Raden Ngabehi Ranggawarsita (14 March 1802 – 24 December 1873, jv, ꦫꦢꦺꦤ꧀ꦔꦧꦺꦲꦶꦫꦺꦴꦁꦒꦮꦂꦰꦶꦠ, Raden Ngabehi Ronggawarsita, ) was a Javanese

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. He was born into the famous literary Yasadipura family 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 ...

, 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 ...

. He is sometimes called the ''last Javanese poet''.

Biography

Ranggawarsita was born in 1802 with the birth name Bagus Burham. He was son of Mas Pajangswara and grandson of Yasadipura II, a famous poet of

Surakarta Sunanate Surakarta Sunanate ( id, Kasunanan Surakarta; jv, ꦟꦒꦫꦶꦑꦱꦸꦤꦤ꧀ꦤꦤ꧀ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠꦲꦢꦶꦤꦶꦁꦫꦠ꧀, ''Kasunanan/Karaton Surakarta Hadiningrat''; nl, Soerakarta) was a Javanese monarchy centred in the city of ...

. His father was the offspring of the

Kingdom 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 ...

, his mother of the

Demak Sultanate The Demak Sultanate (کسلطانن دمق) was a Javanese Muslim state located on Java's north coast in Indonesia, at the site of the present-day city of Demak. A port fief to the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit kingdom thought to have been founded in ...

. Once reaching adulthood, Ranggawarsita quickly gained a reputation for his intellectual capabilities which included authoring poetry, grammar books, and working as a

redactor Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...

for the Dutch periodical ''Bromartani''.

Works

Ranggawarsita authored numerous texts that covered a myriad of subjects which included poetry, mysticism, and ethics. Additionally, his works included prophecies as well as criticism of the politics and society of his time. Some of his notable works included: * ''Serat Wirit Sopanalya'' * ''Serat Candrarani'' * ''Sapta dharma'' * ''Sri Kresna Barata'' * ''Paramayoga'' * ''Pustakaraja Purwa'' * ''Wirid Hidayat Jati'' Several works by Ranggawarsita were republished posthumously by Tan Khoen Swie of Kediri in the early 20th century.

Legacy

There is a museum in his name in

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

Notes

References

External links

* 1802 births Indonesian writers People from Surakarta Javanese poets 1873 deaths 19th-century poets {{Indonesia-poet-stub