Mangkunegara IV (1809–1881) was the fourth ruler of

Mangkunegaran The Duchy of Mangkunegaran ( id, Kadipaten Mangkunegaran) is a small Javanese princely state located within the region of Surakarta in Indonesia. It was established in 1757 by Raden Mas Said, when he submitted his army to Pakubuwono III in Fe ...

, a principality based in

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...

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 ...

, ruling from 1853 to 1881. He was

son-in-law Son-in-Law (22 April 1911 – 15 May 1941) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and an influential sire, especially for sport horses. The National Horseracing Museum says Son-in-Law is "probably the best and most distinguished stayer this co ...

Mangkunegara III The Duchy of Mangkunegaran ( id, Kadipaten Mangkunegaran) is a small Vorstenlanden, Javanese princely state located within the region of Surakarta in Indonesia. It was established in 1757 by Raden Mas Said, when he submitted his army to Pakubuw ...

. His title before ascending was Prince Adipati Prangwedana III. During his reign, the foundations of estate agriculture producing coffee and sugar were established, he became the first non-European to own sugar factories ( De Tjolomadoe and Tasikmadu factory). The profits from the system were reinvested in the domains, instead of being sent abroad, as happened in many colonial situations; however, as typical for a less-developed economy, the inhabitants were dependent on the world price of these

cash crop A cash crop or profit crop is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") ...

s. He abolished the

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

system of compensating his retainers and officials and instead paid them

salaries A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. ...

. Nevertheless, Mangkunegara IV had to deal with the Kingdom of Netherlands as well as the other rulers in central Java of the period. In 1857 and 1877, he was unable to reclaim land leased to European planters. Mangkunegara IV's court is especially known for its contributions to the traditional arts. He himself was a prominent poet who collaborated with Raden Ngabei Ranggawarsita (1802–1873), said to be the last of the great court poets. Mangkunegara IV's most famous poem is ''Wedhatama'' ("Exalted Wisdom"), which praises morality consistent with the mystical

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 ...

of Java, in contrast to the more self-consciously Orthodox Islamic community. He is also credited with the composition of several

ketawang ''Colotomy'' is an Indonesian description of the rhythmic and metric patterns of gamelan music. It refers to the use of specific instruments to mark off nested time intervals, or the process of dividing rhythmic time into such nested cycles. I ...

, a

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

musical form,Alec Roth, ''New Compositions for Javanese Gamelan'', Vol. 2, Lebanon, NH: American Gamelan Institute, distributed 1998, 426 including Puspawarna, which was included in the Voyager's Golden Record sent to outer space in the 1970s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mangkunegara 04 1809 births 1881 deaths People from Surakarta Princes of Mangkunegaran 19th-century Indonesian people