The Third Javanese War of Succession was an armed conflict from 1749 to 1757 on the island of

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 mos ...

. It led to the partition of the Mataram Sultanate into two and later three nominally independent 'Princely States': Surakarta,

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

and

Mangkunegara 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 F ...

Cause

One of the causes of the war was Governor-General van Imhoff's humiliation of Prince Mangkubumi, who was Pakubuwana II of Surakarta's younger brother, by demanding the lease of the Javanese northern coast for an annual payment of 20,000 reales. Van Imhoff and Patih Pringgalaya then persuaded Pakubuwana II to cancel the grant of a fief in Sukawati (now

Sragen Sragen Regency ( jv, ꦑꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦱꦿꦒꦼꦤ꧀, translit=Kabupatèn Sragèn) is a regency ( id, kabupaten) in the eastern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. It covers an area of 941.56 km2 and had a population of 8 ...

) which had been promised to Mangkubumi as a reward for defeating Raden Mas Said's rebellion there in 1746. In response, Mangkubumi left Surakarta and rose up against 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 ...

and Pakubuwana II and joined forces with his nephew and former enemy, Raden Mas Said.

War and settlement

In the midst of the Mangkubumi rebellion in 1749, Pakubuwana II fell ill and asked Johan Andries, Baron van Hohendorff to assume control over the kingdom. Van Hohendorff requested written confirmation. On 11 December 1749, Pakubuwana II signed an agreement in which the "sovereignty" of Mataram was given to the Dutch East India Company. They installed a powerless puppet, Pakubuwana III, on the throne. Mangkubumi, who considered himself to be the rightful heir to the throne, demanded the title of ruler. The people of Mataram, who called him Hamengkubuwono, regarded him as the true ruler of Mataram. After years of battles including at Grobogan and

Demak Demak is on the north coast of Central Java province, on the island of Java, Indonesia. * Demak, Demak, modern-day large town * Demak Sultanate, sixteenth century sultanate * Demak Regency Demak ( jv, ꦢꦼꦩꦏ꧀) is a regency located in t ...

, the Dutch under de Clerck suffered a crushing defeat at the Bogowonto River. Governor-General Mossel entered peace negotiations with Hamengkubuwono. Eventually in 1755 the Treaty of Giyanti was concluded, named after the place east of Surakarta where the negotiations took place. The Kingdom of Mataram was divided between the two warring parties. The old capital of Kartasura, which after years of fratricidal war had come to be thought of as doom-laden, was abandoned. Pakubuwana III became ruler of the eastern part of Mataram (Kasoenanan Solo or Surakarta) (1750–1788), and built a new kraton in Surakarta. Hamengkubuwono became Sultan Hamengkubuwono I, reigning over the western half of Mataram, and north of Kartasura built his new kraton at

(Kasultanan Yogyakarta) (1755–1792). He also gave Mas Said a south-eastern part of Mataram as the 'princely state' of Mangkunegara (1757–1796), where he ruled as Mangkunegara I and built his own kraton near Surakarta.

References

Sources

* Ricklefs, M. C., ''A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1200'', Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2008 (terbitan ke-4), {{ISBN, 978-0-230-54686-8 Javanese Wars of Succession Conflicts in 1749 Conflicts in 1750 Conflicts in 1751 Conflicts in 1752 Conflicts in 1753 Conflicts in 1754 Conflicts in 1755 Conflicts in 1756 Conflicts in 1757 Military history of Indonesia 1757 in Asia History of Java 18th century in Indonesia Mataram Sultanate Military history of the Dutch East India Company