

Amangkurat I of Mataram Amangkurat I (Amangkurat Agung; 1619–1677) was the ''susuhunan'' of the Mataram Sultanate from 1646 to 1677. He was the son of Sultan Agung of Mataram. He experienced many rebellions during his reign. He died in exile in 1677, and buried in T ...

died in 1677, causing a war of succession to break out between his sons Rahmat (Amangkurat II) and Puger (Pakubuwono I). Puger surrendered in 1681 and recognised his brother as the rightful sultan, but when the latter died in 1703, he disputed his brother's succession by his son

Amangkurat III Amangkurat III (Amangkurat Mas; died in Dutch Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), 1734) was a short-lived ''susuhunan'' (ruler) of the Sultanate of Mataram, who reigned 1703–1705. When his father Amangkurat II of Mataram died, he soon lost his half-uncle ...

, which led to the First Javanese War of Succession. The three Javanese Wars of Succession were: *

First Javanese War of Succession The First Javanese War of Succession was a struggle between Sultan Amangkurat III of Mataram and the Dutch East India Company who supported the claim of the Sultan's uncle, Pangeran Puger to the throne. Amangkurat II died in 1703 and was brie ...

(1703–1708) *

Second Javanese War of Succession The Second Javanese War of Succession was a struggle between Sultan Amangkurat IV of Mataram supported by the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'', VOC) against the rebellion of rival Princes who contested his r ...

(1719–1722) *

Third Javanese War of Succession The Third Javanese War of Succession was an armed conflict from 1749 to 1757 on the island of Java. It led to the partition of the Mataram Sultanate into two and later three nominally independent 'Princely States': Surakarta, Yogyakarta a ...

(1749–1755) In the aftermath of this divide and rule policy on Java, one further partition of Yogyakarta occurred in 1812, increasing the number of Vorstenlanden to four.Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Vorstenlanden". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.

Indonesian nationalism

The most prominent leaders on the Javanese side (

Untung Surapati Untung Suropati also Untung Surapati (1660 – December 5, 1706) was an Indonesia war fighter who led a few rebellions against the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Some of his exploits were written in Babad Tanah Jawi. Early life Surapat ...

Hamengkubuwono I Hamengkubuwono I ( Javanese script: ꦱꦸꦭ꧀ꦠꦤ꧀ꦲꦩꦼꦁꦏꦸꦧꦸꦮꦤꦆ, Bahasa Jawa: ''Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I''), born Raden Mas Sujana (Kartasura, 16 August 1717Yogyakarta, 24 March 1792), was the first sultan of Yogya ...

) were later elevated to national Indonesian heroes in the 19th and 20th century, preceding the independence struggle of the

Republic of 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, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Ind ...

proclaimed in 1945.

Literature

*Ooi Keat Gin, ''South-East Asia. A historical encyclopedia from Angkor Wat to East Timor'', Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO *Busken Huet, ''Het land van Rembrandt. Studieën over de Noordnederlandse beschaving in de zeventiende eeuw'', Haarlem: Tjeenk Willink 1882 *Blok, P.J., ''Geschiedenis van Nederlandsche Volk'', volume III, book X, Leiden 1923

References

{{Reflist Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Asia