The Second Javanese War of Succession was a struggle between Sultan

Amangkurat IV of Mataram Amangkurat IV was the son of Pakubuwono I, and Susuhunan Mataram between 1719 to 1726. His son was the last ruler of Mataram, Pakubuwono II Pakubuwono II (also transliterated Pakubuwana II) (1711–1749) was the last ruler of Mataram and the f ...

supported by 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 ...

(Dutch: ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'', VOC) against the rebellion of rival Princes who contested his right for the throne.Dictionary of Wars, p. 274 In 1719, Pakubuwana I died and his son Amangkurat IV took the throne in 1719, but his brothers, Princes Blitar and Purbaya contested the succession. They attacked the palace in June 1719. When they were repulsed by the cannons in VOC’s fort, they retreated south to the land of Mataram. Their uncle, Prince

Arya Mataram Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

, ran to

Japara Waxed cotton is cotton impregnated with a paraffin or natural beeswax based wax, woven into or applied to the cloth. Popular from the 1920s to the mid-1950s, the product, which developed from the sailing industry in England and Scotland, became co ...

and proclaim himself king, thus began the Second War of Succession. Before the year ended, Arya Mataram surrendered and was strangled in Japara by the Sultan's order and Blitar and Purbaya were dislodged from their stronghold in Mataram in November. In 1720, these two princes ran away to the still rebellious interior of

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

. The rebellious regents 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 ...

, Jangrana III and Jayapuspita died in 1718–20 and Prince Blitar died in 1721. In May and June 1723, the remnants of the rebels and their leaders surrendered, including Surengrana of

, Princes Purbaya and Dipanagara, all of whom were banished to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, except Purbaya, who was taken to

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

to serve as “backup” to replace Amangkurat IV in case of any disruption in the relationship between the king and VOC since Purbaya was seen to have equal "legitimacy" by VOC. It is obvious from these two Wars of Succession that even though VOC was virtually invincible in the field, mere military prowess was not sufficient to pacify Java.

References

Sources

*{{cite book, last=Kohn, first=George C., title=Dictionary of Wars, publisher=Infobase Publishing, year=2006, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OIzreCGlHxIC Javanese Wars of Succession 1719 in Asia 1720 in Asia 1721 in Asia 1722 in Asia 1723 in Asia Conflicts in 1719 Conflicts in 1720 Conflicts in 1721 Conflicts in 1722 Conflicts in 1723 Dutch conquest of Indonesia 18th century in Indonesia Wars involving the Dutch Republic Wars involving Indonesia Military history of the Dutch East India Company