Yogyakarta is a city, province, and sultanate in Indonesia. Yogyakarta is located in the south-central part of the island of Java, and is surrounded by the province of Central Java (Jawa Tengah).

Contents

1 History 2 The city 3 The region 4 Arts 5 Reference 6 External links

History

The sultanate of Yogyakarta was formed in 1755 when the existing Sultanate of Mataram was divided in two under the Treaty of Giyanti between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the rebellious Prince Mangkubumi. At the time, Mataram, and its ruler Pakubuwana III , was a client of the colonial VOC, responsible for ruling the interior of Java. Mangkubumi, offended by the great influence the Dutch held over the Javanese kingdom, fought an extended war against the VOC and Mataram for control. His army won, and he was awarded part of the kingdom in exchange. The other half of the kingdom continued to be ruled from Surakarta, about 60 km to the east. Upon his victory, Mangkubumi became Sultan Hamengkubuwono I , the first sultan of Yogyakarta, under a contract with the VOC which had to be renewed each time a Sultan died; the colonial administrators would impose a new contract which successively reduced the power of the new ruler.

The ruler Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX (April 12, 1912 - 1988) held a degree from a Dutch university and held for a time the largely ceremonial position of Vice-President of Indonesia, a mark of his status, as well as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense.

During the Indonesian war of independence against the Dutch after World War II (1945-1950), the capital of the newly-declared Indonesian republic was temporarily moved to Yogyakarta when the Dutch reoccupied Jakarta. When Indonesia won its independence, the reformist Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX declared the Sultanate of Yogyakarta to be part of Indonesia. In return for to this declaration, by a law passed in 1950, Yogyakarta was granted the status of Daerah Istimewa (Special Region), equal to a province. Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX became the governor for life. His policy was to grant more power to local village chiefs and modernize the management of the court, while in Jakarta Suharto was moving in the opposite direction, dispensing patronage to make the elite dependent on him.

The current ruler of Yogyakarta is his son, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who holds a law degree from UGM. On the elder sultan's death in 1988, the position of governor, according to the agreement with Indonesia, was to pass to his heir. Jakarta insisted on an election. In 1998, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X was elected governor by the people of Yogyakarta directly, an extraordinary mark of confidence not shared by any living monarch, defying the will of the central government. He remains the only governor in Java without a military background: "I may be a sultan," he has been quoted in Asia Week as saying, "but is it not possible for me to also be a democrat?"

The city

At Yogyakarta's center is the kraton , or Sultan's palace. Surrounding the kraton is a densely-populated residential neighborhood that occupies land that was formerly the Sultan's sole domain; evidence of this former use remains in the form of old walls and the ruined tamansari , or "Water Castle", built in 1758 as a pleasure garden and now largely abandoned. Reconstruction efforts at the tamansari have started in 2004. Some of the buildings are reconstructed and repainted while the streets in the neighborhood around it have been renewed.

While the city sprawls in all directions from the kraton, the core of the modern city is to the north, site of a few buildings with distinctive Dutch colonial-era architecture, and the contemporary commercial district. Jl. Malioboro, with rows of sidewalk vendors and nearby market and malls, is the primary shopping street in the city. Further north yet is the campus of Gadjah Mada University, the largest and oldest university in the country. The north of the city, mainly, is home to many more universities like UNY (Universitas Negeri Indonesia) and UII (Universitas Islam Indonesia)

The region

The city of Yogyakarta and the rural areas around it are governed as a special administrative region (daerah istimewa), with special status in Indonesia that recognizes the power of the Sultan in contemporary affairs. The region is subdivided into five districts (kabupaten), as follows:

• Sleman
• Yogyakarta city
• Bantul
• Gunung Kidul
• Kulon Progo

The Yogyakarta region stretches from the south coast of the island to the mountains, most notably the peak of Mount Merapi. Common destinations out of the city include the beaches at Parangtritis , and, in the opposite direction, the mountain resort town of Kaliurang, at the base of Merapi.

The famed Buddhist temple of Borobudur and the Hindu temples at Prambanan are often associated with, and visited from, Yogyakarta, though both are outside of the region in the province of Central Java.

Arts

Yogyakarta is known for its silver work, leather puppets used for shadow plays (wayang kulit), and a unique style of making batik dyed fabric. It is also known for its vivid contemporary art scene.

Reference

• Ricklefs, M.C. (2001) A history of modern Indonesia since c.1200 (3rd ed.). Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 126-139, 269-271. ISBN 0-8047-4480-7

External links

• Paul Spencer Sochaczewski, "The Sultan and the mermaid: a love story for the ages,"International Herald Tribune: interview with Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX
• Jose Manuel Tesoro "The sultan of Jogjakarta is a modern reformer," in Asia Week
• Extensive illustrated description of the Karaton Yogyakarta: the Sultan's palace