COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Kraton van de Sultan van Ternate TMnr 10021083

Kraton () or keraton is a type of royal

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Its name is derived from the Javanese ''ka-ratu-an'' meaning residence of the ''

ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to r ...

'', the traditional honorific title for a monarch. In Java, the palace of a prince is called ''pura'' or ''dalem'', while the general word for palace is '' istana'', which is identical to Malay.

Specific palaces

Kraton that function as the residence of a

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

include: ;

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the 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 Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

(Jogja) region: *

Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat The Royal Palace of Yogyakarta (, ) is a palace complex in the city of Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. It is the seat of the reigning Sultan of Yogyakarta and his family. The complex is a center of Javanese culture and contain ...

(Palace of Sultan Hamengkubuwono). * Pura Pakualaman (Palace of Adipati Pakualam). ;

Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...

(Solo) region: * Kraton Surakarta Hadiningrat (Palace of Susuhunan Pakubuwono). * Pura Mangkunegaran (Palace of Adipati Mangkunegara). ;

Cirebon Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central J ...

area: * Kraton Kasepuhan (Palace of Sultan Sepuh). * Kraton Kanoman (Palace of Sultan Anom). * Kraton Kacirebonan (Palace of Sultan Cirebon). * Kraton Kaprabonan ( id) (Palace of Sultan Prabon).

Historical palaces

The locations of the former ''kraton'' have been determined by historical records or archaeological efforts. Former ''kraton'' include: * Kraton Ratu Boko in the east of Yogyakarta, in the

Prambanan Prambanan (, , Javanese script, Hanacaraka: ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ) is a 9th-century Hindu temple, Hindu Candi of Indonesia, temple compound in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, in southern Java, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimurti, Trimūr ...

area. The structure dates from the 9th century and is thought to belong to the

Sailendra The Shailendra dynasty (, derived from Sanskrit combined words ''Śaila'' and ''Indra'', meaning "King of the Mountain", also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) was the name of a notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century ...

or Mataram Kingdom. However, local inhabitants named this site after ''King Boko'', the legendary king in Loro Jongrang folklore. *Kraton of Majapahit in

Trowulan Trowulan is an archaeological site in Trowulan (subdistrict), Trowulan Subdistrict, Mojokerto Regency, in the Indonesian province of East Java. It includes approximately 100 square kilometres and has been theorized to be the site of the eponymo ...

, Mojokerto, the capital of the former

Majapahit Majapahit (; (eastern and central dialect) or (western dialect)), also known as Wilwatikta (; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia based on the island o ...

. Sites such as Pendopo Agung Majapahit are thought to be remnants of the Kraton of Majapahit. In the Banten region, there are remnants of the Sultanate of Banten's palaces: *Kraton Surosowan, Banten, the former royal palace of the Sultanate of Banten. *Kraton Kaibon, the former palace of Queen Mother. In the regions of Surakarta and Yogyakarta, there are remnants of the Sultanate of Mataram palaces: * Kota Gede remains of a palace from the 16th century. *Karta and

Plered Plered (also Pleret) was the location of the Kraton (Indonesia), palace of Amangkurat I of Mataram Sultanate, Mataram (1645–1677). Amangkurat moved the capital there from the nearby Karta Palace, Karta in 1647. During the Trunajaya rebellion, th ...

remains of palaces from the 17th century. *Kraton Kartasura on the outskirts of Surakarta remains of palace and city wall, also dated from the 17th century.

Metonymic use

The term ''kraton'' 'palace' is also used as a way to refer to the court which it houses. This is especially the case for native Indonesian states where the succession is disputed, giving issue to two or more branches of the dynasty, or even rival dynasties, each setting up an alternative court while competing for the same state, but generally only controlling part of it. An example is the West-Javan state of

, which was founded in 1478 and since 1662 was ruled from three Kraton (palaces): * Kraton Kasepuhan, using as the ruler's style

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

* Kraton Kanoman, style Sultan * Kraton Kacirebonan, style Sultan

References

Sources

External links

WorldSatesmen - Indonesia - Princely States
{{coord missing, Indonesia Indonesian words and phrases Royal residences in Indonesia