[A. G. Maisey]

I really enjoy your historical commentaries Pak Ganja.

One cannot fully appreciate the beauty of Javanese culture and art without having at least some understanding of the history of Jawa. Undoubtedly the history of the mighty Kingdom of Jogjakarta is one that deserves special attention.

When we consider the history of Jogjakarta we sometimes tend to forget that but for the intervention of the Dutch in a family quarrel, there would be no Sultanate of Jogjakarta, thus, by any reasonable measure, it could be considered that the rulers of Jogjakarta owed their position as Sultans of the new (1755) Sultanate of Jogjakarta to the Dutch. It never does pay to get involved in family quarrels, because what followed the Treaty of Giyanti and Dutch endorsement of the newly created ruler was the demonstration of gratitude for Dutch support in the form of concerted efforts by the Sultans of Jogjakarta to oust the Dutch from the whole of Jawa.I feel myself that the Dutch were to a degree hoist on their own petard:- they attempted to apply the dictum of divide and conquer, and for once their superior skills in manipulation and deception did not pay off.

Anyway, come 1811 and Jawa fell into British hands. The Sultan of Jogjakarta was no more kindly disposed towards the British than he had been towards the Dutch --- why should he be? The British were foriegn occupiers of Javanese soil, just as the Dutch had been, and as any self respecting local ruler would want, the Sultan wanted them gone.

Trouble was, Javanese experience prior to the British occupation of Jawa had been with the Dutch. This experience was not a whole lot of use when it came to dealing with the British, who did things in a slightly different way. A way that involved the annihilation of those who opposed them.

On the evening of the 17th June 1812 the Lieutenant Governor of Java, Tommy Raffles --- formally known as Thomas Stamford Raffles --- arrived in Jogjakarta.

As soon as Raffles arrived the Sultan commenced operations against the British occupying forces. A number of minor fights and skirmishes between the Sultan's forces and the British forces ensued, however, Raffles was anxious to avoid the spilling of blood if this were possible, and he tried to negotiate a settlement with the Sultan. The Sultan was not interested in any negotiated settlement of the matter.

Why should he be?

His Karaton was a strong and easily defended fortress, he had installed around one hundred cannon on the ramparts, a double row of cannon in defence of the main gate, and an uncounted number of minor pieces of ordinance. His regular troops numbered in excess of 17, 000 trained and well armed soldiers, and he was able to call upon in excess of 100,000 irregular troops who were located in the nearby neighbourhood.

The British forces numbered less than 1000 men.

I believe that any commander in a similar position of superiority would have behaved in pretty much the same way as the Sultan, who demanded the unconditional surrender of the British.

Unfortunately for the Sultan, this was his first experience with the British military. How could he be expected to understand that odds of more than seventeen to one was regarded by the British military mind as a slightly unfair advantage over the enemy?

Well, to cut a long story short, the British forces attacked the Karaton, slaughtered massive numbers of Javanese soldiers, captured the Sultan , and suffered losses of 23 men killed and 76 men wounded.

Reports of the aftermath of this action tell of piles of Javanese bodies lying in mounds under every gateway within the Karaton, and bodies draped over the ramparts and bastions in prodigious numbers.

It was a massacre.

The type of thing that we almost expect when we read of British military actions of this period of history.

It seems that like the Dutch, Raffles also could not resist becoming involved in family quarrels, because following the pacification of Jogjakarta he divided authority by the sponsorship of the subsidiary court of the Pakualamanan.

The British were not in Jawa for long.In 1816 the British, in accordance with a pre-existing promise, returned Jawa to the Dutch.

We all know that the victors write the history books. One such history book that gives some really fascinating reading is "The Conquest of Java" by Major William Thorn.