[A. G. Maisey]

Kai, when you ask for me to explain the reasons for my use of the phrase "certainly not kraton wear" you are asking for a 5000 word paper, and I'm sorry, I'm not going to give you that, but I'll try to clarify my thoughts in somewhat fewer than 5000 words.

The idea that hierarchical indicators were not in use in kratons other than the Central Javanese ones is an interesting idea. Personally I find it peculiar, because the entire spectrum of Javanese society is structured along hierarchical lines, that the centers of power in some places may have watered down the observance of societal placement seems to me to fly in the face of logic. If stratified dress standards were not observed , does this mean that we could expect to see the Javanese language also reduced to a single level ?

If the language is unstratified, that seems to indicate that there was no concept of "kawula - gusti" in these places, and that in turn would mean that in the places where courtly dress standards were not observed, Javanese society itself had collapsed.

Interesting ideas, but in my opinion, unlikely ones. But then we do have the matter of Cirebon society to consider, along with Cirebon dialect, so possibly a very searching examination of the societal mores of Cirebon might indeed indicate that in this place the Javanese societal structure, as well as the Sundanese societal structure did indeed collapse.( Cirebon is on the border of The Land of Jawa, and The Land of Sunda, it grew out of a fishing village and in reality had only a very brief period of influence, its populace is comprised of people whose ancestors came from a great variety of backgrounds and locations)

What we might be able to hypothesise is that because the power and influence of the North Coast power centers had been eroded from an early date, the populace of these places along the North Coast felt no obligation to follow any lead given by the aristocracy. For instance, when Amangkurat II turned the control of Cirebon over to the Dutch in the second half of the 17th century, the old power center was split into four separate areas of control. I hesitate to name these as "kratons". Why? Because the word Kraton (Keraton, Karaton) comes from the word "Ratu", which means "Monarch". These North Coast entities were hardly under the control of any monarchs, they were under the control of the Dutch.

So, the common people, the merchants, craftsmen, clerks and bookkeepers probably did feel that they had a degree of freedom in their choice of not only their attire, but also in respect of the way in which they dressed their keris.

I find it quite difficult to identify any North Coast location that was home to a legitimate Kraton after the Dutch took control in the late 1600's. Even before that these North Coast rulers only existed at the whim of either Mataram or Banten.

So just where were the North Coast kratons located in the period following 1700?
Can we identify any local ruler who was entitled to be regarded as a Ratu or Monarch?
No Ratu?
Well, that means no Kraton.

If we consider Madura, there is a "kraton" in Sumenep, but this naming of what is essentially an istana as a kraton is colloquial rather than accurate. Currently it is the residence of a Bupati, as Sumenep is a kabupaten (regency) and it was originally built by an adipati (duke) towards the end of the 18th century.

So, if I say, "certainly not kraton wear", what I have in mind is the strict hierarchical dress code of a genuine Kraton, not the perhaps more relaxed dress codes of provincial administrative centers that do not house a monarch. But even in these administrative centers I would still expect to see some observance of dress codes.

In any case, the fact that the dress of this keris displays a variety of styles is in my opinion an indication that it was the keris of somebody who did not have the need to comply with any dress code. This of course raises the question of whether it could be a dealer's montage, and this is always possible where one has not actually bought a keris from a person who was wearing it at the time of sale. My personal opinion is that it is not something assembled by a dealer, but I could always be wrong.

Kai, I read my comments on the "gana" thing, and I think I know more now than I did when I wrote those comments, however, before making any further comment I would like to read all that went before the comments that I made, and your link does not provide access to the entire thread.