Sayyid Kalkum, Raden Kajoran's great-grandfather was the first of his family to settle in Kajoran. He was a younger brother of a holy man known as
Sunan Tembayat, who was one of the first to introduce Islam to inland Central Java. Kalkum came into control of extensive territories in Kajoran in the early 16th century. The family was intermarried with the royal families of
Pajang
The Kingdom of Pajang or Sultanate of Pajang (كسلطانن ڤاجڠ ;1586–1568) was a short-lived Muslim state in Java. It was established by Hadiwijaya or Jaka Tingkir, Lord of Boyolali, after a civil war and was a successor to Sultanate o ...
and
Mataram. By the time of Raden Kajoran, the family had become a powerful and influential family in Mataram, due to both their Islamic authority and royal marriage ties.
Biography
Before Trunajaya's rebellion
King
Amangkurat I
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 Teg ...
's reign saw the execution of many noblemen for suspicion of treachery, including the entire family of
Pangeran Pekik
Pangeran Pekik (or Prince Pekik, died in 1659) was a Javanese prince, and son of the last Duke of Surabaya, Jayalengkara. After the Mataram conquest of Surabaya he was forced to live in Mataram court. He was executed in 1659 under the orders of ...
(the former ruling dynasty of
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 ...
) in 1659 and many members of the royal family at court during the 1660s. This brutality alarmed Kajoran, who began to sympathize with the king's rivals. When
Trunajaya
Trunajaya (Madurese) or Tronajâyâ, also known as Panembahan Maduretno (1649 – 2 January 1680), was a prince and warlord from Arosbaya, Bangkalan, Madura, known for leading the Trunajaya rebellion (1674–1681) against the rulers of the Mat ...
, a Madurese nobleman who were forced to live at court after his country's annexation, fled the court, Raden Kajoran took him in Kajoran as protégé and let him marry one of his daughters. He also encouraged a friendship between Trunajaya and the Crown Prince of Mataram (Pangeran Adipati Anom, future
Amangkurat II
Amangkurat II (also known as Rahmat; died 1703) was the ''susuhunan'' of the Sultanate of Mataram from 1677 to 1703. Prior to taking the throne, he was the crown prince and had the title Pangeran Adipati Anom.
He was the first Javanese monarch t ...
) who also had a grudge against his father the king.
Role in Trunajaya rebellion
The Trunajaya rebellion began in 1674 as Trunajaya's forces conducted raids against the cities under Mataram control. Kajoran joined the rebellion since at least 1676 after Trunajaya's
victory at Gegodog in October. His knowledge of the internal Mataram affairs, as well as his reputation as a religious leader, provided support to Trunajaya and his Madurese warlords who were foreign to central Java.
He joined rebel troops marching towards Mataram's capital – led by Trunajaya's captains – at
Taji
{{Infobox settlement
, official_name = Taji
, other_name =
, nickname =
, settlement_type =
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_size =
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, im ...
, east of the capital. These troops attacked the capital district (the district of Mataram) in January or February 1677 but were repulsed by loyalist troops led by the royal princes. The defeated forces retreated to Surabaya, where Raden Kajoran joined his son-in-law Trunajaya. Subsequently, Mataram forces burned his district of Kajoran.
In April 1677, Kajoran started another attack on Mataram. His forces
overran and sacked the capital Plered around 28 June 1677, marking the high point of the rebellion. There was talk that the western part of Trunajaya's realm (roughly today's Central Java), were to be declared a kingdom ruled by Kajoran, but he preferred to take the position of a spiritual lord rather than a king. Also, despite the proposal of dual rule, Trunajaya took all the treasuries captured from Plered for himself and denied it from Kajoran.
The rebels later withdrew from the now-ruined capital and Raden Kajoran moved to
Totombo, in the hills south of Trunajaya's capital at
Kediri, East Java, at Trunajaya's summon. This move – leaving central Java to be closer to Trunajaya – and his lack of heir contributed to the decline of his prestige and his followers' loyalty. However, his followers were still active in central Java, including the coastal districts (e.g. Jepara) and inland (in Pajang, bordering the capital district). They mounted major offensives on the northern coast (also known as the
Pasisir
''Pasisir'' is the name given to the northern coastal region of Java. Unlike the agricultural kingdoms of the hinterland, the ''pasisiran'' economy has been based on trade via the Java Sea and its cultural identity has been shaped by foreign con ...
) in November 1677 and June–July 1678. These activities frustrated both Mataram and its ally 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 ...
(known by its Dutch acronym VOC), who also tried to establish a monopoly in the Pasisir.
In November 1678, Kediri was taken by VOC-Mataram troops and Kajoran returned to Central Java and established his new base at
Mlambang (in today's
Gunungkidul Regency,
Yogyakarta Special Region
The Special Region of Yogyakarta (; id, Daerah Istimewa (D.I.) Yogyakarta) is a provincial-level autonomous region of Indonesia in southern Java. It has also been known as the Special Territory of Yogyakarta.
It is bordered by the Indian Oce ...
). He allied himself with Raja Namrud or Nimrod, a Makassarese warlord who was active in central Java, and won some victories there between April and August 1679. However, on 14 September, a combined VOC-Mataram forces under Dutch Captain
Jan Albert Sloot and Mataram leader
Sindureja marched on his fortress at Mlambang. The attack ended in VOC-Mataram victory, Kajoran surrendered but Sloot ordered his execution. Due to his reputation, no Javanese leader wanted to kill him, so Sloot ordered a
Buginese to do it.
After his death
Kajoran's followers continued the resistance against Mataram after his death and Trunajaya's death in January 1680. They include members and relatives of the Kajoran family, religious men from Tembayat, and men from the Gunungkidul district. Their leaders include Kartapada, Kartanadi and Kartanagara.
Personal characters and other names
Raden Kajoran was also known as Panembahan Rama and reputed to be skilled in
shakti
In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and rep ...
(cosmic power) and
tapa
Tapa, TAPA, Tapas or Tapasya may refer to:
Media
*Tapas (website), a webtoon site, formerly known as Tapastic
* ''Tapas'' (film), a 2005 Spanish film
* ''Tapasya'' (1976 film), an Indian Hindi-language film
* ''Tapasya'' (1992 film), a Nepalese f ...
(ascetism). Javanese chronicles called him "Raden Kajoran ''Ambalik''" (Raden Kajoran ''the Deserter'') due to his role in Trunajaya rebellion, and Dutch admiral
Cornelis Speelman
Cornelis Janszoon Speelman (2 March 1628 – 11 January 1684) was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1681 to 1684.
Cornelis Janszoon Speelman was the son of a Rotterdam merchant. He was born on 2 March 1628. In his 16th year, he left ...
(one of his opponents during the war) called him "that prophet of the devil". Speelman also wrote that he taught his followers that "God and his Prophet will never bless the Javanese land again, as long as the
kaffers nbelievers, i.e. the Dutchwill be accepted there."
References
Citations
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kajoran, Raden
1679 deaths
People from Central Java
People executed by the Dutch East India Company
17th-century executions by the Netherlands