Soekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo (7 January 1905 – 5 September 1962) was an Indonesian

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic mystic who led the Darul Islam rebellion against the Indonesian government from 1949 to 1962, with the objective of overthrowing the secular Pancasila ideology and establishing ''Negara Islam Indonesia'' (

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

of Indonesia) based on

sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

law.

Early life

Kartosuwiryo was born in Cepu, an oil-producing town 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 in t ...

, son of minor government official. His education was mostly in secular and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

-medium schools. While attending NIAS (''Nederlands-Indische Artsen School''/ Netherlands Indies Medical College) in

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

, Kartosuwiryo boarded at the house of Islamist leader

Tjokroaminoto Raden Mas Hadji Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto (16 August 1882 – 17 December 1934), better known in Indonesia as H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto, was an Indonesian nationalist. He became one of the leaders of the Islamic Trade Union ( id, Syarekat Dagang Islam) ...

and became actively involved in Tjokrominoto's PSII (''Partai Sarekat Islam Indonesia''/

Indonesian Islamic Union Party Indonesian Islamic Union Party ( id, Partai Sarekat Islam Indonesia) was an Islamic political party in Indonesia before and after independence. In 1973 it was merged into the United Development Party. The pre-independence party Establishment an ...

). Kartosuwiryo abandoned his medical studies to be fully immersed in politics. While touring Malangbong, near

Garut Garut is a district and town in West Java of Indonesia, and the former capital of Garut Regency. It is located about 75 km to the southeast of the major city of Bandung. History The modern history of Garut started on March 2, 1811 when Balub ...

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

, Kartosuwiryo met and married daughter of a local PSII leader. He settled down in this area, where he established a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

. In 1937, he resigned from PSII to establish his own political movement advocating a future Islamic State of Indonesia based on Islamic law.

Leading the Darul Islam

During the

Japanese occupation of Indonesia The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. It was one of the most crucial and important periods in modern Indonesian history. In May ...

(1942–1945), Kartosuwiryo established armed militias in the

area, one of many such groups supported and armed by the Japanese in order to help them resist any future

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

invasion. During the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or 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 Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

, his Darul Islam militia remained in amicable terms with the secular Republican forces until the latter withdrew from

according to the terms of

Renville Agreement The Renville Agreement was a United Nations Security Council-brokered political accord between the Netherlands, which was seeking to re-establish its colony in South East Asia, and Indonesian Republicans seeking for Indonesian independence durin ...

in 1948, while Kartosuwiryo continued the guerrilla struggle against occupying

forces. After the second Dutch offensive (

Operation Kraai Operation Kraai (Operation Crow) was a Dutch military offensive against the ''de facto'' Republic of Indonesia in December 1948 after negotiations failed. With the advantage of surprise the Dutch managed to capture the Indonesian Republic's t ...

) in December 1948, Republican guerillas slipping back into West Java were attacked by Kartosuwiryo's militia, resulting in a triangular war between the Republican forces, Darul Islam, and the

Dutch army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

. On 7 August 1949, he declared establishment of ''

Negara Islam Indonesia Darul Islam ( meaning '' House of Islam''), also known as Darul Islam/Islamic Armed Forces of Indonesia ( id, Darul Islam/Tentara Islam Indonesia, DI/TII), was an Islamist group that fought for the establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesi ...

'' (Indonesian Islamic State) with himself as

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

. After the transfer of sovereignty from the Dutch, Kartosuwiryo refused to acknowledge returning Republican authority and continue attacking returning Republican forces, culminating into a full-blown

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

. During the 1950s, a weak central government and uncoordinated military response from the government allowed Darul Islam to flourish, controlling one-third of

and even launching raids as far as the outskirts of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. Islamic rebels in

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Selatan) is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sula ...

and

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

joined Darul Islam and acknowledged Kartosuwiryo as their highest authority through in practice there were little coordination between the rebels in the different provinces. In 1957, agents sent by Kartosuwiryo unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

with a grenade attack during a primary school function at Cikini,

Central Jakarta Central Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Pusat) is one of the five administrative cities () which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 1,056,896 at the 2 ...

Defeat and death

Declaration of martial law in 1957 and establishment of

Guided Democracy Guided democracy, also called managed democracy, is a formally democratic government that functions as a ''de facto'' authoritarian government or in some cases, as an autocratic government. Such hybrid regimes are legitimized by elections tha ...

in 1959 proved to be a turning point for Darul Islam's fortunes. The military introduced the effective "fence of legs" method to encircle the guerillas' mountain bases and cut off their supply and escape routes, forcing the rebels to surrender or face annihilation in the face of superior firepower. Kartosuwiryo responded by declaring "total war" in 1961, in which Darul Islam guerillas increasingly used terror tactics and banditry against civilians, further alienating the population. He also sent agents to

, where in May 1962 they made another unsuccessful assassination attempt on Sukarno during the

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's co ...

prayers. In June 1962, Kartosuwiryo was eventually captured in his hideout at Mount Geber near

. In captivity, he issued order for his followers to surrender. The last Darul Islam band in West Java, operating at

Mount Ciremai Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, surrendered in August 1962. Kartosuwiryo was brought to

, where he was tried by military court-martial. He was found guilty of rebellion and attempted assassination of the president, and was sentenced to death. He was executed by

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

on 5 September 1962.

Early life

Leading the Darul Islam

Defeat and death

References

Further reading