Out of a Crocodile's Mouth, Enter a Tiger's Snout
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Out of A Crocodile’s Mouth, Enter A Tiger’s Snout: Kingship in Cirebon and the Dutch East India Company’s Intervention in the Late Seventeenth Century M.A. Thesis Satrio Dwicahyo Supervisor: Dr. Lennart Bes Table of Contents Table of Contents.................................................................................................................................................... 1 List of Pictures, Maps, and Tables .......................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Cirebon as A Sovereign ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Cirebon between Major Powers ........................................................................................................................ 8 Research Question ........................................................................................................................................... 11 Previous Related Studies ................................................................................................................................. 12 Sources and Challenges .................................................................................................................................. 14 Structure of the Study...................................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................................................................. 19 Javanese Kingship ................................................................................................................................................ 19 Javanese, Mataram, and Cirebon Kingship ................................................................................................... 20 A King’s Primary Task .................................................................................................................................... 22 The Kings’ Genealogies .................................................................................................................................. 24 Asceticism ........................................................................................................................................................ 25 The Incapable Kings ....................................................................................................................................... 29 Discontinuing Legacies ................................................................................................................................... 30 Weak Kings, Rebellion, and Intervention ....................................................................................................... 34 Javanese Ideal King: A Chapter Epilogue ..................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 2 .............................................................................................................................................................. 40 The Negotiation of Power ..................................................................................................................................... 40 Conflicts Outside and Inside the Court’s Wall ............................................................................................... 42 The (Temporary) Ending of the Conflict ........................................................................................................ 47 Negotiating Power: The formulation of the 1681 treaty ................................................................................ 48 Multiple Facets of the 1681 Treaty: A Chapter Epilogue .............................................................................. 58 Chapter 3 .............................................................................................................................................................. 60 The Cirebon Kingship under The Dutch East India Company ............................................................................. 60 VOC’s Presence in Cirebon after the 1681 treaty .......................................................................................... 61 The Sultans’ Position under VOC’s Protection ............................................................................................. 64 A Prolonged Conflict or Uncured Incapacity? ............................................................................................... 68 The Reinstallment of Ideal Kings ................................................................................................................... 74 Sultans as Chiefs of Ceremonial Units: A Chapter Epilogue ........................................................................ 81 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................ 83 Appendix .............................................................................................................................................................. 86 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................................... 87 1 List of Pictures, Maps, and Tables In.1 & 2 Tombstone and the tomb of Panembahan Ratu ........................................................................................ 8 In. 3 Cirebon in the expansion map of Mataram between 1595-1625 .................................................................. 10 In. 4 Accessed Local Sources .............................................................................................................................. 17 1.1 Linguistic Map of West Java .......................................................................................................................... 21 1.2 &1.3 Floor plans of Cirebon and Mataram’s Royal Cemetery ...................................................................... 24 2.1. The 1681 treaty ........................................................................................................................................ 55-57 3.1. Plan of Fort Bescherming in Cirebon ........................................................................................................... 63 3.2. VOC officer names with their localized versions in Cirebon sources. .......................................................... 75 2 Introduction “that only with the VOC shall I sustain.”1 Sultan Sepuh I of Cirebon to Governor-General Ricklofs Van Goens and The Council of Indies Cirebon, 4th May 1680 “I am the righteous heir! It runs in my blood. I am not with the Dutch! They are the Dutch!”2 A spokesperson of the protesters in the open rejection against the coronation of Sultan Sepuh XV PRA Luqman Zulkaedin Cirebon, 14th August 2020 The present master thesis investigates the kingship practice in Cirebon, one of the oldest sultanates on the northern shore of Java, before and after the Dutch East India Company’s intervention in the late seventeenth century. In January 1681, three sultans of Cirebon- Sultan Sepuh I, Sultan Anom I, and Panembahan Kacirebonan- each led an entity that formerly was one sultanate, signed a treaty of alliance with the Dutch East India Company (or the VOC). The alliance was possible due to VOC’s success in liberating Cirebon from what they defined as “Mataram despotism.” However, the transition only took Cirebon out of “a crocodile’s mouth” only to enter “a tiger’s snout.”3 Although the VOC was widely known for its mercantilist ambition, it was never merely a trading body. Since the Dutch Republic elites handed octrooi (the charter) in 1602 to the company, it began to function as a quasi-state. This company filled its echelons with armed traders and transported commodities from Asia to the Patria (fatherland) with heavily-armed East Indiamen. 1 Frederick De Haan, Dagh-Register Gehouden In ’T Casteel Batavia Van ’T Passerende Daer Ter Plaetse Als Over Geheel Nederlands India Anno 1680 (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, 1912)., 4th May 1680, p. 206. 2“Detik-detik Penolakan Penobatan Sultan XV Keraton Kasepuhan Cirebon” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16xRHBdHj-w minutes: 1’52’’-1’56’’ accessed on 17th October 2020. 3 Heroe Kasida Brataadmadja, Kamus 5000 Peribahasa Indonesia (Jakarta: Penerbit Kanisius, 1985). p. 319 This Malay/Indonesian proverb has the similar meaning as “from the frying pan into fire” – moving from a bad luck to another bad luck. 3 The company’s landing in Cirebon’s shore took place within the above context. Unlike the shared imagination among European colonists, Cirebon was not a terra nullius. At least two centuries before the company's arrival, Cirebon was already home to a sultanate known for its Islamic sacrosanct characteristic. Behind the abiding memory of Cirebon’s devotion to Islam, its acceptance toward the VOC occupied the center of its sejarah peteng (dark history).4 However, it is “today’s” viewpoint that determines the light and darkness of the seventeenth- century phenomena. The present study will delve into historical traces left by the